Space Out Gaming: Comparing Distributed Practice Sessions with Massed Play

Abstract

With video games and Esports becoming ever-present, playing as long as possible to improve proficiency has become a common strategy among video game enthusiasts. This behavior does not only bear increased health and social risks, but is also connected to performance decline, which itself inhibits skill acquisition. To promote health and advance self-regulated learning, we investigate the effects of distributed practice on skill acquisition in an ecologically valid Esports task. As research about distributed practice in video games is restricted to simple games or short practice sessions, we explore the impact of distributed versus massed practice with an extended training period of 45 minutes. Using (n = 16) participants and a complex contemporary fighting game, we show that massed practice schedules do not provide any advantage over distributed ones - suggesting that practice time can be evenly distributed without improvement losses, which would alleviate health risks connected to longer sessions.