One of the promises of video game training is that, compared to traditional training, it can be more engaging and entertaining (Boot et. al., 2008). However, besides entertainment, games have shown to have the potential to impact a larger variety of cognitive abilities. Previous research has consistently shown that several aspects in cognition such as visual short-memory, multitasking and spatial cognition can be enhanced by game play. In a previous study, we found that playing Monkey Tales, a commercial game aimed at training arithmetic skills in children, helped second grade pupils to increase their accuracy in mental calculation as compared to paper exercises or no exercises. The present study aimed to explore how arithmetic performance enhancement induced by game play and paper exercises differs. In order to do this, we compared the performance gains that second graders achieved in a computer test made for assessing their math skills. We performed a combined analysis of the changes in two behavioral measurements: accuracy and reaction times. Children were tested at two points in time: before and after the three week period. We compared the reaction times and the accuracy improvements between these two moments and compared different items types (e. g. understanding tenths, understanding hundreds, even or odd up to 100 among other types). We found indirect evidence suggesting that arithmetic performance enhancement induced by game play and paper exercises might rely on slightly different cognitive mechanisms
