Lecture on Video Gaming, Health and Cognition set for Oct. 1 at Quinnipiac University

Susan Krauss Whitbourne, professor of psychology and director of the Office of National Scholarship Advisement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will give the keynote lecture, “Video Gaming, Health and Cognition,” at Quinnipiac University’s Interdisciplinary Program for Research Scholarship’s Fall Symposium on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 3 p.m. in the Clarice L. Buckman Theater on the Mount Carmel Campus. This event is free and open to the public.

“The highly popular casual video games being played by millions around the world seem to have the potential to benefit cognitive, and even physical, health,” Whitbourne said.

This talk will focus on the key cognitive features of one of the most widely-played three-match games and show how both older and younger adults can benefit from even relatively brief episodes of game play. Data from an ongoing study of positive training effects on attention in older adults will also be presented. The talk will conclude with the benefits of cognitive plasticity for individuals and society as a whole.

Whitbourne received her doctorate in developmental psychology from Columbia University and completed a postdoctoral re-specialization program in clinical psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the author of more than 140 refereed articles and book chapters and 15 books.

Following Whitbourne’s lecture, 13 Quinnipiac students from the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business and Engineering, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences and School of Nursing will present the results of their eight-week summer undergraduate research experiences.

For more information, call 203-582-8652.

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls 6,400 full-time undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students in 58 undergraduate and more than 20 graduate programs of study in its School of Business and Engineering, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, School of Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top regional universities in the North in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges issue. The 2014 issue of U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master’s programs in the Northern Region. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review’s “The Best 377 Colleges.” The Chronicle of Higher Education has named Quinnipiac among the “Great Colleges to Work For.” For more information, please visit www.quinnipiac.edu. Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at www.facebook.com/quinnipiacuniversity and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.