Video Games Lead to Faster Human Decisions That Are No Less Accurate

ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2010), Cognitive scientists from the University of Rochester have discovered that playing action video games trains people to make the right decisions faster. The researchers found that video game players develop a heightened sensitivity to what is going on around them, and this benefit doesn't just make them better at playing video games, but improves a wide variety of general skills that can help with everyday activities like multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends in a crowd, and navigating around town.

The researchers tested dozens of 18- to 25-year-olds who were not ordinarily video game players. They split the subjects into two groups. One group played 50 hours of the fast-paced action video games "Call of Duty 2" and "Unreal Tournament," and the other group played 50 hours of the slow-moving strategy game "The Sims 2."

After this training period, all of the subjects were asked to make quick decisions in several tasks designed by the researchers. In the tasks, the participants had to look at a screen, analyze what was going on, and answer a simple question about the action in as little time as possible (i.e. whether a clump of erratically moving dots was migrating right or left across the screen on average). In order to make sure the effect wasn't limited to just visual perception, the participants were also asked to complete an analogous task that was purely auditory.

The action game players were up to 25 percent faster at coming to a conclusion and answered just as many questions correctly as their strategy game playing peers.

"It's not the case that the action game players are trigger-happy and less accurate: They are just as accurate and also faster," Bavelier said. "Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference."


Source: www.sciencedaily.com...

I would like to verify the OP's thread as actual fact. I have spent 4 years of my life playing the video game "Unreal Tournament" which is a first person shooter. Lots of very fast death-match type shoot em up online multi player which allows me to play against actual people instead of the computer. The game has made me "better". I noticed it after a couple weeks of playing, I could predict 3d visualizations in real life much more faster, I could catch objects that accidentally fell with ultimate ease, as if time slowed down and I had so much more time to react. My mind started to work more parallel, and could compute many simultaneously occurring observations at the same time. I was better, I was smarter, I was faster!

First Person Shooter Multi player online video games changed my brain. It is fact. And fascinating at the same time.

Yeah i found call of duty 2 and battle field bad company 2 to be a real testament to this research, the difference in real life is definitely noticeable when playing the fast paced games.

I wonder if the group that played the Sims would have better long-planning (strategic) skills ie better "big picture" skills? I think that the FPS force you into quick thinking/decisions. A RTS game for example gives you both the quick actions along with some longer range planning.

What about the people that play Farmville? LOL.

If any old-time gamers remember, Psi-5 Trading Company was one of the best games ever for making quick decisions. That Game would have your head spinning prioritizing what task was most important at any time.