University of Rochester scientists say playing action video games can lead to faster and good decisions
There are a few kinds of scientific findings that get people really excited: new cures and studies that prove eating/drinking/playing video games more is good for you.
From the University of Rochester we have the latest findings that video games can be good for you (Of course, there are plenty of studies showing the evils of video games, too, including how they can lead to a loss of friends.). Cognitive scientists there have found that playing action video games trains you to make good decisions fast.
As you might expect, the games strengthen your sensitivity to surrounding activity — and that can pay off by improving everything from finding friends in a crowd to driving (though not driving while playing video games).
The scientists tested dozens of 18-to-25-year-olds (an example shown below) who don’t regularly play video games, splitting the subjects into a group that played action video games Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament and another group that player the more methodical The Sims 2. Both visual and auditory perception was tested afterward, and those playing the faster-paced games proved to be about 25% faster in the tests.
“It’s not the case that the action game players are trigger-happy and less accurate: They are just as accurate and also faster,” said Daphne Bavelier, who along with Alexandre Pouget and C. Shawn Green will publish their study results in the journal Current Biology.
Earlier research has shown the usefulness of video games in training soldiers, enabling them to experience realistic battle situations without firing a gun, and in producing systems that can be used to help fight fires and save people.
