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Video games linked to decision making
Source: Agencies |
September 16, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
VIOLENT video games like "Call of Duty" can help trigger-happy players make decisions faster in real life, according to a study released yesterday.
Researchers from New York's University of Rochester found that first-person shooter games produced a heightened sensitivity and led to more efficient use of sensory evidence.
"These benefits stem only from action games, which almost always means shooter games, where you go through a maze and you don't know when a villain will appear," researcher Daphne Bavelier said.
"It's not exactly what you'd think of as mind enhancing. Strategy games don't have the same effect."
The study, published in the journal Current Biology, involved testing 26 people aged 18 to 25, none of whom had played shooting games before, over several months.
Half of the participants played 50 hours of shooting games like "Call of Duty" while the others played 50 hours of strategy game "The Sims 2."
They were then given various tests such as deciding which direction a group of dots on a screen was moving at varying speeds, and deciphering which ear was hearing noises.
The researchers found the group who had played the shooting games was able to make faster, more accurate judgements. They were found to be 25 percent better at decision making.
"Unlike standard learning paradigms, which have a highly specific solution, there is no such specific solution in action video games because situations are rarely, if ever, repeated," the researchers wrote.
Researchers from New York's University of Rochester found that first-person shooter games produced a heightened sensitivity and led to more efficient use of sensory evidence.
"These benefits stem only from action games, which almost always means shooter games, where you go through a maze and you don't know when a villain will appear," researcher Daphne Bavelier said.
"It's not exactly what you'd think of as mind enhancing. Strategy games don't have the same effect."
The study, published in the journal Current Biology, involved testing 26 people aged 18 to 25, none of whom had played shooting games before, over several months.
Half of the participants played 50 hours of shooting games like "Call of Duty" while the others played 50 hours of strategy game "The Sims 2."
They were then given various tests such as deciding which direction a group of dots on a screen was moving at varying speeds, and deciphering which ear was hearing noises.
The researchers found the group who had played the shooting games was able to make faster, more accurate judgements. They were found to be 25 percent better at decision making.
"Unlike standard learning paradigms, which have a highly specific solution, there is no such specific solution in action video games because situations are rarely, if ever, repeated," the researchers wrote.
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