A new study by the University of Rochester concludes that first-person shooter players have faster and more accurate reactions times than non-players. The study undertaken by cognitive scientists found that action video games helped players develop a heightened sensitivity to the action going on around them.
The benefits lend themselves to the real world too, according to researchers. Action game players gain general skills that are useful in everyday life such as multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends or family in a crowd, and navigating around town.
Researchers tested "dozens" of 18- to 25-year-olds who were not ordinarily video game players. Two groups formed for the experiment; one group played 50 hours of Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament, while the other took in 50 hours of The Sims 2. The results? Action game players were up to 25 percent faster at coming to a conclusion and answered as many questions correctly as The Sims 2 players.
Image Credit: J. Adam Fenster, University of Rochester
Comments
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
And strategy game players have better tactical cpabilities, RPG players have better reading comprehension, Sports gamers are more athletic...
Well, okay, not all of the above applies, but what's the point of the test? To prove that twitch players are twitchy? DUH!
And multitasking is a marketing buzzword. People actually switch focus from one task to another rapidly and call it multitasking because it sounds better.
To summarize, the test and the iterpretation are full of dung.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
"what's the point of the test? To prove that twitch players are twitchy? DUH!"
Faster and MORE ACCURATE. "Twitchy" implies the former but not the latter.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
We've seen the same in informal testing. In our Quake3 clan, we had a pair of people in their fifties. Everyone was taking these reflex testers where you had to click as soon as the color changed from red to green and it measured the difference in miliseconds. Pretty much everyone who played was much faster then regular people (and the average) by a good margin, even the older couple. Had some friends at work try it and none of them could even come close to the fifty year olds' scores.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
They do? well, then I'd hate to see how bad my reactions would be if I didn't play shooters, since my reaction time is pretty bad =\
I'm also bad at multitasking, and terrible with directions.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
Sounds like Halo and Wii Sports would be up your alley.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
"Two groups formed for the experiment; one group played 50 hours of Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament, while the other took in 50 hours of The Sims 2."
I've been out of school for a while now. Did control groups simply go out of vogue at some point?
Andrew Eisen
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
The Sims 2 group is the control. It shows that the type of game makes a difference and that it's not just gamers versus non-gamers.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
It is a control group, but it's not the right control group for their headline.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
Exactly. GP has the right headline, the linked article doesn't -- they controlled for people who didn't play FPS's, not people who didn't play video games.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
Which is fine if they were truly testing the reaction speed difference between shooter gamers and non-shooter gamers but reading the linked article, that doesn't appear to be the case. Of course, I haven't read the actual study so hey, who knows? Maybe the linked article fails at far more than just its headline.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
No, a group that didn't play any games would be the control.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
yep. ever since this came out
I kid. I kid.
岩「if Phyllis Schlafly wants to undo Women's Rights, she should lead by example and get back in the kitchen」
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
Apparently they did.
I would have also been interested in seeing if people with quicker reaction times just happen to prefer shooters as opposed to the games having a bearing on their reaction time. Same for the people who prefer action/adventure games.
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
"Apparently they did."
Really? Where'd you get that from?
Andrew Eisen
Re: Study: Shooter Fans Have Faster, More Accurate Reaction ...
Just being a smart-a**, A.E.
A study with no control group is flawed. Just as it was a flaw to not determine if people with quicker reaction time but no gaming experience might prefer a shooter as opposed to an action game when they are placed before them.
One could lead to the other and not the other way around.