Video Gamers May Have Quicker Eyes
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Join Date: 2002-12-31 Member: 11692Banned
Join Date: 2002-12-31 Member: 11692Banned
in Off-Topic
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Video game players may spend a lot of time on the couch, but when they're ready to go out they can find their keys quicker than the rest of us, a study suggests.
Researchers found that gamers who devote much of their free time to Grand Theft Auto and Super Mario may be able to scan their environment and spot the target of their search more quickly than non-gamers can.
In experiments with college students who were either hard-core video game players or novices, the researchers found that players were quicker to detect target objects on a busy computer screen than their peers were.
The findings, published in the journal Acta Psychologica, suggest that the vigilant watchfulness video games require makes for quicker visual processing.
Gamers' brains don't appear to have any specialized search strategy, they're just faster, explained lead study author Dr. Alan Castel, a post-doctorate fellow in psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.
Specifically, both groups of students were similar when it came to the search principle of "inhibition of return." According to Castel, this means that when people look for their keys, they look in one place, and if the keys aren't there, they will look in a number of other spots before giving the original location a second go-around.
In the experiments, he told Reuters Health, video gamers used the same search strategy as non-gamers did. "They just executed it faster," he said.
What this means for real life is uncertain. The advantage video game players held over their peers was on the order of 100 milliseconds, Castel noted.
<b>It's possible, though, that a gamer's speedier visual processing could make the difference between, for example, crashing a car and averting an accident</b>, according to Castel.
That doesn't mean, however, that people should take up video games to improve their driving records. That 100-millisecond advantage could take a lot of playing time, Castel said; gamers in his study played 6 days a week, on average, for about 2 hours each day.
Video games have been much criticized for their violent content and for contributing to couch-potato lifestyles. This study, Castel noted, doesn't judge video games as "good" or "bad." It just suggests they feed a very particular expertise.
The main research interest, according to Castel, is in whether video games, through effects on visual processing, attention and movement, can be useful in rehabilitating the brain--after a stroke, for instance, or in cases of age-related memory loss. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<a href='http://news.com.com/Video+gamers+may+have+quicker+eyes/2100-1043_3-5773134.html?tag=nefd.top' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/Video+gamers+may+have+...ml?tag=nefd.top</a>
<b>"This study, Castel noted, doesn't judge video games as "good" or "bad." It just suggests they feed a very particular expertise."</b>
Imagine how much NS feeds that "very particular expertise," especially commanders.
I'd love to see how many parts of the brain are active when someone's commanding or leading a heavy train assault in a make-or-break attempt at a hive.
Researchers found that gamers who devote much of their free time to Grand Theft Auto and Super Mario may be able to scan their environment and spot the target of their search more quickly than non-gamers can.
In experiments with college students who were either hard-core video game players or novices, the researchers found that players were quicker to detect target objects on a busy computer screen than their peers were.
The findings, published in the journal Acta Psychologica, suggest that the vigilant watchfulness video games require makes for quicker visual processing.
Gamers' brains don't appear to have any specialized search strategy, they're just faster, explained lead study author Dr. Alan Castel, a post-doctorate fellow in psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.
Specifically, both groups of students were similar when it came to the search principle of "inhibition of return." According to Castel, this means that when people look for their keys, they look in one place, and if the keys aren't there, they will look in a number of other spots before giving the original location a second go-around.
In the experiments, he told Reuters Health, video gamers used the same search strategy as non-gamers did. "They just executed it faster," he said.
What this means for real life is uncertain. The advantage video game players held over their peers was on the order of 100 milliseconds, Castel noted.
<b>It's possible, though, that a gamer's speedier visual processing could make the difference between, for example, crashing a car and averting an accident</b>, according to Castel.
That doesn't mean, however, that people should take up video games to improve their driving records. That 100-millisecond advantage could take a lot of playing time, Castel said; gamers in his study played 6 days a week, on average, for about 2 hours each day.
Video games have been much criticized for their violent content and for contributing to couch-potato lifestyles. This study, Castel noted, doesn't judge video games as "good" or "bad." It just suggests they feed a very particular expertise.
The main research interest, according to Castel, is in whether video games, through effects on visual processing, attention and movement, can be useful in rehabilitating the brain--after a stroke, for instance, or in cases of age-related memory loss. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<a href='http://news.com.com/Video+gamers+may+have+quicker+eyes/2100-1043_3-5773134.html?tag=nefd.top' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/Video+gamers+may+have+...ml?tag=nefd.top</a>
<b>"This study, Castel noted, doesn't judge video games as "good" or "bad." It just suggests they feed a very particular expertise."</b>
Imagine how much NS feeds that "very particular expertise," especially commanders.
I'd love to see how many parts of the brain are active when someone's commanding or leading a heavy train assault in a make-or-break attempt at a hive.
Comments
They do here too.. And the best part is women are generally much worse drivers from my experiences.
They do here too.. And the best part is women are generally much worse drivers from my experiences. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, but women don't race trains.
They do here too.. And the best part is women are generally much worse drivers from my experiences. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, but women don't race trains. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nah, they park their cars over the tracks, get out, stand on the roof and say "If you don't stop this train RIGHT THIS SECOND Daniel, you will NOT get dinner toni-".
They do here too.. And the best part is women are generally much worse drivers from my experiences. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, but women don't race trains. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
No way in hell they have the skill to.
Sorry, it's like 4:30 in the morning and I'm bitter at the anti-gaming morons, but we all are, right?
Awesome article, it makes a lot of sense even though it's not conclusive.
I personally have quite a bit of trouble picking out satan in a lineup.
I personally have quite a bit of trouble picking out satan in a lineup. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Look for the guy in the nice suit
Lol.. coming from the guy with the Quake sig.. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> But yea I'm pretty sure I've heard stuff like this a good while ago.. I think the first I heard about it was around when MoH:AA came out.
They do here too.. And the best part is women are generally much worse drivers from my experiences. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, but women don't race trains. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bet me! I was in my friends car, and <b>she</b> saw a train coming from the west, the gates started closing and she turned east, going twice the speed limit for a couple blocks, turned as the gates from that street were closing, and scared the pance off me <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Crazy women drivers.
It's possible, though, that a gamer's speedier visual processing could make the difference between, for example, crashing a car and averting an accident, according to Castel.
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
this i have previously attributed to saving my life on the road one day. It was like out of a video game. Going 80 on a highway at night. Van in front of me slams on their breaks, so do i naturally. My breaks are not stoping me fast enough, a collision is eminent. I view to my right lane and there is debree everywhere, so that isn't a turning option. I get closer to the van, so i duck into the median with no clue what was there. Hit the median, car whiplashes back almost into the van but i pull it back in time. I look, oh god ther eis a car parked in the median with people in front of it. Crap. Still not stoping fast enough. I did the insane, i speed up, got in front of the fan, jerked back into the highway. Zoomed off. Now this was all in a time from of like 5 seconds.
i think i literally shouted WTH when i was done, but from that moment on i knew my gaming had SOMETHING to do with those insane reflexes and quick thinking. I attribute my years of gaming ot having partially helped me live past that day unscathed.
i think i literally shouted WTH when i was done, but from that moment on i knew my gaming had SOMETHING to do with those insane reflexes and quick thinking. I attribute my years of gaming ot having partially helped me live past that day unscathed. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
And I attribute your going 80mph on the highway to raising my insurance prices <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
(no insult intended, Ken, and nice work on saving your skin there)
An umbrella next to my PC almost fell. Now, if I were some normal person I would turn my head around and actually confirm that the umbrella is falling.
To a person who has gamed however, they can just move their eyes toward mentioned umbrella. This is most likely, in the case of FPS gamers, due to the constant contraction of the ocular muscles. This results in the muscles being much more efficient.
Now if combined with improved hand-eye coordination (again likely through games <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->) the person JUST might be able to catch the umbrella, with just taking a quick glance for a split second.
Not to boast about it or anything, but that was exactly what I did. Quick peek around the corner, and catch it.
But then again, there's a downside to everything. For one thing, my eyeballs move too fast to actually look around slowly. It's always the uber twitchy eyeball movement I have. A person from my school who just watches anime all day (an anime crackhead to be exact <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->) could move his eyes MUCH more slowly.
So besides pin-pointing objects effectively, think about the kind of stuff your doing when your commanding. Your are required to monitor, think, and plan out. Then, when the **** hits the fan, you need to react with lighting speed, and determine alternate choices accordingly. Not to mention a slew of other things such as resource and time management.
A long way from the "ADD inflicted idiot hyper child that craves extreme violence" isn't it?
EDIT: The negative side to this article is that gamers tend to um, "hook on" much like a high. Also, I don't know if this happens to some people, but stuff from games tend to "phase" in to my life. I caught myself actually bunny hopping once, also I tried to "switch" my weapon to a knife...
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Well DUH.</span>
Next news item, practicing a musical instrument makes your performance better. And running increases your aerobic capacity. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>Well DUH.</span>
Next news item, practicing a musical instrument makes your performance better. And running increases your aerobic capacity. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well, I'm sure there are more pointless directions we could go with research. We'll know we've hit rock bottom when we start seeing seriously-funded, seriously-run research into whether consuming alcoholic drinks makes men think women are more attractive than when sober.
parents think that video games are super massive
violent hyper gore simulators for children that are
supposedly "ADD inflicted" and "have no self control."
And btw Manhunt never did get banned......
But yes,funny how video games are blamed for everything. Soap operas are much worse and much more real-life based.
It's the person inside,not what he/she plays on.
People just like their scapegoats..... <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
And btw Manhunt never did get banned......
But yes,funny how video games are blamed for everything. Soap operas are much worse and much more real-life based.
It's the person inside,not what he/she plays on.
People just like their scapegoats..... <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thanks to Manhunt I now know of numerous ways to kill people with common everyday items.