Many parents may be worried that their children are spending too much time playing games. They concentrate so hard that they don’t hear their parents. All that focus, hours of playing video games may not be all waste after all. Researches show that playing fast video games improve your concentration in everyday tasks and help you complete them faster and more accurately.
How Many People Play Video Games?
It is not only youngsters or children who play video games, many adults love them too. According to a survey carried out by Entertainment Software Association (ESA), at least one member plays video games in about 70% of households in America. This shows that we are not stranger to them and it will probably get even more widespread.
Do Games Improve Your Decision Making Capabilities?
According to a study carried out at the University of Rochester, fast action video games can improve your decision making skills in difficult circumstances. They found that not only people can make quick decisions but also those decisions are accurate. It appears that people can transfer those skills gained while gaming into real life situations.
The study concludes that playing video games improve certain skills like driving. However, they didn’t actually test the driving skills to come to this conclusion. Instead they tested two groups of 18-25 year olds who played faster and slower video games. One group played fast-paced action games like “Call of Duty 2” and the other group played slower games like “The Sims 2”
Then researchers put those groups of participants through series of tests. They found that the group who played faster games were able to answer the questions about 25% faster than those who played slower games. Furthermore, the accuracy of their answers was just as good as the ones given by slower game players.
Benefits of Playing Games
Those were impressive and conclusive results that confirmed what many people were claiming to happen. So, parents you may want to think again when you wish your children don’t play as much video games. Here are some of the benefits of playing video games.
- They are good for working your brain. Sitting idly and watching television may not help you much. On the other hand, playing action games appear to be making your brain work.
- They improve your ability to make quick decisions in a pressured environment. Those action games require you to make split second decisions all the time otherwise you crash your automobile or your character dies.
- The great news is that you get faster in making a choice and you can still make spot on decisions.
- These decision making skills appear to come handy when you are dealing with real problems in your life, work, study and driving. You can handle working under pressure and make up your mind quickly.
- It helps the brain to calculate probabilities faster and that allows you to make quicker decisions. According to Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester study group “The brain is always computing probabilities. As you drive, for instance, you may see a movement on your right, estimate whether you are on a collision course, and based on that probability make a binary decision: brake or don’t brake.”
- This allows a significant improvement in especially defensive driving. Gaming teaches you to look out for all sorts of dangers coming from all angles and take a preventative action. This is exactly what you need while you are driving on the roads. You need to watch out other vehicles and drivers as they can engage in risky practices. Also, you need to keep watching your side and rear-view mirrors as well as being mindful of situations building up on the road ahead.
- There you have it. Playing action video games improve your driving. Therefore playing car games should improve your driving a lot more than just playing action games. You can find some of those car games here and see if you want to play any of them.
- It is nice to see that something made for entertainment can be helpful in career, education and motoring. You can have fun and enjoy the side benefits.
- It is regularly mentioned that feeling of excitement, thrill and concentration during automobile games can alleviate stress and lighten up the mood.
- Car games can improve your reflexes and focus. They can improve visual as well as cognitive skills that you can see the troubles ahead and respond to them.
Use of Video Games and Simulators in Improving Driving Skills
There are a few driving courses that utilise videos to show the dangers on the road. They can show the students what they need to watch out for and what mistakes they have been making. This may not be compared to playing video games but it is a use of video technology in education. It is played in a much slower motion but still allows you to see what mistakes others are making.
The real use of car video games like technology is the driving simulators. They are used by driving schools to gain behind the steering wheel experience. They are also used for the purposes of carrying out studies and measure the reaction of drivers. Those simulators can give you real driving experience feeling. It is a great way of making mistakes and learning from them without causing real accidents on the roads.
Of course, this is not a piece written to encourage people play more car racing games. However, if you are already playing them you shouldn’t feel as guilty about them as you may have had before. If you are an adult hopefully you would be able to manage your playing time and not ignore your other responsibilities. If you are a parent you should teach your children to do their homework and other tasks first and play on their spare time.
These games can quickly become addictive and people can end up wasting a lot of time on them. You shouldn’t allow them to turn into obsession that hinders your studies, work or/and social life. Be smart about your gaming habits and it will help you be smarter.
Also, the thrill, alertness and fighting to win is great when you are playing games and can increase your desire to do better in your profession or school. But you need to be responsible enough to see the difference between a game and real driving. Perhaps, you have all the rage you want in the game so that you can be calm and composed on the road.