Study: Video Games Can Improve Decision Making - PSFK
A study from The University of Rochester found that fast paced video games helped to produce a mental state in players that allowed them to track details, multi-task and make better decisions.
Sky News reports:
“Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference.”
She said people make decisions based on probabilities they are constantly calculating and refining in their heads in a process known as “probabilistic inference”.
The brain accumulates small pieces of visual or auditory information, eventually gathering enough data to make a decision on what to do.
While shoot ‘em ups are not generally considered mind enhancing, the players have to make quick and accurate decisions based on what’s going on around them.
Ms Bavelier added: “Decisions are never black and white. 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.”
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