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Last month, Gamespot reported on a study that suggests that action games may help people develop faster decision-making skills under pressure. Such skills are valuable to law enforcement officers as they make such calls on a daily basis.
According to researcher Daphne Bavelier, “Action-game players make more correct decisions per unit time.” Bavelier disproves the notion — mentioned by the research team — that players are just trigger-happy individuals who are quick to shoot from the hip. On the contrary, these gamers develop faster and more accurate skills.
PC action games used in the study were Unreal Tournament and Call of Duty 2, whereas the control group played strategy game The Sims 2. The study tested how a person makes decisions in set tasks against a time-managed clock. In these assignments, action gamers outperformed strategy gamers.
As great as the study sounds, do any government offices train individuals via video games?
In a news article on how border patrol agents break into the field, the Nogales International visited the place where it all begins for many young men and women. The U.S. Border Patrol Academy, in Artesia New Mexico, develops recruits to full-fledged Border Patrol agents. Their training curriculum includes the use of a video-game-like laser gun, where the teacher leads the agent a complex task of whether or not to shoot. Scenarios includes hostage situations or encounters with suspected terrorists.
It is interesting to see two separate stories coincide on the progressive usage of video games. For the researchers, video games can develop quicker response times in tense situations. For Border Patrol agents, they offer additional training in the process of securing America’s border.
Do you readers believe that video games can indeed make better officers, drivers, and surgeons? Does their use in the BP Academy sway your opinion otherwise?