Gaming makes people faster at decision making.
Wired magazine reported that those who are gamers are more likely to be fast decision makers because the action-packed video games strengthen the person's ability to transfer sensory information more quickly.
The games require the user to detect visuals and sounds that cause their game characters to make speedy, life-threatening decision. In the study, not only did the gamers respond faster to visual stimuli, but also to audio.
The study tested 11 men that played action videogames at least five times a week over the span of a year, and it studied a group of men between the ages of 19-20 that said they hadn't had any videogame activity in the past year.
Their task was to look at dots on a computer screen and had up to two seconds to indicate the dots with the proper keys. The gamers proved to be substantially quicker. They were also tested on an auditory task, where they heard background noises through headphones and had to decide if the sounds were heard on the left or right.
Another study showed that gaming had the same effect on women. There were seven men and seven women assigned to play two action games for a full 50 hours, without playing more than two hours a day. Then they had another four men and seven women follow the same rule, but instead of an action game, they played a simulation character game.
Both groups showed improvements in game-playing skills, but the action gamers responded much faster.
