MIND GAMES: Study says video-racing games affect reality
Published:Sunday | September 26, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Laranzo Dacres, Sunday Gleaner Writer
ARE you an avid video-racing game player? Chances are you may be in more danger than you know.
According to findings published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, aggressive racing games promote risk-taking in real life traffic situations and, therefore, encourages reckless driving.
The 2007 study published in the journal under the theme: Virtual Driving and Risk-Taking: Do racing games increase risk-taking cognition, affect, and behaviours? was conducted by Peter Fischer, Jorg Kubitzki, Stephanie Guter and Dieter Frey.
" ... The playing of racing games increases the accessibility of thoughts that are positively related to risk-taking, leads to enhanced arousal and excitement and increases risk-taking behaviour in critical road traffic situations," the findings read.
Scepticism
However, local mechanic and racer Cameno Taylor views the findings with some scepticism.
"Mi nuh see how the games have anything to do wid how we drive," said Taylor, a fan of the popular racing game Gran Turismo.
"... But based on what's happening on the roads, it looks like some people are affected."
Dr Karen Richards, clinical psychologist at the Post Mall in Liguanea, gives the study the "green light".
"These games reward speed and risky decision-making," she said.
"They are very far away from reality. They do not incorporate much oncoming traffic, stoplights and the usual things you would expect to see on the roadways," said the doctor, who specialises in neuropsychology and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr Richards said most racing games do not show the full ramifications of an accident.
"So, what we have is a racing game that glamorises risky driving behaviour and doesn't show the real consequences of driving recklessly in the real world," she said.
Car enthusiast Andrew McCreith believes there is some truth to the findings.
Interpretation is key
"It depends on the way you interpret the game. The video game cannot simulate everything, like the feel of the ground through the tyres; it cannot calculate the reaction time of a driver either. At the same time, it makes some drivers go crazy, as they believe that everything they do in the video games, they can do in the real world."
The study design employed a correlative survey and two experimental studies. Study 1 comprised 198 men and 92 women, ages 16-45, recruited in public places; study two comprised a volunteer sample of 36 women and 47 men, ages 19-42; while study three used 29 men and 39 women, 19-35.
The research revealed after playing racing games (compared with control games), participants exhibited higher accessibility of risk-promoting cognition; were more aroused/excited and were more ready to take risks in critical (computer-displayed) road-traffic situations. These patterns were more pronounced for men than for women.
"These games are tailor-made to appeal primarily to young men in their late teens or early 20s," Dr Richards said.
"So if you give a fast car to a 19-year-old who spends a lot of time playing these racing games, it would be difficult for him to differentiate between the game and a real life situation on the roadway," she concluded.