Study: Reaction Times Lowered Via Video Games

The folks over at Rochester have another study published on the benefits of playing action video games. Dr. Daphne Bavelier and C. Shawn Green have published in the past on the improved visual plasticity action video game players gain, and evidence of improved eyesight from playing. This article, with lead writer Matthew Dye, focuses on increased mental processing which apparently does not adversely affect accuracy.

Here’s the abstract:

In many everyday situations, speed is of the essence. However, fast decisions typically mean more mistakes. To this day, it remains unknown whether reaction times can be reduced with appropriate training, within one individual, across a range of tasks, and without compromising accuracy. Here we review evidence that the very act of playing action video games significantly reduces reaction times without sacrificing accuracy. Critically, this increase in speed is observed across various tasks beyond game situations. Video gaming may therefore provide an efficient training regimen to induce a general speeding of perceptual reaction times without decreases in accuracy of performance.

References:
Dye, M.W.G., Green, C.S., & Bavelier, D. (2009, December). Increasing speed of processing with action video games. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(6). 321-326.