Armed Forces Press: Researchers Examine Video Gaming’s Benefits

Researchers Examine Video Gaming’s Benefits By Bob Freeman Special to American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2010 – Think interactive video games are a waste of time or more suited for children? Think again. Research under way by the Office of Naval Research indicates that video games can help adults process information much faster and improve their fundamental abilities to reason and solve problems in novel contexts. "We have discovered that video game players perform 10 to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability than normal people that are non-game players," said Ray Perez, a program officer at the ONR's warfighter performance department in a Jan. 20 interview on Pentagon Web Radio's audio webcast "Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military." "Our concern is developing training technologies and training methods to improve performance on the battlefield," said Perez, who holds a doctorate in educational psychology. Perez described the war against terrorists as presenting significant challenges to warfighters on the ground because they must be able to adapt their operations to innovative and deadly adversaries who constantly change their tactics. "We have to train people to be quick on their feet - agile problem solvers, agile thinkers - to be able to counteract and develop counter tactics to terrorists on the battlefield," Perez said. "It's really about human inventiveness and creativeness and being able to match wits with the enemy." It's also about....[go to http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57695