Five hours of virtual car racing or an action game would be enough to improve motor skills, especially those used for driving in the real world.
Coordination between visual information and motor control may be more difficult for some people than for others. Driving school instructors can attest to this. For the more clumsy, action video games would promote this coordination, and help them improve their driving, according to psychology researchers at New York University in Shanghai.
“Our research shows that playing accessible action video games for at least 5 hours can be a very affordable tool to help people who need it improve their skills. visual motor skills, which are essential to driving, ”said Li Li, a researcher at New York University in Shanghai and head of the study.
Mario Kart to train drivers
To conduct their experiment, the scientists used a driving simulator, in which the study subjects had to closely follow a line for 95 seconds, when they could be subjected to disturbances (crosswind). They compared the performance of a group of people whose time spent playing video games was at least 5 hours per week to that of novices.
The results, published in Psychological science, are convincing: “gamers” are much more efficient. To verify the causal link, the researchers then recruited novices, who they divided into two groups. The first was training on a driving game, Mario Kart, while the control group played Roller Coaster Tycoon III, a strategy game.
After ten one-hour sessions, the strategy players showed no improvement, while the Mario Kart players progressed from 5 hours of practice.
Unreal Tournament also works
In a similar experiment, Unreal Tournament, a first-person shooter (FPS) game, had comparable improvements, but a little different.
Screenshot of the game Unreal Tournament 2004
“The respective effects of driving and shooting games on the sensorimotor system suggest that for experienced drivers, who manage the stability of their vehicle well in simulation, FPS can help them anticipate simulated disturbances more than racing games. , explains Li Li. Conversely, for novice drivers, who still have problems stabilizing their vehicle under normal conditions, training with racing games is more beneficial. “
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