You’ve probably asked yourself this question at least once:  should I let my kids play video games? 

A new study has found that people who play fast action games are able to more quickly process information and make correct decisions.

Video game players develop heightened sensitivity to what is happening around them, training them make the right decisions faster, according to new research by cognitive scientists from the University of Rochester.

Playing games also improves a wide variety of general skills that can help with everyday activities like multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends in a crowd, and navigating around town.

“You would not think playing action games could be beneficial by watching an avid player blast monsters,” said Daphne Bavelier, researcher at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester.

“Yet, our research shows that these individuals learn through action gameplay how to make more informed decisions about their surroundings. They react extremely fast to events around them, but they are not trigger happy. Rather, our work shows that their brains are just better at processing the information they need to perform the task at hand.”

Dozens of 18- to 25-year-olds who were not ordinarily video game players were tested and subjects were split into two groups. One group played 50 hours of the fast-paced action video games Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament, and the other group played 50 hours of the slow-moving strategy game The Sims 2.

After the training period, players were asked to make quick decisions in several tasks designed by the researchers. In the tasks, the players were to look at a screen, analyze what was going on, and answer a simple question about the action in as little time as possible – both visual and auditory.  

The action game players were up to 25 percent faster at coming to a conclusion and answered just as many questions correctly as their strategy game playing peers. Bavelier said these results did not show that the action game players are trigger-happy and less accurate. In fact, they are just as accurate and also faster.

 “Being able to make more correct decisions per unit of times could give you an edge in many real-life situations,” said Bavelier. “There are already reports in the literature of gamers being better laparoscopic surgeons, better air traffic controllers, better pilots, and better soldiers in battle.”

Action video game players are more efficient at collecting the visual and auditory information they need to make a decision much faster than non-gamers. 

Video games may be okay in moderation but it’s always best to remember that there are also harmful effects to playing video games as well.