Video games help create better soldiers

Research currently underway at the Office of Naval Research is showing that the fast responses and quick reactions that are needed in modern combat are best achieved by playing video games.

According to the American Department of Defence website, playing computer games will help improve the ability to quickly react to the changing tactics of the enemy and also has a surprising ability to help all military personnel adapt to the challenges of fighting terrorists, .

Ray Perez, who is a program officer for the Office of Naval Research’s Warfighter Performance Department, has been active in the research that has been conducted on the subject.

“We have discovered that video game players perform 10 to 20 per cent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability than normal people that are non-game players. We know that video games can increase perceptual abilities and short-term memory. They allow the player to focus longer and expand the player’s field of vision compared to people who don’t play video games. We think that these games increase your executive control, or your ability to focus and attend to stimuli in the outside world."