Do Videogame Skills Transfer To Real Life?

macshune writes "Lately, I've been wanting to try my hand at firearms, just to see if a youth spent playing Duck Hunt and an adolescence playing FPS games has given me a preternatural shooting ability. This got me thinking, do videogame skills, both reaction-based and of other kinds, transfer to real life? My friends that play D&D are good storytellers, but do games like Counter-Strike build teamwork skills? Inquiring minds want to know!"

I attribute my pilot's license to simulator time

[Quarters]

I solo'd at 12 hrs. I took my flight exam at 42hrs. The averages for both (respectively) are ~18-20 hrs and ~50+hrs (some say 60).

While most PC based sims aren't certified as trainers there is still inherent value in things, like:

*Just shooting landings for a few hours to get the timing and visual cues of things down.

*Planning your cross country and then flying it virtually to make sure you've gotten everthing correct.

*Practicng stalls in a controlled environment

etc... Yes, PC games can give you skills that transfer to real life.

I don't think so

[Angst Badger]

With the caveat that I've spent a lot more time with real firearms than FPS games, my impression is that no, the skill doesn't transfer. Guns in games are much easier to use than real-world guns. The main differences that I can see are:

• It's easier to aim in a game than real life. I suspect this is an intentional feature to make the game more fun to play.
• Guns in most games never jam or misfire.
• Guns in games require no cleaning, repair, or other maintenance.
• Automatic weapons in games never seem to overheat.
• Guns in games reload themselves automatically.
• All the ammo you find lying around in heaps and mounds(!) is in excellent condition and is never booby-trapped.
• Bullets in games don't ricochet, and shooting at brittle objects nearby (concrete walls, for example) never seems to spray you with high-velocity debris, nor does shot bounce around dangerously in enclosed spaces with hard surfaces.
• The player character in most FPS games must have some sort of prosthetic ears, because not even a grenade detonation at close range ever seems to cause either temporary or permanent hearing loss.
• Guns in games have no appreciable recoil.

...and so on. As for developing teamwork, you may have a point, but that probably applies to any team sport. Evidently, the Army seems to think that multiplayer FPS games might be good tactical training, and perhaps it is, but the Army makes soldiers get lots and lots practice with real guns.

Re:FPS skillz != firearm skills

[buffer-overflowed]

Yup big difference between being able to hit something with a cursor or a light gun and being able to hit it with actual lead.

FPSes and games like Duck hunt ignore so many things that an actual marksman will take into account when aiming. Wind, distance, the characteristics of the gun/ammo in question, slight inaccuracies in optics, etc.

it has been remarked that new doctors

[bmnc]

seem to have a much smaller learning time when using machinery for keyhole surgery, or the various 'scopys.

I can't remember the source (think it was 20/20), but the suggestion was that the abstract skills of manipulating mice/joysticks/etc in games translates well into manipulating the weirdass device used for controlling the camera.

SO that is an affirmative from the medical profession, i guess.

Research, Not Anecdotes

[zentinal]

Anecdotes are fun, but I'd guess that what you're really asking is if there is any research out there on the transferability of virtual skills into RL. Folks like Dr. Carrie Heeter - http://tc.msu.edu/people/faculty/8 (and no, I haven't asked her permission to post the URL on slashdot so please be kind to her server) might know. I know she did research into a place called "Fighter Town" a few years ago, but I don't think she was looking into transferability of skills.

Come to think of it, I'd bet that DOD has a bunch of solid, repeatable data on the subject; at least as far as driving/flying/submersible simulations go. Any slashdotters out there working in a simulation lab that can talk about their work without being arrested? ;-)

Re:Sounds familiar...

[GypC]

Ah yes, "Bowling for Columbine", the answer to the age-old question, "when is a documentary not a documentary? [bowlingfortruth.com]"

Simulations

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that lots of simulations have some value that is transferrable to the real world, but this tends to be knowledge-based rather than related to motor skills.

I know that formula 1 drivers used to use the old formula 1 grand prix game - not to improve their driving skills, but to learn the layout of tracks. I imagine a golf game could be used in a similar manner by amateurs, prior to playing a course for the first time.

I think that snooker/pool simulations could be useful teaching people the angles involved, use of spin, etc.

For reactions-based stuff I'm not sure... does arkanoid make you better at air hockey?

I guess you not only need an accurate representation of the environment, but also of the interaction mechanism.

Re:FPS skillz != firearm skills

[zelphior]

some people say to aim a gun lower than where you want to hit because they instinctively flinch just before pulling the trigger. This flinch brings the barrel up slightly, and hopefully into the general vicinity of the target. However, a good marksman knows to control the flinch reaction, and thus aim exactly where they want their shot to go.

A Sniper (or anyone going for a long distance shot) adjust their sights so that the barrel of the gun is above the target to account for the fact that the bullet drops as it flies towards the target.

Some more research

[Rallion]

Of course, being able to shoot in a game is not the same as doing it in real life. But according to this [rochester.edu], games can help skills in less direct ways.

Re:FPS skillz != firearm skills

[Graff]

However, about a while ago I had the opportunity to fire several clips (or magazines? I forget) with a 9mm pistol in a large group of other first time shooters.

For a 9mm pistol you are most likely talking about a magazine.

Clips and magazines are two different things. A magazine is a holder of ammo. This can be anything from a pistol magazine to the ammunition storeroom on a large battleship. For small arms a magazine often includes a spring to feed the rounds into the firearm.

A clip is a convenient way to place a load of ammo into a magazine. There are several kinds of clips and clip-like devices such as stripper clips, revolver clips, and chargers.

To understand a bit more about these ideas, take a look at this site [rkba.org] and also here. [angelfire.com]

Re:FPS skillz != firearm skills

[SuiteSisterMary]

They wern't learning to shoot, they were learning teamwork and not to get shot.

From the army.mil website: [army.mil]

DESCRIPTION: Marine Doom is a project of the Marine Corps Modeling and Simulation Management Office (MCMSMO). MCMSMO adapted the game Doom II for training four-man fire teams. The game teaches concepts such as mutual fire team support, protection of the automatic rifleman, proper sequencing of an attack, ammunition discipline and succession of command.