There are plenty of people who believe that video games serve no other purpose than providing great entertainment for players. And while it’s true that most video games are wildly entertaining and can give you a good adrenaline rush, there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye.
Video games are one of the most popular forms of entrainment at the moment, and they’ve seen a great evolution over the years. The visuals have changed a lot, the complexity of the games has seen huge improvements taking the whole gaming experience to a whole new level. The thought of being able to drive a powerful car in realistic scenarios, plan intricate strategies or fight with all sorts of creatures in parallel universes is enough to get a gamer’s heart pumping.
But what do you get out of engaging in all these actions other than some good entertainment? Up until recently, people believed that video games are nothing more than a fun diversion, and some even criticized them as being just a waste of time and energy. Well, it turns out they were all wrong, and we’ve got scientific proof for that.
It seems that all those hours spent in front of the screen, driving, fighting, plotting, or planning do come with some significant benefits. It’s not us saying that, but a study led by Hong Kong psychologist Li Li and published in the journal Psychological Science a few years ago. The study confirms that playing video games, especially those in the action genre, can actually boost your driving abilities.
So, if you want to find out how video games can make you a better driver, let’s take a closer look at the study’s findings, so next time you hear someone saying that gaming is useless, you’ll have a few good counter-arguments to throw at them.
Develop the patience of a monk
It’s no secret that being a good driver implies being patient and learning to control your impulses. These qualities can save you from many tricky situations in traffic and help you keep unpleasant events at bay. As they say, prevention is better than treatment. So, if you don’t want your journeys to end up with an accident compensation claim, you better learn how to control yourself while driving.
The good news is that many video games are as much about patience and control as they are about action. Therefore, if you’re still prone to yelling at other drivers in traffic and making rash decisions, your passion for gaming might come in handy, and we’ll explain just how. Video games often have a linear structure, where the character has to overcome certain challenges in order to reach a goal. During the process, the character gets killed and revived multiple times until it finally reaches its objective. Repeating the same actions over and over again helps you exercise your patience and willpower, so as you progress you also learn how to cultivate patience.
Improve concentration and focus
As a driver, you have to pay close attention to everything that’s happening around you. It’s not enough to look at the car in front of you. You also have to check your rear and side mirrors, watch out for pedestrians and all other road users. Needless to say, that requires a certain level of focus and concertation. If you’re the kind of person that gets easily distracted, it can be rather challenging to properly concentrate on your driving.
Luckily, video games can help in this respect as well. Just like driving, gaming requires focus in order to fulfill tasks and complete each level. When you’re playing a video game, your brain fully concentrates on the activity that you’re performing, despite the distractions included in the game that are meant to break your focus. That’s how gamers develop sustained attention, which can be useful in other areas of their life, such as driving.
Become a better decision-maker
It’s true that certain video games are so simple that they don’t require much brain effort on your part. However, those with higher degrees of complexity, such as Call of Duty or Counter-Strike can actually give your brain a good workout by keeping you on the edge of your seat and prompting you to make split-second decisions in critical situations. Players are subjected to a lot of pressure during these games, which helps them refine their decision-making skills.
Guess where else these skills can be applied? That’s right – when you get behind the wheel and you’re getting ready to hit the road. Sometimes, when you’re out on the road, you are faced with many situations where you have to think fast, like deciding which route to take to get from point A to point B, or figuring out how to avoid traffic jams. If you’re good at making quick decisions under pressure, you’re more likely to enjoy smoother and safe rides.
Improved reflexes
Apart from making decisions in a fraction of a second, gamers also have to act fast in order to reach their goals. Without fine reflexes, that wouldn’t be possible. Fortunately, reflexes can be greatly improved over time, so if you’re more on the slow side, you shouldn’t worry about it. Your gaming sessions can boost your reaction time by making you repeat the same types of actions and challenges until you finally reach your purpose.
Similarly, when you’re in traffic, you should have great reflexes to keep you out of harm’s way. Therefore, the time you’ve spent in front of a PlayStation or computer can improve your driving reflexes. That can help you avoid potentially dangerous situations such as driving next to a reckless driver or avoiding a huge hole in the road at the very last moment.
Now that it’s been scientifically proven that gaming can help enhance your driving skills to some extent, you have one more reason to keep on playing video games or make gaming your new hobby.
