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Video Games Can Improve Terror Attack Preparedness, Even If You Don't Play Them
vrml writes: A study just published by the Computers in Human Behavior journal explores the potential of video games as terror attack preparedness materials for the general public. In the video game that participants tried (screenshots can be seen in the paper), players started a normal day going to a train station and performing actions such as purchasing a ticket and finding a train. Then, they suddenly found themselves in a bombing scenario that they had to survive. In addition to showing that playing the game greatly increased players' knowledge about preparedness, the study also considered a second group of participants who did not play the game but watched instead a video of the game play. Results indicate that passively watching someone else play the game is as effective as actively playing the game in terms of learning preparedness knowledge. However, they also point out a significant difference concerning psychological effects on threat appraisal: general perception of personal vulnerability to terror attacks and their severity increased more in those who actively played the game rather than those who passively watched game play.
Time to fire up my copy of Counterstrike.
Duck, keep low, move away from the loud noises and smoke, hide behind shit, don't get trampled, use someone's kids as human shields.
Everybody knows this. ;-)
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I wonder, is this effect as strong with other forms of video media?
Did watching golden girls as a child heighten AC's awareness of sex crazed octogenarians and lead to his obvious fetish?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
The risk of dying in a terrorist attack is infinitesimal. So should we be expending resources to make people more prepared for something that is almost certainly not going to happen to them? Wouldn't it make more sense to use video games to condition people to eat better food, exercise, and look both ways before crossing a road?
But of course. As we all know, gamers are terrorists.
Remember Boys and Girls You Too can help the Mega corps Market Terror for Mega profits!
We have a name for a video that you passively watch of fictitious or staged events. It's called a "movie," and I'm pretty sure that they've been used to train people for various scenarios roughly since the technology has existed.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Can we host this on a Beowulf Cluster of IOT devices? Will this attract more women into IT?
love is just extroverted narcissism
During a terror attack, I know I'll hear a quick sound when the detpack is set. At that point I've got a short window where I'll use a rocket jump to accelerate into a bunny hop, swing by the detback to lob a grenade at the enemy if he's still there, and continue bunny hopping to a safe distance.
Easy as cake.
The group who watched learned responses.
The group who played developed responses.
Support my political activism on Patreon.
Results indicate that passively watching someone else play the game is as effective as actively playing the game in terms of learning preparedness knowledge.
It seems like VR would be even more effective than a normal game for those playing, but then you'd lose out on the secondary effect, as it would be difficult for others to watch you play.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Politicians, media and security industrial machine are deliberately and persistently "terrorizing" people with hyperbole and fear.
Any game that may prove useful in aiding people to better cope with this onslaught would be most appreciated.
During the study, gamers tended to attempt to strafe and run while jumping in a random pattern instead of seeking cover... When shot, they shout out, "HAXOR!" before dying. During the study, the fake "terrorists" were unhappy with their success claiming a high ping made them miss more targets.
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
Excellent, a new, more effective way to stoke the fear factory that keeps our current civil masters in business.
If I'm supposed to be subjected to a fake terrorist attack to remind me that I'm supposed to be cowed into agreeing with any kind of atrocity we do for the sake of "fighting terror" (with the only actual terror being exacted by our governments), at the very least you could make it visually appealing.
This is an outrage! I mean, we were being bullshitted 'til now, too, but at least there was some production value in Navy CIS and the like. Now we get bullshitted and bored at the same time? What's that, we're moving towards communism?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
is there any way of filtering specific spam posts?
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
I usually hate people spamming things but everytime I read this I hear the song in my head and smile... I wish more trolls would post stuff like this and not the usual bait! Thanks you for being a friend, random spammer!
Or you could concentrate on threats that aren't vanishingly improbable.
"As We Show In This Updated list, You’re Much More Likely to Be Killed By Brain-Eating Parasites, Toddlers, Lightning, Falling Out of Bed, Alcoholism, Food Poisoning, Choking On Your Meal, a Financial Crash, Obesity, Medical Errors or “Autoerotic Asphyxiation” than by Terrorists".
http://www.washingtonsblog.com...
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
ShanghaiBill,
Your home or the high-rise in which you work are unlikely to be consumed by fire. Are fire drills important?
Is it important to know where, for example, the nearest exit is on an airplane or in a theater, even though it is extremely unlikely that you will be confronted with a disabled airplane or a theater massacre-in-the-making?
Preparation for disasters - whether in terms of visualizing the scenario or actual drills to practice response - can be extremely effective in boosting survival.
If you are interested in some of the academic study on this and related topics, see this book, The Unthinkable - Who Survives When Disaster Strikes, and Why. The author did a tremendous amount of research, distilling academic papers and studies of recent and not-so-recent disasters to explore human behavior both culturally w/r/t preparedness and engineering, and in the context of the disaster events.
If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law;
"terror attack preparedness" - what is this?
Being able to make some tea?
Keeping common sense after a bomb went off a few feet away?
By this I mean generic scenarios that could have several causes. Its the aftermath that is important, not so much the cause. If the cause is obfuscated the byproduct fears are not induced but the instruction is just as effective.
Where I live now there is a significant risk of earthquake. I have been in eye-shot of a tornado which fortunately decided not to eat the city I was in. Same answer if its a tsunami or flood or a major attack ...
How prepared am I for a one day event (seek safety, no power, no water, ...), Two days? a week? Most people don't have the storage space or means to prepare personally beyond this point.
How prepared is my city / region for a week, two weeks, a year, two years?
Maybe we need a sim-survival scenario that every elected, appointed and public employee in infrastructure needs to pass ... AT LEAST.
Arguably it should be a certain portion of the population. Call it a USEFUL draft.
Since 15% of us (not 5 or 7% as stats would have you believe) are unemployed - seems like an opportunity. Lets extend this to real life training for many beyond that and PAY them as a job to stay up to date.
If you have a core of people that can respond to these situations you now have a core of people to send to hard hit areas internationally as well. This gets them experience for when it happens domestically and since they would eventually have experience doing this kind of work it might just raise your perceived stature internationally.
NAH - might cost 10 cents a person and save thousands of lives and millions in property. Too hard.
@ShanghaiBill: "The risk of dying in a terrorist attack is infinitesimal. So should we be expending resources to make people more prepared for something that is almost certainly not going to happen to them? Wouldn't it make more sense to use video games to condition people to eat better food, exercise, and look both ways before crossing a road?"
Not only that, why is it the 'terrorists' only ever seen to target civilian non-entity commuters, and not more important people?
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PROTHERO: Do you believe this crap, Dascombe?
DASCOMBE: It's not our job to believe it, Lewis. Our job is to tell the people –
How can you measure "preparedness"? How can you BE PREPARED for a bombing scenario?
Prepared to be torn apart by a bomb? What would be usefull to be prepared for in such a scenarion would be first aid. (if you*re close to a bomb explosion but not close enough to get hurt)
So... which kind of "preparedness" could increase to survive a detonating bomb?
bickerdyke
I never understood why those posts got modded down. They're fairly innocuous, benign, and they make Slashdot feel homey.
I must be spending too much time here...
Slashdotters have pointed out the pointlessness of terrorism preparedness. But my thoughts align with DOOFUS and THEGARBZ: There have been floods and freeze-overs in the USA, during the last few years, how many people died from them? How much material has been created and delivered to the general public in preparation of these disasters? This fixation on terror attacks is following the money and joining the government propaganda. People need to object to this victim mentality and concentrate on bigger dangers.
Thirty years ago, as the 'war on drugs' got hot, the big social issues were Rodney King and the spike in gun violence. Two weeks ago, slashdot ran a story on how drug crime was was moving into stable communities and damaging them. The government has not reduced endemic problems and once again, is spending money to fight some possible, potential, arbitrary enemy.