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.

Comments

Is this important?

[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?

Re:Is this important?

[Joce640k]

"general perception of personal vulnerability to terror attacks increased"

Precisely what we don't want. The risk of getting out of bed in the morning is higher than being bombed by terrorists.

This is just another ploy by people who get rich from increasing public paranoia (ie. governments).

Re:Is this important?

[gstoddart]

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?

But ... but ... people are so much more compliant when they're perpetually afraid.

Keep them constantly afraid, and you can convince them to agree to damned near anything.

Just look at how many people are willingly giving up civil liberties on the assumption that, as long as we're fighting the terrorists, it must be OK.

Oh, did you mean a valid reason? Sorry.

Re:Hmmmm ....

[Adriax]

Unless you have a cameraphone. Then stand straight up and film as much as you can because it's gonna make you internet famous!

Gamers

[danbert8]

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.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

[Doofus]

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.