Video games ready, aim, shoot!(YOUR LIFE) (Brief article)

Just 20 minutes of playing a violent shooting video game makes players more accurate when tiring a realistic gun at a mannequin and more likely to aim for--and hit--the head, a study published in Communication Research has found.

Players who used a pistol-shaped controller in a shooting video game with human targets had 99% more completed head shots to the mannequin than did participants who played other video games, as well as 33% more shots that hit other pads of the body In addition, participants who report habitual playing of violent shooting games also are more accurate than others when shooting at the mannequin, and make more head shots.

It is not surprising that video games can improve shooing accuracy--the military and police departments already utilize video games for training purposes, points out Brad Bushman, coauthor of the study. However, this is the first study to show that average players using violent shooting games with realistic human targets can improve firing aim and accuracy. "For good and bad, video game...