Today in the BBC news, there’s an article entitled “Racing Games Breed Bad Drivers”. Find it here.
The authors of this study note an increase in the tendency of young men to drive recklessly and violently after playing computer games that feature reckless and violent driving. How did they test this, you ask?
Ummm…in “critical traffic situations on a computer simulator”.
Now, how is a computer simulator any different to, say, a computer game? Well, it’s a lot less fun and a lot more expensive, but apart from that there are no differences, especially when someone asks themselves the key psychological question : “IS THIS REAL?”
For both a simulator and a game, the answer is no.
Why should anyone expect someone using a computer simulator to act differently in critical traffic situations than when using a computer game?
I haven’t looked at this study in depth, but if this could be adequately controlled, I’d be very surprised. Two control groups – one group who were exposed to racing games, and one who weren’t, and who were both subsequently tested on the simulator, would only indicate that racing games make young men more likely to drive recklessly when using a simulator. It doesn’t say anything about their real driving behaviour.
I’d love for someone who knows more about the study to give me more information about the controls and the interpretation of the results; but until that happens, this study is hereby dubbed “Thing That Doesn’t Work” #1.
