Ben-DutkaOn the first day of my Sensation and Perception class back in college, the professor walked in, looked out the window and said- "See that apple tree out there? How do we know it's really there? And how do we know it's an apple tree?"
Well, hardcore gamers might've seen an apple tree with…with…rocket launchers hanging from the branches! No, that's not what this study implies, but I still think it's funny.
According to a recent study by Nottingham Trent University and Stockholm University, there may be a new psychological phenomenon unique to avid videogame players. It seems that some gamers "involuntarily integrate elements of video game playing into real life," which means they're sorta losing touch with reality. For instance, one participant in the study said he started seeing health bars appear over people's heads, while other participants reported seeing in-game menus, altered real-life situations, and even dissociative experiences, like moving a finger to press a controller button when not holding a controller.
The study group consisted of 42 "frequent video game players" with ages between 15 and 21, in order to demonstrate any possible long-term effects of games through the analysis of Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP). So yes, that's what would be happening if the apples turned into rocket launchers in my aforementioned exaggerated example. GTP can occur both intentionally and involuntarily it seems, and this can also result in automatic behavior pertaining to interaction and imitation. You know, like actually imitating something you did in the game.
Unsurprisingly, participants said GTP tends to disappear when their game time decreases, and half actually said they use elements of games to help them solve real-life problems. If you want to read more, you'll have to pick up the July-September 2011 issue of the International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning. …did you know such a journal existed?
If you start to see health bars over peoples heads that's when you need to seek help…
Unless if ur a supernatural creature who see things differently then humans.
True that. lol
I once played Resident Evil on Hard mode through the night. I only got an hour of sleep, and when I woke up I kept grabbing at green house plants when I walked passed them, as if they were Green Herbs!
Lol
I don't know what to make of this study… One time I was walking down the street and came across a green transformer. I was thinking about draining the electricity from it because I wanted an energy boost I wouldn't get from Redbull. Then I thinking about climbing the building and grind on the electric cable that extended from the roof so I could get were I was going faster. After thinking about that I just went…
"…dammit…" 🙁
Or you have seen Scott Pilgrim WAY too many times.
I must admit, I grabbed a lot of green herbs in my younger days, but it had nothing to do with videogames.
Ha.
Hallucinations from too much gaming. They sound crazy
sounds like assassins creed.
hah, it's the bleeding effect!
I doubt this has anything to do with gaming and more to do with some other underlying physiological problem. I have been playing video games since Mega Man 2 on NES and I have never seen health bars or menus over peoples heads.
Last edited by Jawknee on 9/21/2011 10:51:15 AM
Neither have I. If it ever reaches that point, something needs to be done.
for real. these people must have problems already.
if they didn't then they'd have to be playing video games non stop with no sleep, thereby resulting in some sorta delirium or hallucination.
yes, the people who don't get enough sleep are the one's who get lost in touch in reality. Some people take it to personal, could lead to problems down the road.
well then this way everyone will be too busy grabbing herbs and looking at health bars… And this is how we achieve world peace
Geez. Imagine if someone played nothing but racing games. They should had tried to see if any licenses had been revoked.
Yeah lets play burnout paradise 😀
Or reality is loseing tough with games?
In reality gang's are games for them.
After a long night of CoDding with my old university pals, I began talking and moving in my sleep, according to my wife.
Apparently, I woke her up because I was jabbing her in the ribs with my hand saying "I need to get the kill!"
Man, do I hate when that story comes up at dinner parties……
Lol That was pretty funny. I don't think anything like that has happened to me though.
haha, see what happens u get those memories in ur head from playing a mindless game but COD is still fun don't get me wrong.
Last edited by AcHiLLiA on 9/21/2011 12:51:20 PM
Oh no worries! CoD isn't exactly my game of choice, but when I'm playing with old friends (most of which I don't get to see more than once a year, since we're all spread out over the map now), CoD works since we usually talk about other things besides the game we're playing.
We love us some Borderlands or AC:B, but then we spend all our time talking about the game we're playing. :p Which is better gaming, for sure, but not as good for socializing. It's why CoD is video gaming lite. Anyone can master it.
I think your joking.
I don't… and will NEVER believe this kind of thing happens.
"…will NEVER believe…"
Now who's delusional?
Last edited by Fane1024 on 9/21/2011 9:19:35 PM
@Fane
lol!
@Akuma07
Oh it -DEFINITELY- happened. She -LOVES- to tell it when we are with people who still think games are for kids or are too violent.
I love to tell it when with people who appreciate games. lol
But it definitely happened.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 9/22/2011 3:57:32 PM
Perception is subjective. What is reality, really? Perhaps there's a common understanding of what exists peripherally in the world around us. But what we see, feel, touch, hear, smell, can that REALLY be all there is in the world? I love the idea of an abstract reality.
I think they play too much or take too much acid. I have had a funny psychological phenomenon before though, it's when something from a game is present in real life and for a nanosecond I question what is happening. It's akin to hearing an alarm clock go off when awake and being shocked that you might be dreaming right now.
One time I was driving, basically on autopilot, and went by an old rusted out husk of 1950's chevrolet and nearly thought I was playing Fallout 3. This of course happened after being engrossed in it for weeks.
i have some experience with that as well. i remember way back when my friend got twisted metal 3. we spent enormous amounts of time playing that game and even when we werent playing if i closed my eyes i could hear everything going on in the game and even see it.
Last edited by onimushafantasy on 9/21/2011 11:56:34 AM
That's fair enough, its like simulated deja vu.
I have had similar experiences with movies, when I was hiking in Tasmania, it was like i was walking through Middle Earth. It was awesome.
Well, it's not uncommon to see replays of certain games in my sleep. But not outside my gaming area. 😛
Last edited by VampDeLeon on 9/21/2011 11:04:16 AM
Indeed, sometimes when I sleep I'll have a dream where I'm a super hero or in a war or something, sometimes even replaying a scenario that I did in a previous game, but it's like my conscience is telling me I should of done it this way instead of another way.
I also have weird dreams where I'm jumping off a very tall building slamming down to the ground on my feet, and an explosion of air goes around me buildings crumbling and I'm flying across the ground and trails of dirt and everything following by. :p It was awesome, but I do know what's real and not real I'm not going to imitate it in real life Lol.
I love dreams because you can do what you want to do that you can't do in real life, fly like superman, rip a building out from it's foundation and throw it at a villain or something. Epic stuff lol.
Gaming definitely enhances dreams when things go well. I used to have "Doom nightmares" though from playing too much Doom. My buddy had em too.
I used to have dreams of being inside Halo 3 when me and a friend were playing online all the time. It got really weird because it was like I was standing there in the actual game, but then I would have to remember which buttons to push on the controller to do anything. It was really weird.
I can't believe that this is being seen as something new, to me it's not a new phenomena. But, it's kind of an aspect of day dreaming, the thing is, I see this same phenomena with other aspects of life. I mean, if you're driving a long distance and you get into that kind of 500 yard stare catatonic state, even when you get away from the wheel, you still see the center line and cat's eyes flying past when you close your eyes.
So, although it's perhaps somewhat significant to officially recognize that this happens with games, long time gamers should already know this intuitively. I mean, I remember back in the mid 80's playing Elite on my ancient 8-bit 6502 based BBC Micro, and seeing wireframe spaceships when I managed to tear myself away from the game.
this might not be an eyes closed or two seconds after playing situation, it could be that they are out in life and start hallucinating life bars.
I agree with the other posters, gotta be some underlying issues present already.
lol i spend more than 50% of a day gamiming for the last 5 years (if im not at work, eating or sleeping my ps3 is on) and not ONCE have i ever had vision and hallucinations like that in real life … ive dreamed about stuff like that but as for seeing it in real life when im actually awake… nope not once lol
You know, I drive in my car and after long sessions with various driving/racing games, I get that split second feeling of driving like a maniac. It can happen. That's about the only time in my case.
lol i spend more than 50% of a day gamiming for the last 5 years (if im not at work, eating or sleeping my ps3 is on) and not ONCE have i ever had vision and hallucinations like that in real life … ive dreamed about stuff like that but as for seeing it in real life when im actually awake… nope not once lol
At last something useful for my research.
Anyone remember back in '85 when all those Italian guys stomped all those turtles?
Not nearly as bad as when they started drowning in sewer lines.
Err… seldomly… this happens to me? Like when trying to visualize something in my mind I see health points and menus and stuff like that. Not at all like having sensory hallucinations or anything. This happens only if I play excessively for a long time, and it's very far and few in between. Seems to happen with games that require lots of strategic planning. But then I only need a few seconds to orientate myself with reality.
I've been playing video games since the Atari days. I don't see health bars above peoples heads. I see our society becoming dumber and dumber as the years go by. Idiocracy isin't just a funny movie. I belive it's really happening. I see it in the grocery store,my childs school,the casino where i play poker,politics,the lakes i fish at,COD lobbies i hear it all the time,ect,ect. If breathing wasn't an involuntary action people would be dropping dead everywhere. You can't see it unless you open your mind to it tho.
The only thing something like that has happened with me was when I was younger. I was playing a lot of Tetris, and then when I turned it off and turned on a TV show my brain kept wanting to fit pieces in between where the characters were standing. After a few minutes, it stopped.
Tetris when packing a car or suitcase… I've done that before.
What the hell is "real life?"
That which intrudes upon my gaming….