Effect of Violent First-Person Shooter (FPS) Video Games on Shooting Accuracy

Gun Shot Wound Clinical Trial

Official title:

"Boom, Headshot!": Violent First-Person Shooter (FPS) Video Games That Reward Headshots Train Individuals to Aim for the Head When Shooting a Realistic Firearm

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03445156
• Other study ID #: 2010B0261
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: February 1, 2016
• Est. completion date: April 25, 2016

Study information

• Verified date: June 2019
• Source: Ohio State University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The present research tests the effects of violent shooting games on behavior within the game (Pilot Study) and on behavior after the game is turned off (Experiment Proper). The Experiment Proper is an exact replication of a previous study conducted in our lab that was retracted (see citation), but with a larger sample to get more reliable results (N=287 rather than N=151).

Description:

Violent shooting games are used to train soldiers and police officers. This research tests whether violent shooting can train people to shoot targets in the head, both during gameplay (Pilot Study) and after the game is turned off (Experiment Proper). Participants in both studies played a violent shooting game with humanoid targets that rewarded headshots, or a nonviolent shooting game that punished shots to bull's-eye targets with faces. Afterward, participants shot at a mannequin with a realistic CO2 gun. We anticipate that participants who play the violent game which rewards headshots to hit the mannequin's head more often than those who play the non-violent game.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 327
• Est. completion date: April 25, 2016
• Est. primary completion date: April 25, 2016
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 46 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 and older

• Ohio State participant pool

Exclusion Criteria:

• Under age 18

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Gun Shot Wound
• Wounds, Gunshot

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Video game
Participants played either a violent shooting game or nonviolent shooting game in the pilot study, and either either a violent shooting game, nonviolent shooting game, or nonviolent non-shooting game in the experiment proper.
• Controller
Participants used either a gun-shaped or regular controller to play the violent and nonviolent shooting video games.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Ohio State University

References & Publications (1)

Whitaker, J. L., & Bushman, B. J. (2014). "Boom, Headshot!": Effect of violent video game play and controller type on firing aim and accuracy. Communication Research, 41(7), 879-891. doi:10.1177/0093650212446622

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Hits to Head and Face	In the Pilot Study, we counted hits to the head and face for targets within the game. In the Experiment Proper, we counted hits to the head and face of the mannequin.	Up to one hour
Primary	Other Hits	In the Pilot Study, we counted other hits to targets (i.e. not to a face) within the game. In the Experiment Proper, we counted other hits to the mannequin (i.e., torso instead of the head).	Up to one hour