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

NCT03445156 — Not applicable, Completed, 327 participants, Ohio State University

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

Registry	NCT03445156
Status	Completed
Phase	Not applicable
Study type	Interventional; randomized, parallel, masking: none, basic science
Enrollment	327 (Actual)
Sponsor	Ohio State University (Other)
Conditions	Gun Shot Wound
Interventions	Video game, Controller (Behavioral)
Dates	start 2016-02-01, primary completion 2016-04-25, completion 2016-04-25, first posted 2018-02-26, last updated 2019-08-05

-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 The Experiment Proper is an exact replication of a previous study conducted in our lab that was retracted (see citation), but with a larger sample to get more reliable results (N=287 rather than N=151).

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+Detailed 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.

+Arms and interventions

Arm	Type	Interventions	Description
Pilot Study	Experimental	Behavioral: Video game; Behavioral: Controller	After giving their consent, participants completed a survey. Next, they were randomly assigned to play either a violent First-Person-Shooter video game or a nonviolent shooting video game for 20 minutes. Video game play was recorded. A debriefing followed.
Experiment Proper	Experimental	Behavioral: Video game; Behavioral: Controller	After giving their consent, participants completed a survey. Next, they were randomly assigned to play either a violent First-Person-Shooter video game, a nonviolent shooting video game, or a nonviolent non-shooting video game for 20 minutes. Next, they shot a training pistol at a mannequin 20 feet (6.1 meters) away using 16 Velcro "bullets." A debriefing followed.

Video game (Behavioral): 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 (Behavioral): Participants used either a gun-shaped or regular controller to play the violent and nonviolent shooting video games.

+Outcome measures

Primary outcomes

Hits to Head and Face [Up to one hour]: 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.
Other Hits [Up to one hour]: 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).

+Eligibility

Sex: All, ages: 18 Years to 46 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* 18 and older
* Ohio State participant pool

Exclusion Criteria:

* Under age 18

+Posted results

Participant flow

Milestone	Violent Shooter Game	Non-violent Shooter Game
Started	20	20
Completed	20	20
Not completed	0	0

Outcome results

Hits to Head and Face (Primary), Mean, headshots: Pilot Study: Violent Shooter Game 132.7 +/- 2.68; Pilot Study: Non-violent Shooter Game 3.88 +/- 37.86; Experiment Proper: Violent Shooter Game 5.33 +/- 4.07; Experiment Proper: Non-violent Shooter Game 4.41 +/- 3.77; Experiment Proper: Non-violent Game 3.86 +/- 3.26 (p 0.04)
Other Hits (Primary), Mean, shots not at head or face: Pilot Study: Violent Shooter Game 1509.25 +/- 432.41; Pilot Study: Non-violent Shooter Game 586.10 +/- 145.83; Experiment Proper: Violent Shooter Game 6.74 +/- 4.47; Experiment Proper: Non-violent Shooter Game 7.70 +/- 4.39; Experiment Proper: Non-violent Game 8.03 +/- 5.56 (p <.001)

Adverse events

Arm	Deaths	Serious adverse events	Other adverse events
Pilot Study: Violent Shooter	0/20 (0.0%)	0/20 (0.0%)	0/20 (0.0%)
Pilot Study: Non-violent Shooter	0/20 (0.0%)	0/20 (0.0%)	0/20 (0.0%)
Study Proper: Violent Shooter	0/113 (0.0%)	0/113 (0.0%)	0/113 (0.0%)
Study Proper: Non-violent Shooter	0/115 (0.0%)	0/115 (0.0%)	0/115 (0.0%)
Study Proper: Non-violent Game	0/59 (0.0%)	0/59 (0.0%)	0/59 (0.0%)

+Publications

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