Military Gamers Needed for Research

[GameResearch]

Video Game Players Currently or Formerly in the Military
Research Participation Sought

Researchers at Athabasca University have been investigating the effects of video game play on various elements of consciousness. They have found that gamers have empowering dreams and experience the “reality” of the virtual worlds of gaming in unique ways. This research has also linked feelings of deep absorption and flow to gaming. All of these provocative and positive findings are being further examined by this research group. You can find out more by contacting Christie Hall, gameresearch@shaw.ca

Or you can sign on at:

http://rsurvey.athabascau.ca//index.php?sid=27288&lang=en

If you qualify, this research consists of six questionnaires asking about your general demographics, your video game playing history, your personality, your life stresses, two of your dreams, and the impact of one of the dreams on you. It will take about 1 ½ hours to complete. 

You must be 18 years of age or older to participate in this research. Any questions can be directed to the lead researcher Dr. Jayne Gackenbach, jayneg@athabascau.ca.

 

[SeanNewman]

...no time to read this post...too busy playing Red Dead Redemption...

 

[Michael OLeary]

tl;dr - over-18 gamers sought to complete survey on lucid dreaming

 

[gcclarke]

I'm not sure they'll like the results I gave them. The entire survey was leading up to the description of an "impactful military dream". Of course, I very rarely even remember my dreams, let alone to such an extent that they are able to impact my life.

The closest I would have been able to do describing a military dream is basically "I was at basic training. In the field. I think it might have been winter?" Not exactly impactful. So, for the last two pages of the survey, I just submitted a whole bunch of "No Answers".

 

[The Bread Guy]

Reviving necrothread with some recent results from this and related research:

Video games often get a bad rap, but their ability to desensitise players to violence could help soldiers sleep better. According to an online survey of 98 military personnel, regularly playing games that involve war and combat - like Call of Duty - decreased the level of harm and aggression experienced when they dreamed about war.

Soldiers who didn't play video games reported having more violent dreams combined with a sense of helplessness, says Jayne Gackenbach of Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada.

The strain of long, tense patrols in an active war zone can wear on soldiers. To make sure her study profiled only healthy, stable soldiers, Gackenbach weeded out any soldiers with pre-diagnosed mental disorders, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Soldiers were divided into "high gaming" and "low gaming" groups based on how often they played video games. Those in the former group tended to play every day, or at least several times a week and play more intense, immersive games like World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Red Dead Redemption. "Low gamers" dabbled in video games as little as a few times a year, and often gravitated toward casual games.

The results, while preliminary, were compelling. Those in the high gaming group reported that their nightmares about combat were less intense, and that they often felt able to fight back against whatever forces were threatening them. Low gamers reported more incidents of feeling helpless against an aggressive, violent enemy. Gackenbach theorises that playing violent games while awake may serve as a sort of "threat simulator," a way of conditioning the mind to better cope with intense, dangerous situations when they arise in nightmares ....

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