Have You Ever Experienced 'Game Transfer Phenomena'?

According to the Press Association, a recent study found that there’s a new acronym for everyone to remember: GTP. That's Game Transfer Phenomena, and it results in gamers doing things in the real world as if they were still playing their favorite video games.

Some extreme examples of GTP include reaching for a search button when looking for someone in a crowd and seeing energy bars above people’s heads. Half of the gamers questioned said they’ll often look to use something from a game to resolve real–life issues. Sometimes, thoughts were accompanied by reflexes such as reaching to click a button even when there is no controller in sight.

One of the report’s authors, Professor Mark Griffiths said “We believe this is the first study to attempt to explore Game Transfer Phenomena, and these initial findings have proved extremely interesting.

“Almost all the players reported some type of GTP, but in different ways and with varying degrees of intensity. We are now following this up with a further study of a much larger number of gamers. A recurring trend suggests that intensive gaming may lead to negative psychological, emotional or behavioral consequences, with enormous implications for software developers, parents, policy makers and mental health professionals.”

The study done by Nottingham Trent and Stockholm Universities consisted of 42 interviews with gamers 15-21 years old and the findings will be published in the next issue of the International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology, and Learning.

Do you often envision yourself jumping on top of people’s heads as if they were Goombas in “Super Mario Bros?” or do the video game thoughts go away when the system turns off?