Summary:
A cognitive psychology investigation from the University of Sheffield reveals that high-level video gamers process visual information and execute physical responses significantly faster than novices. Testing over 300 Counter-Strike players, researchers found that experts with over 5,000 hours of gameplay held an average 90-millisecond reaction advantage. Using Drift-Diffusion Modelling, the team showed that this speed boost stems from faster visual absorption, swifter motor execution, and more efficient evidence accumulation under pressure, though it confers no advantage in multitasking.
Key Facts:
- 90-Millisecond Speed Margin: Expert Counter-Strike players responded on average 90 milliseconds faster to visual stimuli than novice players, a temporal gap capable of determining survival in emergency response or high-speed driving.
- Component-Level Acceleration: Drift-Diffusion Modelling demonstrated that expert advantages occur across multiple processing tiers: faster visual encoding, rapid evidentiary accumulation during complex choices, and quicker motor response execution.
- No Multitasking Edge: Despite heightened processing velocity, expert gamers demonstrated zero multitasking advantage over novices, indicating that gaming expertise refines focused speed rather than divided cognitive attention.
Source: University of Sheffield / APA
First-person shooter (FPS) games require players to navigate unpredictable environments, track multiple moving targets, and fire with sub-second accuracy. Among competitive titles, Counter-Strike stands as one of the most durable and influential tactical shooters in gaming history, sustaining a massive global esports ecosystem across nearly three decades.
Despite its worldwide popularity, neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists have rarely examined how thousands of hours of intense visual-motor competition reshape the mental architecture of its elite players.
In a study published in the American Psychological Association’s journal Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, cognitive scientists at the University of Sheffield conducted the first comprehensive examination of processing velocity in competitive Counter-Strike players, assessing how sustained gaming expertise translates into decision-making speed.
Dissecting the 90-Millisecond Advantage
The research team, led by doctoral researcher Eleanor Hyde alongside senior author Professor Claudia von Bastian, recruited over 300 active players. Participants spanned the entire experience spectrum, from absolute novices to elite competitors logging in excess of 5,000 lifetime gameplay hours.
When exposed to standardized visual reaction tasks, the expert cohort demonstrated an average 90-millisecond advantage over novices. In rapid, real-world contexts, a 90-millisecond discrepancy represents a substantial operational margin, translating into meters of stopping distance during high-speed vehicle braking or deciding split-second tactical actions during critical emergencies.
“Although it may not sound like a lot, 90 milliseconds could be the difference between life and death in situations requiring rapid reactions, such as stopping quickly to avoid a road traffic collision,” explained Eleanor Hyde, lead author of the study at Sheffield’s School of Psychology.
“However, at this stage, we don’t have the data to determine whether this reaction speed is a result of playing the game for hours on end, or if people with naturally faster processing abilities gravitate towards these games. If it’s the former, it may be that training people in middle age or later life on such games could improve cognitive performance. If it’s the latter, reaction speed could serve as a useful indicator of skills crucial for high-stakes professions such as emergency response, air traffic control and driving.”
Drift-Diffusion Modeling: Where the Speed Resides
To pinpoint where the brain shaves off these critical milliseconds, the researchers applied Drift-Diffusion Modelling (DDM). This computational technique deconstructs simple reaction times into distinct cognitive stages: non-decision sensory encoding time, the rate of evidence accumulation (drift rate), decision thresholds, and motor execution latency.
The mathematical decomposition revealed that the expert advantage was not confined to a single processing bottleneck:
- Sensory Encoding & Motor Output: Experts absorbed and encoded visual stimuli into working memory faster, and their motor systems executed key presses with shorter physiological delays.
- Rapid Evidentiary Accumulation: When presented with complex, ambiguous visual choices, seasoned players accumulated evidentiary signals toward a decision threshold far more rapidly than novices.
- The Multitasking Myth: Crucially, the investigation debunked the popular assumption that action gamers excel at divided attention. When tasks forced players to juggle multiple simultaneous streams, experts held no performance advantage over non-gamers.
“Our findings suggest that expert players are not necessarily better at juggling several things at once, as you might expect, but are faster at processing information and responding to it,” said Professor Claudia von Bastian. “This gives us a more precise understanding of what distinguishes expert players, and an important starting point for investigating whether these skills extend to other fast-paced situations outside gaming.”
Cross-Genre Comparisons and Neural Tracking
The Sheffield team has partnered with Dr. Benoit Bediou and Naima Gradi at the University of Geneva to compare the cognitive profiles of tactical FPS players against players of League of Legends—a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game engaging over 150 million participants worldwide.
Because MOBAs emphasize long-range macro-strategy, team resource allocation, and spatial map awareness over microsecond twitch reflexes, comparing both cohorts will clarify how distinct gameplay mechanics shape specific cognitive phenotypes.
Upcoming phases of the project will deploy mobile eye-tracking and 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor scalp-recorded event-related potentials in real time, mapping how the brain orchestrates rapid visual search and motor execution during competitive gameplay.
Questions and Answers
A: Expert players demonstrate significantly faster mental processing speeds, reacting to visual stimuli an average of 90 milliseconds faster than novices. Drift-diffusion modeling indicates this advantage spans faster visual encoding, swifter evidentiary accumulation, and faster motor execution.
A: No. The Sheffield study found no measurable difference between expert gamers and novices in multitasking scenarios. The cognitive benefits of competitive first-person shooters appear localized to focused processing velocity rather than divided attention.
A: Yes. If reaction speed improvements are acquired through training, gaming-based interventions could help offset cognitive slowing in older adults. If the skills reflect natural traits, performance metrics could help identify candidates for high-stakes professions requiring rapid decision-making, such as emergency dispatch, air traffic control, and trauma response.
Editorial Notes:
- This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
- Journal paper reviewed in full.
- Additional context added by our staff.
About this neuroscience Research:
- Media Contact: Amy Pullan
- Source: University of Sheffield
- Image Credit: Image credited to Neuroscience News
- Original Research is Open Access: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance (Nov 3, 2026). “Processing speed, not multitasking, drives expert decision-making under pressure.” Authors: Hyde, E. R. A., Schmidt, R., Carroll, D. J., & von Bastian, C. C.
- DOI: 10.1037/xhp0001466
Abstract
Processing speed, not multitasking, drives expert decision-making under pressure
The cognitive mechanism underlying high performance during decision-making under pressure—such as in first-person shooter games—is still unclear: advantages in multitasking or general processing speed?
To resolve this, we classified N = 230 players (16–34 years) of the video game Counter-Strike into four expertise clusters (Novice, Skilled, Emerging, and Expert), assessing their processing speed and task-switching performance. To better understand the source of expertise effects, we used drift-diffusion modeling to estimate nondecision and decision components of performance.
Experts exhibited significantly faster reaction times than Novices, but no specific multitasking advantage was observed. The drift-diffusion modeling revealed that this speed advantage was driven by higher drift rates and shorter nondecision times. No expertise-related differences were found in boundary separation, the strategic component of decision-making.
Findings suggest that expert performance in decision-making under pressure is characterized by advantages in general processing speed rather than being associated with greater multitasking capabilities.
