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Majority Leader Eric Cantor incorrectly cites WoW study as using $1.2M in federal funds, actual cost is $5k from NC State [UPDATED]
Earlier this week U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R - Virginia) called out, amongst other things, the wasteful government spending by a World of Warcraft study conducted by North Carolina State University's Gains Through Gaming Lab. The study he was citing, as published on his own blog: Pay to Play Video Games: The National Science Foundation spent $1.2 million paying seniors to play "World of Warcraft" to study the impact it had on their brain. Majority Leader Cantor is focusing on this as part of federal spending from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that could be cut instead of the bipartisan sequester that will be taking place later this year, unless Washington is able to avert it. After publishing a story on the World of Warcraft tie-in, we were contacted by Jason Allaire (who we previously interviewed on the study), Associate Professor at North Carolina State University, and co-director of the lab where the study took place. He had the following to say: The funding for the WoW study ($5K) came from NC-State as part of a pilot research funding program. The results of the WoW study were published last year ... so for some reason that paper got equated with our NSF grant. We do in fact have $1.2 million dollar grant from NSF that examines what aspects or mechanisms are responsible for improvements in cognition due to playing digital games and funds our development of a game based on these findings. This NSF grant is still on going. Allaire follows up with: The NSF study has absolutely nothing to do with WoW. So just when exactly did the WoW study start and how is it funded?
World of Warcraft study under fire in Congress [UPDATED]
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R - Virginia) is causing a bit of a stir in gaming circles for citing a study by North Carolina State University involving World of Warcraft as an example of wasteful government spending. The study, which received funding from the National Science Foundation, tested the effect that playing WoW had on the cognitive function of a group of seniors aged 60 - 77, and had some interesting results. According to the researchers, the study clearly demonstrated that playing World of Warcraft can have a significant positive effect on a person's spacial ability and focus. Last March we conducted an interview with Dr. Jason Allaire, one of the authors involved in the study. Check it out for more insight into the research itself. Other things Cantor listed as recipients of overzealous government spending include federally-funded conferences, certain property maintenance, and the IRS TV studio. Wait, hold the phone, the IRS has a TV studio? The more you know! Update 5:45 pm EDT: So, after we posted this article, Gains Through Gaming, the North Carolina State University lab responsible for the original studies, tweeted us the following:
