Virtual Worlds Help Scientists Understand Paranoia

Par­a­noia af­flicts as many as one in three peo­ple, re­search­ers have con­clud­ed based on a study us­ing vir­tu­al real­ity. Sci­en­tists have had trou­ble stu­dying par­a­noia, or ex­ag­ger­at­ed fear of threats from oth­er peo­ple, in con­trolled lab­o­r­a­to­ry set­tings. Re­search­ers have of­ten set­tled in­stead for giv­ing out ques­tion­naires, which can be in­ac­cu­rate. According to Science News, the new in­ves­ti­ga­t­ion sought to solve the prob­lem by put­ting vol­un­teers through a vir­tu­al sub­way or un­der­ground ride to gauge par­a­noid ten­den­cies.