Police with higher multitasking abilities less likely to shoot unarmed persons.' Georgia State U.

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http://www.physorg.com/news157636804.html

In the midst of life-threatening situations requiring split-second decisions, police officers with a higher ability to multitask are less likely to shoot unarmed persons when feeling threatened during video simulations, a new Georgia State University study suggests.

Heather Kleider, Dominic Parrott and Tricia King, assistant professors of psychology at Georgia State, have taken a unique look at officer-involved shooting situations, signs of negative emotions and working memory capacity — the capacity to perform multiple mental tasks, such as reasoning, at the same time.

Other studies have examined factors such as ethnicity, stereotypes, neighborhood crime rates and other factors, but this study examines the effects of police officers' characteristics on shooting decisions.

"In cognitive psychology, operation span, or working memory, is an overarching cognitive mechanism that indicates the ability to multitask, and the amount of available capacity to perform tasks varies by individual and situation," Kleider said. "People with a higher capacity are able to keep more things 'in play' at one time."
Urban police officers participated in the study, completing a test of working memory capacity, and then watched a video of an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of the officer, during which time negative affect and stress indicators were measured; including elevated heart rates and increased sweating.

Following the video, officers participated in a computer-based simulation where they were required to make split-second decisions whether to shoot or not to shoot someone, based on 80 slides that presented a person holding either a gun or a harmless object like a cell phone, for only a fraction of a second. Officers then pressed either a "shoot" or a "don't shoot" button.

Analyzing the data, the researchers found that lower levels of working memory capacity increased the likelihood of shooting unarmed people among those officers who had higher levels of negative emotionality — a score determined by comparing readings of facial movement and heartbeat rates between a baseline reading and readings taken during the stressful situation.

Officers with a higher working memory capacity seemed to buffer officers against the negative effects of a threat when making shooting decisions.

"An important thing to consider is that some decision making requires controlled processing wherein balanced/accurate decisions require impulse control" Kleider explained. "For some people, this usurps a substantial amount of available working memory capacity to control impulses, and if you are someone with a lower capacity, it's harder to do."

Psychologists are not sure whether working memory capacity can be increased with training, but Kleider and her colleagues are planning to investigate this, and are also planning to work with several police departments on a broader study to see if training and years of experience influence shooting decisions.

More information: The study, "Shooting Behavior: How Working Memory and Negative Emotionality Influence Police Officer Shoot Decisions" will appear in a 2009 edition of Applied Cognitive Psychology (in press).

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Fascinating. Thank you for posting this.

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Ho-kaaay. According to this study (for which somebody was paid big bucks, and you betcha) the more info you are able to process in a split second, the less chance there is that you will make a wrong decision in a split-second case.

NO DUUUUH!. :banghead:

Plus, the study was conducted using two BUTTONS: "shoot" and "don't shoot". It would have maybe been valid if the subjects had been given a replica firearm wired to the computer and the time measured as to whether the subject (a) drew the weapon (b) fired at the target or (c) declined to fire and further measured (d) the time between (1) presentation of the "threat" and (2)drawing of the weapon and/or (3) the actual firing of the shot.

As it is the "study" (which was obviously conducted by eggheads who know NOTHING about firearms, police work, or self defense but who are trained in analyzing the behaviour of chimps) throws an additional decision into the mix: which button to push. That feature essentially removed the situation presented from any semblance of reality and divorced it from the "shoot/don't shoot training avaiable from most modern poice training agencies and for that matter many CHP/CCW training courses.

About 11 years ago I was the security manager for an apartment house and was attacked by a trespasser I had ordered to leave. The trespasser attacked me with a jackhandle and I pulled my weapon. he responded by trying to attack me with his back turned (knowing that a shot in the back would be hard to prove as self-defense). I responded with a shot of pepper spray and clobbered him upside the head with the revolver. He kept coming, holding one eye open to take aim for a swing; and I kept dodging. (he was on drugs and all the pepper did was swell his eyes shut). Meanwhile the nieghbors called the Arlington Police, who responded with several cars.

The first officer on the scene drew his Glock and ordered us both to "drop it and get on the ground". I IMMEDIATELYplaced my weapon on the ground, kicked it away from us, and raised my hands HIGH. I then followed the officer's instructons to lay facedown and spread-eagle. We were both immediately handcuffed. Then the police sorted things out. The trespasser was arrested and I drove down to the jail to formally swear out the warrant. And yeah, I kept my gun.

When I got back the neighbors were still out discussing the excitement and several of them had been concerned for me. One of them asked if Ihad been scared when the offficer pointed his Glock at me. I said: "hell no. I knew that as long as I did exactly what he told me to do when he told me to do it, there wouldn't be a problem."

That Arlington cop handled the situation marvellously, and I think most of them do. It is great to have the means of self-defense, but when the cops come on the scene it is best to let the pros take over and follow instructions. Unless, of course, they announce they have come to disarm you by government fiat. Then you have a choice. Let u hope that day never comes. But I bet the idiots who sponsored this waste of money "study" cannot wait for that day.

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So - someone who isn't a moron is less likely to do something... moronic, if I may paraphrase.

-ljp

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Legba wrote:

So - someone who isn't a moron is less likely to do something... moronic, if I may paraphrase.

-ljp

Click to expand...

Nope. Bart Simpson might be better at this than Lisa:

Multi-tasking ability is different from general IQ.

This study means you could be generally really smart (and -- by the way -- mentally very stable) and still very bad at shoot-don't shoot decisions.


I don't think that's news, but I have never seen any effort to prove it empirically before.

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First lesson first day for my boyscouts :

It is 2:30 AM on a passenger train when the conductor looks up and sees a box car laying on its side and blocking the tracks straight ahead . The conductor pushes a lever that makes the train go even faster . BAM SMASH BOOM

The train stays on the tracks as it kncks the box car out of the way .

As the train stops at the next small town a young lady reporter is there to get the story . She aks the conductor how in the world he reacted so quickly and knew what to do .

" When I was 12 years old I knew that I would be a train conductor . I sat done and thought about all the things that could happen way back then . And when this happened I did not even have to think about it . "

Second lesson :

A couple of you guys are down at the gas station getting a soda when a Lambo Countach pulls up with two babes wearing latex . One of the ladies invites you to a cocaine party . When do you decide what you will dowith thistype of situation ?

You decide ... now ... NOW

Remember when Dirty Harry shot the target of the police officer and lost the tournament ? Harry had figured out who the BGs were .

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The conductor?? what happened, a mutiny? the engineer "drives" the train.

Here's a funny story. A guy kills the entire family next door and gets sentenced to die in the electric chair. When he is strapped in he is asked to make his final statement and he says : "When I was a little kid I wanted to either run a train or lead an orchestra. Now I can do both, because in a few seconds I am gonna be a conductor!"

A little electric chair humor, there, :celebrate