Trish,
You've started an excellant thread - anything that makes us think, self assess, study and learn is only beneficial.
On reading all the responses there seems to be a common theme. Experience and training play a major role in the way a pilot reacts to a given scenario. To this end, why not focus your research on (or part of it) "panic" (or whatever term you decide on) versus experience versus training.
Take into account aircraft currency, route currency, flight crew familiarity with eachother, etc..... (can go on and on).
Will be interested in your end product.