I think have found some potentially useful psychological information that relates to the human response to danger.
How, Why We React To Danger As We Do - tribunedigital-sunsentinel
How, Why We React To Danger As We Do
March 26, 1987|By GAYLE YOUNG, United Press International
When a Pennsylvania official drew a gun from his briefcase during a news conference earlier this year, it took reporters precious seconds to realize he was about to kill himself. By that time, they said afterwards, it was too late.
Last July, a retired police officer quickly drew his gun and subdued a deranged killer who had pulled a sword on a crowded Staten Island ferry before some witnesses even realized what was happening.
A recent study of 500 fire victims showed - that when confronted with a blaze - men invariably stepped forward to fight it while women raced away to alert potential victims and save lives.
When seconds count, why do people react the way they do?
Psychologists say how people react in emergencies depends on a variety of factors, most of them tied to human instinct.
But they dispute the idea that the world is divided into cowards and heroes.
``Most heroes later say privately they wouldn`t have done what they did if they knew the risks they were taking with their own lives,`` said John Dovidio, chairman of psychology at Colgate University. ``What makes a person focus on the gun and another focus on the victim during an emergency is simply a quirk.``
Researchers say when emergencies strike, most people become extremely tense and agitated. Their attention focuses exclusively on the danger and their thoughts become simple and methodical.
``Accident victims sometimes say the few seconds before the crash was like slow motion,`` Dovidio said. ``That`s because all their attention is focused on the upcoming danger and they process it richly.``
The ability humans have to create a sort of mental tunnel vision during emergencies is seen by psychologists as a survival technique developed over evolution.
``You want to process danger very well, not a lot of information that is no use to the situation,`` Dovidio said.
Once danger is perceived, how people react varies, researchers said. When they have only seconds to react, some risk their lives for strangers, others may try to escape and still others freeze in panic.
But researchers have seen patterns of behavior in their studies of human response. For instance, it is clear that some split-second reactions can be learned.
Police and emergency personnel who are drilled in how to respond in emergencies often perform deeds within moments that are later deemed heroic, like the retired police officer who captured the Staten Island ferry swordsman by firing a gunshot into the air.
``People have a tendency to think simply, so they act best if they have had a drill,`` said John Keating, professor of psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Researchers also said studies have indicated that witnesses to violence usually focus on the weapon and not on the victim. As a result, the first reaction of most people at the scene of violent crime is to cower.
But there are exceptions to this rule.
``If the victim is known by the witness, then the victim, not the weapon, becomes a primary focus,`` Dovidio said. ``That`s why we have people running back into burning houses to save relatives or friends.``
But people who get easily excited appear to have a natural tendency to ignore the weapon and focus in on the victim, Dovidio said.
These are the heroes who later say they would not have risked their lives if they had realized the danger, but who at the moment of crisis plunge forward to yank a victim from the path of an oncoming train or dive into an icy river to save a drowning person.
Gender also may be a factor in how people react in emergencies. Keating said his fire studies indicate men are much more likely to react aggressively and women intuitively.
``The men see the fire and want to eliminate the danger while the women tend to think about others first,`` he said.
Of particular interest to me is the "mental tunnel vision" response to danger. I've seen that at least twice in my life, where time seems to move in slow motion. In both cases, I was evaluating a question that was a critical constraint and my mind rapidly processed the question numerous times sequentially in an extremely short period. Questions like: "Can I pull any more AOA?" or "Where will I stop?"
I discussed this discovery with my daughter who then relayed her experiences in interviewing people for a job opening (she can be intimidating). She asked a simple logical question that had a correct answer that required good logical reasoning. She stated that she was amazed that people who started out with an incorrect initial logical analysis of the problem were often unable to restructure their thoughts to find the correct answer even when she attempted to coach them into the correct chain of thought!
It appears (to me) that these observations may provide tools for understanding the otherwise inexplicable pilot behaviors observed at the fundamental level in the AF447 and QZ8501 accidents.