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Example research essay topic: Of Stress On Decision Making - 1,641 words

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... lly what it says and then testing. Looking back is analyzing if you could have obtained the same result through a different method (Thompson, 2001, p. 176). In theory this type of approach should allow you to make the best decision, provided that you have the mental energy, unlimited time and all the relevant information to carry out the decision analysis. But we know from our everyday experience that when we are in a familiar situation, we take many decision almost automatically on the basis of our experience. We do not consciously generate and evaluate options, we simply know the right thing to do (Flin, 2004, pg 30).

This may be called intuition (Flin, 1997, pg 226) but in fact to achieve these judgments some very sophisticated mental activity is taking place. In the last decade there has been growing interest by applied psychologist into naturalist decision making (NDM). NDM has been defined as the way people use their experience to make decisions in field settings. In typical NDM environments (e. g.

flight decks, trauma units, warship command centres, police incident sites, control rooms and fire ground), information comes from many sources, is often incomplete, can be ambiguous, and is prone to rapid change. In such emergency, the incident commander and her or his team are working in a high stress, high risk, time pressured setting and their lives s and those affected by the emergency, (including their own rescue personnel) may be dependent on their decisions (Flin 2004, pg 30 - 31). Courses of actions are compared against the situation, not against each other. A satisfying solution (e. g. good enough) is the goal, rather than a best or optimal solution (Shambach, 1996) due to time and risk constraints.

Several researchers have suggested that exposing people to stress in training may inoculate them from the effects of stress in task performance. Over the years, stress inoculation has grown in popularity. In fact, several cognitive-behavioural stress-coping training programs have been shown to be effective (Cannon-Bowers and Salas, 2000). "Decisions, decisions. Theyre at the heart of leadership, they dominate managers workdays, and in law enforcement and in military combat they often mean life or death" (Auerbach, 1999). Considering this quote we note that commanders decisions are coming under increasing scrutiny following major incidents. Although it is known that decision making under these circumstances are done under conditions of risk, time pressure and a dynamic environment (Flin, 2004, pg 29) -We have two cases (knightly, Rigby) where police commanders have taken decisions in the heat of the moment and found to have been negligent and one (Hughes) where the circumstances of the critical decision were such that negligence was not accepted.

There is no general ruling and such claims will be dealt with on a case by case basis. The contributory stress factor on commanders today is that there is a new emphasis on the commanders responsibilities for the health and safety of subordinates deployed at an incident. The need for commanders to take a serious approach to risk assessment and risk management is becoming very clear (Flin, 1997, pg 221 - 222). Stress is detrimental to rational decision making processes if one does no take appropriate measures to prevent this from happening. Many people experience stress on a daily basis. It is very important for people in occupations that require split second, life and death decisions to make them rationally and to take the necessary steps to do so.

These steps consist of appropriate training and conditioning oneself to make rational choices when under stress or stressful conditions. Why study the effects of stress? Understanding how decision making under stress differs from "normal" decision making is crucial to developing systems with better decision making. While culture plays some role in decision making and both experience and training can be used to reduce the natural effects of stress, all human beings will alter their behavior in predictable ways when they perceive extraordinary pressures.

There are natural tendencies to reduce the perceived time to make a decision, and to perceive threat and hostility more strongly than during normal decision making. Moreover, the strategic use of uncertainty and ambiguity as well as selected bargaining tactics can be expected to increase or decrease perceived threat. web Decision Making Under Stress Phil Massa Training includes changing our attitudes towards stressors and training of certain patterns of behavior. As mentioned before, stress is a defensive physiological reaction. Since our body has a universal protective mechanism, we must try to develop a universal physical reaction through training. The idea is to prevent panic in a stressful situation to achieve the best possible thought process and outcome.

Ultimately a way of rational behavior can become a habit allowing one to eventually forget about frustration. Over time, a rational way of thinking and behaving becomes habit taking the place of frustration. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the processes of perceiving new information and planning of ones actions in the face of stressors. Another key idea of changing our attitude is dealing with preparation. The greatest source of panic is the thought of not being prepared enough. Yet, one still tries to perform to perfection when perfection is out of reach due to not being fully prepared.

One must realize that under stress you have to do what is necessary and only that instead of thinking what you could have done had you been better prepared. Preparation is also part of the second strategy of training. The second strategy of training relies on the forming of certain patterns of behavior. These patterns of behavior must be more specific than general.

A modifying of a universal psychical response would require hard training and still most likely be thrown aside in the face of stress for a panic filled response. Thus, if the intent is to develop a set of reactions, the chance of them working is greater with more specificity (web). A good example is law enforcement. Policemen will always feel stress in the moment of catching an armed criminal, no matter how experienced, skilled, or intrepid he / she is. However, he / she will not forget how to shoot, what grasp to apply, and how to put handcuffs on the criminal. These are skills that have been developed as automated responses for a specific kind of stress which are still effective even under severe stress (web).

A second example of such skills can be found in firefighters. It has been found that firefighters have learned how to recognize signals in their environment, and they have learned how to work safely in their dynamic environment. There are several operational procedures which have been assembled to ensure firefighters return home safely. These are procedures that can be followed with conditioned responses by the firefighters much like the same governing procedures that allow policeman to act under conditioned response.

As mentioned earlier, when stress is present, memory is impaired and the inability to recognize the situation occurs, which is a violation of the RPD model. The struggle for firefighters is when faced with a decision to engage or disengage from their location in a highly dynamic environment under extreme stress. This is not a conditioned response. Tactical firewire decisions can only be framed in the context of each firefighters own unique experiences.

So what must firefighters do to combat stress in those decision making situations? Like with the police departments, firefighters have gone under more extensive training to better understand how to treat a new situation. Firefighters are taught to examine each new situation with respect to past situations that they mentally simulate in their minds. Each new firefighter has a safety conscious mentor who helps the new firefighter along the way as he / she gathers experiences to store as mental data. It is only through a managing of these experiences that firefighters are eventually able to act rationally in the face of stress when making that decision to engage or disengage (http: //energy, state, giv / hearings / 107 - 1 /forests / t hirtymile fire / gleason . htm).

Bibliography Auberbach, A. (1999). "Making Decisions Under Stress: Implications for Individual and Team Training. " Personnel Psychology (52) (4), 1050 - 1053. Available from: web [accessed 15 / 05 / 04 ] Beatty, (1999) Available from: web [accessed 20 / 05 / 04 ] Cannon-Bowers, Janis, A. & Salas, Edwards (1998). Making Decisions Under Stress. Washington: American Psychological Association. Changing Our Attitude Toward Stressors. Available from: web [accessed 17 / 05 / 04 ] Decision Making Under Stress (a).

Available from: web [accessed 18 / 05 / 04 ] Decision Making Under Stress (b). Available from: web [accessed 19 / 05 / 04 ] Flin, R. (2004). Crisis and Disaster Management. Distance Learning Manual. University of Portsmouth. Flin, R. (1997).

Sitting in the Hot Seat. Leaders and teams for Critical Incident Management. Klein, G. (1998). Sources of Power How People Make Decisions. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Massa, P. , Watkins, C. , Partridge, B (2002).

Decision Making Under Stress. Available from: web [accessed 16 / 05 / 05 ] Walker, K. , Nasa, I. T. , Turner, J. (2003 b) Make-Up Your Mind -- Improving Your Decision-Making Skills. Available from: web [accessed 16 / 05 / 04 ] Thinking and Decision Making Under Stress. Available from: web [accessed 18 / 05 / 04 ] Shambach, A. (1996) Strategic Leadership Workshop: "Strategic Decision-making in the Information Age, " U. S Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania Thompson, Leigh, L. (2001).

The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Walker, K. , Torres, N. I and Turner, J. (2003 a): Make-Up Your Mind: Improving Your Decision-Making Skills: Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville. Available from: web [accessed 18 / 05 / 04 ]


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