Did you know that “freezing” is actually very important for performing well and making good decisions under high pressure? I did not. Did you know that what we often mean by freeze is not freeze but ‘fright’? And that as first responder trainers we should better speak about choking under pressure instead of freezing! I did not know about the difference between a ‘good’ and a ‘bad’ freeze and how the autonomic nervous system acts different in both cases? And we only learn to perform better under pressure if we bring participant in a state of pressure where there is stress and it is linked to action and decision-making. And to my suprise: that you don’t need realistic VR simulations for this at all.
Their research shows that low heart rate (HR) and high HRV under threat is associated with better perception (Lojowska ea 2016; de voogd ea 2022) faster acute shooting decisions (Hashemi ea 2019) better cost-benefit analysis in approach-avoidance decisions (Klaassen in prep). However it is not only linked to better acute performance but also predictive of better stress-resilience in a longitudinal study in 400 police officers (Jaswetz in prep).
Finally, did you know that there is a game developed by Prof. Karin Roelofs and her team @ Radboud University that trains all this for police officers!
I spoke with Karin Roelofs , a Professor of Experimental Psychopathology at the Behavioural Science Institute (BSI) and chair of the Affective Neuroscience group at the Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour (DI), Radboud University Nijmegen (RU). She studies and follows police officers on the topic of dealing with acute and chronic stress and the relation with performance and mental health outcomes.
Topics in the video part one:
Introduction
Police paradox (staying calm in stressful situations)
What is Freezing and why is it important for better performance?
Important for acute situations but also for long term mental health
Voluntary freezing (low heart rate and so on)
Is Freezing good or bad?
The autonomous nervous systems in freezing are optimal with parasympatic as a break
The metaphor of a car race, release the break
The fright state and the difference with freezing
How people behave while in fright
Choking under pressure as a better term for ‘bad freeze aka fright
Long term stress resilience
Longitudinal police study on acute stressors
Who is susceptible to mental health problems
Predictors of resilience (control autonomic responses)
Physiological mechanisms of the stress reaction
VR game based on biofeedback
VR game forces officers to recognize their state and to regulate their ANS
How important is realism in a VR game?
Ecological validity is important, not the visuals
Action and DM under stress are key elements
Using set shifting
What mental skills are taught
The importance of breathing for self-regulation
Officers choose their own strategy
How does this training transfer to the real world?
How to use this technology on the street (giving reminders)
Developing triggers/ habits to apply skills in practice
Is biofeedback material required for this training?
Register – Regulate – Reflect
Personalized que
Sniper study and the importance of personalized approach
Literature
Papers
- Roelofs, K. (2017). Freeze for Action. Neurobiological mechanisms in animal and human freezing. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 372(1718). pii: 20160206. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0206..
- Michela A, van Peer JM, Brammer JC, Nies A, van Rooij MMJW, Oostenveld R, Dorrestijn W, Smit AS, Roelofs K, Klumpers F, Granic I. 2022. Deep-Breathing Biofeedback Trainability in a Virtual-Reality Action Game: A Single-Case Design Study With Police Trainers. Frontiers in Psychology, 13:806163. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.806163 (a follow-up in 50 police trainers is currently under review)
- Hashemi MM, Gladwin TE, de Valk NM, Zhang W, Kaldewaij R, van Ast V, Koch SBJ, Klumpers F, Roelofs K. (2019). Neural Dynamics of Shooting Decisions and the Switch from Freeze to Fight. Nature Sci Rep. 9(1):4240. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40917-8.
And for the die hearts interested in neural and autonomic interactions during freezing:
- Roelofs K, Dayan P (2022) Freezing revisited: coordinated autonomic and central optimization of threat coping. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 23, 568–580 Perspective DOI: 10.1038/s41583-022-00608-2
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