Reaction time and stress tolerance of police officers in specific and non-specific tests in professional self-defence training
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Quality of Life in Interdisciplinary Approach. World Scientific Congress 22-24. 11. 2018, Kochcice, Poland. Book of abstracts. |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | stress, self-defence, police training, law enforcement training, shooting |
| Description | Introduction: Professional self-defence for law enforcement units is a highly demanding process both from the physiological and psychological point of view. The well-timed and quick reaction is often needed when jeopardy appears. Both single reaction time (SRT) and choice reaction time (CRT) are critical at the beginning of defensive action when all recourses should be activated. On the other hand, stress tolerance (ST) of police officers is essential when the task is ongoing in the middle or extended period (e. g. when defensive and offensive actions alternate during the more protracted shootout). Methods: We used two non-specific tests by Vienna test system in our research. Reaction test (RT) for SRT evaluation and determination test (DT) for ST evaluation. Afterwards, we used two specific shooting test for quickness and accuracy evaluation among police officers. The research sample consisted of n=19 male police training instructors (age M=36.37, SD=4.69) with the length of practice of M=6.28, SD=4.11. Results: We observed the following result in all four tests. Single reaction time measured in the RT for the research sample was M=261.56 ms, SD=33.60 ms, which corresponds to the 66.28 percentile of age norm (SD= 24.44). In the determination test, three main values were evaluated according to age norm. Correct reactions percentile M=45.56, SD=23.37, incorrect reactions percentile M=61.67, SD=28.96, skipped signals percentile M=51.44, SD=28.77. In the 1st specific shooting test, the performance was M=2.18 s, SD=0,36 s, in the 2nd specific shooting test M=1.73 s, SD=0.35 s. Conclusion: Single reaction time among police training instructors n=18 corresponded to the 66.28 percentile of age norm. Stress tolerance of tested persons was on the middle level with a M=45.56 percentile of correct reactions, the M=61.67 percentile of incorrect reactions and the M=51.44 percentile of skipped signals. Combination of all four test is a valuable tool for reactivity evaluation in law enforcement training. |