In the midst of life-threatening situations requiring split-second decisions, police officers with a higher ability to multitask are less likely to shoot unarmed persons when feeling threatened during video simulations, a new Georgia State University study suggests.
Heather Kleider, Dominic Parrott and Tricia King, assistant professors of psychology at Georgia State, have taken a unique look at officer-involved shooting situations, signs of negative emotions and working memory capacity — the capacity to perform multiple mental tasks, such as reasoning, at the same time.
Other studies have examined factors such as ethnicity, stereotypes, neighborhood crime rates and other factors, but this study examines the effects of police officers’ characteristics on shooting decisions.
“In cognitive psychology, operation span, or working memory, is an overarching cognitive mechanism that indicates the ability to multitask, and the amount of available capacity to perform tasks varies by individual and situation,” Kleider said. “People with a higher capacity are able to keep more things ‘in play’ at one time.”
Urban police officers participated in the study, completing a test of working memory capacity, and then watched a video of an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of the officer, during which time negative affect and stress indicators were measured; including elevated heart rates and increased sweating.
Following the video, officers participated in a computer-based simulation where they were required to make split-second decisions whether to shoot or not to shoot someone, based on 80 slides that presented a person holding either a gun or a harmless object like a cell phone, for only a fraction of a second. Officers then pressed either a “shoot” or a “don’t shoot” button.
Analyzing the data, the researchers found that lower levels of working memory capacity increased the likelihood of shooting unarmed people among those officers who had higher levels of negative emotionality — a score determined by comparing readings of facial movement and heartbeat rates between a baseline reading and readings taken during the stressful situation.
Officers with a higher working memory capacity seemed to buffer officers against the negative effects of a threat when making shooting decisions.
“An important thing to consider is that some decision making requires controlled processing wherein balanced/accurate decisions require impulse control” Kleider explained. “For some people, this usurps a substantial amount of available working memory capacity to control impulses, and if you are someone with a lower capacity, it's harder to do.”
Psychologists are not sure whether working memory capacity can be increased with training, but Kleider and her colleagues are planning to investigate this, and are also planning to work with several police departments on a broader study to see if training and years of experience influence shooting decisions.
The study, “Shooting Behavior: How Working Memory and Negative Emotionality Influence Police Officer Shoot Decisions” will appear in a 2009 edition of Applied Cognitive Psychology.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Cops who multitask well less likely to shoot unarmed persons when threatened, study shows
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Former Clayton County Police Officer Sentenced for Sending Obscene Matter on the Internet
CASEY AUSTIN CARMICHAEL, 29, of Peachtree City, Georgia, was sentenced October 16, 2008, by United States District Judge Willis B. Hunt, Jr, on a charge of attempting to transfer obscene matter over the internet to a person under 16 years old.
United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said of today’s sentencing, “As a police officer, this defendant abused the public’s trust and his police computer to do the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do. Instead of fighting crime and arresting those who would do harm to our children and our community, he became a criminal and a threat to children.”
CARMICHAEL was sentenced to 2 years, 9 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. CARMICHAEL pleaded guilty to the charge on August 14, 2008.
According to United States Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court: In September 2007, CARMICHAEL, while on duty as a Patrolman with the Clayton County Police Department, used his Department-issued computer to transfer obscene materials to a person CARMICHAEL believed to be girl under 16 years of age. CARMICHAEL had contacted her in a “chat room” on the Internet, and had conversations with her relating to obscene materials over several days while on duty as a Patrolman. The underage “girl” was actually an FBI Agent working undercover with the Safe Child Task Force. CARMICHAEL was dismissed from the Clayton County Police Department upon his indictment in this case.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the FBI and its Safe Child Task Force.
Assistant United States Attorney David E. McClernan prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney's Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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