The Effect of Brief Situational Awareness Training in a Police Shooting Simulator: An Experimental Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of situational awareness (SA) training in a shooting simulator. Forty 1st-year students from the Norwegian Police University College participated in this study. They were divided into 2 groups and matched with respect to sex and previous weapon experience. The SA-trained group received scenario-based training with freeze technique and reflection based on the SA stages, whereas the control group received skill training. During the test phase SA was measured both subjectively and objectively and performance was measured by the number of shots fired and number of hits. The results showed that both subjective and observer ratings reported the SA-trained group to have higher SA. This was also true for performance, and the SA-trained group showed less mental workload measured as suppression of heart rate variability during the execution of the mission. These results indicate that brief SA-specific training in a shoot–not shoot simulator can improve police cadets' SA in critical situations.