Naturalistic Decision Making: Taking a (Cognitive) Step Back to Take Two Steps Forward in Understanding Experience-Based Decisions

The field of naturalistic decision making research has hugely advanced understanding of how experts make decisions in operational environments. However, there is still a drive to improve the credibility and transferability of such research. In the current work four studies are presented which used similar methods. Standardised measures of cognitive function were administered to Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) after completion of immersive tactical training scenarios. The tests were chosen to examine differences between information modalities (e.g., visual vs. phonological). Results indicate that the demand associated with tactical training scenarios led to cognitive adaptions, resulting in a significant increase in visual processing capacity and reductions in phonological processing capacity. The findings indicate that an adaptive switch to visual information modality may underpin experience-based decision making by AFOs. The findings provide insight into why training and policy should keep verbal and auditory demands placed on AFOs to a minimum.