Master Colloquium Janine Brinkmann (EST) Synchrony in heartbeat: Exploring physiological co-occurrence during collaborative action of police-teams

Speaker  

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Janine Brinkmann

Title

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Synchrony in heartbeat: Exploring physiological co-occurrence during collaborative action of police-teams

Abstract

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In police, action teams are tasked with ensuring public safety under high-stress and rapidly evolving, unpredictable situations. Previous research has shown that effective collaboration and coping with stress are essential for high team performance. However, understanding how they coordinate their actions during moments of high stress on a team level is limited. This study used a multimodal design to capture police team members' co-occurrence of physiological stress and coordinative actions during collaboration in a virtual reality setting. Sociometric badges were used to measure their behaviour and stress level based on the heart rate variability to analyse physiological co-occurrence between team members. In total, four police teams of ten police officers participated, and physiological co-occurrence between four dyads within their teams was calculated. This exploratory study revealed that moments of physiological co-occurrence occurred in all four teams. Second, patterns in stress levels and contextual factors surrounding these moments were identified. Third, in moments of high co-occurrence, teams engaged in a wider variety of coordinative actions, while in moments without co-occurrence, they shifted their attention from the team to the suspect. Fourth, one team was identified as more effective and three as less effective, but the study did not find a significant difference in their amount of physiological co-occurrence. Overall, the study provides evidence supporting the significance of physiological co-occurrence within police teams. Stress experienced by police team members extends beyond the individual level and can be shared during moments where coordination is necessary to effectively adapt to changing situations. Thereby, the study demonstrated that virtual reality is a promising method not only for training purposes of police but also for research purposes for fine-grained investigations of complex and multifaceted collaboration processes during high-stress circumstances.

Date

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July 27, 2023

Time

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11:00 hrs.

Building/Room

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Ravelijn 2502

Graduation     Committee    

:

dr. Marcella Hoogeboom

dr. Ilona Friso-van den Bos

Lida David