Understanding Naturalistic Decision Making Under Life Threatening Conditions

Motivation – Understand decision making of mission critical personnel (e.g., police, firefighters, warriors, etc.) when life and limb are threatened. Research approach – Consilience (Wilson, 1999) was used to synthesize predator-prey dynamics, emotionprimed NDM and intuitive cognition to understand decision making under threat. Findings – Advances in ethology, cognitive and neurosciences do provide a means to understand the mechanisms that modulate decision making under threat. Research limitations/Implications – The paper presents an ad hoc theoretical model, with partial empirical support, on the predilections and frailties of NDM under threat. Further research is necessary to validate this approach. Originality/Value – Current research in NDM has not satisfactorily addressed the cognitive mechanisms driving decision making under threat. This paper attempts to close that gap. Take away message – A formal approach to study NDM under life threatening conditions has been proposed. This can be used to inform the design of systems and training programs for mission critical personnel.