Performance Decrement under Psychological Stress

Army trainees unaware that they were serving in an experiment were, under controlled conditions, led to believe that either an aircraft in which they were passengers was about to make an emergency crash landing, or they had caused serious injury to a buddy by a mistake in wiring up explosive charges.

Abstract

Army trainees unaware that they were serving in an experiment were, under controlled conditions, led to believe that either (1) an aircraft in which they were passengers was about to make an emergency crash landing, (2) their outpost was now an artillery impact area, or (3) they had caused serious injury to a buddy by a mistake in wiring up explosive charges. They were required to demonstrate knowledge of crash-landing procedures or repair a malfunctioning telephone to summon aid. Average performance under threat was significantly poorer than performance of the same act by other Ss motivated without threat. Soldiers with more military experience than trainees react differently both to the threat condition (they do better) and to the comparable non-threat condition (poorer).