
Raôul Oudejans has been researching performance under pressure in the Police for 15 years. For example: how does stress and fear affect shooting performance? How does stress affect the apprehension and self-defense skills of police officers? Or what are the effect of “stress” on gaze behavior (visual attention). We also talk about the ‘embodied choice framework’ (your body is part of DM!), planned disruptions and the ‘The integrated model of anxiety and perceptual-motor performance’. Partly under his guidance, PhD dissertations on performing under pressure with the police came about by Arne Nieuwenhuys, Peter Renden and recently Lisanne Kleygrewe on Police VR training, among others. So time to talk to Raôul himself! With the main question: how to prepare police officers to perform under pressure? And the answer is amazingly obvious but that does not make it easy to implement.
Podcast Video
Topics
Yes or No questions
Do police trainers need to follow a sport psychology course?
How is science used in police training?
Structural implementation in police education
Training for Excellence program and the implementation challenge
Dissertation A. Nieuwenhuys: Effects of anxiety on police officers’ shooting behavior under pressure
Dissertation P. Renden: Police performance under pressure: Arrest and self- defence skills
Dissertation L. Kleygrewe: Immersed in Training: Advancing Police Practice with Virtual Reality
Is stress the same as anxiety?
The integrated model of anxiety and perceptual-motor performance

Stress and attention
Knife attacks, anxiety and motor behavior
VR Police training for high stress situations
Planned disruptions
Terrorist knife attack Amsterdam CS
Gaze behavior , visual attention
From external v.s. internal focus of attention to task relevant v.s. task irrelevant visual attention.
Quiet-eye training
Embodied choice framework (your body is part of DM!)
Bronnen
https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/ra%C3%B4ul-oudejans/publications/