ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a review of the research literature, which addresses the impact of stress on the human body and how stress may impact an officer's perception and performance when faced with a survival stress situation. Stress has been described as both an environmental variable and an emotional response to a specific situation. It is an initial part of the survival stress response assisting in increasing assessment of the immediate and the future. The human brain is a dynamic ecosystem and is constantly receiving information from the senses about its current state, concerning environmental and internal stimuli, various organs, and the chemical and nutritive state of the blood. Perception is critical to existing, which translates to survival. A perceived threat of death in a deadly force encounter will automatically activate the SNS (Sympathetic Nervous System). The perceptual distortions and misperceptions experienced impaired the respondents' ability to correctly recall certain events during the scenario.
