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Background High Arousal and the Increased Use of Beta Command Types in Stressful Police Interactions Samantha Tupy, Ryan Endersbe, & Dan Houlihan, PhD Minnesota State University, Mankato William Lewinski, Ph.D. & Patricia Thiem Force Science Institute

 Command: verbal behavior directed toward another

person with the goal of obtaining a verbal or physical response  Command Types:  Alpha Command: direct & clear command  Beta Command: indirect & ambiguous

 Narrative Statements: any statement that does not

require any response by the recipient

Background  Compliance: a response that is appropriate to the

command within 5 seconds of the command being issued  Alpha commands have been associated with higher

compliance rates

Why Command Type is Important

 Beta commands are most often used in high stress

situations

 Beta commands add to the ambiguity of a situation

 Beta commands have been associated with higher non-

compliance rates

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Beta Command Cycle Beta command

Increase perpetrator and police officer frustration and aggression

Heart Rate Categories  Average: heart rate between 50-100

Perpetrator confusion and frustration

 Above Average: heart rate between 101-150

 Maximum: heart rate between 151-200 Increase beta command use (Tupy, Marsh, Martin, & Houlihan, 2013)

Officer Training  Desensitization: low or average heart rate during a high

stress situation compared to baseline

 Low or average heart rate is defined as falling within or

below the Average category

Purpose of Current Study  Determine the rate of alpha vs. beta command usage

among officers under stress  Compare heart rate (stress levels) of officers against

command type used  High Stress: elevated heart rate during a high stress

situation in comparison to baseline

 Investigate the potential need for desensitization

training among officers

 Elevated is defined as any heart rate falling within or above

the Above Average category

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Current Study  Total of 94 training simulation videos were obtained

by the Force Science Institute (FSI)  Heart rate data obtained from FSI  Training videos were of real officers engaged in a

training simulation  IRB approval obtained

Data Collection – Verbal

Training Simulation Scenarios  Expected Outcome: unfolds as a ‘routine traffic stop’  Verbal Aggression: unfolds with perpetrator

becoming agitated and verbally aggressive (e.g., yelling)  Weapon Stimulus: begins similarly to the previous

two scenarios - - then perpetrator pulls a gun and attempts to shoot the officer

IOA – Verbal

 Transcription of the 94 training video simulations

 45% of the videos were randomly assessed for IOA

 Trained on the operational definitions of command types

 Point-by-point agreement was used

(alpha/beta) & narratives  IOA was assessed before data coding commenced (95%

agreement)

 Achieved IOA of 99% for Transcription accuracy &

92% for Coding

 Independently coded the Weapon Stimulus transcriptions  IOA was assessed after coding was complete

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Data Collection Heart Rates

Heart Rate Comparisons  Expected Outcome HR mean (M = 80.60 , SD =

13.93) was significantly lower than Verbal Aggression mean (M = 116.24, SD = 19.70), t(93) = 19.37, p < 0.01

 FSI provided a spread sheet of participant heart rates  HR obtained for participants at expected outcome,

verbal aggression, and weapon stimulus scenarios

 Expected Outcome HR mean (M = 80.60, SD = 13.93)

was significantly lower than the Weapon mean (M = 123.16, SD = 19.91), t(91) = 21.56, p < 0.01

 All officers had the initial heart rate & verbal

aggression heart rate recorded

 Verbal Aggression mean (M = 116.24, SD = 19.70)

was trending toward towards being meaningfully lower than the Weapon mean (M = 123.16, SD = 19.91), t(91) = 4.89, p = 0.05

 Only 2 participants did not have the weapon stimulus

heart rate recorded for unknown reasons

Example of Participant Heart Rate Change

Mean Heart Rate for Scenarios 116.24

123.16

80.6

Heart Rate Mean

Expected Outcome Scenario

Verbal Aggression Scenario

Weapon Stimulus Scenario

Heart Rate

130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

137 119

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Initial

Heart Rate

Verbal

Weapon

Training Simulation Scenarios

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Heart Rate

Example of Participant Heart Rate Change 190 180 170 160 150 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

177

169

111

Heart Rate

Initial

Verbal

Weapon

Training Simulation Scenarios

Frequency of Command Types 70%

Verbal Exchanges Overall 53%

58%

60%

52%

52%

50%

51% 42%

40%

50% Command Type

30% 20%

48%

10%

47%

0%

Verbal Exchange

49% 48%

46% Alpha

Beta

Commands

Narrative

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Verbal Exchange Break Down 60%

Percentage of Beta Commands per Heart Rate Category 90%

52%

83%

80%

50%

70% 40%

60% 28%

30%

Total Oral-Verbal Behavior

20%

20%

50% Heart Rate

40% 30%

10%

20% 10%

0% Narrative

Alpha

Beta

10%

Average

Percentage of Alpha Commands per Heart Rate Category 90%

Maximum

100%

100%

82%

Above Average

Percentage of Equal Use of Commands per Heart Rate Category

80%

90%

70%

80% 70%

60%

60%

50% Heart Rate

40%

50% 30%

20%

20%

10%

6% 0% Average

Heart Rate

40%

30%

0%

7%

0%

10% 0%

0% Average

Above Average

0% Above Average

Maximum

Maximum

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Break Down of Weapon Stimulus Heart Rate

Discussion: Desensitization

30 25

 There was a significant difference found between:

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 Expected Outcome vs. Verbal Aggression Alpha Beta Equally Narrative

15 10 5

 Expected Outcome vs. Weapon Stimulus

 Supports previous findings that officers may benefit

from desensitization (reality-based) training

0

Discussion: Command Types  Overall, Beta commands remain the most frequent type of

command, supporting literature findings  Narratives were the most frequent form of verbal

exchange, followed by Beta, & then Alpha commands  Provides support of the literature that officers may benefit

from additional communication training

Discussion: Commands & Heart Rate  Above Average heart rates were associated with the most

commands in general  Betas occurred the most frequently with the Above

Average heart rate  Average heart rate was not associated with the use of

any Alpha commands – Problematic  Maximum heart rate was not associated with the use of

any Alpha commands - Problematic

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Discussion: Commands & Heart Rate  Beta commands were used during all three heart rate

categories (Average, Above Average, & Maximum)  Beta commands were used the most frequently during the

Above Average category - Problematic  Above Average heart rate was associated with using alpha

and beta commands equally – Problematic

Limitations  Did not compare transcriptions of expected outcome,

verbal aggression, & weapon stimuli  Relatively small sample due to lack of Verbal

Exchange or Verbal Sound  Reactivity may have been an issue for some officers  Method of measurement for heart rates

Summary  Officers may benefit from:  Education on Command Types  Effective Communication training  Desensitization procedures (e.g., reality-based training)

 Additional studies needed

Future Research  Transcribe the Expected Outcome scenario & the

Verbal Aggression scenario  Replicate the study by the FSI but include

desensitization training  Use additional means for measuring physiological

aspects (e.g., skin conductance, blood pressure, etc.)  Use a larger sample

 Lack of generalizability

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Thank you. Questions?

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