Abstract
Human errors tend to occur during emergencies in which the arousal level is extremely high. Although research on human behaviors in emergencies with regard to mass panic and case studies exist, few studies employing experimental techniques focus on individual behavior in emergencies. In this study, participants played the water-pipe game under conditions with “time pressure” and “severity” (high arousal condition). (“Emergency” consists of these two factors.) They were asked to push the button as early and as precisely as possible when a target appeared at the center of the monitor.In comparison with the control condition, participants’ click frequency increased and their thinking time reduced under the high arousal condition. Furthermore, the miss and false alarm rate was higher in the control condition. In conclusion, humans tend act promptly without thinking actively and tend to overlook events that are not related to their operations in an emergency.
