On Thu, 11 Apr 2002, Herb Coleman wrote: > > Prior to the Korean war there was a consistent finding that > only about 15-20% of guns were actually fired on the battle > field. It seems it is counter instinctual for human to shoot > at another human being.
I was rather startled by this apparent claim that we have a natural inhibition against killing, given the bloody acts in the news in recent days, some accompanied by dancing in the streets and the handing out of candy. But I was also startled because I just discussed this very statistic in class, only to make a different point: it supports the proposal of an inverted U-shaped curve of arousal, with performance deterioriating at high levels. In short, the reason soldiers don't fire their guns when under fire may not because they don't want to kill, but because they're paralysed by fear and so unable to act effectively. Malmo (1975) makes exactly this point, in a chapter on the relation of arousal to performance. He says, as part of a general discussion of this issue: "Military analyst Colonel S.L.A. Marshall (1947) observed that in World War II, solders' immobility and failure to fire in battle were common fear reactions: "When the infantryman's mind is gripped by fear, his body is captured by inertia" So operant conditioning may have made soldiers more effective, not because it reduced inhibitions against killing, but because it made the necessary responses so well-practiced and automatic that they could be performed even under conditions of extraordinary high arousal. -Stephen Malmo, R. (1975). On emotions, needs, and our archaic brain. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470 Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661 Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at: http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
