This paper discusses a
law enforcement officer (LEO) study that involved expert and novice police
deputies from a small-sized city located in the Southern U.S. A virtual reality
range was utilized to simulate high threat scenarios that require split second
decisions on the use of deadly force. A fuzzy-logic based controller was
constructed to analyze electroencephalogram (EEG) data collected from the participants. The fuzzy controller made use of
several functions associated with the different regions of the brain to
correlate Brodmann areas to multiple outputs.
Electromagnetic Tomography (i.e. LORETA) was used to identify where the signals from the
surface electrodes originated within the brain through a process called source
localization. Once the sources of the EEG
signals were located, they were associated with corresponding Brodmann areas.
The fuzzy controller then provided insights on the subjects’ exhibited neural
activation behavior indicative of vision, memory, shape/distance,
hearing/sound, and theory of mind. Comparing and contrasting experienced
and novice officers allowed for a greater
understanding of the neurological processes present in police deputies
when dealing with high threat situations.
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