Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Startle stimuli elicit physiological, involuntary behavioral, emotional, and cognitive responses. Specifically, startle responses are heightened when arousal or stress levels are either very low or very high. Under unexpected, low-visibility conditions at night, where startle and surprise are induced and stress levels are heightened, we examined whether additional auditory stimuli enhance pilots' startle and surprise responses. Current pilots were tested while performing hovering flight in a virtual environment. Results revealed that physiological, psychological, and physical responses to startle and surprise were induced in pilots. These results suggest that additional auditory stimuli may adversely affect pilot performance during takeoff.
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7125933082