A Scientific Approach to Reality Based Training

Educate yourself on violence or violence will educate you. - Author Unknown

Reality Based Training, often described as high fidelity, scenario-based training, has become the standard for preparing police officers to perform when it is a matter of life or death.

Until recently, law enforcement instructors delivered this style of training guided purely on intuition, feedback and what little academic resources were available. A Scientific Approach to Reality Based Training provides law enforcement with a scientific foundation on how to use Reality Based Training to maximize officer performance under stress. The Assess-Diagnose-Prescribe-Train (ADAPT) Model is introduced to achieve a balance between the training and testing aspects of Reality Based Training scenarios. Readers are provided the ADAPT Model Scenario Builder software free of charge from the publisher.


Answers found in A Scientific Approach to Reality Based Training...

Why heart rate is a poor predictor of student performance under stress.

What physiological changes to the eye interfere with the ability to sight a firearm under stress.

Why trained responses are impossible to execute when an attack occurs suddenly, unexpectedly and at close proximity.

Why the term negative reinforcement should not be used to describe the use of pain to punish improper performance.

What skills cannot be improved through reality based training scenarios.

Why feedback to students should focus on performance and not results.

What emotional states will dramatically degrade performance in high stress environments.

And so much more...

Terry N. Wollert, PhD: is the president of the Performance Improvement Institute and currently provides scenario-based training to law enforcement cadets at Santa Fe College in Florida. Since serving in the U.S. Air Force, Dr. Wollert went on to become the principal investigator of stress research at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Dr. Wollert is the author of numerous articles related to reality-based training and the effects of stress on performance.


Jeff Quail, MSc: has a Master s degree in Applied Psychology from the University of Liverpool. Prior to becoming the CEO of Setcan Corporation, Jeff served as a law enforcement helicopter pilot in Canada. Jeff is responsible for the creation of the Shocknife, StressVest, Neck Check, SimVoice and numerous other RBT products. Jeff is a court declared expert in officer safety training and tactics.