Introduction

Failure-to-identify hunting incidents occur when a hunter, believing they are shooting at an animal, shoots at another human. Anecdotal evidence from the hunting community suggests that heightened arousal or excitement (“buck fever”), liquid intake, food intake, sleepiness and personality factors may be contributory factors to such incidents. Hunters who have shot other people based on failures-to-identify also report observing their hunted quarry for a considerable time before discharging their firearm. Concerning the complexity of hunting, we sought to ascertain if simulation would prove an effective platform for future safety research into this phenomenon.

Method

We conducted a video-based simulation of a deer hunt during a hunting exhibition show. Participants (N = 60) took part in one of four conditions – two types of scenario (having a good versus bad hunt) and two types of video (clear opportunity to shoot a stag versus clear opportunity to shoot an animal that cannot be identified). We investigated hunting outcomes and physiological arousal during the simulation, as well as personality traits, and self-reports of food, liquid intake and sleepiness. We also measured estimated versus actual time elapsed.

Results

Pupil dilation, consistent with psychophysiological arousal, occurred when the hunter spotted their first stag, whereas Electrodermal Activity reduced. In the 10 s before shooting, EDA increased substantially. Time also appeared to slow down based on the participants’ estimations of duration.

Conclusions

The findings corroborate suggestions of physiological arousal in the immediate lead-up to shooting but fall short of direct evidence for “buck fever” contributing to target misidentification. The simulation appeared to provide enough immersion to facilitate future research.

Practical application

This helps to understand the psychophysiological and temporal considerations of a hunter as they decide to shoot based on the information available to them at the time.

中文翻译：

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使用沉浸式模拟测试识别失败的狩猎事件：可行吗？

介绍

未能识别狩猎事件发生在猎人认为他们在向动物射击时向另一个人射击。来自狩猎社区的轶事证据表明，高度兴奋或兴奋（“降压热”）、液体摄入、食物摄入、嗜睡和性格因素可能是导致此类事件的因素。因无法识别而射杀他人的猎人还报告说，在开火之前，他们观察了猎物相当长的时间。关于狩猎的复杂性，我们试图确定模拟是否会成为未来对该现象进行安全研究的有效平台。

方法

我们在狩猎展览期间对猎鹿进行了基于视频的模拟。参与者 (N = 60) 参加了四种情况之一——两种场景（有好与坏的狩猎）和两种类型的视频（有机会射杀雄鹿，有机会射杀无法识别的动物） . 我们调查了模拟过程中的狩猎结果和生理唤醒，以及人格特征，以及食物、液体摄入量和嗜睡的自我报告。我们还测量了估计与实际经过的时间。

结果

与心理生理唤醒一致的瞳孔扩张发生在猎人发现他们的第一只雄鹿时，而皮肤电活动减少。在拍摄前的 10 秒内，EDA 大幅增加。根据参与者对持续时间的估计，时间似乎也变慢了。

结论

这些发现证实了在枪击前的直接生理唤醒的建议，但缺乏“降压热”导致目标错误识别的直接证据。模拟似乎提供了足够的沉浸感以促进未来的研究。

实际应用

这有助于了解猎人在根据当时可用的信息决定射击时的心理生理和时间考虑。