Cognitive emergency response – the flight into familiar action
The fact that humans are creatures of habit is nothing new. They are reluctant to change their familiar behavior patterns. It usually takes 21 days to learn a new habit, and two to three months for something to really become ingrained in the thought pattern. But what if we find ourselves in a situation where this time is not available and we have to act immediately? Is the human being able to adapt his behavior adequately to the situation and act outside his regular patterns? Unfortunately, the answer is often no. In a situation which is overwhelming, such as a time-critical situation for many people, people tend to fall back into familiar behavioral patterns and rely on familiar processes. This is because these very actions can be recalled quickly under time pressure and a sense of competence is created as the person feels confident in what they do [...]