People are normally quite optimistic -they will ignore bad news and embrace the good. This is what happened when the firefighters were relaxed, but when they were under stress, a different pattern emerged. Under these conditions, they became hyper-vigilant to bad news, even when it had nothing to do with their job (such as learning that the likelihood of card fraud was higher than they’d thought), and altered their beliefs in response. In contrast, stress didn’t change how they responded to good news (such as learning that the likelihood of card fraud was lower than they’d thought).
Back in our lab, we observed the same pattern in students who were told they had to give a surprise public speech, which would be judged by a panel, recorded and posted online. Sure enough, their cortisol levels spiked, their heart rates went up and they suddenly became better at processing unrelated, yet alarming, information about rates of disease and violence.
Band 6
3/5
1/5 soo bad
5/5
5/5 in 3 minutes and 45 seconds
4/5
So easy!
0/0😭
4/5
5/5
5/5 though it’s quite difficult
5/3💔💔