Intertwined amongst many PF threads is this notion that fear/adrenalin/mortal combat ("fear") will substantially degrade our performance. For example, I have heard the saying, attributed to Larry Vickers, that groups will double when shooting "for real." In the accuracy thread, which has now exceeded my personal 5 page limit (
), a poster suggested they would likely be unable to make a shot for real that they could do in practice. On the other end of the spectrum, some think they will raise to the challenge, and somewhere in the middle is Barrett Tillman's "we will default to our level of training."
My first question is do we have anything more than anecdotal, that has tried to quantify the effect of "fear" on performance?
My second question is whether the effect of "fear" is universal, or does it have primarily effect folks without appropriate training?
My third question is what is the effect of adrenalin and other physiological reactions to stress and danger, and do these bodily reactions enhance or hinder performance?