First, I am not a psychologist, nor do I play one on TV. I have seen both Panic occurances and Panic Attacks. And there are no set rules on how they will be displayed by any one person. Some go madly into the flight mode, others simply shut down and are incapable of making any decision (including flight).

The real basis here is the lack of reasoning, cognitive thinking, rational thinking, or whatever you want to call it. When panic (or a panic attack, to a much lesser degree) is onset, the person can no longer rationally look at the situation and make proper decisions. Ingrained training and muscle memory is really of no use because if it not applied properly, it is ineffective as the application or direction is wrong. Take the lost hiker. Once he realizes he is lost, and panics, he may start following what he believes are trail blazes, the trail, or familiar landmarks, all without context of his place, or in what he believes are reference points on his map, without validating those positions or markers. Once in full panic, all training is essentially worthless.

Training pays off in that period of time just prior to panic initiation. This is when the mind has become overly stressed, adreneline has started, and fine motor skills are degrading. Tunnel vision may even occur. Training for those situations that will put you into this position allow for the body to continue to do what is necessary without cognitive thought. The diver out of air or the pilot who looses an engine will immediatly do those actions that he has trained for that will limit the effects of the emergency. This frees he mind to focus on the more abstract (now that I am on spare air (or buddy) how do I get to the surface, now that I am in my best glide configuration where are the best locations to land). Combat will teach the value of training the best.

The author of the paper, while comparing apples to oranges, was somewhat correct in looking at the psychological aspects of panic, and how those mind triggers affect how the user interacts with a web page or program, whether or not they simply back out (flight). Again, somewhat apples to oranges.

Regards,
Bill