Emergency evacuation behaviour can be experimentally tested with a computer-simulated fire scenario.

Evidence

We created a computer visualisation of a fire in, and evacuation from, an underground rail station, using similar simulation techniques to those employed in computer games (Drury, Cocking et al., 2009). Participants seated at a computer viewed and controlled a character moving through the station, with commentary describing a fire breaking out and the need to evacuate as quickly as possible. The scene was populated by other individuals, who could be presented as members of the participant’s own group or simply as other people, to vary the level of shared social identity. The urgency of the escape was represented by a “danger bar”, indicating how long the participant had to escape death. During the evacuation, the participant received requests for help from four fallen characters (acceding to which would delay their own exit) and had unlimited opportunities to push other characters aside on the crowded escalators. Both helping and pushing could be carried out through the press of a single key. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 55

Categorization

• FICTION: The ‘danger bar’ countdown and the forced trade-off between saving fallen characters and survival is a sharp mechanic for a scene of moral pressure under deadlines.
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 55
• XREF: connects to: Group membership framing boosts helping and reduces pushing in emergency simulations. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 57; Crowd identification predicts helping and reduces pushing in evacuation simulations. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 56; Laboratory evacuation experiments lack the fear defining real emergencies. — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 58

Related

• Laboratory evacuation experiments lack the fear defining real emergencies. (similarity 0.86)
• Crowd identification predicts helping and reduces pushing in evacuation simulations. (similarity 0.83)
• Group membership framing boosts helping and reduces pushing in emergency simulations. (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Group membership framing boosts helping and reduces pushing in emergency simulations. #exemplifies (0.75) — John Drury, The role of social identity processes…, 57