# Divergent thinking in groups during cold-water immersion is impaired by cold stress not the cold shock response

## TL;DR

Cold stress during cold-water immersion may impair group thinking, but not due to the cold shock response itself.

## Contribution

The study shows that cold stress, not the cold shock response, affects divergent thinking in groups during cold-water immersion.

## Key findings

- No relationship was found between cold shock response magnitude and divergent thinking task performance.
- Lower skin temperatures were associated with worse performance on the divergent thinking task.
- Subjective reports of initial gasp severity correlated with peak heart rate.

## Abstract

A primary hazard of working in cold maritime environments is the potential for a substantial man overboard situation in freezing waters. Sudden cold-water immersion (CWI) triggers the cold shock response (CSR), which consists of cardiorespiratory responses that increase the chance of drowning. If cold shock response severity can be mitigated, life-saving actions must be taken within the first 10 min, as after this time frame drowning occurs due to cold incapacitation. To date, research shows that executive functioning is generally impaired by intense, acute stress, which implies the ability to think through potential actions to maximize survival would also be impaired by the cold shock response.

To examine whether the severity of cold shock response impairs higher-level thinking in a group, 29 active duty service members completed a group format Divergent Association Task (DAT; 4–5 per group) prior to and during a 13-min cold-water immersion (water temperature: 1.3°C, air temperature: −2.7°C).

Results showed no relationship between cold shock response magnitude, indexed by peak heart rate, and DAT performance. However, results indicated that those with lower skin temperatures performed worse on the DAT.

Results suggest that the ability to engage in divergent thinking is relatively preserved in the critical ~10-min window although skin cooling may bias attention toward the cold stress impacting task performance. Furthermore, subjective reports of the severity of the initial gasp tracked with peak heart rate demonstrating potential utility of subjective responses in the absence of respiratory measurements.