How Retrieval Strengthens Scenario-Based Training

There’s a difference between what you’ve been taught and the skills you can actually rely on when it counts. Those who’ve had to recall critical information in the middle of a high-stress call know how it feels when that recall works as planned—and how it feels when it doesn’t. Most officers and instructors recognize this problem as a training failure, but they may not know how to fix it.

Even with the most advanced training tools, most learning breaks down in the gap between exposure—whether to knowledge, procedures, or tactics—and recall. Fortunately, cognitive science offers practical ways to close that gap. Better training starts in the debrief, but not all debriefs help turn information into action under pressure.

 

Designing Debriefs That Build Recall

Scenario-based training is widely recognized as the standard for training officers to think and act in realistic conditions, but the learning doesn’t end when the scenario does. Emotional arousal during an event—especially in high-stress situations—can help embed certain moments into memory, but the debrief is where that experience is processed, interpreted, and reinforced in a way that supports long-term recall.

Retrieval is a term in cognitive science to describe the act of bringing information to mind without prompts. Practicing this kind of recall strengthens memory, improves access to stored knowledge, and builds decision-making capacity under pressure. In the MILO environment, instructors can pause a scenario, rewind to key moments, or ask officers to explain what they were thinking as events unfolded. These moments create opportunities to practice retrieval. Each question that asks an officer to recall a policy, explain a choice, or identify a decision point strengthens the mental pathways needed to access that knowledge later.

Debriefs designed with retrieval in mind invite officers to do the cognitive work themselves. Instead of being told what they missed, officers are asked to recall what they saw, what they remembered, and how they made sense of the situation in real time. This might involve citing use-of-force policy language, describing verbal cues from a subject, or tracing the steps they took to contain a threat. When officers reflect before receiving corrective input, they reinforce the knowledge more deeply.

MILO’s flexible, instructor-led structure makes this kind of debriefing possible. By prompting officers to retrieve and explain in real time, or in the post-scenario debrief using features like flagging and Trainee Action Capture (TAC) replay, instructors reinforce long-term learning and help build recall that holds up under stress. And when providing repeated opportunities for retrieval, this structure aligns closely with what cognitive science recommends for durable, experience-based training.

 

Instructor Checklist for Building Recall in Scenario-Based Training

When planning or running a MILO scenario-based training session, consider these retrieval-based strategies:

• Pause before feedback. Give officers time to explain their decisions before providing input.
• Use rewind/replay intentionally. Return to key decision points and ask officers to walk through their thinking.
• Prompt policy recall. Ask officers to state relevant use-of-force, procedural, or communication policies from memory.
• Explore multiple “right” paths. Encourage discussion around alternative actions and how policy supports them.
• Use reflection to anchor learning. Ask officers what they’ll carry forward from the scenario and why.

 

Closing the Gap Between Exposure and Recall

Strong decision-making under pressure only begins with exposure to information—officers also need repeated opportunities to retrieve what they know and apply it in new contexts. Scenario-based training with MILO creates the conditions for this kind of learning, and instructors shape the desired outcome through deliberate debrief design.

Retrieval practice strengthens memory and supports decision-making under stress. Instructors who prompt officers to reflect, recall policies, and explain their reasoning reinforce the mental skills needed in the field.