Public health emergencies (such as epidemics, natural disasters and chemical accidents) have aroused widespread concern in society, threatening physical health and affecting mental health and cognitive function. Despite concerns about these effects, the cognitive impairment of the masses during such events remains unclear. Cognitive psychology studies individual thinking, perception, learning, etc., and provides a useful framework for analyzing the impact of emergencies on mass cognitive function.

The Stanford Acute Stress Response Questionnaire (SASRQ) and 3-minute Disorder Assessment Scale (3D-CAM) were used to study the effects of emergency events on cognitive function. 500 participants were randomly selected and divided into an exposed group and a non-exposed group. The exposed group received cognitive tests after the event, while the non-exposed group was tested at the same time as the control group.

The SASRQ scores of the emergency exposure group showed a significant increase in cognitive stress (P<0.05). The cognitive confusion in the exposed group was significantly higher than that in the non-exposed group (P<0.01). SPSS23.0 statistical analysis confirmed the significance of these differences.

Studies have shown that public health emergencies can negatively impact cognitive function in the population, including increased cognitive stress and confusion. This highlights the importance of cognitive psychology in understanding and responding to the impact of unexpected events on individual cognition. In the future, more attention should be paid to the psychological cognitive state of the masses to better meet the challenges of public health emergencies.