Performance under stress

406 Pages·2008·3.445 MB·English

by  Hancock, Peter A., Szalma, James L

PERFORMANCE UNDER STRESS
Human Factors in Defence
Series Editors:
Dr Don Harris, Cranfield University, UK
Professor Neville Stanton, Brunel University, UK
Professor Eduardo Salas, University of Central Florida, USA
Human factors is key to enabling today’s armed forces to implement their vision to ‘produce
battle-winning people and equipment that are fit for the challenge of today, ready for the tasks
of tomorrow and capable of building for the future’ (source: UK MoD). Modern armed forces
fulfil a wider variety of roles than ever before. In addition to defending sovereign territory and
prosecuting armed conflicts, military personnel are engaged in homeland defence and in undertaking
peacekeeping operations and delivering humanitarian aid right across the world. This requires top
class personnel, trained to the highest standards in the use of first class equipment. The military has
long recognised that good human factors is essential if these aims are to be achieved.
The defence sector is far and away the largest employer of human factors personnel across the
globe and is the largest funder of basic and applied research. Much of this research is applicable to
a wide audience, not just the military; this series aims to give readers access to some of this high
quality work.
Ashgate’s Human Factors in Defence series comprises of specially commissioned books from
internationally recognised experts in the field. They provide in-depth, authoritative accounts of key
human factors issues being addressed by the defence industry across the world.
Performance Under Stress
Edited by
PETER A. HANCOCK and JAMES L. SZALMA
University of Central Florida, USA
First published 2008 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright © Peter A. Hancock and James L. Szalma 2008
Peter A. Hancock and James L. Szalma have asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
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Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification
and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Performance under stress. - (Human factors in defence)
1. Psychology, Military 2. Stress (Psychology)
3. Performance
I. Hancock, Peter A., 1953- II. Szalma, James L.
355'.0019
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Performance under stress / edited by Peter A. Hancock and James L. Szalma.
p. cm. -- (Human factors in defence)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-7059-9
1. Psychology, Military. 2. Soldiers--Job stress. 3. Combat--Psychological aspects.
4. Stress (Physiology) 5. Stress
(Psychology) 6. Performance. 7. Psychophysiology. I. Hancock, Peter A.,
1953- II. Szalma, James L.
U22.3.P465 2007
355.1'23--dc22
2007026005
ISBN: 978-0-7546-7059-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-3155-9994-6 (ebk)
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables xi
Preface xiii
Foreword xv
1 Stress and Performance
P.A. Hancock and J.L. Szalma 1
2 Contemporary and Future Battlefields: Soldier Stresses and Performance
Gerald P. Krueger 19
3 Mitigating the Adverse Effects of Workload, Stress, and Fatigue with
Adaptive Automation
Raja Parasuraman and P.A. Hancock 45
4 Concentration, Stress and Performance
Anthony W.K. Gaillard 59
5 Remote Command and Control, Trust, Stress, and Soldier Performance
Kip Smith 77
6 Changes in Soldier’s Information Processing Capability under Stress
Wayne C. Harris, Karol G. Ross and P.A. Hancock 101
7 Vigilance, Workload, and Stress
Joel. S. Warm, Gerald Matthews and Victor S. Finomore Jr. 115
8 Temporal Regulation and Temporal Cognition: Biological and Psychological
Aspects of Time Stress
Rene J. de Pontbriand, Laurel E. Allender and Francis J. Doyle, III 143
9 Positive Psychology: Adaptation, Leadership, and Performance in
Exceptional Circumstances
Michael D. Matthews 163
10 Stress and Teams: How Stress Affects Decision Making at the Team Level
C. Shawn Burke, Heather A. Priest, Eduardo Salas, Dana Sims and Katie Mayer 181
11 Mitigating the Effects of Stress through Cognitive Readiness
Linda T. Fatkin and Debbie Patton 209
vi Performance Under Stress
12 Fatigue and its Effect on Performance in Military Environments
N.L. Miller, P. Matsangas and L.G. Shattuck 231
13 Multi-Modal Information Display under Stress
T. Oron-Gilad and P.A. Hancock 251
14 Stress Exposure Training: An Event-Based Approach
James E. Driskell, Eduardo Salas, Joan H. Johnston and Terry N. Wollert 271
15 Augmenting Multi-Cultural Collaboration
Mary T. Dzindolet, Linda G. Pierce and Melissa W. Dixon 287
16 Individual Differences in Stress Reaction
James L. Szalma 323
17 Stress and Performance: Experiences from Iraq
LTC J.L. Merlo, CPT Michael A. Szalma, and P.A. Hancock 359
Index 379
List of Figures
4.1 The concentration model, illustrating the influence of the factors that affect
cognitive processing 61
4.2 The relation between energy mobilization and directed attention 68
4.3 The level of concentration is determined by the balance between factors that
motivate and generate positive energy, and factors such as distractionfatigue,
and stress that inhibit or distort energy mobilization and attention 73
5.1 Layout of the paintball assault lane 95
5.2 Mean and standard errors of response times to the order to move for the two
sequences of data acquisition, Experiment 1 96
5.3 Mean and standard errors of response times to the order to fire for the two
sequences of data acquisition, Experiment 1 96
5.4 Mean and standard errors of response times to the order to move for the two
sequences of data acquisition, Experiment 2 97
5.5 Mean and standard errors of response times to the order to fire for the two
sequences of data acquisition, Experiment 2 97
5.6 Mean and standard errors of response times to the order to move collapsed
across trial sequence, Experiment 3 98
5.7 Mean and standard errors of response times to the order to fire collapsed
across trial sequence, Experiment 3 98
5.8 Mean and standard errors of the soldiers’ self-report data on the relative level
of trust experienced in the leader-present (collocated), remote, and buzzer
conditions showing higher levels of trust in the leader-present condition 99
5.9 Mean and standard errors of response times to the order to move collapsed
across trial sequence, Experiment 4 99
5.10 Mean and standard errors of response times to the order to fire collapsed
across trial sequence, Experiment 4 100
5.11 Scatter plot and best-fit linear regression function showing the significant
negative association between the difference in experienced trust and the
difference in move time between the remote- and present-leader conditions 100
7.1 The downs and ups of vigilance. The vigilance decrement as a decline in signal
detection over time or an increase in response time to correct detections over time 116
7.2 The rate of gain of workload over time 118
7.3 NASA-TLX workload profile for vigilance tasks 119
7.4a Mean overall workload scores on the NASA-TLX for Control, KR,and Cue groups 121
7.4b Mean boredom scores on the TBS for Control, KR, and Cue groups 121
7.5 The relation between the vigilance decrement and cerebral blood flow velocity 124
7.6 Patterns of stress state change in four studies of vigilance 128
8.1 Three levels of temporal factors 144
viii Performance Under Stress
10.1 Team decision making under stress framework 198
11.1 Timeline for Stress and Readiness Assessment (SARA) methodology for
administering RAMS component 212
11.2 Mean (+SEM) MAACL-R Anxiety scores for referent groups collected after
specific, challenging events 215
11.3 Mean (+SEM) MAACL-R Depression scores for referent groups collected after
specific, challenging events 215
11.4 Mean (+SEM) MAACL-R Hostility scores for referent groups collected after
specific, challenging events 216
11.5 Mean (+SEM) MAACL-R Positive Affect scores for referent groups collected after
specific, challenging events 216
12.1 Sleep patterns over the lifespan 233
12.2 Sleep stages over a typical eight-hour sleep period 234
12.3 Categories of insufficient sleep 235
12.4 Relationship between stressors, mediating factors and performance 237
12.1 (photo) Soldier sleeping in combat conditions 239
12.5 Fatigue countermeasures 240
12.6 Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool (FAST) 241
13.1 Example of the pictorial, written and verbal WCCOM (top) and the color stimulus
(bottom) that elicited the key press response 253
13.2 Presentation by response format interaction for the WCCOM task 255
13.3 Presentation by task demand interaction for the WCCOM 256
13.4 The SAST II facility including the weapon and the visual display 257
13.5 Screenshot from the SAST II displaying the two types of stimuli/targets
superimposed on the silhouette stimuli 258
13.6 Interaction between the presence of a target and working memory demand onthe
secondary task 259
13.7 The effects of working memory demands (secondary task) on shooting accuracy 260
13.8 Mean β by AC group and modality 262
13.9 Mean overall workload rating in each task for low and high AC groups 263
13.10 Box representation of compliance results in Study i) 267
15.1 McGrath’s circumplex of group tasks 288
16.1 The cognitive-adaptive framework, illustrating the “adaptive triangle” of skill,
knowledge, and action and the multiple levels of analysis 327
16.2 The Maximal Adaptability Model 329
16.3 The Maximal Adaptability Model with Task Dimensions Included 330
16.4 Response bias (c) as a function of extraversion and white noise exposure.
The task required temporal discrimination without spatial uncertainty 333
16.5 Relative frequency of locus of attention as a function of stress level 334
16.6 Potential mechanism by which extraversion, task characteristics, and
environmental demands influence perceived temporal demand 335
16.7a Pre-post task distress as a function of pessimism and feedback condition 337
16.7b Pre-post task distress as a function of pessimism and feedback condition 337
List of Figures ix
16.8a Duration judgment ratio (estimated time/clock time) as a function ofemotional
stability at three levels of extraversion for a challengingfirearms task 339
16.8b Post-task distress as a function of emotional stability at three levels of extraversion 339
16.9a Shooting accuracy on a challenging firearms task as a function of intellect at three
levels of conscientiousness 341
16.9b Post-task distress as a function of intellect at three levels of conscientiousness 341
16.10a Duration judgment ratio (estimated time/clock time) as a function ofintellect
at three levels of emotional stability for a challenging firearms task 342
16.10b Pre-task worry as function of intellect at three levels of emotional stability 342
16.11a The maximal adaptability model incorporating hypothesized adaptive function
of individuals low in emotional stability (a similar pattern wouldbe expected for
trait anxiety and pessimism) 343
16.11b Representation of the maximal adaptability model shown in (A) focusingon the
hyperstress region 343
16.12a The maximal adaptability model incorporating hypothesized adaptive function
of individuals high in extraversion 347
16.12b Representation of the maximal adaptability model shown in (A) focusing on the
hypostress region 347
17.1 CPT James Wayne, the Brigade Surgeon for 3rd Brigade, 1st CavalryDivision,
administers medical care to Iraqi children in a good will medicalvisit to a rural
village south of Baghdad 365
17.2 An Iraqi policeman at the aftermath of a vehicle borne improvised explosive device.
Notice the different actors complicating the scene from US Armysoldiers, to Iraqi
security forces, to civilian contracted security forces 368