Procedures 



Two 4-member teams matched in ability, but unaccustomed to working together or 

 using underwater communication systems, served as subjects. The work task 

 required the assembly of a mini-DICORS (see again Figure 1) consisting of 132 

 parts in 20 feet under conditions of low visibility; four separate units were 

 employed for this purpose. A pre-experiment briefing was conducted by the 

 experimenters and a group meeting was held by the team. On the first trial, 

 members of Team A wore Aquasonics 420 units; Team B had no communication gear. 

 On the second trial (a day later), the communicators were worn by Team B; Team A 

 had no communication aids. Time of assembly, parts not used or lost, and number 

 and type of errors constituted the objective measures. Once these data had been 

 obtained and weighted--and adjustments made for general team performance (one 

 team proved to be more skillful than the other) --a performance index was calcu- 

 lated. 



Results 



Not only was the index greater when the teams were not using the communication 

 systems, but even when the paired trials were considered, the performance of 

 the team without the communication gear was superior in both cases. It was 

 concluded that to be aided by communication systems 1) divers must be exten- 

 sively trained in their use, 2) they must be allowed to develop appropriate 

 communication procedures, and 3) systems with better intelligibility than those 

 currently available must be used. 



GENERAL SUMMARY 



Data resulting from a constellation of experiments in diver communication, 

 retrieval and sound localization were obtained at TEKTITE II. The site for the 

 research, the support by the TEKTITE administration, and the cooperation by 

 other scientists and divers proved outstanding. Our experiences demonstrate 

 that substantial and significant studies can be conducted at low cost under the 

 aegis of projects such as TEKTITE II. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



The authors wish to acknowledge Gilbert C. Tolhurst, Patricia Hollien, Dennis 

 Wilson, and Patricia Phillips who will co-author one or more of the individual 

 reports--and, indeed the Physiological Psychology Branch of the Office of Naval 

 Research which supported these studies. 



We also are grateful for assistance provided by the College of the Virgin 

 Islands, James W. Miller, Paul Blackwell, John Bedingfield, Thomas Giordano, 

 Brendon P. Thompson, Carl L. Thompson, Peter Williams, Charlotte Hardaway, Ian 

 Koblick, and especially the TEKTITE II Highline Community College divers. 



X-9 



