Chapter 27 

 FUTURE SELECTION OF AOUANAUTS 



R. Radloff 



Naval Medical Research Institute 



Bethesda, Maryland 



PURPOSE 



The purpose of this chapter is to describe and explain some of the measures which may be 

 used in selecting men for future operations similar to Sealab. The information used in this 

 analysis is based on correlations between background information and measures of perform- 

 ance and adjustment on men who participated in Sealab II. It should be emphasized that this 

 presentation represents the barest beginning of a process of developing a uniform set of pro- 

 cedures and instruments to be used in selecting future aquanauts. Not only were materials and 

 methods of measurement used in Sealab II limited, but also the analysis and interpretation of 

 even those limited materials is incomplete at this time. However, it has been said that a jour- 

 ney of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This discussion represents, hopefully, at 

 least a few solid strides toward a soundly based system of crew selection. 



DEVELOPING A SELECTION METHOD 



The basic aim of this section is to predict performance and adaptation in Sealab. Both 

 predictors and criteria are multiple. Ten criteria have been derived. Four are intended to be 

 indices of work. Examples are diving time and number of sorties. Four of the criteria can be 

 loosely called measures of adjustment. Examples are satisfaction with meals and quality of 

 sleep. Men in each crew were given quantitative ratings by their crew leaders. Finally, each 

 man was asked to name the men he would most like to have as crew mates in future Sealabs. 

 These postchoices have been used as a criterion variable. 



Only a few of the many possible predictor variables have been chosen for this presenta- 

 tion. They are of two types. First are a set of demographic variables, such as age, diving ex- 

 perience, and education. Second, the AUport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values has been selected 

 for analysis. The scale of values is probably the easiest to understand and interpret of the 

 standard measuring instruments administered to the aquanauts. 



Only a few predictors have been used, for a variety of reasons. First, the ones chosen 

 were judged to be among the best in terms of their ease of interpretation and understanding. 

 Second, it will require some time, even for a computer, to reproduce all the intercorrelations. 

 Third, even if the thousands of intercorrelations of predictors and criteria were available, too 

 much time and space would be required to analyze and interpret them meaningfully for this re- 

 port. In fact, more predictor variables have been correlated with the criteria than those pre- 

 sented in this report. Those not included either did not correlate significantly with the criteria, 

 or the associations were difficult to interpret and explain. 



This report, therefore, is not the full story on crew selection. Even when all the data 

 available on Sealab aquanauts have been analyzed, however, only a small beginning will have 

 been made. What is meant here can best be illustrated by citing the philosophy and experience 

 of the Peace Corps in its outstanding program of selecting overseas personnel. Peace Corps 

 Director Sargent Shriver, in discussing selection, said, "... a selection process must depend 

 on a conglomeration of considerations. No one test, nor any one procedure can be counted 

 upon." Dr. Abraham Carp, Peace Corps Selection Director, further stated, "The selection of 



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