FUTURE SELECTION OF AQUANAUTS 189 



there appeared to be very little consistency on this matter in counting sorties, each definable 

 departure of a man from the capsule was counted as a sortie regardless of whether it had been 

 given a number in the official log. On many, perhaps the majority of sorties, men returned to 

 Sealab for brief periods. If the same partners went out after returning to Sealab and if they 

 did not stay in longer than 10 minutes, or if the sortie was recorded as only one sortie in the 

 diving log, men were not given credit for a second sortie after returning to Sealab. However, 

 if a man went out with a new partner after returning to Sealab, or if his original departure had 

 not been counted as a sortie and the time in Sealab was greater than 10 minutes, he was cred- 

 ited with an additional sortie when he left a second or more than a second time. Sorties were 

 not counted as a number but rather as a ratio of the number of sorties to the number of days 

 dived; for example, if a man dived on 12 days and was out on 18 separate sorties, he would have 

 a ratio of 1.50. If another man dived on only 10 days and was out on 15 separate sorties, he 

 would also have a ratio of 1.50. This system was used because many of the men, for a variety 

 of reasons, did not dive every day. In many cases, this was due to scorpion stings, headaches, 

 skin rashes, and the like. Since lesser diving time due to such incidents is recorded in diving 

 time as a variable, it was felt that the number of sorties as a variable would be quite redundant 

 if no correction were made for such incidents. Therefore, the denominator for the ratio of 

 number of sorties was the total number of days a man entered the water. As with diving time, 

 number of sorties was also computed within teams. 



Increase or Decrease in Diving Time— A Work Criterion — This variable compares the 

 time a man spent in the water during the second week with the time spent in the water during 

 the first week. It is somewhat different from diving time and number of sorties. Regardless 

 of how long a man was in the water, it would have been possible for him to increase or decrease 

 his time from week one to week two. Such an increase or decrease can probably best be con- 

 sidered as a measure of stamina, motivation, or both. In computing this variable, an average 

 dive time per day was used. Diving times from Monday through Saturday only were used, since 

 Sunday was an unusual day in Sealab. As in figuring the sortie ratio, only the number of days 

 on which a man dived was used as a denominator in this variable. For example, if a man dived 

 on only four days during the six-day week and was inactive the other two days because of ill 

 health, the number 4 was used in the denominator for calculating his average dive time for the 

 week. For nearly all men, the amount of time spent in the water increased in week two com- 

 pared to week one. Scores were computed within teams. 



Number of Human Performance Tasks Completed— A Work Criterion — This variable is a 

 ratio of the number of tasks completed on the human performance program per sortie. For 

 most dives, most men were asked, if time was available, to perform one or more tasks in the 

 human-performance program. In many cases, other things took precedence over these tasks. 

 From debrief interviews, however, many of the men were completely candid and said that they 

 were just too cold, too tired, or didn't feel like doing a particular task before they came back 

 into the capsule. Therefore, performance of these tasks appeared to be somewhat dependent 

 on motivation. 



Outside Telephone Calls— An Adjustment Criterion — The number of outside telephone calls 

 made by a man is considered a measure of overall adjustment. The notion behind such consid- 

 eration is that if a man were completely satisfied with his lot in Sealab he would have very little 

 need to have contact with the outside world. Therefore, he should make very few telephone 

 calls. This variable was also adjusted for between-team differences, since the capability of 

 making outside calls was not available for approximately half the stay of Team 1. Teams 2 

 and 3 were able to make outside calls during their entire stays. However, there is another 

 reason for correction within teams. Only one telephone was available; if one man were occupy- 

 ing the phone, it would be impossible for another man to make a call at that time. 



Meal Satisfaction— An Adjustment Criterion — Each day each aquanaut completed a daily- 

 activities checklist. On this form he indicated whether or not he had eaten each of the meals 

 during the day and, on a quantified scale, how much he liked the meal. These meal ratings 

 were summed across each man for all meals eaten, and the mean reported satisfaction is the 

 score used for this variable. These scores were computed within teams also, since there were 

 differences in the types and methods of preparation of meals between teams. It should be 

 noted that this is a self-report variable. With all such variables, there is always the possibility 



