Chapter 36 

 THE SEALAB II HUMAN BEHAVIOR PROGRAM 



James W. Miller Rowland Radloff 



Office of Naval Research Naval Medical Research Institute 



Washington, D.C. Bethesda, Maryland 



Hugh M. Bowen Robert L. Helmreich 



Dunlap and Associates Yale University 



Darien, Connecticut New Haven, Connecticut 



PURPOSE AND SCOPE 



The purpose of the Sealab Human Behavior Program was to make an overall assessment 

 of man's behavior while living in the sea. The program was designed to study broader aspects 

 of adaptation to life and work in the hostile environment and, more specifically, to determine 

 how well man can perform specific tasks of a scientific or operational nature. Such informa- 

 tion should be invaluable from the standpoint of planning future undersea operations, as well as 

 in selecting and training individuals for such operations. 



The collection of data began in the early stages of the training period, continued throughout 

 the divers' stay on the bottom, and concluded with postdive interviews, questionnaires, and 

 tests, as well as continual observation of each diver's performance and interaction with the 

 other members of the team by closed-circuit television. In addition, the divers' performance 

 in the other scientific and salvage programs was monitored, where possible, in order to in- 

 crease the validity of the overall assessment of performance. 



The members of the Human Behavior Team also assumed the responsibility for organizing, 

 coding, and punching on cards, the data from many of the other programs, including salvage, 

 medical, physiological, and oceanographic. As a result, the data from one program can readily 

 be correlated with those of another. Because of the early deadline for this report, however, 

 the results of many of the interactions will not be included. The report which follows is pre- 

 liminary in nature. 



As with all field investigations, particularly those carried on in the ocean, the conditions 

 under which the data were collected were less than ideal, and compromises had to be made. In 

 addition to the restrictions imposed by the physical environment, equipment failures, etc., the 

 Human Behavior Program was carried on under additional constraints. These included limited 

 experimental time and the absence of an on-the-bottom experimenter (resulting in decreased 

 planning flexibility). These comments seem to emphasize the fact that such studies cannot be 

 carried out with all the checks and balances possible in the laboratory, in spite of careful 

 planning. 



GENERAL METHODOLOGY 



The Human Behavior Program was planned to search for relationships between social, 

 personality, and performance areas of study. As a result, the program had basically three 

 components: 



1. Specific tests of visual, auditory, and psychomotor skills 



2. Observation of the performance aspects of the scientific and salvage tasks undertaken 



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