Workload Transition Implications for Individual and Team Performance (1993) / Chapter Skim
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4 Stress
4 Stress
Pages 94-121
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From page 94... ...
Indeed, the post-transition phase of any team situation will impose a substantial degree of stress, incorporating time pressure at a minimum, often augmented by danger, noise, and a host of other environmental stressors. The concept of stress as it influences human performance may be understood in the context of Figure 4.1.
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From page 95... ...
also influence the efficiency of information processing. In this chapter we first consider stressors that are characteristic of the physical work environment in which the tank crew operates, described in Chapter 1.
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From page 96... ...
The discussion emphasizes to a greater extent the stress effects present in the post-transition period. In Chapter 5 we consider the most potent stressors of the pretransition period: sleep loss and fatigue and their influence on both pre- and post-transition performance.
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From page 97... ...
It is reasonable to infer that environmentally extreme conditions will affect some tasks more than others. Some tank crew positions are primarily physically oriented, i.e., those of loader and driver, whereas others are concerned mainly with cognitive tasks, i.e., those of gunner and tank commander.
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From page 98... ...
measured performance of parachute jumpers on a visual detection task, as the time of their first jump approached. As time passed and their level of stress (assessed by physiological measures)
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From page 99... ...
While Berkun's study clearly illustrates the loss of performance under stress, it is less illuminating regarding the qualitative manner in which performance is affected. This issue of qualitative stress effects will now be addressed in more detail.
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From page 100... ...
(The direct effects of time pressure on performance were discussed in some detail in Chapter 3.) This stressor may characterize the experiences of the flight crew, following an engine stall in midair in which both danger and time stress are imposed; the nuclear control room personnel, following initial alerting of a failure; or the tank crew moving into combat.
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From page 101... ...
Stress may also cause a focusing of attention on one particular task or cognitive activity, as well as on a particular perceptual channel. In the analysis of cockpit voice recordings at times of high stress prior to accidents, Helmreich has found evidence of severe breakdowns in the pilots' ability to handle multiple tasks or multiple concerns.
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From page 102... ...
, who found that noise stress improved the focus of attention on the relevant aspect of a stimulus and reduced the distracting effect of irrelevant aspects. Data provided by Houston's experiment and others suggest that the attentional or cognitive tunneling resulting from stress is defined in terms of subjective importance or priority.
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From page 103... ...
Analyses of crew communications in accidents in which a prolonged inflight emergency preceded ultimate disaster provide compelling evidence of the communication breakdowns that occur under conditions of extreme threat. These include fragmented communications, failures to process the information communicated, and inability to deal with multiple tasks or concerns (Predmore, 1991)
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From page 104... ...
(1988) found that judgments were less accurate but not necessarily slower under the combined stress effects of noise, time pressure, and threat of loss of income.
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From page 105... ...
Since different decisions may involve varying dependence on such components as working memory, attention, and long-term memory retrieval, each decision may be affected differently by stress as a function of the components on which it depends and of the differential effects of stress on those components as described in the previous pages (Wickens et al., 19881. An alternative approach is to examine the results of experiments that impose stress on decision making, diagnosis, and problem-solving tasks.
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From page 106... ...
(1988) observed that the combined stress of noise, time pressure, risk, and task loading produced a general degradation of pilot judgments on a computer-based flight simulation.
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From page 107... ...
Hence the extent to which stress may produce failures of processes in memory and attention in such skilled operators cannot be asserted with confidence. Furthermore, given the qualitative differences in expert versus novice performance on routine tasks, it may well be that the documented stress effects on attention and working memory would not influence expert performance to the extent that those processes are not involved in the expert's performance of routine tasks (Stokes et al., 1990~.
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From page 108... ...
Stress effects here will also be mediated by differences in the extent to which individuals believe they can cope with the stress-inducing events. COPING WITH STRESS There are a variety of different techniques that may be adopted in the effort to minimize the degrading effects of stress on human performance.
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From page 109... ...
While advance planning requires working memory capacity at the time it is being done, such planning can compensate for the fact that fewer resources will be available under stressful conditions. Furthermore, research has shown that, if individuals can predict, understand, and have knowledge of and a sense of control over the stressor, then they are more likely to develop successful coping strategies (Bourne, 1971~.
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From page 110... ...
In a review of relaxation training, biofeedback techniques, and cognitive restructuring, Druckman and S wets (1988:123) concluded that "there is no evidence to indicate that biofeedback training has any effect on stress or on performance under conditions of stress." They found cognitive restructuring and the simple provision of realistic information to be most useful in reducing stress.
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From page 111... ...
Thus, training should be a crucial component of any program to enable tank crews to manage stressful environments. Finally, there appears to be considerable merit in training that makes crews aware of the potentially degrading effects of stress.
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From page 112... ...
Effective teams are referred to as groups that have a combination of high loyalty, morale, commitment, adaptability, and exchange and coordinate information. These good team qualities, which may provide a buffer against organizational stress, include: effective leadership, appropriate selection of members, commitment and cohesion, open climate, achievement motivation, effective work methods, clarity of procedures, giving and acceptance of constructive criticism, individual initiative, high creativity, positive intergroup relations, and role clarity.
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From page 113... ...
For tank crew teams this is essential because of the interunit communication and coordination required for successful maneuvers. Positive intergroup relations and corporate role clarity are critical for this reason.
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From page 114... ...
Organizational resistance to effective team building comes from two sources, perceived threat and resistance to change. While some of these characteristics are not particularly relevant to the tank crew environment, other features are of central importance given that tank crews fit the above definition of a team (i.e., a group that requires coordination and cooperation to produce an outcome that no individual alone can produce)
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From page 115... ...
Ben Zur, H., and S.J. Breznitz 1981 The effect of time pressure on risky choice behavior.
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Hockey, and M Rejman 1977 The place of the concept of activation in human information processing theory: An integrative approach.
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Santa Monica, California: The Human Factors Society.
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Warburton, eds., Human Stress and Cognition: An Information Processing Approach. Chichester, Fn~land Wilev an~l Snns Individual-organizational relationships: Implications for preventing job stress and burnout.
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From page 119... ...
Predmore, S.C. 1991 Micro-coding of cockpit communications in accident analyses: Crew coordination in the United Airlines flight 232 accident.
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From page 120... ...
Flach 1988 Human information processing.
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From page 121... ...
Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting. Santa Monica, California: Human Factors Society.
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