Prediction of human adaptation and performance in underwater environments

  1. Colodro Plaza, Joaquín
  2. Garcés de Los Fayos Ruiz, Enrique Javier
  3. López García, Juan José
  4. Colodro Conde, Lucía
Journal:
Psicothema

ISSN: 0214-9915

Year of publication: 2014

Volume: 26

Issue: 3

Pages: 336-342

Type: Article

DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Psicothema

Abstract

Background: Environmental stressors require the professional diver to undergo a complex process of psychophysiological adaptation in order to overcome the demands of an extreme environment and carry out effective and efficient work under water. The influence of cognitive and personality traits in predicting underwater performance and adaptation has been a common concern for diving psychology, and definitive conclusions have not been reached. Method: In this ex post facto study, psychological and academic data were analyzed from a large sample of personnel participating in scuba diving courses carried out in the Spanish Navy Diving Center. In order to verify the relevance of individual differences in adaptation to a hostile environment, we evaluated the predictive validity of general mental ability and personality traits with regression techniques. Results: The data indicated the existence of psychological variables that can predict the performance (R2 = .30, p<.001) and adaptation (R2N = .51, p<.001) of divers in underwater environment. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that individual differences are related to the probability of successful adaptation and effective performance in professional diving. These results also verify that dispositional traits play a decisive role in diving training and are significant factors in divers´ psychological fitness.

Bibliographic References

  • Bachrach, A.J., & Egstrom, G.H. (1987). Stress and performance in diving. San Pedro, CA: Best Publishing.
  • Baddeley, A.D., & Idzikowski, C. (1985). Anxiety, manual dexterity and diver performance. Ergonomics, 28, 1475-1482
  • Bar-Haim, Y., Lamy, D., Pergamin, L., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J., & Van Ijzendoorn, M.H. (2007). Threat-related attentional bias in anxious and nonanxious individuals: A meta-analytic study. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 1-12
  • Barrick, M.R., & Mount, M.K. (2005). Yes, personality matters: Moving on to more important matters. Human Performance, 18, 359-372
  • Barrick, M.R., Mount, M.K., & Judge, T.A. (2001). Personality and performance at the beginning of the new millennium: What do we know and where do we go next? International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 9-30
  • Berghage, T.E. (1972). The use of Standard Navy Classification Test scores for the selection of Diver First Class candidates. Res. Rep. NEDU-RR-20-72. Panama City, FL: U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit.
  • Biersner, R.J. (1984). Physical and psychological examination of diver: Psychological standards for diving. In C.W. Shilling, C.B. Carlston, & R.A. Mathias (Eds.), The physician's guide to diving medicine (pp. 520-530). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
  • Biersner, R.J., & Larocco, J.M. (1987). Personality and demographic variables related to individual responsiveness to diving stress. Undersea Biomedical Research, 14, 67-73
  • Campbell, J.P., McCloy, R.A., Oppler, S.H., & Sager, C.E. (1993). A theory of performance. In N. Schmitt, W.C. Borman, & Associates (Eds.), Employee selection in organizations (pp. 35-70). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
  • Carroll, J.B. (1993). Human Cognitive Abilities. A survey of factor analytic studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Cattell, R.B. (1998). 16 PF, Cuestionario factorial de personalidad (adolescentes y adultos) [16PF, Personality Factor Questionnaire (adolescents and adults)]. Madrid: TEA.
  • Colodro, J. (1994). Intervención psicológica en el ámbito militar: buceo y submarinos [Psychological intervention on military field: Diving and submarins]. In E. Medina & A. Romero (Eds.), La psicología como profesión [Psychology as profession] (pp. 151-165). Murcia: Universidad de Murcia.
  • Colodro, J., Garcés de los Fayos, E., & Velandrino, A. (2012). Diferencias de personalidad en la aptitud psicológica para el buceo militar [Personality differences in the psychological fitness for military diving]. Anales de Psicología, 28, 434-443
  • Costa, P.T., & McCrae, R.R. (1992). NEO-PI-R. Professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
  • Edmonds, C.W. (1972). The diver. RANSUM Project 2/72. Balmoral: Royal Australian Navy School of Underwater Medicine.
  • Gottfredson, L.S. (1997). Why g matters: The complexity of everyday life. Intelligence, 24, 79-132
  • Gottfredson, L.S. (2002). Where and why g matters: Not a mystery. Human Performance, 15, 25-46
  • Hogan, J., & Hogan, R. (1985). Psychological and physical performance characteristics of successful explosive ordnance diver technicians. Rep. UP-101. Tulsa, OK: University of Tulsa.
  • Hogan, J., & Holland, B. (2003). Using theory to evaluate personality and job-performance relations: A socioanalityc perspective. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 100-112
  • Hogan, R. (2005). In defense of personality measurement: New wine for old whiners. Human Performance, 18, 331-341
  • Horn, J.L., & McArdle, J.J. (2007). Understanding human intelligence since Spearman. In R. Cudeck, & R. MacCallum (Eds.), Factor analysis at 100 years (pp. 205-247). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • John, O.P., Naumann, L.P., & Soto, C.J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big-Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O.P. John, R.W. Robins, & L.A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 114-158). Nueva York, NY: Guilford.
  • Lazarus, R.S. (1966). Psychological stress and the coping process. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
  • Lazarus, R.S. (1991). Psychological stress in the workplace. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 6, 1-13
  • Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York, NY: Springer.
  • Moray, N.P., Ross, H.E., & Synodinos, N.E. (1979). Final report on a tests battery for the selection of trainee divers. Stirling: Stirling University.
  • Morgan, W.P., Raglin, J.S., & O'Connor, P.J. (2004). Trait anxiety predicts panic behavior in beginning scuba students. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 25, 314-322
  • Mount, M.K., & Barrick, M.R. (1995). The Big Five personality dimensions: Implications for research and practice in human resources management. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 13, 153-200
  • Ones, D.S., Viswesvaran, O., & Dilchert, S. (2005). Cognitive ability in selection decisions. In O. Wilhelm & R.W. Engle (Eds.), Handbook of understanding and measuring intelligence (pp. 431-468). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  • Pelechano, V. (1975). El cuestionario MAE (Motivación y Ansiedad de Ejecución) [The questionnaire MAE (Motivation and achievement anxiety)]. Madrid: Fraser Española.
  • Pulakos, E.D., Arad, S., Donovan, M.A., & Plamondon, K.E. (2000). Adaptability in the workplace: Development of a taxonomy of adaptive performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 612-624
  • Ree, M.J., Earles, J.A., & Teachout, M.S. (1994). Predicting job performance: Not much more than g. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 518-524
  • Revelle, W., Wilt, J., & Condon, D. (2011). Individual differences and differential psychology: A brief history and prospect. In T. Chamorro- Premuzic, S. von Stumm, & A. Furnham (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of individual differences (pp. 3-38). Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell.
  • Rieben, A.W., & Miller, J.C. (2000). Human anxiety in an aquatic environment. Tech. Rep. USAFA-TR-2000-05. Colorado Springs, CO: U.S. Air Force Academy.
  • Salgado, J.F. (2003). Predicting job performance using FFM and non-FFM personality measures. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 76, 323-346
  • Salgado, J.F., Viswesvaran, C., & Ones, D.S. (2001). Predictors used for personnel selection: An overview of constructs, methods and techniques. In N. Anderson, D.S. Ones, H.K. Sinangil, & C. Viswesvaran (Eds.), Handbook of Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 165-199). London: Sage.
  • Salgado, J.F., Anderson, N., Moscoso, S., Bertua, C., De Fruyt, F., & Rolland, J.P. (2003). A meta-analytic study of GMA validity for different occupations in the European Community. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 1068-1081
  • Schmidt, F.L., & Hunter, J.E. (2004). General mental ability in the world of work: Occupational attainment and job performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 162-173
  • Seisdedos, N. (1992). 16PF, monografía técnica [16PF, technical monograph]. Madrid: TEA.
  • Selye, H. (1964). From dream to discovery. New York, NY: McGraw- Hill.
  • Selye, H. (1974). The stress of life. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
  • SPSS (2010). IBM SPSS Regression 19. Chicago, IL: SPSS, Inc.
  • Staal, M.A. (2004). Stress, cognition, and human performance: A literature review and conceptual framework. Tech. Mem. 2004- 212824. Moffett Field, CA: NASA Ames Research Center.
  • Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L.S. (1999). Using multivariate statistics. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
  • TEA (1994). TIG-2: Test de Inteligencia General (serie dominós - Forma 2) [TIG-2: General Intelligence Test (series dominoes - Form 2)]. Madrid: TEA.
  • Tetlow, S. (2006). Formal risk identification in professional SCUBA (FRIPS). Res. Rep. HSE-436. London: Crown.
  • U.S. Navy (2008). US Navy Diving Manual (Rev. 6.). Washington, DC: Department of the Navy.
  • Wise, D.A. (1963). Aptitude selection standards for the U.S. Navy's first class diving course. Rep. NEDU-3-63. Panama City, FL: U.S. Naval Experimental Diving Unit.
Data source: Dialnet