References

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Prentice-Hall.

Barrett, S. (1994). Tactics and crew proficiency: Enhance firing qualification at grafenwoehr.
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Bieliauskas, L. A. (1982). Stress and its relationship to health and illness. Boulder, CO: Westview
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Bourne, P. G. (1970). Men, stress and Vietnam. Boston: Little, Brown.

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Eikenberry, K. W. (1993). Planning guidance for an LFX. Army Trainer Magazine, 18-19

ll



strategies that seek to reduce or alter in some way, as to make them manageable internal
and external stressors. It makes sense to want to avoid having to treat the symptoms of
exposure to stress and intense settings using secondary prevention strategies.

The difficulty with the primary stress prevention strategies suggested by Nelson,
et. al. (1989), is if the task can't be redesigned, expectations changed, or the stressor
reduced, we are left with dealing with persons’ responses to the stress (secondary
strategies) and at worse, treating those who have succumbed to the stressful, intense
environment (tertiary strategies).

Most traditional forms of stress reduction do not work in intense settings as they
do in less intense environments, because they have been developed to deal with stress
associated with different factors such as frustration, being in a rut, overcrowding,
discrimination, bureaucracy, and socioeconomic variables (Girdano, Everly, and Dusek,
1990). A relaxation or task redesign technique is of no use for a task that is very intense
and cannot be restructured. Thus, a different method of primary prevention strategies
needs to be studied to deal with stress occurring in an intense situation like combat. These
techniques would be based on an inability to alter the stressor or redesign the task, and the
need to prepare individuals prior to entering the stressful, intense environment. In an
intense setting such as combat, failure to perform at some standard can result in injury or
loss of life. Since the environmental intensity can be objectively controlled, it can be
incorporated into training in various ways that allow trainees to experience the task
demands and develop skills and abilities necessary for successfully coping with the
intense situation.

Training of Task Performance and Stress Coping Skills. Soldiers, as a group and
as individual task performers, should be ready for the intense situations that they may

experience in the future (Weaver & Stewart, 1988). Collins (1978) suggests that training
is an essential tool for building military cohesion and bringing about effective task
performance. Because individuals’ perceptions of and experience in an intense situation
are different, each individual should develop the appropriate skills and abilities required to
perform the task and handle the intense situation. If they have the necessary skills and
abilities, a situation that for many may be quite intense and as a result, stressful, can be
handled without deficits in performance and without stress related after-effects. The
training can involve a variety of methods, strategies, and techniques, including the means
and procedures for getting help, using labor saving devices, allocating attention, applying
basic performance knowledge and skills, and practice and training in realistic settings.
Training in realistic settings seems to be particularly important for developing applicable
skills and for preparing for the intensity that will be faced in the actual task performance
(Gagne, 1962). According to Friedland and Keinan (1992), realistic-setting training
requires two conditions: 1) familiarity with the intensity to be encountered in the actual
task performance, and 2) possession of basic skills and knowledge required to perform the
task.

Buckalew (1990) states that the "physiological responses" the body exposed to
stress will make "can be manipulated or modified by training and experience" (p. 4). To
enable soldiers to bear the load of stress, Buckalew suggests training them with the
anticipated load and conditioning them to the stressors in similar situations. Ideally, "if a
stressor is expected and the soldier has been repeatedly exposed to it under realistic
conditions... motivation should be increased, and load bearing should suffer but minimal
degradation in actual combat" (p. 20). George (1967) also argues that if the goal of
training is to have soldiers coordinate in combat, they must be trained in conditions similar
to those of combat.

The individual's knowledge and skills necessary for performing the task are
directly related to his or her perception about the intensity in the situation and his stress
level related to the task. For example, in a situation such as fighting against a large
number of enemy tanks, the soldier's possession of the necessary tactical and strategic tank



Weaver, S. F., & Stewart, N. K. (1988). Factors influencing combat stress reactions and post-
traumatic stress disorder: A literature review (ARI Technical Report 791). Alexandria,
VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. (ADA 198
063)

Welford, A. T. (1973). Stress and performance. Ergonomics, 16, 567-580.

Wierwille, W. W., Rahimi, M., & Casali, J. G. (1985). Evaluation of 16 measures of mental
workload using a simulated flight task emphasizing mediational activity. Human Factors.
27(5), 489-502.

15



FOREWORD

The Advanced Training Methods Research Unit of the U.S. Army Research Institute for
the Behavioral and Social Sciences performs research in the field of advanced training methods,
including the application of emerging technologies. A major focus is to enhance soldiers’ task
performance through improved training that can be achieved with the advance of theoretical
knowledge and the application of training methods and technologies.

This report examines the literature on situational intensity, mental workload, task
performance, stress, and stress reduction techniques. The purpose of this report is to (a) examine
the relationship between situational intensity and task performance, and (b) discuss the training
methods for preparing individuals to successfully perform a task in an intense and potentially
stressful situation. After reviewing the literature on task intensity, mental workload, stress, and
preventive stress management techniques, two specific training methods are described: (1)
phased-intensity, and (2) graduated-intensity. These methods are viewed as useful primary
strategies in preventive stress management. Due to the flexibility and ease of manipulating
training situations, including the intensity levels, computer-controlled simulations are
recommended for future research and training that requires the consideration of situational
intensity. This line of research will enhance the training capabilities of the U.S. Army.

This paper is a product of a basic research project funded by the In-House Laboratory
Independent Research program.

ZITA M. SIMUTIS EDGAR M. JOHNSON
Deputy Director Director
(Science and Technology)



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coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 48, 150-170.

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as determinants of performance in stressful situations. Journal of Human Stress, 8, 41-66.

Friedland, N., & Keinan, G. (1992). Training effective performance in stressful situations: Three
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91.

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Hancock, P. A. (1989). The effect of performance failure and task demand on the perception of
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Hancock, P. A., & Caird, J. K. (1993). Experimental evaluation of a model of mental workload.
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Ingraham, L. H., & Manning, F. J. (1981). Cohesion: Who needs it, what is it and how do we get
it to them? Military Review, 61(6), 2-12.

12



Reed, S. K. (1988). Cognition: Theory and applications (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Rothbaum, B. O., Hodges, L. F., Kooper, R., & Opdyke, D. (1995). Effectiveness of computer-
generated (virtual reality) graded exposure in the treatment of acrophobia. American

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Ryckman, R. M., & Rodda, W. C. (1972). Confidence maintenance and performance as a function
of chronic self-esteem and initial task experience. Psychological Record, 22, 241-247

Selye, H. (1974). Stress without distress. New York: Harper & Row.

Sharpley, C. F. (1994). Maintenance and generalizability of laboratory-based heart rate reactivity
control training. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 17(3), 3009-329.

Sherer, C. R. (1993). JRTC and coalition training. Army Trainer Magazine, 8-9.

Singh, I. L., Dwivedi, D. B., & Sinha, M. M. (1979). Effect of anxiety on vigilance, Perceptual
and Motor Skills, 49, 142.

Solomon, A., Mikulincer, M., & Benbenishty, R. (1989). Combat stress reaction--clinical
manifestations and correlates. Military Psychology, 1(1), 35-47.

Sommer, D. (19889). A revolution in Army training: Training with simulators (Technical Report
0515-89). Charlottesville, VA: U.S. Army Intelligence Agency.

Standke, L. (1979, February). The advantages of training people to handle stress. Training/HRD.
23-26.

Stramler, J. H. (1993). The dictionary for human factors/ergonomics. Boca Raton, FL: CRC
Press.

Sullivan, H. S. (1948). The meaning of anxiety in psychiatry and in life. Psychiatry, 11, 1-13

Thompson, T. J. (1989). Mediating stress in Army training: The trainer is the critical component
(ARI Research Report 1544). Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the
Behavioral and Social Sciences. (ADA 218 554)

Treisman, A. M. (1960). Contextual cues in selective listening. Quarterly Journal of Experimental
Psychology, 12, 242-248.

VanGorder, R. W. (1987). Qualitative analysis of combat stress (Technical Report No. AD-B115
782). Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH: Air Force Institute of Technology.

14



Friedland and Keinan (1982, 1992) tested the effect of graduated-intensity training
against that of a high-intensity training, no-intensity training, and a phased-intensity
training. The phased-intensity training was the same as the no-intensity training in the
early phase of the training and the same as the high-intensity training in the later phase.
The results showed that phased-intensity training was more effective than the other three
training types.

According to Friedland and Keinan, the phased-intensity training provided the
opportunity to learn the basic skills required to perform the task, in the beginning phase of
training without stress, and the opportunity to practice the skills in a highly demanding,
intense situation in the later phase. Friedland and Keinan (1992) argue that phased-
intensity training is well suited for military training because many military tasks require
the acquisition of complex skills and creating a training environment using a gradations of
intensity can be difficult. However, recent computer technology provides an opportunity
to develop sophisticated simulators that can control the presentation of the task/situational
intensity as needed for the given training situation. Virtual reality might also hold promise
as a means for exposing individuals to stressful, demanding environments in order to
prepare them for performance in one similar to it. Research has shown that fear of heights
was treatable by exposure to virtual reality environments (Rothbaum, Hodges, Kooper,
and Opdyke, 1995). Various methods and techniques (Park, In Press) can be used to
adaptively present the task/situational intensity to individual trainee's needs through
simulators. In addition to the functional flexibility for presenting training tasks and
scenarios, simulator-based training has a number of advantages. Combat training
simulators have been increasingly used to reduce training costs (e.g., cost for operating
actual equipment for training), increase training effectiveness and efficiency, protect the
training environment, and increase trainee safety (Sommer, 1989; Combined Arms Battle
Logistics Simulation, 1992). Particularly, a simulator's ability to keep records on trainee
and simulator interactions, including trainee actions, mistakes, and achievements, can be
very useful. This information can be used for instructional decisions in the later stages of
training, providing opportunities for implementation of various types of training methods
and strategies, including the presentation of task/situational intensity. Since simulators
can allow trainees to be exposed to possible life-threatening intensity without risk, they
can be ideal tools for training the skills necessary to cope with highly stressful
task/situational intensity.

While there can be a variety of ways to "phase-in" or "gradually" present training
for performance in demanding, intense environments, what stands out about these types of
training presentation is the need for basic skill practice as well as practice with the
expected performance level intensity.

Conclusions

The goal of preventive stress management is to start intervention in the early stages
before stress and intensity can take a negative toll on the individual and his/her
performance. What is missing from these stress management techniques is a means for
dealing with stressful situations in which the stressor can't be reduced, either through task
redesign or changed expectations. Because of this, we are:in many instances, left with
using “after-the-fact" techniques for the treatment of stress casualties. Research findings
indicate that reduction of the impact of stressful events leads to better worker morale,
health, and performance; thus, it is important to study methods and strategies for
successfully dealing with stress and reducing its negative effects. While many programs
are available and being developed that can help treat stress casualties “after-the-fact”, it
should be preferred to train persons in such a way that the intense nature of a setting will
not negatively influence their performance and that they will not need treatment
afterwards. This can translate to a savings of time and money as well as help maintain
worker/soldier morale.



Environmental Intensity, Stress, and Training

Traditionally, workplace and combat stress have been dealt with in a variety of
ways. Most of the efforts aimed at reducing the negative effects of stress on human health
and job performance have used “after-the-fact” methods (Quick and Quick, 1984;
Eysenck, 1988). These strategies are based on treating "stress casualties" through mental
and physical healthcare following exposure to a stressful environment (Nelson, Quick, and
Quick, 1989). While this after-care is important, it would be better for individuals and
organizations if persons were better able to handle performing in the stressful situation
without ending up as casualties to stress.

Preventive stress management techniques are based on the premise that it is not
inevitable that stress and intense environments must result in deleterious effects on the
individual as well as his/her performance. The goal of preventive stress management
techniques is to begin the intervention in the early stages before stress can negatively
influence performance and the well-being of the individual. Primary intervention
strategies seek to alter the stressor itself by redesigning the task or environment, or
changing expectations about performance. Secondary intervention strategies attempt to
alter the responses to stress once it occurs (Nelson, Quick, and Quick, 1989). These
secondary strategies have, for the most part, focused on the training of “time out” methods
that include exercise, relaxation, breathing, and communication techniques. While these
can have an important place in the fight against stress and its negative effects, they have
limited impact. Certain tasks allow for only minimal or no “time out” exercises, and
merely treating individuals after-the-fact does not remove the negative effects of stress on
performance. There is a need, then, for primary intervention techniques that will prepare
individuals for performance in environments in which stress can negatively affect
performance and in which the nature of the task does not allow for redesign or “time out”
exercises.

This paper will investigate training for performance in highly demanding
environments and how this training can be done to reduce or eliminate the negative effects
that intense, stressful environments can have on individuals and their task performance.
Mental workload, traditional stress reduction techniques, and the interaction of stress and
performance will be studied as well.

Stress Environmental Intensi

To understand the best means for preparing individuals to perform in an
environment that is intense and demanding, it is important to understand what is meant by
stress and environmental intensity.

Environmental intensity can be measured by the state of the environment or setting
in which a variety of factors, such as noise level, temperature and illumination influence a
task. However, it is mostly determined by the physical properties (e.g., speed, complexity,
etc.) of the given task or of the surrounding situation in which the task will be performed.
Environmental intensity can be said to be high, low, or some level in between. Intensity
levels that individuals experience, however, are different because certain individuals have
either adjusted their minds and bodies to the situation or have developed the necessary
skills and abilities to handle the situation. For example, a new accountant experiencing
her first tax season at work may be overwhelmed by the intense nature of the work, while
someone who has been on the job for a long time may have developed ways to make the
work load less demanding. Using a military example, a new recruit may be terrified by
gunfire flying over his head; however, a veteran, using his skills and the knowledge that
"the bullets can’t hurt you unless you stand up,” may remain calm.

When the intense nature of a task or environment causes an alteration of the
individual’s existing psychological equilibrium, it is assumed that he or she experiences
stress. Basically, intensity is determined by the physical properties of the given task and
the surrounding situation, while stress is defined as the mental and physical tension that an



ENVIRONMENTAL INTENSITY, STRESS, AND TRAINING

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Research Requirement:

As part of a research program investigating the preparation of individuals and teams for
performance in an intense environment, this review examined the literature on stress, intensity,
mental workload, and stress reduction techniques.

Procedure:

This paper is based on a wide range of literature obtained from a review of the ERIC,
Psych Info, Management Contents, and ABI INFORM databases. Military examples and other
related literature were used whenever possible. The relation of environmental intensity to stress
and mental workload was reviewed. Particular attention was directed toward discussing the
techniques for preparing individuals to perform in an intense, potentially stressful environment.

Findings:

Preventive stress management training seeks to alter the effects that stress can have on
individual well-being and performance. The goal of preventive stress management techniques is to
begin the intervention in the early stages before stress can result in negative effects. Primary
prevention strategies seek to alter the stressor itself by redesigning the task or individual
Secondary strategies attempt to alter the response to stress once it occurs. While these secondary
strategies can be useful, they have a limited impact and take place after the negative effects of
stress have begun. Therefore, it would be useful to utilize training strategies that will prepare
individuals for performance in environments in which stress can negatively effect performance and
in which the nature of the task does not allow for redesign or secondary strategies.

Overall, the literature showed that individuals who will be required to perform in an
intense, potentially stressful environment need to (1) develop the basic skills necessary to perform
up to some criterion in the performance setting, and (2) have practiced against the criterion-level
intensity prior to being place in the performance setting. Two techniques that were shown to be
particularly useful in meeting the two requirements for this type of training were phased-intensity
and graduated-intensity training.

Phased-intensity training allows trainees to practice the basic skills without any level of
intensity present and then presents criterion-level intensity for the trainee to practice with.
Graduated-intensity training presents intensity throughout training; however, early in training, the
intensity level is very low and as training continues, the level of intensity increases to criterion-
level intensity. Both of these training types are primary prevention strategies, useful for reducing
the effects of stressful environments on individual performance and well-being.

This review also pointed out that simulators would be ideal administrators of these
phased- and graduated-intensity training techniques. The flexibility and ease with which all aspects

vii



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank our reviewers, Joel Savell, Richard Maisano, and Mike
Etger, for their thoughtful comments which helped in the completion of this paper. Additionally,
we would like to thank Farrah Lakani for her assistance in gathering literature and editing this
manuscript.

vi



Many studies have been conducted to investigate methods and strategies for
training individuals to perform a task in intense, potentially stressful settings. The
findings suggest that people can be best prepared for performing a task in an intense
setting when they experience the type of intensity to be encountered in an actual task
situation during training. These studies also suggest that special attention must be given to
teaching the knowledge and skills required for task performance during the training,
because exposure to too intense of an environment too early during training can result in
poor acquisition of the knowledge and skills. A graduated or phased-in presentation of the
actual task/situational intensity seems to be most beneficial for transfer of training to an
intense task environment. Through these types of training, trainees will be able to acquire
the necessary knowledge and skills, while experiencing the actual task/situational
intensity, before performing in the task setting.

‘An important point to address with respect to these types of training is
generalizability from training to transfer environment and from performance environment
to performance environment. At the center of stress management strategies is the issue of
transfer of stress response training to the workplace (i.e., "real-world") settings (Sharpley,
1994). For example, in Sharpley's (1994) study of heart rate reactivity contol (HRRC)
training, it was found that subjects were able to maintain HRRC for at least 4 months and
were able to transfer it to incidents occuring outside of the lab. For this stress
management technique it appears that once trained, individuals were positively able to
influence their responses to stress in a variety of situations that required HRRC. This,
however, may not always be the case with stress managment procedures and research is
necessary to study the transfer of stress response skills. It may be that generalization is
dependent on the type of stressor or intensity present since the task and the intensity of the
task can be so interrelated. As stated by Sharpley (1994), for those stress management
techniques that have clear supportive data, there is little use in continuing research with
them without assessing their generalizability to everyday life.

The effects of the phased- and graduated-intensity training have been investigated
mostly in artificial environments. For example, stress was induced by placing the subject's
hand in a bucket of ice water. Further research on these training methods is necessary
before drawing conclusions about their effects and generalizability. All that can be said to
this point is that training for performance in intense, potentially stressful environments,
seems to be most effective when trainees are given sufficient practice time with the basic
skills of the task, and exposure to the performance environment intensity at a later point in
training. The previous research does, however, offer a direction for future research. Also,
since objectively controlling levels of intensity and stress presentation are important in
either phased- or graduated-intensity training, computer technology, particularly
simulators, would provide a means for manipulating the task and situational intensity in a
variety of ways during the training. Thus, research is recommended in the area of
adaptive presentation of task/situational intensity based on the individual’s perceived
stress level and their task performance, using computer-controlled simulation.

10



ENVIRONMENTAL INTENSITY, STRESS, AND TRAINING

CONTENTS.

Page
STRESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTENSITY... 2... 2-0 ee eee eee 1
PERSONALITY AND STRESS... 0. 2 ee ee 2
GROUP FACTORS AND STRESS... 2... ee ee 3
STRESS, PERFORMANCE, AND HEALTH ......-- 2-2 see eee eens 3
METHODS FOR ALTERING RESPONSES TO STRESS ........---+55 4
Stress Management Training... 2. 1 - ee ee 4
Training of Task Performance and Stress Coping Skills... .....-.--- 5
Intensity Level and Training... 2... 2 ee ee ee eee 6
Intensity and Mental Workload. . 6
Mental Overload and Performance 7
Task and Situation Intensity in Training ©... 2... - 0-2 ee ee ee eee 7
PRIMARY PREVENTION STRATEGIES FOR PERFORMANCE IN
INTENSE SETTINGS. 2.00. 0 8
Phased-Intensity Training. ©... eee 8
Graduated-Intensity Training. ©. 6... ee 8
CONCLUSIONS... 20... 9
REFERENCES... 0.0 11

ix



Technical Report 1039

Environmental Intensity, Stress,
and Training

Ross C. Teague and Ok-Choon Park
U.S. Army Research Institute

February 1996

19960621 021

United States Army Research Institute
for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.



was a good chance that they would be injured) benefited from training that was presented
in a low-intensity environment. Keinan suggests that trainees with high confidence
expectation focus on the task at hand rather than the environmental intensity or stressor,
while trainees with low confidence expectation focus on the intensity and feel stress.

Trainees’ feelings of success or failure also have an effect on their performance of
the task (Keinan, 1988; Ryckman & Rodda, 1972). Individuals who had actual or induced
feelings of success after training performed better on the criterion task. These studies
suggest that trainees should not be exposed to a high-intensity situation if it will create
feelings of failure. Because stress is a result of an individual’s perceptions and
psychological experience of an intense situation, they should be trained to perceive and
experience the situation differently. While many personality factors have been discussed
in terms of their relationship with stress, few screening procedures have been developed
for selecting people who are most likely to succumb to stress (VanGorder, 1987).

Group Factors and Stress
In addition to individual personality factors, group variables (e.g., group morale,

cohesion, feelings of belonging to the group, and motivation) can also have a significant
influence on the individual's response to an intense situation and his or her job
performance. For example, group members' closeness (bonding) has been shown to
increase group morale and reduce stress-related casualties (Collins, 1978). Group factors
influencing individuals’ stress and job performance include conflict among the group
members, communication, leadership, cohesion and turnover rate (VanGorder, 1987). A
good leader keeps communication channels open between the group members and gives
individual members feedback as to their and the group's performance. The social support
individuals receive from being part of a group or organization is also beneficial in
determining responses to stress. Quick and Quick (1984) advocate a variety of team
building, career development, and participative management techniques to
organizationally influence individual responses to stress. In an examination of the
Vietnam War and stress, Bourne (1970) reports that soldiers' motivation is fostered by
allegiance to the group, and within a small group that allows its members to communicate
freely, an effective consensus develops as to how an intense event or situation should be
perceived; this consensus frequently overrides an individual’s normal stress reaction.
Bourne's observation suggests that cohesion, the feeling of being part of a group and
viewing the group as “we,” enables individuals to perform adequately under intense
situations without succumbing to stress. The degree of cohesion is determined by the
frequency and intensity of interactions between group members. Cohesion is often
developed when people are trained together with an understanding that they have a
common goal and are “in the same boat” (Ingraham & Manning, 1981).

Stress, Performance, and Health

The importance of preventive stress management is not only to reduce the impact
of intense, stressful situations on individual health and well-being, but on task
performance as well. The relationship between stress and performance was first
investigated by Yerkes-Dodson in the early 1900’s. Stress can induce both positive and
negative outcomes. The now familiar Yerkes-Dodson Law states that stress increases
arousal and arousal influences performance. According to this law, performance at
different levels of arousal is like an inverted-U; at low and high levels of arousal,
performance is lower than at a moderate level of arousal. Although the moderate level is
task-specific and individually different (Kahneman, 1973), people have a tendency to try
to maintain their arousal at a moderate level. For example, in a job that involves little or
no arousal, the worker often seeks to bring higher levels of arousal into the job by
restructuring the task or by allocating the resources differently.

While the term "stress" carries a negative connotation, it is not wholly undesirable
for there to be stress present in a performance setting. That is, as the Yerkes-Dodson Law



individual experiences in the situation. Stress is the result of individuals’ reactions to an
environment that is appraised by them as relevant to their own well-being and in which
their resources are taxed or exceeded (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985). While environmental
demands play a large part in determining the level of perceived stress, mental appraisal of
the ability to meet the demands is equally important. Novaco and Vauz (1985) describe
this reactive relationship as an imbalance between the demands placed on the individual's
system and the available resources needed to counter the demands. These demands can
come from external as well as internal sources. External sources include such things as
threat to one's person and/or possessions, while internal sources of stress arise from a
desire to succeed or do well for other personal reasons (Nelson, Quick, and Quick, 1989).
As Selye (1974) stated, "Stress is the spice of life” (p. 83), because itis associated with
almost every activity. Thus, it is impossible to completely avoid stress. Responses to
stress and intensity can differ across individuals depending on personality and the groups
of which they are part.

Personality and Stress
As stated by Welford (1973), “However equal men may be before God and the

law, in their reactions to stress they are not the same” (p. 579). What is it that allows
certain individuals to handle an intense situation without it affecting their performance?
An individual’s response to an intense environment can be influenced by many different
factors. Personality is one of the factors that has received the most attention from
researchers and psychologists. While general consensus has emerged in terms of
personality factors (i.e. the "Big Five") the relationship between personality and the
specific ways that individuals respond to an intense situation are not as clear. According
to Eysenck (1988), the number of personality factors influencing individuals’ responses to
an intense situation can range from as few as three (extraversion, neuroticism, and
psychoticism) to as many as sixteen, because different factor theorists view the same
factors from different perspectives.

VanGorder (1987) reported that in combat settings, how a soldier reacts depends
on the type of person the individual was before entering the service. The personal innate
characteristics brought to the service may be different depending upon various
predisposition factors that the individual possesses, including life crises, age, physical
health, personal perceptions, and self-control mechanisms. Several key indicators that a
soldier may have difficulty in dealing with combat intensity include:

1) Enduring financial or marital and family problems,

2) Spoiled childhood life, dependent on parents and family,

3) Nervous and anxious personality suffering from unrest and uneasiness, and
4) Lack of confidence of ability and experience to perform duties (VanGorder,
1987).

Ina study of police officers' job satisfaction, Lester and Solis (1980) found that
self-reported stress was a strong indicator of job satisfaction. However, personality factors
can lead to differences in the way stress is interpreted by an individual. For example,
Duckitt and Broll (1983) found that subjects who are outer-directed or “tough minded”
interpret feelings of stress in terms of illness while those that are inner-directed and not as
“tough” (personality-wise) interpret the feelings in terms of psychological distress and not
as illness. A study by Keinan (1988) showed that trainees’ responses to an environmental
intensity were related to their confidence expectation on the task in the given situation.
Confidence expectation was defined as the likelihood that an individual feels that he or
she can perform the task in the situation without being injured. It was found that trainees
who had high confidence expectation (those who felt that there was a small chance that
they would be injured in that situation) learned best in a high-intensity training
environment, while those who had low confidence expectation (those who felt that there



of the training environment can be manipulated make simulators potentially very useful for
exposing individuals to varying levels of intensity

Utilization of Findings:
This paper provides a review of the literature in the areas of stress, intensity, mental

workload, and stress reduction techniques, which will be useful for further research in these areas
and will enhance the training capabilities of the U.S. Army.

viii



Kahneman, D. (1973). Attention and arousal. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kantowitz, B. H., & Sorkin, R. D. (1983). Attention. In B. Kantowitz and R. Sorkin (Eds.),
Human factors: Understanding people-system relationships (pp. 179-191). New York:
Wiley.

Keinan, G. (1988). Training for dangerous task performance: The effects of expectations and
feedback. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 18(4), 355-373.

Keinan, G., Friedland, N., & Sarig-Naor, V. (1990). Training for task performance under stress:
The effectiveness of phased training method. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20
1514-1529.

Lester, D., & Solis, A. (1980). Type A personality, stress, and job satisfaction in police officers.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 51, 890.

McGrath, J. E. (1984). Groups: Interaction and performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
Hall

Meichenbaum, D. (1985). Stress inoculation training. New York: Pergamon Press.

Moray, N. (1982). Subjective mental workload. Human Factors, 24(1), 25-40.

Nelson, D. L., Quick, J. C., & Quick, J. D. (1989). Preventing combat stress and battle fatigue
Organizational Dynamics, 18, 65-79.

Norman, D. A. (1968). Toward a theory of memory and attention. Psychological Review, 75.
522-536

Novaco, R. W., & Vauz, A. (1985). Human stress: A theoretical model for the community-
oriented investigator. In E. Susskind and D. Klein (Eds.), Community research. New
York: Praeger.

Orne, M. (1965). Psychological factors maximizing resistance to stress with special reference to
hypnosis. In S. Klausner (Ed.), The quest for self-control. New York: Free Press

Paas, F. G. W. C., & Merrienboer, J. G. V. (1993). The efficiency of instructional conditions: An
approach to combine mental effort and performance measures. Human Factors, 35(4),
737-743

Park, O. K. (in preparation). Adaptive instructional systems. In D. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of
research on educational communication and technology. Scholastic.

Quick, J. D., & Quick, J. D. (1984). Organizational stress and preventive management. New
York: McGraw-Hill

13



Technical Report 1039
Environmental Intensity, Stress, and Training

Ross C. Teague and Ok-Choon Park
U.S. Army Research Institute

Advanced Training Methods Research Unit
Robert J. Seidel, Chief

U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences
5001 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, Virginia 22333-5600

Office, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel
Department of the Army

February 1996

Army Project Number Personnel Performance
20161102B74F and Training

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.



fighting skills can reduce his stress level in the situation. What is stressful for one person
may not be for another. However, as previously discussed, trainees need not only the
knowledge and skills necessary for performing the task, but also the experience with the
same levels of intensity that will be in the actual task performance. A question to be
answered is what is the optimal way to train individuals for the acquisition of the
necessary skills and the situational intensity experience.

Dyer (1986) reports that the learning principle, "learning by doing," can be applied
to the training of both task and stress-coping skills. For its application to military training,
he restated the principle as "learning by doing in a combat-like environment" (p. 32).
However, Dyer's recommendation does not suggest how this principle should be applied.

Intensity Level and Training. The way in which an individual is trained directly
influences how much information is learned and how well the individual will apply the
knowledge and skills to a new environment. The expected situational intensity in the real
task performance can be manipulated in various ways for presentation during training.
Some researchers and trainers say that presentation of the same intensity level as in the
actual task performance situation throughout training allows trainees to develop a
"toughness" and enables them to better handle the stress in the actual situation (Dienstbier,
1989). Although this training method is widely used (Barrett, 1994; Sherer, 1993;
Eikenberry, 1993), it has been shown not to be the most beneficial means of training.
When the criterion-level of intensity is presented throughout training, it can create anxiety
for the trainees and hinder the acquisition of the necessary skills. Anxiety is a great
contributer to inefficient work by interfering with effective observation, analysis, recall,
and planning (Sullivan, 1948). On the other hand, training with no stress (no exposure to
the expected intensity) does not adequately acquaint trainees with what they will have to
experience in terms of stress and intensity (Friedland and Keinan, 1992). What is needed
are methods of training that allow trainees to learn the knowledge and skills necessary for
the task performance and become familiar with the intensity that will be present in the
actual environment.

Intensity and Mental Workload. As reviewed above, research has shown that
either training with the performance-level intensity throughout training or training without
exposure to the performance-level intensity is not the best way for preparing trainees to
develop the skills and abilities necessary to perform the task. These training approaches
can induce stress, decrease confidence and motivation, or can result in an increase in
boredom or fatigue. For example, with no intensity training, trainees may be able to learn
basic skills necessary for the task performance, but they will not be prepared for the time
pressures and the demands that they will have to work against during the performance.
The time restrictions can lead to stress for individuals who are not prepared for it, and, as
the time constraints becomes more important, the task will be perceived as being more
difficult (Moray, 1982). If task performance skills are easy to learn and the task provides
little or no intensity, trainees may become bored and attempt to use their spare mental
capacity in ways that are not desirable for training. With no-intensity training, they can
easily learn the task performance skills but demands and time constraints in the actual task
setting can result in poor performance.

In contrast, presenting performance-level intensity throughout training may
overload the trainee to the point that they are unable to divide their attention between
learning the necessary skills and reacting to the intensity and time pressures. This type of
training often results in poor acquisition of knowledge and skills. It also reduces trainees’
confidence and motivation to work on the task, and results in poor performance on the
actual task (Moray, 1982). It has also been shown that trainees who, while training, feel
that they are far away from meeting their goal, experience an increase in mental workload
(Hancock and Caird, 1993). This, coupled with the time pressures, can lead to an overload
of the trainee’s mental capacity.



Primary Prevention Strategies for Performance in Intense Settings

These strategies are based on training individuals to perform a task that, because of
its nature, can't be redesigned nor have its stressors and intensity reduced. Friedland and
Keinan (1992) have studied two training types that may be useful for the presentation of
the task and situational intensity during training: (a) phased-intensity training, and (b)
graduated-intensity training.

Phased-Intensity Training. Thompson (1989) recommends that it is best if
stressful, intense conditions are introduced gradually once the basic skills have been
practiced and learned. However, this recommendation is not often followed. Keinan,
Friedland, and Sarig-Naor (1990) studied the extent that soldiers need to experience
combat stressors (i.e., task and situational intensity) in training. They developed two
“phased training" methods that allow trainees to be exposed to the task/situational
intensity or stressors through different phases of training. In the first method, trainees go
through the following phases: (a) practice the task performance skills without exposing to
the stressors, (b) experience the stressor without practicing the skills, and (c) practice the
skills with the stressor present. In the second phased method, training is presented
through only phases (a) and (c).

Keinan, et. al. (1990) compared the effects of these two methods of phased training
with those of high-intensity and no-intensity training. In the high-intensity training,
trainees were constantly exposed to the actual task/situational intensity while learning
knowledge and skills required to perform the task throughout training. In the no-intensity
training, trainees learned the knowledge and skills without exposure to the actual
task/situational intensity. The results showed that both of the phased training methods
were more effective than either the high- or no-intensity training. The second method of
phased training was shown to be better than the first phased method. These findings
suggest that training should be presented in two phases: first, without the actual
task/situational intensity; and then, with the actual task/situational intensity present.
Exposure to the task intensity alone, without the performance practice, does not seem to
be beneficial, except for making trainees aware of the level and type of intensity that they
will have to face later in training.

Graduated-Intensity Training. Friedland and Keinan (1982, 1992) tested another
method for the presentation of task/situational intensity during training, based on a stress
inoculation procedure designed to teach stress-coping skills (Orne, 1965; Meichenbaum,
1985). This method creates a training environment in which the presentation of the task
intensity increases gradually from a mild level at the beginning of training to the level to
be experienced in the actual task performance situation at its conclusion. This gradual
increase in training intensity has a correlate in psychiatric therapy. Sullivan (1948) stated
that, "Anxiety as a functionally effective element in interpersonal relations has to be mild
in degree or gradual in its increasing severity" (p. 10). While written for use in
interpersonal skill development, this statement has uses for other situations in which
preparation for events in which anxiety and stress may be likely. This gradual
presentation method is different from phased methods that present training with no
intensity in the beginning phase and present full-intensity in a latter phase of the training.
The authors argue that graduated-intensity training reduces trainees’ anxiety and bolsters
their confidence in coping with the actual task/situational intensity.

In military training, Dougherty (1993) argued that soldiers should experience
realistic combat situations during training. However, Dougherty said that the first part of
training does not have to be under full combat conditions (high intensity) and should
follow the "talk, walk, and run" sequence of training. This type of gradual training ends
with a high-fidelity, live-fire rehearsal. Goethals (1993) also said that combat training
would well be served if it would follow a gradual training format that introduces high-
intensity training later in training.



REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE

1, REPORT DATE 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED (from. . . to)
1996, February Final January 1994-December 1995
4, TITLE AND SUBTITLE Sa. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER
Environmental Intensity, Stress, and Training 5b. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
06011024
6, AUTHOR(S) Se. PROJECT NUMBER
B74F
Ross C. Teague and Ok-Choon Park 5d. TASK NUMBER
2902
Se. WORK UNIT NUMBER
HOL
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8, PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER
U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences
ATTN: PERI-II
5001 Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22333-5600
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U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences ARI
5001 Eisenhower Avenue 11. MONITOR REPORT NUMBER
Alexandria, VA 22333-5600 :
Technical Report 1039

12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

14. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)

Stress and its effects on task performance and on human physical and mental well-being have received a great amount of attention,
The majority of the efforts directed at reducing the negative effects of stress have either been after-the-fact treatments of individuals
exposed to stress or “time out” methods that include relaxation and communication techniques. While these have been shown to be
useful techniques, their effectiveness is limited. Certain tasks do not allow for “time out” exercises, and only treating individuals after
the fact does not remove the negative effects of stress on performance. There is a need, then, for preparing individuals to perform in
environments in which stress and its effects can negatively influence performance and the task that does not allow for “time out”
exercises. This paper discusses methods for training individuals for performance in an intense environment.

Phased-intensity and graduated-intensity training are discussed in detail. Phased-intensity training allows the trainees to practice
the basic skills without any level of intensity present and then to experience the intensity level that the trainee will encounter in the
actual task performance situation. Graduated-intensity training presents intensity throughout training with a gradual increase as
training continues. This review points out the flexibility and ease with which intensity of the training environment can be presented
using simulators.

15. SUBJECT TERMS

Intensity Simulator training Graduated-intensity training
Stress Environmental intensity Phased-intensity trainin
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U.S. ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
FOR THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

A Field Operating Agency Under the Jurisdiction
of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel

EDGAR M. JOHNSON
Director

Technical review by

Richard Maisano
Joel M. Savell

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points out, at certain levels, stress has healthy and beneficial effects on individual well-
being and performance. This optimum level of stress is termed "eustress". Contrasted to
this are too high or too low levels of stress that result in unhealthy, detrimental responses
to stress (Quick and Quick, 1984). Research supports this relationship between stress and
performance. Singh, Dwivedi, and Sinha (1979) found that people perform better at a
vigilance task under a moderate level of shock than at a low or high level. However, most
research has investigated techniques for managing high levels of stress rather than
strategies to train people to successfully perform their tasks in intense situations without
succumbing to stress.

The negative effects of stress in the workplace can have direct and indirect costs
(Quick and Quick, 1984). Direct costs include worker tardiness, absenteeism, turnover,
and decreased job performance. Decreased job performance means a reduction in the
quality and quantity of output and an increase in the number of accidents and injuries
occurring in the workplace. Workers' poor attention and poor decision-making are the
most often cited reasons for the decrease in job performance. Indirect costs include
workers' low morale and motivation, and poor communication between management and
the workers. Resentment and distrust between workers and management are often
observed in a stressful environment (Quick and Quick, 1984).

Stress can not only negatively effect performance and social factors, it also has an
impact on the health of individuals. As stated in Nelson, et. al. (1989), "The danger of the
stress response lies in the potential for managing it poorly. Like machines, the human
body suffers wear and tear and can become worn out" (p. 71). Stress can cause various
physical symptoms, such as muscular tension, headaches, sweating, shaking, nausea, loss
of appetite or overeating, hyperventilation, sleep disturbances, depression, irritability, and
back-pain (Buckalew, 1990; Solomon, Mikuliner, Benbenishty, 1989; Cohen, 1978).
According to Bieliauskas (1982), stress can cause more serious physical problems such as
heart disease, cancer and immune-related illnesses. It is for this variety of possible
outcomes, that the means for handling how humans react to and perform in stressful
situations has been studied. Because of the effects stress and intensity can have on health
and performance, methods for preparing individuals for exposure to these environments
have been studied and used.

Methods for Altering Responses to Stress

Stress Management Training. Most of the methods for dealing with stress center
around controlling the number of stressors or minimizing organizational costs and
discomfort to the individual (Quick and Quick, 1984). These alterations are made through
task redesign, goal setting, team building, participative management, and psychiatric care.
Other methods for dealing with stress include deep relaxation, meditation, hypnosis, and
interpersonal skills training (Girdano, Everly, and Dusek, 1990; Albrecht, 1979).

Business communities have addressed the problem of stress and developed various
types of "wellness" programs that help in the reduction of stress's effects on productivity
and employee health (Standke, 1979). However, most of these programs deal with stress
“after-the-fact,” so that individuals are treated after facing intense situations and after the
effects of stress have begun (Quick and Quick, 1984; Eysenck, 1988). In the military, a
series of workshops was given to train doctors for the treatment of combat-induced “stress
casualties.” Many of these stress management techniques are very useful but should be
selectively applied. For example, a post-combat stress management effort treated the
stress casualties that resulted from being in an intense combat situation for a long time, but
it would be better if soldiers were trained to deal with the combat stress in advance and the
stress casualties did not occur. This points to a need for methods for training soldiers to
perform in demanding, intense combat situations.

In a preventive stress management system described by Nelson, et. al. (1989), the
most useful set of strategies for avoiding the negative aspects of stress are the primary



Mental Overload and Performance. As tasks become more complex and

increasingly dependent on mental functions, the relationship between mental workload
and performance becomes more important (Wierwille, Rahimi, and Casali, 1985).
Although mental workload is not a clearly defined construct, it is considered a
multidimensional concept that is determined in most part by the nature of the task and
worker characteristics (Hancock and Caird, 1993). Mental work has been described as
"any work done by an individual primarily using perceptual and cognitive abilities,
especially those involving such activities as calculating, reasoning, monitoring, decision-
making, and verbal/image processing" (p. 202, Stramler, 1993). Mental workload has
been related to the amount of this cognitive work that is taking place. Mental workload in
and of itself is not negative. When individuals do not have necessary mental resources
available to meet the task demands however, their mental capacity is overloaded and they
experience cognitive difficulty or failure in task performance (Hancock, 1989).

Early studies of cognitive processes, including attention, suggest that human
mental capacity is limited. Attention research began with the investigation of where the
selection stage of attention occurs in the cognitive process. The most influential studies
searching for this “bottleneck” include Broadbent's Filter Theory (1958), Treisman’s
Attenuation Model (1960), and Deutsch and Deutsch-Norman Memory Selection Models
(1963, 1968). Each of these theories located the point of attention selection in a different
place. The difficulty in determining where the bottleneck occurred has led researchers to
study the capacity demands of the task and the amount of mental resources necessary to
meet the demands. Kahneman’s Capacity Model (1973) discusses the general limits on a
person’s capacity to process information (Reed, 1988). The capacity model states that
mental capacity is limited and when the task demands exceed the capacity, task
performance declines. Such performance decline may not only lead to reduced
productivity, but can even be life-threatening (Paas and Merrienboer, 1993). In human-
computer interaction studies, a mismatch between task demands and worker mental
resources has been shown to lead to stress (Hockey, Briner, Tattersall, and Wiethoff,
1989). Thus, mental workload should be carefully considered in training. For some tasks,
it is possible that different training procedures may not yield different levels of
performance, but the mental workload associated with the different training procedures
may be vastly different (Paas and Merrienboer, 1993).

Task and Situation Intensity in Training. When preparing training programs, it is
important to understand the mental requirements of the task. The mental workload an
individual experiences during training influences his or her knowledge and skill
acquisition during the training and, consequently, actual task performance. Training only
basic skills and procedures required to perform a task, without exposure to the task and
situational intensity to be experienced on the actual task performance, may lower trainees’
motivation due to the lack of reasonable mental or physical challenges. As discussed,
some stress or intensity (eustress) may be useful to keep motivation and performance
levels up (Kahneman, 1973; Quick and Quick, 1984). Even if it does not lower their
motivation, the trainees will not be adequately prepared for the workload to be
encountered during the actual task performance. However, training with the same task
and situational intensity to be experienced in the actual task performance from the
beginning may overload trainees’ mental capacity, reduce their confidence, and lead to
failure of training. Once an individual's mental capacity is overloaded, adding any
additional information or task requirements increases his or her perceptions of complexity
and difficulty of the task (Kantowitz & Sorkin, 1983). Thus, it is important to adjust the
task and situational intensity to be presented during training to maximize the effects of
training, without causing mental overload, while providing reasonable challenges for
mental stimulation.