Approved For Release 2003/09/10
: CIA-RDP96-00788R001 200230041-0
ATTACHMENT
4:
Comments on INSCOM and AMSAA Activities
Of the work reviewed on
and
28 September,
I am extremely
impressed with what we saw at INSCOM and equally unimpressed with what
we
saw
at. AMSAA
.
The work at INSCOM shows excellent control,
dedication,
totally
unbiased approaches by the investigators,
large amounts of data on
limited resources,
and probably as much meaningful experimental data
as
can be
found
in all
the other activities combined.
This
is not
to
say that the
INSCOM program is not of
a "demonstration" nature rather
than of a programmatic research nature,
but it
is clear that controlled
research could easily be
"piggybacked" on the INSCOM work to produce
meanginful understanding and quantification.
The fact that these
people have achieved as much as
they have without knowing anything
about the underlying theory
is greatly to their credit.
The
fact they
have
the insight
to instill
the necessary experimental controls without
having had sufficient training
in behavioral science
is
a major credit
to their intelligence.
These are the individuals who are making the
most, meaningful contribution today,
in spite of the major sources of
funding going elsewhere.
I would certainly prefer to
see the monies
being spent at MICOM be diverted toward INSCOM to further this activity.
At the same
time,
INSCOM needs some technical assistance to make sure
that their experimentation
is well controlled,
their statistics are
meaningful,
and that their work continues at a steady pace.
Conversely,
the work at AMSAA seems
to be adequately funded,
staffed
by otherwise intelligent people,
and decidedly a "random walk" process.
Approved For Release 2003/09/10
: CIA-RDP96-00788R001 200230041-0
Approved For Release 2003/09/1 0
: CIA-RDP96-00788R001 200230041 -0
Granted they made early mistakes
and have improved upon these.
However,
,it also seems obvious that these people are not intrinsically interested
in this subject matter,
have greatly contaminated their approaches by
communication between subjects and experimenters,
and are inclined
to
"do things
their way"
in spite of appropriate scientific controls
in
such research areas.
Basically,
I
see the AMSAA research as
a continuous
one of
"targets of opportunity," with nothing rigorously preplanned,
no
rigid or logical evaluation criteria,
no logical selection of viewers,
etc.
It generally appears -to me that they do not know what
to investigate
or
wluj , but rather they investigate whatever seems expedient at the
time.
For example,
they have taken coordinates from SRI rather than generating
coordinates
from "targets."
Even though
9 of the
"world-wide"
targets obtained from SRI were
in the San Francisco area,
they continued
the experiments
anyway.
This,
after registering surprise at this rather
biased-appearing
sample.
Because of this
feeling,
I asked them specifically
if they knew
where they were going, what must be done in the future,
how would they
know when they a.chieved the results necessary
to prove or disprove
appropriate
theories,
etc.
Their answers were vague.
Their direction
and requirements have obviously not been planned.
I
find it of
questionable value to continue this type of experimentation with these
individuals.
Rather,
I would see them providing mathematical and
statistical expertise
to people clearly more insightful and adept at
conducting
this type of research,
such as
the INSCOM people.
Approved For Release 2003/09/10
: CIA-RDP96-00788R001 200230041-0