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:tice,
re-
or
skills
, and
re-
ns of
re-
quisition
ing
later
estricted
:ncies
in
mmental
Bjork &
i,
1988).
gy to en-
implica-
John A. Swets and Robert A. Bjor
h the ac-
rforming
here are-jfq
(such
as
:e motor
.nor pro-
trategies
that
are
aphysio-
sart-rale
e execu-
ery) are
personal
:sted by
rogram-
ievclop-
negative
,e
in the
:rt's be-
arch on
u
years
indation
t, com-
ce have
rts psy-
tes
variety
earlier
iCH
IT*)
discussion of learning during sleepHhat seem sensitive to
types
of learning without
awareness
("data-driven
processing”),
there
is renewed
interest
in
subliminal
learning (e.g., Jacoby & Whitehouse.
in press; Marcel,
1983). While such results suggest a new look
at the sub-
liminal-learning issue, a large variety of subliminal tapes
designed
to alter attitudes, enhance confidence, reduce
anxieties, and so forth, have had striking success
in the
marketplace.
j
Manipulating mentul, emotional, and arousal states
A
draft
review
of the
literature on
techniques
to
change mental
states, commissioned by AR1 and
pre-
j
pared by
J. Brener and S.R Connully, was reviewed by
I Druckman and Posner
for implications for
task
perfor-
mance. Research developments
in various fields, includ-
ing health
psychology,
suggest
that
altered
states
of
| consciousness may affect a variety of physiological pro-
cesses. The converse may be true as well; recent work
suggests that mood states may be altered by influences on
bloodflow that are a consequence of the differing facial
muscular
patterns corresponding
to
various emotional
(
expressions (Ztqonc, Murphy, &
Inglehart,
1989). AR1.
n
motivated by
the problem of detecting deception (Hy-
j
man. 1989), has urged the committee to consider also the
(
physical manifestations of mental and emotional states.
Career development
A
class
of techniques designed
to improve
perfor-
mance through
increased
self-insight
is
widely used
in
public and
private
organizations;
included
are
assess-
ment batteries designed to facilitate leadership, interper-
sonal influence
skills, team building, and decision mak-
ing.
Specific examples
are
the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator (Myers & McCaulley,
1985),
the
Managerial
Grid (Blake & Mouton.
1964), and the Social Styles Pro-
file (Merrill &
Reid.
1981). These techniques have con-
siderable appeal to trainers as well as to the trainees be-
cause of high “face validity. Lbut they have been subject
to
little rigorous research. To help define! he questions,
the committee commissioned Paul Thayer to write a cr it-
ical review of the relevant literature,
Part-whole methods to enhance group processes
At
its
first meeting the continuing committee became
convinced
that
certain issues of group performance de-
served study, Should the members of a working group be
trained as a team or individually?
If team training facili-
tates
initial
performance,
is
that advantage
offset
by
greater disruption when
original members
of the team
need to be replaced by new members? Should the
indi-
viduals in a group be trained in only their task, or should
there be backup training to increase the flexibility of the
group
! Current research may
not
supply
definitive an-
swers to these and a number of related questions, but the
issues are important enough
to army
functioning to be
addressed,
if only to clarify the questions and
to outline
needed research.
CONCLUSION
Although other arrangements might be workable, we
found
that
the National
Research Council
provides an
ideal
setting
for a study of this
sort. The Council was
designed expressly for the purpose,
first under the spon-
sorship of the
National Academy of Science and now
administered as well by the National Academy of Engi-
neering and
the
Institute
of Medicine. The NAS was
chartered by Congress in 1863; the NRC was established
in
1916. Among the NRC’s strengths are that
it spans the
scientific and professional disciplines;
it benefits from the
prestige of its governing academies;
it provides
in com-
petent fashion the services required by committee func-
tion; and
it follows guidelines to promote thorough and
objective reports, including procedures for proposal and
report
review, Committee members
are
suggested by
broadly based advisers, proposed by a commission's staff
and executive director working
with
the committee's
chairperson, nominated
by
the commission, and
ap-
pointed by the NRC ’s chairperson in the interests of com-
:
petencc, relevance, and diversity of viewpoint sJDhtsv_are
aiked-to-verify that they have no conflict of interest and
t h e v serve without financial compensation.
Members
of the committee generally
regarded
their
task as challenging and they demonstrated consistently
that
it was engaging. They came
to the meetings almost
without exception, made
site
visits willingly, submitted
draft sections of the report nearly on time, and achieved
consensus
in an advised,
efficient, and congenial way.
They
feel
that
their training and experience were ade-
quate to the task and they are pleased to recommend the
process to psychologists and scientists in related
fields.
The continuing committee can reasonably anticipate that
it will contribute more by steering the army toward prom-
ising new ways to enhance training and performance and
less
by
saving
the Army from
investing
in
ineffective
techniques.
It
will
likely also serve an advisory role for
some
specific enhancement
projects undertaken
in
the
army.
A
long-term,
successful
impact, of the
committee's
work, in both of its phases,
is hardly assured. The power
of the
human-potential movement
in
the minds
of the
citizenry,
as evidenced
by
its marketplace
popularity,
dwarfs
the
force of mainstream psychology. New Age
techniques
are
also
apparently making
substantial
in-
roads on the more than $30 billion a year that the Amer-
ican Society for Training and Development estimates to
be spent on. formal courses in industry (Wall Street Jour-
VOL.
I, NO.
2. MARCH
IVTO
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