Persistence Differences between the Three Mile Island Residents and a Control Group
Abstract
A nuclear accident occurred at Three Mile Island (TMI) on March 28, 1979. The aftermath of this incident remains unresolved. The cleanup activities have been progressing for the last 5 years and have been a source of stress for TMI residents, exacerbated by conflicting reports regarding how and when the damage nuclear material would be removed. The purpose of this study was to compare TMI residents to a demographically similar control group to determine (1) if thechronic stress experience by TMI residents would influence persistence on two experimental tasks, and (2) whether effects on task persistence would vary depending upon individual coping style and degree of behavioral involvement with the tasks. All subjects resided within sight of the damaged nuclear power plant at TMI. The control group subjects were from Frederick, Maryland located over eighty miles away. The specific variables investigated were level of involvement(i.e., high or low) and coping style (i.e., High-Control-Oriented or Low-Control-Oriented). On two chance tasks (i.e., a dice task and a calculator task) subjects predicted the next 2-digit number that would appear when either a pair of dice was rolled or when a calculator randomly generated the numbers. Each subject performed both tasks and was highly involved in one task and in the low involvement condition in the other task. In the high involvement condition, subjects physically rolled the dice or started the calculator whereas, in the low involvement condition the experimenter, not the subject, performed the physical portion of the task. The total number of trials completed was the measure of persistence. The order of both the tasks and the involvement conditions was randomized for all subjects. Furthermore, whether a subject chose to roll the dice by hand or use a dice cup was recorded by the experimenter and compared for both groups (i.e., TMI vs control).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 11, 1984
- Accession Number
- AD1010688
Entities
People
- Daniel L. Collins
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences