A Vessel Class Comparison of Physiological, Affective State and Psychomotor Performance Changes in Men at Sea

Abstract

A field study was conducted to compare the influence of vessel motions, characteristic to a 89' Navy experimental Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) vessel, a 95' Coast Guard Patrol Boat and a 378' Coast Guard High Endurance Cutter, upon motion sickness incidence and severity, physiological indices of stress, affective state and psychomotor performance in male Coast Guardsmen. Psychometer performance (Navigation Plotting, Complex Counting, Code Substitution, Spoke Test, Time Estimation and Critical Tracking), motion sickness symptomatology, urine output and specific gravity, stress hormone excretion, heart and sweat rate, and subject mood were repeatedly sampled for eight hours a day during three control days in four-hour octagonal patterns about a wave measurement buoy. All vessels were instrumented with accelerometers to continuously record vertical, lateral and longitudinal accelerations within the test compartments located below decks amidships and roll, pitch and heave motions at the vessel centers of gravity.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1980
Accession Number
ADA098047

Entities

People

  • Michael E. Mccauley
  • Ross L. Pepper
  • Steven F. Wiker

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Brain
  • Chemistry
  • Cognition
  • Endocrine Glands
  • Health Services
  • Heart Rate
  • Information Processing
  • Medical Personnel
  • Motion Sickness
  • Performance Tests
  • Psychology
  • Stress (Physiology)

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Marine Hydrodynamics
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.