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Preliminary Results of “Content” Space Experiment

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Abstract

Space experiment “Content” is held to test quantitative content-analysis of crew contacts with the Mission control center (MCC) personnel as an objective method of operational remote evaluation of crew member psychophysiology, as well as in-group and intergroup (crew–MCC) interactions. The methodology of the experiment is based on the concept that communicative behavior manifests the individual coping strategies. These strategies are considered to be effective or ineffective in context of their influence on the success in person’s activities, which often depends on the quality of in-group communication. In the experiment, we studied the effect of various factors (including mission duration, occurrence of significant events and problem situations, or changes in the crew composition) on the crew oral communication features. The results lend credence to the concept of the “final breakthrough” and reveal a trend towards more frequent manifestations of the third-quarter phenomenon as mission duration extends to one year. Problem situations may increase both the number of ineffective coping strategies and the number of effective coping strategies favorable for mission accomplishment despite pressures and challenges. The observation that a change in status within the crew modifies the style, length, and frequency of contacts with MCC confirms the concept of the commander being the crew’s spokesman. Acquisition and systematization of documented crew statements, together with the identification and description of important speech phenomena, provide basis for future automation of crew–MCC content-analysis.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Communication data were collected with the participation of the group of persons on duty of TsUMOKO headed by A.P. Shulenin and S.V. Pozdnyakov. We are grateful to the persons on duty of TsUMOKO, personnel of the laboratory O-036 of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences E.G. Chernova, V.P. Borovikova, E.Ya. Kozhina, L.I. Mirolyubivaya, et al.

Funding

The study was performed under the contract between the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the RSC Energiya and was supported in part by a basic research program of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation—Institute of Biomedical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    A. K. Yusupova, D. M. Shved, V. I. Gushchin, N. S. Supolkina & A. I. Chekalkina

Authors
  1. A. K. Yusupova
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  2. D. M. Shved
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  3. V. I. Gushchin
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  4. N. S. Supolkina
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  5. A. I. Chekalkina
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. M. Shved.

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Conflict of interests. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement of compliance with standards of research involving humans as subjects. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.

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Translated by M. Batrukova

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Yusupova, A.K., Shved, D.M., Gushchin, V.I. et al. Preliminary Results of “Content” Space Experiment. Hum Physiol 45, 710–717 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119719070181

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