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Man in the Ocean Environment: Performance

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The Underwater Handbook

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to present information about man’s performance in an ocean environment, particularly as it contrasts with performance in a normal, dry-land, 1-atm, air environment. The kind of information selected for presentation is that based on experimentation as opposed to that from less formal sources. The strength of this choice is that information obtained by the scientific method can be assessed for confidence, reliability, and generality; the weakness is the piecemeal character of the information. Research results typically are not about holistic job performance by operational divers working in the ocean, but about a dimension of performance as affected by a characteristic of the ocean environment. Most often, several performance dimensions are measured as effects of variations in a single environmental characteristic. Researchers tend to work by varying an environmental characteristic, such as cold or atmospheric pressure, and recording a range of performance dimensions, such as manual dexterity, reaction time, and memory. The principal challenge of preparing this chapter, therefore, was to develop a framework for organizing the fragments of performance-oriented research information relevant to man in the sea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Communication Division, Department of Medical and Public Affairs The Medical Center, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA

    Charles W. Shilling, Margaret F. Werts & Nancy R. Schandelmeier

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    Charles W. Shilling , Margaret F. Werts  & Nancy R. Schandelmeier ,  & 

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Shilling, C.W., Werts, M.F., Schandelmeier, N.R. (1976). Man in the Ocean Environment: Performance. In: Shilling, C.W., Werts, M.F., Schandelmeier, N.R. (eds) The Underwater Handbook. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2154-5_6

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