Creativity and Cognitive Performance of Space Crews: An isolation mixed gender study

Acta Astronautica, 1995

With concrete plans for long duration flight taking form a new impetus is lent to preparing man for this hostile and unnatural environment. Cramped conditions, isolation from family and loved ones, work stress, fear, and incompatibility with fellow crew, are but a few of the problems suffered by astronauts and cosmonauts during their long missions in orbit about the earth. Although criteria for selection of crew is one aspect of attacking the problem, it has not solved it. Notwithstanding good selection, team combination, and counselling before flight, problems have still occurred with unwanted consequences. Incompatibility of team members, far from being the exception, has been frequent. This has been detrimental both physiologically and psychologically for the individual as well as for the operational success and safety of the missions. Because problems will inevitably occur in future long duration missions, especially when they are of international and multi-cultural nature, the importance of dealing with them is underlined. This paper takes a different approach towards ameliorating these problems, namely that of psychological group training before a mission.

Acta Astronautica, 2012

Recently the psychological effects of space flight have gained in attention. In uncovering the psychological challenges that individuals and teams can face, we need research options that integrate psychosocial aspects with behavioral, performance, technical and environmental issues. Future perspectives in Space Psychology and Human Spaceflight are reviewed in this paper. The topics covered include psychosocial and neurobehavioural aspects, neurocognitive testing tools, decision making, autonomy and delayed communications, well being, mental health, situational awareness, and methodology. Authors were members of a European Space Agency (ESA) Research Topical Team on Psychosocial and Behavioral Aspects of Human Spaceflight. They discuss the different topics under a common perspective of a theoretical and practical framework, showing interactions, relationships and possible solutions for the different aspects and variables in play. Recommendations for every topic are offered and summarized for future research in the field. The different proposed research ideas can be accomplished using analogs and simulation experiments, short-and long-duration bed rest, and in-flight microgravity studies. These topics are especially important for future Moon and Mars mission design and training.

Over the past decades, the amount of time human beings spent in space constantly increased. This trend is likely to evolve further within the context of space exploration, adding additional stressors and challenges to the crews' personal and professional life on board.

International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving, 2017

Cognitive styles play an important role in creativity. Some styles may be more prevalent in certain vocations such as military service. Analyzing the relationship between Personal Need for Structure (PNS), task structure, and creativity in a military sample will further the understanding of military-related traits and their relationship with structure and creativity. In the current study, 77 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel (20 females) completed the PNS inventory and a series of either higher-or lower-structure military-related tasks. The results of this study suggest that a longer military career may be associated with greater mental flexibility, but that over-constraint in problem presentation may inhibit creativity. This is especially true for those with a high personal need for structure.

Group & Organization Management, 2016

Effective teamwork is beneficial for organizations on Earth, but is a sine qua non for teams venturing into outer space. The prospect of sending a team to Mars by the year 2030 invites organizational scientists to take stock of what we know and what we still need to know about teams. The team endeavoring to Mars will be multicultural and interdisciplinary, living and working in uncomfortable and dangerous conditions, and doing so in close collaboration with distant teams back on Earth. Tackling the teamwork challenges associated with a mission to Mars present an opportunity to rapidly accelerate the science of teams. In this conceptual review, we explore seven complexities of teams that are both important and understudied. Results of structured interviews with experts on human space exploration regarding the nature of teamwork in long-duration space exploration illuminate seven complexities, or key features of teams, in general, that serve as a catalyst for identifying, informing, a...

Touro University Worldwide, 2021

As NASA prepares for crewed space flight missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), several psychological factors need to be considered as the duration of those missions extends beyond what any human has ever experienced. There is a gap in the literature concerning effective teams’ compilation in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments and the future long- duration space flight (LDS) teams venturing beyond LEO. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine factors contributing to team cohesion of team members working and living in an ICE environment and the use of humor as a coping mechanism. The rationale for this study was to create a predictive model of team cohesion for LDS teams. Guided by the theoretical framework of personality theorists and the notion that a sense of humor is an essential contributor to psychological well-being​, two research questions were developed for this study to gain insight into the ways team members working and living in ICE interact with one another and maintain wellbeing while living in a highly challenging environment with frequent stressors. The participants consisted of thirteen individuals with ICE experience. Findings from this current study may provide significant insights for future LDS missions beyond LEO by reducing team conflict in ICE environments.

Acta Astronautica, 2016

Past research in space psychology has produced a plethora of interesting findings with regard to the psychological stressors and benefits associated with human spaceflight. To help synthesize these rather scattered findings and to advance our theorizing about critical psychological phenomena and processes within the rapidly growing field of space psychology, the aim of this contribution is to approach them from the perspective of Self-Determination Theory (SDT; 1 Ryan & Deci, 2000 [1]), a broad theory on human motivation and development. Specifically, we argue that the postulation of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness within SDT allows for (1) a deeper understanding of reported psychological phenomena in current spaceflights and (2) the development of measures to alleviate the negative psychological stressors as well as to enhance the benefits associated with spaceflight.

Acta Astronautica, 2009

The objective of this paper is twofold: (a) to review the current knowledge of cultural, psychological, psychiatric, cognitive, interpersonal, and organizational issues that are relevant to the behavior and performance of astronaut crews and ground support personnel and (b) to make recommendations for future human space missions, including both transit and planetary surface operations involving the Moon or Mars. The focus will be on long-duration missions lasting at least six weeks, when important psychological and interpersonal factors begin to take their toll on crewmembers. This information is designed to provide guidelines for astronaut selection and training, in-flight monitoring and support, and post-flight recovery and re-adaptation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Gravitational and space biology bulletin: publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology

As the duration of space flights increases and crews become more heterogeneous, psychosocial factors are likely to play an increasingly important role in determining mission success. The operations of the International Space Station and planning of interplanetary missions represent important future challenges for how to select, train and monitor crews. So far, empirical evidence about psychological factors in space is based on simulations and personnel in analog environments (i.e. polar expeditions, submarines). It is apparent that attempts to transfer from these environments to space requires a thorough analysis of the human behavior specific to the fields. Recommendations for research include the effects of multi-nationality on crew interaction, development of tension within crews and between Mission Control, and prediction of critical phases in adaptation over time. Selection of interpersonally compatible crews, pre-mission team training and implementation of tools for self-monitoring of psychological parameters ensure that changes in mission requirements maximize crew performance. ___________________________________________________

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments, 2019

The present qualitative study conducts in-depth interviews with astronauts and other subject matter experts in order to shed light on human adaptability in extreme environments. Deep space travel will entail a range of highly stressful conditions to which astronauts must adapt. Feelings of isolation will be increased, as the space traveler is farther from Earth for longer periods of time. Daily life will take place in small and confined areas, for durations extending into years. The dangers of the extreme environment of space are ever-present, and failure of critical equipment or components can lead to death. Astronauts will need to function more autonomously, with diminished support from Earth. It is thus important to select and train future astronauts who are able to adapt to such extreme and variable conditions and continue to function effectively. Subject matter experts identify the central adaptive challenges faced by crewmembers, and what are the key individual attributes associated with human adaptability. Results also point to organizational factors, as well as several coping and resource strategies that can be applied to improve human adaptability to extreme environments and missions. These results can be used to inform selection and training programs, as well as the design of space vehicles, systems, and habitats in order to enhance astronaut adaptive task performance.

2020

As long duration exploration missions (LDEMs) become the norm for spaceflight, it is important to understand the factors that may influence how astronaut crews and ground control teams work together. Although there are numerous efforts underway to continue to push boundaries in space exploration, much of the existing work to examine teamwork is designed to primarily address intrateam issues, not considering how inter-team factors may predict team and mission performance. Given the potential future challenges and uncertainties of LDEMs, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has identified a need for risk-mitigating spaceflight multiteam system (SFMTS) interventions designed to resolve or prevent inadequate cooperation, coordination, communication, and psychosocial adaptation, both within and between component teams. This study serves to begin to break apart the specifics of how shifting inter-team autonomy is exhibited within teams (i.e., crew claiming, mission con...

This book explores some of the contributions of psychology to yesterday's great space race, today's orbiter and International Space Station missions, and tomorrow's journeys beyond Earth's orbit. Early missions into space were typically brief, and crews were small, often drawn from a single nation. As an intensely competitive space race has given way to international cooperation over the decades, the challenges of communicating across cultural boundaries and dealing with interpersonal conflicts have become increasingly important, requiring different coping skills and sensibilities from "the right stuff" of early astronauts.

Big Data and Cognitive Computing, 2020

The scientific study of teamwork in the context of long-term spaceflight has uncovered a considerable amount of knowledge over the past 20 years. Although much is known about the underlying factors and processes of teamwork, much is left to be discovered for teams who operate in extreme isolation conditions during spaceflights. Thus, special considerations must be made to enhance teamwork and team well-being for long-term missions during which the team will live and work together. Being affected by both mental and physical stress during interactional context conversations might have a direct or indirect impact on team members’ speech acoustics, facial expressions, lexical choices and their physiological responses. The purpose of this article is (a) to illustrate the relationship between the modalities of vocal-acoustic, language and physiological cues during stressful teammate conversations, (b) to delineate promising research paths to help further our insights into understanding th...

Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology, 2001

Important psychosocial issues involving tension, cohesion, leader support, and displacement of negative emotions were evaluated in a 4 1/2-year study involving five U.S. and four Russian Shuttle/Mir space missions. Weekly mood and group climate questionnaires were completed by five U.S. astronauts, eight Russian cosmonauts, and 42 U.S. and 16 Russian mission control subjects. There were few findings that supported our hypothesized changes in tension, cohesion, and leader support in crew and ground subjects using various time models, although crewmembers reported decreasing leader support in the 2nd half of the missions, and astronauts showed some evidence of a novelty effect in the first few weeks. There was no evidence suggesting a 3rd quarter effect among crewmembers on any of the 21 subscales evaluated. In contrast, there was strong evidence to support the hypothesized displacement of tension and negative emotions from crewmembers to mission control personnel and from mission con...

Psychologists have been called upon in recent years to look into the psychological effects on humans, after being in space for prolonged periods, as both government and private corporations work towards making the idea of living in space for long periods of time a reality. Over the course of a few decades, psychological research into “analogue sites” here on earth, simulations, and astronauts living and working in orbit has started to show how humans are affected by such environments. In general, findings show the potential for conflict or emotional deterioration during long-term isolated periods, but it may have more to do with people’s perceptions of their environment more so than the environment itself. Even still, living in isolated and confined areas can cause stress and problematic behaviours that may interfere with productivity and relationships. Communication, homesickness, and habitat design also become important factors in the success of long-term missions in space. Several factors pertaining to culture such as nationality, gender roles and sexual orientation become important aspects to learn about in order to work harmoniously with others in a long-term space environment and to avoid any misunderstandings. The broad definition of culture also becomes an important aspect of living and working off world. Most researchers are aware of the problems when studying culture such as pinpointing the parts of culture that are causing such issues. Therefore, it is suggested that future research defines culture more clearly while learning more in depth information regarding participants’ ideas of their own identities. This independent study will explore the psycho-social issues of living in isolated and confined spaces, culture and gender for long-term missions off world.