Science Report
January 4, 2013
Chelsea Iwig
NASA has released a call for research aimed at discovering a reliable quantitative method of monitoring and measuring team function and performance during long duration space flight (LDSF). Accordingly, my proposed research aims to accomplish this by testing multiple measures of team function and performance during crew 121’s mission at the Mars Desert Research Station.
Prior to testing any measures at the MDRS, I completed a literature review focusing on crews in a variety of extreme environments. Results from this literature review have been used to determine a few of the main contributors to team function and performance as well as what measures appear to be most successful at accurately evaluating team cohesion. While at the MDRS I have been testing this battery of behavioral measures on my six-person crew throughout the duration of our two-week mission. This battery is being administered every day based on a predetermined schedule in order to identify fluctuations in crew mood, cohesion, stress, communication, and performance. The measures that I have chosen to test include the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) test, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), a metric for team cohesion called the Group Environment Scale (GES), The Profile of Mood States (POMS), a metric for team productivity called the Work Environment Scale (WES), and the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSS). By testing out these measures at the MDRS, I will be able to determine which combination of measures most reliably identifies the fluctuations that occur in team cohesion during LDSF. Following this testing phase, I will use my results to further refine the measures used at the MDRS into one quantitative method of testing crew function and cohesion during LDSF.