I__. - International Military Testing Association

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Acceptability of the questionnaire to our military test subjects
was better than most symptom, mood, or personal ity questionnaires
that we have administered before. This observation was
supported by discussions about some items and comments suggesting
the items were relevant to a soldier’s training and experiences.
Subjects volunteered that items also made them think about the
imp1 ications o f performing mi I i tary tasks in stressful situations:
DISCUSSION
This study explored the perceived capabilities of soldiers
to perform common soldier tasks and other fami I iar activi,ties
under varying degrees of heat strain. Varied human capabilities
were affected by heat exposure and exercise. Interestingly, most
items showed recovery even 5 min after termination of heat exposure
and exercise. These preliminary results suggest that the
SSQ may be usefu I in other situations which use military personnel
as test subjects. The content of i terns fosters interest and
cooperation, useful assets especially in challenging testing
situations.
Surveying a group of subjects oral ly, as was done in the
present study, is advantageous in some exper imenta I situations,
particularly when subjects are exercising or performing a task.
To minimize missing data when the SSQ is administered Orally,
Special emphasis must be given since there are fewer sanctions to
encourage responding on each i tern than with other forms of questionnaire
administration.
These data demonstrate that subjects can provide systematic
estimates of their perceived capabilities for varied tasks. Although
this study did not validate subject estimates of their
capabilities, the time courses of soldier capabilities appears
plausible. Furthermore, the recovery of some capabilities in 5
min or less emphasizes the limitations of using a “post” session
measure to approximate “status” during an earlier stressful challenge.
Th is observation a I so illustrates the importance of
Sampl ing at appropriate times so that the time course of a phenomena
can be accurately measured.
REFERENCES
Beck, A.T. Cognitive therapy for depression. New York: Gui I ford
Press, 1979.
Headquarters, Department of Army. Soldier’s manual of common
tasks (skill level l), STP 21-I-SMCT, 1987.
Pimental, N.A., Avellini, B.A., and Banderet, L.E. Comparison Of
heat stress when the Navy fire fighter’s ensemble is worn in
various configurations. Technical Report * , Navy Clothing and
Textile Research Facility, Natick, MA, (in progress).
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