Experimental Study of Diver Performance in Manual and Mental Tasks at 66 Feet

摘要

Certain human performance characteristics developed during the execution of relatively complex work at a depth of 66 feet were studied. The tasks examined were: (1) A complex maintenance task involving the disassembly and reassembly of a water filtration unit. (2) A mental task involving the processes of numerical reasoning, digit memory span and pattern perception. The principal findings may be summarized as follows: (1) Irrespective of the task nature, energy expenditure rates during manual work remain remarkably constant. (2) Differences in task nature or difficulty are manifested by changes in productivity while energy expenditure rates remain cons ant. (3) Breathing gas consumption rates vary as a function of depth. (4) The percentage of oxygen removed from the available oxygen varies as a function of the energy investment level. (Author)