Stress and Human Performance

by James E. Driskell (Editor), Eduardo Salas (Editor)

Overview

The pace of life in our high technology world has quickened. Industries that do not become more efficient, often by requiring a faster production turnaround with less slack, are superseded. Because of this, workers face an environment in which they must perform under more time pressure and under greater task load, in which stress is more prevalent, and in which consequences of poor performance are more critical than ever before.

The dominant, if unstated, psychoanalytic paradigm underlying much stress research over the past fifty years has led to an emphasis on coping and defense mechanisms and to a preoccupation with disordered behavior and illness. Accordingly, almost any book with "stress" in the title will invariably devote a considerable amount of pages to topics such as stress-related disorders, clinical interventions, stress and coping, psychopathology, illness, and health issues.

This book presents basic and applied research that addresses the effects of acute stress on performance. There are a large number of applied settings that share the commonalities of high demand, high risk performance conditions, including aviation; military operations; nuclear, chemical, and other industrial settings; emergency medicine; mining; firefighting; and police work, as well as everyday settings in which individuals face stressors such as noise, time pressure, and high task load.

This book focuses directly on the effects of acute stress-- defined as intense, novel stress of limited duration--on performance. The effects of stress on task performance, decision making, and team interaction are discussed, as well as the interventions used to overcome them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134771899
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/13/2013
Series:	Applied Psychology Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Driskell, James E.; Salas, Eduardo

Table of Contents

Contents: E.A. Fleishman, Foreword. Preface. E. Salas, J.E. Driskell, S. Hughes, Introduction: The Study of Stress and Human Performance. Part I:Stress Effects.G. Klein, The Effect of Acute Stressors on Decision Making. J.M. Orasanu, P. Backer, Stress and Military Performance. B.G. Kanki, Stress and Aircrew Performance: A Team-level Perspective. C.A. Bowers, J.L. Weaver, B.B. Morgan, Jr., Moderating the Performance Effects of Stressors. Part II:Interventions: Selection, Training, and System Design.J. Hogan, M. Lesser, Selection of Personnel for Hazardous Performance. J.H. Johnston, J.A. Cannon-Bowers, Training for Stress Exposure. G. Keinan, N. Friedland, Training Effective Performance Under Stress: Queries, Dilemmas, and Possible Solutions. C.D. Wickens, Designing for Stress.

Editorial Reviews

"...represents an up to date and comprehensive review of both theoretical and empirical advances in this area....Each chapter is well structured and accompanied by an extensive reference list making this an invaluable source of material for both researchers and practitioners....This volume represents a significant addition to the literature and the authors are to be commended for their lucid writing and digestible summaries of their domains."
—Cognitive Times

"Salas, Driskell, and Hughes provide a useful general introduction in which they set out a four-state model of stress and performance that defines inputs, the appraisal process, performance expectations, and outcomes including physiological, emotional, social, cognitive, and performance components."
—Contemporary Psychology

From the Publisher