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A TOW Accuracy Study was conducted in 1989 comparing TOW gunners' hit probabilities during mock battle conditions at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, California, and during modified range conditions at Fort Hood, Texas. Since some observers have speculated that greater stress at NTC could adversely affect hit probabilities, an evaluation of stress experienced during the conditions created at the two sites was conducted. Psychological data obtained at the two sites were compared with each other and with similarly obtained referent data for protocols involving surgical stress, examination stress, competition stress, and control conditions. It was concluded that the two sites were about equally stressful and, based on comparison with the referent findings, that the stress experienced was of a moderate level. Because the test plan did not control for test site order, the possible effects on performance that were because of test site factors could not be assessed. Implications of confounding order with test site were discussed and recommendations were offered for appropriate experimental designs for determining the possible effects of stress on hit probabilities.

This document is the final draft of a proposed military standard on task analysis that has begun formal coordination within DoD and industry. The standard was prepared by the Army's Human Engineering Laboratory (HEL) with the Battelle Columbus Laboratory as supporting contractor, and previous drafts were coordinated twice with tri-service agencies represented on the Testing and Evaluation SubTAG of the DoD Human Factors Engineering Technical Advisory Group. Impetus for this work came from a memorandum from the Commander of the U.S. Army Operational Test and Evaluation Agency. However, once work began, nearly a dozen agencies in all three armed services expressed interest and provided support. The text of the standard and the supporting data item descriptions (DIDs) are being published by HEL so that trial implementation may begin in selected procurements prior to completion of the formal DoD-industry coordination. When the standard is officially promulgated in the Acquisition Management Systems and Data Requirements Control List (AMSDL), this interim standard will be canceled.

The influence of gunner lay error on first-round hit probability increases as tank system hardware improves. There are valid reasons to question the validity of the data upon which gunner lay error is currently predicted, including the changes in demography and abilities of today's soldier as compared to those of the soldiers who generated the data. Verifying the performance data base seems timely. (Author)

The purpose of this experiment was to examine the degree to which the TA-341 telephone set picks up background conversation and to test some alternative handset and headset configurations to determine whether hardware either currently in use by the Army or other commercially available equipment could offer a practical solution to the problem. Eight passive devices were examined in detail and were evaluated in terms of their ability to reject background conversation without affecting the intended communication. None proved successful. Therefore, an active device-an electronic program expander (EPEX)-was built and tested. It demonstrated a high degree of success in meeting the requirements against which the passive devices had been tested. Details both of the operational characteristics and of the circuit design of EPEX are reported. (Author)

The problem of differing DT and OT projections of performance and reliability in systems tests is addressed in terms of variation in human performance. Methodology is proposed for accounting for this variation by using (1) selection criteria for test participants and (2) biographical data describing the population from which they were sampled. An example of how the methodology might be applied is included. (Author)

With operations and maintenance costs absorbing more than 80% of the total life cycle cost of a typical Army system, there is increased emphasis on an effective 'soldier/machine' interface. The notion of soldier/machine system is contrasted with that of 'hardware system' along with implications for testing. The three categories of data -- human engineering measurements, user acceptance/opinion data, and human performance data -- are discussed with a description of collection methods and the role of each in a soldier/machine system evaluation., This article is from Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Military Testing Association (23rd) held at Arlington, Virginia on 25-30 October, 1981. Volume 1, AD-A130 702, p449-457.