ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ПСИХИЧЕСКОЙ РАБОТОСПОСОБНОСТИ И ГРУППОВОЙ ДИНАМИКИ В АВТОНОМНЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ ЗИМОВКИ НА СТАНЦИИ «ВОСТОК»

Abstract

The paper deals with the investigation of psychic performance and group dynamics during Russian Antarctic expedition RAE66. Eight winterers were tested 7 times with the use of the cognitive Master-Test. Group dynamics was assessed by sociometry and cohesion diagnostics on the basis of common goals and values. Psychophysiological status was assessed weekly using the actigraphy and HR data, and questionnaires. At the end of the polar day and in early autumn, it was the mood that went down first (autumn and winter), then accuracy of sensorimotor reactions degraded (winter) and mistakes in a simple math test became more frequent (winter and spring). On the contrary, performance of short-term memory tests improved in winter and spring. Motor activity reduced during the first half of the expedition and started increasing gradually at the beginning of the polar night. Though the sleeping time was normally from 7 to 8.5 hours, sleep quality subjectively changed during the wintering it correlated with physical activity and consequent changes of heart rate variability (stress) and blood oxygen saturation. The latter remained low throughout the period of life on station Vostok in comparison to measurements made on the ship. Cohesion was high but for some slackening by the third quarter of wintering; at the end of wintering cohesion grew strong again. The sociometric status of winterers varied with intensity of negative emotions.