Learning and Forgetting in Extreme Environments

海上作业人员的安全和生存训练是在模拟环境中进行的。纪念大学海洋研究所是我进行研究的地方，也是工业安全培训的中心。这里的训练环境可以在教室里进行模拟，在环境剧院周围的游泳池中进行模拟，可以模拟海洋条件（黑暗，波浪，下雨，刮风，打雷，照明），甚至在大西洋的研究船上。这种连续的模拟现实主义允许训练的特殊性问题得到解决。如何将训练过程的现实性最大化地实现学习和转移以及防止遗忘。另外，如何在模拟训练结束后保持性能水平？在海洋研究所进行的模拟训练的高风险性质使我们能够解决在实验室环境中不可能解决的问题。人们对压力如何影响表现有很好的理解，但对压力如何影响技能学习和保留过程的理解较少。我们研究的大部分训练都是高压力的，这将使我们有机会观察人们在练习中如何应对压力，从而深入了解压力是如何影响长期技能保留的。与训练真实性相关的另一个主要因素是在训练期间暴露在冷水中，因为北大西洋的所有真实生存场景都涉及暴露在冷水中。我们计划研究人们在接触极冷的水（20摄氏度）时的手部功能反应（包括实验室任务和现实生存任务，如解开绳结）。我们还打算研究如何修改训练，以提高人们对冷水暴露的反应。冥想和正念训练等技术将被用来改善耐寒能力和在寒冷时执行运动技能的能力。我们计划使用大脑活动测量来检查一些可能参与这种适应的大脑结构，以了解冷暴露训练背后的机制。训练的现实性将使我们能够检查运动技能学习理论的适用性和局限性。除了有助于我们对这些问题的理论理解之外，这项研究对任何在海洋上工作的人的安全和生存都特别感兴趣（例如，海上航空，搜救，水肺潜水，渔业，石油和天然气以及海上运输）。这项研究不仅可以潜在地挽救生命和防止伤害，通过更好地训练工作人员来防止事故，我们的研究还可以潜在地防止昂贵设备的破坏和工作时间的损失。这项研究的结果可用于制定行业范围内的国家安全标准、培训协议的最佳实践和能力标准。

The safety and survival training that takes place for offshore workers occurs in simulated environments. The Marine Institute at Memorial University is where my research is conducted and is also a centre for industrial safety training. Training environments here can range from simulations done in the classroom, in a pool that surrounded by an environmental theatre that can create simulated ocean conditions (darkness, waves, rain, wind, thunder, lighting), or even on a research ship in the Atlantic ocean. This continuum of simulation realism allows for issues of training specificity to be addressed. How should the realism of the training progress to maximize the learning and transfer as well as prevent forgetting. Also, how can performance levels be maintained after simulation training is completed? The high-risk nature of the simulation training that takes place at the Marine Institute allows us to address questions that are not possible in a laboratory setting. There exists a good understanding of how stress influences performance, but there is less understanding about how stress influences the process of skill learning and retention. Much of the training we study is highly stressful, which will allow us the opportunity to observe how people respond to stress during practice to gain insight into how stress affects long term skill retention. Another major factor related to training realism is exposure to cold water during training, since all real life survival scenarios in the North Atlantic will involve being exposed to cold water. We plan to study how people respond when exposed to very cold waters (2oC deg) on hand function (both with laboratory tasks and with realistic survival tasks such as knot untying). We also intend to examine how training can be modified to improve how people respond to the effects of cold water exposure. Techniques such as meditation and mindfulness training will be used to modify the ability to tolerate cold and perform motor skills when cold. We plan to use measurements of brain activity to examine some of the possible brain structures involved in this adaptation to understand the mechanisms behind cold exposure training. The realism of the training that takes place will allow us to examine the applicability and limits of theories of motor skill learning. In addition to contributing to our theoretical understanding of these issue, this research is of particular interest to the safety and survival of anyone who works on the ocean (e.g., marine aviation, search and rescue, scuba diving, fisheries, oil and gas, and marine transport). Not only can this research potentially save lives and prevent injury, by preventing accidents through a better trained work force, our research can also potentially prevent the destruction of expensive equipment and lost work time. The findings from this research can be used to develop industry wide national safety standards, best practices for training protocols and competency standards.