EXP-SA: Improving the Effectiveness of Explosive Detection Dogs through Temperament Based Selection

军用工作犬(MWD)是在战斗和低强度冲突中识别爆炸物的最有效和最通用的手段。这些狗对所有已知的威胁物质都是极其敏感的传感器，现有的狗可以通过以非常快的顺序检测新物质来接受训练，以应对新的威胁。气质因素(如情绪稳定性和胆量)而不是身体能力(如嗅觉和耐力)是MWD在战场上有效性的主要决定因素。然而，从科学评估的角度来看，当前气质评估计划的几个要素并不是最优的：很少关注心理测量标准，测量方法不完善，对可预测的任务知之甚少，以及对单个MWD在该领域的表现知之甚少。这项工作将开发并在心理测量学上验证一套气质测量，旨在提高在战斗情况下选择、训练和使用大规模杀伤性武器的有效性。具体地说，这项工作将实施更敏感的测量方法，将对现场MWD行为进行任务分析，并将创建一个系统来跟踪单个狗的表现。这项工作将建立在早期研究的基础上，该研究表明，可以高度可靠和有效地评估狗和其他物种的气质。这项工作将通过选择、训练和利用三组狗来评估(1)气质测试的心理测量学，(2)气质差异的基本结构，(3)不同评估方法的相对优点，最关键的是，(4)从获得MWD时以及培训前后进行的测试中可以预测领域表现的程度。研究结果将被用于制定新的选拔、训练和评估战略，以改进军事工作犬计划。

0731216GoslingMilitary Working Dogs (MWDs) are the most effective and versatile means of identifying explosives in combat and low-intensity conflicts. These dogs are exceptionally sensitive sensors for all known threat substances and existing dogs can be trained to meet new threats by detecting new substances in very rapid order. Temperamental factors (such as emotional stability and boldness) rather physical abilities (such as olfaction and endurance) are the primary determinant of MWD effectiveness in the field. However, several elements of the current temperament assessment program are suboptimal from the standpoint of scientific assessment: Little attention is paid to psychometric criteria, measurement methods are unrefined, little is known about tasks be predicted, and little is known about the performance of individual MWDs in the field. This work will develop and psychometrically validate a set of temperament measures designed to improve the effectiveness with which MWDs are selected, trained, and utilized in combat situations. Specifically, the work will implement more sensitive measurement methods, will undertake a task analysis of MWD behavior in the field, and will create a system to track how well individual dogs perform. The work will build on earlier research, which has shown that temperament can be assessed in dogs and other species with high degrees of reliability and validity. The work will follow three cohorts of dogs through selection, training, and utilization to evaluate (1) the psychometrics of the temperament tests, (2) the basic structure underlying differences in temperament, (3) the relative merit of different assessment methods, and, most crucially, (4) the degree to which performance in the field can be predicted from tests conducted when the MWDs are acquired and before and after training. The findings will be used to devise a new selection, training, and evaluation strategy to improve the Military Working Dog program.