Learning and Forgetting in Extreme Environments

海上工人的安全和生存培训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，也是工业安全培训中心。这里的培训环境可以是在教室里进行的模拟，在环境剧院包围的游泳池中，可以创造模拟的海洋条件（黑暗，海浪，雨，风，雷，照明），甚至在大西洋的研究船上。这种模拟现实主义的连续体允许解决训练特异性的问题。训练过程的真实性应该如何最大限度地提高学习和迁移的效果，同时防止遗忘。此外，如何在模拟训练完成后保持性能水平？在海洋研究所进行的模拟培训具有高风险性，这使我们能够解决在实验室环境中无法解决的问题。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持的过程了解较少。我们研究的大部分训练都是高度紧张的，这将使我们有机会观察人们在练习中如何应对压力，以深入了解压力如何影响长期的技能保持。另一个与训练真实性相关的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的生命生存场景都将涉及暴露在冷水中。我们计划研究当人们暴露在非常冷的沃茨（2摄氏度）中时，手的功能（包括实验室任务和现实的生存任务，如解结）如何反应。我们还打算研究如何修改培训，以改善人们对冷水暴露影响的反应。冥想和正念训练等技术将用于改变耐寒能力和寒冷时的运动技能。我们计划使用大脑活动的测量来检查参与这种适应的一些可能的大脑结构，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外，这项研究还对在海洋上工作的任何人的安全和生存特别感兴趣（例如，海洋航空、搜索和救援、水肺潜水、渔业、石油和天然气以及海洋运输）。这项研究不仅可以通过训练有素的工作人员预防事故，从而挽救生命和预防伤害，我们的研究还可以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的国家安全标准，培训协议和能力标准的最佳实践。

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.