Imagine the stress and uncertainty of going into a building and not being sure where the threat is — for example, a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan clearing buildings in search of extremists. How do these soldiers know they are safe? How do they protect themselves? And how do they stay calm and focused in such a situation?

These same questions can be asked of law enforcement officers or school security officials.

Clemson professor Eric Muth studies and teaches human physiology and psychology within the psychology department. Part of his work focuses on military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) and is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.

“The general umbrella for me is human performance under stress,” says Muth. He monitors observable interactions between body and mind, exploring how research participants respond to urban war conditions.

“I was a Navy scientist for three years,” he says. “That’s when I really became a human factors psychologist.”

The research is conducted at a “shoot house” that can be configured in a variety of ways for training exercises. Research subjects wear tracking devices that monitor and record movement and heart rate.

A current focus is on room clearing — the process of entering a hostile space and making it out safely. In July 2005, the team collected data from a group of highly experienced marines stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., as well as from a group of Clemson ROTC students with MOUT training and a group of undergraduate students with no MOUT training. Data is now being compared among groups regarding how to differentiate expert teams from novice ones based on room-clearing effectiveness.

The information on reaction time, heart rate and methods of building clearing will be valuable in training exercises to make such operations safer and more efficient.

Findings will be beneficial beyond the military. For example, the tracking of psychological and physiological responses can help provide better training for police officers and firefighters who often enter uncertain environments.

Clemson graduate and undergraduate students not only participate but also get opportunities to conduct research themselves.

“Without students, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish work of this magnitude,” says Muth, the lead human factors psychophysiologist on the team. He’s joined by Adam Hoover, an electrical and computer engineering professor, whose expertise is in tracking, embedded systems and machine vision. Through his work the heart rate, location and reaction times of research subjects (in this case soldiers) can all be tracked.

The third faculty member is psychology professor and interim department chair Fred Switzer, who has expertise in all aspects of training.

“This project is giving us some excellent insights into how to train effective teams and how to measure true team performance,” says Switzer. “Even though the primary focus is military teams, the lessons we learn here can be applied to all kinds of teams in industry and academia as well.”

Making life safer, simpler

Clemson researchers are also collaborating on U.S. Department of Defense projects dedicated to improving working conditions and performance for overworked U.S. translators. Much of their work is conducted at the University’s Sustained Operations Research Lab, a two-story furnished house complete with computer workstations and wireless cameras installed for monitoring participants.

Another center for Clemson psychology research is the Cognition, Aging and Technology (CAT) Lab in Brackett Hall, where professors and students study capabilities and limitations of attention and memory. The purpose of this lab is to guide the design of products so that they are easier for older adults to use. One current study explores how older adults’ fields of attention seem to shrink, how this affects computer use and how computer companies can take these factors into account.

Also in Brackett Hall is the University’s Driving Simulator Lab, an important tool for understanding what really happens when someone gets behind the wheel. It produces images of pedestrians, reckless drivers and police officers in pursuit. The simulator also shows the projected damage incurred in various car accidents.

Studies include drivers’ responses to changing driving conditions, effects of cell phone use on the road, night vision and the ability to see pedestrians, drivers’ reactions to automated tire pressure monitoring and other research that will ultimately lead to safer drivers, better highway conditions and fewer fatalities.