Predictors of Success in Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Training - Part 1: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go From Here?

Taylor, Marcus K.; Miller, Amanda; Mills, Lisa; Potterat, Eric G.; Padilla, Geneleah A; Hoffman, Richard R.

doi:10.21236/ada590364

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In addition, our multiverse analyses found the effects to be robust to including particular covariates in the model. However, additional covariates potentially predictive of success (e.g., personality traits, prior training, and other relevant mental competencies; see Taylor et al, 2006) may give us greater insight into the unique predictive utility of mindset and warrant future research. Given the relatively small sample size, more research needs to be done to understand the robustness of these effects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress, Mindsets, and Success in Navy SEALs Special Warfare Training

2020

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Mindsets can impact an individual's performance in stressful experiences such as public speaking or receiving negative feedback. Yet we know little about the boundary conditions of where these mindsets predict success, and where they may become irrelevant or even maladaptive. The current research asks whether mindsets are beneficial in environments of extreme physical and mental stress using participants undergoing the notoriously challenging Navy SEALs training. We hypothesized that participants with stress-is-enhancing mindsets -who believe stress enhances their health, performance and wellbeing -will outperform those with stress-is-debilitating mindsets. In addition, we explore whether other mindsets about willpower and failure predict success in a similar manner. Following 174 Navy SEALs candidates, we find that, even in this extreme setting, stress-is-enhancing mindsets predict greater persistence through training, faster obstacle course times, and fewer negative evaluations from peers and instructors. We also find evidence that failure-is-enhancing mindsets may be detrimental to candidates' success, and non-limited willpower mindsets prompt negative evaluations from others. Multiverse analyses were conducted to test for the robustness of these effects across researcher analytical decisions, which produced consistent results. We discuss how findings in this unique environment can provide insight into the importance of mindsets in other organizations and propose future avenues of research to further understand the causal role of mindsets in diverse workplace contexts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress, Mindsets, and Success in Navy SEALs Special Warfare Training

2020

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“…Navy SEALs are a unique group of elite warfighters. A recently conducted systematic review [22] and qualitative assessment [23] revealed several factors that influence the degree to which individuals successfully complete Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, which is considered one of the most challenging military training programs. Individuals who are likely to complete this training program are characterized by an attitude of mental toughness, achievement motivation, physical strength, physical endurance, emotional stability, and team orientation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential Brain Activation to Angry Faces by Elite Warfighters: Neural Processing Evidence for Enhanced Threat Detection

et al. 2010

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BackgroundLittle is known about the neural basis of elite performers and their optimal performance in extreme environments. The purpose of this study was to examine brain processing differences between elite warfighters and comparison subjects in brain structures that are important for emotion processing and interoception.Methodology/Principal FindingsNavy Sea, Air, and Land Forces (SEALs) while off duty (n = 11) were compared with n = 23 healthy male volunteers while performing a simple emotion face-processing task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Irrespective of the target emotion, elite warfighters relative to comparison subjects showed relatively greater right-sided insula, but attenuated left-sided insula, activation. Navy SEALs showed selectively greater activation to angry target faces relative to fearful or happy target faces bilaterally in the insula. This was not accounted for by contrasting positive versus negative emotions. Finally, these individuals also showed slower response latencies to fearful and happy target faces than did comparison subjects.Conclusions/SignificanceThese findings support the hypothesis that elite warfighters deploy greater processing resources toward potential threat-related facial expressions and reduced processing resources to non-threat-related facial expressions. Moreover, rather than expending more effort in general, elite warfighters show more focused neural and performance tuning. In other words, greater neural processing resources are directed toward threat stimuli and processing resources are conserved when facing a nonthreat stimulus situation.

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“…A recently conducted systematic review (Taylor.et al, 2006) and qualitative assessment (Taylor.et al, 2007) provide important insights into which factors influence the degree to which individuals successfully complete Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, which is known to be among the most challenging of military training programs. During the qualitative investigation, 8 BUD/S instructors served as subject matter experts (SMEs) in two semi-structured group meetings designed to establish face validity for 64 characteristics hypothesized to influence attrition in BUD/S trainees.…”

Section: Predictors Of Performance In Extreme Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the qualitative investigation, 8 BUD/S instructors served as subject matter experts (SMEs) in two semi-structured group meetings designed to establish face validity for 64 characteristics hypothesized to influence attrition in BUD/S trainees. These characteristics were derived from the systematic review of military records (Taylor.et al, 2006). SMEs completed questionnaires to assess whether each characteristic was (1) important for BUD/S trainees to possess, and (2) the extent to which each characteristic differentiated trainees who successfully completed the training program from those who did not complete one of the three training phases [Indoctrination Phase, Phase I (Pre-Hell Week), and Hell Week].…”

Section: Predictors Of Performance In Extreme Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A neuroscience approach to optimizing brain resources for human performance in extreme environments☆

Paulus

Potterat²,

Taylor

et al. 2009

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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107

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Extreme environments requiring optimal cognitive and behavioral performance occur in a wide variety of situations ranging from complex combat operations to elite athletic competitions. Although a large literature characterizes psychological and other aspects of individual differences in performances in extreme environments, virtually nothing is known about the underlying neural basis for these differences. This review summarizes the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences of exposure to extreme environments, discusses predictors of performance, and builds a case for the use of neuroscience approaches to quantify and understand optimal cognitive and behavioral performance. Extreme environments are defined as an external context that exposes individuals to demanding psychological and/or physical conditions, and which may have profound effects on cognitive and behavioral performance. Examples of these types of environments include combat situations, Olympic-level competition, and expeditions in extreme cold, at high altitudes, or in space. Optimal performance is defined as the degree to which individuals achieve a desired outcome when completing goal-oriented tasks. It is hypothesized that individual variability with respect to optimal performance in extreme environments depends on a well “contextualized” internal body state that is associated with an appropriate potential to act. This hypothesis can be translated into an experimental approach that may be useful for quantifying the degree to which individuals are particularly suited to performing optimally in demanding environments.

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Predictors of Success in Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Training - Part 1: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go From Here?

Cited by 11 publications

References 7 publications

Stress, Mindsets, and Success in Navy SEALs Special Warfare Training

Stress, Mindsets, and Success in Navy SEALs Special Warfare Training

Differential Brain Activation to Angry Faces by Elite Warfighters: Neural Processing Evidence for Enhanced Threat Detection

A neuroscience approach to optimizing brain resources for human performance in extreme environments☆

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