PSY 377 Psychology of Space Exploration
What is a space psychologist? Astronauts (and future space settlers) often experience a series of stressors (e.g., conflict, isolation) that might have an impact on how individuals think, perceive and perform while in space. This motivates psychologists to learn about human mental processes in space related activities, and understand how living in space, as an example, influences astronauts' mood, well-being and their psychophysical capacity to perform. Furthermore, psychologists explore how space crews are capable of maintaining successful collaborations with mission control personnel and their teams over time.
This course covers how psychologists are involved in a variety of tasks that are space related, from conducting psychological examinations on space personnel, to the development and implementation of training programs aimed at improving astronauts' teamwork competencies (e.g., leadership, communication, conflict management) that are fundamental to mission success. This course will also cover the development of new monitoring techniques that will be necessary for long duration space missions and ongoing observation of a space crews' psychological and psychophysical functioning.