Neurotic predisposition and the disorganization observed in experiments with the Cambridge cockpit.

THE changes in behaviour and feeling which were observed in experiments with the Cambridge Cockpit have been described in a previous paper (Davis, 1946). As had been expected, the effects seen in these experiments appeared essentially similar to those observed in aircrew subjected to the stress of operational flying. The first phase of the effects (namely, preoccupation, excessive activity of a restless and agitated kind, excitement, and irritability), resembled the acute anxiety reactions of aircrew. The second phase was characterized by inadequacy of activity, apathy, and discouragement. The first phase resembled the excitatory type, and the second the inhibitory type of reaction, as described in studies of experimental neurosis in laboratory animals, for example by Anderson and Parmenter-(1941). The picture in the second phase was less uniform than that of the first, and the clinical counterpart less certain, particularly since diagnostic criteria vary considerably. In some subjects there was a state resembling " hysteria ", in others "fatigue syndrome ", "depression ", or "anxiety ". In the present paper certain observations will first be described to show why some of the test behaviour was regarded as essentially similar to the neurotic reactions of aircrew. The opportunity to prove this hypothesis was provided by the socalled " Harrogate " experiment, in which a large number of fit aircrew were examined both in the cockpit and also by one of two R.A.F. psychiatrists. If the disorganization dbserved in the tests was similar to that occurring in neurotic reactions to stress, it would be expected that the degree and type of disorganization would depend upon the grade and type of neurotic predisposition as assessed at interview. Furthermore, if those predisposed to neurosis tended to show a characteristic disorganization in the test, then pilots suffering from overt neurotic symptoms would also show corresponding test behaviour. It will be shown that this was in fact the case. In the previous paper it was suggested that the objective signs of the " overactivity" reaction resulted from persistence in trying to attain a high standard of performance and failure to do so. On the other hand the " withdrawal " reaction represented a lowering of the standard to a level within the pilot's powers. These interpretations are confirmed by the findings to be described below. Thus the " overactivity " reaction was shown especially by those of obsessional disposition, whereas those of hysterical disposition tended to show the " withdrawal " reaction. The experiments were also part of a plan to discover under what environmental conditions these kinds of disorganization occur. Such conditions may be contemporaneous or antecedent. It is rarely possible to predict variations of behaviour exactly from knowledge of contemporaneous variations of the environment, since the response of an organism to environmental variations is partially determined by past experience which has not been observed or in any way controlled. It is, therefore, necessary to introduce theoretical constructs such as " sets ", " attitudes ", " behaviour tendencies ", " neurotic predisposition ", and the like, and to relate observed variations in behaviour to these intervening variables. Although it may not be known exactly how these variables are determined by antecedent variations of the environment, and although factors of inheritance nmlay also be involved, there are practical advantages in relating the disorganization to an intervening variable such as neurotic predisposition, because neurotic predisposition may be independently assessed. Moreover, if it is also discovered what the relevant contemporaneous.factors are, the concept of neurotic predisposition may be clarified, because with certain reservations, it may reasonably be argued that the antecedent factors are of the same general kind as the contemporaneous ones. The contemporaneous factors were investigated in later experiments than those described below, which deal only with the antecedent factors.