RESTRICTED ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULATION TECHNIQUE IMPROVES HUMAN-PERFORMANCE - RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP

This study controlled for relaxation and guided imagery confounds riot ed in much previous research on enhancement of human performance using the restricted environmental stimulation technique (REST). Dry flotat ion REST was used where subjects lay (''floated'') on a salt-water-fil led bladder in a sound-attenuated, light-free chamber. 9 men and 3 wom en in a rifle marksmanship training course, exposed to dry-flotation R EST, showed significantly higher rifle marksmanship scores than the un iversity students who as matched controls were exposed to relaxation ( 9 men and 3 women). Further, only the former showed a significant pre- to posttest improvement in scores, which suggests REST's positive eff ects on marksmanship go beyond the induction of relaxation by hypnosis . The results support hypotheses summarized in 1982 by Barabasz regard ing potentiation by REST of internally generated imagery and subsequen t improvement observed in a nonREST posttest environment.