A Theoretical Model of the Cognitive Link Between Stress and Performance for Long-Duration Spaceflight

Long-duration spaceflight (LDSF) crews experience significant physiological and psychological demands that can degrade performance and produce stress. Previous models to predict crew reactions to stress illustrate how demands influence performance, but not the underlying cognitive processes governing why combinations of events produce stress. The present paper describes a theoretical model of the relationship between spaceflight stressors, cognitive appraisal processes, and crew performance outcomes for LDSF. The model posits that during 5 stages, crewmembers undergo an appraisal process to first evaluate the threat imposed by the combined environmental stressors (e.g., workload, noise, crowding), and then evaluate their own capacity to manage the threat, resulting in either positive (capacity > threat) or negative (capacity < threat) performance expectations. Expectations then produce positive or negative physiological and psychological effects with direct implications for overall crew performance. This model is offered as a framework for continued study of the stress-cognition-performance relationship in spaceflight.