Comparing elite soldiers' perceptions of psychological and physical demands during military training

This research examined the impact of psychological and physical demands on a group of elite soldiers (N = 9) before, during and after training exercises involving routine and unrehearse tasks. Based on the psychological concept of toughening, we expected soldier responses to unrehearsed demands to be les resilient than to routine training demands. As hypothesized soldiers rated their perceptions of physical and psychologica demands higher during the unrehearsed training phase of the study. It was also hypothesized that soldiers would recover more from physical demands than from psychological de mands after the training exercise. Although a trend in the data marginally supported this hypothesis, a note of caution is warranted because of the small sample size. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed, with particular emphasis on the dual importance of psychological and physical training in preparing soldiers for mission demands.