Army Laboratory Tests Human Behavior

May 7, 2012

Along the winding Snake Hill road in the Picatinny Arsenal 3500 area sits the Target Behavioral Response Laboratory (TBRL), which is responsible for providing answers to what engineers developing products seek most.

The Target Behavioral Response Laboratory conducts tests to study how humans react to various devices and how they can be made more effective.

"What happens if? Under these conditions, how will people react?"

The Target Behavioral Response Laboratory provides non-invasive, behavioral human research experiments with devices that are non-lethal, less-than- lethal, or enhance lethality. Essentially, researchers study the effects of products on live test subjects, namely people. The TBRL has created test beds to evaluate designs based on the warfighter's most urgent needs and can create new tests to meet the needs of an individual project or customer. A test bed is a facility or an environment used for testing something under development to assist soldiers in their duties.

The TBRL is part of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) and provides research services to ARDEC as well as private industry. The Department of Defense has sponsored numerous TBRL research projects.

"We do not just test devices we test how people (human research volunteers) react to those devices," said Charlie Sheridan, a research teaching specialist.

For example, effectiveness data is gathered on how people behave in response to the use of non-lethal devices. The more likely a device is capable of creating the desired behavior in the human target (the target falls down or an individual runs away), the greater the device's performance. Some of the less-than-lethal devices have included bright lights, loud sounds, flash bangs, and various blunt impact projectiles. The tests are conducted to study how people react to each of those devices and how they can be made more effective.

These studies are helpful to both engineers and the warfighter alike. If a soldier is guarding a military access control point in Afghanistan and a car is driving up to the check point at high speed, the soldier may have a few non-lethal methods in his arsenal to deter the driver. At this point, the soldier is unsure if the driver is a threat to him and others, or if it is simply someone who is lost or unsure of where he is going, or simply not paying attention to his surroundings. The soldier may use bright lights or loud sounds to see if he can get the driver's attention. But how will the driver react?

The same situation applies when entering a house or a room during a routine patrol. The warfighter has the option of throwing a flash bang or use bright lights or sounds to deter occupants. If an occupant has a weapon and intends to use it, these deterrents might cause a delay long enough for the Soldier to detain the shooter. These are the types of studies the TBRL conducts.

The TBRL, which is headed by Technical Director John Riedener, employs personnel with years of experience in researching human responses to energies involving non-lethal weapons and systems. Riedener's staff is comprised of award winning research scientists, human research specialists and a team of biomedical, electrical, computer and mechanical engineers. The laboratory team has a wealth of knowledge in various areas, including social psychology, psychophysiology, group dynamics, statistics, behavioral suppression, and escape or avoidance responses in realistic, tactically relevant military situations.

Emphasizing operational relevance as well as human subject protection and safety, the human research conducted at the TBRL is coordinated with and approved by ARDEC's Institutional Review Board.

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