Perceptions of and reactions to stressful situations.
Two approaches to the study of the psychological significance of situations were compared, one using data for individuals' perceptions of situations and the other using data for individuals' reactions to situations. Perception and reaction data for 40 subjects were used for multidimensional classification of 12 situations, which were selected so as to cover four different types of stressful situations. For three of the a priori groupings of situations the congruence in outcomes between the two methods was high. The implications of the congruence and the discrepancies in outcomes for the two approaches are discussed. The main conclusion is that one should distinguish clearly between situation perception factors and situation reaction factors in further research on the psychological significance of situations.
A risk assessment was performed to assist in the evaluation of equipment improvements for a chemical storage facility. The risk assessment was accomplished through the use of several different methodologies e.g., fault tree analysis, event trees, and risk perspective techniques. The result of the study was a new alternative for a chemical storage facility. This new alternative eliminated the requirement for a large storage facility and reduced the capital project cost by over 10 million dollars.