Monday, May 25, 1992

Extroverted cave divers in most peril, UF study finds

The life of the party is most likely to be the kind of person who dies in a cave-diving accident, says a University of Florida researcher. Extroverts who are social and outgoing probably have a greater chance of dying than quiet introverts because they are less technically minded and pay less attention to details, said Milledge Murphy, a professor in UF's College of Health and Human Performance whose research includes a decadelong study on cave divers.

"Cave diving is the only sport activity were death is an absolute result of performance failure," he said. "It mus be done right or there's no tomorrow." With its high-tech equipment and precise set of instructions, cave diving requires someone with a mind-set for details, and many of the people the sport attracts work in technical professions, Murphey said.

"The general population probably believes that most people who cave dive are very brash risk takers who jeopardize their lives for a good time," he said. "But research on cave divers, aerobatic pilots, sky divers and other participants in high risk sports shows that these are serious, professional people who enjoy technical precision."

In the UF study, all nine of the 65 cave divers who died over a 10-year period were extroverts and fit into one of two of the 16 personality types on the Myers-Briggs psychological test. The cave divers took the test at the beginning of the study, which compared personality traits with activity performance.

There are about 3500 trained cave divers in the world today, and about 430 people have died from the sport since record keeping began during the 1960s, Murphey said. Annually, between six and 10 people die cave diving in the United states. Cave diving, like other high risk sports, has become increasingly popular since the 1970s.

"Many people in advanced cultures crave more excitement in their mundane lives than going to work, coming home and watching television," he said. "They seem to want to look back towards the gladiator days when people truly lived on the edge." Some colleges and universities have capitalized on this interest by beginning to offer academic courses in such activities as rock climbing, scuba diving, parachuting, hang gliding, white-water kayaking and cave diving, Murphey said.

Source: The Gainesville Sun

Sunday, May 3, 1992

Class Makes Pupils Cave Dwellers

The second graders at Stenstrom Elementary went spelunking in a cave last week and they didn't even leave campus.

The pupils, along with teacher Susan Keogh, converted a yellow portable classroom into a dark cave with papier-mache bats dangling from the ceiling, stalagmites and fossils.

A turkey carcass served as the bones of a pterodactyl. Rocks painted yellow to look like gold nuggets sat in a make-believe pond. Students fished them out and weighed them.

''I jumped when I saw the bats because their ears glowed,'' said Samantha Gerhehty, 9. ''I was scared.''

Keogh said she got the idea after the class read one of her favorite books, The Mellons Go Spelunking.

''I don't have a radio in my car, so all I do when I drive is think of ideas,'' she said.

Monday, May 25, 1992

Extroverted cave divers in most peril, UF study finds

The life of the party is most likely to be the kind of person who dies in a cave-diving accident, says a University of Florida researcher. Extroverts who are social and outgoing probably have a greater chance of dying than quiet introverts because they are less technically minded and pay less attention to details, said Milledge Murphy, a professor in UF's College of Health and Human Performance whose research includes a decadelong study on cave divers.

"Cave diving is the only sport activity were death is an absolute result of performance failure," he said. "It mus be done right or there's no tomorrow." With its high-tech equipment and precise set of instructions, cave diving requires someone with a mind-set for details, and many of the people the sport attracts work in technical professions, Murphey said.

"The general population probably believes that most people who cave dive are very brash risk takers who jeopardize their lives for a good time," he said. "But research on cave divers, aerobatic pilots, sky divers and other participants in high risk sports shows that these are serious, professional people who enjoy technical precision."

In the UF study, all nine of the 65 cave divers who died over a 10-year period were extroverts and fit into one of two of the 16 personality types on the Myers-Briggs psychological test. The cave divers took the test at the beginning of the study, which compared personality traits with activity performance.

There are about 3500 trained cave divers in the world today, and about 430 people have died from the sport since record keeping began during the 1960s, Murphey said. Annually, between six and 10 people die cave diving in the United states. Cave diving, like other high risk sports, has become increasingly popular since the 1970s.

"Many people in advanced cultures crave more excitement in their mundane lives than going to work, coming home and watching television," he said. "They seem to want to look back towards the gladiator days when people truly lived on the edge." Some colleges and universities have capitalized on this interest by beginning to offer academic courses in such activities as rock climbing, scuba diving, parachuting, hang gliding, white-water kayaking and cave diving, Murphey said.

Source: The Gainesville Sun

Sunday, May 3, 1992

Class Makes Pupils Cave Dwellers

The second graders at Stenstrom Elementary went spelunking in a cave last week and they didn't even leave campus.

The pupils, along with teacher Susan Keogh, converted a yellow portable classroom into a dark cave with papier-mache bats dangling from the ceiling, stalagmites and fossils.

A turkey carcass served as the bones of a pterodactyl. Rocks painted yellow to look like gold nuggets sat in a make-believe pond. Students fished them out and weighed them.

''I jumped when I saw the bats because their ears glowed,'' said Samantha Gerhehty, 9. ''I was scared.''

Keogh said she got the idea after the class read one of her favorite books, The Mellons Go Spelunking.

''I don't have a radio in my car, so all I do when I drive is think of ideas,'' she said.