In February 1965, Tucson was selected as one of two locations where a bit of behavioral research was conducted on the future corpsmen. A group of 88 college-aged trainees volunteered “in an effort to find means of predicting performances by corps applicants before they enter training.” The weeklong trial took place at the Triangle-Y camp near Oracle, while a similar session took place at Princeton.The psychologists who devised and supervised the camp, presented the campers with unexpected situations and then studied their different reactions. This meant the subjects built latrines, hunted down and prepared a rabbit dinner and were bombarded with questions about the U.S. government by a hostile “foreigner.” One group was told they would establish a hospital in “Country X” and then had to sit in a curtained booth for five hours devising pertinent questions.
In February 1965, Tucson was selected as one of two locations where a bit of behavioral research was conducted on future Peace Corps Volunteers
Peace Corps volunteers were put to the test
07/16/2008 06:02 PM
Elaine Raines
Ever since the Peace Corps began in 1961, Tucson has been sending volunteers to work in countries around the world. As early as May 1961, a representative of the Peace Corps was on the UA campus and about 40 students showed up to learn more about the program. In the early years, it seems that each time a local resident was selected for training, it was announced in the paper.
In February 1965, Tucson was selected as one of two locations where a bit of behavioral research was conducted on the future corpsmen. A group of 88 college-aged trainees volunteered “in an effort to find means of predicting performances by corps applicants before they enter training.” The weeklong trial took place at the Triangle-Y camp near Oracle, while a similar session took place at Princeton.
The psychologists who devised and supervised the camp, presented the campers with unexpected situations and then studied their different reactions. This meant the subjects built latrines, hunted down and prepared a rabbit dinner and were bombarded with questions about the U.S. government by a hostile “foreigner.” One group was told they would establish a hospital in “Country X” and then had to sit in a curtained booth for five hours devising pertinent questions.
None of the volunteers were in danger of losing out on their Peace Corps future, although they did not know that when they began the experiment. The psychologists were surprised at the level of enthusiasm maintained by the group. When faced with a difficult situation one participant said “we didn’t come here to be comfortable.”
