Title

Development Of Microcomputer-Based Mental Acuity Tests

Keywords

Alcohol; Cognition; Environmental stress; Microcomputer tests; Performance; Test battery

Abstract

Recent disasters have focused attention on performance problems due to the use of alcohol and controlled substances in the workplace. Environmental stressors such as thermal extremes, mixed gases, noise, motion, and vibration also have adverse effects on human performance and operator efficiency. However, the lack of a standardized, sensitive, human performance assessment battery has probably delayed the systematic study of the deleterious effects of various toxic chemicals and drugs at home and in the workplace. The collective goal of the research reported here is the development of a menu of tests embedded in a coherent package of hardware and software that may be useful in repeated-measures studies of a broad range of agents that can degrade human performance. A menu of 40 tests from the Automated Performance Test System (APTS) is described, and the series of interlocking studies supporting its development is reviewed. The APTS tests, which run on several versions of laptop portables and desktop personal computers, have been shown to be stable, reliable, and factorially rich, and to have predictive validities with holistic measures of intelligence and simulator performances. In addition, sensitivity studies have been conducted in which performance changes due to stressors, agents, and treatments were demonstrated. We believe that tests like those described here have prospective use as an adjunct to urine testing for the screening for performance loss of individuals who are granted access to workplaces and stations that impact public safety. © 1992 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Publication Date

1-1-1992

Publication Title

Ergonomics

Volume

35

Issue

10

Number of Pages

1271-1295

Document Type

Article

Identifier

scopus

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139208967393

Socpus ID

0026939436 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0026939436

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