• Version
• 152 Downloads
• 42.15 MB File Size
• 1 File Count
• March 8, 2016 Create Date
• March 8, 2016 Last Updated

Psychophysiological Assessment Methods

An earlier AGARDograph outlined a standardized approach to the performance testing of human
subjects who were under the influence of various stressors (AGARD, 1989), and suggested there are two
basic purposes for performance tests: the first being to evaluate the impact of stressors on subjects, and the
second being to determine an individual's information processing capabilities. To accomplish both of these
objectives, the strategy stated in that report was to select a battery of performance tests which measured
specific aspects of information processing based upon subjects' responses to various test items. Then,
depending upon the test results, inferences are made about the probable effects of a given stressor on aspects
of operational performance. This approach corresponds to the objective of human performance theory,
which is to explore "lawful relations between task variables and performance" (AGARD, 1989, p. 2), and to
indirectly assess the effects of environmental/experimental manipulations via a performance-testing strategy.

The present AGARD Advisory Report is intended to outline another approach to assessing human
subjects in operational contexts. However, rather than relying upon a performance-based strategy, the
investigation of physiological variables within a psychophysiological framework is proposed. The psychophysi-
ological approach, also useful in estimating the impact of environmental/experimental manipulations on
performance, is defined in terms which are different from those of Human Performance Theory. Psycho-
physiology has been defined as "the study of psychological processes in the intact organism as a whole by
means of unobtrusively measured physiological processes" (Furedy, 1983). Thus, a psychophysiological
strategy allows the study of the impact of stressors on a different level than is possible with a cognitive-
performance strategy. The psychophysiologist is able to contribute some understanding about the underlying
physiological changes accompanying the behavioral changes which are studied in a performance-based
approach. For instance, where behavioral testing can discern that fatigue results in slower responding to test
items, the psychophysiological approach can demonstrate that the slower responses are due to a reduction in
central nervous system arousal or activation as opposed to a motor-response or muscular impairment.