ABSTRACT
The electrical signals from the body that are used for psychophysiological analysis are quite small. Psychophysiological measures have been used to evaluate air traffic control environments. The psychophysiological changes preceded the performance impairments. One of the issues that must be addressed when using psychophysiological methods is the requirement of specialized equipment. As with subjective and performance measures, there are issues that must be addressed prior to implementing psychophysiological measures. For the most part, the psychophysiological data can be collected nonintrusively. Psychophysiological measures are capable of apprising the tester of the functional state of an operator; the operator’s response to new equipment, procedures, or both; and the operator’s level of workload and vigilance. Psychophysiological measures can be used to determine the operator’s overall state. Of paramount importance, after getting the test director’s approval to use psychophysiological measures, is convincing the operators of their utility in the testing.
