Comparison Of Physiological And Cognitive Performance In F-22 Pilots During The Transition From Day To Night Flying Operations
Abstract
This thesis investigated the changes in physiological and cognitive performance as F-22 pilots transitioned short-term to night-flying weeks using salivary markers of stress, cortisol and alpha amylase, wrist activity monitors, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), and a go/no-go (GNG) developed by Naval Medical Research Unit at Dayton. Seventeen fully qualified F-22 pilots took part in the two-week study. We found no differences in GNG reaction time or accuracy, NASA-TLX scores, or sleep quantity as participants transitioned to night-flying weeks. Sample cortisol levels were significantly higher than civilian levels in all experimental conditions and control days. Researchers fitted a unique participant cortisol curve and found higher-than-predicted participant cortisol levels post-flight in the day-flying condition and lower than predicted participant levels post-flight in the night-flying condition. Two negative relationships, F-22 experience by the magnitude of cortisol change (pre- to post-flight) in the day-flying condition and age by Perceived Stress Survey scores suggested stress adaptation in the F-22 community. We thought that the night-flying environment would be more stressful on the aviator. While more research is required to support the results found in this study, it appeared that day-flying is more stressful.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1065321
Entities
People
- Elizabeth Combs
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School