The Effects on Pilot Performance of Antiemetic Drugs Administered Singly and in Combination
Abstract
Four experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects on human performance of alcohol and antiemetic drugs. In Experiment I, the effects on pilot performance of 4 blood alcohol levels (BAL) were investigated to determine the sensitivity of the methodology. Experiment II evaluated the effects on pilot performance in a flight simulator of prescribed dosages of thiethylperazine (10 mg), promethazine hydrochloride (25 mg), cimetidine (300 mg), and a placebo control. Two tasks, a two-dimensional tracking task which is part of an instrument landing system (ILS) approach and the Sternberg Memory Search task, were used to generate pilot performance data. In Experiment III the effects of combinations of antiemetic drugs were investigated. Two additional flight task dependent variables, turning rate control while straight and level and while turning were added. Experiment IV evaluated the effects of alcohol on pilot performance; the results were compared with the performance degradations resulting from combinations of antiemetic drugs. The results indicated that 0.12 percent BAL produced a decrement in pilot simulator instrument flight performance. In comparison with the PTC effects, the high BAL produced a relatively larger performance decrement than the PTC combination. Keywords: Flight simulation, Pilot studies, Intoxication.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA181549
Entities
People
- Bruce C. Richardson
- Fred C. Hyman
- Henry L. Taylor
- John A. Dellinger
- Martha H. Weller
Organizations
- University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign