Real-Time Measurement of Mental Workload Using Psychophysiological Measures

Abstract

The primary goal of the research was to explore the utility of event- related potentials (ERPs) as real-time measures of mental workload. Subjects performed a six-gauge monitoring task and a mental arithmetic task concurrently and at several difficulty levels. Difficulty was varied in terms of gauge predictability and by using two or three column arithmetic problems. A bootstrapping approach was adopted in which 1,000 samples of n trials (n=1,3,5,. ..65 single trials) were classified as to mental workload level using ERP measures (P300 and slow wave amplitude). Classification accuracies of 85 percent were achieved with 25 trials. Results are discussed in terms of potential enhancements for real-time recording of performance monitoring. Keywords: Mental workload, Event-related potentials, Real-time metrics.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA221462

Entities

People

  • Arthur F. Kramer
  • Axel Mecklinger
  • Darryl Humphrey
  • Erik Sirevaag

Organizations

  • Bureau of Naval Personnel

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Amplitude
  • Arithmetic
  • Classification
  • Cognitive Workload
  • Electroencephalography
  • Frequency
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Information Processing
  • Measurement
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Psychology
  • Psychophysiology
  • Reaction Time
  • Recording Systems
  • Task Performance And Analysis
  • Workload

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.