Document Detail


Level of operator control and changes in heart rate variability during simulated flight maintenance.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  8851773     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
The demands of dynamic monitoring and fault diagnosis for flight engineer trainees were examined in relation to changes in heart rate (HR) and two spectral analysis measures (midfrequency: 0.07-0.14 Hz; high frequency: 0.15-0.40 Hz) of heart rate variability (HRV). Eleven trainee flight engineers were studied, as part of their training and assessment, over three 3-h sessions in a cockpit simulator. During each session, faults and incidents programmed into the system had to be detected, diagnosed, and corrected. Electrocardiograms were taken, and each session was recorded on videotape. Work phases were classified from video analysis of flight maintenance activities, using Rasmussen's cognitive control taxonomy, into monitoring, routine (rule-based), and problem-solving (knowledge-based) phases. HR and HRV were found to be sensitive to different phases of the work environment. HRV was suppressed during the mentally demanding problem-solving mode of the level flight phase, but only for the midfrequency component. Elevated heart rate, in contrast, was associated with the more generally stressful takeoff and landing phases. The findings support both the use of HRV as a physiological index of mental effort and its value in operational contexts, and the value of ecologically derived methods of evaluating differences in work demands in complex systems.
Authors:
A J Tattersall; G R Hockey
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Human factors     Volume:  37     ISSN:  0018-7208     ISO Abbreviation:  Hum Factors     Publication Date:  1995 Dec 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1996-12-17     Completed Date:  1996-12-17     Revised Date:  2004-11-17    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0374660     Medline TA:  Hum Factors     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  682-98     Citation Subset:  IM; S    
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Wales, Cardiff, UK.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Aircraft*
Arousal*
Attention
Electrocardiography, Ambulatory
Heart Rate*
Humans
Male
Military Personnel / education,  psychology*
Workload*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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