Trait-anger enhances effects of caffeine on psychomotor vigilance performance

This study examined the combined effects of caffeine and the personality attribute of trait-anger on the speed of psychomotor vigilance performance during sleep deprivation. 23 young adult soldiers (19 male) were administered the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 when well-rested. Participants were then sleep deprived for three consecutive nights (77 hours total) during which they completed repeated psychomotor vigilance testing. Half of the participants received four doses of oral caffeine (200 mg every 2 hr.; 800 mg total) each night, while the other half were administered a placebo. For the first night, higher scores on trait-anger, outward anger expression, and intensity of anger expression predicted better sustained overnight vigilance performance, but only for those volunteers receiving caffeine. These correlations were not significant for the subsequent nights. Findings suggest a possible synergistic effect between personality traits associated with arousal of the central nervous system and vigilance-promoting effects of caffeine.     

Intelligence, sex and psychomotor performance

This experiment investigated the effect of intelligence and sex on two simple psychomotor performance tests—Backward Figure Writing (BFW) and Backward Alphabet Writing (BAW) in 180 high-school students (90 boys and 90 girls). Three levels of intelligence, high, medium and low were taken. Ss being first matched on Extraversion and Neuroticism. Each S worked for 5 min in pre-test period, rested for 1 min and again worked for 2 min in post-rest period. Results indicated that in pre- and post-rest BFW, increase in speed of response was a direct function of increase in intelligence. Similar results were obtained in pre-rest BAW. In post-rest BAW, however, highest performance scores were obtained by the group, average in intelligence, followed by high and low intelligence groups. Sex did not emerge as a significant determiner of performance in BFW. In BAW, means favoured boys in both pre- and post-rest conditions and the F-ratio for sex emerged significant in post-rest BAW only. None of the interactions emerged as significant. The comparison of effects in two independent variables indicated the task-specific nature of various psychomotor tasks.     

A factor analysis of intra-task performance on two psychomotor tests

There are indications that even during the short time of administration of a single psychomotor test, the ability or abilities sampled may shift materially in importance. It then becomes important to know the stages in which these fluctuations occur, the stage at which the test is most complex, and the stage at which the test most nearly measures one ability at a time. This paper describes an application of factorial methods to this problem. Factor analysis of inter-trial correlations on two models of the Rudder Control Test revealed three factors, Steadiness-Control, Precision of Movement, and Strength. The same factor pattern was confirmed in a separate factor analysis on another sample in which the order of administration of the tests was reversed. Implications are pointed out for future psychomotor test development.Perceptual and Motor Skills Research Laboratory, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. The opinions or conclusions contained in this report are those of the author. They are not to be construed as reflecting the views or indorsement of the Department of the Air Force.     

Auditory psychomotor coordination and visual search performance

In Experiments 1 and 2, the time to locate and identify a visual target (visual search performance in a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm) was measured as a function of the location of the target relative to the subject's initial line of gaze. In Experiment 1, tests were conducted within a 260 degree region on the horizontal plane at a fixed elevation (eye level). In Experiment 2, the position of the target was varied in both the horizontal (260 degrees) and the vertical (+/- 46 degrees from the initial line of gaze) planes. In both experiments, and for all locations tested, the time required to conduct a visual search was reduced substantially (175-1,200 msec) when a 10-Hz click train was presented from the same location as that occupied by the visual target. Significant differences in latencies were still evident when the visual target was located within 10 degrees of the initial line of gaze (central visual field). In Experiment 3, we examined head and eye movements that occur as subjects attempt to locate a sound source. Concurrent movements of the head and eyes are commonly encountered during auditorily directed search behavior. In over half of the trials, eyelid closures were apparent as the subjects attempted to orient themselves toward the sound source. The results from these experiments support the hypothesis that the auditory spatial channel has a significant role in regulating visual gaze.     

Age differences in self-reported anxiety and psychomotor performance

10 young and 10 older adults completed a self-report questionnaire on Debilitative and Facilitative Anxiety both prior to and following 10 psychomotor coding trials. Older adults were higher on Facilitative Anxiety at both times. These scores were negatively correlated with coding task performance for the total group but not for the individual age groups. There was no age effect for Debilitative Anxiety, although it was lower at Time 2, particularly for older adults. Debilitative Anxiety was not correlated with psychomotor performance. These results do not support the hypothesis that the psychomotor performance of older adults is differentially negatively affected by anxiety.     

Validation of two devices for evaluation of human psychomotor performance

The Pursuit Meter III (PM III) and the Simultaneous Hand and Foot Tracking (SHAFT) task are microcomputer-based devices for the evaluation of human psychomotor performance. Both devices are pursuit-tracking tasks. The primary task (PM III) requires a subject superimpose a line over a computer-generated sine wave. The computer wave is black and the subject's wave is red. The vertical position of the subject's wave is determined by a joystick controller. The SHAFT adds a second simultaneous tracking task (FTT) that is operated by means of a foot control. Ten naive subjects performed either device for 5 sessions/day over a three-day period. Each session consisted of 5 sweeps of the sine wave pattern. Mean performance on both tasks generally improved over the assessment period, and differential stability was reached within 10 sweeps for each device.     

Diurnal time courses in psychomotor performance and waking EEG frequencies

The present study examined the similarities between the diurnal time courses in the waking EEG activity and the psychomotor performance. The aim was to verify if some ongoing changes in the excitability of the cortical nerve cells across the daytime could facilitate the sensorimotor processing. EEG recordings and performance results for the Four Choice Reaction Time Test (FCRTT) were obtained every two hours, from morning to late evening period, in 8 young normal subjects (21.3 +/- 0.5 years). ANOVAs were used to verify the presence of diurnal variations in the two measures. Nonparametric correlations were obtained to test the similarity between the changes across the day in the two measures. Three EEG frequency bands (delta, sigma, and beta1) and the reaction time measures varied across the daytime. The changes in the sigma (12.00-13.75 Hz) and the beta1 (14.00-19.75 Hz) bands were similar to the diurnal variations in the reaction time measures. It is suggested that the changes in the sigma and the beta1 bands may facilitate the processing of the sensorimotor treatment.     

Source journals of articles on psychomotor performance: a list compiled from Index Medicus

During 1988 in Cumulated Index Medicus under psychomotor skills, cross-referenced as psychomotor performance, 129 journals were listed. The three most frequently listed were Experimental Brain Research, Perceptual and Motor Skills, and Neuropsychologia. Questions important in evaluating journals, the information they provide on a topic, etc. are complex.     

Correlations of selected psychomotor and visuomotor tests with initial Dynavision performance

The current study investigated the relationship between Dynavision scores for 36 men and 52 women (M age = 20.5 yr.) and performance on six conventional psychomotor tests which presumably tap similar psychomotor abilities and visuomotor skills. Analysis indicated that initial Dynavision performance was significantly correlated with performance on these common psychomotor tests. These data extend findings that propose the effectiveness of the Dynavision apparatus to assess performance on basic visual-motor and visual-cognitive functions. Taken together with these new results, findings suggest that this apparatus might contribute to psychomotor assessment and may be potentially useful for effective selection and identification of individual differences in human behavioral performance.