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Individual Differences in fNIRS Measures of Cognitive Workload During a UAS Mission
Book chapter   Peer reviewed

Individual Differences in fNIRS Measures of Cognitive Workload During a UAS Mission

Jaime Kerr, Cooper Molloy, Pratusha Reddy, Patricia A. Shewokis and Kurtulus Izzetoglu
Augmented Cognition, pp 49-62
03 Jul 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78114-9_4

Abstract

fNIRS Functional near infrared spectroscopy Individual performance Mental workload UAS Unmanned systems
Unmanned aerial system (UAS) sensor operators continue to experience increasing levels of workload due to progressively complex systems, yet few studies have effectively recreated realistic transitional workload conditions. Human operators experience a variety of challenges during execution of tasks (e.g., visibility changes, object prevalence, sustained alertness), often becoming disengaged and hindering performance. Many studies have examined group-wise changes but exploring subject-dependent changes is critical to improving operator training efficacy, through personalization and enhancing engagement. This study sought to examine individual differences in human operator’s task performance observed via behavioral and neurophysiological measures during various workload conditions. Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a commonly used non-invasive functional neuroimaging technique to obtain neurophysiological measures for detecting changes in mental workload in real-world settings. This protocol captured data from 13 novice participants who completed complex realistic tasks implemented using a high-fidelity simulator, with varying workload conditions resulting from changes in time-of-day. Participants’ behavioral performance and prefrontal cortex activation indicated higher levels of training were necessary to avoid overloading or disengagement from the workload condition.

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