Computerized performance test batteries

Most government-sponsored computerized performance test batteries are compilations of computer performance tests that were originally developed and tested in controlled laboratory settings. The purpose of many of these tests is to determine the effects of risk factors on fitness for government duty, and to assess the efficacy of countermeasures designed to offset the performance effects of these risk factors. 

Tumage, J.J. and Kennedy, R.S., The development and use of a computerized human performance test battery for repeated-measures applicadons, Hum. Perform., 5, 265, 1992. 

Snyder FR, Davis FC, Henningfield JE. (1989). The tobacco withdrawal syndrome performance decrements assessed on a computerized test battery. Drug Alcohol Depend. 23(3) 259-66. 

Wilson WH, Ellinwood EH, Mathew RJ, Johnson K. (1994). Effects of marijuana on performance of a computerized cognitive-neuromotor test battery. Psychiatry Res. 51(2) 115-25. 

Two different test batteries, the World Health Organization (WHO) Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery and the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES), are currently the most widely used test batteries in occupational behavioral toxicology studies. Both include components of the WAIS described previously in addition to other psychometric tests of behavioral function. The WHO Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery is a pencil and paper-administered test battery, whereas the NES is a computerized test battery that has been translated into several languages and in fact presents a more extensive set of tests than does the WHO in that it includes tests of psychomotor performance, cognition, memory and learning, and perceptual ability and affect. 

In a study of age-associated memory impairment [Crook and Lakin 1991), using a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial and three doses of ondansetron (10, 250, or 1,000 pg po bid), patients were treated for 12 weeks, followed by a 2-week washout period, with assessments being made at the initiation of, during, and at the termination of treatment. Behavioral rating scales and a computerized battery of tests related to learning and memory tasks of daily life were used to assess changes in cognitive performance. Ondansetron caused dose-related effects to enhance acquisition, name-face associa-... 

Postural sway characteristics were measured in 60 lead storage battery workers (mean BLL 36 gg/dL) and 60 controls (mean BLL 6 gg/dL). Computerized postural sway measurements showed that lead workers had poorer postural stabihty and that it decreased when their eyes were closed, but this deterioration in performance was not associated with BLL (Chia et al. 1994). A second publication examined cumulative BLL over 10 years and fotmd that CBLI for the 2 years before testing was assoeiated with all postural sway measures with eyes closed (Chia et al. 1996b). 

The rst trial involved 20 students who were given daily oral capsules containing either 50 pL each of essential oil and sun ower oil (1-3 capsules) or 100 pL of sun ower oil as placebo. Students therefore received 0, 50, 100, or 150 pL of essential oil. The Cognitive Drug Research (CDR)-computerized assessment battery was used predose and up to 6 h posttreatment. Performance was found to be enhanced at 1 and 2.5 h for both immediate and delayed memory recall. A similar second test using 25 and 50 pL of essential oil found that improved memory performance was maintained from 1 to 4 h posttreatment for the 50 pL dose only. Overall, the 25 and 150 pL doses had no signi cant effect (Tildesley et al., 2003). 

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