Development of a Portable Psychometric Testing Device for Use in the Field: An Alcohol Investigation.

Cognitive and psychomotor performance have traditionally been assessed in the laboratory. There is a need for an objective portable assessment tool to assess cognitive and psychomotor performance. This study investigated the viability of a portable psychometric test battery, in a controlled laborato...

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Published in:Perceptual & Motor Skills Vol. 101; no. 2; pp. 383 - 393
Main Authors: Degia, Andria, Meadows, Robert, Johnsen, Sigurd
Format: Article
Published: Ammons Scientific, Ltd. October 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: October 2005
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      pub: Ammons Scientific, Ltd.
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        10.2466/PMS.101.6.383-392
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        atl: Development of a Portable Psychometric Testing Device for Use in the Field: An Alcohol Investigation.
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          Degia, Andria
          Meadows, Robert
          Johnsen, Sigurd
      su:
        Psychological apparatus
        Pocket computers
        Alcohol drinking
        Drug use testing
        Alcohol
        Psychology
      sug:
        subj:
          Psychological apparatus
          Pocket computers
          Alcohol drinking
          Drug use testing
          Alcohol
          Psychology
      ab: Cognitive and psychomotor performance have traditionally been assessed in the laboratory. There is a need for an objective portable assessment tool to assess cognitive and psychomotor performance. This study investigated the viability of a portable psychometric test battery, in a controlled laboratory environment, possibly leading to use in the field. A randomised, double-blind placebo controlled, three-way crossover design was employed. 16 subjects received 50 mg/100 ml and 80 mg/100 ml of alcohol and alcohol placebo. Performance was assessed with a tracking task, and an attention task presented on a small ruggedised handheld computer. The attention task showed no significant training effects; however, an element of the tracking task did. Statistical significance, effect size, and test-retest reliability analyses are presented indicating sensitivity of the portable psychometric test battery to the impairing effects of two separate doses of alcohol. Ability to undertake wide-scale impairment testing in the field with meaningful results in the absence of baseline data collection may have wide reaching implications, particularly in relation to the assessment of drivers impaired by drug use. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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