Measuring mental workload using physiological measures: A systematic review.

Background Surgeons in the operating theatre deal constantly with high-demand tasks that require simultaneous processing of a large amount of information. In certain situations, high cognitive load occurs, which may impact negatively on a surgeon's performance. This systematic review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the different methods used to assess surgeons' cognitive load, and a critique of the reliability and validity of current assessment metrics. Methods A search strategy encompassing MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, PROSPERO and the Cochrane database was developed to identify peer-reviewed articles published from inception to November 2016. Quality was assessed by using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI). A summary table was created to describe study design, setting, specialty, participants, cognitive load measures and MERSQI score. Results Of 391 articles retrieved, 84 met the inclusion criteria, totalling 2053 unique participants. Most studies were carried out in a simulated setting (59 studies, 70 per cent). Sixty studies (71 per cent) used self-reporting methods, of which the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) was the most commonly applied tool (44 studies, 52 per cent). Heart rate variability analysis was the most used real-time method (11 studies, 13 per cent). Conclusion Self-report instruments are valuable when the aim is to assess the overall cognitive load in different surgical procedures and assess learning curves within competence-based surgical education. When the aim is to assess cognitive load related to specific operative stages, real-time tools should be used, as they allow capture of cognitive load fluctuation. A combination of both subjective and objective methods might provide optimal measurement of surgeons' cognition.

Systematic review of measurement tools to assess surgeons' intraoperative cognitive workload

Exploring the potential of Operator 4.0 interface and monitoring

Detecting fatigue in car drivers and aircraft pilots by using non-invasive measures: the value of differentiation of sleepiness and mental fatigue

Mental workload (MWL) can affect human performance and is considered critical in the design and evaluation of complex human-machine systems. While numerous physiological measures are used to assess MWL, there appears no consensus on their validity as effective agents of MWL. This study was conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of the use of physiological measures of MWL and to synthesize empirical evidence on the validity of the measures to discriminate changes in MWL. A systematical literature search was conducted with four electronic databases for empirical studies measuring MWL with physiological measures. Ninety-one studies were included for analysis. We identified 78 physiological measures, which were distributed in cardiovascular, eye movement, electroencephalogram (EEG), respiration, electromyogram (EMG) and skin categories. Cardiovascular, eye movement and EEG measures were the most widely used across varied research domains, with 76%, 66%, and 71% of times reported a significant association with MWL, respectively. While most physiological measures were found to be able to discriminate changes in MWL, they were not universally valid in all task scenarios. The use of physiological measures and their validity for MWL assessment also varied across different research domains. Our study offers insights into the understanding and selection of appropriate physiological measures for MWL assessment in varied human-machine systems.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/15/2716/pdf

A Systematic Review of Physiological Measures of Mental Workload.

A model for discrimination and prediction of mental workload of aircraft cockpit display interface

An experimental analysis of situation awareness for cockpit display interface evaluation based on flight simulation

Behavioral performance, subjective assessment based on NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), as well as physiological measures indexed by electrocardiograph (ECG), event-related potential (ERP), and eye tracking data were used to assess the mental workload (MW) related to flight tasks. Flight simulation tasks were carried out by 12 healthy participants under different MW conditions. The MW conditions were manipulated by setting the quantity of flight indicators presented on the head-up display (HUD) in the cruise phase. In this experiment, the behavioral performance and NASA-TLX could reflect the changes of MW ideally. For physiological measures, the indices of heart rate variability (HRV), P3a, pupil diameter and eyelid opening were verified to be sensitive to MW changes. Our findings can be applied to the comprehensive evaluation of MW during flight tasks and the further quantitative classification.

Improving pilot mental workload evaluation with combined measures

To predict changes of situation awareness (SA) for pilot operating with different display interfaces and tasks, a qualitative analysis and quantitative calculation joint SA model was proposed Based on the situational awareness model according to the attention allocation built previously, the pilot cognitive process for the situation elements was analyzed according to the ACT-R (Adaptive Control of Thought, Rational) theory, which explained how the SA was produced To verify the validity of this model, 28 subjects performed an instrument supervision task under different experiment conditions Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT), 10-dimensional Situational Awareness Rating Technique (10-D SART), performance measure and eye movement measure were adopted for evaluating SAs under different conditions Statistical analysis demonstrated that the changing trend of SA calculated by this model was highly correlated with the experimental results Therefore the situational awareness model can provide a reference for designing new cockpit display interfaces and help reducing human errors

Xiaoru Wanyan

Papers

A model for discrimination and prediction of mental workload of aircraft cockpit display interface

An experimental analysis of situation awareness for cockpit display interface evaluation based on flight simulation

Improving pilot mental workload evaluation with combined measures

Modeling the situation awareness by the analysis of cognitive process.

The effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration and mental workload on task performance in an enclosed environmental chamber