Dual-task performance in space: results from a single-case study during a short-term space mission.
During spaceflights, astronauts are exposed to many stressors (e.g., microgravity, confinement) that may impair human information-processing capabilities. In order to analyze the possible effects of the space environment on human time-sharing efficiency, a single-case experiment was conducted in which the time course of dual-task performance (unstable tracking with concurrent memory search) of one space crew member was monitored repeatedly (13 times) throughout an 8-day space mission. Tasks were taken from the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development battery of Standardized Tests for Research with Environmental Stressors. Comparisons of in-flight, preflight, and postflight performance revealed no decrements in single-task memory search performance but did reveal clear impairments in single-task tracking and dual-task performance. From these results we conclude that psychomotor processes and higher attentional functions are particularly prone to disturbance effects in space.
Manzey
D
D
German Aerospace Research Establishment, Hamburg.
Lorenz
B
B
Schiewe
A
A
Finell
G
G
Thiele
G
G
D000328:Adult; D018480:Astronauts / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011340:Problem Solving; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013026:Space Flight