Methods for Measuring Reduced Work Capacity as a Function of Continuing Work: A Critical Review *

Abstract

This paper reviews applied experimental work done through 1973, covering more than 40 studies, with the objective of determining which techniques which offer the greatest prospects of measuring the effects of “driver fatigue” vis a vis level of operator alertness and the performance of safety-critical highway vehicle driving behaviours. Criteria for evaluating applicability of measuring techniques should include their individual validity, reliability, the ease of obtaining measures without interfering with the driver's actual state, and their practicality in terms of personnel, equipment, and space required for each. This review also examines the more important deficiencies of prior methodological approaches. Recommendations are made for a “package” of measuring techniques most appropriate to this problem.

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