Operational and Experimental Tasks, Performance, and Voice in Space

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Voice analysis off ers an unobtrusive approach for psychological monitoring. We demonstrate the relationship between voice parameters and cognitive performance in: 1) a task with psychological test character, and 2) performance in an operational, mission-relevant task. The central methodological aim was to verify the usefulness of voice commands and counting in providing anchor values for the step-function model of voice pitch. METHODS: During a 22-yr period, 42 cosmonauts participated in the Russian space experiment " Pilot " , which was a hand-controlled docking maneuver. As reference the experiment included the cognitive task " Manometer. " This task was controlled through voice commands. These voice commands were stored and are the basis for the present analysis. RESULTS: Cosmonauts diff ered in their working style and respective performance during the Manometer task. Clustered groups can be assumed to represent diff erent eff ort. Importantly, these groups diff ered in the changes of voice pitch among mission phases and among task repetitions. However, there were no diff erences between these motivation groups and performance in the professional task. DISCUSSION: The diff ering eff ort is the eff ect of diff erent motivation of cosmonauts for experimental test tasks vs. mission-relevant professional tasks. Latter ones provide a more reliable chance to assess the real actual state and skills of a cosmonaut. Voice pitch measurement seems to be reliable and useful under space conditions for monitoring this volitional eff ort.