The Critical Tracking Task

Description

The CTT is a simple test of psychomotor functioning that measures eye-hand coordination and delays in visual motor response. The task itself takes about one minute to perform, and uses the same skills that would be needed to balance an upright stick on the palm of your hand. The CTT was developed about 35 years ago to measure the ability of Air Force pilots to deal with aircraft malfunctions. Based on this work, NASA sponsored a series of studies on the development of the task for measuring astronaut functioning in orbit. Studies were conducted at this time on the effects of bed rest and isolation on CTT performance. General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) next sponsored studies on the ability of the CTT to detect alcohol impairment. About 25 years ago the NHTSA sponsored the development of an in-car alcohol interlock based on the CTT that was designed to prevent drunk drivers from driving. This government sponsored research allowed the CTT to be calibrated and statistically validated in its ability to detect alcohol impairment.

Responsibilities

My personal responsibilities for this project included:

• Migrated the DOS-based code into C# .Net
• Designed an administrative application that would allow for adding, deleting, viewing user accounts
• Designed a database for storing user performance history
• Tested the system before deployment at the East Virginia Medical School for a sleep deprivation study
• Provided technical support for both prospective and current customers
• Designed and created a user manual
• Assisted with writing proposals for future government sponsored research

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