Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (Peter): Bibliography

Listed are 90 reports of the Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER) Program. Conducted from 1977 to 1982, the programs' purpose was to develop a test battery for use in repeated measures investigations of environmental effects on human performance, e.g., vehicle motion, toxic substances, aging, etc. The battery also has applications to training, selection, and research on equipment design. The PETER Program concentrated on selecting tests which remained stable with repeated measurements, as environmental research usually involves testing before, during, and after exposure. Stability of the means, variances, and intertrial correlations ensures that simple analyses may be applied with minimal complications and without difficulties of attribution of effect. Over 80 measures were evaluated, 30% were found suitable for repeated measures applications, 20% were acceptable for limited use, and 50% could not be recommended. The unsuitability of many tasks brings into question the validity of portions of the literature on environmental effects. The reports describe program rationale, development of statistical methodology, and stable tasks. PETER reports are available from published sources, authors, or the Naval Biodynamics Laboratory.

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Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER): Auditory Digit Span Task

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118138002400188 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 330-334 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Denise B. McCafferty ◽

Alvah C. Bittner ◽

Robert C. Carter

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Digit Span ◽

Sufficient Conditions ◽

Mental Content ◽

Repeated Measurements ◽

Environmental Research ◽

Repeated Measures Analysis ◽

The Mean ◽

Differential Stability

Auditory digit span was evaluated as an instrument for repeated measurements experimentation. Twelve subjects were tested for one hour on each of 12 consecutive workdays in a standard environment. Both forward and backward digit span were measured. It was found that forward digit span was suitable for repeated measures after ten days of practice at 30 minutes per day. The criteria for suitability were predictability of the mean scores, constancy of the standard deviations and differential stability of the intertrial correlations. These criteria are sufficient conditions both for repeated measures Analysis of Variance, and for interpretation of experimental effects. Although the backward digit span scores did not meet these criteria, they became more and more correlated with the forward digit span scores as the experiment progressed. This indicates that the mental content of the two tests of memory converged with practice. One implication of this finding is to question the meaningfulness of factor structure after only limited practice. The forward auditory digit span test was recommended for inclusion in a battery of Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER).

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Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (Peter): Evaluation of 114 Measures

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1986.63.2.683 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 63 (2) ◽

pp. 683-708 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Alvah C. Bittner ◽

Robert C. Carter ◽

Robert S. Kennedy ◽

Mary M. Harbeson ◽

Michele Krause

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Time Course ◽

Environmental Studies ◽

Acceptable Level ◽

Environmental Research ◽

Human Capabilities ◽

Task Definition ◽

And Task

The goal of the Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER) Program was to identify a set of measures of human capabilities for use in the study of environmental and other time-course effects. 114 measures studied in the PETER Program were evaluated and categorized into four groups based upon task stability and task definition. The Recommended category contained 30 measures that clearly obtained total stabilization and had an acceptable level of reliability efficiency. The Acceptable-But-Redundant category contained 15 measures. The 37 measures in the Marginal category, which included an inordinate number of slope and other derived measures, usually had desirable features which were outweighed by faults. The 32 measures in the Unacceptable category had either differential instability or weak reliability efficiency. It is our opinion that the 30 measures in the Recommended category should be given first consideration for environmental research applications. Further, it is recommended that information pertaining to preexperimental practice requirements and stabilized reliabilities should be utilized in repeated-measures environmental studies.

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Selection of Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118138002400186 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 320-324 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Robert C. Carter ◽

Robert S. Kennedy ◽

Alvah C. Bittner

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Environmental Research ◽

Selection Of

A battery of Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER) that is suitable for use in repeated measures experiments is being developed at the Naval Biodynamics Laboratory. This paper describes the sources of tasks which have been considered for inclusion in PETER. It also lists the tests in the source batteries which have or have not yet been considered for inclusion in PETER. The performance content of the tests that have been considered is compared with the content of those that have not. Recommendations are made for selection of additional tests from the source batteries which will not be redundant with tests that already have been considered. This report puts PETER into the context of the tests and test batteries which came before it.

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Item Recognition as a Performance Evaluation Test for Environmental Research

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118138002400190 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 340-343 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Robert C. Carter ◽

Robert S. Kennedy ◽

Alvah C. Bittner ◽

Michele Krause

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

Response Time ◽

Human Memory ◽

Item Recognition ◽

Repeated Measurements ◽

Environmental Research ◽

The Novel ◽

Novel Environment ◽

Evaluation Test ◽

Fourth Session

Item Recognition (Sternberg, 1966) is a task which reflects the operation of human memory. This task was considered as a candidate for use in a battery of Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER). Environmental research involves comparison of performances in a baseline environment and in a novel environment. It is desirable that scores be stable at different occasions in the baseline environment, so that changes due to the novel environment will be clear if they occur. It was found that item recognition results were similar to those obtained by other investigations, although the traditional item recognition score (slope) was unreliable across repeated measurements. The response time (RT) was stable for each of the four memory set sizes (1, 2, 3 & 4 items), from the standpoint of reliability, after the fourth session.

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Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER): Landolt C Reading Test

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118138002400189 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 335-339 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John C. Guignard ◽

Alvah C. Bittner ◽

Steven W. Einbender ◽

Robert S. Kennedy

Keyword(s):

Visual Acuity ◽

Performance Evaluation ◽

Fine Structure ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Performance Test ◽

Environmental Research ◽

Future Performance ◽

Error Measures ◽

The Stability ◽

Landolt C

A Landolt C visual acuity test was evaluated for inclusion in a battery of Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER) for use in repeated measures experiments. Eight subjects were tested for 12 days to determine stability of means, standard deviations and cross-day correlations. Mixed results for these cross-day correlation analyses made questionable the stability of speed and error measures. Fine-structure analyses indicated that the task was more a measure of response accuracy than acuity. Fine-structure analyses in future performance test evaluation and exploration of alternative visual acuity tests are recommended. It is concluded that the Landolt C test in the form used is not stable and cannot be recommended as a test of visual acuity for inclusion in PETER.

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Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER): The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193128402800105 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 11-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

A. C. Bittner ◽

R. C. Carter ◽

R. S. Kennedy ◽

M. M. Harbeson ◽

M. Krause

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Time Course ◽

Environmental Research ◽

Task Definition ◽

Baseline Conditions ◽

Joint Consideration ◽

And Task

The goal of the Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER) Program was to identify a set of measures of human cognitive, perceptual, and motor capabilities for use in the study of environmental and other time-course effects. Tasks were evaluated as suitable for repeated measures applications when their intertrial means, variances and correlations were well-behaved under constant baseline conditions. This report provides an evaluation of 112 test measures studied in the program. They are categorized into four groups based upon joint consideration of task stability and task definition. Thirty test measures were categorized as Good, 15 as Good-But-Redundant, 35 as Ugly (flawed), and 32 as Bad.

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A Catalogue of Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/107118138002400191 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 344-348 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Robert S. Kennedy ◽

Robert C. Carter ◽

Alvah C. Bittner

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Environmental Research ◽

Stability Criteria ◽

Present Program ◽

Task Definition ◽

Stable Means ◽

Administration Time ◽

Research Findings ◽

The Stability

Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research (PETER) are under development at the Naval Biodynamics Laboratory and supporting organizations. The tests, or tasks, studied in this program have been largely derived from the literature. Each task was evaluated for suitability for repeated measures experimental designs which are almost universally used in environmental research. Suitability criteria included the “stability” of task means, standard deviations, and between-trial correlations. The magnitude of the “stabilized” between-trial correlations, task definition, was also examined with respect to the administration time. There are 60 active tasks in the present program. All tasks examined to date exhibit stable means and variances after adequate practice but: (a) less than 30% meet minimal stability criteria for intertrial correlations; and (b) substantial practice (typically more than an hour over five days) is required to achieve stability. A tabular catalogue of the research findings and background for 15 tasks is presented and discussed.

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