PSYCHOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT VIA INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE SYSTEMS

Two experiments examined the feasibility of psychological assessment u sing interactive voice response (IVR) technology and the potential sen sitivity of such assessments to alcohol and fatigue effects. In Experi ment 1, 10 subjects performed a 12-min battery of six IVR-administered tasks, Monday through Friday, over 2 weeks. Minimal learning effects were evident during training. Repeated administrations indicated high test-retest reliabilities. In Experiment 2 (double-blind, alcohol/plac ebo crossover design), 7 subjects were tested every 2 h over a 24-h pe riod during two experimental sessions (peak blood alcohol concentratio ns = 80 mg/dL). Several NR-administered tasks were sensitive to alcoho l impairment, but not as sensitive as laboratory-based measures specif ically designed to assess alcohol impairment. Little evidence for fati gue-related impairment was obtained. The results support optimism for the potential to assess psychomotor and cognitive functioning distally via telephony; however, further refinement and validation of the meth ods are needed.