History of Testing

Performance Testing History

Performance testing has its modern beginnings with educational psychologists who used tests of intelligence, dexterity and problem solving as an aid in career selection. At the beginning of World War II, the Navy and Army Air Corps employed a battery of balance and other performance tests to choose pilot candidates. This development peaked in the battery of tests used to select astronauts.

Over the same period, the police developed a series of subjective test of balance, dexterity and cognitive function which are now known collectively as the “Field Sobriety Tests.”

Over the past twenty years, portion of the neurobehavioral batteries of educational psychologists, the performance batteries of the military and medical test drawn from clinical Neurology have been combined by researchers to evaluate the effects of aging, substance abuse and exposure to toxins. Much of this work has focused on the effects of alcohol.

The earliest reference to a formal test of balance is in a book by M.H. Romberg published in 1853. The Romberg and “Sharpened” Romberg tests are still used by clinicians to study balance and are the heart of the Field Sobriety Test. Reaction time testing has a shorter history being mostly dependent on electronic devices. (A simple test using a ruler which is dropped between the thumb and forefinger has been used. Speed of reaction is measured as the distance the ruler falls before it is caught).

Drug testing has its beginning in breath and blood levels testing for alcohol. As used by law enforcement, the subject’s tested level of alcohol is compared to the legal standard. Testing for drugs other than alcohol is based on the detraction of any concentration. Legal alcohol levels are based on rough estimates of the point at which performance may be affected. Drug detection thresholds are not related to performance, the assumption being that any dug use disqualifies.

The rationale for drug and alcohol testing is promotion of safety. Such testing, however, detects only one of the potential causes of poor performance, substance abuse. Illness, injury, fatigue, stress, exposure to toxins or simply lack of aptitude or ability is what should be tested!

Neuro-Test, Inc., Postural Sway (balance) and Choice Reaction Time (CRT) analyzers have been used by the Environmental Science Laboratory at USC, the Department of Community Medicine at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and by Workers’ Disease Detection Services in Los Angeles. USC and Mt. Sinai have developed the published references values for CRT. Reference values for Postural Sway have been developed by USC and recently submitted for publication.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has undertaken studies of the interrelationship of balance, hearing and solvent exposure using a complex postural sway platform. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has set up challenge testing chambers in conjunction with simple reaction time testing.

Workers’ Disease Detection Services (WDDS) has performed a study of the relationship between hearing loss, balance and falls for the Ironworkers International Union. The first results of this study were presented at the recent American Public Health Association Meetings. WDDS also employs both Sway and CRT testing for the drivers of its 30 ton medical x-ray tractor-trailers.

The relationship between tests of reaction, discrimination and vigilance which are evaluated by our CRT Analyzer and the ability to safety operate motor vehicles and other complex equipment is intuitive. The connection between loss of the ability to balance and frequency of falls is equally clear. We strongly believe that the prospective studies of balance, CRT and frequency of accidents now under way will validate this relationship.