Reclined Seating in Advanced Crewstations: Human Performance Considerations

Abstract

The present study investigated operator performance based on sensory and cognitive task performance measures obtained during high G in both an upright seat (27 degrees of reclination) and a reclined seat (67 degrees of reclination). Subjects were required to perform both a perceptual/motor and a classification task under varying levels of G. Results indicated that there were little differences in reaction times or accuracy between seat configurations for single task cognitive performance. There were significant differences in reaction times for seat types for dual task cognitive performance. In general, tracking performance on the upright seat was better than the reclined seat during GI while the reclined seat seemed to show substantial performance recovery post-G. The possibility that tracking results favoring the upright seat may not be a function of true perceptual/motor advantages, but rather engineering design problems inherent in the reclined seat were discussed.