Enhancement of the ACRA Cognitive Assessment System

The ACRA test battery has proven successful in several applications. However, new approaches to cognitive testing emphasize instruments that are targeted to the unique demands of specific jobs and missions. Further, the results of such approaches must allow operational planners to use them as diagnostic, predictive, and remedial tools to enhance or augment individual cognitive performance. In this effort, NTI, Inc. will enhance the existing ACRA battery by converting it into a flexible, user-friendly test system, and will significantly expand its operational applicability. This will be accomplished, first, by designing the installation of upgraded software into a portable, hand-held hardware system incorporating pre-analyses that will provide easier interpretation to the user and command personnel. Secondly, the entire system will be integrated within the proprietary Person-System-Mission (PSM) model that translates the individual"s scores on tests into estimates of their impact on specified military missions, and provides diagnostic and remedial clues regarding any observed decrement. Finally, the possibility of adding physiological measures to ACRA will be studied intensively, and the final design will accommodate a variety of physiological inputs. Results of Phase I will provide a well-defined architecture for Phase II development of the advanced and expanded system.