Background

Sustained high levels of astronaut cognitive performance are a prerequisite for mission success. A neuropsychological battery of 10 brief cognitive tests (Cognition) covering a range of cognitive domains was specifically developed for high performing astronauts to objectively assess cognitive performance. Extended mission durations require repeated cognitive testing and thus high acceptability of the Cognition software to the astronaut population. The aim of this qualitative study was to evaluate acceptability of Cognition to astronauts and astronaut surrogate populations.

Methods

Cognition was administered repeatedly to N = 87 subjects (mean age ± SD 35.1 ± 8.7 years, 52.8% male) on a laptop or iPad across five individual studies on the International Space Station or in space analog environments on Earth. Following completion of each study, participants were interviewed regarding their experience using Cognition in a semi-structured debrief. Participant comments were analyzed using a qualitative conventional content analysis approach.

Results

The majority of participants’ comments (86.1%) were coded as positive or neutral in valence, with most positive comments relating to software usability, engagement, and overall design. Among the 10 Cognition tests, subjects liked the Visual Object Learning Test most (28 likes, 32.2% of participants), while the Emotion Recognition Test was liked least (44 dislikes, 50.6% of participants). Some subjects (36.8%) were frustrated with the level of difficulty of some of the 10 Cognition tests, especially during early administrations, which was by design to avoid ceiling effects in repeated administrations of high-performers. Technical difficulties were rare (20.7% of participants), and most often observed in environments with restricted internet access. Most participants (82.3% of those who commented) liked the feedback provided by Cognition after each test, which includes a graph showing performance history.

Conclusion

Cognition was found to be acceptable to astronaut and astronaut-surrogate populations across a variety of settings and mission durations. Participant feedback provided was used to further improve Cognition and increase its acceptability during sustained space missions.

中文翻译：

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认知测试电池在宇航员和宇航员替代人群中的可接受性

背景

持续高水平的宇航员认知表现是任务成功的先决条件。专门为表现出色的宇航员开发了一个由 10 个简短的认知测试（认知）组成的神经心理学电池组，涵盖一系列认知领域，以客观地评估认知表现。延长任务持续时间需要反复进行认知测试，因此认知软件对宇航员群体的接受度很高。这项定性研究的目的是评估 Cognition 对宇航员和宇航员替代人群的可接受性。

方法

在国际空间站或地球上的空间模拟环境中，在笔记本电脑或 iPad 上对 N = 87 名受试者（平均年龄 ± SD 35.1 ± 8.7 岁，52.8% 为男性）重复进行认知。在完成每项研究后，参与者将接受采访，了解他们在半结构化汇报中使用 Cognition 的经验。使用定性的常规内容分析方法分析了参与者的评论。

结果

大多数参与者的评论 (86.1%) 在效价方面被编码为正面或中性，其中大多数正面评论与软件可用性、参与度和整体设计有关。在 10 个认知测试中，受试者最喜欢视觉对象学习测试（28 个喜欢，32.2% 的参与者），而最不喜欢情感识别测试（44 个不喜欢，50.6% 的参与者）。一些受试者 (36.8%) 对 10 项认知测试中某些测试的难度水平感到沮丧，尤其是在早期管理期间，这是为了避免高绩效者重复管理的天花板效应而设计的。技术困难很少见（20.7% 的参与者），并且最常见于互联网访问受限的环境中。大多数参与者（82.

结论

研究发现，在各种环境和任务持续时间内，宇航员和宇航员代理人的认知是可以接受的。参与者提供的反馈用于进一步改善认知并提高其在持续太空任务期间的可接受性。