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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

A Fully Automated Rodent Conditioning Protocol for Sensorimotor Integration and Cognitive Control Experiments
Published on: April 15, 2014
The effects of dynamic workload and experience on commercially available EEG cognitive state metrics in a
Kyle A Bernhardt1, Dmitri Poltavski1, Thomas Petros1
1Department of Psychology University of North Dakota, 501 North Columbia Rd, Stop 8380, Grand Forks, ND, 58202, USA.
Abstract:
The current study evaluated the validity of commercially available electroencephalography (EEG) cognitive state metrics of workload and engagement in differentially experienced air traffic control (ATC) students. EEG and pupil diameter recordings were collected from 47 ATC students (27 more experienced and 20 less experienced) during a high-fidelity, variable workload approach-control scenario. Scenario workload was manipulated by increasing the number of aircraft released and the presence of a divided attention task. Results showed that scenario performance significantly degraded with increased aircraft and the presence of the divided attention task. No scenario performance differences were found between experience groups. The EEG engagement metric significantly differed between experience groups, with less experienced controllers exhibiting higher engagement than more experienced controllers. The EEG workload metric and pupil diameter were sensitive to workload manipulations but did not differentiate experience groups. Commercially available EEG cognitive state metrics may be a viable tool for enhancing ATC training.
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