Neuropsychophysiological examination as an additional tool to increase the reliability and efficiency of professional selection

Abstract

Despite such a wide and comprehensive psychological and psychophysiological examination of recruits in modern professional selection systems both in the armies of NATO countries and Ukraine, the effectiveness of the process is insufficient. To identify the reasons for the insufficient prognostic effectiveness of modern psychophysiological methods, a study was made of the variability in the organization of brain structures to ensure the speed of a simple sensorimotor reaction (PSMR) of a high level as a basic characteristic of the functional state of the central nervous system. As a result of a survey of 54 servicemen of different specialties, it was found that the same indicators of the state of psychophysiological functions are provided by different strategies for their implementation. Electroencephalograms were recorded when military personnel performed a computer test to determine the speed of PSMR. It was revealed that at approximately the same rate of PSMR, different brain structures were activated in servicemen. Since the same PSMR value can be realized by different neural networks, what we do not detect during psychophysiological testing, but later on under stress, load, etc. military personnel may exhibit different behavioral strategies. Such types of behaviour make it possible to achieve the best results in various types of activity and correspond to the profiles of different military specialties, and vice versa, it can be assumed that neural networks of approximately the same type can implement somewhat different indicators of psychophysiological functions. The same psychophysiological profile can correspond to different profiles of military specialties and vice versa, several psychophysiological profiles can correspond to one specialty, since approximately the same values of psychophysiological functions can be realized by different neural networks. Therefore, psychophysiological testing should be supplemented with neurophysiological testing, since it allows revealing the internal features of the organization of the brain and predicting the further behavior of servicemen.