Characterizing the Psychophysiological Profile of Expert and Novice Marksmen

Marksmanship training includes a combination of classroom instruction and field practice involving the instantiation of a well-defined set of sensory, motor, and cognitive skills. 10 expert marksmen and 30 novices participated in a study that measured marksman performance during simulated ballistics shooting of a M4 replica infrared rifle. Participants' physiology and performance were quantified while they completed a battery of neurocognitive tests. Experts demonstrated consistent and more accurate shot performance across all trials. Compared to novices, experts evidenced lower levels of sympathetic activation as measured by heart rate variability during the neurocognitive tasks. Factor analysis identified experts as having above normal visuospatial processing speeds and sustained attention, reflecting experts as having better performance during vigilance neurocognitive tasks. Identifying physiological metrics of experts during neurocognitive testing opens the door to individualized novice instruction to help to improve specific areas flagged as below normal during or prior to novice marksmanship instruction.