Psychophysical concept

Psychophysics comes from the conjugation of the words "psychology" and "physics", so it makes mention of the areas of the mind and human behavior. The term psychophysical (sometimes erroneously written as psychophysical) is used in masculine form when it is a compulsory examination to evaluate the psychophysical health of a person, so in reality the psychophysicist or psychophysics is the branch of psychology that studies which it is the relationship between an external incitement and how the person receiving these stimuli perceives it.

What the psychophysical term refers to

As an individual term refers to an examination that is made to people who wish to opt for a job, a license or require a certification of their physical and mental health to be able to perform an activity. A psychophysical examination includes items and assessment instruments that are accurate for its correct evaluation. Throughout the history of psychology as a scientific area, psychophysics was a precursor in terms of verifying the relationship between the emotional response of an individual to a physical stimulus and how it affects their environment of coexistence.

What is a psychophysical exam

A psychophysical examination is an assessment that is carried out routinely to people who need to have a psychophysical certificate (also called psycho-technical), which guarantees that they are capable both mentally and physically of activities that require concentration, motor coordination, visual acuity and the rest; as is the case of driving, driving heavy machinery, having a job in dangerous areas and so on.

The institutions that create these evaluations use psychophysical methods, which belong to a specific type of research that facilitates the quantification of human perceptual behaviors (detection, discrimination, recognition and estimation) by means of scales with upper and lower limits (from numerical type) that allow determining the sensitivity of each individual in each type of behavior. With this in mind, many countries employ these methods for occupational psychophysical examination to quantify the physical and mental state of their workers.

How a psychophysical exam is performed

It has several evaluation sections, starting with:

• Visual examination: the individual is placed in front of an eye tester (analyzer), where each eye is evaluated. Visual acuity, type of pupil, if you have strabismus or another disease that prevents the eyes from working well should be observed.
• Auditory examination: it consists in the exploration of the ear by means of the otoscope to know if there is no rupture of the eardrum and the audiometry is used to know its auditory acuity.
• Psychological examination: personal background, behavior, memory, orientation in the three planes, indicators of anxiety and aggressiveness, which are their affective and emotional links, indicators of some vice, among others.
• Medical examination: it consists in performing a physical examination in which it is evaluated if it has some motor disability, lack of any member and its health in general (respiratory, cardiovascular, hematological, neurological, traumatological).

What are the requirements of a psychophysical examination

It depends on the certificate you want to obtain to receive a license or for a job. In the most common case, the psychophysical examination is mandatory to obtain a driver's license, the requirements of the psychophysical examination is that the person passes the test in the items of visual, auditory, psychological and medical examination, so that he has the mental capacity and physical to obtain said certificate. Other important exams that are part of the requirements are:

• Generally: clinical tests such as VDRL, glycemia, urine, chest x-ray and spine, electrocardiogram and vaccination certificate, to mention a few exams.
• In women: mammography, cytology and pap smear, if pregnant they are asked for a probable date of delivery and what type of pregnancy it is.
• In men: analysis of prostate antigen.

What is a psychophysical report

After the psychophysical evaluation, the doctor in charge must make a psychophysical report in which all the evaluated must be placed and the score must be more than half for it to be approved, otherwise the person will not have passed the psychophysical evaluation. According to the analysis of the report, the person who is opting for a job will be hired or rejected.

Elements of a psychophysical certificate

The psychophysical certificate is the document that supports the mental and physical state of the person, which will be valid to legitimize that the person is able to perform tasks of motor coordination and mental agility. It consists of the full name of the person, their identity document, date of birth and contact number, data from where the evaluation was made, by whom, and finally the results of the evaluation (apt, not apt).

Methods of psychophysical examination

Their objective is psychophysical measurement and evaluation. They are divided into two groups: 

Original methodology: These methods are indirect, since the sensation produced by the stimulus could not be measured directly, among them are the limits methods and the average error method. They were formulated by Weber and Fechner . 
Direct methodology: they were formulated by Stevens, psychologist. These include the method of categories, method of estimation of ratios, method of production of ratios and method of estimation of magnitudes, method of production of quantities and method of production of intervals.