To address with the transition to an industrializing production economy, the Malaysian manufacturing sector has been upgrading into the higher-tech, higher value-added and more sophisticated global manufacturing environment. The increase of manufacturing process complexity shifts the nature of the human operator’s task from an emphasis on perceptual motor skills or psychomotor activities to an emphasis on knowledge-based or cognitive activities, such as problem solving and decision making. Regarding the number of manufacturing’s operators employed accounts for 67.46 percent, there is a need to search the technique for the improvement of their work performance as a part of human capital enhancement. In this paper, the basic concept of psychophysiology training derived from cardiovascular response i.e. heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback is presented as well as its issues related to the applicability for the improvement of cognitive performance. HRV-biofeedback training works by teaching people to recognize their involuntary heart rate variability and to control patterns of this physiological response. Most individuals can learn HRV biofeedback training easily which involves slowing the breathing rate (around six breaths/min) to each individual’s resonant frequency at which the amplitude of HRV is maximized. By the use of psychophysiological technique along with various senses stimulation and with the operators’ active involvement, operators are trained how to self-correct their states. They can deal with cognitive inhibit factors during work and gain improved cognitive performance.

Keywords: Psychophysiology, Biofeedback, Heart Rate Variability, Resonant frequency, Operator, Human Performance

Presented at International Conference on Human Capital Development 2009, University of Malaysia Pahang, Pahang, Malaysia, May 2009