Klaus Eyferth

MODELLING COGNITIVE PROCESSES OF EXPERIENCED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS

A model of the cognitive activities of experienced air traffic controllers is presented as an example of the challenging theoretical task to model mental processes in a dynamic task environment. Owing to the continuous changes in the task environment and the demand for the temporal co-ordination of activities in air traffic control, the model pays special attention to the mental representation of the situation. This unit of the model plays a salient role in maintaining situational awareness, in anticipating future states, and in co-ordinating simultaneously ongoing events. The assumptions about the mental representation of the changing task environment are discussed within the mental model approach. Its realization within the proposed model is outlined. The model has been developed on the basis of experimental research with air traffic controllers. Brief outlines of the experiments on information intake, and the mental representation as examples of the empirical investigation are presented. In an experiment on information intake, controllers with different levels of experience had to control a traffic scenario while the information on the radar screen and on the flight-strips were masked. The frequencies of unmasking showed that the controllers picture is built up by means of a considerable reduction of information regardless of the level of experience. However, less experienced controllers used more planning data, especially information needed for short-term anticipation. A card-sorting task was used to investigate the underlying dimensions for situation assessment. A measure for correspondence between classifications and multidimensional scaling established that situation assessment is based not only on anticipation, but also on the evaluation of further information processing requirements. The influence of the empirical results on the model is discussed.

A model of the air traffic controller's picture

Abstract This paper reviews the development of a model of the air traffic controllers mental image, ‘picture’, or situation awareness, used for controlling air traffic. The computerised models development, origins and theoretical basis are outlined, and the model is described in some detail in the context of current air traffic operations. The model can be utilised to explore the potential impacts of future automation on the cognitive performance of the air traffic controller. The general potential contributions of the area of cognitive modelling to system design and training in accelerating industries such as air traffic control, are also discussed.

A model of air traffic controllers' conflict detection and conflict resolution

A model of the mental activities of en route controllers in air traffic control (ATC) is outlined. As an example of the psychological research rendering the basis for this model, the methods and results of an experiment with experienced controllers is sketched which is concerned with conflict detection in ATC. Further, a procedure for conflict resolution is described, supplementing the general model. This procedure is designed to be transformed into a computer based assisting system in ATC. Problems and functions of operator models in the development of new technologies in air traffic management are discussed.

Reference Frames for Spatial Inference in Text Understanding

We present an approach to spatial reasoning that is based on homogenous coordinate systems and their transformations. In contrast to qualitative approaches, spatial relations are not represented by symbolic expressions only but additionally by parameters with constraints, which are subsets of real numbers. Our work is based on the notion of mental models in text understanding introduced in cognitive science. That is, we model the understanding of descriptions of spatial configurations by constructing a representation of the class of situations that are compatible with the description. Within our approach a spatial relation between two objects is represented by constraining the position of one of the objects with respect to the reference frame of the other one. That is, inferences of spatial relations not given explicitly in a text depend on the frame of reference which is presumed by the (human or computer) system. In this paper we describe a general framework for spatial reasoning based on the notion of mental models and we present some empirical results concerning the influence of the selected reference frame on the inference process.

Objektzugriff in Mentalen Modellen: Eine Frage der Perspektive

Nach gegenwartigen psychologischen Theorien zum Textverstehen ist fur den Verstehensprozes konstitutiv, das der Rezipient eine mentale Reprasentation des im Text beschriebenen Sachverhaltes konstruiert: ein Mentales Modell (Johnson-Laird, 1983, 1989). Grundlage dieses Konstruktionsprozesses ist die propositio-nale Reprasentation der Textbedeutung. Eine eigenstandige Reprasentation des beschriebenen Sachverhaltes in Form eines Mentalen Modells erweist sich vor allem auch im Fall von Texten uber raumliche Objektanordnungen als erforderlich, in denen fur das Mentale Modell raum-analoge Eigenschaften postuliert und aufgezeigt wurden (z.B.: Morrow et al., 1987; Glenberg et al., 1987). Wahrend die Konstruktion des Mentalen Modells auf der Basis der Reprasentation der Textbedeutung erfolgt, reprasentiert es seinerseits den Kontext der aktuellen semantischen Interpretation eines Textausschnittes, beispielsweise eines Satzes: “[...] at any point in a text, the representation [i.e., the mental model] constructed up to this point is the context for the interpretation of the next sentence.” (Garnham, 1985, S. 171; vgl. auch Kaup et al., dieser Band). Von daher geben Uberlegungen zur Kontextabhangigkeit sprachlicher Auserungen Aufschlus uber Anforderungen an das Mentale Modell als Reprasentation des Kontextes. Unsere hier vorgestellte Untersuchung zur kontextabhangigen Interpretation raumlicher Relationsausdrucke basiert auf der Kontexttheorie von David Kaplan (1979, 1989).

Egozentrische Inferenz von Objektpositionen beim Lesen und Hören

Zusammenfassung. Die Untersuchungsteilnehmer lasen Texte, in denen verschiedene Objekte im Umraum eines Protagonisten lokalisiert wurden. Indem sie die Perspektive des Protagonisten ubernahmen, kon...

Orienting and Reorienting in Egocentric Mental Models

In a text, several objects may linguistically be localized relative to a protagonist, the orientation of which remains unchanged. Such a static description yields a distinctive description perspective. On the other hand, the same layout can be described with the protagoist continually reorienting, while only objects are described which he is currently facing. Such a dynamic description does not yield an invariant description perspective. The special character of the description perspective in egocentric mental models was experimentally confirmed. Two accounts are discussed to explain it. The functional account considers a difference in salience of egocentric directions before and after a first imagined reorientation. The representational account suggests that only an invariant orientation allows to maintain a mental image in addition to the mental model.