Meike Jipp

The Impact of Higher Levels of Automation on Performance and Situation Awareness A Function of Information-Processing Ability and Working-Memory Capacity

Systems that supported operators with higher levels of information-analysis and decision-selection automation had varying effects on human performance and situation awareness. We investigated whether information-processing and working-memory abilities moderate the effects of automation on human performance and situation awareness. To investigate such effects, we measured the information-processing ability and working-memory capacity of 60 participants. We also assessed their performance and situation awareness when they repeatedly controlled simulated air traffic with the support of different levels of information-analysis and decision-selection automation. Results indicated that performance increased, but situation awareness declined, when the levels of automation increased. The participants with better information-processing ability and working-memory capacity scored better in performance and situation awareness. The participants with higher information-processing ability and working-memory capacity profited from the higher levels of automation. In contrast, the participants with lower information-processing ability and working-memory capacity suffered under higher levels of automation. Authors of future research should thus consider individual differences when investigating the effects of automation and focus on identifying mechanisms that ensure that automation supports all operators.

Expertise Development With Different Types of Automation A Function of Different Cognitive Abilities

Objective: I explored whether different cognitive abilities (information-processing ability, working-memory capacity) are needed for expertise development when different types of automation (information vs. decision automation) are employed. Background: It is well documented that expertise development and the employment of automation lead to improved performance. Here, it is argued that a learner’s ability to reason about an activity may be hindered by the employment of information automation. Additional feedback needs to be processed, thus increasing the load on working memory and decelerating expertise development. By contrast, the employment of decision automation may stimulate reasoning, increase the initial load on information-processing ability, and accelerate expertise development. Authors of past research have not investigated the interrelations between automation assistance, individual differences, and expertise development. Method: Sixty-one naive learners controlled simulated air traffic with two types of automation: information automation and decision automation. Their performance was captured across 16 trials. Well-established tests were used to assess information-processing ability and working-memory capacity. Results: As expected, learners’ performance benefited from expertise development and decision automation. Furthermore, individual differences moderated the effect of the type of automation on expertise development: The employment of only information automation increased the load on working memory during later expertise development. The employment of decision automation initially increased the need to process information. Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences and expertise development when investigating human–automation interaction. Application: The results are relevant for selecting automation configurations for expertise development.

Effects of Observability, Mood States, and Workload on Human Handling Errors When Monitoring Aircraft Automation

An increasing level of automation changes the role of human operators also in the flight deck. Herewith, communication and coordination efforts between humans and automation gain importance as communication breakdowns may cause serious incidents and accidents. To ensure successful communication, it was proposed, on the one hand, to enhance the observability of automation. On the other hand, researchers analysed the impact of inter- and intraindividual differences in affect and mood states on the interaction. Within this study, it was investigated whether an experimental manipulation of the automation’s observability and workload in addition to interindividual differences in mood states impacted human errors in handling automation. Therefore, 24 participants monitored aircraft automation and, more specifically, whether the automation succeeded in keeping the aircraft’s pitch angle within certain boundaries and whether the aircraft engines functioned as expected. Data analyses revealed significant effects of the automation’s observability and of the participants’ level of positive mood and extraversion on the number of handling errors. The handling errors were considered an indicator for communication breakdowns as they were caused by the automation insufficiently informing the human on its actions. The results highlight the need to focus on the automation’s observability when designing highly automated systems especially in safety-critical domains and on further analysing the effects of mood states on human-automation interaction.

Levels of automation: effects of individual differences on wheelchair control performance and user acceptance

This paper presents an evaluation of the levels of automation. It draws on a prototype of an electrically powered wheelchair as an example of an ordinary automation device operated by less trained users with a broad range of abilities. A study is described during which 21 participants drove through a standardised course three times. Each time, another level of automation was active. As criteria, joint human-automation performance and user acceptance were measured. As predictors, fine motor abilities were assessed and task complexity was recorded. The analyses showed that higher levels of automation achieved lower user acceptance ratings. In contrast, higher levels of automation fostered better performance especially when less able participants steered the wheelchair and when the routes were more complex.

Individual Differences and Their Impact on the Safety and the Efficiency of Human-Wheelchair Systems

Objective: The extent to which individual differences in fine motor abilities affect indoor safety and efficiency of human-wheelchair systems was examined. Background: To reduce the currently large number of indoor wheelchair accidents, assistance systems with a high level of automation were developed. It was proposed to adapt the wheelchair’s level of automation to the user’s ability to steer the device to avoid drawbacks of highly automated wheelchairs. The state of the art, however, lacks an empirical identification of those abilities. Method: A study with 23 participants is described. The participants drove through various sections of a course with a powered wheelchair. Repeatedly measured criteria were safety (numbers of collisions) and efficiency (times required for reaching goals). As covariates, the participants’ fine motor abilities were assessed. Results: A random coefficient modeling approach was conducted to analyze the data, which were available on two levels as course sections were nested within participants. The participants’ aiming, precision, and arm–hand speed contributed significantly to both criteria: Participants with lower fine motor abilities had more collisions and required more time for reaching goals. Conclusion: Adapting the wheelchair’s level of automation to these fine motor abilities can improve indoor safety and efficiency. In addition, the results highlight the need to further examine the impact of individual differences on the design of automation features for powered wheelchairs as well as other applications of automation. Application: The results facilitate the improvement of current wheelchair technology.

Reaction Times to Consecutive Automation Failures A Function of Working Memory and Sustained Attention

Objective: This study explored whether working memory and sustained attention influence cognitive lock-up, which is a delay in the response to consecutive automation failures. Background: Previous research has demonstrated that the information that automation provides about failures and the time pressure that is associated with a task influence cognitive lock-up. Previous research has also demonstrated considerable variability in cognitive lock-up between participants. This is why individual differences might influence cognitive lock-up. The present study tested whether working memory—including flexibility in executive functioning—and sustained attention might be crucial in this regard. Method: Eighty-five participants were asked to monitor automated aircraft functions. The experimental manipulation consisted of whether or not an initial automation failure was followed by a consecutive failure. Reaction times to the failures were recorded. Participants’ working-memory and sustained-attention abilities were assessed with standardized tests. Results: As expected, participants’ reactions to consecutive failures were slower than their reactions to initial failures. In addition, working-memory and sustained-attention abilities enhanced the speed with which participants reacted to failures, more so with regard to consecutive than to initial failures. Conclusion: The findings highlight that operators with better working memory and sustained attention have small advantages when initial failures occur, but their advantages increase across consecutive failures. Application: The results stress the need to consider personnel selection strategies to mitigate cognitive lock-up in general and training procedures to enhance the performance of low ability operators.

An Empirical Analysis of the Gaze Behavior of Aircraft Pilots within a Highly Automated Aircraft-Air Traffic Control Environment

An increasing level of automation in the flight cockpit more and more prevents pilots from receiving direct feedback from the aircraft. This lack may result in deficient situation awareness, which can degrade the dependability of the pilot-aircraft system substantially. To assist the pilot in maintaining a high level of situation awareness, adaptive situation assessment systems based on monitoring the pilot’s gaze behavior may represent a means for future development. However, the measurement details need to be specified, and, much more important, the individual characteristics of pilot gaze change require exploration. For a highly automated environment, the impact of the aircraft’s states and the communication with the air traffic control on the gaze behavior were investigated, but the study’s conclusions are based on one professional pilot, only, which impedes generalization. Therefore, this paper aims (a) at replicating the effects of the aircraft’s states and communication efforts on pilots’ gaze behavior and (b) at analyzing whether there are inter-individual differences in the gaze patterns of pilots. For this purpose, the data of a study with twelve professional pilots were used for exploration. During the trial flights two scenarios were flown while the states of the aircraft, the communication with the air traffic control, and the pilot’s gaze behavior were recorded. Data analytic procedure revealed significant interindividual differences. In addition, the results replicated the findings of the one-participant study: Especially the altitude of the aircraft and the special format of the communication impact the pilots’ visual attention.

Effects of expertise for automatic train operations

The aim was to investigate the effects of automatic speed control and expertise on train driver performance in unexpected, degraded operations in the railway domain. Research from other domains suggested increasing levels of automation to exert detrimental effects on human performance in degraded operations. In addition, research about the effect of expertise on performance in different levels of railway automation was scarce. Reaction times of 26 train drivers to critical events in a high-fidelity railway simulator featuring manual and automatic speed control were assessed. Participants showed longer reaction times in degraded operations under automatic speed control. Results on the influence of expertise were insignificant and methodologically discussed to enable further research. These results highlight performance consequences of automatic speed control in railway operations and offer first insights on how existing expertise needs to be taken into account when introducing automatic speed control into the railway domain.

Ecological Interface Design and its application to Total Airport Management

The concept of Total Airport Management aims at harmonizing and optimizing the processes at an airport through the implementation of an airport operations plan. For this purpose and to guarantee the acceptance of the airport operation plan from all stakeholders, it was proposed to develop a control room in which stakeholders negotiate a quality of service contract and airport processes. This control room will, amongst others, be equipped with a large videowall, which should enable stakeholders yielding sound common situation awareness. This paper introduces an information representation for the videowall, which should support knowledge-based behaviour, and, thus, applies the Ecological Interface Design Guidelines. Therefor, it discusses how the Total Airport Management systems functional purpose, abstract functions, generalized functions, physical processes, and physical form may be presented appropriately on the videowall. Herewith, this paper generalizes the Ecological Interface Design approach to airport management and provides a theory-based proposition of the videowalls design.

Monitoring principles in aviation and the importance of operator redundancy

The aim of this paper is to discuss developments in aviation with respect to their affect on redundancy and dependability of the complex human-automation system. With the improvement of technical systems and increasing automation in aviation, the attempts to reduce the number of human operators in the flight guidance system is still one goal of current research. Single pilot cockpit or single controller working positions are the key words for pinpointing this issue. For technical systems, the developments aim at the integration of a higher level of redundancy to improve the dependability. A contrary trend is determinable for the human operator by transitioning to single operator systems. To be able to evaluate this process, this paper analyses three different monitoring principles that form the basis for redundancy and thus dependability. These monitoring principles are (a) the automation-automation, (b) the human-automation, and (c) the human-human. Research that focuses on single operator systems consequently eliminates the human-human monitoring principle. The authors argue that the consequences of this elimination are currently not understood sufficiently and may have a great impact on the dependability of the overall system, as some highly valuable aspects of the human-human monitoring principle would be irreplaceably lost with the transition to single operator systems.