Factors Impacting Coherence in the Automated Cockpit

Abstract

Research on automation bias and other heuristics and biases suggests that something about the nature or display of information in the automated environment may be encouraging non-rational cognitive processing and hindering the maintenance of coherence, or rationality and consistency in diagnostic and judgment processes, makirig operators susceptible to coherence errors. The purpose of this study was to track pilot diagnosis and decision making strategies for different types of problems as a function of three operational variables: a) sourceautomated or otherof the initial indication of a problem; b) congruence vs inconsistency of available information; and c) time pressure. Pilots responded to a series of scenarios on an interactive website by accessing relevant information until they could make a diagnosis and come to a decision about what to do. Pilots who were under time pressure took less time to come to a diagnosis, checked fewer pieces of information, and performed fewer double-checks of information. Diagnoses were more accurate when pilots experienced no time pressure, and diagnosis accuracy was significantly higher when information was congruent than when it was conflicting. Implications for training and automation use are discussed.