Supporting dynamic change detection: using the right tool for the task

Abstract

Detecting task-relevant changes in a visual scene is necessary for successfully monitoring and managing dynamic command and control situations. Change blindness—the failure to notice visual changes—is an important source of human error. Change History EXplicit (CHEX) is a tool developed to aid change detection and maintain situation awareness; and in the current study we test the generality of its ability to facilitate the detection of changes when this subtask is embedded within a broader dynamic decision-making task. A multitasking air-warfare simulation required participants to perform radar-based subtasks, for which change detection was a necessary aspect of the higher-order goal of protecting one’s own ship. In this task, however, CHEX rendered the operator even more vulnerable to attentional failures in change detection and increased perceived workload. Such support was only effective when participants performed a change detection task without concurrent subtasks. Results are interpreted in terms of the NSEEV model of attention behavior (Steelman, McCarley, & Wickens, Hum. Factors 53:142–153, 2011; J. Exp. Psychol. Appl. 19:403–419, 2013), and suggest that decision aids for use in multitasking contexts must be designed to fit within the available workload capacity of the user so that they may truly augment cognition.

Multitasking in the military: Cognitive consequences and potential solutions

“…In some cases, the addition of alarms or automated tools can ironically add to cognitive load in an already overloaded perceptual environment (Vallières, Hodgetts, Vachon, & Tremblay, ). In order to decrease the cognitive load of individuals without using tools that may compromise performance, teamwork can be promoted, as the workload is shared between team members, and groups tend to have a greater processing capacity than single individuals for complex problem‐solving tasks (Kirschner, Paas, & Kirschner, ).…”

Inattention-Management Middleware for Human-in-the-Loop Multi-Display Applications

“…Sometimes simple and subtle visualisations, such as pulsating objects, can be a good middle ground [9]. Recent work has used eye-tracking to highlight unseen changes in radar tasks [10]. They find that several application-dependent factors are vital for successful attention management, such as workload, task and the situation [10].…”

The Benefits and the Costs of Using Auditory Warning Messages in Dynamic Decision-Making Settings

“…In previous studies using this microworld, each critical change was accompanied by a visual change on the radar screen (i.e., a change in the direction and/or the speed of the aircraft) that made it visually noticeable (e.g., Hodgetts et al, 2014;Vachon, Vallières, et al, 2012). The detection of visual changes can be improved by automatic change-detection software (St. John, Smallman, & Manes, 2005), although care must be taken that such decision aids fit within the available workload capacity of the user (Vallières et al, 2016). Another possibility to support change detection might be to reduce the visual load of the task by using the auditory rather than the visual modality to announce the critical changes.…”

“…In the current work, we use a microworld that provides a simplified simulation of above-water C2 warfare to assess decision making and the ability to detect critical events in complex and dynamic settings (Hodgetts, Vachon, & Tremblay, 2014; Hodgetts, Tremblay, Vallières, & Vachon, 2015; Vachon, Vallières, et al, 2012; Vallières, Hodgetts, Vachon, & Tremblay, 2016). This microworld requires participants to monitor a radar screen representing the airspace around the ship, evaluate the threat level of every airborne aircraft moving in the vicinity of the ship based on a visual list of parameters, and take retaliatory defensive measures against hostile aircraft.…”

“…The detection of visual changes can be improved by automatic change-detection software (St. John, Smallman, & Manes, 2005), although care must be taken that such decision aids fit within the available workload capacity of the user (Vallières et al, 2016). Another possibility to support change detection might be to reduce the visual load of the task by using the auditory rather than the visual modality to announce the critical changes.…”