6. Identifying training areas for advanced automated aircraft: application of an information-processing model

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a first step towards determining the piloting skills needed for the operation of advanced automated aircraft. Using an information-processing (IP) approach, categorization of the problems observed in interactions between human operators and advanced automated systems were determined. Based on these issues, potential training areas were supplied which may aid to ameliorate many of these interactions between humans and automated systems. Following the identification of potential training areas were brief discussions of the potential efficacy of traditional approaches to performance improvements in these areas. Using the IP framework, numerous problems were identified through examining current literature and research findings, technical reports, as well as incident and accident reports and databases. Five problem areas were identified which, not surprisingly, paralleled the major dimensions of the IP model. These five problem areas included mismatches between hardware and software and the capabilities of the human sensory/perceptual system, increased requirements for vigilance, attention-sharing, and distribution, the development of accurate knowledge in long-term memory, overload of large resource requirements in working memory, and problems relating to decision making. The breakdown of these automation-related problems is important as this step must be completed to determine the foci of any training programs to address these issues. While some believe automation has introduced a whole new array of interaction problems, analyses such as this supply a different snapshot, in our case by using a well investigated information processing model to categorize such problems at their most core level.Investigations should be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the training approaches we recommended. While Wickens' IP model is closed-loop in nature, the model does describe a certain path which information follows throughout the process. Future studies should therefore also examine how training solutions targeting at the earlier stages (i.e. sensation and perceptual) of the model might have a cascading effect in relation to the elimination of problems further along in the processing model.

Citation

Jentsch, F., Hitt, J.M. and Bowers, C. (2002), "6. Identifying training areas for advanced automated aircraft: application of an information-processing model", Advances in Human Performance and Cognitive Engineering Research (Advances in Human Performance and Cognitive Engineering Research, Vol. 2), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 123-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3601(02)02008-8