Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 211, October 1980

This bibliography lists 212 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in September 1980

The Impact of Intelligent Aiding for Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Schedule Management

There is increasing interest in designing systems such that the current many-to-one ratio of operators to unmanned vehicles (UVs) can be inverted. Instead of lower-level tasks performed by today’s UV teams, the sole operator would focus on high-level supervisory control tasks. A key challenge in the design of such single-operator systems will be the need to minimize periods of excessive workload that arise when critical tasks for several UVs occur simultaneously. Thus some kind of decision support is needed that facilitates an operator’s ability to evaluate different action alternatives for managing a multiple UV mission schedule in real-time. This paper describes two decision support experiments that attempted to provide UAV operators with multivariate scheduling assistance, with mixed results. Those automated decision support tools that provided more local, as opposed to global, visual recommendations produced superior performance, suggesting that meta-information displays could saturate operators and reduce performance.This research was sponsored by Boeing Phantom Work and Mitre, Inc

A complementary methodology to assess time management behaviors

Managing time effectively requires making decisions to plan the order of execution of different tasks, so that the maximum gain is achieved in a given period. We designed a test called My Schedule to assess time management, and we report a study of its psychometric properties. Through an online web server, we administered My Schedule along with two other objective tests, one that measures time management behaviors (Planning test) and another that assesses risk-tendency (Betting Dice test) to study convergent and divergent validity. In addition, we administered a self-report that assesses time management (TMBQ). My Schedule showed high reliability and moderate convergence with the Planning test and no significant correlation with the Betting Dice test and the TMBQ. Theoretical and practical implications are discusse

C3 or Garbage Can - Alternative Models of Organizational Performance

Two alternative approaches for modeling the performance of organizations are discussed -- C^3 (command-control-communication) systems and the garbage can approach. Existing formal models using each approach are reviewed and some extensions and alternative models are proposed. The implications of the models are discussed, with particular emphasis on the impact of information technology developments on organizations

An Approach to Quantify Workload in a System of Agents

The role of humans in aviation and other domains continues to shift from manual control to automation monitoring. Studies have found that humans are often poorly suited for monitoring roles, and workload can easily spike in off-nominal situations. Current workload measurement tools, like NASA TLX, use human operators to assess their own workload after using a prototype system. Such measures are used late in the design process and can result in ex- pensive alterations when problems are discovered. Our goal in this work is to provide a quantitative workload measure for use early in the design process. We leverage research in human cognition to de ne metrics that can measure workload on belief-desire-intentions based multi-agent systems. These measures can alert designers to potential workload issues early in design. We demonstrate the utility of our approach by characterizing quantitative differences in the workload for a single pilot operations model compared to a traditional two pilot model

Human Performance Risks and Benefits of Adaptive Systems on the Flight Deck

Objective. Human performance risks and benefits of adaptive systems were identified through a systematic analysis and pilot evaluation of adaptive system component types and characteristics. Background. As flight-deck automation is able to process ever more types of information in sophisticated ways to identify situations, it is becoming more realistic for adaptive systems to adapt behavior based on their own authority. Method. A framework was developed to describe the types and characteristics of adaptive system components and was used to perform a risk/benefit analysis to identify potential issues. Subsequently, eight representative adaptive system storyboards were developed for an evaluation with pilots to augment the analysis results and to explore more detailed issues and potential risk mitigations. Results. Analysis identified the principal drivers of adaptive “triggering conditions” risk as complexity and transparency. It also identified the drivers of adaptations risks/benefits as the task level and the level of control vs. information adaptation. Conclusions. Pilots did not seem to distinguish between adaptive automation and normal automation if the rules were simple and obvious; however, their perception of risk increased when the level of complexity and opacity of triggering conditions reached a point where its behavior was perceived as non-deterministic

Management: A continuing bibliography with indexes

This bibliography lists 551 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into NASA scientific and technical information system in 1980

Predicting subjective workload ratings: A comparison and synthesis of theoretical models.

Output data from a computer simulation of two air traffic control (ATC) scenarios were fit to workload ratings that ATC subject matter experts provided while observing each scenario in real time. Simulation output enabled regressions to test the assumptions of a variety of workload prediction models. The models included operational models that use observable situational and behavior variables (such as number of aircraft and communications by type) and theoretical models that use queuing and cognitive architecture variables (such as weightings of activities performed, amount of busy time, and sensory and cognitive resource usage) to predict workload. Regression results suggest models that include number of activities performed weighted by priority are best able to account for the highest amount of variance in subjective workload ratings

Workload-based Automated Interface Mode Selection

The increase in the size of the Air Force\u27s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) fleet, and the desire to reduce operational manning requirements, has led to an interest in Multiple Aircraft Control (MAC) technology. The MAC concept is highly prone to operator overload, as it requires operators to maintain awareness for multiple aircraft. To attempt to mitigate the potential of operator overload, this research introduces an agent into the system interface to assume responsibility for managing automation mode selection. The agent uses a novel dynamic scheme for determining how and when to introduce automation assistance to the operator. By using a reinforcement learning approach, the interface agent is able to correlate an operator\u27s workload and performance levels. This allows the agent to determine the most appropriate times to introduce automation assistance. By automating tasks at appropriate times, the agent helps the system balance the operator\u27s workload level, striking the best possible balance between operator awareness and overall performance, while reducing the potential for operator overload

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A cumulative index to the 1980 issues

A cumulative index to the abstracts contained in the Supplements 203 through 214 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography is presented. It includes three indexes--subject, personal author, and corporate source