The Impact of Context-related Reliability on Automation Failure Detection and Scanning Behaviour *

Abstract- This article presents an experiment that examined the effect of providing operators with information about the context-related nature of automation reliability. Results are compared against those from previous experiments where no information about automation reliability was provided to participants. Providing context led to a significant increase in participants ’ detection performance of automation failures in situations known to trigger poor detection performance (i.e., under constant and highly reliable automation). This improvement in performance seems to be the result of a more efficient attention allocation strategy which, in turn, appeared to be the consequence of participants ’ better understanding of the automation behaviour. Implications for future research on human-automation interaction and the development of human-centered automation are drawn. Keywords: Human-automation interaction, monitoring behaviour, context-related automation reliability.

A SAMPLING MODEL TO ASCERTAIN AUTOMATION-INDUCED COMPLACENCY IN MULTI-TASK ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract: This article discusses the development of a model that defines the optimal sampling behaviour of operators in a multi-task flight simulation, where one of the tasks is automated. The goal of this model is to assign a cost function to the attention allocation strategy of participants, allowing us to assess the efficiency of their overall strategy. The model revealed that the optimal sampling strategy should be the same regardless of the automation reliability. When applied to previously reported empirical data, the model revealed that participants using constant, highly reliable automation demonstrated more ‘expensive ’ monitoring behaviour. However, their monitoring behaviour became more efficient over time, which is inconsistent with the conclusion that the poor overall monitoring performance was due to complacency. This model allowed us to define an optimal monitoring performance, which is an important step in being able to accurately assess “complacency”. Key words: Human-automation interaction, complacency, sampling strategy 1