External validity of individual differences in multiple cue probability learning : the case of pilot training

International audienceIndividuals differ in their ability to deal with unpredictable environments. Could impaired performances on learning an unpredictable cue-criteria relationship in a laboratory task be associated with impaired learning of complex skills in a natural setting? We focused on a multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL) laboratory task and on the natural setting of pilot training. We used data from three selection sessions and from the three corresponding selected pilot student classes of a national airline pilot selection and training system. First, applicants took an MCPL task at the selection stage (N = 556; N = 701; N = 412). Then, pilot trainees selected from the applicant pools (N = 44; N = 60; N = 28) followed the training for 2.5 to 3 yrs. Differences in final MCPL performance were associated with pilot training difficulties. Indeed, poor MCPL performers experienced almost twice as many pilot training difficulties as better MCPL performers (44.0% and 25.0%, respectively)

Cognition and piloting performance: offline and online measurements

In aeronautics, the notion that cognitive performance is correlated with accident rates raises the importance of implementing more efficient cognitive selection procedures for pilot candidates. The Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB) has established sensitivity to a range of cognitive functions and their neurobiological substrates. The ability of CANTAB to predict success during pilot training courses (notably based on the evaluation of flight performance) will be examined and compared to that of tests currently in use by one of the leading French civil aviation schools (ENAC) for their pilot candidate selection procedures. Ultimately, the goal is to inform the development of an optimized pilot selection tool that taps into the cognitive functions and underlying neural circuitries required for successful piloting activities. Moreover, through the implementation of a dual-task paradigm, this study aims to provide guidelines for future cockpit instrumentation designs better adapted to the human brain, in a further attempt to reduce accident rates

Using near infrared spectroscopy to detect mental overload in flight simulator

Piloting requires high level of cognitive control, especially in demanding situations. When cognitive functions are overloaded, no more sufficient resources are available to manage the situation. As a consequence , it is important to have a valid measurement tool of pilots’ online workload. In this research, we used a BIOPAC 16 channel fNIRS to monitor prefrontal activity of eleven airline student pilots during two landing scenarios (easy and difficult) in a flight simulator. As expected, results from subjective measurements revealed that the perceived cognitive mental effort was higher during the difficult landing. The right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) demonstrated the highest concentration changes of oxy-hemoglobin (O2Hb) during both scenarios, with the difficult landing inducing higher concentration changes than the easy landing. These results demonstrate the sensitivity of fNIRS to detect mental overload in complex and ecological scenarios. The findings of this study may be applied to real-time monitoring of the pilot mental workload as well as the evaluation and the certification of new cockpit designs

Impact of ATCO Training and Expertise on Dynamic Spatial Abilities

Dynamic spatial ability is supposed to be involved in a critical process of air traffic controllers, namely conflict detection. The present paper aims at testing whether dynamic spatial ability improves with air traffic control training and/or experience. We designed a laboratory task to assess the performance in predicting if two moving disks would collide or not. We conducted a crosssectional study with four groups of participants : ATCO trainees at the beginning (N=129), middle (N=80) or end of training (N=66) and experienced ATCOs (N=14). Results suggested on one hand that air traffic control training leads to a decrease in the number of extremely high proportions of undetected collisions from the middle of the training. On the other hand, air traffic control operational experience leads to a decrease in the number of extremely high proportions of falsely detected collisions

External validity of individual differences in multiple cue probability learning: The case of pilot training

Individuals differ in their ability to deal with unpredictable environments. Could impaired performances on learning an unpredictable cue-criteria relationship in a laboratory task be associated with impaired learning of complex skills in a natural setting? We focused on a multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL) laboratory task and on the natural setting of pilot training. We used data from three selection sessions and from the three corresponding selected pilot student classes of a national airline pilot selection and training system. First, applicants took an MCPL task at the selection stage (N = 556; N = 701; N = 412). Then, pilot trainees selected from the applicant pools (N = 44; N = 60; N = 28) followed the training for 2.5 to 3 yrs. Differences in final MCPL performance were associated with pilot training difficulties. Indeed, poor MCPL performers experienced almost twice as many pilot training difficulties as better MCPL performers (44.0% and 25.0%, respectively)

Visual scanning strategies according to aircraft automation level

The growing role of automation in modern cockpits allowed a drastic diminution of aircraft accidents and permitted to lower crews’ workload. At the same time, it introduced new challenges that necessitate new research, particularly on error management, and vigilance (Wickens et al., 1998). High level of automation is suspected to provoke a loss of hand-flying capabilities, an increased complacency, and a reduction of the situation awareness (Endsley et al., 1995). Loss of hand-flying capabilities is observed when automation takes on the tasks previously assigned to the operator. In this situation crew skills may atrophy as they go unexercised (Haslbeck et al., 2016). Crews tend to be “automation addict”, further reducing hand flying capacities. Thus, the ability to face a sudden breakdown of automation or an unexpected situation can be alleviated (e.g., Haslbeck et al., 2012). On the other side, complacency effects (e.g., Parasuraman et al., 2010) can promote the occurrence of a particularly prominent typology of error: the failure of the crew to properly monitor the flight instruments, particularly when using highest levels of automation

Global difficulty modulates the prioritization strategy in multitasking situations

There has been a considerable amount of research to conceptualize how cognition handle multitasking situations. Despite these efforts, it is still not clear how task parameters shape attentionnal resources allocation. For instance, many research have suggested that difficulty levels could explain these conflicting observations and very few have considered other factors such as task importance. In the present study, twenty participants had to carry out two N-Back tasks simultaneously, each subtask having distinct difficulty (0,1 or 2-Back) and importance (1 or 3 points) levels. Participants's cumulative dwell time were collected to assess their attentional strategies. Results showed that depending on the global level of difficulty (combination of the two levels of difficulty), attentional resources of people were driven either by the subtask difficulty (under low-global-difficulty) or the subtask importance (under high-global-difficulty), in a non-compensatory way. We discussed these results in terms of decision-making heuristics and metacognition

The role of Pilots' monitoring strategies in flight performance

Since decades, the number of aircraft accidents is continuously decreasing thanks to support systems and the introduction of automation. However, a drawback of this trend is that crews tend to be “automation addict” due to pressure and fatigue, which mean that they practice less and less manual flying. Also, an over-confidence in the automation can promote the occurrence of a particularly prominent typology of error: the failure of the crew to properly monitor the flight instruments, which can be particularly hazardous during the final approach phase. This paper describes an experiment that was undertaken to study pilot’s monitoring strategies thanks to eye tracking technology during manual approaches. We examined the relationship between visual patterns and flight performance (to find out if the approach was stabilized or not). The results show that gaze allocation of pilots who failed to stabilize their approach was sub-optimal. An analysis of the visual dispersion shows that they did not divide efficiently their visual attention compared to reference crew. Also, these pilots did not sufficiently gaze primary flight instruments requested to fly the approach (the attitude indicator, the localizer and the glide deviation scales). We assume that eye tracking may be a useful tool to improve pilots' monitoring strategies, for example gaze-training based on video clip showing experts’ visual pattern could help novice pilots to adopt appropriate gaze strategies

Flight simulator and fNIRS : study of relation between acute stress and cognitive workload

In aviation, knowing the internal state of pilots is desirable to prevent and detect abnormal situations such as an excessive cognitive workload (CW) or acute stress, both known to impact human performance 1. Detecting these states becomes crucial with the possible emergence of Single Pilot Operations (SPO), during which tasks will be largely supported by a single pilot and the aircraft systems. The mental constructs of CW and acute stress have been extensively studied in the human factor literature, but the analysis of their respective impact in the same ecological situations remains poorly studied. In the current study, twenty-one private pilots from the French Civil Aviation University were recruited. They all performed two realistic flight simulator scenarios with the same difficult level and duration (around 35 minutes each). The CW was manipulated with the difficulty of a secondary task (low CW vs high CW; for details, see [2]) and the level of stress was manipulated by means of a social stressor (low arousal vs high arousal). We examined brain hemodynamic activity via functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with a portable NIRS system (NIRSport, NIRx Medical Technologies, NY, USA)

Cardiovascular Activity linked to the Emotional State and Cognitive Workload during a Flight Simulation

The identification of physiological markers of emotional and cognitive fluctuations during a flight can be useful to alert of risky situations due to their possible impact on pilot’s mental state and performance. In this study, heart rate (HR) and other features, such as R-R peak interval variability and the spectral power of specific frequency bands, have been extracted from ECG recordings throughout flight simulations. The temporal variation of these features within different experimental conditions has been explored to verify their reliability to discriminate episodes of mental overload. Our results show that the monotonic decrease of HR reflects the emotional regulation, mainly under secondary low cognitive overload. Conversely, the increase of the root mean square successive differences was linked to higher cognitive workload situations. Furthermore, the habituation analysis reveals that these features are severely affected when an external cognitive deman