125 research outputs found
Flight experience and executive functions predict unlike professional pilots who are limited by the FAA's age rule, no age limit is defined in general aviation (GA)
Unlike professional pilots who are limited by the
FAA's age rule, no age limit is defined in general aviation (GA). Some studies revealed significant aging issues on accident rates but these results are criticized. Our overall goal is to study how the effect of age on executive functions (EFs), high level cognitive abilities, impacts on the flying performance in GA pilots. This study relies on three components: EFs assessment, pilot characteristics (age, flight experience), and the navigation performance on a flight simulator. The results showed that contrary to age, reasoning, working memory (WM) and total flight experience were predictive of the flight performance. These results suggest that "cognitive age", derived in this study by the cognitive evaluation, is a better mean than "chronological age" consideration to predict the ability to pilot, in particular because of the inter-individual variability of aging impact and the beneficial effect of the flight experience
Improving situation awareness of a single human operator interacting with multiple unmanned vehicles: first results
In the context of the supervision of one or several unmanned vehicles by a human operator, the design of an adapted user interface is a major challenge. Therefore, in the context of an existing experimental set up composed of a ground station and heterogeneous unmanned ground and air vehicles we aim at redesigning the human-robot interactions to improve the operator's situation awareness. We base our new design on a classical user centered approach
The Physiological User's Response as a Clue to Assess Visual Variables Effectiveness
International audienceThe paper deals with the introduction of Bertin's visual variables in an ATC context. The ranking of the efficiency of these variables has been experimentally verified by Cleveland, however, no studies highlight the physiological correlates of this ranking. We analyzed behavioral, physiological and subjective data recorded on 7 healthy subjects facing a visual comparison task witch involve 5 selected visual characterizations (angle, text, surface, framed rectangles and luminosity). Results showed that the observed accuracy was coherent with Mackinlay ranking of visual variables. Psychophysiological and subjective measurements are also discussed
Le cerveau au travail : Optimiser la Performance Humaine par la Neuroergonomie
Le volume considĂ©rable de recherches menĂ©es dans le domaine des neurosciences cognitives rĂ©vĂšle la profonde volontĂ© dâamĂ©liorer notre comprĂ©hension du comportement et de ses corrĂ©lats cĂ©rĂ©braux. Cette rĂ©volution cognitive a encouragĂ© la mise en Ćuvre dâĂ©tudes sur des questions sociĂ©tales importantes traitant de thĂšmes aussi variĂ©s que la santĂ©, les troubles psychiatriques, la maturation neuronale, les apprentissages ou encore les maladies neurodĂ©gĂ©nĂ©ratives. Aussi, et assez rĂ©cemment, la nĂ©cessitĂ© de mieux apprĂ©hender lâinteraction entre lâhumain et la technologie dans les environnements professionnels ou lors dâactivitĂ©s quotidiennes a fait Ă©merger une discipline connue sous le nom de neuroergonomie. Elle est le fruit de lâassociation des neurosciences et des facteurs humains, la combinaison de lâĂ©tude des fonctions cĂ©rĂ©brales avec celle de lâadĂ©quation entre la technologie et les capacitĂ©s humaines. Cette voie prometteuse offre la possibilitĂ© de produire des connaissances Ă la fois pour les neurosciences, en Ă©tudiant le cerveau impliquĂ© dans des activitĂ©s Ă©cologiques, et pour lâergonomie, qui peut ainsi raffermir sa pratique en prenant en compte les contraintesâinvisibles Ă lâĆil nuâdes mĂ©canismes cĂ©rĂ©braux sous-jacents Ă la cognition. Notre capacitĂ© journaliĂšre Ă accomplir correctement des tĂąches Ă©laborĂ©es, structurĂ©es et organisĂ©es dans le temps, repose bien entendu sur le bon fonctionnement de notre cerveau. Toutefois, le cerveau prĂ©sente des limites incontournables malgrĂ© son extraordinaire complexitĂ© (plusieurs milliards de neurones interconnectĂ©s). Lorsque les contraintes cognitives liĂ©es Ă la nature de ce systĂšme biologique sont connues, elles font de lâerreur humaine la consĂ©quence logique du fonctionnement normal du cerveau placĂ© dans un contexte mal adaptĂ©. En dâautres termes, lâerreur humaine devient alors un symptĂŽme des carences du systĂšme. Les facteurs humains sâintĂ©ressent depuis longtemps au processus mentaux sous-jacents aux activitĂ©s complexes. La charge mentale ou les effets du stress en sont des thĂ©matiques classiques, notamment dans le domaine des transports. Cette pratique a apportĂ© un Ă©clairage indispensable pour comprendre certains accidents. Un exemple tristement cĂ©lĂšbre dâanalyse facteurs humains des effets du stress est liĂ© Ă lâaccident ferroviaire qui sâest produit en 1988, en gare de Lyon, entre un train SNCF en provenance de Melun, et un train Ă l'arrĂȘt en partance pour Melun. Lâaccident fut trĂšs meurtrier (56 morts et 57 blessĂ©s), et le procĂšs eut un grand retentissement. Alors que tout accusait le conducteur du train, qui avait purgĂ© par erreur le systĂšme de freinage, privant ainsi la rame des sept huitiĂšmes de sa capacitĂ© Ă ralentir, lâanalyse dâun spĂ©cialiste des facteurs humains (François Danielou) mis en Ă©vidence les fameuses erreurs « latentes » qui avaient largement favorisĂ© lâaccident. Par exemple, Ă la SNCF les robinets ne correspondaient pas aux stĂ©rĂ©otypes normalisĂ©s : « âŠpeut-on imaginer un constructeur automobile qui inverserait les pĂ©dales de frein et d'accĂ©lĂ©rateur? Pendant quelques minutes, le chauffeur ferait attention. Mais il est Ă©vident qu'en situation de rĂ©flexe il appuierait Ă fond sur l'accĂ©lĂ©rateur, croyant enfoncer la pĂ©dale de frein » (voir article dans le journal LâhumanitĂ©, L'homme et la machine au procĂšs de la gare de Lyon, Samedi, 18 Septembre, 1993). Sous lâemprise dâun stress dĂ©lĂ©tĂšre, tout sâest passĂ© comme si le conducteur avait eu recours Ă sa mĂ©moire procĂ©durale, Ă des automatismes qui ont contribuĂ© Ă lâaccident, et nombreux sont ceux qui auraient commis la mĂȘme erreur. La prise en compte de lâenvironnement et du contexte de travail sur la performance humaine est Ă©galement dans les objectifs de la neuroergonomie. Sâil est dĂ©sormais systĂ©matique en aĂ©ronautique de prendre en compte les donnĂ©es des boites noires, il revient Ă la neuroergonomie de donner une visibilitĂ© sur lâautre boite noire quâest la cognition humaine. Ainsi comme nous le verrons dans ce manuscrit, les Ă©tudes menĂ©es sur les limites attentionnelles humaines montrent que notre capacitĂ© Ă percevoir des alarmes inattendues peut ĂȘtre altĂ©rĂ©e par une forte charge en mĂ©moire de travail. Grace Ă lâĂ©lectroencĂ©phalographie (EEG), nous pouvons Ă©clairer ce phĂ©nomĂšne comportemental par lâobservation directe de la rĂ©action cĂ©rĂ©brale, tĂ©moignage objectif dâune incapacitĂ© temporaire dâun lâindividu Ă traiter des stimuli se trouvant en dehors de son focus attentionnel. Cette signature cĂ©rĂ©brale, montrant nos limites attentionnelles (en fait la nature mĂȘme de notre fonctionnement cĂ©rĂ©bral), indique quâil serait bien souvent injustifiĂ© dâaccuser de nĂ©gligence des opĂ©rateurs nâayant pas rĂ©agi de façon appropriĂ©e Ă des alarmes critiques. PassionnĂ© de nouvelles technologies et dâinformatique, certainement par esprit de contradiction, jâai nĂ©anmoins choisi dans ma jeunesse de rĂ©aliser un cursus de psychologie. Pendant ces Ă©tudes menĂ©es Ă NĂźmes (universitĂ© « Vauban ») puis Ă Montpellier (universitĂ© Paul ValĂ©ry), jâai rapidement nourri un grand intĂ©rĂȘt pour les sciences cognitives qui savent intĂ©grer ingĂ©nierie informatique et description formelle de lâesprit humain. Jâai rĂ©alisĂ© ensuite un « DESS » (master 2 aujourdâhui) de facteurs humains Ă lâuniversitĂ© Jean-JaurĂšs (anciennement Mirail) de Toulouse. Ce DESS mâa donnĂ© lâopportunitĂ© de faire un passage par la sociĂ©tĂ© Intuilab (Toulouse) en tant quâergonome spĂ©cialiste des interfaces hommes machines. Au cours de cette expĂ©rience professionnelle, jâai pu apprĂ©hender lâimportance de la prise en compte de lâhumain dans le dĂ©veloppement de tout systĂšme technologique. Jâai appris aussi quâil fallait beaucoup dâhumilitĂ© et dâexpĂ©rience pour rĂ©ussir Ă mettre en pratique des connaissances acadĂ©miques dans le monde industriel. Etant dans le dĂ©partement R&D dâIntuilab, jâai vivement senti lâintĂ©rĂȘt de la recherche « fondamentale appliquĂ©e » pour faire progresser les technologies, et la volontĂ© profonde de mener des recherches en facteurs humains, tout en les enrichissant par des connaissances rĂ©centes en neurosciences, mâa conduit Ă rĂ©aliser un second master 2, cette fois ci Ă lâINSERM U825. Au cours de ce Master 2 de neuropsychologie, mon dĂ©sir de conjuguer neurosciences et facteurs humains et mon parcours original mâont menĂ© Ă positionner une ambition scientifique autour de la neuroergonomie qui sâest traduite par la premiĂšre thĂšse en France selon cette approche. Depuis cette thĂšse soutenue en 2010, avec FrĂ©dĂ©ric Dehais, nous avons dĂ©veloppĂ© notre activitĂ© non seulement au sein de lâISAE, avec un accroissement fulgurant de lâeffectif de notre Ă©quipe, mais Ă©galement Ă lâextĂ©rieur, avec une reconnaissance nationale et internationale de nos travaux, tant par les acteurs acadĂ©miques quâindustriels. Je prĂ©sente dans ce manuscrit une partie importante de mes travaux en facteurs humains et neuroergonomie de lâaviation menĂ©s depuis mon intĂ©gration Ă lâISAE en 2011. Ils sont rĂ©alisĂ©s soit en situation contrĂŽlĂ©e de laboratoire, soit en situation plus Ă©cologique comme la simulation aĂ©rienne ou le vol rĂ©el en avion lĂ©ger. Le chapitre 1 traite des effets de la charge mentale sur la performance humaine. Le chapitre 2 sâintĂ©resse aux effets de stresseurs plus Ă©motionnels. Le chapitre 3 dĂ©crit les travaux portant sur lâĂ©volution cognitive et cĂ©rĂ©brale au cours du vieillissement normal. Finalement, le chapitre 4 prĂ©sente les perspectives de recherche, portant notamment sur la recherche de solution neuroergonomiques pour optimiser la sĂ©curitĂ© et la performance humaine
Executive functions and pilot characteristics predict flight simulator performance in general aviation pilots
In general aviation, 85% of the crashes seem to be caused by pilots' errors (Li, Baker, Grabowski, & Rebok, 2001) and 46% of the crashes occur at airports (Li & Baker, 1999). It is important to determine if the same factors influence the flying performance and the landing decision making and to uncover which factors, among the pilot's cognitive status, personality traits, and experience, are the most predictive. We examined in 24 general aviation pilots the relationship between those factors and the flying performance and weather-related decision-making relevance. The cognitive assessment encompassed the three basic executive functions (Miyake et al., 2000), reasoning, and psychomotor velocity. The personal characteristics were age, flight experience, and level of impulsivity. Reasoning, updating in working memory, and flight experience were predictive of the flight performance. In addition, updating in working memory, flight experience, and level of impulsivity were linked with weather-related decision-making relevance
Intelligent cockpit: eye tracking integration to enhance the pilot-aircraft interaction
In this research, we use eye tracking to monitor the attentional behavior of pilots in the cockpit. We built a cockpit monitoring database that serves as a reference for real-time assessment of the pilotâs monitoring strategies, based on numerous flight simulator sessions with eye-tracking recordings. Eye tracking may also be employed as a passive input for assistive system, future studies will also explore the possibility to adapt the notificationsâ modality using gaze
Mitigation of Conflicts with Automation: Use of Cognitive Countermeasures
Objective: The aim of this study was to empirically assess the efficacy of cognitive countermeasures based on the technique of information removal to enhance human operator attentional disengagement abilities when facing attentional tunneling.
Background: Lessons learned from human factors studies suggest that conflict with automation leads to the degradation of operatorsâ performance by promoting excessive focusing on a single task to the detriment of the supervision of other critical parameters.
Method: An experimental setup composed of a real unmanned ground vehicle and a ground station was developed to test the efficiency of the cognitive countermeasures.The scenario (with and without countermeasure) involved an authority conflict between the participants and the robot induced by a battery failure.The effects of the conflict and, in particular, the impact of cognitive countermeasures on the participantsâ cognition and arousal were assessed through heart rate measurement and eye tracking techniques.
Results: In the control group (i.e., no countermeasure), 8 out of 12 participants experienced attentional tunneling when facing the conflict, leading them to neglect the visual alarms displayed that would have helped them to understand the evolution of the tactical situation. Participants in the countermeasure group showed lower heart rates and enhanced attentional abilities, and 10 out of 11 participants made appropriate decisions.
Conclusions: The use of cognitive countermeasures appeared to be an efficient means to mitigate excessive focus issues in the unmanned ground vehicle environment.
Applications: The principle of cognitive counter- measures can be applied to a large domain of applications involving human operators interacting with critical systems
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
Cognitive conflict in humanâautomation interactions: A psychophysiological study
The review of literature in sociology and distributed artificial intelligence reveals that the occurrence of conflict is a remarkable precursor to the disruption of multi-agent systems. The study of this concept could be applied to human factors concerns, as man-system conflict appears to provoke perseveration behavior and to degrade attentional abilities with a trend to excessive focus. Once entangled in such conflicts, the human operator will do anything to succeed in his current goal even if it jeopardizes the mission. In order to confirm these findings, an experimental setup, composed of a real unmanned ground vehicle, a ground station is developed. A scenario involving an authority conflict between the partici- pants and the robot is proposed. Analysis of the effects of the conflict on the participantsâ cognition and arousal is assessed through heart-rate measurement (reflecting stress level) and eye-tracking techniques (index of attentional focus). Our results clearly show that the occurrence of the conflict leads to perseveration behavior and can induce higher heart rate as well as excessive attentional focus. These results are discussed in terms of task commitment issues and increased arousal. Moreover, our results suggest that individual differences may predict susceptibility to perseveration behavior
Mirror neuron based alerts for control flight into terrain avoidance
Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents occur when an aircraft, under the control of the crew, is flown into terrain (or water) with no prior awareness from the part of the crew of the imminent catastrophe (Wiener, 1977). In commercial aviation, CFIT are among the deadliest accidents but the situation has continuously improved this last decade. In particular, a spectacular fall in the number of fatalities was made possible by the introduction of enhanced ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS). However, CFIT accidents remain the second leading cause of on-board fatalities and several crashes of this category involving airplanes equipped with EGPWS occurred since 2007. The human factor plays a major role in that type of disaster and studies show that visual and auditory alarms are not always taken into account. Yet, when a âPULL UPâ alert is triggered, the pilot has only a few seconds to react in order to avoid the impending CFIT. Most of the time, the procedure is quite simple: the pilot must pull full back on the stick and apply maximum thrust to gain altitude. In this study, we introduced a new type of visual alert specifically dedicated to activate the mirror neurons that appear to play a key role in both action understanding and imitation (Rizzolatti, 2004). Such motor neurons are known to fire either when a person acts or when a person observes the same action performed by another one. We hypothesized that an immediate understanding of a required behavior, displayed by a video that shows the appropriate actions to perform, will activate the mirror neurons and provoke an extremely rapid reaction from the pilots to prevent a potential collision. We designed short videos displayed in the primary flight displays in which virtual avatars explicitly performed the actions on the levers and on the stick. Three pilots completed 10 different flight scenarios during the approach phase with a full motion A320 flight simulator. In some of the scenarios, an alarm was triggered just before an imminent collision and the pilots had to immediately perform a go-around. The results showed that the videos with avatars allowed much shorter reaction times than the regular textual âPULL UPâ alerts. While the anti-collision maneuver was initiated in 7.60 s (SD = 1.83) with the regular alert, video mean reaction time was 1.27 s (SD = 0.31). This encouraging preliminary outcome opens new perspectives on mirror neuron based human machine interfaces
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