Pilots of sophisticated commercial and military jets are confronted with an array of constantly changing circumstances and highly technical equipment. A Mississippi State University psychologist wants to know how they process information, adjust to changes and determine time-critical responses.
Stephanie M. Doane, an associate professor at the university, leads a team of 18 undergraduate and graduate students in an investigation she labels "cognitive detective work."
Doane, also head of the psychology department's Skill Acquisition Laboratory, said developing a strategy to customize the complex interactions between machinery and humans is the project's ultimate goal.
A headpiece fitted with a camera, mirrors and computer interface is the latest tool her team is using to measure how a human's cognitive skills relate to learning and performance. The headpiece--actually digital eye-tracking equipment--is among the computational equipment being employed to measure human cognition and performance in complex interactive environments, such as the airplane cockpits.
The team's work is supported by a recent $179,000 grant from the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, an affiliate of the United States Department of Defense. The funding builds on more than $2 million Doane received previously from the Office of Naval Research.
Using both private and military pilots as research subjects, Doane is seeking to understand how humans process information that allows them to adapt to constantly changing circumstances. In one experiment, the research team uses digital eye tracking equipment to scan eye movements and relate them to flight performance and flight goals.
"In this project, we're trying to evaluate what is known as 'operational situation awareness,'" she explained. "When dealing with a multitude of data and variable circumstances, what are the cognitive processes that allow us to adapt?"
The research has implications for how the armed services may select and train future pilots, navigators and sonar and radar operators, among others. Another goal is to provide new measures that will help the Navy, in particular, effectively match individual skills and the demands of highly technical jobs.
Additionally, Doane is seeking to identify ways artificial intelligence can infer and respond to the needs of an individual operator. In computer terms, a human "processor" can reason in ambiguous circumstances and pull missing information together.
"But, humans also can have memory information failures," she added. "Ultimately, we want a computer to be able to infer needs."
At its most basic level, Doane's study seeks an answer to this question: Given a particular operator's background knowledge, what information or cues are needed at a given time or in a given set of circumstances to successfully complete the tasks? "Some intelligent system capabilities currently are in place in aviation and other cockpits," she said.
Such systems, she observed, might have affected the outcome of tragedies caused by pilots apparently following appropriate procedures but not accurately understanding the circumstances to which they are responding.
"Aviation is one of the most complex environments," she said. "We want to help incorporate intelligent training technology and extend pilot understanding of the environment, whether for routine or emergency situations."
RSS