What you don't know can hurt you: factors impacting diagnosis in the automated cockpit.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the impact of operational variables on diagnosis and decision-making processes, focusing on information search.


BACKGROUND
Arguably, the "best" decision-making processes in high-technology cockpits would be those that are both correspondent (objectively accurate) and coherent (rationally sound). In the electronic world, coherence in terms of identification and incorporation of all relevant information is both a prerequisite to and a limiting factor for accurate diagnosis and decision making.


METHODS
Regional carrier pilots (N=93) responded to six scenarios by accessing information to determine a diagnosis and decision.


RESULTS
Time pressure, a common operational variable, had a strong negative effect on information search and diagnosis accuracy, and the presence of noncongruent information heightened these negative effects. Unexpectedly, source of initial information (automated or other) did not impact any of the dependent variables. Diagnosis confidence was unrelated to accuracy and was negatively related to amount of information accessed.


CONCLUSIONS
Results confirm both the need for coherence in diagnostic processes and the difficulty of maintaining it under time pressure.


CONCLUSIONS
One implication of the results of this study is that pilots in high-technology cockpits must be trained to utilize coherent diagnostic processes as standard operating procedure. Additionally, because thorough information search for diagnosis in an automated environment is essential, automated systems must be designed to foster coherent, and thus accurate, diagnostic processes.
Mosier
Kathleen L
KL
Psychology Department, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, CA 94132, USA. kmosier@sfsu.edu
Sethi
Nikita
N
McCauley
Shane
S
Khoo
Len
L
Orasanu
Judith M
JM
D000401:Aircraft / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001331:Automation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001359:Aviation / Q000193:education / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003658:Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; D004869:Equipment Safety; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D011340:Problem Solving; D012449:Safety; D013672:Technology / Q000193:education / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors; D014584:User-Computer Interface