Trust and reliance on an automated combat identification system.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the effects of aid reliability and reliability disclosure on human trust in and reliance on a combat identification (CID) aid. We tested whether trust acts as a mediating factor between belief in and reliance on a CID aid.


BACKGROUND
Individual CID systems have been developed to reduce friendly fire incidents. However, these systems cannot positively identify a target that does not have a working transponder. Therefore, when the feedback is "unknown", the target could be hostile, neutral, or friendly. Soldiers have difficulty relying on this type of imperfect automation appropriately.


METHODS
In manual and aided conditions, 24 participants completed a simulated CID task. The reliability of the aid varied within participants, half of whom were told the aid reliability level. We used the difference in response bias values across conditions to measure automation reliance.


RESULTS
Response bias varied more appropriately with the aid reliability level when it was disclosed than when not. Trust in aid feedback correlated with belief in aid reliability and reliance on aid feedback; however, belief was not correlated with reliance.


CONCLUSIONS
To engender appropriate reliance on CID systems, users should be made aware of system reliability.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings can be applied to the design of information displays for individual CID systems and soldier training.
Wang
Lu
L
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Jamieson
Greg A
GA
Hollands
Justin G
JG
D003198:Computer Simulation; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D006801:Humans; D008328:Man-Machine Systems; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D035502:Trust; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014857:Warfare