Modern Psychological Studies
Periodical Title
Modern Psychological Studies
Volume
14
Number
1
Page Numbers
pages 36-49
Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Date
2008
Abstract
Complex environments with automated systems, such as aircraft cockpits and nuclear control rooms, require critical decisions to be made about human intervention. Human monitors operating in these roles must interact with copious amounts of information. Decision support tools within integrated displays, especially alarms, aid people in monitoring these systems by capturing their attention to focus on possibly dangerous conditions. Once signaled, monitors choose whether they wish to acknowledge the alarm and search for more process status, or ignore it. This study investigates the impact of likelihood alarm technology versus traditional binary alarms on decision making accuracy and response bias in this acknowledgement phase using a two-stage Signal Detection Model. Participants performed two low-fidelity, twenty-min flight missions consisting of dual primary tasks, compensatory tracking and fuel management, and a secondary engine-monitoring task. Probability of engine malfunctions (10%, 90%) and type of alarm system (Binary vs. Likelihood) were manipulated for each participant. It was hypothesized that the probability of engine malfunctions (P), and likelihood alarm technology (LAT) would interact with decision making accuracy. Additionally, a main effect of P on decision making bias was expected. Results showed that LAT significantly increased accuracy, especially under low P conditions, but had no effect on response bias. The results of this study support prior literature's findings on the superiority of LAT over binary alarms in complex tasks characterized by high workload, translating to better monitoring performance for many practical applications.
Subject
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Document Type
article
DCMI Type
Text
Extent
14 leaves
Language
English
Call Number
BF1 .M63 v. 14 no. 1 2008
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Recommended Citation
Clark, Rylan M. and Bustamente, Ernesto A.
(2008)
"Enhancing decision making by implementing likelihood alarm technology in integrated displays,"
Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 14:
No.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol14/iss1/5
Department
Dept. of Psychology