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Modern Psychological Studies

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

14

Number

1

Page Numbers

pages 36-49

Department

Dept. of Psychology

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/

Included in

Psychology Commons

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