Christopher D. Wickens - Böcker

Workload transition is a potentially crucial problem in work situations wherein operators are faced with abrupt changes in task demands. People involved include military combat personnel, air-traffic controllers, medical personnel in emergency rooms, and long-distance drivers. They must be able to respond efficiently to sudden increases in workload imposed by a failure, crisis, or other, often unexpected, event. This book provides a systematic evaluation of workload transition. It focuses on a broad spectrum of activities ranging from team cooperation to the maintenance of this problem on a theoretical level and offers several practical solutions.

Despite the strong safety record of the national airspace system, serious disruptions occasionally occur, often as a result of outdated or failed equipment. Under these circumstances, safety relies on the skills of the controllers and pilots and on reducing the number of aircraft in the air. The current and growing pressures to increase the capacity to handle a greater number of flights has led to a call for faster and more powerful equipment and for equipment that can take over some of the tasks now being performed by humans. Increasing the role of automation in air traffic control may provide a more efficient system, but will human controllers be able to effectively take over when problems occur? This comprehensive volume provides a baseline of knowledge about the capabilities and limitations of humans relative to the variety of functions performed in air traffic control. It focuses on balancing safety with the expeditious flow of air traffic, identifying lessons from past air accidents. The book discusses * The function of the national airspace system and the procedures for hiring, training, and evaluating controllers.* Decisionmaking, memory, alertness, vigilance, sleep patterns during shift work, communication, and other factors in controllers' performance. * Research on automation and human factors in air traffic control and incorporation of findings into the system. * The Federal Aviation Administration's management of the air traffic control system and its dual mandate to promote safety and the development of air commerce. This book also offers recommendations for evaluation the human role in automated air traffic control systems and for managing the introduction of automation into current facilities and operations. It will be of interest to anyone concerned about air safety--policymakers, regulators, air traffic managers and controllers, airline officials, and passenger advocates.

Automation in air traffic control may increase efficiency, but it also raises questions about adequate human control over automated systems. Following on the panel's first volume on air traffic control automation, Flight to the Future (NRC, 1997), this book focuses on the interaction of pilots and air traffic controllers, with a growing network of automated functions in the airspace system. The panel offers recommendations for development of human-centered automation, addressing key areas such as providing levels of automation that are appropriate to levels of risk, examining procedures for recovery from emergencies, free flight versus ground-based authority, and more. The book explores ways in which technology can build on human strengths and compensate for human vulnerabilities, minimizing both mistrust of automation and complacency about its abilities.The panel presents an overview of emerging technologies and trends toward automation within the national airspace system--in areas such as global positioning and other aspects of surveillance, flight information provided to pilots an controllers, collision avoidance, strategic long-term planning, and systems for training and maintenance. The book examines how to achieve better integration of research and development, including the importance of user involvement in air traffic control. It also discusses how to harmonize the wide range of functions in the national airspace system, with a detailed review of the free flight initiative.

Applied Attention Theory, Second Edition provides details concerning the relevance of all aspects of attention to the world beyond the laboratory. Topic application areas include the design of warning systems to capture attention; attention distractions in the workplace; failures of dividing attention while driving; and the measurement of mental workload while flying.This new edition discusses the implications of VR and AR for human attention. It also covers the treatment of attention-based pedagogical methods used to enhance learning and presents attentional issues in interacting with automation and AI. New chapters include applications of attention to healthcare, education pedagogy, highway safety, and human interaction with autonomous vehicles and other AI systems.The readership for this book is the professional, the researcher, and the student.

Applied Attention Theory, Second Edition provides details concerning the relevance of all aspects of attention to the world beyond the laboratory. Topic application areas include the design of warning systems to capture attention; attention distractions in the workplace; failures of dividing attention while driving; and the measurement of mental workload while flying.This new edition discusses the implications of VR and AR for human attention. It also covers the treatment of attention-based pedagogical methods used to enhance learning and presents attentional issues in interacting with automation and AI. New chapters include applications of attention to healthcare, education pedagogy, highway safety, and human interaction with autonomous vehicles and other AI systems.The readership for this book is the professional, the researcher, and the student.