Abstract
The current study investigates individual differences that predict situation awareness (SA) in professional pilots. The aim of the study is twofold: to examine the roles of divided attention, inhibition, working memory, and expertise in predicting SA, and to demonstrate the relative contributions of these individual differences to online (Situation Awareness Present Method, SPAM) and offline (Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique, SAGAT) SA measures. Thirty-six professional pilots completed a challenging flight scenario in a full-flight simulator. Divided attention, inhibition, working memory span, and expertise were measured using choice reaction time with dichotic listening, Stroop, and Automated Operation Span tasks, and flight hours in a full-flight simulator, respectively. Results indicated that offline and online SA measure were not correlated, supporting their concurrent use to obtain a comprehensive measure of SA. Offline SA scores were best predicted by working memory and level of expertise, while online SA scores were predicted by expertise, divided attention and inhibition. Results are discussed focusing on both theoretical contributions for defining and measuring SA and applications. Findings have implications for operators of critical domains and their interactions with automated systems, in which SA is crucial for performance and safety.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bolstad CA (2001) Situation awareness: does it change with age? Proc Hum Factors Ergon Soc Annu Meet 45(4):272–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/154193120104500401
Brewin CR, Beaton A (2002) Thought suppression, intelligence, and working memory capacity. Behav Res Ther 40:923–930. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00127-9
Cak S (2011) Effects of working memory, attention, and expertise on pilots’ situation awareness (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). Middle East Technical University, Ankara. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613464/index.pdf
Carretta TS, Perry DC Jr, Ree MJ (1996) Prediction of situational awareness in F-15 pilots. Int J Aviat Psychol 6(1):21–41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327108ijap0601_2
Chiappe DL, Strybel TZ, Vu KPL (2015) A situated approach to the understanding of dynamic situations. J Cogn Eng Decis Making 9(1):33–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555343414559053
Clark A, Chalmers DJ (1998) The extended mind. Analysis 58:10–23. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/58.1.7
Conway AR, Cowan N, Bunting MF (2001) The cocktail party phenomenon revisited: The importance of working memory capacity. Psychon Bull Rev 8(2):331–335. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03196169
Dekker SWA (2015) The danger of losing situation awareness. Cogn Technol Work 17:159–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-015-0320-8
Durso FT, Dattel AR (2004) SPAM: The real-time assessment of SA. In Banbury S, Tremblay S (eds) A cognitive approach to situation awareness: theory and application. Ashgate, Aldershot, pp 137–154. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315263977
Durso FT, Truitt TR, Hackworth CA, Crutchfield JM, Nikolic D, Moertl PM, Ohrt D, Manning CA (1995) Expertise and chess: a pilot study comparing situation awareness methodologies. In: Garland DJ, Endsley MR (eds) Experimental analysis and measurement of situation awareness. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Press, Daytona Beach, pp 295–303
Durso FT, Truitt TR, Hackworth C, Crutchfield J, Manning CA (1998) En route operational errors and situation awareness. Int J Aviat Psychol 8:177–194. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327108ijap0802_6
Durso FT, Bleckley MK, Dattel AR (2006) Does situation awareness add to the validity of cognitive tests? Hum Factors 48(4):721–733. https://doi.org/10.1518/001872006779166316
Endsley MR (1995a) A taxonomy of situation awareness errors. In: Fuller R, Johnston N, McDonald N (eds) Human factors in aviation operations. Avebury Aviation, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, Aldershot, pp 287–292
Endsley MR (1995b) Measurement of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Hum Factors 37(1):65–84. https://doi.org/10.1518/001872095779049499
Endsley MR (1995c) Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Hum Factors 37(1):32–64. https://doi.org/10.1518/001872095779049543
Endsley MR (1999) Situation awareness in aviation systems. In: Garland DJ, Wise JA, Hopkin VD (eds) Human factors in aviation systems. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 257–276
Endsley MR (2000) Theoretical underpinnings of situation awareness: a critical review. In: Endsley MR, Garland DJ (eds) Situation awareness: analysis and measurement. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 3–32
Endsley MR (2006) Expertise and situation awareness. In: Ericsson KA, Charness N, Feltovich PJ, Hoffman RR (eds) The Cambridge handbook of expertise and expert performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 636–651. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511816796.036
Endsley MR (2015) Situation awareness misconceptions and misunderstandings. J Cogn Eng Decis Making 9(1):4–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555343415572631
Endsley MR, Bolstad CA (1994) Individual differences in pilot situation awareness. Int J Aviat Psychol 4(3):241–264. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327108ijap0403_3
Engle RW, Tuholski SW, Laughlin JE, Conway AR (1999) Working memory, short-term memory, general fluid intelligence: a latent variable approach. J Exp Psychol Gen 128:309–331
Ericsson KA, Delaney PF (1999) Long-term working memory as an alternative to capacity models of working memory in everyday skilled performance. In: Miyake A, Shah P (eds) Models of working memory: mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 257–297
Ericsson KA, Kintsch W (1995) Long-term working memory. Psychol Rev 102:211–245
Fracker ML (1988) A theory of situation assessment: implications for measuring situation awareness. In: Proceedings of the human factors society 32nd annual meeting. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Santa Monica, pp 102–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/154193128803200222
Friedman NP, Miyake A (2004) The relations among inhibition and interference control functions: a latent-variable analysis. J Exp Psychol 133(1):101–135. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.133.1.101
Gonzales C, Wimisberg J (2007) Situation awareness in dynamic decision making: Effects of practice and working memory. J Cogn Eng Decis Making 1(1):56–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/155534340700100103
Gugerty L (2011) Situation awareness in driving. In: Fisher DL, Rizzo M, Caird MK, Lee JD (eds) Handbook of driving simulation for engineering, medicine and psychology. CRC Press/Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, pp 265–272. https://doi.org/10.1201/b10836-20
Gutzwiller RS, Clegg BA (2013) The role of working memory in levels of situation awareness. J Cogn Eng Decis Making 7(2):141–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555343412451749
Hart S, Battiste V, Lester PT (1984) Popcorn: a supervisory control simulation for workload and performance research. In: Proceedings of the twentieth annual conference of manual control. NASA, Washington DC, pp 431–453
Horswill MS, McKenna FP (2004) Driver’s hazard perception ability: situation awareness in the road. In Banbury S, Tremblay S (eds) A cognitive approach to situation awareness: theory and application. Ashgate, Aldershot, pp 155–175
Hutchins E (1995) Cognition in the wild. MIT Press, Cambridge
Jipp M, Ackerman PL (2016) The impact of higher levels of automation on performance and situation awareness. J Cogn Eng Decis Making 10(2):138–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555343416637517
Johannsdottir KR (2004) Situation awareness and working memory: an integration of an applied concept with a cognitive fundamental process (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Carleton University, Canada
Johannsdottir KR, Herdman CM (2010) The role of working memory in supporting drivers’ situation awareness for surrounding traffic. Hum Factors 52(6):663–673. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018720810385427
Jones DG, Endsley MR (1996) Sources of situation awareness errors in aviation. Aviat Space Environ Med 67(6):507–512
Kane MJ, Engle RW (2003) Working memory capacity and the control of attention: The contributions of goal neglect, response competition, and task set to Stroop interference. J Exp Psychol Gen 132:47–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.132.1.47
Kharoufah H, Murray J, Baxter G, Wild G (2018) A review of human factors causations in commercial air transport accidents and incidents: from to 2000–2016. Prog Aerosp Sci 99:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paerosci.2018.03.002
Loft S, Bowden V, Braithwaite J, Morrell DB, Huf S, Durso FT (2015) Situation awareness measures for simulated submarine track management. Hum Factors 57(2):298–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018720814545515
MacLeod CM (1991) Half a century of research on the Stroop effect: an integrative review. Psychol Bull 109(2):163–203. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.109.2.163
Miller M, Holley S (2018) Beyond 2020 NextGen compliance: human factors and cognitive loading issues for commercial and general aviation pilots. Adv Intell Syst Comput. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94866-9_1
Pritchett A (2015) Preface to the JCEDM special issue on situation awareness. J Cogn Eng Decis Making 9(1):3. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555343415572807
Rodgers MD, Mogford RH, Strauch B (2000) Post hoc assessment of situation awareness in air traffic control incidents and major aircraft accidents. In Endsley M, Garland D (eds) Situation awareness analysis and measurement. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 73–112
Salmon PM, Walker GH, Stanton NA (2015) Broken components versus broken systems: why it is systems not people that lose situation awareness. Cogn Technol Work 17:179–183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-015-0324-4
Sarter NB, Woods DD (1991) Situation awareness: a critical but ill-defined phenomenon. Int J Aviat Psychol 1:45–57. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327108ijap0101_4
Shipstead Z, Broadway JM (2013) Individual differences in working memory capacity and the Stroop effect: do high spans block the words? Learn Individ Differ 26:191–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.04.003
Sneddon A, Mearns K, Flin R (2006) Situation awareness and safety in offshore drill crews. Cogn Technol Work 8(4):255–267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-006-0040-1
Sohn YW, Doane SM (2004) Memory processes of flight situation awareness: interactive roles of working memory capacity, long-term working memory, and expertise. Hum Factors 46(3):461–475. https://doi.org/10.1518/hfes.46.3.461.5039
Stanton NA, Salmon PM, Walker GH (2015) Let the reader decide: a paradigm shift for situation awareness in sociotechnical systems. Journal of Cognitive Engineering Decision Making 9:44–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555343414552297
Sulistayawati K, Wickens CD, Chui YP (2011) Prediction in situation awareness: Confidence bias and underlying cognitive abilities. Int J Aviat Psychol 21(2):153–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508414.2011.556492
Unsworth N, Schrock JC, Engle RW (2004) Working memory capacity and the anti-saccade task: Individual differences in voluntary saccade control. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 30:1302–1321. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.30.6.1302
Unsworth N, Heitz RP, Schrock JC, Engle RW (2005) An automated version of operation span task. Behav Res Methods 37:498–505. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03192720
Vanderhaegen F, Carsten O (2017) Can dissonance engineering improve risk analysis of human–machine systems? Cogn Technol Work 19(1):1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-017-0405-7
Acknowledgements
This study is based on research conducted as part of the Serkan Cak’s Ph.D. carried out in the Cognitive Science Department of the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey. We would like to thank the Thesis Committee Members for their helpful comments during the study.
Funding
This work was partially funded by the Middle East Technical University, Informatics Institute, Turkey (Project no: BAP-07.04.2009.06) and by the Middle East Technical University Modeling and Simulation R&D Center (Project no: BAP-08-11-2010-R-08).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
This research complies with the American Psychological Association Code of Ethics and was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Middle East Technical University.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cak, S., Say, B. & Misirlisoy, M. Effects of working memory, attention, and expertise on pilots’ situation awareness. Cogn Tech Work 22, 85–94 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-019-00551-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-019-00551-w