The Effects of Automation on Battle Manager Workload and Performance
Abstract
This report summarizes the literature reviewed in preparation for planning and executing a series of controlled, operator-in-the-loop (OITL) experiments to determine how an air and missile defense (AMD) battle manager's performance degrades with increased workload and how automated battle management aids (ABMA) can moderate this degradation. The sources for this survey range from studies that describe the basic limits of human memory capacity to those that assess the number of battle managers needed to operate a partially automated missile defense system. The research indicates that without the assistance of automation, a battle manager's performance will degrade as the complexity of the task increases, in particular when he is tasked with attending to more than seven entities or decisions. Battle managers' performance may, however, vary considerably across experience levels and tasks. Prominent factors that affect the overall human-system performance include the battle manager's cognitive capacity and the system's level of automation. This report outlines four different stages and eight different levels at which automation can enhance system and human performance. An abundance of research indicates that while automation may decrease operator workload, it may also decrease operator activity, engagement, and attention, which could lead to a decrease in situational awareness and performance. There is no shortage of research showing how over-reliance on automation results in fatal accidents when the automated system fails.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA482741
Entities
People
- Amy Soller
- John Morrison
Organizations
- Institute for Defense Analyses