Altitude Control Using Action-Demanding Interactive Displays: Toward an Active Psychophysics,
Abstract
Ecological approaches to perception and action emphasize the importance of exploration and manipulation for obtaining useful information. This seems to apply to the demanding task of low altitude flight. However, the ecological approach currently uses the same passive methods used in traditional psychophysics: Observers may only respond to a display in a manner which does not affect the display (e.g., yes/no or scaling judgments). Observers generally cannot manipulate the display to provide information which they -- and not the experimenter -- determine. A new methodology which both permits and demands observer action is needed for active performance. This paper outlines the beginnings of an active psychophysics and illustrates the techniques with an experiment designed to evaluate altitude holding in the presence of a gust. Initially, the techniques borrow heavily from those in manual tracking studies. The displays are a joint function of experimenter chosen initial conditions, observer control inputs, and a continuous gust disturbance. Sum-of-sines forcing functions and human operator describing functions are highlighted. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADP004311
Entities
People
- G. R. Mcmillan
- R. Warren
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory