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Effects of imperfect automation on decision making in a simulated command and control task
Ericka Rovira1, Kathleen McGarry, Raja Parasuraman
1The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., USA. Ericka.Rovira@usma.edu
Human Factors
|February 24, 2007
Summary
Unreliable automation can negatively impact decision-making accuracy, especially with decision automation. Designers should prioritize information automation or raw data analysis tools when full reliability is uncertain.
Area of Science:
- Human-computer interaction
- Cognitive systems engineering
- Automation science
Background:
- Imperfect automation can yield varied effects on human performance based on automation stage and level.
- Understanding human-automation interaction is critical for optimizing system design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the differential impacts of information and decision automation.
- To quantify the performance costs associated with automation unreliability.
Main Methods:
- Eighteen participants engaged in a command and control targeting simulation.
- Evaluated accuracy, response time, secondary task performance, and subjective workload, trust, and confidence.
Main Results:
- Reliable automation improved decision speed compared to manual performance.
- Unreliable decision automation incurred accuracy costs, particularly at higher reliability levels.
- Low reliability automation negatively impacted performance for both information and decision automation types.
Conclusions:
- Human-automation interaction models should consider automation's impact across different information processing stages.
- When decision automation reliability is not guaranteed, information automation or raw data analysis tools are recommended.
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