Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026

High-definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation over Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex to Enhance Metacognitive Sensitivity
Published on: September 26, 2025
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
Objective:
Effects of four types of automation support and two levels of automation reliability were examined. The objective was to examine the differential impact of information and decision automation and to investigate the costs of automation unreliability.
Background:
Research has shown that imperfect automation can lead to differential effects of stages and levels of automation on human performance.
Method:
Eighteen participants performed a "sensor to shooter" targeting simulation of command and control. Dependent variables included accuracy and response time of target engagement decisions, secondary task performance, and subjective ratings of mental work-load, trust, and self-confidence.
Results:
Compared with manual performance, reliable automation significantly reduced decision times. Unreliable automation led to greater cost in decision-making accuracy under the higher automation reliability condition for three different forms of decision automation relative to information automation. At low automation reliability, however, there was a cost in performance for both information and decision automation.
Conclusion:
The results are consistent with a model of human-automation interaction that requires evaluation of the different stages of information processing to which automation support can be applied.
Application:
If fully reliable decision automation cannot be guaranteed, designers should provide users with information automation support or other tools that allow for inspection and analysis of raw data.
Related Concept Videos
Decision Making
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...
Control Systems
At the heart...
Decision Making: Traditional Method
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is decided based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to this claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses, out of which a null hypothesis would be a...
Stereotype Content Model
Controller Configurations
Control-system compensation involves various configurations, most commonly series or cascade compensation, in which the controller aligns...
Open and closed-loop control systems
An open-loop control system operates without feedback from the output. It consists of two primary elements: the controller and the controlled process. The controller receives an input signal and...

