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Cognitive Load and Situation Awareness for Soldiers: Effects of Message Presentation Rate and Sensory Modality
Justin G Hollands, Tzvi Spivak1, Eric W Kramkowski2
1Defence Research and Development Canada, Toronto.
Human Factors
|February 16, 2019
Summary
Fast message presentation rates and visual displays increase soldier cognitive load and reduce situation awareness. Slower rates and auditory displays improve information processing in tactical scenarios.
Area of Science:
- Human Factors
- Military Technology
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Soldiers rely on radio for tactical communication.
- The Canadian Army is implementing a Battle Management System (BMS) for text-based communication.
- Understanding information processing in military contexts is crucial for effective command and control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how message presentation rate (MPR) and sensory modality affect soldier cognitive load.
- To evaluate the impact of different information delivery methods on situation awareness (SA).
Main Methods:
- An experiment was conducted with soldiers in a tactical scenario.
- Message presentation varied in modality (auditory vs. visual) and MPR (fast vs. slow).
- Cognitive load was measured using the Detection Response Task (DRT) and NASA-TLX; SA was assessed via situation reports.
Main Results:
- Fast MPR decreased DRT accuracy and increased response times.
- Visual presentation led to higher cognitive load and slower DRT responses compared to auditory.
- Slower MPR and auditory presentation resulted in higher SA scores.
Conclusions:
- Fast MPR and visual presentation significantly increase cognitive load.
- These factors degrade soldier situation awareness.
- The DRT is a viable tool for measuring workload in military settings; presentation method impacts information processing in BMS.
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