Effects of automation reliability on error detection and attention to auditory stimuli in a multi-tasking environment

Automated aids are engineered to support operators' decision-making in complex and task-saturated environments, alerting them of system status and critical incidents. However, even the most advanced technologies are susceptible to failure. Monitoring imperfect automated systems poses unique challenges related to operator attention and workload. This study empirically examined the effect of unreliable automation on monitoring performance and responses to auditory stimuli in a multi-tasking environment. Participants completed an experimental trial consisting of four flight-related tasks while monitoring for automation failures at one of three levels of automation reliability. Participants in a high reliability condition responded more quickly and frequently to auditory messages. No performance differences were found in system monitoring performance between reliability conditions. These results are relevant to the design of automated system and delivery of automated alerts, and they have implications for operator attention allocation strategies in multi-tasking environments.