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Rough Auditory Alarms Mitigate Inattentional Deafness During Piloting-Like Task
Florine Riedinger1,2, Clara Suied3, Ronan Keane1
1Fédération ENAC ISAE-SUPAERO ONERA, Université de Toulouse, France.
Human Factors
|March 13, 2026
Summary
Rough auditory alarms improve pilot attention and detection during high mental workload, preventing inattentional deafness. These alarms enhance salience and urgency without impacting primary task performance, boosting aviation safety.
Area of Science:
- Human Factors
- Auditory Perception
- Aviation Psychology
Background:
- Pilots under high mental workload may experience inattentional deafness, missing critical auditory warnings due to prefrontal cortex inhibition of the auditory cortex.
- Auditory processing shifts from gamma to alpha frequencies under stress, impairing sound detection.
- Auditory roughness, a feature of natural alarms (30-150 Hz amplitude modulation), may capture attention at early perceptual stages and sustain detection under cognitive load.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of rough auditory alarms in capturing attention during a piloting simulation task.
- To determine if auditory roughness can mitigate inattentional deafness in high mental workload scenarios.
- To assess the impact of rough alarms on primary task performance and subjective workload.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-seven participants performed a dual-task protocol involving the Multi-Attribute Task Battery and an auditory oddball task with rough and non-rough targets.
- Participants provided subjective ratings of target sounds and perceived workload.
- Objective measures included hit rates, false alarm rates, reaction times, and primary task performance.
Main Results:
- Rough auditory targets were detected more efficiently, showing higher hit rates without compromising false alarm rates, reaction times, or primary task performance.
- Participants perceived rough alarms as more urgent, unpleasant, and salient.
- While overall workload remained unchanged, the rough alarm condition was associated with lower frustration and mental demand, and higher performance.
Conclusions:
- Rough auditory alarms show promise in enhancing detection and preventing inattentional deafness in cognitively demanding situations.
- Roughness increases the salience and perceived urgency of auditory warnings, aligning with effective alarm design.
- Integrating rough auditory warnings into cockpits can improve aviation safety by enhancing alarm detection under stress.
