Psychophysiological responses to changes in workload during simulated air traffic control

Area of Science:

• Human Factors
• Cognitive Psychology
• Aerospace Engineering

Background:

• Air traffic control (ATC) is a complex, high-workload environment.
• Understanding controller workload is crucial for aviation safety and efficiency.
• Existing research often lacks comprehensive workload assessment tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the TRACON simulation in assessing air traffic controller workload.
• To investigate the impact of traffic volume and complexity on controller workload.
• To determine the sensitivity of various performance, subjective, and physiological measures to workload changes.

Main Methods:

• Eight Air Force air traffic controllers (ATCs) participated in the study.
• Participants performed tasks in the TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) simulation.
• Workload was assessed using performance metrics, the NASA Task Load Index (TLX), and physiological measures (EEG, eye blink, heart rate, respiration, saccade).

Main Results:

• Difficulty level significantly affected TRACON performance, TLX scores, eye blink rate, respiration, and EEG.
• Traffic complexity, specifically flight ratios and aircraft types, influenced EEG measures.
• Physiological and performance measures demonstrated differential sensitivity to workload manipulations.

Conclusions:

• The TRACON simulation is a valuable tool for studying air traffic controller workload.
• Traffic complexity is a critical factor influencing ATC workload.
• Multiple workload assessment measures are sensitive to changes in task demands in complex environments.