Pilot Performance: Assessing How Scan Patterns & Navigational Assessments Vary by Flight Expertise
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Authors
Yang, Ji Hyun
Kennedy, Quinn
Sullivan, Joseph
Fricker, Ronald D. Jr.
Subjects
expertise
scan strategy
cognition
subjective assessment
scan strategy
cognition
subjective assessment
Advisors
Date of Issue
2013-02
Date
Publisher
Language
Abstract
Introduction: Helicopter overland navigation is a cognitively complex
task that requires continuous monitoring of system and environmental
parameters and many hours of training to master. This study investigated
the effect of expertise on pilots ’ gaze measurements, navigation accuracy,
and subjective assessment of their navigation accuracy in overland
navigation on easy and diffi cult routes. Methods: A simulated overland
task was completed by 12 military offi cers who ranged in fl ight experience
as measured by total fl ight hours (TFH). They fi rst studied a map of
a route that included both easy and diffi cult route sections, and then had
to ‘ fl y ’ this simulated route in a fi xed-base helicopter simulator. They
also completed pre-task estimations and post-task assessments of the
navigational diffi culty of the transit to each waypoint in the route. Their
scan pattern was tracked via eye tracking systems, which captured both
the subject ’ s out-the-window (OTW) and topographical map scan data.
Results: TFH was not associated with navigation accuracy or root mean
square (RMS) error for any route section. For the easy routes, experts
spent less time scanning out the window ( r 5 2 0.61) and had shorter
OTW dwell ( r 5 2 0.66). For the diffi cult routes, experts appeared to
slow down their scan by spending as much time scanning out the window
as the novices while also having fewer Map fi xations ( r 5 2 0.65)
and shorter OTW dwell ( r 5 2 0.69). However, TFH was not signi fi cantly
correlated with more accurate estimates of route diffi culty. Discussion:
This study found that TFH did not predict navigation accuracy or subjective
assessment, but was correlated with some gaze parameters.
Type
Article
Description
The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.3357/ASEM.3372.2013
Series/Report No
Department
Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation Institute (MOVES)
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Citation
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 84, No. 2, February 2013
Distribution Statement
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.