Citation

Bernhardt KA, Poltavski D, Petros T, Ferraro FR, Jorgenson T, Carlson C, Drechsel P, Iseminger C. Appl. Ergon. 2019; 77: 83-91.

Affiliation

Department of Aviation University of North Dakota, 4251 University Ave, Grand Forks, ND, 58202, USA. Electronic address: colt.iseminger@und.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.apergo.2019.01.008

PMID

30832781

Abstract

The current study evaluated the validity of commercially available electroencephalography (EEG) cognitive state metrics of workload and engagement in differentially experienced air traffic control (ATC) students. EEG and pupil diameter recordings were collected from 47 ATC students (27 more experienced and 20 less experienced) during a high-fidelity, variable workload approach-control scenario. Scenario workload was manipulated by increasing the number of aircraft released and the presence of a divided attention task.

RESULTS showed that scenario performance significantly degraded with increased aircraft and the presence of the divided attention task. No scenario performance differences were found between experience groups. The EEG engagement metric significantly differed between experience groups, with less experienced controllers exhibiting higher engagement than more experienced controllers. The EEG workload metric and pupil diameter were sensitive to workload manipulations but did not differentiate experience groups. Commercially available EEG cognitive state metrics may be a viable tool for enhancing ATC training.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Air traffic control; Cognitive state monitoring; Electroencephalography; Operator experience