Psychophysiological measures for human attention lapses during simulated aircraft operations

This study produced a range of aviation performance to which psychophysiological measures were correlated predicting performance decrements due to task overload and vigilance decrement. A high fidelity simulation of an instrument flight pattern produced multiple workload levels resulting in various levels of performance. Psychophysiological parameters including eye movements, EEG, and peripheral temperature were measured. Workload was varied and a secondary task was added to create realistic operational performance levels. Four groups of four subjects provided 64 data segments each during two, 2 hour simulation periods. Eight subjects were instrument rated and eight unrated. Eight subjects had commercial flight experience and eight had no commercial flight experience. Operationally relevant performance levels were based upon Air Traffic Control (ATC) and safety standards. Subjects' performance error was dangerous for 18 of 1024 segments and exceeded ATC standards on additional 193 segments. The Long Fixation parameter was sensitive enough to predict 83% of segments exceeding ATC performance error standards with a 15% false alarm rate.;Factors of workload, attentiveness, and cognitive processing capability affect performance; different psychophysiological parameters are needed to completely describe performance. Level of arousal reflected the "level of attention" for perception, processing, and response execution. The two best arousal parameters, Peripheral Temperature Change and Pupil Diameter Change, were the best performance predictors, these parameters reflected performance decrements related to workload and other stressors. Performance decrements associated with nominal or low workloads were not detected. Saccade Time, Dual Fixation Gate, and seven other parameters related to task type showed great promise in providing real time feedback on workload levels and the type of task on which operators are engaged.;Elements of cognitive performance were described by the Long Fixation and Short Fixation parameters. A high frequency of Long Fixations was indicative of problem solving activity. A high frequency of Short Fixations was indicative of efficient processing. However, the efficiency was not related to only to workload since subjects used large numbers of short fixations when monitoring the simulation.