Operator versus computer control of adaptive automation

Abstract

Adaptive automation refers to real-time allocation of functions between the human operator and automated subsystems. The article reports the results of a series of experiments whose aim is to examine the effects of adaptive automation on operator performance during multi-task flight simulation, and to provide an empirical basis for evaluations of different forms of adaptive logic. The combined results of these studies suggest several things. First, it appears that either excessively long, or excessively short, adaptation cycles can limit the effectiveness of adaptive automation in enhancing operator performance of both primary flight and monitoring tasks. Second, occasional brief reversions to manual control can counter some of the monitoring inefficiency typically associated with long cycle automation, and further, that benefits of such reversions can be sustained for some time after return to automated control. Third, no evidence was found that the benefits of such reversions depend on the adaptive logic by which long-cycle adaptive switches are triggered.