Situation Awareness Reacquisition in a Supervisory Control Task

Abstract

External interruptions, task switching, distractions, and multi-tasking can all affect situation awareness (SA). This study focused on how SA is reacquired after a brief task-related break. Participants controlled multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, avoiding hazards and navigating vehicles to their target destination. In the dual-task condition, participants completed a payload sub-task after engaging a vehicle for mission completion. In the single task condition, participants did not complete the additional sub-task after engaging a vehicle for mission completion. Patterns of eye fixations were found that characterized instances when SA was being reacquired (dual task) and instances when there was continuous task performance (single task). After a task break, SA was reacquired by quickly scanning a diverse group of objects that had been previously looked at. When there was no task break, participants slowly fixated on a few objects that were novel. We interpret these findings as suggesting that when SA needs to be reacquired, previous goals and plans need to be reinstated, while during normal task behavior, participants seek novel and changing events. These findings support the Memory for Goals (MFG) model and the integrated framework for maintaining and recovering SA. We discuss implications for developing process models that evaluate SA in real-time.