Bringing the Automation-Related Complacency Scale into the 21 st Century

Abstract

Complacency potential is an important measure to avoid performance error, such as neglecting to detect a system failure. This study updates and expands upon Singh, Molloy, and Parasuraman’s 1993 Complacency-Potential Rating Scale (CPRS). We updated and expanded the CPRS questions to include technology commonly used today and how frequently the technology is used. The goal of our study was to update the scale, analyze for factor shifts and internal consistency, and to explore correlations between the individual values for each factor and the frequency of use questions. We hypothesized that the factors would not shift from the original and the revised CPRS’s four subscales. Our research found that the revised CPRS consisted of only three subscales with the following Cronbach’s Alpha values: Confidence: 0.599, Safety/Reliability: 0.534, and Trust: 0.201. Correlations between the subscales and the revised complacency-potential and the frequency of use questions are also discussed.