Effects of Symbol Brightness Cueing on Attention during a Visual Search of a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information

Abstract

This study investigated visual search performance for target aircraft symbols on a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI). Of primary interest was the influence of target brightness (intensity) and highlighting validity (search directions) on the ability to detect a target aircraft among distractor aircraft. Target aircraft were distinguished by an airspace course that conflicted with Ownship (that is, the participant's aircraft). The display could present all (homogenous) bright aircraft, all (homogenous) dim aircraft, or mixed bright and dim aircraft, with the target aircraft being either bright or dim. In the mixed intensity condition, participants may or may not have been instructed whether the target aircraft was bright or dim. Results indicated that highlighting validity facilitated better detection times. However, instead of bright targets being detected faster, dim targets were found to be detected more slowly in the mixed intensity display than in the homogenous display. This relative slowness may be due to a delay in confirming the dim aircraft to be a target when it was among brighter distractor aircraft. This hypothesis will be tested in future research.