Modern flight and weapon platforms are becoming more and more sophisticated. New sensors and weapon systems are added, giving the operator more information to process before acting or deciding. Today, many pilots feel they reach their information processing limits during difficult missions and during difficult circumstances.
The purpose of the present study has been to measure mental workload, situational awareness and performance during specific air-to-ground missions in both simulated and real flight in order to assess operator status. Specifically to compare simulated versus real flight regarding the concepts, to analyze the relationships between physiological reactions, situational awareness, and experienced mental workload and also develop and test causal models of operator function. A second purpose of the study was to develop practically useful methods for analyzing mental workload and performance during operative conditions.
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