Using Cognitive Modeling to Understand Crew Behavior

Abstract

The ACT-R cognitive architecture has been used successfully to model aviation crew performance during the descent phase of flight. This study extended that approach by simulating the duties of a pilot flying (PF) and Pilot Not Flying (PNF) in separate ACT-R models which then were run jointly across several executions. For each set of executions, level of expertise and taskload of the PF and PNF were varied. The models were further tested by implementing interruptions through Air Traffic Control (ATC) calls. The results showed that both expertise and taskload affected performance. Further, ATC interruptions produced crew miscommunication, differential situation awareness, and forgetting relevant goals.

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