A Comparison of Methods for Promoting Geographic Knowledge in Simulated Aircraft Navigation

Abstract

In two experiments we evaluated different techniques for flight rehearsal to develop navigational knowledge about a region. In Experiment 1 different groups of pilots studied a map of a region, actively flew an IRIS simulator through the same region, or passively viewed the same dynamic screen as flown by the active participants. The latter two groups were subdivided into those that trained with high and low levels of scene detail. All pilots then transferred to a high-image-fidelity simulation to fly the same route. The transfer results indicated no effect of scene detail and that the active group performed best, the passive group worst, and the map group at an intermediate level. In Experiment 2 the workload of training was increased, and half the participants were required to train with a north-up map. These changes degraded the transfer performance of the active training group relative to the other two. The implications of the results for workload during rehearsal flights and the kinds of geographical knowledge acquired are discussed.