A New Protocol to Study Mind-Wandering for Air Traffic Controllers

Abstract

Abstract: Although mind-wandering decreases processing of external information, it remains understudied in air traffic controllers (ATCOs), who must constantly attend to external information. Using autobiographical memory retrieval, we propose an innovative protocol to mimic the moment when ATCOs start mind-wandering. A total of 16 participants performed an ATCO simulation task while we triggered attentional switches toward their inner world using memory probes and recorded eye movements with eye-tracking glasses and a camcorder. We successfully induced one to five spontaneous memories for half of the participants and showed the impact on response times ( Mdn = +0.74 s) to clear flight level. Preliminary results suggest that autobiographical memory could be used to identify a temporal ocular marker – particularly gaze aversion, also positively related to self-reported mind-wandering – to detect the attentional switch.