Analysis of Navigator Decision Making through Cognitive Science for the Presentation of a Collision-Avoidance Algorithm for MASSs

Abstract

The study of navigator behavior is important for the study of MASSs. This study analyzed navigator behavior through cognitive science, and it modeled the navigator decision-making process. Usually, the assessment of the collision risk for long-distance target ships is conducted through the distance (DCPA) and time (TCPA) to the closest point of approach. The navigator’s decision-making process is carried out quantitatively based on numerical values. Although the angle of the rudder is presented as a numerical value (i.e., 5°, 10°, 15°, and so on), it is expected that the navigator’s use of the rudder will depend on the conventional method rather than the quantitative one. Therefore, a scenario was constructed, and a simulation test was carried out through a ship-handling simulator. Our results confirmed that the rudder was used according to the conventional method. Moreover, the navigator decision-making process was analyzed through cognitive science. Cognitive science has revealed that human judgment is not logical, and that all decision making relies on memory. We identified the type of memory that affects the decision making of navigators: the DCPA and navigators’ decision-making-criteria values were mainly formed by episodic memory. A decision-making model for the relationship between the navigator’s episodic memory and the value of the DCPA was subsequently developed. This study took a scientific approach to analyze the process of the decision making of navigators, and an engineering approach to construct a decision-making model for application in MASSs.