Concurrent Monitoring for Multiple Critical Signals in a Complex Display: A Vigilance Perspective

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine the monitoring performance of operators in a complex environment requiring concurrent monitoring of multiple displays with different types of critical signals. Participants performed a manual flight task concurrently with three monitoring tasks over three separate 2-hour sessions. The monitoring tasks required operators to detect deviations in the gauge, mode, and digital readout portions of a simulated EICAS display. Results indicated that while performance on the primary flight task degraded within each session, monitoring performance remained constant. Further, intrasession monitoring performance did not degrade across trials. These findings suggest that vigilance performance for complex displays may be influenced by a number of factors including compensatory strategies related to mental effort regulation, the complexity of monitoring task demands, the duration of the monitoring session, and the nature of additional operator responsibilities.