Impact of Auditory Interference on Automated Task Monitoring and Workload

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore the effects of auditory distraction and criticality on pilots’ flight accuracy and workload, along with attention allocation with different reliability levels on the Multi- Attribute Task Battery II (MATB-II) simulator. The MATB-II involves attending to multiple systems and correcting errors made by the automation, which will be presented at multiple levels of reliability (50%, 70%, 90%) and distractor tasks. The presence of a complex communication task before or concurrent with the main task negatively impacts accuracy of automation failure detection (Stader, 2014). It was hypothesized that reliability level, as well as the presence of an auditory distractor task would affect human monitoring performance and workload. The data indicated distraction could affect the accuracy of pilot’s multi-tasking abilities, as well as flight pattern proficiencies and workload. This information would be applicable to cockpit protocol and ensure a more efficient flight.