Disruptions, Interruptions and Information Attack: Impact on Situation Awareness and Decision Making

Abstract

This paper presents a model of depicting the ways in which disruptions, interruptions and information attack can effect situation awareness and decision making in a variety of contexts. Those effected in military aviation include not just those in the cockpit, but also forward air controllers, ground based air traffic controllers and those in intelligence and support functions. The model incorporates the ways in which information attacks can effectively disrupt human decision making at various points in information processing. By carefully examining not just what cues might depict an attack to information systems, but also how human observers will be effected by such cues, more robust systems for protecting against disruptions and information attack can be developed.