Congruent and Spurious Motion in the Learning and Performance of a Compensatory Tracking Task

Abstract

The importance of congruent and spurious yaw motion in compensatory tracking by eight airline pilots was examined. The pilots, seated erect in the Ames Man-Carrying Rotation Device (MCRD), tracked with k/s+1 and k/s(s+1) vehicle dynamics in fixed- and moving-base simulation. Following the learning phase of the experiment, five levels of spurious angular acceleration were superimposed on the motion of the MCRD. Learning of the tracking task was found to be a function of both vehicle dynamics and mode of simulation. The presence of congruent motion information reduced learning time in k/s(s+1) vehicle dynamics and resulted in lower tracking error in both vehicle dynamics. The spurious angular accelerations resulted in an increase in pilot tracking error; however, the relationship between the magnitude of the acceleration and its effect was highly complex. The data suggest that the minimal disturbance level for spurious angular accelerations during tracking is below 0.4°/sec.2.