Cognition of spatial situations

1
Cognition of spatial situations

• Moving through a populated space is a complex
  task
• Eg. Walking in a crowd
• Combines aspects of perception, memory,
  expectations, etc.
• Includes notions of mental models
• Your choices depend on your understanding of the
  space
• Your understanding of other actors in the space
  is an issue
• Eg. Is it safe to cross the road yet?
• Can I move across it?
• Are there cars coming? How fast are they moving?
• How safe does it seem?

2
History of the problem

• Pilots found it very hard
• After an uneventful patrol which lasted several
  hours, I landed and was amazed to discover from
  my squadron mates that we had been under attack
  by several enemy machines. At one stage, I had
  apparently been fired at. During the entire
  event, I had not been aware of any other
  aeroplane in the sky
• British pilots report, 1916
• After World War 2, analysis of air combat showed
  cognitive ability played a large role in flying
  ability
• 80 of all planes were shot down by 15 of pilots
• A large majority of combat aces survived the
  war
• Flying skill, gunnery were not predictors of
  combat success

3
The air picture

• The RAF identified a skill which predicted
  success
• Ability to form an air picture
• Understanding of where planes were in relation to
  self, ability to predict what the situation would
  develop into
• The USAF comes to a similar conclusion
  situational awareness (the bubble)
• Situational awareness widely studied widely by
  aviation psychologists
• Lack of it identified as a major source of air
  accidents
• Eg. Air-to-air collisions, CFIT

4
Situational awareness

• Situational Awareness is the ability to
  identify, process, and comprehend the critical
  elements of information about what is happening
  to the team with regards to the mission. More
  simply, its knowing what is going on around
  you. USCG manual
• Very similar to a mental model
• Structure for interpreting environmental
  information
• Expectations/Biases important
• Some important differences from mental models
• Predicting complex systems (not flying balls!)
• Changes continually (with situations)
• Many information sources affect it (sensory
  abstract)

5
Three levels of cognition in SA

• Endsley SA operates on three levels of cognition
  simultaneously
• Level 1 Perception from disjoint elements in
  the environment
• Lights, traffic, weather, voices
• Level 2 The mental picture of the environment
• Assimilation of level 1 elements into coherent
  complex structures
• Level 3 Ability to predict future states in
  level 1 elements
• Allows planning of future actions

6
Piloting errors due to low SA
From Endsley Garland, 2000
7
Losing the bubble

• Losing situational awareness is associated with
• Confusion (gut feeling)
• Not following established procedures
• Unresolved discrepancies in information
• Ambiguities
• Fixating on small aspects of the situation
• Notice that situational awareness is related to
  working memory
• Context for processing
• Enhances relevant stimuli processing
• Associated with wide attention

8
Example situational awareness in your car
Mirrors view of world rear/sides
Windsreen view of world to the front
Displays car status and motion state
Radio Traffic reports
Controls State of road and of control linkage
PLUS SOUNDS engine state, road surface, traffic
9
Example situational awareness in your car

• The information alone is not enough
• Integration is essential (cues must match)
• Expectation is essential
• Strong priming for attention (irrelevant stimuli
  are discounted)
• Many forms of information can be combined
• Sensory information (eyes, ears)
• Speech (passengers, radio)
• Abstract (maps, directions, street signs)

10
Accuracy of models

• The more accurate the model is, the more SA you
  will have
• SA leads to comprehension, then prediction
• Predictions will be more useful
• SA can be improved with experience or factual
  knowledge
• Unlike mental models!
• The more information, the closer the predictions
  will be to reality
• Eg models of the accelerator pedal
• Novice The more your press the faster it goes
• Expert The more you press the more engine RPM
  you get, which interacts with the gearbox to
  determine the amount of wheel torque you get,
  which interacts with road conditions to determine
  how fast you go

11
Achieving SA

• Begins with broad expectations of the situation
• Broad scan of the environment
• Experience of similar previous experiences
• Gradual integration of information
• Expectations of specific situation formed
• SA achieved
• Expectations determine which further information
  is to be processed

12
SA example flying in a storm

• Weather briefing Storms around the airport
• Calls to mind rules/dangers for the situation
• Recalls previous experiences
• Models become active
• Flight begins more information
• Weather radar, radio reports from others flying,
  traffic control warnings
• Specific expectations formed
• SA achieved
• Knows strength of storm, location of winds, clear
  areas, severity, etc
• Irrelevant information (others asking for landing
  permission) ignored

13
Losing SA

• SA can be reduced/lost by various means
• Interference/interruption
• Reduced working memory
• Narrowed attention
• Interference activates irrelevant models
• Eg. Unrelated conversation
• Reduced working memory cannot sustain SA
• Eg. Information overload, difficult task
• Narrowed attention prevent information
  assimilation
• Eg. Anxiety, Tunnel vision on a stimulus

14
Example Radio communication and SA

• Flying involves a lot of talking
• Ground controller
• Other aircraft
• A pilot can listen to many conversations at once
• Information heard affects SA
• Information load issue (how much can be ignored)
• Content issue (relevant/irrelevant)
• Radios are not passive
• Receive information, but can also ask for it
• Individual difference
• Convert speech into spatial information
• Skill varies from pilot to pilot

15
Distractors and SA

• Determining what is an SA distractor is complex
• Relevance/content
• Mode of presentation
• Amount of attention required to process
• Relevant content is less likely to be a
  distractor
• Information presented to the dominant mode will
  distract less
• Information which requires less working memory to
  process will distract less

16
Why driving and talking on the phone is dangerous

• Talking while driving is dangerous
• 4x as likely to have an accident
• In the USA, 500 000 drivers are now
  talking/driving!
• You dont have both hands on the wheel
• But the more engrossing the conversation, the
  longer the reaction time!
• Hands free kits are not the solution!
• The cell phone is a bad SA distractor
• Unrelated information
• Auditory information in a mostly visual task
• Speech requires a fair amount of attention to
  process

17
Improving SA

• Two major approaches
• Improve the information/presentation presented
  (glass cockpit)
• Train the subject to process information
• First approach is more widespread
• More reliable
• Digital technology has made it simple
• Second approach is becoming more popular
• Computers are expensive, esp. for car industry,
  private pilots

18
Example TCAS

• Some models provide instructions on how to avoid
  collision (!)

19
Presenting information
EFIS
HUD

• The HUD requires less processing (overlayed), so
  should lead to higher SA

20
Training to improve SA

• US military spend a lot of money doing this
• Study previous errors (factual knowledge)
• Teach limits of human cognition
• Task specific training (improves factual
  knowledge)
• Repetition of simulated exercises (allows natural
  development of mental models by experience)
• Simulators provide knowledge transfer
• Limited simulation can be quite helpful
• Reduces danger in early stages