Examining the Relationship Between Mental Workload and Situation Awareness in a Simulated Air Combat Task

摘要

Seven pilots participated in an experiment designed to assess the relationship between mental workload and situation awareness. Participants flew simulated air intercepts against four bombers supported by two fighters. The experiment contrasted two cockpit designs. The conventional cockpit used traditional independent gauges for flight and tactical information. The virtually augmented candidate cockpit used advanced interface concepts. The task scenario consisted of four mission phases that were designed to influence pilot mental workload and situation awareness. An inverse relationship was observed between mental workload and situation awareness as influenced by cockpit design and phase of mission. This shows the importance of assessing both mental workload and situation awareness when assessing system effectiveness.