'The Role of Cognitive Switching in Head-Up Displays'

摘要

The objective of the present study was to determine pilot's ability to quickly and accurately extract information from either one or both of two superimposed sources of information:(a) static, aerial, color 35-mm slides of external runway environments and (b) slides of corresponding static head-up display (HUD) symbology. They were presented by a threechannel tachistoscope for brief exposure times, by showing either the HUD alone, the scene alone, or the two slides superimposed. Cognitive performance of pilots was assessed by determining the percentage of correct answers given to two HUD-related questions, two scene related questions, or one HUD and one scene-related question. These questions could not be answered correctly unless and until the visual information had been perceived. Twelve commercial airline pilots served as subjects. An analysis of variance indicated that:(a) the presence of the HUD symbology slide did not reduce the pilot's ability to extract required information from the external scene slides, (b) the presence of the external (background) scene reduced the pilot's ability to extract information from the HUD slides by 5%, F(1,11) = 51.6, p > 0.01, and (c) paying attention to both fields simultaneously did not significantly change performance on either the HUD slides or the external scene slides.