Investigating Issues Of Display Content Vs. Clutter During Air-To-Ground Targeting Missions

摘要

This paper investigates competing influences of display content and clutter on pilot performance duringflight guidance and target acquisition phases of air-to-ground targeting missions. Based on interviews withF/A-18 pilots, a cognitive process model is presented to help understand how pilots use and transitionbetween internal and external sources of information to support decision-making and aircraft control.Experiments were conducted in which subjects flew targeting missions using a flight simulator connectedto the Navy’s FalconView moving-map. In one experiment, subjects referred to three versions of thedisplay: 1) a detailed map overlaid with critical mission symbology, 2) the map only, and 3) missionoverlays only. Flight guidance and target acquisition performances were best with the overlays-onlydisplay. Performance was comparable or worse with the combination display and significantly worse withthe map only, suggesting that the distraction of map clutter countered the benefits of map content.