The Influence of Dynamics, Flight Domain and Individual Flight Training & Experience on Pilot Perception of Clutter in Aviation Displays.

NAYLOR, JAMES T. The Influence of Dynamics, Flight Domain and Individual Flight Training & Experience on Pilot Perception of Clutter in Aviation Displays. (Under the direction of Dr. David Kaber). This thesis is a meta-analysis of a NASA-sponsored series of three studies conducted over three years, 2007 through 2009. The series, entitled Measures and Models of Aviation Display Clutter (MMADC), was intended to develop and test a model of flight display clutter using pilot perceptions of clutter based on multiple relevant dimensions. Year 1 (Y1) presented the pilots with static flight images from which to make their clutter assessments. Year 2 (Y2) employed a high-fidelity flight simulator, and Year 3 (Y3) was conducted using a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) flight simulator. This thesis used statistical analysis of data gathered over the three studies to assess the effect of dynamics and vehicle-type on pilot perceptions of display clutter. This was accomplished through a comparative analysis of data from Years 1 and 2 and Years 2 and 3, respectively. Additionally, this thesis study used statistical analysis of Y3 data (the only year in which the author participated directly) to draw inferences about the effect of pilot-specific training and flight experience on flight task performance and clutter perceptions. The primary finding regarding the effect of dynamics on perceived clutter was that tasks conducted under dynamic display conditions generated lower clutter ratings, primarily attributed to the temporal context provided by dynamic displays. Primary findings from the Y2/Y3 analysis on domain (vehicle type) indicated that the pilots used primary flight cues differently between years and that an increased level of difficulty in the Y3 flight task increased pilot sensitivity to display clutter. The most significant finding among demographic factors assessed in the Y3 study was that pilots with military attack aircraft flight training and experience performed better statistically in the experimental flight tasks and produced higher clutter ratings. This combination was interpreted to indicate that pilots trained with highly complex flight displays and flight domains were more quickly able to accommodate the experimental display conditions and the unfamiliar flight environment. (The Y3 study used fixed-wing pilots as the subjects in the VTOL flight simulator.) It also indicates that the attack pilots were more discriminating in terms of which display features they found useful for the given task and which they did not. Another conclusion reached in this thesis is that goal states associated with specific flight tasks and approach segments directly impacted where the pilot was looking on the flight displays. This directly affected clutter perception in that local salience, contrast and occlusion specific to information features being actively used in the flight task drove clutter assessments. It was also determined that few training or experience factors had any significant impact on flight performance or clutter assessments. This finding indicates that ergonomic display design will prove generally more effective than a training intervention in mitigating the effects of display clutter on pilot performance and mental workload. The Influence of Dynamics, Flight Domain and Individual Flight Training & Experience on Pilot Perception of Clutter in Aviation Displays by James Theodore Naylor A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Industrial Engineering Raleigh, North Carolina 2010