Citation

Byrne EA. Transp. Hum. Fact. 2000; 2(2): 127-130.

Affiliation

National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC, USA

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1207/STHF0202_02

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The experiments reported by Wickens, Gempler, and Morphew (2000), address two critical issues associated with the use of cockpit displays of traffic information. These are the workload associated with the use of predictor displays and the effects of varying predictor reliability. Experiment 1 demonstrated that reliable predictive information supported conflict avoidance maneuvers while reducing mental workload. Experiment 2 examined the effect of erroneous predictive information on the allocation of attention between and dependence upon elements of the display. The results are succinctly presented and the findings provide valuable insight into the costs and benefits that may accompany the use of predictive traffic information displays in aviation. I first comment briefly on some specific aspects of the study including the (a) traffic density, (b) conflict frequency, (c) secondary task, (d) navigation demands, and (e) statistics. I conclude by addressing some general issues.