Citation

Dekker SWA. Transp. Hum. Fact. 2000; 2(1): 49-62.

Affiliation

Centre for Human Factors in Aviation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Linkoping Institute of Technology

Copyright

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

DOI

10.1207/STHF0201_7

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article I discuss research tactics that can gain empirical access to crew situation awareness in high-tech settings, that is, in settings where multiple crew members have to coordinate their activities with those of an automated system in the pursuit of operational goals. Although deemed an important ingredient for safe and efficient operations, crew-or joint-situation awareness remains ill defined, and results regarding its demonstration or manipulation are often unverifiable and inconclusive. In this article I define the problem of crew situation awareness as it occurs in 2-crew automated cockpits and reinterprets a typical case study of crew situation awareness in light of this definition. The remainder of the article is a methodological contribution that reviews a selection of converging or complementary tactics (both field observations and various forms of simulator studies) that can gain empirical access to crew situation awareness and discusses the trade-offs these tactics represent in terms of experimental validity and reliability.