Short description:

Based on the research activities of the six-year NASA human performance modeling project, Human Performance Modeling in Aviation provides an in-depth look at cognitive modeling of human operators for aviation problems. This book presents specific solutions to aviation safety problems and explores methods for integrating human performance modeling into the aviation design process. The text compares the application of five different models to two classes of aviation problems: pilot navigation errors during airport taxi operations and approach and landing performance with synthetic vision systems. This results in a comprehensive summary of the capabilities of each model and of the field in general.

Long description:

Based on the six-year NASA Aviation Safety and Security Program Human Performance Modeling project, a collaboration of five teams from industry and academia, Human Performance Modeling in Aviation chronicles the results of modeling NASA-supplied data on two aviation flight deck problems: pilot surface operations taxi errors, and approach and landing with synthetic vision systems. The book provides a deep understanding of the aviation problems and ?what-if? system redesigns of flight deck technologies and procedures.

Five modeling teams describe how they applied their models to these two problems and discuss the results in terms of the specific problems addressed, the modeling challenges faced, and the modeling solutions developed to address complex, real-world situations. The book then compares the five modeling tools used, shedding light on the unique approach that each brings to bear on two qualitatively different problems. It includes a ?virtual roundtable discussion? that poses questions to each of the five teams and offers take-home lessons and insights into the modeling process and its complexities. The modeling teams also explore the issue of model validation and the approach that they adopted.

Concluding with a summary of how modeling fits into the system design and evaluation process, the text covers state-of-the-art advances in human performance modeling for complex systems. Critical for modeling aviation-domain tasks, these modeling capabilities can also be applied to other complex-system domains such as process control, medical applications, surface transportation, and military command and control, which share similar human-system interaction issues.

"The editors put conspicuous effort into making this volume a tightly integrated presentation of the research project, the tools (i.e. HPM), and the specific problems in the larger context of aviation safety . . . The text works very well as a stand-alone introduction to modeling as well as a review of the state of the art of HPM techniques."
?Esa M. Rantanen, Rochester Institute of Technology, in Ergonomics in Design, Fall 2008

?? the first volume devoted entirely to the topic of human performance modeling in aviation. ? particularly valuable because, similarly to Gluck and Pew (2005), it compares the performance and usefulness of multiple models (five, to be exact) when addressing the same tasks and scenario contexts. As an added benefit, the editors did not stop after articulating a comparison among models; in addition, they sought out and documented the model developers? retrospective reflections on the model-building process and the state of the art in such models. The result is a coherent summary of the capabilities of the five models and an assessment of the state of the art of human performance modeling in general and in the field of aviation in particular.?
?Richard W. Pew, Principal Scientist, BBN Technologies, from the Foreword

Table of Contents:

Goals, Aviation Problems, and Modeling. The NASA Human Performance Modeling Project: Goals, Approach, and Overview. Using Human Performance Modeling in Aviation. Aviation Safety Studies: Taxi Navigation Errors and Synthetic Vision System Operations. Application of Individual Modeling Tools to the Aviation Problems. Overview of Human Performance Modeling Tools. An ACT-R Approach to Closing the Loop on Computational Cognitive Modeling: Describing Dynamics of Interactive Decision Making and Attention Allocation. Modeling Pilot Performance With an Integrated Task Network and Cognitive Architecture Approach. Air MIDAS: A Closed-Loop Model Framework. D-OMAR: An Architecture for Modeling Multitask Behaviors. Attention-Situation Awareness (A-SA) Model of Pilot Error. Implications for Modeling and Aviation. A Cross-Model Comparison. Human Performance Modeling: A Virtual Roundtable Discussion. Advancing the State of the Art of Human Performance Models to Improve Aviation Safety. Index.