Workload and Situational Awareness

Question 1

Workload

Answer 1

• The demand placed on an operator’s mental resources used for attention, perception, decision-making, and action
• Indicator of level of total mental and/or physical effort required to carry out a task at a specific performance level
• The same task can create different workloads for an individual at different times depending on their situation

Question 2

Error Thresholds - Level of Expertise

Answer 2

If expertise is high, threshold is higher, person can handle increasing levels of workload before significantly impacting probability of error

Question 3

Error Threshold - Fatigue

Answer 3

Fatigue lowers the error threshold

Question 4

Error Threshold - Distraction

Answer 4

• Distractions can come from a variety of sources
• Distractions shift error threshold, making mistakes more likely

Question 5

Error Threshold - Stress

Answer 5

• Shifts upper limit left and lower limit right
• Makes error more likely at a given workload level
• Can also increase fatigue and distractions

Question 6

Workload Management

Answer 6

What can you do?
- Understand different factors related to workload
- be prepared
- Develop Strategies to use while at work

Question 7

Situational Awareness

Answer 7

• Perception of elements in the environment, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future
• Perception
• Comprehension
• Projection
• Most pilot errors occur at the perception stage

Question 8

Improving Situational Awareness

Answer 8

Workload Management
Awareness of Future Flight Status
- Predict the future
- Experience matters
Mental Model
- Influenced by experience, expectation, and briefing