Military Psychology:Military Psychology:Situation AwarenessSituation Awareness

Dr. Steve Kass

University of West Florida

Situation AwarenessSituation Awareness -““The perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time The perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future status in the near future (Endsley, 1988)(Endsley, 1988)

-“Skilled behavior that encompasses the processes by which task-relevant -“Skilled behavior that encompasses the processes by which task-relevant

information is extracted, integrated, assessed, and acted upon”information is extracted, integrated, assessed, and acted upon” (Kass, Herschler, & (Kass, Herschler, & Companion, 1991).Companion, 1991).

-““Continuous extraction of environmental information, integration of this Continuous extraction of environmental information, integration of this information with previous knowledge to form a coherent mental picture, and information with previous knowledge to form a coherent mental picture, and the use of that picture in directing further perception and anticipating future the use of that picture in directing further perception and anticipating future

events”events” (Dominguez, 1994).(Dominguez, 1994).

Situation Awareness Situation Awareness DefinitionsDefinitions

Is SA a construct, phenomenon, process, or product?Is SA a construct, phenomenon, process, or product?

Levels of SALevels of SA

Levels of SA 1 – Awareness of information2 – Comprehension of its meaning3 – Projection of future status

Situation Awareness Situation Awareness ComponentsComponents

Components of SA

1. Spatial Awareness– Loss of SA – GLOC, spatial disorientation

2. System Awareness– Loss of SA – insufficient scan, distraction, lack of

checklist

3. Task Awareness– Loss of SA – Competing tasks, poor task management, lack of

vigilance

Rasmussen’s Skill-, Rule-, and Rasmussen’s Skill-, Rule-, and Knowledge-based performance modelKnowledge-based performance model

NoviceNovice

ExpertExpert

Per

form

ance

Per

form

ance

Att

enti

on

al D

eman

dA

tten

tio

nal

Dem

and

HighHigh

LowLow

AnalyticAnalytic

IntuitiveIntuitive

AutomaticAutomatic

Situation AwarenessSituation Awareness Model Model

Perception of elements in Current Situation

Level 1

Compre-hension of current Situation

Level 2

Projection of Future Status

Level 3

•System Capability•Interface Design•Stress & Workload•Complexity•Automation

SITUATION AWARENESS

DECISION

Performance

Of

Actions

•Goals & Objectives

•Preconceptions

(Expectations)

Information Processing

Mechanisms

Long Term

Memory StoresAutomaticity

•Abilities•Experience•Training

Task/System Factors

Individual Factors

State of the

Environment

Feedback

Typical Constructs measured in trying to assess SA

Measuring SAMeasuring SA

SA

WorkloadAttention

Pattern Recognition

Performance

WorkingMemory

MentalModels

Factors Affecting Loss ofFactors Affecting Loss ofSituation AwarenessSituation Awareness

• Attention Attention • attentional demands of controlled processes (k-based performance)

• Pattern RecognitionPattern Recognition• inability to perceive pattern of cues (recognition-primed DM)

• WorkloadWorkload• tasks too demanding or too many at once

• Mental modelsMental models• inadequate understanding of system or state

• Working MemoryWorking Memory• failure to adequately “chunk” information

AttentionAttention

Narrowing of attention under stress (high workload) adversely impacts SA

Examples: • Commercial plane crashes in the Everglades when aircrew becomes fixated on a warning light while the plane slowly descends into the ground.• Outfielder for the Mets tosses ball to a fan after making the second out while runner on base easily scores.

Pattern RecognitionPattern Recognition

Perceptual RecognitionPerceptual Recognition – comparing incoming stimulus – comparing incoming stimulus information with stored knowledge in order to categorize information with stored knowledge in order to categorize the information.the information.

QB reading pattern of defense

WorkloadWorkload

Workload often used as a surrogate measure for SA.– Note reference to workload in SA measures

such as CLSA and NASA TLX

Mental ModelsMental Models

Mental ModelsMental Models – how people mentally – how people mentally represent the task they are performingrepresent the task they are performing

Represent & organize info by interconnected Represent & organize info by interconnected chunks (schema)chunks (schema)

Experts organize schemata into larger, more Experts organize schemata into larger, more meaningful/ easy to access chunks.meaningful/ easy to access chunks.

Novices may not see all relevant connectionsNovices may not see all relevant connections Use mnemonic devices to help novices organize and Use mnemonic devices to help novices organize and retrieve inforetrieve info

Working MemoryWorking Memory

Ability to “chunk” information may be what distinguishes expert decision-making from that of novices– Magical number 7 IBMUSANBCGREUWF

Experts recall larger chunks of information (more chess pieces) when they recognize a meaningful pattern. When the pattern is random, performance same as novices.

Commercial pilots may have to monitor and react to up to 400 instruments and gauges.

747 cockpit

Types of SA MeasuresTypes of SA Measures

Subjective Ratings– E.g., China Lake SA Rating Scale, Situation Awareness Rating

Technique, SA Supervisory Rating Form

Performance-based– Ability to regain control from dangerous

attitudes

Query– SAGAT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Instability of Situation

Variability of Situation

Complexity of Situation

Arousal

Spare Mental Capacity

Concentration

Division of Attention

Information Quantity

Information Quality

Familiarity

Dem

an

d o

n

att

en

tion

al

resou

rces

Su

pp

ly o

f att

en

tion

al

resou

rces

U

nd

er-

sta

nd

ing

of

sit

uati

on

Situation Awareness Rating Situation Awareness Rating TechniqueTechnique

Low High

Performance-Based Measures Performance-Based Measures of SAof SA

Performance-based SA measures – ex: Ability to correct from unusual attitude (in

simulator)

Query-based Measures of SAQuery-based Measures of SA

SAGAT – Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique– Halt simulation– Black-out displays– Randomly selected questions– Pilot recall

Problem of SA MeasurementProblem of SA Measurement

6 O’Clock Problem6 O’Clock Problem – Can not assess your awareness of the things you are not aware of.

SA is Difficult to measure:SA is Difficult to measure:Self-report measuresSelf-report measures - Only aware of what you are aware of - Only aware of what you are aware ofPerformance-based measuresPerformance-based measures – Intrusive, measure affects – Intrusive, measure affects performanceperformanceQuery-basedQuery-based – might only tap memory – might only tap memory

Experiment: Driver Situation Experiment: Driver Situation AwarenessAwareness

as a factor of Experience Level & Cell Phone Usageas a factor of Experience Level & Cell Phone UsageKass, Cole, & Stanny, 2007

Driving InfractionsDriving Infractions

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Novice - No Cell Experienced - No Cell Novice - w/Cell Phone Experienced w/Cell Phone

To

tal D

rivi

ng

Err

ors

Road Excursions

Pedestrians Struck

Stop Signs Missed

Centerline Crossing

Collisions

Speed Exceeded

Kass, Cole, & Stanny, 2007

Experiment: Driver Situation Experiment: Driver Situation AwarenessAwareness

as a factor of Experience Level & Cell Phone Usageas a factor of Experience Level & Cell Phone Usage

ImprovingImprovingSituation AwarenessSituation Awareness

Cue Filtering – eliminate irrelevant cues (clutter) that interfere with accurate assessment of situation

Augmented Displays – displays that highlight or overlay actual information to make it more salient

Spatial Organization – arranging displays to capitalize on spatial relationships (e.g., pop-out effect)

Automate Status Updates – as the environment changes the system should warn the user of change

Train Users to Improve Attention?

Cue Filtering for Improving SACue Filtering for Improving SA

Removal of clutter (irrelevant cues) in training allows learner to identify relevant cues better– Real-world “clutter” can then be gradually phased back into

training.

Spatial Organization in Display Spatial Organization in Display Design for Improving SADesign for Improving SA

Display design capitalizing on spatial relationships– “Pop-out effect”

Tactile Situation Awareness Tactile Situation Awareness SystemSystem

Tactile stimulation used to Tactile stimulation used to prevent spatial disorientationprevent spatial disorientation

Tactile cues can provide status Tactile cues can provide status updates regardless of where updates regardless of where attention is currently focusedattention is currently focused

Human factors application of tactile research

Tactile Situation Awareness Tactile Situation Awareness System (TSAS)System (TSAS)

Map surrounding space to the torso tactually

Intuitive in three dimensions

Non-visual Non-competing Continuous source Utilizes “seat of the

pants” sense

TSAS Performance MeansTSAS Performance MeansRMSERMSE

TSASOff On

SecondaryTask

No

Yes

M = 4.55SD = 3.55

M = 4.33SD = 3.48

M = 7.24SD = 3.73

M = 5.75SD = 3.06

•RMSE for helicopter hover under 20/200 viewing conditions (White out)•Secondary task was a simple arithmetic task

Augmented Reality DisplaysAugmented Reality Displays

Augmented DisplaysAugmented Displays - display that improves upon reality - display that improves upon reality by superimposing info over actual environmentby superimposing info over actual environment

ex: thermal imaging color codes objects by temperatureex: thermal imaging color codes objects by temperature

HUDs superimpose display information on the PVA

Mindfulness Training and SA?Mindfulness Training and SA?

• Few, if any, attempts to improve SA have focused on the Few, if any, attempts to improve SA have focused on the human component of the human-machine systemshuman component of the human-machine systems• Research idea: mindfulness training to increase ability to Research idea: mindfulness training to increase ability to concentrate and improve attentionconcentrate and improve attention

Experiment: Mindfulness & SAExperiment: Mindfulness & SAImpact of mindfulness training on situation awareness Impact of mindfulness training on situation awareness

while drivingwhile driving

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Mindfulness Training Control Group

• Mindfulness training – Buddhist Psychology Class• Control group – Experimental Psychology Class

SA

que

stio

ns c

orre

ct (

out o

f 9)

• Mindfulness – Moving and sharpening the focus of awareness within the field of consciousness.• Concentration – Actively maintaining one’s controlled focus of attention for designated periods of time

Experiment: Mindfulness & SAExperiment: Mindfulness & SAImpact of mindfulness training on situation awareness Impact of mindfulness training on situation awareness

while drivingwhile driving1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

1. Situation Awareness -- .80** .61* -.65* -.14 -.11 -.01

2. Mindfulness -- .69** -.49 -.07 .10 -.61*

3. Concentration -- -.40 -.08 .12 -.20

4. Stopping violations -- .13 .03 -.20

5. Speeding Violations -- .01 -.07

6. Vehicle Collisions -- -.04

7. Pedestrian Collisions --

* p < .05. **p < .01.

SA Medical TrainingSA Medical TrainingGaba et al’s suggestions for training SA in medical applications1. Provide practice scanning instruments and environment to maximize perception of cues from all relevant data streams2. Provide explicit training in allocation of attention using low fidelity simulations, and multi-faceted training in high fidelity simulations3. Provide enhanced training in situation assessment and on pattern matching of cues to known disease and fault conditions