Judgment and Trust in Conjunction with Automated Decision Aids: A Theoretical Model and Empirical Investigation

Abstract

The importance of understanding and supporting human operators' judgment and decision-making has been recognized in a variety of contexts. Of interest in these systems is the extent to which operators utilize and trust such systems, particularly where operators do not have any means to access the environment directly. Operators' trust in automated decision aids is the critical component affecting their performance in estimating the environmental states. A model of human operators' judgment with automated decision aids was developed using the Lens Model framework. This model shows not only different characteristics of automated decision aids, but also the representation of operators' judgment policy. An empirical investigation on operators' judgment performance and trust in conjunction with automated decision aids is described in this research. Among the potential characteristics of such systems that may affect operators' judgment performance and trust, three aspects were controlled. Results provide strong support for factors in the theoretical framework and for identification of the types of information to increase the level of operators' understanding.