Subjective Pilot Workload Assessment

Abstract

Traditional subjective pilot workload measures have stressed postflight questionnaires. An alternative method that is less dependent on memory was evaluated in two experiments. In the first study, pilots and nonpilots made workload evaluations each minute during a critical tracking task. Results indicate that their responses were directly related to the experimentally controlled difficulty level, whereas posltask questionnaire responses were much less accurate. In a second study, the workload assessment device was introduced into the cockpit of a general aviation cockpit simulator, to detennine if pilots could differentiate between three flights in which the level of difficulty varied. It was found that pilot workload judgments and response latencies were related to the experimentally induced difficulty level. As hypothesized, the more difficult flights generated higher mean workload responses and longer latencies.