The effects of task demand on crew performance in simulated military land vehicles

Abstract

New field vehicles, soon to be acquired by the Australian Army, will incorporate advanced in-vehicle information systems whose impact on operator workload and crewing requirements are yet to be examined. Three simulation studies were conducted as an exploration of the impact of existing and potential task demands on field vehicle crew performance. Army participants operated in driver/co-driver crews, performing in-vehicle tasks broadly analogous to those required in real-world field vehicles. Individual and crew performance was assessed under systematically manipulated task demands. Substantial declines in performance with time-on-task were found on simple repetitive vigilance and monitoring tasks, especially under the lowest task demand conditions. Increasing task demands or complexity generally helped mitigate those declines, but with a potential cost to overall performance. The results support effort regulation theory, with evidence of under-mobilization of engagement, effort and resources under monotonous, low demand conditions. Adaptive in-vehicle systems that monitor performance and allocate tasks to operators according to their functional state may prove beneficial. Study limitations and future studies in this area are discussed.