The Moderator Effects of Taskload on the Interplay Between En Route Intra-Sector Team Communications, Situation Awareness, and Mental Workload

Abstract

Recently, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began a program of research to investigate the role that intra-team communication plays in helping radar air traffic control teams coordinate their individual efforts. Based on the literature of controller and pilot communications, it was hypothesized that as taskload increased, communications would increase in order to maintain situational awareness. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that there would be an inverse relationship between taskload and situational awareness. METHOD. Using a high-fidelity air traffic control (ATC) simulator, ten 2-person teams, consisting of certified ATC specialists, performed routine ATC tasks within a single factor (low and high workload) repeated measure design. Performance was videotaped and the frequency of intra-team communications was counted. Post scenario perceptions of taskload and situational awareness were assessed using a version of the NASA Taskload Index (TLX) and a 4-item scale developed at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, respectively. RESULTS. Bivariate correlations of intra-team communications (c), taskload (t) and situational awareness (s) were separately analyzed for low and high workload. Because the sign of the correlations were established a priori, a one tailed test of significance was used with p < .10 as a test of significance. Results for the low workload condition were r sub c,t = -.14 (ns), r sub c,s = .38 (ns), and r sub t,s = -.62**. Correlations for the high workload conditions were r sub c,t = .51*, r sub c,s = .63*, r sub t,s = -.30 (ns). CONCLUSIONS. Under high workload conditions, as perceptions of taskload increased, there was a corresponding increase in the frequency of intra-team communications. The data suggest that the increase in communications is used to maintain situational awareness. This conclusion supports the a priori hypotheses. However, under low workload conditions, the data fail to support the hypotheses, with the exception that perceptions of situational awareness decreased as taskload increased.