Time Pressure, Memory, and Task Knowledge Facilitate the Opportunism Heuristic in Dynamic Tasks

Abstract

There are a variety of strategies that operators can utilize when performing a dynamic task, yet operator strategies are typically studied in a well-controlled environment that prevents the possibility of these strategies from interacting or competing with one another. In this study we investigated operator strategy use in a dynamic supervisory control task. We identified four possible strategies that the operator may use: scanning, opportunism, task knowledge, and memory. In order to determine the impact of time pressure on strategy use, we manipulated the speed of the vehicles. We found that as time pressure increased, operators shifted from a scanning strategy to a heuristic opportunistic strategy. We also found that when operators used task knowledge and memory they were more likely to be opportunistic.