EFFECTS OF WORKLOAD PREVIEW ON TASK-SCHEDULING DURING SIMULATED INSTRUMENT FLIGHT

Our study examined pilot scheduling behavior in the context of simulat ed instrument flight. Over the course of the flight, pilots flew along specified routes while scheduling and performing several flight-relat ed secondary tasks. The first phase of flight was flown under low-work load conditions, whereas the second phase of flight was flown under hi gh-workload conditions in the form of increased turbulence and a disor ganized instrument layout. Six pilots were randomly assigned to each o f three workload preview groups. Subjects in the no-preview group were not given preview of the increased-workload conditions. Subjects in t he declarative preview group were verbally informed of the nature of t he flight workload manipulation but did not receive any practice under the high-workload conditions. Subjects in the procedural preview grou p received the same instructions as the declarative preview group but also flew half of the practice flight under the high-workload conditio ns. The results show that workload preview fostered efficient scheduli ng strategies. Specifically, those pilots with either declarative or p rocedural preview of future workload demands adopted an efficient stra tegy of scheduling more of the difficult secondary tasks during the lo w-workload phase of flight. However, those pilots given a procedural p review showed the greatest benefits in overall flight performance.