An fMRI investigation of trust-related decision-making associated with the use of short term conflict alert (STCA)

Abstract

The current proposal aims at a neuroscientific investigation of the magnitudes of trust air traffic controllers (ATCOs) show when using short term conflict alert (STCA) systems with different levels of reliability that can elicit high and low levels of human-automation trust. STCA is an automated warning system used by all ATCOs for the purpose of conflict detection and designed for the primary purpose of ensuring safe separation between any pair of surveillance tracks. The operational use of STCA depends a great deal on the ATCO’s trust in the system, and this trust is in term dependent on the perceived system reliability. As different levels of system reliability will engender different levels of uncertainty or mistrust in its use, this proposal adopts an operational definition of trust that involves decision-making under situations with uncertainty and vulnerability. This means that human-automation trust, in the context of STCA use, relates to how well the system can facilitate successful conflict detection under circumstances where uncertainty or unreliability lies in its use [COPYRIGHT CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, J. Y. ZHONG 2021, NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY].