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Presenting the Programmable Task Battery for Research into Automation Bias/Automation Induced Complacency

Research on automation bias (Mosier & Skitka, 1996) or automation-induced complacency (Singh, Molloy, & Parasuraman, 1993) examines the propensity for operators to miss errors committed by automated systems. Two forms of “miss” may be observed: the operator may miss problems because the automated system fails to detect them, or the operator may inappropriately follow the directive of an automated system without verifying the need to take action. Automation bias research should ideally be conducted in high-fidelity simulations using trained operators. Where such resources are unavailable, researchers use low-fidelity simulations such as the Multi-Attribute Task Battery (MATB; Comstock & Arnegard, 1992). The MATB was originally designed to emulate aviation-related tasks for use in workload-based research. However, it was not specifically designed to address automation research, and few of its automated tasks may be programmed to fail. A second problem is that each of the tasks operates completely independently; there is no configuration of gauge readings which represents an operational or systematically malfunctioning system. Therefore, validity issues arise because the research participant cannot emulate a skilled operator who evaluates observed system behavior against a mental model of the system. The Programmable Task Battery (PTB) is a Visual Basic-based program which updates the MATB for modern Windows-based operating systems and expands its capabilities for automation bias research. First, the various tasks may be linked to simulate an underlying system or kept independent, as with the MATB. Second, almost all tasks may be placed under automated control, with dedicated controls and status readouts. Third, both automated systems and individual gauges may be failed, permitting research into complex detection and diagnosis issues. The PTB is in the late stages of development. When complete, it will be made available at no charge for academic research. While we will consider requests to make it available for commercial use, there are no plans to do so as of yet. It is our hope that the availability of the PTB spurs more and better research into automation bias.