The issue of how to support situation awareness among operators of complex systems or vehicles is a growing concern in a number of industries, especially when automation takes the operators partly "out of the loop." Cognitive theory indicates that comprehension of the flow of events is an active process, constrained by the dynamics and modularity of attention and memory. Focusing on issues of commercial aviation, researchers review the meaning of the term situation awareness both definitionally and by way of examples. Investigators then discuss the cognitive factors involved in achieving and maintaining situation awareness, drawing on recent cognitive theory to clarify interactions. Finally, having stressed the need for a more analytic and precise understanding of situation awareness, the authors discuss strengths and weaknesses of various empirical approaches that might be used toward that end.
Abstract