ABSTRACT
Automation is becoming increasingly ubiquitous (see Sheridan, 2002), perhaps most notably in transportation systems like cars and airplanes, but also in areas such as medicine, computing, manufacturing, military environments, commerce, and even in the home. Automation can be defined broadly as a process whereby a device or system takes over a task or components of a task that previously were, or potentially could have been executed by people (Parasuraman & Riley, 1997). The intended benefit of automated systems is the improvement of performance resulting from reduced complexity of the task for the human operator. As an example, one prevalent, longstanding use of automation is the automatic gearbox in automobiles, which removes the task of shifting gears from the human operator. In this case, automation allows novice drivers to increase their allocation of attention to other relevant tasks. Consistent with this notion, evidence suggests that automation of this function improves monitoring and remembering of road signs in learners (Shinar, Meir, & Ben-Shoham, 1998).
