ABSTRACT
Visual allocation of attention was used as a predictor of workload of military pilots. Pilots flew simulated missions with varying levels of task demand. They also performed a detection task and a memory task. The detection task involved visual sampling of display elements and responding to target symbols.
Missions that included the detection task were reported to be more effortful, but physiological indicators of mental effort did not confirm this. The number of display elements (7 or 28) had an effect on performance but no clear effect on perceived effort. Memory task and flight performance decreased slightly for the condition with 28 display elements.
The results suggested that pilots developed strategies to maximize mission performance and to avoid performance detriments for individual tasks. Efficient strategies can limit mental workload. It appears that predicting workload has more practical value when pilot task strategies are taken into account.
