The effect of individual differences in working memory in older adults on performance with different degrees of automated technology

Abstract

A leading hypothesis to explain older adults’ overdependence on automation is age-related declines in working memory. However, it has not been empirically examined. The purpose of the current experiment was to examine how working memory affected performance with different degrees of automation in older adults. In contrast to the well-supported idea that higher degrees of automation, when the automation is correct, benefits performance but higher degrees of automation, when the automation fails, increasingly harms performance, older adults benefited from higher degrees of automation when the automation was correct but were not differentially harmed by automation failures. Surprisingly, working memory did not interact with degree of automation but did interact with automation correctness or failure. When automation was correct, older adults with higher working memory ability had better performance than those with lower abilities. But when automation was incorrect, all older adults, regardless of working memory ability, performed poorly.

Practitioner Summary: The design of automation intended for older adults should focus on ways of making the correctness of the automation apparent to the older user and suggest ways of helping them recover when it is malfunctioning.     

A model for types and levels of human interaction with automation

We outline a model for types and levels of automation that provides a framework and an objective basis for deciding which system functions should be automated and to what extent. Appropriate selection is important because automation does not merely supplant but changes human activity and can impose new coordination demands on the human operator. We propose that automation can be applied to four broad classes of functions: 1) information acquisition; 2) information analysis; 3) decision and action selection; and 4) action implementation. Within each of these types, automation can be applied across a continuum of levels from low to high, i.e., from fully manual to fully automatic. A particular system can involve automation of all four types at different levels. The human performance consequences of particular types and levels of automation constitute primary evaluative criteria for automation design using our model. Secondary evaluative criteria include automation reliability and the costs of decision/action consequences, among others. Examples of recommended types and levels of automation are provided to illustrate the application of the model to automation design     

A theoretical framework for designing human-centered automotive automation systems

Increasingly sophisticated and robust automotive automation systems are being developed to be applied in all aspects of driving. Benefits, such as improving safety, task performance, and workload have been reported. However, several critical accidents involving automation assistance have also been reported. Although automation systems may work appropriately, human factors such as drivers errors, overtrust in and overreliance on automation due to lack of understanding of automation functionalities and limitations as well as distrust caused by automation surprises may trigger inappropriate human–automation interactions that lead to negative consequences. Several important methodologies and efforts for improving human–automation interactions follow the concept of human-centered automation, which claims that the human must have the final authority over the system, have been called. Given that the human-centered automation has been proposed as a more cooperative automation approach to reduce the likelihood of human–machine misunderstanding. This study argues that, especially in critical situations, the way control is handed over between agents can improve human–automation interactions even when the system has the final decision-making authority. As ways of improving human–automation interactions, the study proposes adaptive sharing of control that allows dynamic control distribution between human and system within the same level of automation while the human retains the final authority, and adaptive trading of control in which the control and authority shift between human and system dynamically while changing levels of automation. Authority and control transitions strategies are discussed, compared and clarified in terms of levels and types of automation. Finally, design aspects for determining how and when the control and authority can be shifted between human and automation are proposed with recommendations for future designs.

     

薄煤层综采工作面自动化技术综述

分析了国内外薄煤层综采工作面自动化技术的发展现状,介绍了薄煤层综采工作面自动化系统结构、采煤机自动化控制技术、液压支架电液控制技术、刮板输送机自动化控制技术及采场空间环境可视化监测技术,指出了薄煤层综采工作面自动化技术的发展趋势:采用先进工艺提高采煤机、液压支架等设备的工作可靠性;提高薄煤层综采工作面自动化系统的自动化程度,完善控制系统与故障诊断系统,提高对各种采煤环境的适应能力;从有链牵引向无链牵引及电牵引方向发展;进一步研究综采工作面可视化监测系统。     

自动化科学与技术发展方向

本文结合中国自动化科学与技术的发展状况和中国绝大多数大学设有自动化专业的现状,借鉴自动化科学与技术发展历程中的成功经验,结合国家社会经济发展和国家安全对自动化系统的未来需求,以生产制造系统、重要运载工具和人参与的信息物理系统为主要对象,以自动化系统的发展方向—智能自主控制系统、智能优化决策系统和智能优化决策与控制一体化系统的愿景功能为目标,以研究实现愿景功能的建模、控制与优化新算法和新的自动化系统的设计方法和实现技术以及结合重大应用领域开展的应用研究为主线,提出了自动化科学与技术的发展方向,并结合新兴应用领域对自动化科学与技术的需求与挑战,提出了未来自动化科学与技术的发展方向.     

Effects of automation of information-processing functions on teamwork

We investigated the effects of automation as applied to different stages of information processing on team performance in a complex decision-making task. Forty teams of 2 individuals performed a simulated Theater Defense Task. Four automation conditions were simulated with computer assistance applied to realistic combinations of information acquisition, information analysis, and decision selection functions across two levels of task difficulty. Multiple measures of team effectiveness and team coordination were used. Results indicated different forms of automation have different effects on teamwork. Compared with a baseline condition, an increase in automation of information acquisition led to an increase in the ratio of information transferred to information requested; an increase in automation of information analysis resulted in higher team coordination ratings; and automation of decision selection led to better team effectiveness under low levels of task difficulty but at the cost of higher workload. The results support the use of early and intermediate forms of automation related to acquisition and analysis of information in the design of team tasks. Decision-making automation may provide benefits in more limited contexts. Applications of this research include the design and evaluation of automation in team environments.     

A Hidden Markov Framework to Capture Human–Machine Interaction in Automated Vehicles

ABSTRACT

A Hidden Markov Model framework is introduced to formalize the beliefs that humans may have about the mode in which a semi-automated vehicle is operating. Previous research has identified various “levels of automation,” which serve to clarify the different degrees of a vehicle’s automation capabilities and expected operator involvement. However, a vehicle that is designed to perform at a certain level of automation can actually operate across different modes of automation within its designated level, and its operational mode might also change over time. Confusion can arise when the user fails to understand the mode of automation that is in operation at any given time, and this potential for confusion is not captured in models that simply identify levels of automation. In contrast, the Hidden Markov Model framework provides a systematic and formal specification of mode confusion due to incorrect user beliefs. The framework aligns with theory and practice in various interdisciplinary approaches to the field of vehicle automation. Therefore, it contributes to the principled design and evaluation of automated systems and future transportation systems.     

Automation and decision support in interactive consumer products

This article presents two empirical studies (n = 30, n = 48) that are concerned with different forms of automation in interactive consumer products. The goal of the studies was to evaluate the effectiveness of two types of automation: perceptual augmentation (i.e. supporting users' information acquisition and analysis); and control integration (i.e. supporting users' action selection and implementation). Furthermore, the effectiveness of on-product information (i.e. labels attached to product) in supporting automation design was evaluated. The findings suggested greater benefits for automation in control integration than in perceptual augmentation alone, which may be partly due to the specific requirements of consumer product usage. If employed appropriately, on-product information can be a helpful means of information conveyance. The article discusses the implications of automation design in interactive consumer products while drawing on automation models from the work environment.     

Sharing control between humans and automation using haptic interface: primary and secondary task performance benefits

This paper describes a paradigm for human/automation control sharing in which the automation acts through a motor coupled to a machine's manual control interface. The manual interface becomes a haptic display, continually informing the human about automation actions. While monitoring by feel, users may choose either to conform to the automation or override it and express their own control intentions. This paper's objective is to demonstrate that adding automation through haptic display can be used not only to improve performance on a primary task but also to reduce perceptual demands or free attention for a secondary task. Results are presented from three experiments in which 11 participants completed a lane-following task using a motorized steering wheel on a fixed-base driving simulator. The automation behaved like a copilot, assisting with lane following by applying torques to the steering wheel. Results indicate that haptic assist improves lane following by least 30%, p < .0001, while reducing visual demand by 29%, p < .0001, or improving reaction time in a secondary tone localization task by 18 ms, p = .0009. Potential applications of this research include the design of automation interfaces based on haptics that support human/automation control sharing better than traditional push-button automation interfaces.     

自动化现状及钢铁企业自动化的前提条件

叙述了国外自动化的现状与趋势及国内钢铁企业自动化应用状况，并论述了钢铁企业自动化所需的前提条件，只有满足这些前提条件，才能获得良好的效益。     

Human performance in a multiple-task environment: Effects of automation reliability on visual attention allocation

Diagnostic automation has been posited to alleviate the high demands of multiple-task environments; however, mixed effects have been found pertaining to performance aid success. To better understand these effects, attention allocation must be studied directly. We developed a multiple-task environment to study the effects of automation on visual attention. Participants interacted with a system providing varying levels of automation and automation reliability and then were transferred to a system with no support. Attention allocation was measured by tracking the number of times each task was viewed. We found that participants receiving automation allocated their time according to the task frequency and that tasks that benefited most from automation were most harmed when it was removed. The results suggest that the degree to which automation affects multiple-task performance is dependent on the relative attributes of the tasks involved. Moreover, there is an inverse relationship between support and cost when automation fails.     

Authority and responsibility in human–machine systems: probability theoretic validation of machine-initiated trading of authority

Human-centered automation is an approach to realize a work environment in which humans and machines cooperate. It is usually claimed in the framework that “the human must have final authority over the automation.” However, correctness of the statement is context dependent: we note that humans have limited capabilities and authority is interconnected with responsibility. This paper illustrates the need for a machine-initiated trading of authority from humans to automation in the vehicle driving context and clarifies issues to be solved for implementing useful automation invocation based on the machine’s interpretation of the situation and the human’s behavior.     

Effects of System Automation Management Strategies and Multi-mission Operator-to-vehicle Ratio on Operator Performance in UAV Systems

It has been documented that the military intends to increase the number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in service while at the same time reducing the number of operators (Dixon et al. 2004). To meet this demand, many of the current UAV operator function will need to be automated. Levels of automation exist along a continuum from fully manual to fully automatic. Different automation strategies have been applied widely in UAV systems. Management by Consent (MBC), where the operator selects the task to be executed, and Management by Exception (MBE), where the computer selects the task to be executed are two proposed levels of automation for future UAV systems. Meanwhile, the optimum operator-to-vehicle ratio for future UAV systems is not yet known. It is expected that the optimum operator-to-vehicle ratio will vary with the level of automation applied to the system. Future UAV systems may require the use of adaptive automation to ensure maximum human–machine performance across varying operator-to-vehicle ratios. This study aims to help determine what levels of automation are most appropriate for different operator-to-vehicle ratios and how adaptive automation should be applied in future UAV systems. We investigated the effect of various operator-to-vehicle ratios and the two automation strategies on UAV mission tasks, results were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and discussed in the last section of the paper.     

The effect of risk on trust attitude and trust behavior in interaction with information and decision automation

Situational risk has been postulated to be one of the most important contextual factors affecting operator’s trust in automation. However, experimentally, it has received only little attention and was directly manipulated even less. To close this gap, this study used a virtual reality multi-task environment where the main task entailed making a diagnosis by assessing different parameters. Risk was manipulated via the altitude, the task was set in including the possibility of virtually falling in case of a mistake. Participants were aided either by information or decision automation. Results revealed that trust attitude toward the automation was not affected by risk. While trust attitude was initially lower for the decision automation, it was equally high in both groups at the end of the experiment after experiencing reliable support. Trust behavior was significantly higher and increased during the experiment for the decision automation supported group in the form of less automation verification behavior. However, this detrimental effect was distinctly attenuated under high risk. This implies that negative consequences of decision automation in the real world might have been overestimated by studies not incorporating risk.

     

自动化工具对中国DevOps实践的影响

DevOps作为一次软件工程领域的变革,近10年迅速发展的原因是多方面的.关注了中国DevOps的发展历程中自动化工具带来的实际影响以及自动化工具产生的一系列问题.使用系统化文献评价获取了目前DevOps实践中被研究者分析最多的自动化支持工具,从50篇文献中识别出包括Docker、Chef、Jenkins和Puppet等69个自动化工具;然后通过灰色文献评价从一些中文博客文章中分析出自动化工具在中国DevOps实践中出现的3个层次的问题;最后通过民族志访谈方法分析了在中国环境下各方对待3个层次问题的看法和建议,得出自动化工具对中国DevOps实践的两个影响：（1）自动化工具在DevOps实践的前期作用明显,可以认为DevOps实践就是使用自动化工具;（2）软件组织实现DevOps转型以后需要减少对自动化工具的依赖,形成自己的DevOps文化.对于自动化工具在中国DevOps实践中产生的问题,整合访谈内容后形成了解决问题的3个建议,并给出了一个转型范例.     

Future trends in process automation

The importance of automation in the process industries has increased dramatically in recent years. In the highly industrialized countries, process automation serves to enhance product quality, master the whole range of products, improve process safety and plant availability, efficiently utilize resources and lower emissions. In the rapidly developing countries, mass production is the main motivation for applying process automation. The greatest demand for process automation is in the chemical industry, power generating industry, and petrochemical industry; the fastest growing demand for hardware, standard software and services of process automation is in the pharmaceutical industry.

The importance of automation technology continues to increase in the process industries. The traditional barriers between information, communication and automation technology are, in the operational context, gradually disappearing. The latest technologies, including wireless networks, fieldbus systems and asset management systems, boost the efficiency of process systems. New application fields like biotechnology and microtechnology pose challenges for future theoretical work in the modeling, analysis and design of control systems. In this paper the industry trends that are shaping current automation requirements, as well as the future trends in process automation, are presented and discussed.     

A framework for implementing robotic process automation projects

Robotic process automation is a disruptive technology to automate already digital yet manual tasks and subprocesses as well as whole business processes rapidly. In contrast to other process automation technologies, robotic process automation is lightweight and only accesses the presentation layer of IT systems to mimic human behavior. Due to the novelty of robotic process automation and the varying approaches when implementing the technology, there are reports that up to 50% of robotic process automation projects fail. To tackle this issue, we use a design science research approach to develop a framework for the implementation of robotic process automation projects. We analyzed 35 reports on real-life projects to derive a preliminary sequential model. Then, we performed multiple expert interviews and workshops to validate and refine our model. The result is a framework with variable stages that offers guidelines with enough flexibility to be applicable in complex and heterogeneous corporate environments as well as for small and medium-sized companies. It is structured by the three phases of initialization, implementation, and scaling. They comprise eleven stages relevant during a project and as a continuous cycle spanning individual projects. Together they structure how to manage knowledge and support processes for the execution of robotic process automation implementation projects.

     

Office automation in British rail — On delivering value to end users

The development of a strategy for office automation within a large organisation is described. The process begins with the analysis of the existing office workers', some 25,000 staff. This analysis was used to identify potential benefits and target areas for office technology. The paper then describes the concepts used to think through the application of office automation. These were combined with the Corporation's business strategy to produce the strategy for office automation. This strategy was based on using office automation to help organisational change, particularly in the three key areas identified by the Corporation's top management. Also described in the article is an approach to identifying information requirements and separately, some comments on the training and education required.     

从现代信息科技发展看自动化学科的使命和发展趋势

该文从信息科学全局发展的角度论述自动化学科的作用及其在信息时代的重要地位. 具体介绍国内外自动化科技的发展、社会影响和面临的挑战,以及专家们提出的对策意见.针对我国特点提出了若干关于发展方向和政策的建议.