Adaptive Automation: Building Flexibility into Human-Machine Systems

Abstract

In complex environments, the use of technology to enhance the capability of people is commonplace. In rapidly changing and often unpredictable environments, it is not enough that these human-automated “teams” perform well when events go as expected. Instead, the human operators and automated aids must be flexible, capable of responding to rare or unanticipated events. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the Framework of Automation Use (Dzindolet, Beck, Pierce, & Dawe, 2001) as it relates to adaptive automation. Specifically, our objectives are to: (1) examine a number of factors that determine how people can effectively integrate their activities with their machine partners in fluid environments and (2) consider the implications of these findings for future research.

Citation

Dzindolet, M.T., Beck, H.P. and Pierce, L.G. (2006), "Adaptive Automation: Building Flexibility into Human-Machine Systems", Shawn Burke, C., Pierce, L.G. and Salas, E. (Ed.) Understanding Adaptability: A Prerequisite for Effective Performance within Complex Environments (Advances in Human Performance and Cognitive Engineering Research, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 213-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3601(05)06007-8