Multi-Modal Cockpit Warnings: Pictures. Words. or Both?

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Abstract
This paper examines the requirement for, and benefits of, multi-modal information presentation in cockpit warning systems. It also attempts to provide an account of the nature and levels of processing involved when information from one source is integrated with a supposedly redundant additional source to provide a performance gain in choice reaction time (RT) tasks, and its applicability to other cockpit systems. An experiment is described which used warning/caution ‘icons’ (pictorial representations of danger situations) and verbal warning messages, both singly and in combination. The visual icons were generated by RAF aircrew, using an iterative design process, as being meaningful pictorial representations of real-world warnings. Subjects were required to identify whether the situations presented warnings i.e. high priority/immediate action or cautions i.e. low priority/immediate awareness. The results obtained showed a significant decrease in response latencies when correlated bi-modal information was given as compared to the uni-modal conditions. The high level of abstraction of these icons strongly implied that the performance gains occurring must be as the result of the integration of ‘information’ rather than ‘data’. Subjective Situational Awareness Rating Technique (SART) scores also showed that benefits may also be accrued through reduced workload and increased depth of understanding. The results of these experiments are considered in terms of current Information Processing and Neural Network theories and an attempt to provide a cognitive model of this integrality effect is also described.