The BASE Lab (Basic and Applied Science in Ergonomics) in the NMSU Engineering Psychology program primarily focuses on research relating to target acquisition and identification.  Our research covers topics of operator trust and compliance with diagnostic aids (e.g. detection and warning systems). Among other things, our lab uses low- and medium-fidelity UAV simulations (see Figure 1) to test the effects of diagnostic aid errors on operator trust and dependence. Figure 1. UAV flight simulation. The need for this research is critical because targeting systems are becoming increasingly reliant on automated aids which augment human performance. Clearly, matching perfectly reliable aids with human operators can be beneficial, but less is known about how these human-automation interactions will be affected when the aid is less than perfectly reliable. Among some of the variables that affect human-aid interaction within targeting systems are: trust in the system, opacity of system, reliability of the diagnostic aid, prior information about the system, stress, priorities, divided attentional resources, extreme situations and consequences, time pressure,  pedigree, credibility and individual differences. Our lab has analyzed many of these issues in the past, focusing on human-aid interactions within static and dynamic UAV targeting systems in both military and civilian applications. Among some of our previous findings, we note that when the aid is less than perfectly reliable, human-aid performance tends to fall below that of the aid itself (Rice, 2009; Rice, et al., 2008). Time pressure tends to improve overall human-aid performance, as it drives higher reliance on the aids, particularly when the task is difficult (Rice & Keller, in press). Figure 2 presents an example of a difficult target acquisition task. When multiple aids are involved (see Figure 1), operators develop a system-wide trust strategy that impairs performance in a highly reliable aid coupled with a less reliable aid (Keller & Rice, in press). Operators tend to be negatively affected by false alarms more than misses. Figure 2. Aerial image of Baghdad. Future research includes plans to: a) analyze the effects of system-wide trust during team-based scenarios; b) increase the number of diagnostic aids in order to examine the wider effects on trust; c) develop methods to reduce system-side trust when appropriate; d) encourage component-specific trust without reducing overall performance by manipulating the shape and location of the gauges; and e) manipulate the modality of the diagnostic aid.
		Lab Administration: Gayle Hunt - Lab Manager * Kasha Geels - Lab Assistant
		Graduate Students: *Nate Bean Undergraduate Students: * Eric Johnson  Audrey Rosenblatt David Flemming Sandra Deming Eduardo Rubio Crystal Sandy Rachael Currier Crystal Garcia Natasha DeVries   * Advisee