Link Between Out-of-the-Loop Performance Problem and Mind Wandering: How to Keep the Operator in the Loop

Abstract To satisfy the increasing demand for safer critical systems, engineers have integrated higher levels of automation, such as glass cockpits in aircraft, power plants, and driverless cars. These guiding principles relegate the operator to a monitoring role, increasing risks for humans to lack system understanding. The out-of-the-loop (OOL) performance problem arises when operators suffer from complacency and vigilance decrement; consequently, when automation does not behave as expected, understanding the system or taking back manual control may be difficult. Close to the OOL problem, mind wandering points to the propensity of the human mind to think about matters unrelated to the task at hand. We aim at understanding the link between the two phenomena. Our hypothesis is that mind wandering (MW) is one cause of OOL: if the system changes its mode or makes an error when the operator is MW, then it would likely result in OOL.