Eye-Tracking and Protocol Analyses of Expert and Novice Situation Awareness in Air Traffic Control

Analyses of eye tracking and think-aloud protocol data were performed to examine novice-expert differences in perceptual and cognitive aspects of air traffic controllers' situation awareness. In Experiment 1, three groups of field air traffic controllers (experts, intermediates, novices) were asked to perceive situations that were manipulated by situation complexity. In Experiment 2, protocol analysis for previous situation awareness tasks was performed to extract different task models and strategy models as a function of expertise. Then delayed-recall task and interviews about air control plans for the recalled situations were also executed. Results showed that expert controllers concentrate only on several critical features and have their own strategies to reduce mental workloads.