Dear (Airline Name) Pilot,

We are seeking your participation in a research project. The project is part of a cooperative agreement between the Human-Computer Interaction laboratory of the University of California at San Diego and the Human-Automation Integration branch of NASA. This project has also been approved both by (Airline Name) management and (Pilot Union). The goal of the project is to find out more about how pilots think about autoflight modes and to design improved training for autoflight.

The specific goals of this project are to determine the concepts that pilots use in thinking about autoflight vertical navigation mode annunciations, and to determine how those concepts vary with experience. You will be asked to make judgments concerning the meanings of common vertical navigation mode annunciations. You should be able to do the task in about a half-hour of your spare time.

The materials include:

• Two copies of an informed-consent form. The first copy is on the back of this letter. You may keep this copy for your records. The second copy is stapled to the data collection forms. Please read and sign this copy and return it with the completed forms.
• A brief questionnaire concerning your flight experience.
• A questionnaire regarding your attitudes towards automation.
• A list of 20 sets of autoflight mode names. There are three mode names in each set. Please follow the instructions for making similarity judgments on the meanings of the modes.

Place the signed consent form, the completed experience and attitude questionnaires, and the autoflight mode judgment sheets in the enclosed envelope and drop it in the mail. When we receive your data packet, the first thing we do is tear off the signed consent form. This means that no information that could be used to identify you will be associated with your responses.

Please return the materials within two weeks if possible.

If you have any questions feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Professor Edwin Hutchins of UC San Diego and Dr. Steven Casner of the NASA Ames research center are conducting a research study to find out more about how pilots think about autoflight mode annunciations. You have been asked to take part because of your experience flying glass-cockpit aircraft.

If you agree to participate, you will be asked to: 1) complete two brief questionnaires concerning your flight experience with and attitudes towards automation and 2) make a series of judgments concerning the similarity of the meanings of the vertical mode annunciations that appear as flight mode annunciations on the aircraft you currently fly.

Completing these questionnaires and the similarity judgments should take no more than one half hour of your time. Although there will be no direct benefit to you from these procedures, the results of this study may help in the design of training, operational procedures, or instrumentation in the future.

You may call the UCSD Human Subjects Office at (619) 534-4520 to inquire about your rights as a research subject or to report research related problems. If you have other questions or research-related problems, you may contact Professor Hutchins at (619) 534-1134, or send him email at ehutchins@ucsd.edu.

Participation in research is entirely voluntary.

With the exception of your experience profile, no information that could be used to identify you will be associated with your responses.

You have received a copy of this consent document to keep.

You agree to participate.

Please fill in the blanks in the space provided. If a question does not apply to you, simply leave the space blank.

General Information:

Airline: (Airline Name)

Current aircraft: 757/767

Seat (circle one):   CAPT.    F/0

Based at: ____________

Years/Months since completion of initial training in current aircraft: Y____M____

Flight Time:

Total flight time: __________

Total time in the 757/767: __________

Time in FMS equipped aircraft (other than 757/767) by type:

If you had military flight training, was it NAVY, MARINES, AIRFORCE?

Please indicate your agreement or disagreement with the following statements by circling the words that best describe your feelings:

1.  I am concerned about a possible loss of my flying skills with too much automation.

2.  The automation in my current aircraft works great in today's ATC environment.

3.  I always know what mode the autopilot/flight director is in.

4.  I use the automation mainly because my company wants me to.

5.  Automation frees me of much of the routine, mechanical parts of flying so I can concentrate on "managing" the flight.

6.  In the automation of my current aircraft, there are still things that happen that surprise me.

7.  I make fewer errors in the automated airplanes than I did in the older models.

8.  Automation helps me stay "ahead of the airplane".

9.  I spend more time setting up and managing the automation (CDU, FMS) than I would hand-flying or using a plain autopilot.

10.  Automation does not reduce total workload, because there is more to monitor now.

11.  I always consult the flight mode annunciator to determine which mode the autopilot/ flight director is in.

12.  Training for my current aircraft was as adequate as any training I have had.

13.  I use automation mainly because it helps me get the job done.

14.  It is easier to bust an altitude in an automated airplane than in other planes.

15.  Sometimes I feel more like a "button pusher" than a pilot.

16.  There are still modes and features of the autoflight system that I don't understand.

Below and on the following pages you will see sets of three autoflight pitch mode names arranged in a row. Please proceed one row at a time and do the following: Read the mode names in the set. Choose the one mode name that is most different in meaning from the meanings of the other two mode names in the set. For example, if the items were kinship terms rather than mode names, and you saw the set,

 

Mother

Nephew

Daughter

you would probably judge Nephew to be the term that is most different. Circle the term you feel is most different from the other two:

Mother

Daughter

Next, consider the two uncircled terms. Of those two, which is closest in meaning to the term that you circled in the first step? For the example above, most people would say that Nephew is closer in meaning to Daughter than Nephew is to Mother. Underline the term that is closer in meaning to the circled term. Thus, your completed judgment would look like this:

Mother

Daughter

Go through the items in order, one at a time. There are no right or wrong answers. Take your time, but do not agonize over your answers or try to look back to see what you did before. Just relax and if it seems difficult to make up your mind, go with your gut feelings.

1.	V/S	G/S	VNAV PTH
2.	VNAV SPD	VNAV PTH	SPD
3.	VNAV SPD	ALT HOLD	SPD
4.	V/S	SPD	G/S
5.	SPD	V/S	ALT HOLD
6.	VNAV PTH	SPD	ALT HOLD
7.	VNAV SPD	ALT HOLD	G/S
8.	SPD	VNAV PTH	V/S
9.	V/S	VNAV PTH	VNAV SPD
10.	ALT HOLD	V/S	G/S
11.	VNAV SPD	V/S	SPD
12.	VNAV PTH	SPD	G/S
13.	ALT HOLD	G/S	VNAV PTH
14.	G/S	V/S	VNAV SPD
15.	VNAV SPD	VNAV PTH	ALT HOLD
16.	V/S	VNAV PTH	ALT HOLD
17.	SPD	VNAV SPD	G/S
18.	G/S	SPD	ALT HOLD
19.	ALT HOLD	V/S	VNAV SPD
20.	VNAV PTH	G/S	VNAV SPD