Homko Purdue Thesis Virtual Poster
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1) The document discusses a study that examined how age and recency of experience affect the ability to complete complex tasks in a technologically advanced aircraft (TAA). 2) The study involved participants of different ages performing 10 simulated tasks of increasing complexity in a G1000 system, and their times and errors were recorded. 3) The results suggest that older participants and those without recent experience took longer to complete tasks, confirming prior research on age and learning. Recency of experience appeared to play a more significant role in performance.
![The Effects of Age and Recency of Experience on the Completion of Complex Tasks in A Technologically Advanced Aircraft Abstract A Human Factors in Aviation MS Thesis by: Chris Homko, Advisors: Dr. Chien-Tsung Lu, Dr. Stewart Schreckengast, Professor Brian Dillman When the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instituted the FAA industry training standards (FITS) program in 1995, it was expected that FITS would mitigate the hazards present in technologically advanced aircraft (TAA) accidents. The 2010 Leon Groff NTSB report on TAA accidents rates does not support this conclusion. The Groff report showed that TAA have a higher fatal accident rate than conventional instrument equipped aircraft. The statistics also indicate that the pilots involved in these accidents are older and more experienced. This is a qualitative study which attempts to observe the effects of age and recency of experience in the completion of complex tasks using a Technologically Advanced Aircraft (TAA). All participants were asked to perform 10 non-flight systems tasks using a G1000 personal computer (PC) simulation program that increases in complexity (number of steps required to perform the function). The time to complete each of the ten tasks was recorded. The spacial dimensions of procedure, memory, attention, and technique were scored on a scale of 0 to 4 with 0 being no error. It was expected that the observations would show no significant differences in the age groups for those who have had recent G1000 experience and significant differences in age groups of those who do not have recent G1000 experience (30+days). The results of this preliminary study seem to confirm the results seen in past human factors studies on age and learning. Older age participants seemed to perform tasks slightly slower than younger participants. Recency of experience may played a more significant role which resulted in lower task completion rates, especially in the older age group. It is theorized that initial training and frequency of use may be the greatest factors that affect task completion regardless of age in TAA. Introduction Methods ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Results Discussion/References ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Significance – Age vs. IT Use and Memory Figure 3: Table of Test Results 2 nd Information Technology (IT) Use Experiment.. Older test subjects had difficulty with PC’s with no structure showing where you have navigated to within the software. This could indicate that older pilots may get lost trying to navigate the complex menu structure of TAA. Source: Harada, E. Et AL. (2010). P. 240. Figure 4: Table of Test Results of Cognitive Tests of Pilots, number of outliers vs. age. This study confirmed that the average age where cognitive memory difficulties started showing up was about age 40 shown by the mean (M). Source: Hardy, D. Et AL. (2007). P. 86. Figure 1: Aircraft Accident Fatality Percentage Bar Graph. TAA seem to have a fatal accident rate almost twice that of conventional aircraft. WHY? Source: Groff, L. (2010). P. 14. Figure 2: TAA Accidents Table of Quantitative Results. A search of the NTSB accident database confirmed that the age of pilots lies in the group of age 35+. WHY? Source: Groff, L. (2010). P. 11. Problem – Leon Groff NTSB TAA Report](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/homkoluvirtualposterv2-110501100112-phpapp02/85/Homko-Purdue-Thesis-Virtual-Poster-1-320.jpg)
