The effects of dynamic updating of tactical information on situation awareness and performance in an attack helicopter domain

As part of a research program investigating tactical situation awareness (SA) in attack helicopter missions, we investigated alternative methods for displaying dynamically changing tactical information to maintain high levels of SA and task performance. We conducted two experiments in which we investigated display features that could improve SA and performance, including automatic updating of enemy and friendly unit locations, and availability of unit history information. Subjects reported higher awareness of tactical changes with periodic updates than continual real-time updates, but the periodic updates did not help the crew ascertain which units had moved since the previous update, a very important aspect of maintaining awareness of enemy and friendly status and determining enemy intent. We also compared textual and graphical methods for displaying traces of unit movements, but found no differences in SA or performance between the two methods. The research raised a number of cognitive issues associated with dynamic updating of tactical information and the display of unit histories.