Dynamic control tasks, such as t&operation, are often performed by one person. Previous researchers have focused on methods for extending the capabilities of this sole operator. The present study compared the performance of individuals and two-person teams on a simulated space teleoperation task. Forty-eight undergraduate and graduate psychology students participated as part of a larger study. Participants performed a computer-based teleoperation simulation (based on Li, 1998) both individually and in two-person teams (n=24). Results indicated that teams outperformed individuals on two of three performance measures: path completion time and damage caused by collisions with the path wall. These results indicate that team-control may be a viable option in dynamic control tasks such as teleoperation. Real-world applications of these findings are discussed.
Force feedback about fellow team-member control actions was evaluated as a means to improve team coordination and performance in virtual teleoperation. Each member of a two-person team received continuous force feedback about the other teammember's joystick control movements. In Study 1 (N=22 teams), participants worked in parallel to control vertical and horizontal forces exerted on a simulated inertial object.Although force feedback improved joystick coordination between participants, teleoperation performance worsened. In Study 2 (N=24 teams) where participants instead had direct control over horizontal and vertical position of a cursor, force feedback improved both joystick coordination and teleoperation performance. Performance impairment in Study 1 may be explained by the visual feedback of inertial movements being asynchronous to the social force feedback. These findings suggest force feedback about team member control actions can benefit team coordination and performance during virtual teleoperation only if it is synchronous with feedback about system response.
Previous research into drivers' ability to assess road hazards has focused on experimenter, or expert, defined hazards. The present study attempted to use a more objective definition of hazard by comparing drivers' ratings of hazard for a series of road segments with the actual crash rates for those segments. Forty-one transportation professionals (operationally defined as “Experts”) and 38 undergraduate students (“Novices”) participated. A personal computer was used to display 24 randomly selected road segments from the 1994 Connecticut Photolog to participants, who then responded to a 6-item hazard perception survey (based on Groeger & Chapman, 1996). A Mann-Whitney U analysis indicated that the correlations between drivers' perceptions of hazard and actual crash rates were significantly higher for Experts than for Novices. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
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