Expertise, Automation and Trust in X-Ray Screening of Cabin Baggage

Abstract

X-ray screening of passenger baggage is a key component in aviation security. The current study investigated how experts and novices performed in an X-ray baggage screening task while being assisted by an adaptable diagnostic aid. Furthermore, it examined how both groups operated and trusted this automated system. 30 experts (certified screeners) and 31 novices (students) had to indicate whether a target item (either a knife or a gun) was present in a series of X-ray images of cabin baggage. Half of the participants could choose between three different support levels of the diagnostic aid (DA): (1) no support, (2) a cue indicating the presence of a potential target without locating it, or (3) a cue indicating the presence of a potential target by surrounding it with a red frame. As expected, experts achieved higher detection performance (d’), were more self-confident and felt more competent in achieving the task than novices. Furthermore, experts experienced less time pressure and fatigue. Although both groups used the DA in a comparable way (in terms of support level used and frequency of level switches), results showed a performance increase for novices working with the DA compared to novices without support. This benefit of DA was not observed for experts. Interestingly, despite no difference in perceived trust ratings, experts were more compliant (i.e., following DA recommendations when it indicated the presence of a target) and reliant (i.e., following DA recommendations when it indicated the absence of a target) than novices. Altogether, the results of the present study suggested that novices benefited more from a DA than experts. Furthermore, compliance and reliance on DA seemed to depend on expertise with the task. Since experts should be better at assessing the reliability of the DA than novices, they may have used the DA as ‘back-up’ to confirm their decisions based on expertise (confirmatory function), while novices may have used it as a guide to base their decisions on (support function). Finally, trust towards a DA was associated with the degree to which participants found the DA useful.

Optimising the future of technology in organisations: A human factors perspective

“…However, for newly qualified and competent practitioners, an electronic support system might acquire and interpret task-related information, but provide a range of options from which a response might be selected. Finally, where practitioners are more experienced, a support system might acquire and present the information enabling the information to be interpreted and an optimal response initiated (Chavaillaz et al, 2019). While levels of experience might be predetermined, it will also be possible for an electronic support system to surmise a level of expertise on the basis of patterns of behaviour that are exhibited during preceding interactions with the system.…”

Visual search behavior and performance in luggage screening: effects of time pressure, automation aid, and target expectancy

“…A second factor which might affect visual search performance in luggage screening is automation. In recent years, automated decision support systems (DSSs) have been introduced to support screeners detect potential threat items (e.g., Chavaillaz et al 2018Chavaillaz et al , 2019Hättenschwiler et al 2018;Huegli et al 2020). Based on an automated image analysis, the DSS provides the operator with an automated recommendation about the true state of the world (in the current case, information whether a bag contains a target or not).…”

Impact of Hours Awake and Hours Slept at Night on Radiologists’ Mammogram Interpretations

“…In line with this reasoning, our findings suggest that more experienced radiologists can better mitigate the effects of hours awake and hours slept at night, a phenomenon commonly observed in radiology fatigue studies [20,21]. The impact of fatigue on less experienced professionals has been documented across diverse domains: more fatiguerelated mistakes were made by less experienced pilots than by those with significant experience [22]; less experienced long-haul truckers are more likely to be involved in fatigue-related critical incidents than more experienced truckers [23]; novices inspecting x-ray images of passenger bags for prohibited items during airport screening experienced significantly more fatigue and lower detection performance than experienced baggage screeners [24]. Whatever the domain, this experience-related vulnerability to fatigue can be attributed to experts' ability to more rapidly extract information from a scene than their less experienced counterparts, thus consuming less mental energy, which makes them less susceptible to fatigue-related problems [25].…”