Investigating Interruptions: An Example from the Flightdeck

Abstract

This study investigates an aspect of multiple-task management, interruption management, in an opexational context. Fourteen commercial airline pilots each perfimned 16 approaches in a simulated commercial flightdeck. Air traffic control (A'I'C) clea~ances intempted subjects as they perfomaed three procedum during these approaches. Common ATC interruptions w~f e found to be significantly disruptive to ongoing procedure pezfortnance on the flightdeck by producing significantly more procedm performance errors and i n c r d flightpath management activity. These results ~rmborate, for the flightdeck, that which is true in labomtory qwriments, and which is evidenced in aviation accidentlincideut reports. INTRODUCTIONHuman operators increasingly act as managers of multiple tasks in complex and dynamic environments. One aspect of multiple-task management (MTM) is the handling of interruptions, or interruption management. Research in attention management (ag., Broadbent, 1958; Schneider & Detweiler, 1988) and human mor (e.g., Reason, 1992) indicate that humans do not handle interruptions easily, or, often, very well. Previous research invMigating interruption mmagement takes four approaches: (1) development of a thewretical framework for MTM, including interruption management (2) laboratory studies aimed at u -@ mechanisms of intemptions (3) hudmachine i n t e b evaluations using interruption-recovery as an evaiuation metric and (4) identification of intemptions as a causal factor in accident/incident analyses and field investigations.Adams, Tenney, & Pew (1995) describe problems associated with developing situation awareness in MTM environments. One problem associated with situation awareness is to accurately develop and retain a task queue in memory. Consistent with theories of limited working memory capacity, t h m authors suggest that interruptions may cause other tasks' representations to be deleted from the queue, and the tasks not performed. An interruption i s not merely an additional task competing for a limited resource, it also redefines h t wbich is resident in active memory. Knowledge structures asswiated w i t h the interrupting task impose on those already resident at the time of intenuption.Based on these two facets of the MTM problem, Adams, Tenney , & Pew (1995) develop a framework for the management of multiple tasks based on Neisser's (1976) expanded model of the perceptual cycle. Neisser's model includes an qlicitflnrs memory bin and an implicit focus memory bin. Explicit focus describes a limitedcapacity storage, and corresponds to working memory. implicit focus relates t o the knowledge stnactum that are related to those tasks represented in explicit focus. This framewok provides the foundation for spcuiation on when interruptions might be handled most easily. Specifically, that interruptions related to the items in explicit focus should be easily integrated with ongoing activities, and, intemptions tangent to the immediate explicit focus should be relatively easily assimilated due to common repre...

Interrupções e distrações na sala de cirurgia do trauma: entendendo a ameaça do erro humano

“…Interruptions or distractions usually result from three main causes, which could be applied directly to the trauma surgery 3,[25][26][27][28][29] : communications (eg anesthesiologist informing or inquiring about the status of the patient, resident receiving the instructions in the next surgical step or a nurse entering or leaving the room frequently), Headdown activity (eg long period of time with he head down in a difficult vascular anastomosis), responding to an abnormal condition or an unexpected situation (eg, malfunctioning surgical devices, uncontrolled bleeding).…”

“…The failure of an equipment, for example, demonstrating poor organization of the infrastructure, may turn a routine procedure into a challenging event 28,29 .…”

“…(Examples: wrong configuration of the aircraft for takeoff, late retraction of the landing gear, premature flaps retraction, failure to start the anti-ice engine when necessary, failure in reprogramming the altimeter, failure to apply the parking brake on arrival at the gate) 7,27,29 .…”

“…The work interrupted in the cockpit may lead pilots to quickly forget the planned activities and lead to error or deviation in the standard protocols 28,29 .…”

“…However, it is difficult to isolate the effect of the CRM program on the overall performance and patient safety 28,29 . Human factors (errors) are still identified as a common problem that brings its own characteristics and consequences, including increased morbidity and mortality 3,6,11,30 .…”