A neuroimaging approach to evaluate choices and compare performance of tower air traffic controllers during missed approaches

• Main Authors: Ayeni, Alvin John, Pushparaj, Kiranraj, Izzetoglu, Kurtulus, Alam, Sameer, Duong, Vu N.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aviation; Human Factors; Neuroscience
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147627
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The aim of this research is to use functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to compare and contrast brain activation for professional versus novice Tower Air Traffic Controllers when performing their daily tasks, whilst accounting for missed approaches. With functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy chosen due to its ability to continuously monitor brain activity for mobile participants in their workplace settings, increasing eco-logical validity, as well as being safe, inexpensive, and benefitting from low set-up times, resulting in excellent temporal resolution as well as superior spatial resolution over Electroencephalogram. If a significant difference in activation is observed between professional and novice ATCOs, the neuroimaging data can be used as a benchmark for future exploratory studies using the obtained neuroimaging data to serve as a reliable quantitative measure to track performance during Air Traffic Controller training, establishing a metric to distinguish novice from professional Air Traffic Controllers. Our hypothesis is that professional tower controllers will have a decrease in brain activation due to their experience. Contrastingly, novice tower controllers would have more extensive brain activation, given a lack of experience relying soley on training. Additionally, we expect to see a significant difference in sustained attention activation between professionals and novices. The tasks that the tower controllers will be expected to resolve will be a series of tower control duties that will be severely impacted by a range of factors that will intentionally make the successful performance of their duties strained.