Exploring the Effects of Working Memory Capacity Attention and Expertise on Situation Awareness in a Flight Simulation Environment

Simulator pilots are subject to some of the constraints of a real flight situation in a PC based flight simulation. Situation awareness (SA) for simulator pilots was explored in terms of underlying cognitive aspects by analyzing the compound effects of expertise, working memory, inhibition and divided attention. Online and Offline SA measurements were analyzed with expertise and scores of Automated Operation Span Task, Stroop and Coşkunöz visual attention tasks. Regression analyses revealed the expected relationships of simulator pilots’ SA with expertise and inhibition capacity but not with working memory and divided attention capacity. Obtained results were also compared to those of professional pilots. Despite similar cognitive capacities and expertise, simulator pilots had incompatible results with professional pilots in offline SA queries and they exhibited different SA performance related to expertise and cognitive capacity tests. This situation probably resulted from unsystematic differences in simulator pilots’ practices