A Meta-Analytic Approach to Investigating the Relationship Between Human-Automation Trust and Attention Allocation

Abstract

Trust and attention allocation are pivotal determinants in human-automation interaction. However, there are scarce empirical findings regarding the relationship between trust and attention allocation. Observations from our previous work suggested there may be a negative correlation between trust in automation and eye movement towards automation, though no formal analysis of these data had been conducted to quantify this relationship. The present meta-analysis examined the relationship between three dimensions of trust in automation (performance, process, and purpose) and visual attention allocation to the automation. Specifically, we applied Cumming’s (2014) meta-analysis technique to combine evidence across three experiments. Results indicated a negative correlation between trust in automation and visual sampling of the automated system monitoring task for performance-based trust, but not for process- or purpose-based trust. These findings suggest that operators scanned the automation’s behavior less frequently when indicating higher performance-based trust towards the automation.

Authors

• Tetsuya Sato Old Dominion University
• Jessica Inman Old Dominion University
• Michael S Politowicz Langley Research Center
• Eric T Chancey Langley Research Center
• Yusuke Yamani Old Dominion University

Keywords

• Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT)
• Trust
• Automation
• Human-Automation Interaction
• Public Acceptance
• Advanced Air Mobility