Information Extraction during Instrument Flight: An Evaluation of the Validity of the Eye-Mind Hypothesis

Abstract

A study was performed to determine the extent to which flight-relevant information on instruments peripheral to fixation is extracted and used during fixed-wing instrument flight. Twenty student and twenty instructor pilots flew a series of missions in a fixed-wing flight simulator which was interfaced with an eye-tracker. In one mission flight-relevant information was removed from instruments peripheral to fixation while in the other mission peripheral information was intact. Pilots' performance was degraded and eye scan strategies were modified when peripheral information was removed. Furthermore, in several situations instructor pilots' performance was more adversely influenced by the removal of peripheral information than was student pilots' performance. The data are discussed in terms of attentional strategies during flight.