This report describes a study conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center to expand the TATCA knowledge base. NASA and FAA shared the experimental cost and Lincoln Laboratory, MIT, provided inputs to the experimental design and controller subject questionnaires. Working jointly with the FAA, Lincoln Laboratory, and Ames, a Langley study was conducted to help identify the most promising fi nal-approach spacing aid (FASA) format for use in the TATCA early field implementation. To that end, the collected data were quickly shared with these parties prior to formal publication. The TRACON environment at early TATCA implementation i s expected to still use monochrome ARTS (automated radar terminal system) displays before the introduction of the Advanced Automation System (AAS) controller suite color displays. The study was directed toward gathering finalcontroller comparative-performance data, among potential FASA formats using a monochrome (no color) display. The fi nal controller's primary responsibility is the acceptance of traffic from the arrival position and merging and spacing traffic for the final approach. Separation and delivery precision, controller eyescan of the radar display, number of vectors (heading changes) issued, response time, workload, and questionnaire data were gathered. These multiple measures provided a broad assessment of the relative performance of the formats and , in some cases, resolved ambiguity. The data were collected from 12 subject controllers provided by the FAA, al l of whom were active, ful l performance l evel (FPL) terminal area controllers. The subjects served as the fi nal controller i n a real-time TRACON (terminal radar approach control) simulation under several experimental conditions. For each of two representative approach pat...

this report are available for $5.00 each from the Department of Cognitive Science, UCSD, La Jolla, CA 92093-0515. A PostScript version of this report is available by anonymous ftp from cogsci.ucsd.edu in /pub/tr. Copyright 1994 by Christine A. Halverson. Distributed Cognition as a Theoretical Framework for HCI: Don't Throw the Baby out with the Bathwater --the Importance of the Cursor in Air Traffic Control 1 Christine A. Halverson Department of Cognitive Science, 0515 University of California, San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla CA, 92093-0515 USA email: halverso@cogsci.ucsd.edu PH: 619-534-4348 FAX: 619-534-1128 Introduction Two of the roles of theory in human computer interaction (HCI) are to aid design and analysis. However, theories can often be unwieldy in their application. Thus the demonstration of a particular theory in application to a problem in HCI may be the best demonstration of that theory's utility. In this paper, I present the theory of distributed cognition and apply it to the analysis of an automation tool for air traffic control (ATC). This example demonstrates how: 1) the theory of distributed cognition influences and informs every step of the process of analysis and redesign; 2) any interaction is embedded in a domain and thus a socio-cultural context that must be considered; and 3) that understanding what to retain of an existing design is as important as the evaluation of enhancements. 1 Originally presented as a position paper for the InterCHI '93 Workshop -- Rethinking Theoretic Frameworks for Human-Computer Interaction. Yvonne Rogers, Liam Bannon, and Grahm Button, Chairs. Research support was provided by cooperative agreement NCC2-591 to Edwin Hutchins from the Ames Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA...

. A system for assisting terminal area air traffic controllers in the management and control of arrival traffic, referred to as the Final Approach Spacing Tool (FAST), is being developed at NASA Ames Research Center. In a cooperative program, NASA and the FAA have efforts underway to install and evaluate the system at the Dallas/Fort Worth Terminal Radar Approach Control facility beginning in 1994. This paper will review the algorithmic components, the human-machine interface, and the results of recent simulations. Key Words. Air-traffic control; Automation; Computer Application; Heuristic programming; Simulation. 1. INTRODUCTION The development of automated systems for the control of air traffic has long been the objective of researchers and engineers. The continued growth of air traffic nationwide has caused increases in air traffic delays and has put considerable stress on both existing air traffic control systems and on the air traffic controllers. This paper describes the desig...