Using System-Wide Trust Theory to Reveal the Contagion Effects of Automation False Alarms and Misses on Compliance and Reliance in a Simulated Aviation Task

Abstract

System-wide trust theory (Keller & Rice, 2010) suggests that automated aids associated with multiple independent gauges tend to be treated as one system. Meyer's (2001, 2004) compliance–reliance model indicates that false-alarm-prone and miss-prone automated aids affect operator behavior differently. This study integrates system-wide trust theory with Meyer's compliance–reliance model. Participants monitored 8 gauges, each augmented by an automated aid. Aid 1 was either 100% or 70% reliable (either false alarm- or miss-prone), whereas the other aids were perfectly reliable. Participants generally employed a system-wide trust strategy, but this effect was stronger for false alarms compared to misses.