The Mathematical Meaninglessness of the NASA Task Load Index: A Level of Measurement Analysis

Review Psychology, Multidisciplinary

Human Mental Workload: A Survey and a Novel Inclusive Definition

Luca Longo et al.

Summary: This paper provides a synthesis of the current state of the art in assessing human mental workload, highlighting the absence of a fully established framework for research in this area. The lack of consensus is attributed to the wide range of operational definitions based on different theoretical assumptions and the limited use of a comprehensive set of measures including self-report, task performance, and physiological indices.

FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY (2022)

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Article Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence

The Level of Measurement of Subjective Situation Awareness and Its Dimensions in the Situation Awareness Rating Technique (SART)

Matthew L. Bolton et al.

Summary: This study evaluates the measurement level of Situation awareness rating technique (SART) and its dimensions using a method for determining the level of measurement of psychometric ratings. Results suggest that all dimensions of SA can be treated as interval, but on separate interval scales. This raises doubts about the validity of the formula used by SART to compute SA.

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON HUMAN-MACHINE SYSTEMS (2022)

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Article Engineering, Industrial

Investigating the validity of subjective workload rating (NASA TLX) and subjective situation awareness rating (SART) for cognitively complex human-machine work

Per Oivind Braarud

Summary: The study found that the interpretation of TLX items involving introspection remained stable after operators acquired factual scenario knowledge, while the interpretation of items involving the perception of external events, such as situation awareness and performance, depended on the operators' scenario knowledge. The operators' ratings were able to discriminate between mental effort, performance, frustration, and situation awareness. No clear evidence for the SART index as a measure of situation awareness was found. Instead, a subjective situation awareness measure developed for this study was distinct from workload and related to operator performance, showing that this type of measure warrants future investigation of its validity.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ERGONOMICS (2021)

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Article Ergonomics

The level of measurement of trust in automation

Jiajun Wei et al.

Summary: Psychometrics are increasingly used to evaluate trust in automation, with no consensus on the highest level of measurement for trust. This study introduces a new method to determine the maximum level of measurement for psychometrically assessed phenomenon, finding that trust is best represented at an ordinal level and can be treated as interval in most cases, but unlikely to be considered ratio. These results have implications for future research on trust in automation.

THEORETICAL ISSUES IN ERGONOMICS SCIENCE (2021)

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Article Psychology, Mathematical