The Effect of Stress on Reliance Decisions

Abstract

Appropriate reliance on automation is critical in high-risk/high-stress contexts such as military operations. The current study examines how stress affects the decision to rely on automation. Reliance will be examined using a decision making framework, taking into account the cognitive processes that are being affected by stress. Additionally, the role of feedback is essential in updating information to be able to make a more informed decision in the future. Reliability of automation will be manipulated so that actual reliability will be lower than expected reliability in one condition, and will be the same as expected in the other. Participants’ ability to incorporate feedback into subsequent reliance decisions will be assessed between stress conditions. Finally, since motivation can encourage more deliberate thinking, motivation will be manipulated between subjects. A better understanding of how reliance decisions are made under stress can inform the design of systems for better human-automation collaboration.