Tech Grove Connect – Do I Trust You?? Effects of Trust Calibration on Human-Machine Team Performance in Operational Environments

Description

Watch the recording from this month's webinar!

Join us for the second NTSA/Tech Grove Connect webinar of 2024 spotlighting the Best Paper nominee in the HPAE committee from I/ITSEC 2023. This month, we focus on a growing dilemma in military training and operational environments as AI is increasingly adopted... how do we measure the presence or lack of trust? Measuring mission-critical trust between human operators and collaborative synthetic teammates is a DoD priority for achieving third-offset goals, accelerating automation design and training for human-machine teams (HMTs), and supporting next-generation multi-domain warfare. Achieving proper trust calibration has long been a primary mechanism by which HMT performance could be maximized by avoiding system distrust and over-trust, but this requires real-time trust assessment. The current study establishes the relationship between HMT trust, workload, and performance in a Search and Rescue (SAR) paradigm where human operators supervise intelligent Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) assets in a constructive synthetic environment. A novel trust measure was developed and piloted in this experiment to precisely measure subjective trust variations across time and in conjunction with target task elements. Results demonstrated that the novel trust measure was effective in capturing participants’ real-time confidence in the recommendations provided. This experiment is unique as it provides a foundation for a real-time self-report measure of trust that can be directly compared to concurrent physiological measures. Study findings further discuss intervention techniques to maintain proper trust calibration in operational environments.

Meet the Speakers

• Sandro Scielzo, Ph.D. is a Human Systems Technical Authority and Learning Science Fellow at CAE USA. Dr. Scielzo received his Ph.D. in Applied Experimental Human Factors and M.S. in Modeling & Simulation from the University of Central Florida in 2008 and 2005 respectively. His research has concentrated on the validation and implementation of next generation training solutions for military and commercial applications. Over the course of his career, Dr. Scielzo oversaw a wide portfolio of DoD R&D applied research projects to enhance warfighter training and readiness.
• Beth M. Hartzler, Ph.D. is a Research Psychologist with the Warfighter Learning Technologies Section of AFRL’s 711 Human Performance Wing. Her doctorate is in Experimental Psychology, with an educational focus on cognition and decision making. Dr. Hartzler has more than 10 years of experience working within the defense industry and is currently investigating the determinants of training efficacy among individuals and teams.
• Rachel Wong is a Research Scientist with CAE USA, Defense and Security. Rachel received her master's degree in Experimental Psychology from Florida Atlantic University in 2023 and has three years of industry experience.