Factors affecting task management in aviation.

The present paper summarizes the results of a study investigating task management and task prioritization processes in aviation. Forty instrument rated pilots flew three curved approaches in a high fidelity simulation using a Synthetic Vision System (SVS) display. In addition to the primary task of flying, during the last approach they were required to select the approach path on the basis of environmental information concerning weather. The level of immersion in the task, the nature and saliency of the cues signaling the need to divert attention to the path selection task and the cost of not performing the secondary task were manipulated to investigate their influence on task prioritization. Our results indicate that cue saliency affected the frequency of the switch to the secondary task, while task compellingness did not show any reliable effect on task prioritization.