Alarms and attention

[drwex]

I recently told this story on a small tech list and I thought I'd copy it here for posterity.

Once upon a very long time ago I worked at MCC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microelectronics_and_Computer_Technology_Corporation) and we researched large software systems, among them the Aegis missile defense system. Having done that, it was entirely unsurprisingly to me that it shot down an Iranian passenger airline. But that's a different story.

During our interviews with people it turned out that there is a significant problem with alarms in jet aircraft cockpits. There is so much going on and so many systems competing for attention that alarms are often missed. This problem is compounded for pilots trying a difficult task such as a carrier landing, and that problem is even worse because those pilots may be flying damaged aircraft (and thus have more alarms) as well as being post combat. Adrenaline is remarkably good at focusing your attention, which is great for combat, but it does so in part by suppressing other stimuli, such as noise. People who are pumped up on adrenaline tend not to hear things even in a cockpit. Alarms and warning buzzers are going off and tend to be hard to distinguish. Having a recorded voice speak the warning works best.

The biggest risk, it turns out, is pilots forgetting to put down their landing gear. On a land airfield this is a problem; on a carrier it's a catastrophe. A "gear-up touchdown" (it's not called a landing when you do that) is likely to make the carrier deck unusable, potentially stranding every other plane in the air because there's no place else to land. If the plane is damaged and cannot get its gear down the pilot will be ordered to ditch into the water and wait for rescue rather than risk damaging the carrier flight deck. Ditto planes on fire or shedding parts.

So the Navy did a great deal of research on how to get pilots' attention on the gear up warning. It turns out that if you have a girl child voice say, "Daddy, your gear is up!" that works 100% of the time(*).

However, it utterly freaks out the pilot and they may make other errors of judgement. It's still a carrier landing, after all, and there's a lot that needs attention. So the Navy went with the second-best option, which was a female voice using what's known as a "BBC English" accent saying the warning. It turns out that fighter pilots pay a lot of attention to English ladies' voices.

Stories like this are why I love doing ethnographic research...

(*) there were no women carrier combat pilots at the time

Comments

[corylea]

That's a fascinating story; thanks for sharing it!

There's a story from the early days of psychological testing that I've always loved. Some people handle hot weather very well, and others wilt in it. Some people handle cold weather very well, and others become lethargic in it. The armed forces really needed to know which people could handle extreme temperatures, for missions in the Arctic or on the equator.

They turned the problem over to psychologists, and psychologists designed all kinds of tests to try to figure out who could best handle extreme cold or extreme heat, but none of the tests was as accurate as they really wanted.

It turned out that the best thing to do was to ASK the soldiers. :-) People know what their own reactions to extreme temperatures are like, and if you want to know, they'll tell you.

I wilt once the temperature breaks 75, so when it's 80 degrees and everyone else is talking about what a lovely day it is, I'm huddled next to my air conditioner with a glass of ice water. But when it's 30 degrees and everyone else is shivering, I think it's a lovely day for a walk. :-) Looking at me now, one would guess that it's because of all this insulation I'm carrying, but I was like that even as a teenager, when I stood 5' 10" and weighed 120 pounds. My maternal grandmother was the same way, so it doesn't surprise my family as much as it surprises other people. :-)

[drwex]

You're welcome. As I'm sure you know, people are terrible self-reporters. So I can understand why "just ask" might not be a first-choice methodology.

[quietann]

There is also personal experience to account for... If I'd been looking to go into the military at 18, I honestly would not have known how I would handle extreme cold, because I grew up in San Diego and had very little time in cold places. (Turns out I am fine with it, as long as I stay hydrated and wear the appropriate layers.)

And my answer about extreme heat would have been only partially true; I thought I did heat just fine, until I experienced heat+humidity, which also required not being in San Diego.

[reedrover]

Thank you for the laugh today!

[drwex]

You're welcome. I suppose it is funny at this remove, but they were pretty serious about not having planes crash into the flight deck.

[reedrover]

Oh yes, the problem is deadly serious. Achaosofkittens has a plane, and we often talk about small plane crashes and the major issues of forgetfulness and overstimulation and crisis prioritization.

The laugh was the "daddy..." part. Not what I was expecting.

[drwex]

Oh, yes. They deliberately picked an alarm that was as unlike everything else as possible.

[aelf]

I believe I've read similar research about fire alarms. Children will sleep through beeping, but wake up to their mom's voice telling them to wake up/get out of the house.

[drwex]

I have read similar research, yes. As parents we learned not to talk outside the kids' rooms.

[quietann]

Ditto for ICUs. Too many monitors to monitor, and too many beeps for the patient to rest.

When I was in the ICU in 2008, I would voluntarily stop breathing, because it hurt so much. A broken collarbone, 5 rib fractures, and a partially collapsed lung will do that, even with heavy painkillers. And this would set off the breathing monitor. Eventually the nurses told me they wouldn't respond unless it was alarming for a minute or more.

[sovay]

It turns out that if you have a girl child voice say, "Daddy, your gear is up!" that works 100% of the time

That's amazing.

However, it utterly freaks out the pilot and they may make other errors of judgement.

That, I'm not surprised by!

[redbird]

I'm impressed by this, and wondering how large the test group was, since it seems almost certain that not all pilots have daughters. That is, does this work on men without children, or men none of whose children are girls?

[drwex]

In fact, almost no pilots have daughters. It was long enough ago that I don't remember if I ever knew their test sample size. Children voices get reactions from non-parents, too, a fact on which many horror movies rely ;)

[rmd]

I expect some of it is the utter dissonance of it - not just unlike the rest of the alarms, but probably unlike any stimulus the pilot had encountered in days or weeks.

[intuition_ist]

Just so -- the sheer startling nature of a little girl's voice in your ear telling you do something important is more likely to cause you to do it. Also likely to cause you to freak out a bit because WTF little girl on the radio???

[mizarchivist]

gaaaaaaaaah..... I'd lose it if a kiddo's voice told me that, too, and also stay totally calm if the BBC announcer lady pointed it out. I feel like that's evolution for you.