Exploring the Peak-End Effects in Air Traffic Controllers' Mental Workload Ratings

Objective

This study examined whether professional air traffic controllers (ATCos) were subject to peak-end effects in reporting their mental workload after performing an air traffic control task, and in predicting their mental workload in future scenarios.

Background

In affective experience studies, people's evaluation of a period of experience is strongly influenced by the most intense (peak) point and the endpoint. However, whether the effects exist in mental workload evaluations made by professional operators is still not known.

Method

In Study 1, 20 ATCos performed air traffic control scenarios on high-fidelity radar simulators and reported their mental workload. We used a 2 (high peak, low peak) x 2 (high end, low end) within-subject design. In Study 2, another group of 43 ATCos completed a survey asking them to predict their mental workload given the same air traffic control scenarios.

Results

In Study 1, ATCos reported higher mental workload after completing the high-peak and the high-end scenarios. In contrast, in Study 2, ATCos predicted the peak workload effect but not the end workload effect when asked to predict their experience in dealing with the same scenarios.

Conclusion

Peak and end effects exist in subjective mental workload evaluation, but experts only had meta-cognitive awareness of the peak effect, and not the end effect.

Application

Researchers and practitioners that use subjective workload estimates for work design decisions need to be aware of the potential impact of peak and end task demand effects on subjective mental workload ratings provided by expert operators.