Abstract

Projected demand for commercial pilots is expected to exceed current training programs. As such, next-generation training programs are focused on developing competencies through practice sessions targeting specific manoeuvres. These sessions are most effective when conducted near a trainee’s maximum workload. Thus, measuring and understanding the relationship between workload and performance in the cockpit is of prime importance. Currently, workload measurement in the cockpit relies on subjective measures. More recently, heart rate, heart rate variability and pupillometry have shown promise as objective, continuous indicators of workload. We investigated relationships between these psychophysiological measures, NASA-TLX subjective workload ratings and aircraft handling performance in commercial pilots flying a jet airplane simulator. We found that (1) heart rate and heart rate variability patterns were stable between participants, showing clear differences between manoeuvre types, but not manoeuvre difficulty, (2) pupil diameter is not an effective measure of workload in the simulator cockpit, likely due to the differences in brightness, and (3) psychophysiological measures of workload can supplement subjective workload reports to better understand performance.