Deirdre Bonini

Integra S/A

Denmark

Eurocontrol Experimental Centre

France

Trinity College Dublin

Ireland

A Model of Controllers’ Trust in Others & in the Technology

they Use in their Work

Presentation

• Definition of trust• Trust in Air Traffic Control• Model of trust• Hypotheses• Method• Results• Conclusion

A Definition of Trust

Trust is …

• A choice a trustor makes to give the trustee control (e.g. delegate task)

• Based on a belief that the trustee will carry out an action / behave in a certain way

• With the view of a positive outcome for the trustor

Trust in Air Traffic Control

• Why is trust relevant to Air Traffic Control?• A precursor of cooperation (Deutsch, 1958; Baier,

1986; Muir, 1989; Kramer, 2001)• The work of a controller can be seen as a

collaboration with colleagues, with pilots through technology, and with technology by using the information it provides

• Due to the trend towards controller mobility (standardisation of training) & introduction of technology it is increasingly important to understand how to optimise team work & the use of technology

Model of Trust

• Developed from:– Literature review

– Observation of controllers at work

– Three Questionnaires

– Focus groups

– One-to-one interviews

• Three elements: – Self

– Belief

– Control

Self

• Self confidence• Confidence in one’s

ability to judge others & situation

• Outlook on the world (i.e. trusting in general or not) both towards others (Zand, 1972) and towards technology (Lee & Moray,1994)

Belief• Cognitive frameworks

used to interpret a situation & anticipate events (e.g. mental models, schemas)

• Literature & controllers consider competence as relevant in trust decision

• Rulers/scales to describe competent controllers & technology

Competence Ruler

• Rulers for French, Irish, & Italian controllers (competent others & technology)

• Example of Italian technology competence ruler

Lowest Highest

0 36 38 53 61 66

Fast Gain time Of help Simple to use

Useful Clear Display

Control

• Implicit/explicit rules define, mediate & constrain trustor & trustee co-operation

• Roles (e.g. an actor’s role defines their behaviour & social interactions) & contracts

• Choice (need to understand context)

Null Hypotheses

• Self– No difference between low/high self confidence – No difference (both for others & technology)

between low/high trustors• Belief

– No difference between low/high competence (for both others & technology)

• Control – Cultural differences will be found in trusting

behaviour (for both others & technology)

Method

• Scenario-based questionnaires• Ten scenarios

– Questionnaires; Incident reports; Support of 5 operational experts

– Iterative process (both analytical & empirical approach)

– Operationally sound; Not specific to one operational environment; Not a test with a right/wrong answer

Participants & Design

• Irish (26)

– 11 control

– 15 experimental condition

• Italian (44)

– 16 control

– 28 experimental condition

• Volunteers in 4 control centres

Controller Technology

Sc1 HIGHER HIGHER

Sc2 LOWER LOWER

Sc3 LOWER HIGHER

Sc4 HIGHER -

Sc5 HIGHER LOWER

Sc6 - HIGHER

Sc7 LOWER -

Sc8 - LOWER

Sc9 LOWER -

Sc10 - LOWER

Results: Self• All respondents rated

themselves high on self-confidence

• Towards others most respondents rated high (69-86%)

• Towards technology Italians low (57%) & Irish high (58%)

• No significant correlation between attitudes & trust decision

Results: Belief• Participants under

control & exp. condition chose same answer (‘trust’ or ‘no trust’)

• Both lower & higher characteristics were positive

• Narratives maybe not neutral?

• Significant correlation between competence & trustworthiness ratings

Results: Control

• Italian & Irish responded differently to 3 scenarios, but no significant difference found

• “what would change your answer?”

• Individual differences or cultural differences?

Conclusions

• No conclusive validation• Should test model components separately (Belief

component more than competence)• Need to separate effect of culture versus

individual differences (self, belief, & control)• Consider the interaction between controller &

technology competence & effect on trust

• Relation between ratings of competence & trustworthiness (both others & technology)

• Scenarios found to be effective way to interact with controllers– Perhaps follow-up with interview

Questions ?