Managing Approach Plate Information Study (MAPLIST): An Information Requirements Analysis for Approach Chart Use

Many of the tasks associated with approach chart use are cognitive (e.g., planning and monitoring). Therefore, design efforts associated with the presentation of approach information should consider the cognitive demands. Since traditional information requirement analyses do not explicitly address cognitive demands, a new methodology was developed for this purpose. The study described in this paper combined psychometric scaling techniques with a simulation task to provide quantifiable links between pilots' cognitive categorization and prioritization models (two salient cognitive processes) of approach information and their use of it. The results showed that pilots mentally organize approach chart information into ten categories, and that these ten categories underlie many of the pilots' cognitive processes.