Published Report (DOT/FAA/CT-94-36)

TABLE 12.
NUISANCE BREAKOUT DATA
Runway
16
17R
17L
Totals
Simulator Type
# of Cases
Percent
Flight Simulator 0 0.0
TGF 4 23.5
Flight Simulator 1 6.0
TGF 7 41.0
Flight Simulator 2 12.0
TGF 3 17.5
17 100.0
A one-way ANOVA was performed to detect any effects of runway
assignment on stress levels. Runway assignment significantly
affected stress level (E < .05). A Scheffe post-hoc pairwise
comparison showed that controllers had significantly more stress
(E < .05) on runway 17R (i.e:, center runway) than on runway 16
(i.e., 7600 ft spacing). This relationship was expected since
the center runway controller was involved in all blunder and
breakout situations.
4.4.1.3 Mental Effort.
Mental effort was rated on a scale ranging from 1 (low) to 5
(maximum). Overall, 64 percent of the responses were twos (i.e.,
Ifacceptableff). Twenty-four percent of the responses were threes
(i.e., Ifmoderately high"). These percentages varied little over
the course of the simulation. There were 39 ratings of fours and
fives. Of these ratings, 36 (92.3 percent) were made by 1
controller. Thus, one controller consistently rated a high level
of mental effort, indicating a rating bias toward the high end of
the scale.
A one-way ANOVA was performed to determine if runway assignment
(16, 17R, 17L) affected the level of mental effort to maintain
traffic separation. No significant difference was found (E >
.05). Thus, it appears that the mental effort required to detect
and resolve blunders on all three runways was the same.
Overall, the situational factors associated with runway
assignment (e.g., frequency of blunders, frequency of breakouts)
required higher activity levels and produced more stress, but did
not require any additional mental effort. Independent of runway
assignment, the controllers' mental effort was generally
moderate. Further, based on controller blunder resolution
performance, the level of mental effort seemed appropriate for
the task.
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