MAP-01-011 HFI Technical Guide - Human Factors Integration ...

Annex 3 – HF Techniques, Methods and Tools• It appears that the technique could be prone to bias.• The technique has been subjected to only limited use.• Matthews & Beal (DTC129 - 2002) report disappointing results for theSABARS technique.• According to Endsley (DTC054 & DTC056 - 1995) using observation, as anassessment of participant SA is limited.A3.7.9Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT)The situation awareness (SA) global assessment technique (SAGAT) is an onlineprobe technique that was developed to assess pilot SA across the threelevels. SAGAT consists of a set of queries regarding the SA requirements for thetask or environment under analysis, including level 1 SA (perception of theelements), level 2 SA (comprehension of their meaning) and level 3 SA(projection of future status). Although developed specifically for military aviationpurposes, a number of different versions of SAGAT exist, including a specific airto-airtactical aircraft version, an advanced bomber aircraft version and an Airtraffic control version, SAGAT-TRACON. The technique itself is a simulatorbased, on-line questionnaire including queries regarding pilot SA that uses the‘freeze technique’ in its administration.The SAGAT technique is undoubtedly the most widely used SA assessmenttechnique used by HF practitioners. As a result, a number of variations of thetechnique exist. The Situation Awareness Probes (SAPS) technique wasdeveloped by DERA to assess military helicopter pilot SA and is a modification ofSAGAT that uses fewer probes to achieve minimal intrusiveness. SALSA is anadaptation of the SAGAT technique that has been used to assess air trafficcontroller SA. The SAVANT technique was developed by the FAA technicalcentre and is a combination of the SAGAT and SPAM techniques.• Advantages• SAGAT directly measures participant SA.• SAGAT provides an objective assessment of participant SA.• SAGAT queries can be designed to encapsulate all operator SArequirements.• SAGAT has been extensively used in the past and has a wealth ofassociated validation evidence (No citation reference - Jones & Endsley2000, DTC046 - Durso et al 1998, DTC060 - Garland & Endsley 1995).• On-line probing removes the problem of subjects biasing their attentiontowards certain aspects of the situation.• On-line probing also removes the various problems associated withparticipants reporting SA ‘after the fact’, such as a correlation between SAMay 2006 Page A3-65 Issue 4