Affiliated with the Visual Cognition and Human Performance Division

Professor Wickens' current research interests focus on models of human interaction with complex systems, with particular emphasis on aerospace systems, and the role of human perception, attention, and cognition in designing display interfaces for those systems. He has developed a model of the cognitive processes by which humans understand and navigate through spatial environments. This has been applied to pilots flying through the airspace, and extended to scientists navigating through virtual environment renderings of scientific data. The model has been employed to derive predictions and provide human factors guidelines for the optimal interface when interacting with these environments. Guidelines have been generated, for example, regarding the appropriate use of 3D displays for aviation, air traffic control, geographical understanding, and data visualization; the use of head-up displays for aviation; and for the advantages and costs of immersive viewpoints in navigating through real or virtual spaces, or in learning about the structure of those environments.

Wickens has also expanded models of human attention control to characterize human performance in multitask environments--for example, the pilot scanning the instruments panel, or the pilot or air traffic controller managing competing tasks. He has extended those models to account for how attention is modulated by the reliability of automation and intelligent displays.

Representative Publications:

• Parasuraman, R., Sheridan, T., and Wickens, C. D. (2000, in press), "A Model for Types and Levels of Human Interaction with Automation," IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.
• Wickens, C. D. (2000), "Human Factors in Vector Map Design: The Importance of Task-display Dependence," Journal of Navigation, 53/1, pp. 54-67.
• Wickens, C. D. (1999), "Frames of Reference for Navigation," in D. Gopher and A. Koriat, eds., Attention and Performance, Vol. 17 (Cambridge Mass: MIT Press), pp. 113-144.
• Yeh, M., Wickens C. D., and Seagull, F. J. (1999), "Target Cueing in Visual Search: The Effects of Conformality and Display Location on the Allocation of Visual Attention," Human Factors, pp. 524-542.
• Wickens, Christopher, Mavor, A., Purusurum, R., and McGee, B. (1998), The Future of Traffic Control, Washington, D.C., National Academy of Sciences.