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An In-Depth Examination of Mental Incapacitation and Startle Reflex: A Flight Simulator Study

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Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics (HCII 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14018))

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Abstract

In aviation, mental incapacitation refers to a temporary degradation in a pilot's mental abilities, often due to stressful situations. This can result in poor decision-making, as well as a decrease in comprehension, perception, and judgment, leading to the inability to perform the necessary duty as a pilot. Many aviation accidents and incidents are caused by mental incapacitation, particularly when the pilots are suddenly surprised or startled. To better understand this phenomenon, an experiment is being conducted to identify physiological, behavioral, and personality indicators that may explain individual susceptibility to mental incapacitation caused by sudden stressful events. Volunteer pilot students participate in a two-part process: (1) a personality and cognitive evaluation phase, where mental stress is manipulated, and (2) a flight simulator phase in which a sudden, surprising event (an intense thunder sound with a flash of lightning) takes place. Physiological, behavioral, and subjective evaluations are collected to determine the potential correlations and precursors of mental incapacitation.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Yves Rouillard for his contribution in the development and implementation of the scenarios in flight simulator. This work was funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) in the framework of the ANR ASTRID-Maturation “EYE-INTERACTION” (ANR-19-ASMA-0009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISAE-SUPAERO, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France

    Jonathan Deniel & Mickaël Causse

  2. ENAC, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France

    Maud Dupuy, Alexandre Duchevet, Nadine Matton & Jean-Paul Imbert

Authors
  1. Jonathan Deniel
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  2. Maud Dupuy
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  3. Alexandre Duchevet
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  4. Nadine Matton
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  5. Jean-Paul Imbert
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  6. Mickaël Causse
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan Deniel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Coventry University, Coventry, UK

    Don Harris

  2. Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK

    Wen-Chin Li

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Deniel, J., Dupuy, M., Duchevet, A., Matton, N., Imbert, JP., Causse, M. (2023). An In-Depth Examination of Mental Incapacitation and Startle Reflex: A Flight Simulator Study. In: Harris, D., Li, WC. (eds) Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35389-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35389-5_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-35388-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-35389-5

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