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AbstractResearchers have found that although external attacks, exogenous shocks, and node knockouts can disrupt networked systems, they rarely lead to the system's collapse. Although these processes are widely understood, most studies of how exogenous shocks affect networks rely on simulated or observational data. Thus, little is known about how groups of real individuals respond to external attacks. In this article, we employ an experimental design in which exogenous shocks, in the form of the unexpected removal of a teammate, are imposed on small teams of people who know each other. This allows us to causally identify the removed individual's contribution to the team structure, the effect that an individual had on those they were connected, and the effect of the node knockout on the team. At the team level, we find that node knockouts decrease overall internal team communication. At the individual level, we find that node knockouts cause the remaining influential players to become more influential, while the remaining peripheral players become more isolated within their team. In addition, we also find that node knockouts may have a nominal influence on team performance. These findings shed light on how teams respond and adapt to node knockouts.

Objective: We assess the driving distraction potential of texting with Google Glass (Glass), a mobile wearable platform capable of receiving and sending short-message-service and other messaging formats. Background: A known roadway danger, texting while driving has been targeted by legislation and widely banned. Supporters of Glass claim the head-mounted wearable computer is designed to deliver information without concurrent distraction. Existing literature supports the supposition that design decisions incorporated in Glass might facilitate messaging for drivers. Method: We asked drivers in a simulator to drive and use either Glass or a smartphone-based messaging interface, then interrupted them with an emergency brake event. Both the response event and subsequent recovery were analyzed. Results: Glass-delivered messages served to moderate but did not eliminate distracting cognitive demands. A potential passive cost to drivers merely wearing Glass was also observed. Messaging using either device impaired driving as compared to driving without multitasking. Conclusion: Glass in not a panacea as some supporters claim, but it does point the way to design interventions that effect reduced load in multitasking. Application: Discussions of these identified benefits are framed within the potential of new in-vehicle systems that bring both novel forms of distraction and tools for mitigation into the driver's seat.

Objective The present study was designed to evaluate human performance and workload associated with an auditory vigilance task that required spatial discrimination of auditory stimuli. Background Spatial auditory displays have been increasingly developed and implemented into settings that require vigilance toward auditory spatial discrimination and localization (e.g., collision avoidance warnings). Research has yet to determine whether a vigilance decrement could impede performance in such applications. Method Participants completed a 40-minute auditory vigilance task in either a spatial discrimination condition or a temporal discrimination condition. In the spatial discrimination condition, participants differentiated sounds based on differences in spatial location. In the temporal discrimination condition, participants differentiated sounds based on differences in stimulus duration. Results Correct detections and false alarms declined during the vigilance task, and each did so at a similar rate in both conditions. The overall level of correct detections did not differ significantly between conditions, but false alarms occurred more frequently within the spatial discrimination condition than in the temporal discrimination condition. NASA-TLX ratings and pupil diameter measurements indicated no differences in workload. Conclusion Results indicated that tasks requiring auditory spatial discrimination can induce a vigilance decrement; and they may result in inferior vigilance performance, compared to tasks requiring discrimination of auditory duration. Application Vigilance decrements may impede performance and safety in settings that depend on sustained attention to spatial auditory displays. Display designers should also be aware that auditory displays that require users to discriminate differences in spatial location may result in poorer discrimination performance than non-spatial displays.

Objective The present study aims to evaluate driver intervention behaviors during a partially automated parking task. Background Cars with partially automated parking features are becoming widely available. Although recent research explores the use of automation features in partially automated cars, none have focused on partially automated parking. Recent incidents and research have demonstrated that drivers sometimes use partially automated features in unexpected, inefficient, and harmful ways. Method Participants completed a series of partially automated parking trials with a Tesla Model X and their behavioral interventions were recorded. Participants also completed a risk-taking behavior test and a post-experiment questionnaire that included questions about trust in the system, likelihood of using the Autopark feature, and preference for either the partially automated parking feature or self-parking. Results Initial intervention rates were over 50%, but declined steeply in later trials. Responses to open-ended questions revealed that once participants understood what the system was doing, they were much more likely to trust it. Trust in the partially automated parking feature was predicted by a model including risk-taking behaviors, self-confidence, self-reported number of errors committed by the Tesla, and the proportion of trials in which the driver intervened. Conclusion Using partially automated parking with little knowledge of its workings can lead to high degree of initial distrust. Repeated exposure of partially automated features to drivers can greatly increase their use. Application Short tutorials and brief explanations of the workings of partially automated features may greatly improve trust in the system when drivers are first introduced to partially automated systems.

Despite the importance that human error in the cyber domain has had in recent reports, cyber warfare research to date has largely focused on the effects of cyber attacks on the target computer system. In contrast, there is little empirical work on the role of human operators during cyber breaches. More specifically, there is a need to understand the human-level factors at play when attacks occur. This paper views cyber attacks through the lens of suspicion, a construct that has been used in other contexts, but inadequately defined, in prior research. After defining the construct of suspicion, the authors demonstrate the role that suspicion plays as the conduit between computer operators' normal working behaviors and their ability to alter that behavior to detect and react to cyber attacks. With a focus on the user, rather than the target computer, the authors empirically develop a latent structure for a variety of types of cyber attacks, link that structure to levels of operator suspicion, link suspicion to users' cognitive and emotional states, and develop initial implications for cyber training.

Objective: To determine whether perceived time progression (PTP) moderates participants' negative reactions to vigilance tasks. Background: Vigilance tasks are rated by participants to be unenjoyable and as having high levels of workload and stress. Based on the adage, "You are having fun when time flies," we tested the possibility that accelerating PTP might reduce these negative experiences. Method: Two studies were performed, involving a long 30-min and a short 12-min vigil. We manipulated participants' PTP by creating a mismatch between their expectations about how long they would perform the task and the actual time that they were engaged. Results: PTP was significantly faster for participants who were led to expect that the vigilance task would last longer than it did relative to those led to expect that task duration would be shorter than it actually was and for controls for whom task duration was equal to the expected duration. However, accelerating PTP had no effect in either experiment on undesirable reactions to the vigilance tasks. Participants uniformly rated both tasks as unenjoyable, as having a high level of workload, and as stressful. Apparently, vigilance isn't fun even when time flies. Conclusion: Our findings greatly underscore the depth to which negative subjective reactions are embedded in the nature of vigilance tasks and therefore that these tasks can have potentially serious costs to participants in terms of health, safety, and productivity. Application: These costs must be considered at the operational level.