What determines appropriate trust of and reliance on an automated collaborative system? Effects of error type and domain knowledge

In this investigation we evaluated the effect of two types of factors that affect human-automation interaction: those specific to the automation (Error Type: miss versus false alarm) and those specific to the human (Domain Experience, in this study automated farm equipment experience versus no experience). Participants performed a simulated harvesting task and used an obstacle avoidance automated decision aid. The type of unreliability of the automation had a major impact on behavioral reliance as a function of components of the avoidance decision task. The analysis of the effects of domain experience on automation use indicated that those with experience operating agricultural vehicles had different tendencies of reliance. Specifically, participants with experience operating agricultural vehicles were less likely to rely on automated alarms than those without experience. The results of this investigation have important implications for understanding how humans adjust their behavior according to the characteristics of an automated system.