Performance On The Expanded Time Bearing Plot As A Function Of Bearing Accuracy.

Abstract

Two experiments analyzed the effects of statistical noise in raw sonar bearings on performance in a laboratory version of the expanded time bearing plot. Accuracy of faired bearings and bearing rate estimates were taken as the measures of performance. Greater amounts of noise led to poorer performance, but these decrements were smaller when the noise was random than when it was correlated. Human performance was contrasted with that of an orthogonal polynomial curve fitting routine designed to do the same task. The mathematical routine was affected by the noise in the same way as humans were. However, on simple plots the mathematical routine provided superior solutions while on curves of more complex shapes or at the ends of curves humans were superior. Thus, in certain situations the human's perceptual and cognitive abilities gave him a distinct advantage over the mathematical routine. (Author)