FEAST Attention and Multitasking 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You are monitoring a frequency where six aircraft are active. Aircraft identifiers are: KLM712, BAW92, UAL5, EZY441, RYR88, DLH56. After five minutes, you are asked which aircraft called last. The skill being tested is:
- Sustained attention and sequential memory for radio communications (Correct answer)
- Spatial reasoning about aircraft positions
- Numerical estimation of call frequency
- Processing speed for communication handoffs
Correct answer: Sustained attention and sequential memory for radio communications
Recalling the order of radio calls requires sustained attention over time and short-term sequential memory — both core FEAST attention skills.
Air traffic controllers must sustain attention over long periods while accurately tracking which aircraft called, what they requested, and in what sequence. This 'sequential memory for radio events' is distinct from spatial reasoning or processing speed. FEAST attention subtests include scenarios where candidates must track and recall sequences of communications, simulating the real-world demands of monitoring a busy frequency.
Question 2: A controller is scanning a radar display with 10 tracks. They must detect any aircraft that deviates more than 200 ft from its cleared altitude. This task primarily assesses:
- Sustained attention and vigilance for change detection (Correct answer)
- Spatial orientation and 3D reasoning
- Working memory for numerical calculations
- Processing speed under time pressure
Correct answer: Sustained attention and vigilance for change detection
Continuously monitoring a display for rare deviations is a classic vigilance and sustained attention task — the core of radar monitoring work.
Vigilance (sustained attention over time) is the ability to maintain a high level of perceptual sensitivity to detect infrequent signals or deviations. Radar monitoring, where controllers watch for level busts or heading deviations against a background of normal traffic, is a quintessential vigilance task. FEAST attention subtests simulate this by requiring candidates to monitor displays and flag deviations — assessing whether their hit rate declines over time, which indicates vigilance decrement.
Question 3: A candidate is given two tasks simultaneously: tracking numbers on a screen and responding to audio tones. Performance on both tasks is measured. This type of test assesses:
- Divided attention — the ability to monitor and respond to two independent streams concurrently (Correct answer)
- Selective attention — filtering relevant signals from noise
- Focused attention — concentrating on a single demanding task
- Alternating attention — switching between tasks sequentially
Correct answer: Divided attention — the ability to monitor and respond to two independent streams concurrently
Performing two independent tasks at the same time tests divided attention, which is directly relevant to ATC multitasking demands.
Attention has multiple components. Divided attention is the capacity to perform two or more tasks concurrently. ATC work constantly requires divided attention — monitoring radar while listening to radio, tracking multiple aircraft while filling in strips. FEAST dual-task subtests specifically measure divided attention by presenting two independent streams of information that must both be actively processed. Candidates who perform well on one task but poorly on the other show insufficient resource allocation.
Question 4: Over a 20-minute monitoring period, an aircraft that should be stationary on the radar begins slowly drifting. A controller who detects this drift early demonstrates:
- High vigilance — detecting a subtle change against a stable background over time (Correct answer)
- Good spatial reasoning — calculating the drift angle and speed
- Fast processing speed — quickly identifying the position change
- Accurate working memory — comparing current position to a memorised position
Correct answer: High vigilance — detecting a subtle change against a stable background over time
Detecting slow, subtle change in a stable scene over time is the defining characteristic of vigilance — maintaining alert monitoring when most stimuli are normal.
Vigilance involves maintaining alertness to detect signals that are infrequent and subtle, especially when the environment is mostly unchanged. A slow radar drift is particularly challenging because the change is gradual and easily missed. Controllers who detect it early have high signal sensitivity and resist the natural tendency for vigilance to decline over time (the vigilance decrement). FEAST simulates this with long-duration monitoring tasks containing rare target events.
Question 5: A controller must simultaneously track aircraft callsigns, their current altitudes, cleared altitudes, and heading instructions. The mental resource most stressed by this task is:
- Working memory capacity — holding and updating multiple information elements (Correct answer)
- Long-term memory — recalling procedures from training
- Spatial memory — mapping aircraft positions
- Procedural memory — executing automated motor routines
Correct answer: Working memory capacity — holding and updating multiple information elements
Holding and continuously updating multiple items (callsigns, altitudes, headings) for active use is a direct working memory demand.
Working memory (WM) is the cognitive system for actively holding and manipulating information. Tracking multiple aircraft with their current and cleared altitudes and issued headings places high demands on WM capacity and updating. When WM is overloaded, controllers may confuse aircraft, issue wrong instructions, or lose track of an aircraft entirely. FEAST attention and multitasking subtests are specifically designed to load WM to measure individual capacity and resilience.
Question 6: During a simulated ATC task, a candidate is given a primary radar-monitoring task plus a secondary arithmetic task. Their performance on the radar task is measured with and without the arithmetic task running. The purpose of this dual-task design is to:
- Measure the cost of the secondary task on primary task performance — revealing attentional spare capacity (Correct answer)
- Assess arithmetic ability under the pressure of a distracting task
- Test whether candidates can prioritise safety tasks over administrative ones
- Evaluate how quickly candidates switch between two completely unrelated tasks
Correct answer: Measure the cost of the secondary task on primary task performance — revealing attentional spare capacity
Dual-task designs measure the 'attentional cost' of concurrent demands, revealing how much spare capacity a candidate retains during the primary task.
A dual-task paradigm compares performance with and without the secondary task active. Candidates with high attentional spare capacity show small decrements in primary task performance when the secondary task is added. Those with less capacity show large decrements — their primary performance collapses under dual-task load. This models ATC operations where primary safety monitoring must be maintained even as administrative and communication tasks compete for attention. FEAST uses this design to predict real-world multitasking performance.
FEAST Attention and Multitasking 2
You are monitoring a frequency where six aircraft are active.
Aircraft identifiers are: KLM712, BAW92, UAL5, EZY441, RYR88, DLH56.
After five minutes, you are asked which aircraft called last.
The skill being tested is: