Applying the Reliance-Compliance Model to System-Wide Trust Theory in an Aviation Task

System-wide trust (SWT) strategy can occur when operators encounter multiple aids of differing reliabilities. Keller and Rice (2010) have shown effects of one unreliable aid influencing a perfectly reliable aid; participants had a tendency to treat both aids as one entire unit (SWT) rather than as two separate aids (component-specific trust). One limitation was that the use of only two diagnostic aids may not have been enough to generalize their results. This study seeks to further explore SWT with additional aids. Participants performed a 4-gauge monitoring task augmented by a diagnostic aid that provided recommendations of failures. The aids were either 70% or 100% reliable. Data revealed that although providing information and feedback about the aids benefited overall performance, agreement rate data showed that participants still employed a largely SWT strategy. The results from these data are applicable to the design and use of systems which contain multiple aids.