"Can I get a second opinion?" How user characteristics impact trust in automation in a medical screening task
Abstract
As technology advances, processes traditionally carried out by humans are being
automated in a variety of industries, such as automotive, security, and food service. In the
medical field, advances in automation allow for disease classification, diagnosis, and even
treatment recommendations. Technological advances have improved diagnoses by automated
devices such that many cases can be more accurately diagnosed by a computer program than by a
medical doctor. The hindrance to implementing these technologies is that these systems need not
only to exist, they must be accepted, trusted, and appropriately used by both patients and
healthcare providers. Previous literature on automation acceptance has focused primarily on how
design features and characteristics of the automation influence human trust. Less research has
explored the role that user characteristics—such as personality and dispositional traits—play in
developing trust. User responses to automation may warrant adaptation in how automation is
presented and distributed in order to encourage its acceptance. In the present study, researchers
examined the relationship between user characteristics, trust, and automation use in a medical
screening decision task. Although user characteristics were found to predict trust attitudes, they
did not significantly predict trust behaviors, i.e., automation use. These findings are discussed
with the consideration of the differences between attitudes and behaviors in predicting trust.
Keywords: trust in automation, medical decision-making, trust, automation, user traits
Table of Contents
Introduction -- Review of literature -- Methods -- Appendix A. Checklist for trust between people and automation -- Appendix B. Propensity to trust questionnaire -- Appendix C. Automation-induced complacency potential rating scale -- Appendix D. Rotter's Interpersonal trust Scale -- Appendix E. Big Five inventory -- Appendix F. revised domain-specific risk-taking (Dospert) scale -- Appendix G. Desirability of control scale -- Appendix H. Levenson IPC Scale -- Appendix I. General self-efficacy scale -- Appendix J. Demographics -- Appendix K. Media and technology usage and attitudes scale -- Appendix L. Multidimensional health locus of control scale -- Appendix M. Pre- and post-task questions
Degree
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)