Bidirectional Communications in Human-Agent Teaming: The Effects of Communication Style and Feedback

We examined the effects of communication style on human performance, workload, situation awareness, and trust in a robot in a human-robot team. In a 2 x 2 mixed factor study, participants were teamed with a simulated robot to conduct a cordon-and-search style task. Participants were assigned to a communication style (Directive vs. Non-directive; between subjects), and both groups experienced varied periods of task load (high vs. low task load; within-subjects). Results indicate that task load influenced the participants' task performance more than communication style. However, there were some differential effects on response time and workload due to communication style. Participants in the Non-directive group did not report a higher workload than those in the Directive condition, even though objective measures of workload (i.e., eye-tracking measures) indicated they experienced a higher workload. These results may be due to the presence of feedback inherent in the differing communication styles.