Effects of Acoustic Design Parameters of Aural Alerts on Reaction Time in Commercial Aircraft Cockpits

Abstract

In high-workload and time-critical commercial aircraft cockpits, pilots must rapidly perceive aural alerts and initiate operational responses. However, systematic evidence on how specific acoustic design parameters influence operational reaction time remains limited. This study investigates the effects of alert temporal structure and prosodic modulation on reaction time. A laboratory-based auditory reaction experiment was conducted with 30 participants using a fully within-subject design. Three representative alert categories were tested: tonal alerts, voice alerts, and combined tonal–voice alerts. Signal duration, interval structure, and voice tone (monotone vs. urgent) were systematically manipulated. Reaction time data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects modeling. Results indicate that increasing acoustic temporal density—by shortening signal duration and intervals—significantly reduces reaction time. The most pronounced improvements were observed in combined tonal–voice alerts under temporal compression. However, diminishing returns emerged at higher compression levels. In the voice alert condition, urgent prosody further shortened reaction time compared with monotone delivery. Semi-structured interviews with ten active commercial pilots supported these findings, suggesting that temporally compact and clearly articulated alerts facilitate faster responses. This study proposes a reaction-time-based quantitative evaluation framework for cockpit aural alert design and provides empirical guidance for optimizing safety-critical auditory systems in commercial aviation.

Keywords: Commercial Aircraft Cockpits, Aural Alert Design, Acoustic Design Parameters, Reaction Time

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007848