Knowing When to Use Automation: Task-Specific Expertise and GPS Engagement in a Navigational Task

As automated systems become increasingly embedded in everyday consumer technologies, understanding how individual differences shape engagement decisions is critical for supporting users. The present study examined how task-specific expertise influences engagement with an optional GPS assistant across fourteen trials in a simulated map-based navigation task. Ninety-one undergraduate participants were classified as navigational experts or novices by accuracy on a task-specific knowledge test of the simulated maps. As hypothesized, experts engaged the GPS significantly less than novices. Despite the difference in engagement, navigational accuracy did not significantly differ between groups, suggesting that novices engaged the GPS at rates that compensated for their lower expertise bringing their performance to comparable levels of experts. Post-hoc analyses revealed that poorer spatial orientation was associated with greater GPS engagement and lower navigational expertise. These findings suggest individuals may make calibrated and capability driven decisions about their automation engagement.