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Abstract
The performance of 5,717 aviation security screeners in detecting prohibited items in x-ray images of passenger bags was analyzed over a period of 4 years. The measure used in this study was detection performance on the X-Ray Competency Assessment Test (X-Ray CAT) and performance on this measure was obtained on an annual basis. Between tests, screeners performed varying amounts of training in the task of prohibited item detection using an adaptive computer-based training system called X-Ray Tutor (XRT). For both XRT and X-Ray CAT, prohibited items are categorized into guns, knives, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other prohibited items. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of the training and test data were performed. Both types of analysis revealed a strong improvement of X-Ray CAT performance as a result of XRT training for all 4 item categories. The results of the study indicate that screener competency in detecting prohibited items in x-ray images of passenger bags can be greatly improved through routine XRT training.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Mathias Neukom for his work in double checking the data assembly process. This research was financially supported by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.
Notes
1Threat Image Projection (TIP), a technology with which virtual threat items are occasionally projected into x-ray images of passenger bags at the security checkpoints, will lessen this unfamiliarity somewhat. However, at the launch of this study, TIP systems were not yet operational in the country in question.