Biomedical subjects

E Hollnagel

Publications and source records attributed to E Hollnagel.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Cognitive systems engineering: new wine in new bottles.

This paper presents an approach to the description and analysis of complex Man-Machine Systems (MMSs) called Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE). In contrast to traditional approaches to the study of man-machine systems which mainly operate on the physical and physiological level, CSE operates on the level of cognitive functions. Instead of viewing an MMS as decomposable by mechanistic principles, CSE introduces the concept of a cognitive system: an adaptive system which functions using knowledge about itself and the environment in the planning and modification of actions. Operators are generally acknowledged to use a model of the system (machine) with which they work. Similarly, the machine has an image of the operator. The designer of an MMS must recognize this, and strive to obtain a match between the machine's image and the user characteristics on a cognitive level, rather than just on the level of physical functions. This article gives a presentation of what cognitive systems are, and of how CSE can contribute to the design of an MMS, from cognitive task analysis to final evaluation.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMed1999

Error mode prediction.

The study of accidents ('human errors') has been dominated by efforts to develop 'error' taxonomies and 'error' models that enable the retrospective identification of likely causes. In the field of Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) there is, however, a significant practical need for methods that can predict the occurrence of erroneous actions--qualitatively and quantitatively. The present experiment tested an approach for qualitative performance prediction based on the Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM). Predictions of possible erroneous actions were made for operators using different types of alarm systems. The data were collected as part of a large-scale experiment using professional nuclear power plant operators in a full scope simulator. The analysis showed that the predictions were correct in more than 70% of the cases, and also that the coverage of the predictions depended critically on the comprehensiveness of the preceding task analysis.

Accidents↗

PubMed1996

Human interaction with technology: the accidental user.

Information technology is part of a growing number of applications in work and everyday life. It seems inevitable that the average person soon will have to interact with information technology in many ways, even when there is no desire to do so. Examples include finding a book in a library, personal financial transactions, the health sector, traffic and transportation, process control, etc. People who in this way are forced to interact with information technology shall be called accidental users. The accidental users poses a particular challenge to the design of technological artefacts because the disciplines of dealing with human-machine interaction are predicated on the assumption that users are motivated and have a minimum level of knowledge and skills. In particular, models of 'human error' and human reliability implicitly assume that users are benign and only fail as anticipated by designers. In this paper we investigate the extent to which current models of human erroneous actions and cognitive reliability can be used to account for interactions between accidental users and technology.

Attitude to Computers↗