Task Analysis Does Count in Making the Abstraction Hierarchy Concrete: Evidence from a Pressurized Water Reactor Situation

Abstract

Proponents of the Ecological Interface Design framework have recently highlighted two important assumptions: (a) the Abstraction Hierarchy (AH) would only be a representation of the work domain, not a task representation; (b) the development of an ecological display that presents information at different levels of abstraction should be based on a full implementation of the Abstraction Hierarchy. However, as revealed by our field studies, these assumptions might dismiss the role of task analysis in making the AH concrete. First, the presentation of mass balance and energy balance in an ecological display is important because these kinds of equilibrium constitute what the operator should maintain. Second, the use of an AH and its implementation in an effective work situation will probably be state-specific. Important parameters to be monitored, mass and energy balances that should be assessed, change as a function of the overall state of the process.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bisantz

A. M.

Vicente

K. J.

(1994). Making the abstraction hierarchy concrete. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 40, 83–117.

Broughton

R. G.

Walsh

P. S.

(1981). A real-time method for analysing nuclear power plant transients. Nuclear Technology, 53, 217–225.

Burns

C. M.

(2000), Navigation strategies with ecological displays. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 52 111–129.

Christoffersen

Hunter

C. N.

Vicente

K. J.

(1996). A longitudinal study of the effects of ecological interface design on skill acquisition. Human Factors, 38, 523–541.

Goodstein

L. P.

Rasmussen

(1988). Representation of process state, structure and control. Le Travail Humain, 51, 19–37.

Rasmussen

(1983). Skills, rules, and knowledge; signals signs and other distinctions in human performance models. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, SMC, 13, 257–266.

Rasmussen

(1985). The role of hierarchical knowledge representation in decision making and system management. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, SMC, 15, 234–243.

Terrier

(1996). Mémoire implicite et étude opérative des traitements. Exploration dans le contexte de l'évaluation d'interfaces. Les Notes Scientifiques et Techniques de l'INRS, n°, 143, juinn.

Terrier

Cellier

J. M.

(1997). Using a priming paradigm for display effectiveness assessment. Displays, 18, 95–105.

10.

Terrier

Cellier

J. M.

(1999). Depth of processing and design-assessment of ecological interfaces: Task analysis. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 50, 287–307.

11.

Vicente

K. J.

(1992). Memory recall in process control: a measure of expertise and display effectiveness. Memory & Cognition, 20, 356–373.

12.

Vicente

K. J.

(1999a). Wanted: psychologically relevant, device- and event-independant work analysis techniques. Interacting with Computers, 11, 237–254.

13.

Vicente

K. J.

(1999b). Cognitive work analysis: Toward safe, productive & healthy computer-based work. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

14.

Vicente

K. J.

Rasmussen

(1990). The ecology of human-machine systems II: mediating “direct perception” in complex work domains. Ecological Psychology, 2, 207–249.

15.

Vicente

K. J.

Rasmussen

(1992). Ecological Interface Design: theoretical foundations. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 22, 589–606.