Methodology for Determining the Human Role in the Strategic Defense System Command Center

Abstract

A requirement in the design of the Strategic Defense System (SDS) is that the human maintain positive control of the system at all times. An allocation of functions between the human and the computer which leaves the human in control but does not degrade system effectiveness must be determined. We have had the opportunity to design and conduct a series of “human-in-control” experiments to study human decision making capabilities in a prototyped SDS command center. Experiments were designed to determine the factors affecting specific decisions, decision time, decision accuracy, and the decision makers' confidence in their decision at different points in time. Both the positive and negative aspects associated with performing experiments during the demonstration/validation phase are discussed.