Human Factors Research and the Development of a Manned Systems Applications Science:The Systems Sampling Problem and a Solution.

摘要

Human factors specialists, or 'systems psychologists', have extensively used the systems approach to define and solve man-man and man-machine problems. As of yet, however, there has been no attempt to develop a body of knowledge on the dimensionalization of manned systems. That is, a body of knowledge regarding what dimensions define a system, as opposed to such components as an individual operator or piece of equipment. For example, what classes of system dimensions are there and what role do they play in addressing what problems. For the operator component, for example, there are skill dimensions vs. ability dimensions; whether one works with one or the other or both classes depends on what the question is. It is suggested that a body of knowledge on manned systems dimensions would be useful as the stepping stone which facilitates the solution of new problems and as a basis for organizing human performance data in a way applicable to systems design problems. This report points out: (1) The need to begin indentifying and incorporating systems design and operation parameters into research programs (in addition to, for example, visual display and operator performance dimensions); (2) The nature of the systems research and dimensionalization problem, and (3) A model to support the systems dimensionalization process. This process is defined as essentially one of taxonomization for the purpose of developing the measure set. (Author)