5 - Information Processing

Abstract

This chapter reviews a representative research generated by the information processing approach to human cognition and presents some implications of this research for the design of safe, comfortable, and efficient aviation systems. The information processing approach has not been without its critics. It has been accused of playing 20 questions with nature and losing. The essence of this criticism is that the science has become too segmented along the line of specific experimental tasks, that is, one group studies the infinite permutations on choice reaction time tasks, another group studies memory search tasks, and another focuses only on tracking tasks. Thus, the science has produced an enormous catalog of information about a few rather esoteric laboratory tasks; yet it has contributed very little to the understanding of how humans function outside the laboratory in real-world settings. It is likely that the future success of the information processing approach will rest on its ability to deal with this criticism. There is a need for human factors specialists to widen their perspective beyond the relatively simple tasks that currently dominate research to increase the complexity of experimental tasks and to incorporate more ecologically valid sources of information. The information processing paradigm has contributed both knowledge and tools relevant for understanding human performance in aviation systems. The study of human performance in aviation systems provides an excellent opportunity to better understand general issues related to human cognition in complex environments.