More Than 50 Years of History and Accomplishments in Human Performance Model Development

Abstract

I provide a summary that introduces three significant threads in the development of human performance models (HPMs) - manual control models derived from engineering control theory, network models founded on the definition of human reliability, and models derived from cognitive architectures. HPMs are important because they allow the quantification of human performance capacities and limitations to be included in the analysis and simulation of engineering systems. For each thread, founding articles and contemporary developments are cited that illustrate the range of innovation that has taken place. Many contemporary concepts are rooted in this modeling history. The most successful models represent circumstances for which the situational and temporal environment in which the human performance takes place is most heavily constrained. Applied illustrations are drawn from vehicle handling qualities, unmanned aerial systems, and mission training, for example.