The ergonomics of decision-making in large scale systems: information displays and expert knowledge elicitation

Abstract

Despite significant efforts devoted to the development of computer-based system aids, hurnans are still centrally involved in the decision-making associated with large-scale systems. While ergonomists have contributed significantly to the design of information displays and human-computer interactions, emphasis now needs to be placed on techniques for assisting the higher-level cognitive processes associated with decision making. Two topics relating to this area will be considered. Experimental data will be reported showing how sensitive aspects of decisionmaking can be to the exact form of information presentation. Expert systems depend critically on the process of acquiring knowledge from the expert. One candidate technique for assisting this process will be discussed which involves a performance-based assessment of how experts weight and integrate information. Some experimental data collected using this procedure will be related to the issue of what constitutes expertise.