Through a case study, this article explores a number of theoretical issues related to the often taken for granted relationship between simulator fidelity and the quality and transferability of training in complex, dynamic, safety-critical settings. A counterexample based on mid-fidelity simulation is presented and the assumed coincidence of fidelity and validity is tested, that is the study tests the equation of constructed photorealism (built to mimic reality) and effective development of the competence that operators require to manage situations that involve underspecified problems, time pressure constraints and complex group interaction. The article concludes that such competence development cannot rely only on highly context-specific (photorealistic) environments. Further, it will be argued that lower-fidelity simulation, when appropriately designed, can provide competence development with pedagogical and economic advantages.
This study investigated mental workload in basic civil aviation training. Heart rate, eye movement, and subjective ratings from 11 students were collected during simulator and aircraft sessions. Results show high correspondence in psychophysiological reactions between the sessions. For some flight segments, heart rate was consistently lower in the simulator, suggesting higher mental workload in the aircraft. Differences in heart rate during rejected takeoff and engine failure indicate that the increase of workload starts in advance of an "unexpected" event in the simulator where it seems to be of preparatory nature, whereas in the aircraft it is more connected to management of the situation.
Abstract. The performance of teams, with different levels of domain-and crisis management experience, managing unexpected and escalating situations was observed by using a mid-fidelity ship-bridge simulation and analysed by applying the central concepts of joint activity coordination (Klein et al., 2005) as well as Woods' (2002) theory building on data overload. The coordination strategies used by the teams were evaluated by applying coordination process indicators and the concept of control. The paper discusses how different aspects of team coordination in unexpected and escalating situations, e.g. that teams that maintain a high level of control in escalating situations avoid or minimise the effects of data overload by using explicit and agreed-upon goals rather than sharing as much incoming information as possible. The results presented in this paper shows the benefits of applying a broad set of theoretical concepts to illuminate the actual demands that escalating situations pose on people's data processing capacities and processes. It also provides guidance on successful performance of teams in such situations and thus support for development of successful strategies for management of them.
Recent high-visibility disasters have fueled public and political awareness of the importance of managing and mitigating their consequences effectively. In response, various countries have enacted legislation that demands the evaluation of emergency responses so that lessons for improvement can be learned. A series of field and experimental studies were conducted from 2005 to 2007 to assess the ability of firstresponder organizations (eg, fire departments) to learn from failures that occurred during their emergency responses. The departments studied often lacked basic organizational requisites for effectively learning from failure (eg, mutual trust, participation, knowledge of possible learning mechanisms). Further, neither firstresponder training, nor daily practice, seems supported by knowledge of generic competencies necessary for effective crisis management. This not only hampers coordination during a response, but also keeps its evaluation from using a language that could help organizations learn and improve.
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