The effects of heuristic rule training on operator performance in a simulated process control environment

Abstract

In complex work environments, the occurrence of novel system states represents a particular challenge for the design of training. This article is concerned with the use of heuristic rules to prepare operators for the management of unfamiliar fault states. An experiment was carried out to examine the effects of heuristic rule training on operator performance and system management behaviour. Thirty-nine trainee operators from the chemical industry took part in the study. They were trained for 4 h on a PC-based simulation of a process control task. Operators in the experimental group received training on heuristic rules while operators in the control group did not. One week later the operators participated in a 70-min testing session. While the results showed that heuristic rules training led to better diagnostic performance, it was also associated with increased operator fatigue and impaired secondary task performance. The implications of the findings for using heuristic rule training are discussed.

Cognitive-Adaptation Training for Improving Performance and Stress Management of Air Force Pilots

“…They showed that students who attended a case-based reflection training on visual flight rules (and who had only 5 hr of flying experience or less) made more appropriate and timely decisions in flight simulations involving deteriorating weather than students who simply recalled the cases. Other trainings used explicit teaching, for example, on critical thinking (CT) instructions (Helsdingen, van den Bosch, van Gog, & van Merriënboer, 2010) or on heuristic rules (Patrick et al, 1999;Sauer, Burkolter, Kluge, Ritzmann, & Schüler, 2008) to improve performance in military tactical command and control or in industry process control, respectively. These three training programs explicitly taught instructions that guided the operator through a thought process to adjust situation representation and action strategy during practice, with feedback.…”

Comparative study of three training methods for enhancing process control performance: Emphasis shift training, situation awareness training, and drill and practice

“…During the SA training of the EST/SA group, the members of the EST group were given a comparable cognitive task. They heard a talk (about recruitment criteria for astronauts; see Sauer et al, 2008), viewed part of a documentary, and like the members of the EST/ SA group, answered questions about the material to which they had just been exposed (about 35 min). Test 0 covered all five practiced fault states in addition to fault states that the participants had not previously encountered (block in nitrogen valve and dehumidifier set point failure).…”

“…Knowledge was assessed with an adapted version of two existing knowledge tests on CAMS (see Sauer, Burkolter, Kluge, Ritzmann, & Schüler, 2008). Structural knowledge was measured with a method described by Meyer (2008).…”

The predictive qualities of operator characteristics for process control performance: The influence of personality and cognitive variables

“…The issue of training effectiveness for process control environments was also examined in this study. The findings of this research question are reported in a separate article (Sauer et al 2008). In the present article, the focus is on operator characteristics and its relation to performance.…”

“…The participants in the control group received basic training after a procedure-centred approach, whereas the participants in the experimental group received additional heuristic rule training. The training and the findings on its effects are described in more detail in a separate article (Sauer et al 2008). The training sessions lasted approximately 4 h in total.…”