Human Reliability Studies With Microworld Simulators. (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Boring, Ronald; Ulrich, Thomas; Lew, Roger; Skogstad, Martin Rasmussen
• Is Part Of: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting. Volume 63:Part 1(2019)
• Page Start: 1829
• Page End: 1833
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Human engineering -- Congresses; 620.8205
• DOI: 10.1177/1071181319631314
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1541-9312

Abstract

The authors have recently developed a microworld, a simplified process control simulator, to simulate a nuclear power plant. The microworld provides an environment that can be readily manipulated to gather data using a range of participants, from students to fully qualified operators. Because the microworld represents a simplified domain, it is possible to have more precise experimental control compared with the complex and confounding environment afforded by a full-scope simulator. In this paper, we discuss collecting human reliability data from a microworld. We review the generalizability of human error data from the microworld compared to other data sources like full-scope simulator studies and compare advantages and disadvantages of microworld simulator studies to support human reliability data collection needs.