Présentateur : W.A. Sparrow School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne AUSTRALIA Date : 21 octobre 99 à 14h Lieu : CENA salle de conférences Contact : Sylvie Athenes

Abstract :

It has been said that "to err is to be human", an observation that must stand as one of the most fundamental facts of human existence. Understanding error might be considered the ultimate challenge for theories of perception and action because a good theory should be able to explain the processes of both success and failure. When, however, errors are not so severe as to be harmful they provide the opportunity to learn. As Cutting (1982) wrote: "When we misperceive things and the consequences tell us that we have erred, we are forced to reevaluate and learn more about these objects of our attention (p. 211)". Being error-free would preclude the opportunity to learn. It is interesting to observe, for example, how a child's motor skills are refined through errors that lead to painful consequences. In this essay an attempt is made to define "an error", and to identify different types of errors. You may, for example, select the wrong action but execute it perfectly such as in driving turning right when you should have turned left. The action is completed perfectly but it is the wrong one! Alternatively, we may have errors in response execution. If a gust of wind pushes my beautifully struck backhand drive off target an "unexpected event" has intervened to stop an otherwise perfectly chosen and executed response from attaining the task goal. Presumably, many of the events that we commonly describe as "accidents" are a consequence of these types of error. Finally, what we mean by the term "accident"? Presumably accidents arise from errors that have negative consequences, with the major research focus being on errors that result in physical injury or death.

In addition to developing the above framework on error, limitations of human sensory and motor processes will be discussed in terms of our evolutionary legacy. In response to these limitations we have done two things to the modern technological environment: (i) designed it to accommodate the limitations of the human visual and other sensory systems. And (ii) devised activities to make extraordinary demands on the visual and other sensory systems via "contrived" skills such as sports. The significance of the latter observation is that engineers and managers tend to de-skill work tasks to reduce errors. Stress can, however, be caused by a lack of environmental stimuli that cause boredom. The discussion concludes, therefore, by addressing the broad question of human-machine system design and the role of the human operator in the post-industrial workplace.