Fault management in process control: eye movements and action

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Cognitive Psychology
• Process Control Engineering

Background:

• Understanding operator behavior in complex systems is crucial for safety and efficiency.
• Traditional performance metrics may not fully capture cognitive processes during system disturbances.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate operator responses to simulated thermal hydraulic system failures.
• To explore the phenomenon of 'cognitive lockup' and serial fault management.
• To assess the utility of eye movement tracking in understanding process control.

Main Methods:

• Operators managed a simulated thermal hydraulic system (Crossman's waterbath task).
• Behavioral data (keystroke commands) and eye movements were collected.
• System disturbances and failures were introduced to assess operator responses.

Main Results:

• Evidence of 'cognitive lockup' and a preference for serial fault management was observed.
• Fixation durations remained stable, but faulty subsystems were examined more frequently.
• Eye tracking provided deeper insights into information processing during control tasks.

Conclusions:

• Eye movement data offers significant added value over traditional measures for understanding operator performance.
• Cognitive lockup can lead to delayed actions even when operators examine relevant subsystems.