Why Healthcare is Not like Aviation: Control of Natural and Technical Systems

Abstract

System control is a challenge in many everyday activities and professional contexts. Unfortunately, it is not clear how much of the cognitive demand of controlling a system depends on the specific type of the system under control. This question is especially important for comparisons between natural and technical systems. The current study examines tracking performance and cognitive demand when controlling different systems. Similar to Durso and Drews (2010) we distinguish between natural and technical systems. Control performance was evaluated using four different conditions that representing aspects of different system types. Control performance was worst when controlling a system that had features of a natural system, where control performance of a technical system was best. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the design of displays to support controllers in a wide range of domains needs to specifically incorporate features that are specific to a systems nature.