THE EFFECTIVE TIME CONSTANT IN TRACKING BEHAVIOR.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to derive a construct based upon properties of man and machine which could be postulated to be related to level of precision of control in closed loop tracking by the human operator. A construct, termed the Effective Time Constant (te), was developed. For second order systems te is derived from the gain (K), frequency (omega) and damping (zeta) of the machine and the threshold (T) of the human operator. For first order systems the machine properties are gain (K) and machine time constant (taw). Two experiments designed to test the postulate that te is related to level of control were conducted. The Effective Time Constant was found to be related to rate of improvement in performance and to overall level of control. However, the results indicate that absolute level of control may be more precisely predicted from the product (Kte) of the Effective Time Constant and gain. This interactive effect has its greatest effect in early training trials and diminishes with practice. The implications of the results for fidelity of simulation, adaptive training and the study of basic psychomotor skills are discussed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0675806
Entities
People
- D. A. Norman
- W. G. Matheny