An Introduction to the IP/PCT Model Implementation in IPME
Abstract
This document provides a description of the Information Processing (IP)/Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) model implemented in the Integrated Performance Modelling Environment software by Micro Analysis and Design (IPME). The current document is an edited and reduced version of an earlier report. In the current document, an attempt has been made to improve readability through a reorganisation of the material and the elimination of content that is not central to understanding the function of the IP/PCT model within IPME. The essence of the IP model is that all factors that impact on human cognitive workload can be reduced to their effects on the amount of information to be processed and the amount of time available before the decision has to be actioned. From this position, it can be shown that if humans are limited at the rate at which they process information then operator workload, performance, and error production are all functions of the time pressure. The IP Model is about time and the information to be processed. The PCT Model argues that humans behave as multi-layered closed loop control systems. The set points for these control loops are our perceptual goals (or how we want to see, hear, feel, taste, or smell the state of the world). According to PCT, we sense the world state, forming a perception of that state which we then compare with our goal. If there is a difference between our perceived and desired states, we formulate an action. This action is implemented in order to operate on the world so as to drive the perceived state of the variables of interest towards the goal. The perceptual processes and the decisional processes draw on internal knowledge states that transform sensation to perception, and difference to action. Our attentional mechanism shifts our focus from loop to loop to loop. The PCT model is therefore about Goals, Attention, Knowledge and Feedback.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA544883
Entities
People
- Keith Hardy
Organizations
- Defence Research and Development Canada