Fast and Frugal Operators Sub-Optimally Adapt To Machine Failure

One safeguard against instrument malfunction is to provide backup instruments for machine operators. In previous studies, prior training caused operators of a simulated machine to adapt to instrument malfunction by adopting a suboptimal decision rule rather than by reallocating attention to backup instruments. One hypothesis for these findings is that operators do not notice when their main instruments malfunction. Here we examine warning systems that force operators to notice instrument problems. Our results indicate that warnings did not help operators to reallocate attention to backup instruments. Instead, operators fail the simulation and make sub-optimal adaptations afterward that lead to further failures.