Task Analysis on Basis of Cognitive Modeling: Application to Computer Editing Task

The cognitive task analysis has been of great importance in the design of man-machine systems and working environment with the widespread use of computerized systems. This article introduces the Information Flow Modeling[5] as a potential tool for the cognitive task analysis. Using this modeling technique, the human activities during the task are modeled in detail as information ows along with the human memory system in the form of network structure. Then, potential problems in a system under study are identi ed based on the task model. This technique provides several measures and their calculation procedures concerning the task performance and mental workload. In this study, the information ow modeling was applied to a computer editing task with di erent types of editor programs: ex, vi and Mac Write II. The completion time and mental workload during task performance were estimated by the task model. In addition, the actual task times and error rates were obtained by the experimental sessions under the same condition as the above-mentioned estimation. From comparisons between the estimation by the task models and the actual data, it was found that this modeling technique has enough ability to estimate the task time and the overloaded period. We discuss the possibility to apply this technique to other domains based on another application to a driving task of high-speed train.