This research seeks the development and demonstration of a model that represents the group decision-making processes taking place inside the control room of a nuclear power plant under both normal and abnormal operating conditions. Cognitive decisions, team effects, and dynamic features are among the major issues that will be addressed in the project. The basic tool to be used is the influence diagram, because it can handle both chance and decision nodes and has a powerful graphical representation capability. Since the theme of the project is a fundamental one that probes into the cognitive decision-making processes involved in tasks which require team efforts under time constraints and psychological pressures, the model thus developed should contribute to a broader understanding of control-room operator behavior at nuclear power plants.
Anticipated Results:The model developed for the team effects of control-room operator performance in real time is expected to have a significant impact on a number of areas: First, the familiar classification of human behavior proposed by J. Rasmussen, namely, knowledge-, rule-, and skill-based behavior, will require new interpretation within the framework of team performance. Since it is the team's knowledge or collective skill that matters, the task of defining these concepts and their properties will be a major part of this model. A second application of the proposed work will be in the area of operator training, where the fact that operators have to act as a team needs to be explicitly addressed. A third related area is the development of accident management strategies where the additional element that the team is interacting in real time with the system is introduced. Finally, a model of the control-room operator behavior that takes into account the dynamic team effects will be of great value to the design of computerized decision support systems, which are increasingly used in new reactor designs.
