ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of mode error and possible countermeasures. Mode errors occur when an operator executes an intention in a way that would be appropriate if the device were in one configuration when it is in fact in another configuration. The potential for mode error increases as a consequence of a proliferation of modes and interactions across modes without changes to improve the feedback to users about system state and activities. Human supervisory control of automated resources in event-driven task domains is a quite different type of task environment compared to the applications in the original research on mode error. Maintaining mode awareness is becoming increasingly important in the context of supervisory control of advanced technology which tends to involve an increasing number of interacting modes at various levels of automation to provide the user with a high degree of flexibility.
