ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews experimental results concerning operator training in complex interactive tasks. It presents some general ideas of knowledge measurement, establishing a framework in which the results can be discussed. The chapter proposes a computational model of a cognitive process manifest in the operator's behavior. It suggests that chunking is largely responsible for overcoming complexity and performance improvements in the course of operator training. The chapter determines what functional units are acquired by the operators, and what strategies are applied to manipulate these units in making control decisions in studying operator performance in complex man-machine systems. It discusses how the problem is approached in the emerging discipline of knowledge measurement. The chapter concludes by briefly indicating research directions in knowledge measurement concerning cognitive skills diagnosis, operator training, and interface design. The law of mutual adaptation suggests that the existence and development of any system are a process of mutual adjustment between the system as a whole and its environment.
