ABSTRACT
The increased interest in understanding cognitive processes and taking into account these processes during the early 1980s may have been stimulated by (1) the technology that became available, for example, distributed control systems, digital computers supporting automation, and electronic-based display systems; (2) better recognition that human errors with serious consequences were attributable to cognitive (mental) errors; (3) the descriptions of cognitive systems engineering and related concepts by Dave Woods and others; and (4) the developing availability of methods and tools to support cognitive analysis (e.g., cognitive task analysis, applied cognitive task analysis, critical decision method, cognitive mapping, cognitive work analysis).
