ABSTRACT
The analysis of the constraints that technology and the environment have imposed on humans has undergone some important methodological changes over the past few years. In the area of research on mental workload, the conception of man as a limited-capacity reservoir for information processing has taken over the study of cognitive mechanisms that allow man to master a complex situation, whether it be habitual, unexpected, or getting worse. In the field of aeronautics, where technology has undergone spectacular advances and the risk for latent human error is high, new data on the problem can best be measured. In this chapter, we try first to understand these changes, and then develop the methodological consequences in the area of design and certification of new-generation airplanes.
