Models of the process operator

The process control literature is reviewed for evidence on the following aspects of the process operator: characteristics of human control behaviour, development of process control skills, individual differences between process operators, task factors that affect performance, the organization of operator control behaviour. The various theoretical constructs which have been proposed to model these aspects of operator behaviour are described and discussed. Since the majority of the models are based on an analysis of verbal report data, a discussion of some of the methodological problems in using verbal protocols is presented. The review concludes that an information processing approach based on protocol data seems to be the most fruitful technique for modelling the human process controller.