Complexity, fuzziness, and ergonomic incompatibility issues in the control of dynamic work environments

This paper explores some of the basic methodological issues related to the foundations of ergonomics as a science. In the first part, the modelling efforts in ergonomics research are reviewed. Next, the issue of fuzziness inherent to all complex human-machine-environment systems is discussed. Finally, the concepts of ergonomic system and its entropy are presented, and the principle of ergonomic incompatibility is formulated. It is proposed that the aim of the science of ergonomics is to identify, determine, and reduce the undesirable system's entropy. In this view, it is postulated that the basic aim of ergonomics is realized through the unique investigative process exploring the ergonomic system's incompatibilities.

[1]  T. L. Saaty.  Exploring the interface between hierarchies, multiple objectives and fuzzy sets , 1978 .

[2]  Lotfi A. Zadeh,et al.  Outline of a New Approach to the Analysis of Complex Systems and Decision Processes , 1973, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[3]  Karl R. Popper.  The Logic of Scientific Discovery. , 1977 .

[4]  Lotfi A. Zadeh,et al.  The concept of a linguistic variable and its application to approximate reasoning-III , 1975, Inf. Sci..

[5]  William B. Rouse,et al.  A fuzzy rule-based model of human problem solving , 1982, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

[6]  Etienne Grandjean.  Fitting the task to the man , 1969 .

[7]  Thomas B. Sheridan,et al.  Final Report of Mathematical Modelling Group , 1979 .

[8]  Waldemar Karwowski,et al.  Research Guide to Applications of Fuzzy Set Theory in Human Factors , 1986 .

[9]  H. Brownell,et al.  Categorizing with overlapping categories , 1978, Memory & cognition.

[10]  Ernest J. McCormick,et al.  Human Factors Engineering , 1985 .

[11]  M. M. Ayoub,et al.  Fuzzy modelling of stresses in manual lifting tasks. , 1984, Ergonomics.

[12]  Richard W. Pew,et al.  Perspectives on human performance modelling , 1983, Autom..

[13]  W. Karwowski,et al.  A Perspective on Mathematical Modeling in Human Factors , 1986 .

[14]  Alan J. Mayne,et al.  Introduction to Simulation and SLAM , 1979 .

[15]  R. Giles.  Łukasiewicz logic and fuzzy set theory , 1976 .

[16]  Alphonse Chapanis,et al.  Research techniques in human engineering , 1959 .

[17]  T. Kuhn.  The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. , 1964 .

[18]  M. McCloskey,et al.  Natural categories: Well defined or fuzzy sets? , 1978 .

[19]  Waldemar Karwowski,et al.  A framework for development of fuzzy GOMS model for human-computer interaction , 1990, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact..

[20]  A. Caramazza,et al.  A Fuzzy Set Approach to Modifiers and Vagueness in Natural Language , 2005 .

[21]  R. Bernotat,et al.  Generation of Ergonomic Data and Their Application to Equipment Design , 1984 .

[22]  David J. Oborne,et al.  Ergonomics at work , 1982 .

[23]  Nicholas Rescher,et al.  On the Epistemology of the Inexact Sciences , 1959 .

[24]  William A. Simcox.  A Method for Pragmatic Communication in Graphic Displays , 1984 .

[25]  T. Onisawa.  An approach to human reliability on man-machine systems using error possibility , 1988 .

[26]  Robert C. Williges,et al.  Development and Use of Research Methodologies for Complex System/Simulation Experimentation , 1981 .

[27]  Hans-Jürgen Zimmermann,et al.  Testability and meaning of mathematical models in social sciences , 1980 .

[28]  Gunnar Johannsen,et al.  Workload and Workload Measurement , 1979 .

[29]  W. T. Singleton,et al.  The Body at Work: Biological Ergonomics , 1983 .

[30]  Christopher D. Wickens,et al.  MEASURES OF WORKLOAD, STRESS AND SECONDARY TASKS , 1979 .

[31]  William H. Benson,et al.  AN APPLICATION OF FUZZY SET THEORY TO DATA DISPLAY , 1980 .

[32]  James C. Bezdek,et al.  Pattern Recognition with Fuzzy Objective Function Algorithms , 1981, Advanced Applications in Pattern Recognition.

[33]  Holger Luczak,et al.  Fuzzy modelling of relations between physical weight and perceived heaviness: the effect of size-weight illusion in industrial lifting tasks , 1989 .

[34]  R. Harré.  The philosophies of science , 1985 .

[35]  Yujiro Murayama,et al.  Human reliability and safety evaluation of man-machine systems , 1983, Autom..

[36]  Donald A Topmiller.  METHODS: PAST APPROACHES, CURRENT TRENDS AND FUTURE REQUIREMENTS , 1981 .

[37]  Michael Smithson,et al.  Applications of fuzzy set concepts to behavioral sciences , 1982, Math. Soc. Sci..

[38]  J. F. Baldwin.  Fuzzy logic and fuzzy reasoning , 1979 .

[39]  M. M. Ayoub,et al.  Fuzzy approach in psychophysical modeling of human operator-manual lifting system , 1984 .

[40]  G. Hirsch,et al.  Phonemic classification using a fuzzy dissimilitude relation , 1981 .

[41]  Stefan Amsterdamski,et al.  Between Experience and Metaphysics , 1975 .