Effects of instruction, visual imagery and educational background on process control performance

The effects of instruction, vividness of visual imagery and education were evaluated on operator control performance on a relatively complex process simulator. Thirty-two subjects took part. Analysis of variance of the data indicated a significant effect due to instruction. No significant effects were found for vividness of visual imagery or educational background, nor any significant interactions. A significant learning effect was shown to exist for one of the levels of instruction, namely the group with process information. The group with only input-output information did not show any learning effect over the three experimental trials.