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Human
Capabilities and
Limitations
Much of the
science of Human
Factors is
focused on the
determination of
the capabilities
and limitations
of the human
operator, both
in terms of
maximum possible
performance and
most likely
performance
under particular
sets of
circumstances.
The fact that an
individual
alerted prior to
an “emergency”
(i.e., who is
aware of both
what is to occur
and what they
need to do about
it) can react
within a certain
amount of time
says very little
about the
performance of
the same
individual in a
real world
situation.
Understanding
how situations
and environments
affect
real-world
performance is
often a key
component to
understanding
how and why an
accident could
or could not
have occurred.
Capabilities of
particular
interest include
such issues as
reaction and/or
response time,
attention,
information
processing,
multitasking
capabilities,
the effects of
distraction or
environmental
factors, as well
as a variety of
other critical
factors
potentially
related to
accident
causation or
likelihood.
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