Tasks, errors and mental models. L. P. Goodstein, H. B. Andersen and S. E. Olsen

WHAT DO tasks, errors and mental models have in common? Aside from their eponymous role in this festschrift for Jens Rasmussen, there is a two-fold answer. In the first place, tasks, errors and mental models may each be ascribed to human agents. Such ascriptions specifically apply to the human component in man-machine systems (MMS). In the second place, these aspects are brought together in an approach to complex systems described as "cognitive engineering". More than anything else, it is this perspective on operators and dynamic systems which gives cohesion to Tasks, Errors and Mental Models (hereafter, TEM). To begin, let us try to characterize cognitive engineering for then we can better understand the arena of the book under review.