A taxonomy and root-cause analysis of human cognitive behavior based on a cognitive model

Abstract

A taxonomy of human cognitive behavior has been developed which will help classify human cognitive errors and is a first step in the collection of human error data from actual events. This taxonomy is based on a cognitive model for accident situations in nuclear power plants called the IDA (information, decision, and action) cognitive model, IDA essentially focuses on aspects of problem solving and decision making. However, observation of information, crew communication, and distribution of tasks are also addressed even if in a lesser extent. The basic elements of the model include the mental state (engine of the problem solving and decision making process), the goals generated by the operators, and the strategies used to solve them. The authors present the taxonomy and apply it to an example: the pressurizer spray valve failure event of the Crystal River-3 nuclear power plant.