Incorporating the effects of time estimation into human-reliability analysis for high-risk situations

A modeling framework for predicting the effects of discrepancies between subjective and objective measures of elapsed time on performance of human-machine interaction tasks in high-risk situations is presented. Following a review of the major theories and experimental research findings in time estimation, the importance of time estimation in terms of its potential for affecting human performance in critical human-machine system operations is discussed. The authors´ approach for dealing with time-related task demands is to describe the ongoing dynamic processes during task performance that are associated with temporal estimation, and to assess their effects on human reliability. This is accomplished through a conceptual framework that is depicted and discussed in terms of several task features and information-processing mechanisms, and that implicitly recognizes the experimental evidence concerning human time-estimation performance. This concept is illustrated through special cases that are formulated and analyzed in terms of their potential for contributing to human error as a function of time-estimation considerations