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Article Dans Une Revue Le travail humain Année : 1999

Structure of action plans and the notion of temporal stops Marie-Françoise Valax et Françoise Sarocchi

Réduction de la complexité temporelle dans le contrôle d'un micro-monde dynamique

Résumé

Dealing with dynamic environments is a situation that can be characterized by different complexity sources. In this paper, we are particularly interested in the temporal dimension. We will try to answer the following question : how do operators manage to reduce the temporal complexity of a dynamic environment ? The idea of the construction of a functional and dynamic representation of the situation has been discussed in the literature. This representation can be used as a base for anticipation. Indeed, reducing temporal complexity may be done by way of constructing a * frame-model » of the situation including temporal information, that will help operators ù organize their own actions with regard to the process. Then, there is the more specific question : what might be the base of such a representation ? Several studies in time psychology have shown the significance of the temporal structure of the environment in duration estimation, anticipation, or more generally, in adapting human behaviour to time. The representation of regular events, sequences and cycles allows humans to adapt to the immediate or more distant future. We hypothesized that in order to adapt themselves to the numerous temporal requirements of a dynamic environment, operators search for signs of a temporal structure. On the basis of observations concerning the temporal characteristics of events in the environment -in terms of order and duration -, they construct a temporal representation allowing them to anticipate and organize their actions in time. A micro-world experiment simulating a water purification plant was carried out. Three complexity conditions were created for this experiment, and subjects controlled the process during three one-hour sessions. Results show that subjects reduce complexity ; their performance is better in the last control session. They seem to organize their actions by gathering them together, on the basis of regularities observed in the process (co-occurrences, occurrence order of events), and on the perception of « temporal extent » rather than metric duration. This organization of actions is a strategy that allows subjects to « get in tune » with the dynamic structure of the environment. This study emphasizes the importance of identifying empirical regularities for constructing a mental representation of the temporal structure of the environment.
Les opérateurs en charge du contrôle d'environnements dynamiques doivent faire face à de nombreuses exigences. La dimension temporelle constitue un des facteurs de complexité caractérisant ce type d'environnement. Dans une tâche d'apprentissage du contrôle d'un micro-monde dynamique, cette étude montre que les sujets parviennent à réduire la complexité liée l'aspect temporel. Sur la base de régularités observées dans l'occurrence des événements, les sujets construisent une représentation mentale de la structure temporelle de l'environnement (sorte de « modèle-cadre » ) basée sur l'ordonnancement partiel d'extensions temporelles. Cette représentation temporelle leur permet d'organiser leurs actions dans le temps (synchronisation, planification), et de construire des stratégies de gestion.
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Dates et versions

hal-02479854 , version 1 (14-02-2020)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-02479854 , version 1

Citer

Ophélie Carreras, Marie-Françoise Valax, Jean-Marie Cellier. Réduction de la complexité temporelle dans le contrôle d'un micro-monde dynamique. Le travail humain, 1999, 62 (4), pp.327-346. ⟨hal-02479854⟩
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