Synthetic task environments and situation awareness

The human operator is a key component in many complex technological systems. The question of situation awareness considers the human as a cognitive component within a technological system. Synthetic task environments are suggested as important frameworks for developing empirical research programs to further one´s theoretical understanding of situation awareness and for mapping this theoretical understanding on to design decisions. The synthetic task environment provides a rich semantic context where functional constraints on goals, information, and action can be manipulated, and where both operator and system performance can be measured at multiple levels