Experimental studies of manual control in optimal control tasks

Some features of human operator´s ability in optimal control tasks are experimentally studied. A subject is instructed to control a plant properly by manipulating a potentiometer which produces an input to the plant. At the same time he is requested to decrease the value of a performance index shown to him after each trial; the index evaluates his control action based on a formula. It is shown that the subject can decrease the index value after many trials even if he does not have any knowledge about the dynamics of a plant and the performance index. This suggests that the learning process can be reinforced by showing the performance index to the operator