Development and Validation of the Cognitive Model is work package WP4 ( Work Package EC Contribution is € 879,800.00) in EC project HUMAN—Model-Based Analysis of Human Errors during Aircraft Cockpit System Design, SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME
TRANSPORT - AERONAUTICS, Project number 211988, Call (part) identifier FP7-AAT-2007-RTD-1, Collaborative project, duration 2008 - 2011

The objective of the HUMAN project is to develop a methodology with techniques and prototypical tools supporting the prediction of human errors in ways that are usable and practical for human-centred design of systems operating in complex cockpit environments. The methodology contributes to (1) reducing the accident rate by enhancing the accuracy of pilot error prediction and to (2) achieving a substantial improvement in the elimination of and recovery from human error by reducing the effort of design and test for active and passive safety measures. These targets will be achieved through research and technology development in: (1) Cognitive modelling: the challenge is to develop an integrated cognitive crew model able to predict a significant range of design relevant pilot behaviours (including errors) covering human-machine interaction and crew performance in the complex dynamic environments. (2) Virtual simulation: the challenge is to develop a high-fidelity virtual simulation platform to execute the cognitive crew model in realistic flight scenarios in order to analyse the dependencies (including the safety effect of likely pilot errors) between the pilots, a target system, the aircraft and its environment. (3) Knowledge base on human performance: the challenge is to thoroughly investigate pilot behaviour on a physical simulation platform (comprising a full-scale flight simulator) to enhance the understanding of cognitive processes leading to pilot errors and to use the resulting knowledge to validate and further develop the cognitive crew model. The human errors will be studied in relation to a target system that will be based on issues pertaining to the future Air Traffic Management context. This will permit to study pilots' future activities and potential errors and to provide useful information to drive the development of active and passive safety measures for this domain.