We all make mistakes but we don’t always understand them or understand why, so we keep making them. The discipline of MAN – MACHINE interaction, which also studies the human factors at the origin of errors and studies the strategies to prevent them or to reduce their effects, can help us to better understand the mistakes we make.
A classification of human behavior is analyzed and proposed by the skill-rule-knowledge (SRK) model created by Dr. J. Rasmussen.
Skill-based behavior
It is the routine behavior based on learned skills for which the cognitive commitment is very low and the reasoning is unconscious, automatic.
Rule-based behavior
Behavior is guided by rules the person has to perform known tasks.
Knowledge-based behavior
This is the behavior to be implemented when you are in the presence of new or unforeseen situations, that is, unknown situations for which no rules or reference procedures are known.
On the basis of the model proposed by Rasmussen , three main types of human error are identified :
- lapse error:memory blank is an execution error caused by a forgetfulness.
- slip error:forgetfulness or involuntary mistake is an execution error that occurs at the skill level.
- mistake mistake:the wrong things are done the mistake is not made during the practical execution of the action plan, in fact the actions are carried out as planned, but there are other problems that lead to the error.
Errors occur because you want to speed up a process by taking the shortcut; mistakes are made due to inexperience or excessive confidence in one’s abilities.
Understanding if one of our mistakes is of a mistake, slip or lapse type is very important as it puts us in a position to decide what to do to avoid repeating the same mistake in a similar situation.
To understand the difference between these three main types of errors, we propose the following exercise in which three different situations with the same object are summarized.
Each of them exemplifies one of the three main errors committed by man’s actions.
First situation:
I intend to give my wife a gift and since it is always difficult for me to give gifts as I am not used to them, after much indecision I have found the best gift to give her.
As soon as she opens it I understand from her expression that it is not at all to her liking and that she was disappointed, even if she tried not to show it to me.
Second situation:
At Christmas my brother bought a gift for his wife and one for me.
As soon as I open mine, we realize that my brother has exchanged the two presents, and I find myself in a pretty evening dress and his wife with a shiny fountain pen.
Third situation:
My father returns on the evening of the wedding anniversary without any gift and as soon as he sees my mother with the muzzle he remembers having forgotten to buy her the red roses he had promised to make since early morning.
In fact, when he returned from work he drove home automatically, as he does every evening, completely forgetting to stop at the florist.
As we can see, in all three situations mistakes were made which had more or less unpleasant consequences.
The three errors are considerably different from each other and represent the three main types of error that man can commit in his actions.
Did you understand to which of the three types of errors described at the beginning each of the situations described corresponds?
- In the first situation, I correctly performed all the actions in my plan, but my plan was wrong because I had chosen the wrong gift for my wife, so I made a mistake.
- In the second situation, my brother’s plan of action was correct, but one of the actions he conducted was wrong, having mistakenly exchanged the two gifts. This is a typical slipmistake .
- In the third situation, my father’s plan was correct but he missed one of the measures included in its plan, forgot to stop by fioraio.L’errore committed by my father is kind of lapse.
With this simple exercise we understood the difference between the three main types of mistakes, now we need to analyze which mistake we make most frequently.
To reduce or eliminate the mistake of the mistake type we must strive to improve our knowledge , we must study, prepare better and train ourselves more on that task.
If, on the other hand, the mistakes we make are lapse or slip, it means that we have the right and complete knowledge to carry out our task but we must be more focused on what we do, we must reduce distractions and increase attention and rest.
In fact, at the origin of slip and lapse errors there are excessive distractions, fatigue, haste, excessive workload, deconcentration and stress.
If you want, you can do this exercise and check the solution by leaving your answers in the comments :
- First situation: in a biscuit factory, at the moment of packing the operator notices that all the chocolate biscuits have a strange dark color It happened that during the night shift the plant operator forgot to adjust the temperature of the final baking oven and the cookies burned.
- Second situation: during the preparation of the molding material for the construction of the tires, the department head realizes that instead of being black, the material that was delivered to him is pure white. the box with the tire label, he had picked up the one with the tire label.
- Third situation: in the final quality control department of the shoe factory, the operators are euphoric because in opening packages of “men’s boots” ready for shipment, they find pretty green shoes with stiletto heels. packaging had reversed dispensers with sticky labels.
