Internal representation of a process, fault diagnosis and fault correction

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Abstract
This paper reports on an investigation into the relationship between the internal representation of a process on the one hand and on the other, control behaviour when diagnosing and correcting faults. The subjects were 87 process operator trainees, performing certain tasks in a simulated process control situation. Two modes of internal representation are distinguished: a more verbal or abstract mode of the functioning of the process (the mental model) and a more visual or concrete mode of the structure of the process (the mental image). It is concluded that the mental model probably plays an important role in fault correction and in the verification process in diagnosing faults, while the mental image seems to play an important role in the search for information in the process of diagnosis. Some implications for operator training are discussed.

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