FAULT-FINDING IN ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

Abstract

The problem of training men to locate faults quickly and correctly has only recently been recognized. In the past it was thought that the acquisition of knowledge of electronic theory was a sufficient preparation for the job. But observation shows that in general men trained in this way do not search for faults in the best possible ways; they frequently make serious errors of strategy. The use of laboratory tasks, in which the secondary difficulties associated with the real job through poor Human Engineering, and a lack of suitable data books and diagrams are eliminated, shows that most men do not search efficiently. Their behaviour is influenced to a considerable extent by irrelevant factors; it changes if tasks are presented in different ways ; and in a given task irrelevant features of the display affect their procedure.

The appropriateness of a man's strategy appears to be positively correlated with his intelligence. This suggests that if the intelligence level of men recruited for fault-finding training is reduced, then not only will they experience more difficulty in assimilating electronic theory but when they come to the actual job they will use less effective strategies in their fault-finding. The problem of training them to use better strategies is discussed.

Experiments by the author are described and set in relation to previous work.