Models of Procedures

The literature on procedures (from a human factors perspective) is sparse, to say the least. Dekker (2003) outlined two different models of procedures that have been adopted within the safety-critical domains. The first model is based on the notion that procedures represent rules that should be followed  

The second model describes procedure application as substantive cognitive activity and suggests that procedures do not represent the work itself rather, workers must interpret procedures with regard to a collection of actions and circumstances that the procedures themselves can never specify. In Dekker s second model  

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As far as efficacy is concerned, this is a model of procedural memory with more than a sensorimotor aspect, because it includes considerations of instinctive priority and emotional salience. It is thus the Freudian unconscious broadened and made user-friendly. No longer a cauldron of dread desire, my unconscious procedural repertoire is both rich in sources and ready to respond. I don t have to think about most of what I do. It just happens automatically, appropriately, and adaptively. My emotional brain knows that helicopters, Vermont tractors, and nervous exhibit designers have something in common. 

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