Human factor

The human factor is a multi-valued term describing the possibility of a person making erroneous or illogical decisions in specific situations ^[2] .

Designers of various equipment, devices, etc., try to envisage, prevent and reduce the consequences of such human behavior. The expression human factor is often used as an explanation of the causes of catastrophes and accidents, resulting in losses or loss of life.

Opportunities or mistakes are peculiar to any person. Not always the psychological and psycho-physiological characteristics of a person correspond to the level of complexity of the tasks or problems to be solved. Characteristics arising from the interaction of man and technical systems, often called the "human factor". Errors, called manifestations of the human factor, are usually unintentional: a person performs erroneous actions, regarding them as correct or most appropriate.

The reasons contributing to the erroneous actions of a person can be grouped into several groups:

• lack of information support, lack of consideration of the human factor;
• errors caused by external factors;
• errors caused by the physical and psychological state and properties of a person;
• limited resources support and execution of the decision.

Lack of full confidence in the success of the forthcoming action, doubts about the possibility of achieving the goal of the activity give rise to emotional tension , which manifests itself as excessive excitement, intense human experience of the process of activity and the expected results. Emotional tension leads to a deterioration in the organization of activity, over-stimulation or general inhibition and stiffness in behavior, an increase in the probability of erroneous actions. The degree of emotional tension depends on the person's assessment of his readiness to act in these circumstances and responsibility for their results. Such individual peculiarities of a person as excessive impressionability, excessive diligence, insufficient general endurance, impulsivity in behavior contribute to the appearance of tension.

The source of errors can serve as a decrease in attention in a familiar and relaxed atmosphere. In such a situation, the person relaxes and does not expect any complications. During monotonous work, sometimes errors appear that are almost never encountered in tense situations.

Errors in the performance of certain actions may be associated with the unsatisfactory mental state of a person. At the same time, a person has a depressed mood, irritability, slowness of reactions, and sometimes, on the contrary, excessive agitation, fussiness, unnecessary talkativeness. A person dissipates attention, errors occur when performing the necessary actions, especially in case of unexpected equipment failures or sudden changes in the situation.

The reasons contributing to the emergence of such a state may be experiencing any unpleasant event, fatigue, the beginning of the disease, as well as lack of confidence in their abilities or lack of preparedness for this complex or new activity.

The cause of human errors can be the lack or insufficiency of information support (special handlers for such situations in software, visual materials and instructions); This problem is especially pronounced in extreme situations and in the conditions of lack of time for decision making.

There are several approaches to scientific research on the nature and content of the human factor in military affairs.

So V.P. Kashirin ^[3] characterizes the human factor as a real operating set of spiritual and physical forces of subunits, units and individual servicemen. He argues that the spiritual side plays the leading role in the human factor - what is commonly called the morale of the troops, fleet forces, personnel units, units.

Morale is the spiritual readiness and ability of the personnel to endure the trials of war, the hardships, hardships and difficulties of military service and to achieve victory over the enemy, to successfully carry out the military service tasks set ^[3] .

By definition, V.P. Kashirin, the morale of the troops (naval forces) has two interrelated sides: statistical and dynamic.

He calls the statistical side the moral and psychological potential of a subunit, a unit, as a set of spiritual capabilities of personnel, the degree of its political, moral, legal and other consciousness, competence, military professionalism, which can be turned into a factor in achieving victory in battle, war. , performance of military service and other tasks facing the military formation ^[3] .

The dynamic side of V.P. Kashirin calls the moral and psychological state of the personnel of a subunit, unit, as one or another degree of realization and manifestation of the moral and psychological potential of military personnel in solving specific combat and other military service tasks.

The same views on the nature and content of the human factor, morale and moral and psychological state were expressed by P.А. Korchemny ^[4] , V.I. Aleshchenko [p. 4, 5] ^[5] and others.

According to A. A. Ilyuk, the human factor of military formations is the integral unity of rational (motivational-volitional) and sensual (emotional) qualities of personnel formed by objective reality, which induce servicemen to fulfill their military duty, influence their condition and behavior, determine the readiness of personnel to perform service and combat missions and use in the elements of combat order [p. 21] ^[1] .

On the methodological basis of the philosophical statements about the rational and sensual levels of the human psyche, the rational, sensual and eidetic forms of the existence of consciousness A. A. Ilyyuk defines two components of the human factor of military formations - morale and moral and psychological state of the personnel.

Personnel morale is a stable set of ideological convictions, political consciousness, social security and professionalism of military personnel, the level of cohesion of military teams and administrative activities of the management team, which systematically and interdependently form the internal readiness of personnel for the performance of military duty, create optimal conditions for the implementation of service and combat tasks and encourage action. The constituents of the morale are: ideological, economic, political, socio-psychological and administrative [p. 41-43] ^[6] .

The moral and psychological state of the personnel is a set of emotional experiences that are generated at the sensory level of the human psyche when interacting with objective reality and awareness of personal qualities and through the psychological defense system actively influence the mental state of military personnel and manifest themselves in moral activity. The components of the moral and psychological state are: demographic, personal, service, moral, natural-climatic [p. 132 - 134] ^[7] .

The methodological basis for determining the components of the morale and the moral and psychological state are philosophical statements about the forms of social consciousness, especially the rational and sensual levels of the human psyche [p. 21] ^[1]

Morale characterizes motivational-volitional: fundamental, persistent, long-term qualities of personnel , and the moral and psychological state - emotional: changeable, not long-term, situational [p. 130] ^[1]

The same views on the essence and content of the human factor, morale and moral-psychological state are of Yu. V. Turchenko, A. V. Siry ^[8] and others.

The level of the human factor of military formations (units and subunits) (UCF) is classified as “high”, “medium”, “low”, “threatening”, namely:

• “High” if UCF [100 ... 67.1];
• “Average” if the UCF [67 ... 50,1];
• “Low” if UCF [50 ... 33.1];
• “Threatening” if the UCF [33 ... 0] [s. 35] ^[1] .

Interpretation of the results of the evaluation of the human factor of military units (units, divisions):

• The “high” UCF - beyond the level of morale and moral-psychological state, the personnel are fully prepared to perform service and combat missions, it is advisable to use them in the main lines of action and in the defining elements of battle formation;
• The “medium” UCF - beyond the level of morale and moral-psychological state, the personnel are ready to perform limited tasks for carrying out service and combat missions, it is advisable to use them in secondary lines of action and in the corresponding elements of battle formation;
• “Low” UCF - beyond the level of morale and moral-psychological state, personnel are not ready to perform service and combat tasks, it is advisable to use them in auxiliary lines of action and in the relevant elements of battle formation;
• “Threatening” UCF - for the level of morale and moral-psychological state, the personnel are demoralized ; it is not recommended to engage them in the performance of service and combat missions [p. 35, 36] ^[1] .

• Foolproof
• Medical error
• Human-computer interaction
• Usability

• J. Kristenoen, D. Meister, P. Fowley and others (Gavriel Salvendy). Human factor. In 6 vols. T. 1. Ergonomics - a complex scientific and technical discipline: = Handbook of Human Factors / V. P. Zinchenko , V. M. Munipov . - M .: “Peace”, 1991. - T. 1. - p. 526. - 599 p. - 9000 copies - ISBN 5-03-001710-0 , ISBN 5030017097 ( ISBN 0471880159 ).
• Yuriev N. The human factor (rus.) // Technique and weapons yesterday, today, tomorrow: magazine. - 2003. - September ( No. 09 ). - pp . 14-15 .