Allocation of functions between man and machines in automated systems

Abstract

With the growing complexity of the man-machine systems the problem of allocation becomes more critical. Little progress has been made towards its solution since the publication of Fitts' article in 1951 which has dominated thinking in this area. Fitts recommended that man be compared to machines and be chosen for those functions which he does better than machines and vice versa. To do so is wrong; when we can compare a man to a machine, we find that we can also build a machine for the function involved. Hence the lack of progress. Men and machines are complementary, rather than comparable. Once the problem is so reformulated, new ways of thinking which appear to be promising open up. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)