Basics about Work and Human Cognition

Abstract

In order to initiate new developments of vehicle guidance and control systems which go beyond the state of the art, it appears to be worthwhile to put in front some basic facts and considerations. In particular, it makes sense to clarify how a system is structured which enables the process of vehicle guidance and control and what we can learn from human cognition in order to make use of it for the enhancement of vehicle guidance and control. In essence, this leads to an understanding of two general concepts, that of work and pertinent work systems, and that of cognition. These two concepts compose the basis for the considerations of system design which will be outlined thereafter. This chapter therefore will start with a discourse on the concept of work and its implications, if we consider the process of vehicle guidance and control as a work process. Subsequently, the main features of (human) cognition are outlined in order to capture its design potentials, if one makes use of introducing artificial cognition in the work process.