Abstract EN:

Mental workload measures raise practical problems and their relation with information processing is often unclear. On the contrary, the use of memory tasks make sense with practical criteria and do inform about information processing. Besides these advantages, recent results suggest that the qualitative nature of processing operations could be analyzed by selecting appropriate memory tasks. Indeed, dissociation between implicit and explicit measures of retention can be explained by the compatibility of processing operations conducted at study and at test : some memory tasks are more compatible with data-driven processes whereas other are more compatible with conceptually-driven processes. On this basis, four field experiments were runned with skilled operators conducting a pressurized water reactor. First, results show that memory performance can serve to evaluate the effectiveness of graphical coding the designer use in order to make salient important features for severity within the display. Second, by reproducing dissociation between memory tasks as a function of level of processing and type of information, results show that the perceptiveconceptual nature of processing operations can be analyzed by using appropriate memory tasks. Therefore the relative contribution of perceptive versus conceptual operations within information processing can be analyzed by a procedure applicable in work situations, an appropriate procedure for practitioners.