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Is There a Notable Comprehension Difference Between Abbreviations and Spelled-Out Words?

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Nuclear power plant control rooms are information-rich environments. One source of information is the labels used to differentiate controls and alarms. Due to the multitude of alarms and controls, space is limited on the control boards. Consequently, labels are often abbreviated. Operators report abbreviations are faster to comprehend. However, these communications are anecdotal and in conflict with nuclear regulatory guidance. NUREG-0544 Revision 5 acknowledges that abbreviations are not ideal and are used for convenience. Moreover, operator anecdotes are also in conflict with decades of research, which have demonstrated that a word context allows for faster recognition of letters over a non-word context in adults. This paper outlines a coming study comparing abbreviations to spelled-out labels. Here, we discuss the potential in investigating this line of research.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvances in Safety Management and Human Performance - Proceedings of the AHFE 2020 Virtual Conferences on Safety Management and Human Factors, and Human Error, Reliability, Resilience, and Performance
EditorsPedro M. Arezes, Ronald L. Boring
PublisherSpringer
Pages291-295
Number of pages5
ISBN (Print)9783030509453
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020
EventAHFE Virtual Conferences on Safety Management and Human Error, Reliability, Resilience, and Performance, 2020 - San Diego, United States
Duration: Jul 16 2020Jul 20 2020

Publication series

NameAdvances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
Volume1204 AISC
ISSN (Print)2194-5357
ISSN (Electronic)2194-5365

Conference

ConferenceAHFE Virtual Conferences on Safety Management and Human Error, Reliability, Resilience, and Performance, 2020
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego
Period07/16/2007/20/20

Keywords

  • Comprehension
  • Human factors
  • Labels
  • Nuclear power
  • Semantic

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