Linktrained; simulators – interesting.
Unfortunately Murphy (the errant human) does not come prepackaged and labeled. Human performance varies according to the machine and situation.
Simulators are representative ‘machines’ and may have Murphy inducing qualities not found in the original aircraft.
However, simulations can be very valuable in detecting system interface problems, but with increasing technological complexity it may not be possible to evaluate all combinations of situation and human behavior. Hence the ‘stopping rule’ in aviation is based on probability – which the human does not conform to.
Furthermore, the ability to detect aircraft problems in simulation depends on the evaluator’s choice of ‘foreseeable’ scenarios and range of human behaviors; much as the designer has too.
Simulators are of great value, but as with other technological advancements it depends on how they are used (choice of situations), knowing their capabilities and limits, and on the people involved; … like any other interface involving human activity.
In science we might expect the most important wording to be ‘eureka’ (I understand); actually it is “I didn’t expect that”. In aviation’s experiments - incidents and accidents – we hear ‘I didn’t think that s/he would do that’.
Current certification guidance on human behavior – error management – is in
CS 25 AMC 25.1302.
Guidance for CRT displays is in AMC 25.11, Alerting Systems in AMC 25.1322, in the same document.