CHRISTMAS TREE EFFECT
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 433 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The confusing effect on perception of numerous and simultaneous stimuli, specially visual.
This effect is fast becoming a very serious risk factor in control rooms (industrial, nuclear, etc…) or in front of complex panels of instruments as in an aircraft.
The main causes of the Christmas tree effect are:
- The growing complexity of machines whose totality is now very difficult to grasp by an operator
- The swiftness of technology evolution which does not allow anymore for sufficient re-adaptive learning and imprinting time
- The passage from a concrete man machine system interaction to an abstract interaction in terms of massive symbolic representation.
In other words, man seems to come closer and closer to the limits of his capacity of perception, at least in real time, in front of his own artifacts.