Conditions are circumstances, equipment, documents and other such things that significantly impact task performance. When you look for the task conditions, think "real world."
Under what circumstances, or given what equipment or resources will this task be performed in the real world?
Examples of Task Conditions
Maintenance Task
•The motor has been removed from the plant and placed in the maintenance shop on blocks.
•You will be working independently, with no assistance from others.
•You will have access to the repair procedures and vendor manuals.
Operations Task
•On a day or evening shift with no fewer than two experienced outside operators on duty.
•Under normal operating conditions.
•With access to normal and abnormal operating procedures.
•Using the Display Console System.
The Importance of Identifying Task Conditions
Ideally, there is no difference between the conditions that exist when performing a task in the real world and the conditions when performing the task for purposes of training. When there is no difference at all, we say that we have 100% "fidelity" between the real world setting and the training. That's the ideal. It doesn't happen all of the time.
It is important then, to identify the conditions of the real world task. They are used for several very essential things:
•To help us identify skills, knowledge (and perhaps attitudes or personality traits) that the trainee must possess in order to perform the task proficiently. In other words, the conditions are an important source of input to the task analysis.
oIf a condition requires use of a particular piece of equipment, then the skill and knowledge components that focus on use of the equipment might be appropriate.
oIf conditions require use of a specification or line diagram, skills and knowledge components dealing with interpreting diagrams may be appropriate.
oConditions are a good source of ideas for finding those important skill and knowledge components. They can make the difference between a good or so-so task analysis.
•Conditions are often applied to task qualification checklists (and sometimes other types of documents) to ensure that task evaluation is conducted in the proper context. In other words, we want to have 100% fidelity between actual performance conditions and those under which the trainee was qualified.
