A work sample analysis of safety‐critical programming

A work sample was used as part of a human factors investigation into the reliability of a safety‐critical programming task. The use of this technique provided important insight into three areas. First, a number of different metrics, based on error rates, were considered for the purpose of identifying those parts of the task on which human factors intervention would have the greatest impact. Second, several common mode errors were identified. Third, individual differences in performance were examined, with the personality traits of introversion and stability found to be associated with less error‐prone performance.