Abstract
Large individual differences in inspection performance is one of the most consistent findings in inspection studies. This is a major factor that has contributed both to undermining the development of valid inspector selection tests and to complicating the training process for inspectors. This study evaluated cognitive factors that could account for a large part of these differences. A fuzzy set approach formulated as a multi-criteria decision making problem was used to determine whether they can correctly judge the importances as defined by objectively examining inspection activity. Results indicated a close correspondence between subjective and objective approaches, suggesting the possibility for integrating the individual's subjective appraisal of relative importance of cognitive factors into the design, selection and training process for inspection tasks. © 1991 Academic Press Limited.