Cognitive ergonomics

A.H. Mehrparvar, M.D.

Yazd University of Medical Sciences
Department of Occupational Medicine
Terminology
 Engineering Psychology (psychologic
engineering)
 Human Performance Engineering
 Human Factors
 Ergonomics
 Cognitive Ergonomics
 Cognitive Engineering
?Why Consider Human Factors
 Enhance efficiency (productivity)
 Ensure safety
 Assure tasks are within human
capability
 Improve human performance
 Gain market acceptance
 Reduce costs (economic, legal, social)
Human in the human factors
 Humans are involved in all aspects of
technology
 Designers
 Users (operators)
 Maintenance personnel
 The successes (and problems) of technology:
 machine failure
 human error
 interaction of humans and machines (system
error)
 Human-Machine System
Environment

Human Machine

Sensory Display

Interface
Cognitive Processor

Motor Control
 Matching Humans and Machines
 I. “Fitting the Machine
to the Human”: Display,
control, and interface
design
Human Machine
 II. “Fitting the Human
to the Machine”: Sensory Display

Interface
Selection and training Cognitive Processor

Motor Control
Examples of I: Display, Control
and Interface Design
 Voice (auditory) vs. data link (visual)
for controller-pilot communications

 Monitoring for excessive operator

workload or fatigue using
neuroergonomic measures
Examples of II: Selection and
Training
 Selecting for high-performance skills
(e.g., pilot)
 Developing selection tests for new
occupations
 Training special populations (e.g., older
adults in ATM usage, or home
automation)
Engineering Psychology vs. Human Factors
 The aim of engineering psychology:
 not simply to compare two possible designs for
a piece of equipment [which is the role of
human factors]
 but
 to specify the capacities and limitations of the
human [generate an experimental data base]
from which the choice of a better design
should be directly deducible
Because Minds and Brains are “Situated”—in a Body
and Environment with Artifacts and Tools—
Hence Cognitive Engineering
Neuroergonomics
- Using Brain Function to Enhance Human Performance
in Complex Systems
- The scientific study of brain mechanisms and
psychological and physical functions of humans in
relation to technology, work, and environments
Definition
 Cognitive Ergonomics
 Cognitive Engineering
 Psychological Engineering:

the scientific discipline that studies the

cognitive processes in the design of
technology and the environment in which
this technology is used by people
Cognitive ergonomics - definition
 studies cognition in work settings, in order
to optimize human well-being and system
performance
 focuses on the fit between human
cognitive abilities and limitations and the
machine, task, environment
Examples
 designing a software interface to be "easy
to use“
 designing a sign so that the majority of
people will understand and act in the
intended manner
 designing an airplane cockpit or nuclear
power plant control system so that the
operators will not make catastrophic
errors
Cognitive ergonomics (cont.)
 Cognitive ergonomics studies cognition
in work settings
 in order to optimize human well-being and
system performance
 an emerging branch of ergonomics that
places particular emphasis on the analysis
of cognitive processes
 Cognitive processes:
 Diagnosis
 Decision making
 planning
 Cognitive ergonomics aim to enhance
performance of cognitive tasks by:
 user-centered design of human-machine
interaction and human-computer interaction
 design of information technology systems
that support cognitive tasks
 development of training programs
 work redesign to manage cognitive
workload and increase human reliability
examples- narrow definition
 TV or DVD player remote control — button
placement, orientation, size, shape, texture,
and color
 Computer software menu — the number, color,
arrangement, modes of access, and hierarchical
nesting of the screens in an online help system
 Design and layout for the buttons, knobs, and
dials on a car stereo
 Warning labels on consumer products — color,
configuration, size, and placement
Examples- broad definition
 The configuration of equipment and
furniture in a hospital operating room to
maximize team performance and minimize
errors of perception, attention and
judgment
 The design of a commercial jet’s cockpit to
correspond to the crew’s natural
tendencies in perception, memory, and
decision making
 The creation of an office environment to
minimize distractions and maximize
productivity and performance
 The arrangement of a classroom to
maximize information exchange,
knowledge creation, and acquisition
 Recent models of cognitive ergonomics
involve three dimensions:
 Usefulness
 usability
 acceptance
?”What is “Usability
 The degree to which a product or service
is easy to use, easy to learn, and
optimized for efficiency
 ISO 9241-11 “Guidance on Usability”
 Extent to which a product can be used by
specified users to achieve specified goals
with effectiveness, efficiency and
satisfaction
 Effectiveness - Accuracy and completeness
with which users achieve specified goals
 Efficiency - Resources expanded in relation
to the accuracy and completeness with
which users achieve goals
 Satisfaction - Freedom from discomfort,
and positive attitudes towards the user of
the product
Physical ergonomics Vs. cognitive
ergonomics
 physical ergonomics focuses on our bodies
 Cognitive ergonomics is interested in what
goes on in our brains:
 the way our senses perceive information
 the way in which we understand and interpret
it
 what determines the decisions we make
Objectives of cognitive ergonomics
 shorten the time to accomplish tasks
 reduce the number of mistakes made
 reduce learning time
 improve people’s satisfaction with a
system
 Cognition is the processing of
environmental information acting on the
environment
 any available system that processes
information in its environment to act upon
it could be called “Cognitive System” and
performs “cognitive work”.
ACTIVITITES OF THE COGNITIVE
SYSTEM
 PERCEPTION:

• complex sensory processes

• primary images containing all information about the concrete
features of objects (visual, acoustic, kinesthetic, olfactory,
gustatory)
 MEMORY:
• ability to remember, recognize and recall
• information is encoded, stored and retrieved.
• active: structuring, constructive and creative psychic mechanism.
• THOUGHT: the process of information processing in working
memory
 the analysis of cognitive tasks should
examine both the interaction of users with
their work setting and the user interaction
with artifacts or tools
 Interaction:
 Collaboration to perform a task, to do
Cognitive Work
 For example, when describing the task of
driving a car we would say that: “My goal is
not to sit in my car and play with the
equipment. My goal is to sit in my car, so that
together we get from one point to another in
space, as safely and quickly as possible”. This
collaboration is implemented through the
interface.
Cognitive analysis of interaction
 The allocation of functions to both humans
and artefacts
 The design of the interface through which
humans and artefacts communicate while
collaborating in performing the task
 Human and artefacts interact to perform a
task by performing cognitive functions
 Therefore, the design of interaction is to
describe how these cognitive functions are
allocated to humans and artefacts
 “Adaptive function allocation” to mean
that functions could be re-allocated
through the interaction
Levels of functional analysis
 the first cognitive level: sensory-motor
 interaction is described from the point of view of the
characteristics of the human sensory and motor
systems
 Interaction occurs when the output of the device,
be this visual, auditory, or of any other physical
type, is captured by human sensory receivers
 human behaviour would be processed through
the motor system, and it is essential that the
device has the necessary input systems to
receive it in the appropriate way
 Design phase
 Cognitive ergonomics is promoting "
user-centered design", in the sense that
users are integrated in the design process
as early as possible
 “ User centred design addresses early and
continuous focus on users, empirical
measurements, iteractive design and
multidisciplinary design teams
 Evaluation phase
 User centered design involves iterative
design, so that evaluation is conducted at
every stages of development. Most
evaluation methods aims at evaluating
usability and thus are described under the
usability article