bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Semi-Automated Observation and Assessment - Trainer Interaction within a Distributed Training Environment
Authors: Stretton Milton L. , Wilson Matthew S.
Published: January 2012

As the technology of joint multi-mission systems advances, so does the pressure to reduce the cost of these systems. Automation, which reduces operator workload and provides opportunities for task reallocation and consolidation, can achieve this goal. In addition, costs can be reduced by using automated training tools that train operators and teams with fewer trainers. The Debriefing Distributed Simulation-Based Exercises (DDSBE) program addresses the need for automation in distributed training environments. Technology is examined that requires fewer trainers to plan, execute, assess, and debrief performance of the distributed training audience. However, fewer trainers operating locally and remotely implies that trainers must be aware of both their immediate assessment requirements and those in the broader training environment. The Semi-Automated Observation and Assessment (SAOA) component of DDSBE described in this paper is designed to increase trainer awareness of the exercise and manage the flow of observation and assessment requirements.
Human Factors Assessment of International Space Station (ISS) Medical Equipment Packs
Authors: Smith Danielle Paige , Byrne Vicky E. , Hudy Cynthia , Whitmore Mihriban
Published: January 2012

A human factors assessment was performed on several International Space Station (ISS) medical packs to evaluate the organization of items and provide recommendations for redesign. The overall goal was to recommend solutions that will improve the efficiency of identifying and locating items in the medical packs, thereby, potentially increasing the survival rate of crewmembers in the event of a medical emergency. Currently, each ISS crew remains on-orbit for six-month intervals. As there is not a standing requirement for a physician crewmember, the maintenance of crew health is dependant on individual crewmembers delivering care via telemedicine and their own limited training. In addition, medical procedures must be carried out within the limitations imposed by the unique physical environment of the space station. Given these challenges, the procedures and equipment designed to aid the crewmember in delivering that care should follow human-centered design principles in order to be as easy and simple to use as possible. The evaluation revealed six main categories of issues: Labeling, Location/Collocation of items, Clear Presentation of Information, Error Prevention, Stowage, and Equipment Design. Recommendations for each category are provided, and should be considered for efficiency and effectiveness in any medical environment.
Habitability in Space
Authors: Rando Cynthia M. , Baggerman Susan D. , Duvall Laura E.
Published: January 2012

Over the last 40 years NASA has made great strides in creating habitable environments that support long-term space exploration. Most recently, the Skylab, Mir, and International Space Station exploration endeavors have provided NASA with a wealth of lessons learned to be carried forth to the new national vision for space exploration: “to the moon, Mars and beyond.” This paper will focus on the challenges and successes associated with creating a safe, functional, and productive environment for the human being living in space for an extended length of time. Specifically, the authors will be focusing on the issues surrounding habitation in space including: crew sleeping quarters, food preparation and dining facilities, exercise countermeasures, personal hygiene and waste collection, crew leisure time, and internal vehicle configuration. The lessons learned will be used to make recommendations for future long term space exploration.
Mixed Fleet Flying Between Two Commercial Aircraft Types: An Empirical Evaluation of the Role of Negative Transfer
Authors: Lyall Beth , Wickens Christopher D.
Published: January 2012

We examined the potential vulnerabilities of pilots flying a mixed fleet of two different aircraft types. A “worst case” scenario was evaluated in which a pilot, flying one type exclusively, would need to fly the different type, after 6 months without any recurrency training on the latter. These circumstances invite negative transfer of habits in the “old” aircraft, to performance in the “new” aircraft”. Documents of both aircraft were evaluated to establish those aspects of design and procedures differences that invite such negative transfer; a list of 36 such “vulnerabilities” were identified. Then 40 active commercial airline pilots from a US carrier participated in an evaluation of such negative transfer between two different types within the fleet. The sample was divided into 2 groups each of which normally flew one of the types and not the other. After training on the “new” type, each pilot returned to either 3 or 6 months of flying exclusively with their “old” type, and then returned for simulator evaluations on the “new” type that were targeted to reveal the 36 vulnerabilities. Even with power-sensitive statistical analyses, only slight evidence for negative transfer was found. Those areas where such transfer did emerge were targeted for recommendations of either procedural harmonization or minor design changes.
Flightpath Tracking, Change Detection and Visual Scanning in an Integrated Hazard Display
Authors: Alexander Amy L. , Wickens Christopher D.
Published: January 2012

Twenty-four certified flight instructors were required to fly a series of curved, step-down approaches while detecting changes to surrounding traffic aircraft and weather cell icons on two integrated hazard display (IHD) formats (2D coplanar and split-screen) under varying workload levels. Generally, it appears that the 2D coplanar IHD was better in supporting flightpath tracking and change detection performance when compared to a split-screen display. Pilots exhibited superior flightpath tracking (in the vertical dimension, and under low workload) when using the 2D coplanar IHD, although this effect was mitigated by increasing workload such that tracking deteriorated faster with the 2D coplanar than the split-screen display. The spawned 3D cost of diminished size with distance from ownship played a role in change detection response time—pilots were slower (particularly in detecting traffic aircraft changes) with the split-screen compared to the 2D coplanar IHD. These effects will be discussed within the context of visual scanning measures.
Sensor Control Effectiveness and Display Design in an Imaging System for Airborne Search and Rescue
Authors: Keillor Jocelyn , Hause Tyler , Pavlovic Nada , Perlin Michael
Published: January 2012

Traditionally, search and rescue (SAR) technicians have conducted search by directly viewing the terrain below the aircraft. Defence R&D Canada is developing a multi-sensor imaging system for SAR that would replace direct inspection under low visibility conditions. The operators may orient the sensors in any direction, which combined with a narrow field-of-view may induce disorientation. In addition to detecting and discriminating objects within the sensor's field-of-view, an operator is responsible for moving the sensor in such a way as to ensure that this detection and discrimination may be carried out with similar effectiveness across the entire area that needs to be searched. The present study reports the development of a metric of coverage effectiveness, and its application to two simulation experiments. The results demonstrate a trade-off between the availability of a moving-map display necessary to preserve operator orientation, and the effectiveness of an operator's sensor coverage over a specific region. That is, sensor control effectiveness was compromised by the addition of a moving-map to the display, likely due to operators' inability to simultaneously inspect the map and move the sensor appropriately. The coverage effectiveness metric reported here would be a useful tool in the development and evaluation of “smart” automation of this sensor sweep function.
Evaluation of Pilot Performance and Workload During a “Black Tube” Approach to Land
Authors: Hamblin Christopher J.
Published: January 2012

As glass cockpits become more ubiquitous in commercial and general aviation aircraft, it is important that aircraft manufacturers consider which standby instruments should be available to the pilot if the display units (DU) should fail. This study measures pilot performance and workload while performing black tube approaches with two different standby instrument configurations. Subjective and objective measures show that: 1) Pilot's overall performance declined when using standby instruments regardless of the standby instruments provided. 2) Workload ratings were significantly lower during black tube approaches when a standby HSI was available. 3) Lateral deviations were significantly lower during black tube approaches when a standby HSI was available. These results suggest that information provided by a standby HSI is critical to pilots for performing approaches to land during black-tube operations. The HSI provides a birdseye perspective which is critical to maintaining the pilot's situational awareness during instrument maneuvers.
Older Adults and Internet Health Information Seeking
Authors: El-Attar Tamer , Gray Jarvis , Nair Sankaran N. , Ownby Raymond , Czaja Sara J.
Published: January 2012

The internet has created new possibilities for individuals to assume a more pronounced role in their own healthcare. This paper reports results from a study that examined the perceptions of older people of usability and trust in Internet health information. Information was also gathered on their ability to search for health information. Participants included 64 adults aged 60-82 years who were asked to answer health-related queries using websites that varied in usability. They were also asked to provide ratings of usability and of their trust in Internet health information. The results indicated that performance was lower for the “low usability” websites. Participants also rated these websites as having poorer layout, being harder to navigate, less useful and less understandable. The majority of the sample indicated that they would use the internet to find health information. These findings underscore the importance of considering usability issues when designing e-health applications.
Aging and Input Devices: Voice Recognition Performance is Slower Yet More Acceptable than a Lightpen
Authors: Jastrzembski Tiffany , Charness Neil , Holley Patricia , Feddon Jeffrey
Published: January 2012

Microcomputers are ubiquitous to modern society, yet older adults consistently perform more poorly than younger counterparts using standard input devices (e.g. a mouse). Prior research has revealed that direct positioning devices (e.g. light pen), minimize age differences and enable quick transfer to the non-preferred hand. This study investigates whether speech recognition may also reduce age-related declines and enhance performance of older adults in target selection tasks. Twenty-four participants ages 20–26 (M = 21.7), twenty-four participants ages 44-55 (M = 48.9), and twenty-four participants ages 65–78 (M = 70.4) were asked to select a specified target using either a light pen or speech recognition software (IBM's ViaVoice). Results revealed no age effects for type of device, but response times for target acquisition were approximately 2178 ms longer for speech recognition than the direct positioning device, and preference ratings were higher using speech as input versus the lightpen. Implications are discussed.
Age-Related Differences in Learning Incidental Environmental Information
Authors: Caine Kelly E. , Nichols Timothy A. , Fisk Arthur D. , Rogers Wendy A.
Published: January 2012

Incidental environmental information is consistent, potentially beneficial, information that is not necessary for successful task performance (i.e., is seemingly unrelated to the task). In the present study, older and younger participants searched for target letters among distractor letters both of which were laid upon color environments, such that certain color environments predictively correlated with target letter location at varying degrees of consistency. Neither group could express verbal knowledge of the pattern of the environmental information although younger but not older adults showed improved performance in conditions where incidental information cued target location. The findings suggest that younger adults can benefit from incidental environmental information even when they cannot express that it is present in a task but that older adults may need additional cues to benefit from the information.
The Impact of Meta-Information on Decision-Making in Intelligence Operations
Authors: Pfautz Jonathan , Fouse Adam , Fichtl Ted , Roth Emilie , Bisantz Ann , Madden Samuel
Published: January 2012

Decision-making in complex, dynamic, high-risk environments is clearly challenging. Part of this challenge is due to the presence of qualifiers of information, or meta-information (e.g., staleness, uncertainty, source), that alter a person's information processing, situational awareness, and decision-making. We investigated the influence of meta-information on decision-making in a Military Intelligence Operations (IO) environment using Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) techniques. We performed a CTA on IO tasks surrounding the use of smart sensor webs, a relatively new technology that can be used for a variety of IO purposes. Our analysis addressed information management tasks and tactical decision-making tasks using sensor webs. We discovered that a variety of types of meta-information significantly impacted decision-making, and that the influence of meta-information was both context- and task- sensitive. In this paper, we present the results of the CTA and discuss the implications for the development of decision-aiding systems, including the design of constituent displays, interfaces, and automated systems.
Applying a Dynamic Model of Situated Cognition to the Investigation of Mishaps
Authors: Miller Nita Lewis , Shattuck Lawrence G.
Published: January 2012

Complex systems will, inevitably, experience failures. The cause of these failures or mishaps may be labeled 'operator error,' but often they are actually caused by the confluence of technological, situational, individual, and organizational factors. Several models and theories of human error have been proposed over the years and are reviewed in this paper. The authors propose another model, the Dynamic Model of Situated Cognition (DMSC), to explain how complex systems fail. Miller and Shattuck (2004) developed the DMSC in an effort to link technological aspects of a system to the perceptual and cognitive aspects of that system. They illustrated the model by applying it to the USS Stark incident and to a military command and control simulation (Shattuck and Miller, 2004). The model also appears to have utility as a retrospective explanatory tool to identify when and where things went wrong. In this paper, the authors describe the DMSC as it relates to the analysis of error in complex systems and apply it to the February 2001 mishap in which the U.S. Navy submarine USS Greeneville collided with the Japanese motor vessel Ehime Maru off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii.
Using a Reconstruction-Exploration Approach to Empower Cognitive Analysis Methods: Possibilities and Challenges
Authors: Albinsson Pär-Anders , Pilemalm Sofie , Wong William , Morin Magnus
Published: January 2012

One problem in analyzing large-scale, distributed tactical operations is to get an overview of the operation to guide the interpretation of data collected. Cognitive analysis methods, such as the critical decision method, do generally not focus on reconstructing detailed models of the work sessions, but rather on summarizing particular incidents based on retrospective interview data and self-reports. The existing reconstruction—exploration approach involves the construction and presentation of time-synchronized, event-driven multimedia models of the course of events from distributed operations. It does not, however, provide systematic analysis methods. This paper discusses the possibilities and challenges of integrating the critical decision method and the reconstruction—exploration approach to arrive at a complementary solution.
Paintball 2: A Study of Remote-Controlled Vibro-Tactile Stimulation for the Simulation of Leader Presence
Authors: Smith Kip , Liberg Martin
Published: January 2012

At the HFES meeting in Denver we discussed experiments that documented a consistent decrement in performance associated with remote command and control (Pangburn, Freund, Pangburn, & Smith, 2003). The venues for these experiments were paintball assault lanes. Our participants were slower to obey verbal orders given by a remote leader than by a leader who was physically present. We have subsequently shown that the delay is due to the lack of leader presence and not to reliance upon mediated communication (Smith, 2004). Here we discuss an experiment that tests the hypothesis that gentle remote-controlled vibro-tactile stimulation by a remote leader can compensate for the observed decrement. The data encourage us to suggest that it would be prudent to evaluate further the effectiveness of remote-controlled vibro-tactile stimulation prior to finalizing plans for remote command and control of the dismounted infantry.
Finding Decision Support Requirements for Effective Intelligence Analysis Tools
Authors: Elm William , Potter Scott , Tittle James , Woods David , Grossman Justin , Patterson Emily
Published: January 2012

Within ARDA's GI2Vis program, we developed a unique framework for the definition of decision support requirements for intelligence analysis tools. This framework, based on a first-of-a-kind integration of a model of inferential analysis and principles for designing effective human-computer teams from Cognitive Systems Engineering, has defined the essential support functions to be provided to the intelligence analyst(s). This model has proven to be extremely useful in assessing the support provided by a large set of visualization tools. This assessment has identified clusters of support functions that are addressed by many tools as well as key missing support functions. In this way, the Support Function Model has been used to identify gaps in the support function coverage of existing tools. This can serve as a valuable focusing mechanism for future design and development efforts. In addition, we believe this would be a useful mechanism to enhance cross-discussions among research teams involved in Cognitive Task Analysis efforts within the Intelligence Community. Having others integrate their analytic results with this framework would provide the mechanism for expansion of this model to become a more robust tool and have an even greater impact on the Intelligence Community.
Event Template Hierarchies as Means for Human-Automation Collaboration in Security Surveillance
Authors: Woods David , McNee Stephanie , Davis James W. , Morison Alexander , Maughan Patrick , Christoffersen Klaus
Published: January 2012

Advances in remote sensing systems provide human monitors access to more data. The current challenge is to help extract relevant patterns and direct the attention of human monitors and human problem holders to the changing security picture with respect to acute situations (a normal market scene turns into an ethnic confrontation) or longer term trends (seeing new patterns of 'typical' behavior to avoid false alarms). Security surveillance monitoring can be advanced through new event recognition capability of autonomous monitors and by effectively coupling these sensor/algorithm systems to human monitors and problem holders. To meet these challenges in security surveillance, we have developed an event-sensitivea rchitecturew here machine agents provide event-basedi nformationt o human monitors and problem holders and are re-directable given contextual information. The key innovation is a context-based hierarchical event template structure which can be used to integrate data over a distributed sensor system.
Information Layering, Depth and Transparency Effects on Multi-Layered Displays for Command and Control
Authors: Wong B.L. William , Joyekurun Ronish , Nees Anna , Amaldi Paola , Villanueva Rochelle
Published: January 2012

This paper reports on research into development of techniques for information representation in complex dynamic environments, such as those with high information densities, and with high rates of change. These design techniques employ information layering, visual depth and transparency to present informationi in the new Multi- Layered Display (MLD) technology, in anticipation that their combined use can improve information uptake in such environments. The results show that there is no advantage in using the MLD in simple reading and interaction tasks. However, user performance was observed to be significantly better when using layering techniques on the MLD under increased task difficulty conditions that approximate information handling challenges in command and control activities.
Contributing Factors for Mode Awareness of a Vehicle with a Low-Speed Range and a High-Speed Range Acc Systems
Authors: Itoh Makoto , Inagaki Toshiyuki , Shiraishi Yasuhiro , Watanabe Takayuki , Takae Yasuhiko
Published: January 2012

This paper tries to clarify contributing factors to achieving driver's mode awareness while he or she is driving a vehicle with a low-speed range and a high-speed range Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems. We investigate the following three probable factors: (1) control logic for a low-speed range ACC when it loses sight of the target vehicle to follow, (2) previous acquaintance with the high-speed range ACC, and (3) control mode utilized more frequently. An experiment has been conducted with a fixed-based driving simulator to investigate effects of these factors on the driver's mode awareness.
Effective Human to Human Communication of Information Provided by an Unmanned Vehicle
Authors: McDermott Patricia L. , Luck Jason , Allender Laurel , Fisher Alia
Published: January 2012

Much of the research on unmanned-vehicles (UVs) focuses on technology or interface design. This study however, investigated how to best support effective communication between the operator monitoring a UV and the Soldier in the field using that information to complete a mission. Several questions arise: Does the operator need to be co-located with Soldiers in the field or can he or she be in a more secure rearward location? Does the team need the capability to transmit visual images or is radio communication adequate? Is information from one type of UV better than others? Do real time mapping and tracking technologies increase situation awareness (SA)? To begin to answer these questions, military teams conducted rescue missions using the video game Raven Shield as a simulated battlefield. The analysis of performance data, self reports, and observations provide some valuable insight to these questions.
Judgments Under Uncertainty and Time Pressure: Modeling and Analysis of Operators' Judgments of Customers' Creditworthiness
Authors: Seong Younho
Published: January 2012

Judgments about uncertain environments have been studied extensively in a variety of settings. The judgments of operators regarding customers' creditworthiness when they wish to purchase items that extend their credit lines over their limits are of particular interest. The lens model and its extension provide a framework to identify an environmental state based on relevant cues. An analysis of the performance of operators' judgments in a financial institution by use of the lens method is presented in this paper. The results of the analysis show that there are differences in the judgment policies of operators in many areas including the methods for using information, the consistency in implementing judgment policies, among other. These differences are very critical elements in an institution's relationship with its customers. Finally, an on-going experiment to support and train operators in the making of consistent and valid judgments by the use of cognitive feedback is discussed.
Functional Requirements for Effective Decision Making in Humanrobot Teams: Lessons Learned from Operational Settings
Authors: Tittle James , Elm William , Potter Scott
Published: January 2012

Many environments require humans and robots operating together to accomplish complex and dangerous tasks, but technology-centered designs often support robot navigation but not the mission goals of the organization using the robot. Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) is a particularly valuable domain to identify general functional requirements for effective HRI, and our purpose in this paper is to demonstrate how a CSE approach can lead to valuable design guidelines that more effectively support decision making within Human-Robot teams. Our analysis of HRI in USAR lead us to identify several important guidelines for supporting effective coordination for Human-Robot teams: including (i) enable individual problem holders to have direct control over point-of-view to facilitate active information seeking, and (ii) create common reference frames on shared imagery so different problem holders can remotely coordinate information and actions. Designs based on these guidelines will support a broad class of coordinated activities between team members.
Huh, what was I Doing? How People Use Environmental Cues after an Interruption
Authors: Trafton J. Gregory , Altmann Erik M. , Brock Derek P.
Published: January 2012

We examine the effect of environmental cues on being interrupted while performing a task. We conducted an experiment in which participants, after an interruption, received either a blatant environmental cue of their previous action (a red arrow), a subtle environmental cue of their previous action (a cursor that was placed in the same location as their previous action), or no environmental cue at all. We found that participants in the blatant condition resumed their task faster than participants in the other two conditions. Furthermore, a subtle environmental cue was no better than no cue at all. The results support our model of memory for goals.
Effects of Automation Failure in a Luggage Screening Task: A Comparison between Direct and Indirect Cueing
Authors: Goh Juliana , Wiegmann Douglas A. , Madhavan Poornima
Published: January 2012

The present study investigated the use of two automated aids of different reliabilities in a luggage screening task. A Direct Cue consisting of a green circle around a potential target directs attention to a specific part of the luggage image, while an Indirect Cue, consisting of a green border around an image determined to have a target, does not. Direct Cues offer an advantage in visual inspection tasks because they guide attention to specific areas of the visual image but this can also cause attentional tunneling. Furthermore, the reliance on automation may negatively impact manual performance after the aid is removed or is no longer available. Thus, two issues were investigated in the current study: (1) how do failures in Direct and Indirect Cues affect reliance and (2) how does a complete failure affect performance after operators had the use of an automated aid? Results suggest that reliance patterns were more optimal with the Direct Cue than with the Indirect Cue and performance with a more reliable Indirect Cue was not much better than a less reliable one. The results also suggest that manual performance, when the aid was removed, was better for participants who had used the automated aids compared to control participants who did not have any use of the aid previously. The advantage of previously aided performance on subsequent manual performance was greatest for those who had used the more reliable Direct Cue. Explanations and implications are discussed.
Too Little or Too Much: The Effect of Feedback on Risk Assessment in a Missile Defense Task
Authors: McDermott Patricia L. , Barnes Michael , Hutchins Shaun
Published: January 2012

Operators must often assess risk and take actions in proportion to that risk. This is not an inherently easy task and based on previous experiments, visualization aids may not be the entire solution to aiding operators. This experiment explored the impact of feedback paradigms on performance in a national missile defense (NMD) task. Participants had extensive practice with one of three types of feedback styles: averaged results after a set of scenarios, constant feedback after every scenario, or constant feedback with forced reflection. This study has three main contributions to decision-making research. 1) Although the trust in automation literature shows that averaged feedback increases understanding of the relative frequency of errors, this NMD task showed that constant feedback is more effective than averaged feedback. 2) Participant performance was still improving after three sessions, suggesting the need for more intense training. 3) NMD provides a concrete domain with viable metrics for investigating the perception of risk and uncertainty.
Supporting Decision Making by a Critical Thinking Tool
Authors: van Dongen Kees , Schraagen Jan Maarten , Eikelboom Aletta , te Brake Guido
Published: January 2012

Building up situation understanding is one of the most difficult tasks in the beginning stages of largescale accidents. As ambiguous information about the events becomes available, decision-makers are often tempted to quickly develop a particular story to explain the observed events. As the accident evolves, decision-makers can fail to revise their initial assessments despite contradicting information. Our approach is to reduce fixation errors and confirmation bias by providing critical thinking support. In a laboratory experiment with 60 participants, we compared the effect on decision making of a critical thinking tool, which requires the explication of evidence-conclusion relations in situation assessment, with two control conditions. Participants acted as crisis managers determining the likely cause of accidents. The results show a positive impact of the tool on both the decision-making process and decision making effectiveness. Participants did, however, take more time to arrive at a conclusion using the tool.
Search for an Optimum Vibrator Location for Bone Conduction Communication
Authors: McBride Maranda , Letowski Tomasz , Tran Phuong
Published: January 2012

The military is interested in ways to increase soldier effectiveness by improving radio communication. Bone conduction (BC) radio communication is attractive because the lightweight, compact design of BC vibrators offers the ability to receive radio communication without compromising situation awareness. Several companies are attempting to accommodate the needs of the military by creating communication devices incorporating BC technologies. However, the effectiveness of these devices differs in many respects. One factor that affects the detectability of signals received via bone conduction is the location of the vibrator on the skull. The intent of this study was to identify optimum locations for the placement of BC vibrators based on hearing threshold levels of various signals. Eleven signals were transmitted via bone conduction to 11 skull locations of 12 volunteers. Results of the study indicate that the condyle might be the most appropriate location because it resulted in the lowest overall threshold level.
Simple Visualizations Enhance Speaker Identification when Listening to Spatialized Voices
Authors: Kilgore Ryan , Chignell Mark
Published: January 2012

Spatial audio has been demonstrated to enhance performance in a variety of listening tasks. The utility of visually reinforcing spatialized audio with depictions of voice locations in collaborative applications, however, has been questioned. In this experiment, we compared the accuracy, response time, confidence in task performance, and subjective mental workload of 18 participants in a voice-identification task under three different display conditions: 1) traditional mono audio; 2) spatial audio; 3) spatial audio with a visual representation of voice locations. Each format was investigated using four and eight unique stimuli voices. Results showed greater voice-identification accuracy for the spatial-plus-visual format than for the spatialand mono-only formats, and that visualization benefits increased with voice number. Spatialization was also found to increase confidence in task performance. Response time and mental workload remained unchanged across display conditions. These results indicate visualizations may benefit users of large, unfamiliar audio spaces.
Proof of Concept for a Human Reliability Analysis Method for Heuristic Usability Evaluation of Software
Authors: Boring Ronald L. , Gertman David I. , Joe Jeffrey C. , Marble Julie L.
Published: January 2012

An ongoing issue within human-computer interaction (HCI) is the need for simplified or “discount” methods. The current economic slowdown has necessitated innovative methods that are results driven and cost effective. The myriad methods of design and usability are currently being cost-justified, and new techniques are actively being explored that meet current budgets and needs. Recent efforts in human reliability analysis (HRA) are highlighted by the ten-year development of the Standardized Plant Analysis Risk HRA (SPAR-H) method. The SPAR-H method has been used primarily for determining humancentered risk at nuclear power plants. The SPAR-H method, however, shares task analysis underpinnings with HCI. Despite this methodological overlap, there is currently no HRA approach deployed in heuristic usability evaluation. This paper presents an extension of the existing SPAR-H method to be used as part of heuristic usability evaluation in HCI.
Advanced Interfaces to Support Continuous Planning and Re-Planning during Tactical Operations
Authors: Bennett Kevin B. , Shattuck Lawrence
Published: January 2012

A research program to develop decision support for mobile Army commanders has resulted in a prototype interface. This interface was developed using principles of Cognitive Systems Engineering, and initial evaluations were very positive. This demonstration showcases recent design efforts to support re-planning during tactical operations, which are extremely demanding and critical for mission success. Unfortunately, these activities have received relatively little attention from the research community. The prototype interface has been designed to assist the commander in performing these activities. This interface highlights key elements of the battle plan (i.e., the intended course of events), the battle execution (i.e., the actual course of events as they unfold over time), and the differences between them.
A Student's Guide to HCI Research and Database Development
Authors: Jones Lauriann M. , Mouloua Mustapha
Published: January 2012

This paper is intended to provide a useful guide and reference for those students (or researchers) attempting to familiarize themselves with the large body of HCI research available. This paper discusses trends, labs, funding sources, implications, and major contributions to HCI over the past decade (1995–2005) as documented through the British Journal of Behaviour & Information Technology. Several graphs are provided to illustrate patterns of interest and publication of HCI research with step-by-step guidance for the overwhelmed student (or researcher) for everything from narrowing relevant HCI journals and articles to a sampling of funding sources. All in the hope of providing a guide to understanding what has been done in the field, where to get started, and the direction HCI research may be going in the future.
Ergonomics Implementation, the Right Way and the Wrong Way
Authors: Povlotsky Boris
Published: January 2012

This paper illustrates some of author's views of the ergonomics implementation challenges within diverse industries, manufacturing, office environments, and machinery/product design. We intend to analyze and review the roots of problems from different perspectives and recommend which ergonomics approaches are likely to succeed or fail. Most importantly it is imperative to find the actual cause(s) of obstacle(s) - problem(s) before looking for appropriate ergonomics solution(s) and acceptance of ergonomics innovations by end users.

The presented material is based on the substantial authors' experiences in human factors engineering and ergonomics, in industry and academia and in various countries.

Our objective is to present an integrated view of ergonomics within corporate bureaucracy in the contexts of favorable and unfavorable environments - factors that lead to success or failure.
A Case Study in Forensics, Macroergonomics, and Work-Related Musculoskeletal Injuries in Call Center Work
Authors: Cohen Joseph , Cohen H. Harvey
Published: January 2012

This case study describes a personal injury case and expert opinions expressed by a HF/E expert concerning work-related musculoskeletal injuries sustained by a 43 year-old female call center service representative. The circumstances surrounding this case are unusual as it involves a suit brought against an employer by an employee in the State of California, a physically adequate workstation design, and a cumulative rather than acute injury. The HE/E expert examined the deposition testimony, interview data and reviewed the literature as part of his analysis and concluded that the scientific literature establishes a link between the known organizational stress factors existing at the defendant's workplace and symptoms of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Furthermore, the defendant's ergonomics safety program was deficient in proactively dealing with the plaintiff's injuries. The HF/E expert's analysis and testimony ultimately proved important in establishing liability on the part of the defendant.
Assessing Daily Stress with the Short Stress State Questionnaire (SSSQ): Relationships with Cognitive Slips-Failures
Authors: Helton William S. , Fields Diana , Thoreson Joseph A.
Published: January 2012

Stress is an important aspect of operational settings. This article presents a study providing further psychometric and validation evidence of a short multidimensional self-report measure of stress state, the Short Stress State Questionnaire (SSSQ; Helton, 2004) based on the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire (DSSQ; Matthews et al., 1999, 2002). Participants filled out the SSSQ twice daily for 70 days, once in the morning and once at night. They also reported daily cognitive slipsfailures. Chain-P Factor Analyses of the individual items for both pre and post assessments were conducted and the relationships between the SSSQ factors and daily self-reported cognitive slipsfailures were examined. The factor analyses, as previously indicated by Helton (2004), differentiated three aspects of subjective stress: Task Engagement, Distress, and Worry. Daily post-Distress and post-Worry correlated moderately with cognitive slips. The 24-item SSSQ appears to be a reliable measure of daily stress state, potentially useful in naturalistic studies.
Helping Analysts Deal with Data Overload: Profiling Profilers
Authors: Dominguez Cynthia , Cox Donald , Long William G. , Moon Brian , Klein Gary
Published: January 2012

Intelligence analysts provide an incredibly important service toward maintaining our national security. They are chartered with providing the knowledge basis for decisions our national and military leaders make. Analysts must be depended upon to influence high-risk, time-critical, sometimes life-or-death decisions; thus, supporting their requirements is a vital goal for research and development efforts. In this paper, we focus on the cognitive aspects of analysts' information collection and filtering tasks, particularly of all-source analysts who continuously monitor message traffic. These analysts create synthesized reports for customers. We will discuss the issue of data overload and its effects, along with current lines of research on information retrieval. We end with a summary of our research effort examining filtering/profiling, to include approach and initial findings, towards our eventual goal of developing design seeds that can be incorporated into software tools to better support analysts' cognitive work.
Metrics for Evaluation of Software Technology to Support Intelligence Analysis
Authors: Scholtz Jean
Published: January 2012

For the past two years we have been involved in evaluation of software technologies designed to improve intelligence analysis. We have been conducting evaluations both in the laboratory and in operational environments. While usability is an important aspect of software for intelligence analysis, our work has gone beyond usability and focused on utility. We have been using top-down and bottom-up procedures to develop metrics and evaluation methodologies, including literature reviews and expert opinions, laboratory studies, baseline creation, and field observations. Our laboratory work has focused on strategic, open source analysis. Our field work to date has been more in the tactical area all source domain. In this paper, we discuss a number of metrics we have developed and outline some issues involved in evaluation of software to support intelligence analysts.
Towards an Adaptive Question Answering System for Intelligence Analysts
Authors: Cowell Andrew J. , Chappell Alan R. , Thurmanb David A.
Published: January 2012

Battelle is working in partnership with Stanford University's Knowledge Systems Laboratory (KSL) and IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center to develop a suite of technologies for knowledge discovery, knowledge extraction, knowledge representation, automated reasoning, and human information interaction, in unison entitled “Knowledge Associates for Novel Intelligence” (KANI). We have developed an integrated analytic environment composed of a collection of analyst associates, software components that aid the analyst at different stages of the analytical process. In this paper, we discuss our efforts in the research, design and implementation of the question answering elements of the Information Interaction Associate. Specifically, we focus on the techniques employed to produce an effective user interface to these elements. In addition, we touch upon the methodologies we intend to use to empirically evaluate our approach with active intelligence analysts.
Perceived Mental Workload in an Endocopic Surgery Simulator
Authors: Klein Martina I. , Riley Michael A. , Warm Joel S. , Matthews Gerald
Published: January 2012

Endoscopic surgery–a procedure wherein a target organ is displayed on a monitor and physicians use graspers to manipulate the tissue - has benefits for patients in terms of reduced blood loss, infection, and pain. However, physicians' informal reports indicate that this type of surgery is challenging to perform. These challenges arise from the need to view the target tissue on a monitor, resulting in reduced depth information as well as a disruption of the normal hand-eye mapping. This study represents the initial experimental effort to assess the workload demands experienced in an endoscopic surgery simulator using the NASA-Task Load Index (TLX), a well validated workload measure, and the Multiple Resource Questionnaire (MRQ), a newly developed workload scale. The TLX revealed that the workload experienced in the simulator was indeed high. Additionally, the MRQ revealed different workload profiles associated with different levels of handeye mapping disruption.
A Usability Evaluation of an Infusion Pump by Nurses Using a Patient Simulator
Authors: Lamsdale Allison , Chisholm Susan , Gagnon Roger , Davies Jan , Caird Jeff
Published: January 2012

Using a high-fidelity patient simulator, this study had nurses evaluate the advanced features of an intravenous (IV) infusion pump being considered for purchase by a large Canadian health region. Three use cases or scenarios were developed, based on known difficulties administering multiple drugs through separate IV lines and the potential for certain drugs (e.g., heparin) to contribute to adverse outcomes in patients if the drug dosage was incorrectly calculated. After an in-service training session with the pump, thirteen nurses performed the use cases on an Emergency Care Simulator, which displayed a range of vital signs. During the sessions, nurses were required to use a think-aloud protocol, verbalizing all steps they were performing. The most common problems found were with the “Change Mode”and the “Select New Patient”features. Use of the On/Off switch was identified as a common strategy to clear pump information and to escape incorrect navigation paths. The consequential contribution to patient safety of these problems ranged from non-hazardous to potentially very hazardous. A number of design recommendations were made to address problems that were identified with the pump's hardware and software configurations, as well as to any in-service provided to new pump users.
Effects of Videogame Experience on Laparoscopic Skill Acquisition
Authors: Waxberg Sara L. , Schwaitzberg Steven D. , Cao Caroline G.L.
Published: January 2012

The apprenticeship model used to teach surgical residents is no longer adequate, especially in laparoscopic surgery training. The other alternatives available, such as simulators or animal models, can be expensive and difficult to implement. This study was conducted to explore the effect of videogame experience on surgical skill acquisition. We hypothesized that a week of videogame playing would improve performance on a surgical skills trainer and that performance on the videogame would reflect performance on the trainer. Thirty participants were tested in a between-subjects mixed design. Results were inconclusive. However, the use of videogames for training may be justified given the minimal cost. The idea of training surgeons using an inexpensive technology that is familiar, and that is fun and engaging at the same time, has considerable potential for the field of training in surgery.
Development of the Internet Clinical Communication Centre: A Patient Centered Application for Prostate Cancer Follow-up
Authors: Wong Jennifer , Hohenadel Joanne , Rizo Carlos , Jadad Alejandro R.
Published: January 2012

This project aims to provide selected follow-up healthcare services via Internet technologies. A usercentered approach and qualitative method of inquiry taken in the development of a prostate cancer Internet Clinical Communication Centre (iC3) to provide clinicians and patients access to portions of the electronic health record, illustrates the critical importance of security, privacy, and the patient-provider relationship.
Toward Improved Communication in Laparoscopic Surgery: Accounting for Multiple Frames of Reference and Mental Rotations
Authors: Rivera Cristina , Cao Caroline G.L.
Published: January 2012

This work is an examination of barriers to communication between the attending and assisting surgeons during laparoscopic surgery, where the same image of the surgical site is viewed from different vantage points with respect to the patient. Part of the problem lies with the multiple frames of reference each surgeon holds, and the mental rotations each must perform to construct a common frame of reference for communication and collaborative work. An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the effects of display-control incongruency on the performance of an aiming task in a simulated laparoscopic environment. Aiming performance was best when the camera was oriented at 0° perspective and worsened as the angle of deviation from 0° increased. Performance was affected to a greater degree by viewing perspectives from the left of the subject than viewing perspectives from the right. Results also suggest that when surgeons are facing each other, as is the case in many laparoscopic surgeries, one surgeon's performance will be worse than the other's. The mismatched display-control perspectives are compounded by ambiguous spatial references in verbal communication. From these findings, a case can be made for the importance of vocabulary that forces a common frame of reference during laparoscopic surgery.