bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Validating Human Performance Models: Building a House without Bricks
Authors: Steinberg Richard , Company Raytheon , Diggs Alice , Company Raytheon , Driggs Jade
Published: February 2021

Verification and validation (V&V) for human performance models (HPMs) can be likened to building a house with no bricks, since it is difficult to obtain metrics to validate a model when the system is still in development. HPMs are effective for performing trade-offs between the human system designs factors including number of operators needed, the role of automated tasks versus operator tasks, and member task responsibilities required to operate a system. On a recent government contract, our team used a human performance model to provide additional analysis beyond traditional trade studies. Our team verified the contractually mandated staff size for using the system. This task demanded that the model have sufficient fidelity to provide information for high confidence staffing decisions. It required a method for verifying and validating the model and its results to ensure that it accurately reflected the real world. The situation caused a dilemma because there was no actual system to gather real data to use to validate the model. It is a challenge to validate human performance models, since they support design decisions prior to system. For example, crew models are typically inform the design, staffing needs, and the requirements for each operator’s user interface prior to development. This paper discusses a successful case study for how our team met the V&V challenges with the US Air Force model accreditation authority and successfully accredited our human performance model with enough fidelity for requirements testing on an Air Force Command and Control program.
Judging Intentionality in Ambiguous Driving Scenarios: Did they do that to Me or just a Mistake?
Authors: Lee Yi-Ching
Published: February 2021

Aggressive driving is a significant traffic safety issue. Some groups of drivers have been identified as the perpetrators and victims of aggressive driving: males, younger individuals, and individuals with high trait aggression. Even though many personal and contextual factors are relevant, the mechanisms behind the origin of aggressive driving are less defined. Judgment of intentionality, as part of an attributional process, has had some success in highlighting the connection among the cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors behind aggressive driving. This study focused on comparing gender-based attributions of ambiguous traffic situations and found that the affective component played a significant role in the judgment of intentionality. However, there were additional predictors for males. The findings highlight the importance of having a more forgiving attitude when interacting with other road users.
Evaluating the Utility of Human Readiness Levels (HRLs) with Human System Integration Assessments (HSIAs)
Authors: Handley Holly A. H. , Savage-Knepshield Pamela
Published: February 2021

An industry-wide Human Readiness Level (HRL) working group was established to revisit and mature previous work conducted on establishing an HRL scale. A releasable and generalizable set of HRLs, including the questions to be answered at each level and the corresponding exit criteria, has been completed and is currently being verified through a variety of case studies. The objective of this research is to describe the current state of the HRL scale and apply it to a program of record to determine its corresponding HRL based on the findings of its Human System Integration Assessment (HSIA). The HSIA documents potential or known issues that could impede or prevent the users’ ability to operate, maintain, and sustain the system. Three HSIAs for the program are analyzed at different acquisition milestones to determine whether the HRL accurately captures the HSI issues for the developing system.
Factors influencing users’ perceived value of Electronic Health Record Patient Portals
Authors: Yin Rong , Neyens David M. , Law Katherine E.
Published: February 2021

Patient portals are websites or apps where patients can access their health information from their Electronic Health Records (EHR). This study was conducted via an online survey to identify what factors influence an EHR patient portal user to believe that the portal is a valuable part of their health care. In total 395 survey responses were included in a logistic regression model. Our results suggest that only 24.1% of our survey responders consider their EHR portals as a valuable part of their health care. Participants who are more likely to consider EHR portals as valuable were those who found EHR portals useful for information, trusted their portal; believed their portals were important in managing health, those who believed their portals were easy to use, and those who developed a habit of using their portals. This study contributes to the understanding of what factors support the perceived value of EHR portals.
Movement Strategies in Virtual Reality: The Influence of Effort Costs and Target Depth
Authors: Clark Logan D. , Riggs Sara L.
Published: February 2021

Kinematic analysis of users’ movement trajectories can reveal strategic movement biases; however, it is unclear if these strategic behaviors also occur in virtual reality (VR). To examine this question, we adapted a task from previous laboratory studies to examine strategic biases in movement behavior in VR. Twelve participants moved to targets positioned in one of two directions along the x-, y-, or z-axis in a VR inter-face, and trajectory profiles were derived and parsed to identify kinematic milestones. Results showed that users achieved similar task completion times across all conditions but used different strategies to select targets at different locations. These findings confirm that users can adapt their movement behaviors to optimize movement performance in VR and highlight how the constraints imposed by VR environments alter users’ movement strategies.
Evaluating Impacts of Head Worn Displays on Teamwork in Emergency Response: Review of Challenges for the Field
Authors: Davidson Thomas J. , Sanderson Penelope M.
Published: February 2021

Head Worn Displays (HWDs) are increasingly used to support mobile workers across diverse domains. However, little is known about how HWDs affect teamwork in safety-critical contexts. We conducted a narrative review examining the effects of HWDs on teamwork performance and team processes of situation awareness, communication, and coordination for emergency response. HWDs appear to improve the quality of team performance but increase time to perform under some conditions; effects on team processes are also mixed. It is difficult to compare results across studies due to the diverse technologies, contexts, and measures used. Successful design, evaluation, and deployment of HWDs in emergency response contexts may require a stronger foundation of theory-driven and process-based research. Perspectives such as joint cognitive systems, distributed cognition, and common ground may help researchers uncover mechanisms by which HWDs shape teamwork processes and how team processes affect team performance over time.
Experience with Varied Levels of Automation Influences User Response Speed
Authors: Mahoney Lori , Houpt Joseph W.
Published: February 2021

When presenting an automated aid to a user, there is variation in how much a human or the automation is involved in making and acting on the decision. Level of automation describes the balance between human and computer in making decisions and selecting actions. In this study, we presented subjects with a speeded length-judgment task at two different levels of automation, manipulating the order of the automation level between subjects. We found a significant effect that subjects who were presented first with the condition where the automated aid allowed them to directly select a response (i.e., lower automation level) responded faster in later trials when then presented with the condition where the automated aid required them to agree or disagree with the aid’s response (i.e., higher automation level). This effect was not found when the higher level of automation was presented first.
How Can Head Worn Displays and Tablet Computers Affect Co-located Work: A Laboratory-Based Exploratory Study
Authors: Salisbury Isaac S. , Burgmann Felicity , Sanderson Penelope M.
Published: February 2021

Head-worn displays (HWDs) have shown promise for supporting workers in a range of contexts due to their ability to provide live ‘heads up and hands free’ information. However, in many work environments co-located workers may need to collaborate and communicate about the tasks that they are engaged with, and this may be difficult when information is presented privately on a HWD. The current study explored a laboratory-based dual-task game for evaluating how presenting task-relevant information HWDs versus tablet computers can affect the process of collaborative and mobile work. We found no effects of display type on performance, perhaps because ten of the twelve participating dyads allocated tasks in a way that minimised the need to communicate about the displayed information. We suggest that future research focusses on specific features of HWDs, and/or how representative teams adapt to the constraints of HWDs.
Modeling the Interaction with Automated Vehicles in Road Bottleneck Scenarios
Authors: Rettenmaier Michael , Bengler Klaus
Published: February 2021

An important factor for designing the interaction of automated vehicles (AVs) with surrounding road users is the capability of the human communication partner, especially the perception, processing and response. As these processes need time, there is a latest moment the AV has to define its communication strategy. The present work analyzes the situation when an AV negotiates the right of way to a simultaneously oncoming human driver in a road bottleneck scenario. We modeled the sequence of human tasks when perceiving and processing the AV’s information and the time needed to respond to it. The interaction model results in a latest moment after which a comfortable interaction can no longer be initiated. Comparing the model with the data of an underlying study indicates the appropriate modeling of the time required for communication. A later start of communication leads to inefficient traffic flow and worse subjective ratings of the AV’s communication.
Drivers’ Gaze Behaviors are Influenced by Vehicle Position
Authors: Okafuji Yuki , Wada Takahiro , Sugiura Toshihito , Murakami Kazuomi , Ishida Hiroyuki
Published: February 2021

Drivers’ gaze behaviors in naturalistic and simulated driving tasks have been investigated for decades. Many studies focus on driving environment to explain a driver’s gaze. However, if there is a great need to use compensatory steering for lane-keeping, drivers could preferentially acquire information directly required for the task. Therefore, we assumed that a driver’s gaze behavior was influenced not only by the environment but also the vehicle position, especially the lateral position. To verify our hypothesis, we carried out a long-time driving simulator experiment, and the gaze behaviors of two participating drivers were analyzed. Results showed that gaze behavior—the fixation distance and the lateral deviation of the fixation—was influenced by the lateral deviation of the vehicle. Consequently, we discussed processes that determined drivers’ gaze behaviors.
Color-Coded Map Overlay Augmentation for Unmanned Vehicle Sensor Management
Authors: Ehrenstrom Jacob , Calhoun Gloria , Frost Elizabeth , Bartik Jessica , Lee Van Abel Anna , Behymer Kyle , Ruff Heath
Published: February 2021

Four color-coded overlays that augment a tactical map were evaluated as candidates for multi-unmanned vehicle (UV) sensor management by a single operator. Each overlay provided six levels of temporal information to indicate how long ago each map location had been viewed by a UV. Twelve participants completed 140 trials, each trial posing a question to be answered by retrieving spatial-temporal information from static map overlays. The accuracy of the participants’ answers significantly differed as a function of overlay type. Suggestions for overlay design and future research methodology are provided.
Dynamic Ensembles versus Cones of Uncertainty: Visualizations to Support Understanding of Uncertainty in Hurricane Forecasts
Authors: Witt Jessica K. , Clegg Benjamin A. , Wickens Christopher D. , Smith C.A.P. , Laitin Emily L. , Warden Amelia C.
Published: February 2021

Visualizations attempt to convey the uncertain track of an approaching hurricane. The current experiment contrasted decision characteristics that resulted from observing hurricane paths presented using cones of uncertainty versus a new form of dynamic ensemble. Participants made judgments about whether to evacuate a town at different eccentricities to the central predicted path of a storm. Results showed that dynamic ensembles have different properties to cone displays. Presentations of dynamic ensembles encouraged greater consideration of evacuation at locations further from the most probable path, but that were still at risk. However, dynamic ensembles resulted in lower evacuation rates at the center of the distribution, consistent with a probabilistic sense of the risk but nonetheless a potentially undesirable strategy. In addition, perceptions of the evacuation need with dynamic ensemble presentations were more strongly influenced by the amount of variability than with cones. The implications for use of dynamic ensembles are discussed.
HFACS Analysis of U.S. General Aviation Accidents Using Bayesian Network
Authors: Yang Chuyang , Mott John H.
Published: February 2021

Safety is one of the most important factors that affects the sustainable development of the aviation industry. With the increasing robustness of technologies, humans have played a progressively more important causal role in aviation accidents. This paper applies an HFACS-BN model (HFACS: Human Factors Analysis and Classification System; BN: Bayesian Network) to analyze the root causes of aviation accidents. General aviation (GA) accident reports were collected from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident database. The authors encoded the human factors of sample cases based on the HFACS framework and constructed a corresponding BN. From this work, parameter estimation associated with a conditional probability table (CPT) was conducted to determine prior probabilities of contributing factors, and a sensitivity test was conducted to determine the most significant factors. This study provides guidance to the federal government to facilitate risk management in order to reduce fatal general aviation accidents.
Enhancing Safety in the Security and Alarm Monitoring Industry: A Case Study in the Development of Job Hazard Analyses
Authors: College Polly A. , Bass Ellen J.
Published: February 2021

Job hazard analysis is a process of identifying potential hazards for each task within an activity and enacting safety rules to eliminate or control the hazards. No studies have been published regarding their use in the security industry. Technicians working in the industry face safety challenges due to the hazards inherent in their work environments and the tasks they need to achieve. Technicians who install and service such systems for a large company in the industry were provided with a “safety bundle” of information and tools to help them avoid hazards. An observation of technicians at four locations identified a lack of adherence to this safety bundle. Subject matter experts were presented with the lack of adherence data. They also developed use cases to support identifying additional content to help technicians with a job hazard analysis approach. The content will be added to the safety bundle and evaluated.
Fatigue As A Performance Shaping Factor In Human Reliability Analysis For Long-Duration Spaceflight
Authors: Boring Ronald , Ulrich Thomas , Mortenson Torrey , German David
Published: February 2021

This paper provides background on the process to enhance human reliability analysis (HRA) for long-duration space applications. While short-duration missions largely mirror ground activities and fit well with existing HRA methods, new missions to the Moon or Mars entail a significantly longer duration of time in space for astronauts. This extended period in space presents opportunities to affect astronaut performance that require consideration of new performance shaping factors (PSFs). In the present paper, we conducted a meta-analysis on fatigue and developed a new PSF to account for chronic sleep deprivation associated with long-duration space missions. Fatigue provides a starting point for additional PSFs needed for space HRA.
What is going on? Contributory factors to automation-related aviation incidents and accidents
Authors: Read Gemma J. M. , O’Brien Alison , Stanton Neville A. , Salmon Paul M.
Published: February 2021

Automation is an integral part of modern aviation operations. However, the discipline of human factors has long acknowledged its limitations and called for improved design. The aim of this study was to analyse automation-related incidents and accidents in aviation to identify recurring contributory factors. Sixteen investigation reports for incidents and accidents involving automated systems were included in the study. The reports were analysed using the AcciMap approach and a contributory factor classification scheme was applied. Results showed that multiple interacting factors from across aviation systems contribute to automation-related incidents and accidents. The most frequently identified contributory factors were associated with situation awareness, compliance with procedures and unsafe acts, judgement and decision making, design of the automation, and organizational policy and procedures relating to use of the automation. It is suggested that improving the design of automated systems to better support situation awareness, decision making and air crew performance generally would provide a safety benefit.
A comparison of workload demands imposed by different types of distracted walking tasks and its effect on gait
Authors: Zheng Haolan , Luo Yue , Hu Boyi , Giang Wayne C.W.
Published: February 2021

A growing body of research has found that distracted walking is a safety concern due to reduced situation awareness and the possibility of compromised gait performance. Distraction tasks, such as texting, browsing social media, and playing games, differ in terms of their physical and cognitive demands. However, few studies have examined whether there are differences in how physical and cognitive demands impact gait. The goal of this paper is to evaluate workload differences between four distraction tasks that represent common smartphone functions and may differ in terms of physical and cognitive demands: 1) No distraction, 2) Reading, 3) Tapping, 4) N-Back. We characterized the workload differences using three methods, a subjective workload assessment (NASA-TLX) and two physiological workload measures, pupil width and blink rate. Our results suggest that the chosen distraction tasks differ in their workload demands. While, a preliminary analysis of descriptive gait parameters failed to find significant differences between the distraction conditions, further analysis of more complex gait measures may be required to understand differences between physical and cognitive demands.
Influences of Smartphone Operation on Gait and Posture During Outdoor Walking Task
Authors: Luo Yue , Zheng Haolan , Chen Yuhao , Giang Wayne C.W. , Hu Boyi
Published: February 2021

The ubiquity of smartphones has increased the engagement of phone use during street walking. Unfortunately, the risks of accidents and injuries caused by phone distracted walking are often overlooked. Several laboratory studies have shown that texting while walking can alter cognitive (e.g. reduced situation awareness) and physical (e.g. reduced walking speed) performance. However, the relationship between cognitive demands and the corresponding gait and posture adaptation is yet to be explored. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to investigate gait and posture responses caused by common smartphone usage of different cognitive loads during outdoor walking. Results showed a difference in gait behaviors between normal and phone distracted walking. Posture responses to phone operation tasks in varied cognitive workload levels were also observed to be different. Results from this study can be used as evidence for pedestrians of the recommended level of phone engagement in dynamic and public environments.
Epidemic Response: How to evaluate and respond to evolving and conflicting risk information with a focus on education and clinical environments
Authors: Vredenburgh Alison G. , Daly Guris Rodrigo J. , Welner Kevin G. , Cheruku Sreekanth R.
Published: February 2021

By October, we will have learned a great deal about responding to an epidemic or pandemic that has proved to have a level of transmission unprecedented in the modern era. The possible and likely responses include many unknowns. Coordinated and collaborative implementation has been complicated by conflicting information from multiple governments and organizations in several languages. What will we learn about how the United States can improve its ability to respond? How do we develop consistent and accurate warnings and messaging to the public in order to increase compliance regarding a new, and not well understood, epidemic? What factors increase or decrease compliance? How are US education policymakers deciding about face-to-face instruction? How have physicians and hospitals adapted their workflows in the face of uncertainty and supply chain inconsistencies? This panel will include a warnings expert, an expert on education law and policy, and two physicians.
Dynamic Escape Signs for Safe Egress in School Shooter Situation
Authors: Poole Michael , Gilbert Stephen B.
Published: February 2021

School shooter situations can be a terrifying time for all involved. It is important that, if the situation occurs, there is a smart, efficient system in place to move each classroom to safety as quickly as possible. Methods like Run, Hide, Fight do not tell the civilians where to run, and messaging systems that attempt this are often thwarted by the shooter’s movement. A dynamic system is needed to track the shooter’s location and communicate to people how to best escape. Dynamic escape signs have been useful for improving trust and egress time during a fire. Similar smart signs could be used to respond to the shooter, updating to show safe egress routes, as well as shut down certain hallways when the shooter is within line of sight. This method has been implemented within a Unity virtual reality environment and will be tested in the future to validate its usefulness.
Developing a Novel Operator Performance Measure for Procedural Tasks Based on Safety-II Perspective
Authors: Son Changwon , Peres S. Camille , Sasangohar Farzan
Published: February 2021

This paper proposes a novel framework to evaluate procedural task performance from a Safety-II perspective. While deviations from procedural steps have been a major focus of Safety-I approach, the novel framework aims to capture human operators’ adaptive behaviors and efforts in accomplishing higher-level goals. By adopting abstraction hierarchy, four levels of goal hierarchy embedded in a procedure are modeled: system, operation, task, and step. The current framework focuses on the relationship between task-level goals and step-level goals, given that a primary use of procedures occurs at a task level. Based on the framework, four types of procedural task performance are proposed: Type-I positive and negative outcomes, and Type-II positive and negative outcomes. Using the four types of outcome performance, novel quantitative measures to evaluate operators’ adaptive and maladaptive procedural performance are suggested. Challenges and work in progress associated with the proposed measurement are also presented.
Understanding Human Readiness Levels
Authors: Salazar George , See Judi E. , Handley Holly A. H. , Craft Richard
Published: February 2021

The Human Readiness Levels (HRL) scale is a simple nine-level scale developed as an adjunct to complement and supplement the existing Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) scale widely used across government agencies and industry. A multi-agency working group consisting of nearly 30 members representing the broader human systems integration (HSI) community throughout the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy (DOE), other federal agencies, industry, and academia was established in August 2019. The working group’s charter was to mature the HRL scale and evaluate its utility, reliability, and validity for implementation in the systems acquisition lifecycle. Toward that end, the working group examined applicability of the HRL scale for a range of scenarios. This panel will discuss outcomes from the working group’s activities regarding HRL scale structure and usage.
Development and Testing of an Experimental Tool to Support Evaluation of Performance in Handling Competing Attentional Demands
Authors: Sebok Angelia , Adler Noah , Lofgren Elijah , McCord Jake , Spahr Kimberly , Wickens Christopher , Clegg Benjamin
Published: February 2021

This paper describes the design and evaluation of experimenter capabilities associated with a software tool to train attentional management. This training tool will be used by sensor operators of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), to learn attentional skills associated with managing the competing demands of UAS operational tasks. Before the tool is taken into use, the effectiveness of three different approaches to training will be evaluated in a human-in-the-loop experiment. An agile software development process was used to create, test, and refine this tool. Designing to support experimental evaluations differs in some respects from designing for use by an operational community. Although the overall process is similar, specific needs related to data collection and configurability differ significantly. This paper describes the process, tool, and lessons learned to apply to future experimental systems.
Enabling Business-Driven Innovation Through Human Factors Engineering In Nuclear Power Plants
Authors: Kovesdi Casey R. , Blanc Katya Le
Published: February 2021

For existing United States nuclear power plant fleet to remain economically viable, the nuclear industry needs to fundamentally change the way in which these plants are operated, maintained, and supported. A digital transformation is a key strategy to address this challenge. Though, guidance in this area is a continued effort. One framework to support innovation in the nuclear industry has taken a broader perspective by focusing on how technology can be used to meet specific business needs and work for the people and processes at hand. This work discusses the role and value of human factors engineering within this nuclear innovation framework. Human factors methods are presented here regarding how they address the phases of nuclear innovation. This work seeks to describe how human factors can be applied in nuclear innovation by strengthening the alignment of technology, people, processes, and regulations such that the needs of the business is addressed.
Investigating User Perceptions and Stereotypic Responses to Gender and Age of Voice Assistants
Authors: Watkins Heather , Pak Richard
Published: February 2021

Technologies such as voice assistants can aid older adults aging in place by assisting with basic home and health tasks in daily routines. However, currently available voice assistants have a common design-they are vastly represented as young and female. Humans may apply stereotypes to human-computer interactions similarly to human-human interactions. When stereotypes are activated, users may lose trust or confidence in the abilities of the device, or even stop using the device all together. The two purposes of this study are to 1) investigate if users can detect the age and gender of voice assistants, and 2) understand the extent to which a voice assistant’s perceived gender, age, and reliability elicit stereotypic responses. A series of health-related vignettes will be utilized to assess perceptions of and stereotypic responses toward voice assistants in younger and older adults. In line with previous research examining healthcare agents (Pak et al., 2014), we hypothesize that voice assistants with younger male voices will be rated as more trustworthy and that high reliability will have a positive impact on ratings of trust.
The Impact of Automation Etiquette on User Performance and Trust in Non-Personified Technology
Authors: Guyton Zachary , Pak Richard
Published: February 2021

Previous research has shown that good automation etiquette can yield positive effects on user performance, trust, satisfaction, and motivation. Automation etiquette is especially influential in personified technologies – users increasingly expect more etiquette from technology that has human characteristics. Designers deliberately integrate etiquette into personified technologies to account for users’ anthropomorphization and meet their expectations. The current study examines the impact of etiquette in non-personified technologies. The study aims to demonstrate that automation etiquette also affects performance, trust, perceived workload, and motivation in technologies that possess little to no human characteristics. The study will examine good and bad etiquette across different stages of automation, different automation reliability levels, and different scenario-based perceived task-importance levels (criticality).
Shining Light on Retroreflectivity: Perceived Brightness of Surfaces with Varying Reflective Properties
Authors: King Savana L. , Szubski Ellen C. , Tyrrell Richard A.
Published: February 2021

Typical road users appear not to understand retroreflectivity despite nightly exposure to retroreflective materials like road signs. A critical benefit of retroreflective materials is a robustness to changes in entrance angle, the angle at which light strikes the material. This study aims to measure observers’ perceived brightness judgments of surfaces representing three types of reflection (diffuse, specular, and retroreflective) when viewed under manipulations of entrance angle. Perceived brightness will be assessed before and during a demonstration including illumination from a source positioned near the observer’s eyes. Prior to the demonstration, observers are hypothesized to predict specular and retroreflective surfaces will have a consistent brightness despite changes in entrance angle. Seeing the retroreflectivity demo is expected to result in increased perceived brightness of only the retroreflective surfaces in the more extreme entrance angle conditions. Watching visual demonstrations of reflection, however, is expected to produce an enhanced appreciation that retroreflective (but not specular or diffuse) surfaces remain bright despite large changes in entrance angle. This evidence may eventually increase demand for retroreflective markings by vulnerable road users.
Empirically And Theoretically Driven Scales On Automation Trust: A Multi-Level Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Authors: Long Shelby K. , Sato Tetsuya , Millner Nick , Loranger Ray , Mirabelli Julianna , Xu Violet , Yamani Yusuke
Published: February 2021

Automation is used to complete a variety of everyday and professional tasks. Trust has been shown to be a critical factor that contributes to successful human-automation interaction. Modern theories of automation trust adapted theories of interpersonal trust and have been tested in a variety of domains. Specifically, a triadic model of trust, with performance, process, and purpose as factors, has emerged. From this theory, Chancey et al. (2017) adapted Madsen and Gregor’s (2000) trust scale to align with Lee and See’s (2004) trust framework. Conversely, Jian et al. (2000) developed a scale empirically with trust and distrust as factors. This study aims to use questionnaire data from previous experiments to explore the relationship between the empirically driven Jian et al. trust scale and the theoretically driven Chancey et al. trust scale. We will perform a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the distinctiveness of the two trust measures, as well as their structures and the correlation between the measures. The findings of this work will help researchers understand the relationship between the two trust scales, assess if Jian et al.’s scale contains a three-factor structure, and provide more information about the psychological structure of automation trust.
Anthropometric Analysis of External Acoustic Meatus for Ergonomic Design
Authors: Fan Hao , Wang Mengcheng , Adamson Carisa Harris , Ren Yihui , Chu Jianjie , Yu Suihuai
Published: February 2021

Ear-related wearable products have become ubiquitous and are used daily for instant communication, entertainment, hearing protection (occupational noise) and noise reduction. The proper fit of ear related wearables is imperative to their function and comfort. Prior studies have demonstrated that some anthropometric measures of the ear changes with age. However, despite this, there is a lack of relevant studies on how key dimensions of the ear, like the external acoustic meatus (EAM), change with age. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to define EAM measurements that are important for the ergonomic design of ear-related wearable products and explore how the EAM anthropometry changes with age.
Metrics of Comfort: Development of Physiological Correlates to Subjective Responses
Authors: McDonald Mitchell D. , McLaughlin Anne C.
Published: February 2021

Comfort drives purchasing decisions for the equipment we interact with each day. Though manufacturers would like to claim to provide the most comfort over their competitors, a quantifiable metric based on physiological responses does not exist. The current research project examined the potential relationship of physiological measures with an individual's subjective level of comfort and discomfort. Heart rate variability and skin conductance responses were collected in a controlled laboratory environment along with a behavioral measure, the number of times the seated position was adjusted. During a 20 minute seated trial participants provided periodic responses to their subjective levels of comfort and discomfort. Discomfort was predicted through an interaction of the seat type (padded or rigid) and the number of adjustments made during a trial. Comfort had no significant predictors. Results showed no predictive power of heart rate variability or skin conductance responses. These results point toward use of measures of discomfort, rather than comfort, and observation of behaviors while seated.
Attention and Threat Detection: Warnings and How They Affect Takeover Performance
Authors: Brunsen Emily , McLaughlin Anne C. , Feng Jing
Published: February 2021

Vehicle automation is becoming more advanced in helping drivers understand and react to the environment around them. Many newer vehicle models come standard with backup cameras, blind spot detection, and warning signals. It’s important to identify if such features significantly improve driver performance. The current study investigated the relationship between the presentation of a warning indicating a threat and whether or not that signal helped the participants detect the threat. Findings suggested that participants asked to detect when an automated braking system engaged were significantly more accurate at noticing the system engaged than those asked to manually take-over the vehicle when a threat emerged. In both groups, those given visual warnings that a threat was about to occur were faster in taking over the vehicle when needed than those who did not receive a warning. However, accuracy was low across all conditions groups.
Improving Weather Display Interpretation: A Training Solution
Authors: Kleber John , McSorley Jacqueline , King Jayde , Blickensderfer Beth
Published: February 2021

Visual flight rules (VFR) operations into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), is one of the deadliest causes of weather-related accidents in the General Aviation (GA) community. Current weather training for GA pilots is inadequate. This paper describes the design and development of three weather training modules and provides research-based recommendations for the development of future training modules for aviation weather. Recommendations include incorporating simulation-based training, utilizing available materials, prioritizing accessibility, accounting for changing technology, maintaining high cognitive fidelity, and using a multidisciplinary team approach.
The Relation of the Perceptions of Aesthetics and Usability
Authors: Alharoon Dahlia , Gillan Douglas J.
Published: February 2021

Aesthetics and usability both play critical roles in product design. But how might measurement of these two conceptually-different features of products interfere with one another? The current research study examines the effect of differences in aesthetics on perceived usability. Participants completed three tasks on a simulated website with a low usability interface. One group of participants used an interface with high aesthetics, whereas a second group interacted with an interface with poor aesthetics. Both groups rated the usability and aesthetics of the interface after completing the tasks. The aesthetics manipulation was effective in that the high aesthetics group provided higher ratings on two aesthetics scales than did the low aesthetics group; however, differences in aesthetics had no significant effect on usability as measured by the System Usability Scale (SUS). These findings support the idea that users make independent judgments of usability and aesthetics.
The Impacts of Sleep Deprivation on Medical Residents: A Scoping Review of Literature
Authors: Mulenga Anthony , Sasangohar Farzan
Published: February 2021

Negative impacts of sleep deprivation on healthcare providers are well documented. However, effective, evidence-based, and practical interventions are sparse. This scoping literature review explores the interventions used for sleep deprivation among medical residents. This review considers the current state of the interventions in place, the impacts that sleep deprivation can have on residents, and the ways to cope with sleep deprivation. Furthermore, counter arguments against work hour reduction—the preferred form of intervention—are presented. Finally, it is concluded that no intervention is currently accepted by all stakeholders, and more research is required to arrive at a practical solution.
Driving in the Dust: Challenges and Lessons Learned from Field Testing in Degraded Visual Environments
Authors: Riegner Kayla L. , Steelman Kelly S.
Published: February 2021

Degraded visual environments (DVEs) pose significant safety and efficiency problems in military ground vehicle operations. As part of a larger research program, two field tests were conducted to evaluate driving aids while indirect driving in DVEs. The current paper presents the results of one of these field tests, and focuses on the challenges and lessons learned in designing a challenging test course and producing consistent dust clouds for assessing Soldier driving performance and workload in degraded visual environments.
Pedestrians’ understanding of fully autonomous vehicles (FAV) intent to stop
Authors: Hochman Michal , Oron-Gilad Tal
Published: February 2021

This study explored pedestrians’ understanding of Fully Autonomous Vehicle (FAV) intention and what influences their decision to cross. Twenty participants saw fixed simulated urban road crossing scenes with a FAV present on the road. The scenes differed from one another in the FAV’s messages: the external Human-Machine Interfaces (e-HMI) background color, message type and modality, the FAV’s distance from the crossing place, and its size. Eye-tracking data and objective measurements were collected. Results revealed that pedestrians looked at the e-HMI before making their decision; however, they did not always make the decision according to the e-HMIs’ color, instructions (in advice messages), or intention (in status messages). Moreover, when they acted according to the e-HMI proposition, for certain distance conditions, they tended to hesitate before making the decision. Findings suggest that pedestrians’ decision making to cross depends on a combination of the e-HMI implementation and the car distance. Future work should explore the robustness of the findings in dynamic and more complex crossing environments.
Does crossing the road in a group influence pedestrians’ gaze behavior?
Authors: Lanzer Mirjam , Baumann Martin
Published: February 2021

So far, research on pedestrians’ gaze behavior while crossing roads has mainly focused on individual pedestrians rather than groups. However, pedestrians often travel in groups especially in downtown areas. This observational study investigated how group characteristics (group size and movement of the group), situational factors (presence of traffic), and demographic variables (age and gender) influence pedestrians’ gaze behavior towards traffic during road crossing. A total of N = 197 pedestrians were observed of whom n = 24 traveled alone, n = 128 traveled in groups of two or three, and n = 45 traveled in groups of four or more. Results indicated that with increasing group size, the odds to observe traffic decreased. Diffusion of responsibility among group members might explain this effect. Finally, pedestrians’ group characteristics should be considered when developing automated vehicles that interact with vulnerable road users.
Decision Aiding for Nautical Collision Avoidance: Trust, Dependence, and Implicit Understanding of the Decision Algorithm
Authors: Wickens Christopher D. , Fitzgerald Nicholas J. , Clegg Benjamin A. , Smith C.A.P. , Orth Dylan , Kincaid Katie
Published: February 2021

Two experiments examined imperfect automation decision aids for maritime collision avoidance. In Experiment 1, the algorithm was driven purely by safety, recommending turning your ship in the direction that produced the greatest separation from a hazard ship. In Experiment 2, the algorithm incorporated two additional factors known to influence ship collision avoidance maneuvers: efficiency and procedural adherence to established “rules of the road.” In both experiments, results revealed heavy but not total reliance on the aid. A strong influence of categorical rules of the road was indicated by compliance with recommendations in concurrence to those conventions, even as they reduced continuous parameters of safety, particularly in Experiment 2 when the rules were incorporated in the algorithm. This illustrates the powerful influence of categorical procedural algorithm elements over continuous quantitative ones in affecting automation compliance. Results also revealed the dissociation between rated trust in, and behavioral dependence on decision aiding automation.
Driver Logo Sign Detection and Hazard Responses during Partially Automated Driving
Authors: Cauffman Stephen J. , Deng Yulin , Liu Yunmei , Cunningham Christopher , Kaber David , Feng Jing
Published: February 2021

This study investigates the presentation of service logo information under partially automated driving. Drivers completed simulated drives with partial automation during which they had to detect target logo signs and react to hazards by taking over vehicle control when needed. Driver performance was measured in terms of sign detection rate, crash rate, and hazard response time. A number of factors, including sign information source, sign information load, and driver age group, were investigated. In general, our findings support the delivery of service logo information via in-vehicle display under partially automated driving, especially when the in-vehicle display occurred simultaneously with the on-road signage. Under this presentation condition, drivers were most accurate in detecting target logo signs, and showed little impairment from processing sign information as a secondary task when negotiating a hazard. Implications of the findings and future directions were discussed.
Attentional Control in Young Drivers: Does Training Impact Hazard Anticipation in Dynamic Environments?
Authors: Yahoodik Sarah , Yamani Yusuke
Published: February 2021

The interaction between top-down and bottom-up processing is a way to characterize control of visual attention, but it has not been extensively applied to the driving domain. The Risk Awareness and Perception Training (RAPT) has been effective in improving drivers’ latent hazard anticipation, a top-down process. However, it is unclear whether RAPT protects drivers from being distracted by salient items on the roadway, diminishing latent hazard anticipation. The current driving simulator study examines the potential interaction between bottom-up and top-down processes by having RAPT-and Placebo-trained drivers navigate simulated environments with latent hazards and a stationary or dynamically moving pedestrian. While RAPT-trained drivers were better able to anticipate latent hazards than Placebo-trained drivers, presence of salient, bottom-up stimuli did not negatively impact hazard anticipation performance in either group. This implies RAPT-trained drivers were able to successfully divide their attention, anticipating latent hazards even in the presence of dynamic, driving-relevant objects.
Investigating the Effects of Automated Driving Styles and Driver’s Driving Styles on Driver Trust, Acceptance, and Take Over Behaviors
Authors: Ma Zheng , Zhang Yiqi
Published: February 2021

Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology has the potential to significantly improve driver safety. Unfortunately, driver could be reluctant to ride with AVs due to the lack of trust and acceptance of AV’s driving styles. The present study investigated the impact of driver’s driving style (aggressive/defensive) and the designed driving styles of AVs (aggressive/defensive) on driver’s trust, acceptance, and take-over behavior in fully autonomous vehicles. Thirty-two participants were classified into two groups based on their driving styles using the Aggressive Driving Scale and experienced twelve scenarios in either an aggressive AV or a defensive AV. Results revealed that drivers’ trust, acceptance, and takeover frequency were significantly influenced by the interaction effects between AV’s driving style and driver’s driving style. The findings implied that driver’s individual differences should be considered in the design of AV’s driving styles to enhance driver’s trust and acceptance of AVs and reduce undesired take over behaviors.
Examining The Medium In Which Feedback Is Delivered on Young Drivers’ Speed Management Behavior: An On-Road Study
Authors: Molloy Oleksandra , Molesworth Brett , Williamson Ann
Published: February 2021

The aim of the present research was to examine the effect of the medium in which feedback is delivered (verbal, written, graphical) on young drivers’ speed management behavior in two speed zones (i.e., 50km and 80km/h), immediately post-training and one week post-training. Sixty young drivers, randomly allocated to one of four feedback groups (i.e., Control, Verbal feedback, Written feedback, Graphical feedback) completed one training and two test drives using an instrumented vehicle. The results showed that feedback presented graphically was most effective in reducing the maximum speed travelled in the two speed zones under examination. This effect was present immediately following training as well as one week later. These findings have important implications for the development of a new approach to improve young drivers’ speed management behavior.