bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modeling On-Line Search Behavior Using Alternative Output Structures
Authors: Resnick Marc L. , Maldonado Carlos , Santos Juan Martin , Lergier Rebeca
Published: January 2012

The Internet provides a fantastic opportunity for users to obtain information for which they would otherwise have no access. However the existence of billions of web pages presents as much of a challenge as it does an opportunity. Surveys of search engine use have determined that they generally do not support efficient and effective searching. Part of this problem is that little consideration has been given to the nature of the search task in designing the output of most search interfaces. This study investigated alternate output structures for presenting the results of on-line search. Forty participants completed two search tasks using both the standard list output structure and an alternate tabular structure. The results showed that the tabular structure supported a wider variety of search strategies, including some that were not feasible with the standard list. The tabular structure also supported faster parsing and was preferred by users. The study provides evidence that consideration of multiple search strategies would enhance the design of search output structures.
An Investigation of Web Writing Styles and Distance Education
Authors: Elgin Peter D. , Jones Keith S. , Anders Brent A. , Farris J. Shawn
Published: January 2012

Increasingly, the Internet is being seen as a vehicle for distance education. However, this medium presents new challenges for developers of distance education content. For example, do we read material on the Web the same way that we read from paper? Is there a different writing style for web-based information that facilitates on-line reading? This study explored four different writing styles in either a printed or on-line format. Examination of free recall from 80 undergraduates indicated that fewer idea units were correctly recalled for the concise writing style than the scannable, objective, and combined writing styles within the Web medium. In addition, in the paper format, more idea units were correctly recalled with the combined writing style than the scannable and objective writing styles. These results may be driven by the reading behavior associated with a distance education task. Possible limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.
Where Does it Hurt? Lifting-Related Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Air Ambulance Crews
Authors: Olson Suzan D. , Krawczyk Angela , Gardner-Bonneau Daryle , Hopkins Jonathan , Blostein Paul , Stewart Daniel P. , Nichols Kathy , Austin John , Hopewell Bobby J.
Published: January 2012

Evidence from past studies supports the proposition that air ambulance crews are at risk for musculoskeletal injury. We evaluated the association between musculoskeletal discomfort and lifting tasks in air ambulance crews, through the use of a body map discomfort survey and a 25-question demographic/lifting activities questionnaire. Male and female full-time employees of two hundred seventy-one air ambulance services throughout the continental United States were surveyed. Participants self-reported discomfort levels for twenty-five body locations. Data for seven of these locations indicated pain with an average value greater than three on a 10-point scale, and 39 (19.6%) of the two hundred participants had been diagnosed with discogenic back pain. Eighty-seven (44.3%) stated they had lifted over 50 pounds of distributed weight more than six times in the last thirty days. Sixty-two (31.2%) reported that their air ambulance service used no mechanical lifting aids. Furthermore, 28 (45.2%) of those with no lifting aids observed a particularly challenging lifting task within the past 30 days. There is considerable evidence that air ambulance crews experience body discomfort related to their lifting tasks. Potential ergonomic improvements are discussed.
Home Health Care: A Needs Assessment with Design Implications
Authors: Delano Kristine Turville , Hartman Mary
Published: January 2012

A combination of survey and focus group activities was performed to investigate the functions, capabilities, and interface designs necessary to support home-based care providers. This study strongly verified that the most important factor in the design of a home health care interface was a clear understanding of the user population and their needs, capabilities, and limitations.

Patients seen in home care situations are often unfamiliar with technology and have a number of disabilities that would need to be taken into account in the design. Many positive responses were received from home health care professionals on the idea of providing this service for relatively healthy families or for families with members in need of more long-term care.
Air Traffic Control Weather Radar Displays: Validation of a Masking Metric for Prediction of Text Block Identification
Authors: Krebs William K. , Ahumada Albert J.
Published: January 2012

Background: The Federal Aviation Administration is evaluating the potential benefits of weather information overlaid on the Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) radar display. The study's objective was to validate a background masking metric to assist display designers to identify good color combinations for an air traffic control weather radar display.

Methods: A uniform gray pattern and two weather radar displays were used as the background for randomly selected aircraft data text blocks (varying luminance levels) positioned in eight fixed locations around a central location. Observers' task was to search for the data text block that matched the text block presented in the central location. Three text contrast levels were used for the uniform background and two levels were used for each of the weather radar backgrounds.

Results: For each of the four weather radar conditions, we estimated the uniform background contrast that would give the same performance for percent correct and latency.

Conclusions: A simple luminance contrast masking metric is a fairly good predictor of the masking of the text blocks by the colored weather map backgrounds.
The Common Cold Impairs Visual Attention, Psychomotor Performance and Task Engagement
Authors: Matthews Gerald , Warm Joel S. , Dember William N. , Mizoguchi Haruko , Smith Andrew P.
Published: January 2012

A study was conducted to test the effects of naturally-occurring colds on visual attention, psychomotor performance and subjective indices of stress. 204 participants performed a battery of tasks assessing simple reaction time, focused attention, categoric search and vigilance, on two separate occasions. Affective, motivational and cognitive stress state dimensions were measured using a validated questionnaire. On the first occasion, all participants were healthy. On the second occasion, approximately half the sample suffered from a cold. Comparison of cold sufferers with healthy controls showed significant cold effects. In the cold group, response was slower on simple reaction time and focused attention tasks, and detection rate on the vigilance task was lower. Colds reduced subjective task engagement (e.g., lower energy and motivation) and increased distress (e.g., more negative mood). Regression analysis indicated a direct effect of colds on simple reaction time, whereas the cold effect on vigilance appeared to be statistically mediated by reduced task engagement. It is concluded that colds can produce operationally-significant performance deficits on a variety of attentional tasks.
Maintaining Kinematic Constraints when Performing Mental Rotations About a Fixed Axis: Implications for Instruction and Displays
Authors: Romoser Matthew R. E. , Fisher Donald L.
Published: January 2012

Visually imagining the rotation of a solid object around an axis is central to problem solving in science, mathematics and engineering. Surprisingly, participants can find even very simple rotations quite difficult. There have been a number of different explanations for why participants have the difficulties they do. They include the role of experience and the effect of perceptual organization on the participant's choice of responses. We hypothesize that difficult rotations are made easier when individuals are provided better information about kinematic constraints inherent in the object that is being mentally transformed. In an experiment reported here, we test the above hypothesis. Our results showed that when we changed the stimulus used in a classic rotation task to one which more clearly resembled a rigid, solid object in the real world, the overall error rate was decreased. We discuss the implications for the representation on displays of three dimensional objects which must be rotated.
Low-Altitude Flight Performance as a Measure of Flight Simulator Fidelity
Authors: Winterbottom Marc D. , Geri George A. , Pierce Byron J. , Harris Nichole M.
Published: January 2012

Low-altitude flight performance was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the texture density cues used in high fidelity flight simulators. Observers were asked to maintain a constant above ground level (AGL) altitude over textured terrain whose elevation was varied. All combinations of two texture densities (0.13 and 0.43 elements/meter) and three airspeeds (50, 150, and 300 m/sec) were tested. Observers maintained a higher AGL altitude as speed increased, suggesting that higher optical flow rates interfered with the ability to maintain the target AGL altitude. However, when a single airspeed was used in a given block of trials, the effect of airspeed was eliminated, indicating that the original airspeed effect was due to perceptual averaging of the optical flow rate at each airspeed tested. Texture density was a significant factor only in the blocked-airspeed condition, suggesting that the blocking procedure eliminated measurement error that initially obscured the effect of this factor on altitude maintenance.
Evaluation of Eye-Dominance Effects on Target-Acquisition Tasks Using a Head-Coupled Monocular Hmd
Authors: LaFleur Tobias , Draper Mark H. , Ruff Heath A.
Published: January 2012

Monocular head-mounted displays (HMDs) require operators to place an eyepiece over only one of their eyes, raising the potential for eye-dominance performance differences. This issue is likely to be magnified when the task at hand requires frequent shifts of visual attention from head-coupled imagery to a fixed-CRT display. A study was conducted to determine the effects of eye dominance on a dual-display target-search task. Eight participants determined the presence/absence of a target amongst several decoys while using a head-coupled, see-through, monocular HMD in combination with a fixed-CRT display. Performance data did not reveal any significant eye-dominance effects. Additionally, there were no significant effects on participants' subjective preference between dominant and non-dominant eye for this task. Finally, it took significantly more time to determine that a target was not present than to identify a target that was present. However, there was a trend for female subjects to search longer before concluding that a target was absent.
The Limits of Transparent Depth Perception with Restricted Field of View: Application in an Augmented Reality Surgical Microscope
Authors: Johnson Laura , Eadie Leila , de Cunha Darryl , Edwards Philip , Hawkes David
Published: January 2012

This paper describes an investigation into the effect of reduced field of view and target size in transparent stereo augmented reality systems. Six subjects were asked to identify the maximum disparity limit of correct 3D perception for a random dot target of different sizes, viewed through a transparent scene with a varying field of view (FOV). The results showed that the maximum disparity limit increased linearly up to 25 degrees FOV after which it showed no significant increase for increasing FOV. There was no significant difference in the maximum disparity values obtained using a 4, 8, or 10 degree target. The maximum disparity limit of 5.9 ±1 (mean ± SD) degrees visual angle was used in an equation to predict the range in which correct depth perception occurs for transparent AR in a binocular surgical microscope. We suggest that the optimum image position to give the greatest range for correct 3D depth perception is 25cm when viewing transparent targets behind a transparent real scene.
Evaluation of Pictorial Symbols to Warn Computer Keyboard Users about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)
Authors: Freeman Kenya , Wogalter Michael S.
Published: January 2012

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is an upper-extremity disorder that can cause chronic pain and disability. Although CTS can arise from a wide variety of repetitive tasks with awkward hand/arm positioning, a large percentage of cases are attributed to, or exacerbated by, computer input devices such as keyboards. One potential way to reduce the development of CTS in keyboard users is to warn them about the disease's early symptoms so that corrective actions might be taken before the disease becomes more severe. The present research systematically examines one of the components of a potential CTS warning, pictorial symbols. Participants examined a set of 12 ANSI Z535 style warnings with one, two or four pictorials. They then evaluated them on their perceived effectiveness, specifically on their ability to inform and motivate users to use correct arm and hand posture to avoid further CTS development. The evaluations involved estimating the percentage of people that would comply with the pictorial message if it were located on or near a keyboard. Individual pictorial symbols in a top or a side view of the hands, arms, and wrists, depicted the incorrect posture overlaid with either an “X” (cross-out) or “prohibition symbol” (circle-slash) or the correct posture with no overlay. Warnings with four pictorials (with both postures and views) were given significantly higher evaluations than warnings with one or two symbols. In the one and two pictorial conditions, the top view was preferred over the side view. The two prohibition symbols, shown together with views of the incorrect postures, were perceived to be better than the views of correct postures (with no prohibition symbol). The two prohibition symbol conditions did not differ. The results could serve as a partial basis for the development of a complete CTS warning that also includes textual information. Implications for the benefits of multi-symbol warning messages are offered.
Increasing Attention and Retention of Warnings: Effects of Container Hazardousness, Warning Quality, and Severity of Injury
Authors: Meingast Melissa
Published: January 2012

The influence of warning quality, container hazardousness, and severity of the potential injury on attention to and retention of warning information were examined. Warning quality and container hazardousness were manipulated as within subjects variables, severity of injury as a between subjects variable. Two levels of each variable were used, high and low. Participants viewed the 4 possible combinations of warning quality and container hazardousness and then responded to various questions concerning their perceptions and retention of warning information. The results demonstrated the importance of warning quality. Enhanced features such as pictorials, signal words, safety icons, and color increase warning salience and recollection of warning information. The results also indicate that the hazardousness of containers influences whether people read warning labels and subsequent reports of cautious intent. However, its influence is modified by both severity of injury and warning quality.
Behavioral Safety Programs in the Department of Energy
Authors: Waters Robert M. , Duncan Michael
Published: January 2012

Behavioral safety is the application of reinforcement theory to foster an increase in “safe behavior.” The process starts with a behavioral hazard analysis to identify unsafe workplace behaviors. A checklist is then developed to assist in the observation of work behavior. Safe and unsafe behaviors are recorded and provided as feedback (reinforcement) to the worker, which increases safe behavior leading to continuous improvement and worker involvement. Developed in the late 1970s, behavioral safety has an impressive track record. Research has shown that as safe behaviors increase, safety incidents decrease. Within the Department of Energy, behavioral safety has been instituted at industrial sites such as the Savannah River Site (SRS) and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPRO), and at national laboratories such as Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL). In all cases, implementing the behavioral safety process has led to an increase in safe behavior and a decrease in overall safety incidents.
Human Factors Career Issues and Answers: Choosing and Preparing for A Career that Works for You
Authors: Shapiro Ronald G. , Andre Anthony D. , Lund Arnold M. , Fox Jean E. , Fadden Steve P. , Trich Jennifer D.
Published: January 2012

Welcome to the eighth annual Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Career Panel. The questions answered by this panel address many of the issues that graduate students and recent graduates have about entering the Human Factors field. The goal of this panel is to help individuals interested in becoming Human Factors professionals prepare for their career. This year, the panel answered eight questions addressing issues in four different areas: (1) the academic experience, (2) skills/knowledge, (3) demonstrating competency, and (4) job matching. During the HFES meeting panel session, the panel will focus on questions from the audience.
Fluorescent Colored Highway Signs Don't 'Grab' Attention; They 'Guide' It
Authors: Schieber Frank , Larsen Jessica , Jurgensen Joey , Werner Korin , Eich Gina
Published: January 2012

A novel inattention search paradigm (Mack & Rock, 1998) was used to assess the visual efficiency of fluorescent colored relative to nonfluorescent colored highway signs. Unexpected presentation of a fluorescent colored search target was not accompanied by an improvement in visual search time. However, visual search times improved dramatically once the participants developed the expectancy that the target feature would be presented on a fluorescent colored singleton. This pattern of results suggests that many of the visibility advantages attributed to the use of fluorescent colors in safety applications may be mediated by top-down attentional mechanisms rather than bottom-up (preattentive) mechanisms as previously assumed.
Development of an Automotive Icon for Indication of Significant Tire Underinflation
Authors: Mazzae Elizabeth N. , Ranney Thomas A.
Published: January 2012

In the TREAD Act of November 1, 2000, Congress required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop a rule requiring all new light vehicles to be equipped with a warning system to indicate to the driver when a tire is significantly underinflated. Research was conducted to assess the ability of two existing ISO symbols and 13 proposed alternative symbols to communicate the message of tire underinflation. An existing dashboard icon representing an engine was included as a baseline. A comprehension test was conducted in which each of 120 subjects was asked to report the meaning of one tire pressure icon and the engine icon. Results showed 25 and 37.5% comprehension for the ISO tire icons. All of the 13 alternative icons had better comprehension: 6 of 13 had 100%; 2 of 13 had 87.5% comprehension. The type of wheel pictured in tire image based icons was found to affect comprehension. Results suggest that alternatives to the ISO icons should be considered for use in alerting drivers to tire inflation problems.
Naturalistic Findings for Assisted Snowplow Operation
Authors: Steinfeld Aaron , Tan Han-Shue , Bougler Bénédicte
Published: January 2012

Performance data on the benefit of a driver assistance system for snowplows was collected during normal snow removal operations. Collection occurred during a series of ride-alongs by research staff over two winters. The test area was a major interstate freeway over a western mountain pass that historically has had numerous low visibility conditions and heavy snowfall. Variables examined were lateral displacement from the lane center, speed, steering wheel angle standard deviation, and nearest forward target when following. The driver assistance system appeared to be quantifiably similar to unaided driving in good weather conditions. The findings suggest that the system was particularly beneficial during low visibility and obscured road marking conditions - the scenarios for which the system was designed.
Graphical Presentation of AIS Information on Ships
Authors: Motz Florian , Widdel Heino
Published: January 2012

This paper describes a research project carried out for the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building, and Housing to evaluate the graphical presentation of AIS information. The implementation of AIS on ship bridges requires a suitable presentation and integration of its information in the bridge information systems. To support the decision which symbols should be used for the presentation of AIS information two experiments were conducted with simulated traffic scenarios on ECDIS and on Radar with mariners as subjects. Additionally, a questionnaire was administered and analyzed.

Results show higher detection performance for the orientated triangle symbol as ship symbol, which also was rated higher in the subjective preference analysis than the diamond shaped symbol. The results for symbols for the display of course and speed and the heading information led to the conclusion to display the vector as plain line and the heading as dashed line with a flag indicating the rate of turn. A draft for AIS symbols was recommended.
Alternative Terminal Sign Format Evaluation: Generating Efficient Information Dense Displays
Authors: Mehranian Hasmik , Fisher Donald L. , Duffy Susan A. , Niswander Elizabeth
Published: January 2012

It is hard to overestimate the importance of highway signage that can convey large amounts of information in a very short period of time, especially when the traffic is heavy and moving quickly. Drivers who are slow to read a sign or drivers who make a decision at the last moment can be the cause of minor incidents, which slow traffic to a crawl for hours or, worse yet, be the cause of major crashes. Airports are one example of an environment where it is necessary to convey large amounts of information in a very short period of time. Arriving passengers must find their terminal. Typically, the names of the airlines departing or arriving at a given terminal are all listed together on a sign. Lists of up to 20 names are not uncommon. We tested alternative ways of formatting the airline terminal signs designed to reduce the scanning time. The results apply generally to the design of any signs intended to convey large amounts of information in a very short period of time.
Reducing Medical Error and Improving Patient Safety: A Methodology for Studying Pharmaceutical Error in Teams
Authors: Weaver Jeanne L. , Schell Kraig , Grasha Anthony
Published: January 2012

It has been noted that as many as 98,000 Americans die in hospitals each year as a consequence of medical error. In comparison to even the lowest estimated figures of medical error occurrence, it is believed that the number of deaths due to preventable events is still greater than deaths due to motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. Of those errors committed, one type that occurs all too frequently, are those related to the dispensation of medications. Consequently, efforts are currently underway to develop methods for the study of this class of medical error. The current paper describes one such methodology and its use thus far for the study of individual performance, as well as recommending a research agenda that would be useful for investigating pharmaceutical error in the context of a team task performance situation.
A Web-Based Common Framework to Support the Test and Evaluation Process Anytime, Anywhere, and Anyhow
Authors: Schur Anne , Brown Jim , Eaton Sharon , Gibson Alex , Scott Ryan , Tanasse Ted
Published: January 2012

Test and evaluation (T&E) is an enterprise. For any product, large or small, performance data are desired to evaluate product effectiveness for the intended users. Representing the many T&E facets without bewildering the user is challenging when a range of people, from system developers to managers, want specific feedback. We created a web-based One-Stop Evaluation Center (1Stop) to meet these needs. The center streamlines the T&E enterprise because it is usable at any time in the system's development lifecycle and is easily modified to meet new needs. This paper discusses a common framework that unifies the T&E process, meeting the needs of many stakeholders. 1 Stop's flexible architecture is designed to accommodate stakeholders' specific evaluation processes and content. Its use results in significant cost savings by enabling quick responses and better lines of communication among users, developers, and managers.
Definition-Based Situation Awareness
Authors: Hunn Bruce P.
Published: January 2012

Situation Awareness (SA) assessment is a developing process that uses a variety of assessment techniques. Beginning with assessment methods developed for aircraft flight simulation, the study of SA has progressed to other areas, and this has broadened the domain into areas where faster response times and greater diagnosticity are desired. As a consequence of this maturation process, numerous SA rating scale methods have been proposed. It is posited that situation awareness is too complex a subject to rely exclusively on any type of numeric rating system, and it is argued that a return to a definitional approach to measuring SA is indicated. A method is proposed that emphasizes the three primary elements of SA (Perception, Comprehension and Projection) and this method should also increase diagnostic capability.
Predicting Workload during Physically Demanding Work Using Oxygen Uptake Data
Authors: Abdelhamid Tariq S. , Everett John G.
Published: January 2012

Oxygen uptake measurements during the performance of actual work activities are considered a good measure of the absolute physiologic workload experienced by a worker. Many work physiologists recommend expressing absolute workload as a percentage of maximum oxygen uptake, commonly known as relative workload, since it provides a subject-specific workload. Determining relative workload is arithmetically simple but requires an additional and separate step to determine maximum oxygen uptake through exact or prediction techniques. This paper presents a method for predicating relative workload from in-situ collected sub-maximal oxygen uptake data without the need to determine maximum oxygen uptake. The methodology, developed using twenty subjects and verified on five, was based on modeling the human cellular utilization system as a stochastic system. The standard error in predicting relative workload for the validation subjects was ±3.2%. These initial results are quite promising and establish a starting point for further investigations.
Utilizing CWS to Track the Longitudinal Development of Expertise
Authors: Friel Brian M. , Raacke John , Shanteau James , Thomas Rickey P.
Published: January 2012

The CWS expert performance index was applied to participants' skill development in CTEAM (Controller Teamwork Evaluation and Assessment Methodology), an air traffic control microworld environment. CWS integrates discrimination and consistency such that larger CWS scores indicate better performance. Over eight weeks, participants gained mastery over the task, which involved routing aircraft to assigned destinations. Aircraft Density and Restricted Airspace affected performance such that more complex scenarios led to lower CWS scores. Furthermore, CWS scores increased with practice. Moderate correlations between CWS scores and objective measures of performance were obtained, validating the index. Potential applications to training are discussed.
Cognitive Feedback Training using 3D Binocular Eye Tracker
Authors: Nair Santosh N. , Gramopadhye Anand K. , Vora Jeenal , Melloy Brian J. , Medlin Eric , Duchowski Andrew T. , Kanki Barbara
Published: January 2012

Studies in visual search have shown that feedback training can improve visual inspection performance (speed and accuracy), provided it is given in a timely and appropriate manner. Traditionally, performance feedback, i.e. information about the outcome, serves as the basis of most feedback training schemes. Other forms of feedback, which provide search strategy information, may have a role to play in improving inspection performance. This form of feedback is referred to as ‘cognitive feedback’. This paper describes the setup for collecting and analyzing eye movements using a 3D binocular eye tracker, which serves as a tool for providing cognitive feedback training. It also emphasizes the various technical issues related with eye tracker integration and further discusses the use of a new 3D-fixation recognition algorithm.
Validation of Training Efficacy through Analogical Transfer between Expert Knowledge Representations and Training Environment Representations
Authors: Ashworth Alan , Anthony Michael , Derek Katarina , Goettl Barry
Published: January 2012

Thirty-four Air Force aircrew personnel were tested at Air Force Special Operations Command on their identification of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). Several types of SAMs were simulated and presented to participants using a state-of-the-art training system incorporating high-fidelity terrain and voice recognition. The SAM simulations were driven by perceptual visual models and flight behavioral models. Participants identified the model of SAM, and the accuracy of trajectory (whether or not the SAM would hit their simulated aircraft). Participants were assigned to either a novice group (no combat experience) or expert group (combat experience in either the Kosovo or Iraqi air campaigns). The experts outperformed the novices, demonstrating the importance of developing simulation trainers based on perceptual and cognitive principles, and the importance of empirical validation of those principles by experts.
Comparing Pilots' Taxi Performance, Situation Awareness and Workload Using Command-Guidance, Situation-Guidance and Hybrid Head-Up Display Symbologies
Authors: Wilson John R. , Hooey Becky L. , Foyle David C. , Williams Jennifer L.
Published: January 2012

This study investigated pilots' taxi performance, situation awareness and workload while taxiing with three different head-up display (HUD) symbology formats: Command-guidance, Situation-guidance and Hybrid. Command-guidance symbology provided the pilot with required control inputs to maintain centerline position; Situation-guidance symbology provided conformal, scene-linked navigation information; while the Hybrid symbology combined elements of both symbologies. Taxi performance was assessed with average taxi speed and root mean square error (RMSE) from the centerline. Situation awareness and workload were assessed using a 3- Dimension SART and a 7-point scale, respectively. Taxi speeds were highest and RMSE from centerline lowest with Situation-guidance and Hybrid symbologies. Situation awareness was highest and workload lowest with Situation-guidance and Hybrid symbologies. These results are thought to be due to cognitive tunneling induced by the Command-guidance symbology. Situation-guidance (and Hybrid) HUD symbologies provided a common reference with the environment, which may have supported better distribution of attention.
Display Integration Enhances Information Sampling and Decision Making in Automated Fault Management in a Simulated Spaceflight Micro-World
Authors: Lorenz Bernd , Nocera Francesco Di , Parasuraman Raja
Published: January 2012

Fault management (FM) performance and information sampling behavior were examined while participants operated a complex micro-world that simulated system failures within a generic life-support system of a spacecraft. One group of participants was supported by an integrated display that facilitated fault identification while the other group had to rely on separated raw data readings. The effects of two modes of intelligent automation support were also examined. At a low level of automation (LOA), fault identification was generated along with an advisory on a sequence of recovery actions to be implemented manually at the operator's discretion. The higher LOA generated fault identification but allowed the operator a veto against automatic implementation of the suggested recovery plan. Automated fault identification was unreliable 30% percent of the time; in these trials the automation missed fault identification, gave a false alarm to a nominal situation, or provided false or incomplete fault identification. Initiation of proper recovery when the automation failed was less accurate and slowest when operators were supplied with the non-integrated display, but only when they operated at the low LOA mode prior to the failure. This effect was associated with superior information sampling behavior at the higher LOA when automation was reliable. Display integration and the higher LOA thus supported more efficient sampling of fault relevant displays thereby, promoting better fault state awareness in the presence of reliable automation. This also benefited fault management when the automation failed.
+Gz Acceleration Loss of Consciousness: Time Course of Performance Deficits with Repeated Experience
Authors: Tripp Lloyd D. , Warm Joel S. , Matthews Gerald , Chiu Peter Y. , Deaton John E. , Albery William B.
Published: January 2012

Pilots of modern fighter aircraft encounter episodes of gravity-induced loss of consciousness (GLOC) consisting of complete unconsciousness and subsequent confusion. According to Whinnery, Burton, Boll, and Eddy (1987), pilots are totally incapacitated for 24 sec during such episodes. Using centrifuge simulators to induce GLOC and math and tracking tasks to emulate flight performance, this study confirms the duration of total incapacitation described by Whinnery et al. (1987) and also indicates that the GLOC problem is more serious than they envisioned. Performance efficiency deteriorates from 3.20 to 7.44 sec prior to the onset of unconsciousness and does not return to baseline levels until 55.5 sec after the confusion phase has ended. Thus, at speeds of 500 mph typical of modern fighters, pilots can travel 12.1 miles while not in control of their aircraft. These effects do not appear to be reduced by repeated encounters with GLOC.
Acceptable Cap Torques for Processed Food Containers for Aged Women
Authors: Lee Kwan S. , Shin Seung H. , Shon Byung C.
Published: January 2012

The objectives of this study are to measure the twisting strength of aged women for different types of caps and to determine the acceptable torque of the caps of processed food containers for aged women. An experiment was conducted in the laboratory to find twisting strengths (torque) of young and aged people and the required torques to open various caps of processed food containers using a torque measurement device. Fifty nine young women who were in the range of twenty to thirty years old and fifty aged women who were in the range of sixty to seventy years old participated as subjects. Seventeen processed food containers which were categorized into three types based upon diameters were used for measurements. It was found that the torque required to open caps of containers needs to be within 74 N cm for pilfer proof caps with the diameter of 25mm to 30mm, 141 N cm for twist-off caps with the diameter of 40mm and 214 N cm for screw caps with the diameter of 65mm to 75mm. Aged women's twisting strengths were only 62.9% of young women's twisting strengths. It was also found that aged women had difficulty in opening 58.9% of processed food caps in use.
The Remote Perception Problem
Authors: Tittle James S. , Roesler Axel , Woods David D.
Published: January 2012

Previous research (e.g., Casper, 2002; Darken, Kempster, & Peterson, 2001) has shown that observers demonstrate poor spatial awareness based on video provided from remote environments. Such a result is understandable given that remote vision systems provide impoverished representations that leave out higher order cues essential to build coherent percepts and models of the world being explored. If tele-presence or remote vision is to be useful in the future, the raw video needs to somehow be augmented to recover what was lost by decoupling the human perceptual processor from the natural environment.
Supervisory Decision-Making
Authors: Miller Dwight P. , Schryver Jack , Tufano Daniel R.
Published: January 2012

Supervisory Decision-Making (SDM) refers to human supervision of several semi-autonomous (nonhuman) systems in a collaborative manner to accomplish a goal. This study defined SDM and distinguished it from traditional supervisory control and decision-making. An examination of diverse literature in organization design, biology, robotics, innovation diffusion, and trust in automation, yielded no directly applicable or comprehensive models. Field observations were made of large-scale war-games, where operators interacted with semi/autonomous sensors and defense-management systems. Four cognitive models were subsequently developed describing 1) adaptive partnering with automation, 2) technology adoption, 3) trust in automation, and 4) dealing with advice from decision aids. The latter quantitatively models individual, dynamic decisions to accept or reject recommendations made by automated battlespace advisors. The anticipated benefits of this work include more effective human-robot coordination, communication, the identification of experiments, and ultimately design guidelines for robotics, intelligent software agents, intelligent transportation systems, and space exploration.
Comparison of Performance Effects of Adaptive Automation Applied to Various Stages of Human-Machine System Information Processing
Authors: Clamann Michael P. , Wright Melanie C. , Kaber David B.
Published: January 2012

Limitations in automation (expert system) capabilities and negative human performance consequences of automation in complex systems have led to the contention that use of computer assistance in high-level human-machine system information processing may be inappropriate. Adaptive automation (AA) has been explored as a solution to these problems; however, research has focused on the performance effects of dynamic control allocations of early sensory and information acquisition functions between human operators and computer controllers of complex systems. It has examined to a limited extent the human performance and workload effects of AA of cognitive tasks, such as decision-making, or of psychomotor functions such as response execution. This research compared the affects of AA applied to psychomotor tasks and cognitive tasks, including information monitoring, information analysis, decision-making, and action implementation, on overall human-machine system performance. Results demonstrated that operators are better able to adapt to AA when applied to lower level functions, such as information acquisition and action implementation, as compared to AA of information analysis and decision making tasks. The results also provided support for the use of AA, as compared to completely manual control.
Design and Evaluation of Usable Systems
Authors: McGrew John F.
Published: January 2012

This paper discusses a case study of a design and evaluation of a change management system at a large Telecommunications Corporation. The design and evaluation were done using the facilitated genetic algorithm (a parallel design method) and user decision style analysis. During the facilitated genetic algorithm the design team followed the procedure of the genetic algorithm. Usability was evaluated by applying user decision style analysis to the designed system. The design is compared with an existing system and with one designed by an analyst. The change management system designed by the facilitated genetic algorithm took less time to design and decision style analysis indicated it would be easier to use than the other two systems.
Gender in the Cocktail Party Effect: Listener, Target Speaker, and Distractor Genders Examined
Authors: Harrison Catherine R. , Bolia Robert S. , Perrott David R.
Published: January 2012

This study was designed to identify any effects of listener gender in the “cocktail party effect,” in which the gender of target and distractor voices has been shown to effect a listener's ability to detect and correctly respond to commands given in a multiple simultaneous talker task. Two experiments demonstrated that although there is no main effect of listener gender in any performance measure, the gender of the listener does interact with the genders of the target and distractor talkers in some conditions. This finding is potentially relevant to the customization of acoustic displays for maximum effectiveness with users of either gender.
An Analysis of Telephone Messages: Minimizing Unproductive Replay Time
Authors: Fleetwood Michael D. , Paige Danielle L. , Fick Chris S. , Laughery Kenneth R.
Published: January 2012

This paper reports the results of a research project to study the nature and structure of phone messages and the design characteristics of phone messaging systems that would optimize the retrieval of relevant message information. of particular concern with respect to the structure of a phone message was the location of a phone number left in the message. in order to replay any portion of a message, most messaging systems require the user to listen to the message from its beginning. Because it was found that phone numbers are typically left towards the end of a message, such a system is quite inefficient. One proposed solution is the implementation of a “back” button. A simple equation is employed to optimize the length of time encompassed by the back button, which would result in substantial time savings to users at least 17 seconds per message in which it was used. The ramifications of such time savings are discussed.
Best Practices in Search User Interface Design
Authors: Resnick Marc L. , Bandos Jennifer
Published: January 2012

The Internet has become a powerful tool for information search and ecommerce. Millions of people use the World Wide Web on a regular basis and the number is increasing rapidly. For many common tasks, users first need to locate a Web site(s) containing needed information from among the estimated 4 trillion existing web pages. The most common method used to search for information is the search engine. However, even sophisticated users often have difficulty navigating through the complexity of search engine interfaces. Designing more effective and efficient search engines is contingent upon a significant improvement in the search user interface.
Perceptual Cues and Subjective Organization in a Virtual Information Workspace
Authors: Eischeid Todd M. , Scerbo Mark W.
Published: January 2012

The present study examined the effectiveness of three types of virtual desktop displays with varying degrees of perceptual cues: two-dimensional (2D) display, three-dimensional (3D) display without motion, and 3D display with motion parallax. It was expected that performance would improve as the number of perceptual cues increased. Participants were asked to search for documents either with an organizational scheme they created themselves or with a preconstructed arrangement. As expected, those who organized their own desktops performed better than those using a preconstructed arrangement; however, these effects were moderated by cue condition. Differences among the cues had no effect on subjective organization. However, searching a preconstructed arrangement benefited from a 2D representation. These findings suggest that a 3D representation may be ill suited to tasks in which semantic material is stored in a virtual information space.
Universal Access in Practice: Usability Evauation of Cellular Telephones for Users with Disabilities
Authors: Mooney Aaron M. , Nussbaum Maury A. , Smith-Jackson Tonya L.
Published: January 2012

Cellular telephones provide a portable means of communication and facilitate many communication tasks in daily life. Persons with disabilities, however, have limited access to these devices, which may be due to product designs that do not always consider their needs. Usability evaluations can identify the needs and difficulties when using cellular telephones, and those with disabilities are also likely to benefit from focused evaluations. The usability of cellular telephones was investigated among those with visual and upper extremity disabilities. Both objective and subjective evaluation methods were used to determine the effects of several telephone display and keypad design features. Lateral key pitch is reported here. Objective and subjective measures were similar among participant categories, with the 12 mm and 13 mm levels of lateral pitch generally the best across all measures. Results suggest keypad design features to consider when designing accessible cellular telephones. Universal design implications are also discussed.
Human Factors Design Considerations of Alarm Clocks
Authors: Lim Raymond W. , Wogalter Michael S.
Published: January 2012

Advances in technology have allowed computers and peripherals to become more affordable and useable. Technology is also trickling down and being integrated into other consumer products such as those found in the home, such as alarm clocks. Two studies examined the desirability of various features that have or could be incorporated into alarm clocks. in Study 1, 378 people evaluated the importance of various features that have or could be incorporated into alarm clocks. They were also asked to report other features not listed. Study 2 was similar except a larger list of potential features was included. Both studies indicated that there are several features considered more important (e.g., digital face, independent buttons to set hours and minutes, low price) than others (e.g., traditional analog clock face, cassette player). Also, feature importance differed depending on gender and undergraduate/non-student groups. Factor analyses revealed that ergonomic aspects were being considered with respect to feature desirability. Implications for human factors/ergonomics issues are discussed including specific suggestions for alarm clock designs and other electronic consumer products.
Creativity Increases through Top-Down Design Procedures
Authors: Helander Martin G. , Caldenfors Dag
Published: January 2012

Finke's notion of preinventive structure in top-down design was tested using Suh's methodology for top-down axiomatic design. Two groups of experimental subjects designed controls and displays for an “intelligent” automobile. One group was instructed to consider functional requirements and derive their design in a top-down fashion. The other group was also informed about functional requirements, and design methodology but was not instructed to use any particular design procedure. The first group produced significantly better designs than the second group - they were more creative, more practical and fulfilled design goals better. Top-down reasoning with careful consideration of functional requirements generated better design. Suh's methodology has an extra bonus, which is in agreement with Finke; it forces a slow deliberation of design features.