Ch24 Cognitive Ergonomics - 7

Cognitive Ergonomics
The Human Sensory System and

Information Processing
Chapter 24
Sections:
1. The Human Sensory System
2. Perception
3. Attention Resources
4. Memory
5. Response Selection and Execution
6. Common Cognitive Tasks
7. Design Guidelines for Cognitive Work
Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work
by Mikell P. Groover, ISBN 0-13-140650-7.
©2007 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.
Cognitive Ergonomics
Study of the capabilities and limitations of the
human brain and sensory system while
performing activities that have a significant
information processing content
 Why cognitive ergonomics is important
 Growth in the service industry sector in which
work has high content of information
processing and communication
 More use of mechanization and automation
 Increased use of technologically
sophisticated equipment
Human Information Processing Model

Human Sensory System
 Humans receive stimuli from sources of
energy both external and internal to the body
 Receptors - the body’s sensory organs:
1. Vision ~ 80% of human information input
2. Hearing ~ 15% to 19% of information input
3. Touch
4. Smell
5. Taste

Vision
 Light - electromagnetic radiant energy that lies
within the visible spectrum
 Wavelengths between ~ 400 nm (blue-violet)
and ~ 700 nm (red)
 Human eye is stimulated by light
 Light passes through the cornea (the
eyeball’s window) and is focused by the lens
onto the retina at the back of the eyeball
 The retina consists of millions of light
receptors
 The optic nerve transmits the image focused
on the retina to the brain for interpretation
Anatomy of the Human Eyeball

Visual Performance
 Visual acuity - capability to discriminate small
objects or fine details
Visual angle v = 3438 h/d
where v is measured in arc min, h = height of
object or detail, and d = distance from eye
Visual acuity VA = 1/v
 Snellen chart - test for visual acuity
 Used by opthalmologists
 Patient asked to identify letters as their
sizes get smaller and smaller

Visual Angle Defined
Visual angle v = 3438 h/d

Visual Performance
 Stereoscopic acuity - capability to perceive
depth in one’s field of vision
 Enabled by the two eyes
 Color discrimination - capability to distinguish
colors
 Adaptation - ability to adapt to changes in light
levels
 Dark adaptation - adapting from a bright
environment to a dark one
 Light adaptation - adapting from a dark
environment to a light one
Hearing
 Process of perceiving sound
 The sensation is stimulated by acoustic
waves - air pressure oscillations
 A simple sound-generating source produces a
pure tone, which is characterized by two
physical attributes:
1. Frequency (Hz) - perceived as pitch
2. Intensity (dB) - perceived as loudness

Sound: A Pure Tone
Sinusoidal pressure
oscillations of a
simple sound-
generating source

Power Spectrum of a Sound
Continuous power
spectrum of a
sound consisting
of multiple
frequencies

Sound Intensity
 Measured as pressure, e.g., N/m2 or Pa
 However, range of sound pressures is very
large (0.00002 N/m2 to 20 N/m2)
 Thus, intensity is converted to logarithmic
scale, called sound pressure level (SPL) with
units of decibel (dB):
SPL = 20 log10(ps / pr)
where ps = sound pressure from source, N/m2 ,
and pr = reference sound pressure, N/m2 (the
usual reference pressure is 0.00002 N/m2)

Sound Intensity
 Sound intensity is measured from the listener’s
perspective
 It is not a power measurement of the sound
source
 Intensity of a sound wave varies inversely as the
square of the distance from the source
 Example: a person listening to someone talk
at a distance of 15 cm (6 in) hears an intensity
level of ~ 80 dB, while the same listener hears
only ~ 65 dB at a distance of 100 cm (40 in)

dB Level of Various Sounds
Threshold of hearing 0 dB
Soft whispering at 1 m (3 ft) 20 dB
Library environment 40 dB
Room air conditioner at 3 m (10 ft) 60 dB
Talking at 15 cm (6 in) 80 dB
Powered lawnmower at 1 m (3 ft) 100 dB
Jet engine at 60 m (200 ft) 120 dB
Jet engine at 30 m (100 ft) 140 dB

The Ear
 It’s a transducer - it transforms mechanical
energy of sound waves into electrical nerve
signals that are transmitted to the brain for
interpretation
 The ear consists of:
 Outer ear - eardrum mechanically transmits
sound vibration to middle ear
 Middle ear - transmits and amplifies (20
times) vibrations to the inner ear
 Inner ear - converts vibrations to neural
impulses that are transmitted to brain
Anatomy of the Human Ear

Auditory Performance
 Humans with normal hearing can perceive sound
frequencies in the approximate range 20 Hz to
20,000 Hz when young
 Low frequencies (below ~ 300 Hz) are not heard
as well as high frequencies (in the range 1000
Hz to 5000 Hz)
 The aging process takes its toll
 Perception of high frequencies decreases
with age
 Normal hearing loss due to aging is called
presbycusis
Other Sensory Receptors
 Tactile sense - sense of touch excited by
receptors in the skin
 More general term is cutaneous sense,
which is stimulated by
 Pressure
 Temperature
 Pain
 Olfactory sense - sense of smell due to
receptors in each nostril that are stimulated by
vapor molecules in the air
 Sense of taste

Perception
Stage of cognition in which the human becomes
aware of the sensation caused by stimuli and
interprets it in the light of his or her experience
and knowledge
 Consists of two steps:
1. Detection - human becomes aware of the
stimulus of interest, which may be mixed with
other stimuli
2. Recognition - human interprets the meaning
of the stimulus and identifies it in the context
of previous experience
Two Steps of Perception

Bottom-Up and Top-Down Processing
 Bottom-up processing - stimulation of the
senses by external sources
 Concerned with the detection step in
perception
 Top-down processing - information processing
activities of perception that are based on a
human’s knowledge, experience, and
expectations
 Concerned with the recognition step in
perception

Attention Resources
Attention means keeping one’s mind on
something
 Involves mental concentration and readiness
for such concentration
 Types of attention:
 Selective attention
 Focused attention
 Divided attention
 Sustained attention
 Lack of attention, sometimes caused by
boredom
Selective Attention
Refers to a situation in which a person needs to
monitor multiple sources of information in order
to perceive irregularities or opportunities
 Involves filtering out certain channels of
information in order to focus on one channel
that is deemed important
 Examples:
 Pilot checking gauges, looking for readings
that might explain airplane’s erratic behavior
 Football quarterback watching other team’s
defensive line to exploit weaknesses
More on Selective Attention
 Person must select which channels to give
attention to and which to ignore
 Factors that influence this selection process:
 Expectancy - the person expects a certain
channel to provide the information and pays
more attention to it
 Salience - stimulus that stands out among
the other channels
 Value - if the channel is deemed important,
more attention will be paid to it

Focused Attention
Refers to situations in which a person must cope
with multiple input channels but focus on only
one channel for a sustained period of time
 Person pays attention to one stimulus and is
not distracted by others ("noise")
 Examples:
 Conversing with a friend in a crowded room
full of people who are also talking
 Reading a book in an airport lobby
 Fighter pilot landing an airplane on the deck
of an aircraft carrier during rough seas
More on Focused Attention
 Factors affecting one’s ability to focus attention
on one stimulus
 Proximity - distance of the stimulus source
from the person trying to focus attention
 Separation - refers to stimuli arriving from
different directions
 Easier to focus attention on a source
directly in front of a person
 Background noise - (e.g., visual clutter,
auditory noise) affects one’s ability to focus
on a desired stimulus
Divided Attention
Refers to situations in which there are multiple
stimuli, but multiple tasks must be performed
together
 Examples:
 Driving a car while talking on a cell phone
with someone
 Doing income tax return while watching
television
 Machine operator attending several
machines in a machine cluster

Sustained Attention
Refers to situations in which a person must watch
for a signal of interest over a relatively long
period of time, and it is important to avoid
missing the signal
 Also known as vigilance
 Examples:
 Inspector looking for defective products
moving along a conveyor line
 Radar operator monitoring a radar screen
for incoming aircraft

Lack of Attention and Boredom
 Lack of attention - not concentrating on task
 Usually caused by boredom - state of being
weary and restless due to lack of interest
 Factors leading to boredom on the job:
 Short cycle times
 Low requirements for body movements
 Warm environment
 Lack of contact with other workers
 Low motivation
 Low lighting levels in workplace
Memory
 Three categories of memory in the model of
human information processing:
1. Sensory memory
2. Working memory
 Also called short-term memory
3. Long-term memory

Sensory Memory
 Associated with the human sensory channels,
mainly sight and hearing
 Operates autonomously
 Does not require attention resources
 Vision sensory memory called iconic storage
 Only lasts ~ 1 second
 Hearing sensory memory called echoic storage
 Lasts a few seconds
 Sensory memory data disappears unless
encoded and processed in working memory
Working Memory
Consists of three primary components, according
to one plausible model:
1. Central executive component - coordinates
activities of other two components
 Also interacts with long-term memory
2. Visuospatial sketchpad - operates with visual
and spatial information while it is being
processed in working memory
3. Phonological loop - operates with verbal and
acoustical information while it is being
processed in working memory
More on Working Memory
 Number of images, sounds, and ideas that
can be processed in working memory at one
time is limited
 Key performance factors in operation of
working memory:
1. Capacity
2. Time factor
3. Attention resources
4. Similarity of information items

Capacity of Working Memory
 Upper limit on the number of information items
that can be processed at one time in working
memory is 7  2
 An information item is called a chunk - an
information entity the mind works with as a unit
 A chunk can be a single digit or a group of
digits or other data forms that are stored as
a single item
 When a chunk is retrieved, it is retrieved in
its entirety

Time Factor
 Information contained in working memory
gradually declines in strength as time proceeds
 To avoid this decay, the information must be
periodically refreshed
 When the chunks are phonologic, the
information is rehearsed
 A person repeats the chunks subvocally
to keep them in working memory
 For visual or spatial chunks, there is an
analogous refresh process, but conversion
to vocal data is sometimes used
Attention Resources
 Attention resources are required during
operation of working memory
 More resources for more chunks of
information being processed
 Attention resources are needed
 To refresh chunks of information (e.g.,
rehearsal)
 To transfer information to long-term memory

Similarity
 Chunks of information that are similar are more
difficult to process and decay at a faster rate
 Most applicable in the phonetic loop
 Examples:
 More difficult to remember:
TG3EDB
 Easier to remember:
TK5LNO

Long-Term Memory
 Much of the information processed in working
memory is transferred to and retrieved from
long-term memory
 Information in long-term memory consists of
semantic codes
 Individual items are given meaning and are
organized into symbolic structures and
associations
 The structures allow for new information
to be added

Model of Long-Term Memory

Types of Long-Term Memory
 Semantic memory - used predominantly to
store facts, figures, and other information
related to
 General knowledge about the world
 Specific knowledge about one’s work
 Episodic memory - refers to memory of
important events and episodes in one’s life
 Example: memory of the death of a parent

Response Selection
Cognitive process of figuring out what actions to
take in light of information perceived through
sensory channels (bottom-up processing) and
information stored in long-term memory (top-
down processing)
 Accomplished in working memory as a series
of information-processing transformations
 Capability to perform these transformations
is limited by the capacity of working memory
as well as the time factor

Response Execution
Carrying out the actions determined in response
selection
 Actions are usually executed by the human
effectors (fingers, hands, feet, and voice)
 Actions can also be passive, e.g., a person
reading and the action is to continue reading
 Involves both cognitive and physical elements
 Cognitive elements - coordinating the
actions of the musculoskeletal system
 Physical elements - expending the
necessary strength and energy for the
action
Response Selection and Execution
 Five factors that affect the difficulty and speed
with which response selection and execution
are carried out:
1. Decision complexity
2. Response expectancy
3. Compatibility
4. Tradeoff between speed and accuracy
5. Feedback

Decision Complexity
Refers to the number of possible alternative
responses that could be selected in response
selection
 As more choices become available, the
complexity of the decision process increases
 And the time to make the selection
increases
 Hick-Hyman law of reaction time:
RT = a + b Log2 N
where RT = reaction time, N = number of
possible choices
Response Expectancy
Refers to the fact that humans can process
information they are expecting much faster
than information they are not expecting
 Similarly, humans can select a response they
are expecting to choose more quickly than one
that is unexpected
 Example: Machine operator must press a start
button to begin each work cycle when the
green light goes on
 But if the red light turns on, the response will
be delayed because it was unexpected
Response Compatibility
Refers to the relationship between a stimulus and
the expected consequence of a given response
to that stimulus
 Closely related to expectancy
 Example: When flipping a wall switch for a
light, we expect the up position to turn on the
light and the down position to turn off the light
 Response compatibility means that the
possible responses should be consistent
with one’s expectations

Types of Compatibility
 Conceptual compatibility - concerned with
associations people have between codes or
symbols and the things they are supposed to
represent
 Example: octagonal shape of a stop sign
 Spatial compatibility - Physical arrangement of
controls and their corresponding labels
 Movement compatibility - refers to relationship
between moving a control in a certain direction
and the expected result due to the movement
 Example: radio volume dial
Spatial Compatibility Illustrated
Poor spatial
compatibility - dials do
not match up with
displays
Good spatial
compatibility - dials
and displays match up

Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off
Refers to the negative correlation between speed
and accuracy in response selection and
execution
 In most situations, the faster a person selects a
response, the more likely it is that an error will
be made
 Example: An air-traffic controller must be
allowed sufficient time to make sure mistakes
are avoided

Feedback
Allows a person to see and/or hear the effect of
his or her actions
 Important because it provides verification that
the action taken in response selection and
execution had the anticipated effect
 Time delay between response action and
feedback should be as small as possible

Skill-Rule-Knowledge (SRK) Model
Identifies three types of behavior in cognitive
processing while performing various kinds of
tasks:
1. Skill-based
2. Rule-based
3. Knowledge-based

Skill-Based Behavior
Characteristic behavior when a person has gained
a high degree of familiarity and proficiency in a
task
 The task can be performed automatically and
subconsciously
 The task usually has a high manual content
 Attention resources required are minimal
 Examples:
 Walking, riding a bicycle
 Unloading a production machine that
produces the same part every cycle

Rule-Based Behavior
Characteristic behavior when a person performs a
task according to a set of rules or instructions
 Greater demands on attention resources than
in skill-based behavior because rules or
instructions have to be consciously followed
 Examples:
 Following a recipe in preparing a dessert
 Following a checklist when starting up a
chemical process
 Setting up a fixture on a milling machine

Knowledge-Based Behavior
Characteristic behavior when a person performs a
task that requires a high degree of cognitive
processing because the situation is unfamiliar
and rules or past experience cannot be applied
 Person must define objectives, evaluate
alternatives, and mentally or physically test
consequences of the alternatives
 Examples:
 Engineer designing a part
 Doctor making a medical diagnosis

Common Cognitive Tasks
 Decision making
 Planning
 Problem solving

Decision Making
Mental process in which a person makes a
judgment to select one alternative over other
possible alternatives in order to achieve some
objective or satisfy some criteria
 Elements of typical decision-making situations:
1. One alternative must be selected from
among multiple options
2. Some information is available about options
3. Time frame is relatively long
4. There is uncertainty about operations and
outcomes
Models of Decision Making
1. Rational decision models
 Emphasis on logical or quantitative
selection among options
2. Descriptive decision models
 Emphasis on the cognitive and behavioral
aspects of human decision making

Rational Decision Models
 The way people should make decisions
 Overall score is determined for each option to
judge which should be selected
 Example:
 State lottery worth $20 million. Ticket costs
$1.00. Chances of winning per ticket =
1/700 million. Should a person by 5 tickets?
 Solution: Expected value of investment
 E(V) = 5(1/700,000,000)($20,000,000) - $5
E(V) = -$4.86
 Person should not buy 5 lottery tickets

Descriptive Decision Models
 Use of heuristics - approaches guided by rules of
thumb and simplifications to make decisions
 Some common heuristics:
 Satisficing - person considers a sequence of
options, picks the first one that is satisfactory
 Anchoring - more weight given to information
obtained early in the decision-making process
 Availability - people are likely to retrieve from
long-term memory an alternative that has
been used recently or frequently
 It is the first thing that comes to mind
Planning
Mental process of devising a detailed method for
doing or making something
 So many human endeavors must be planned:
 Vacations, careers, weddings, meetings,
projects
 Related cognitive activities:
 Scheduling, designing, scheming, plotting

Cognitive Processes Used in Planning
1. Scripts - planning based on previous plans
and experience for similar activities, making
adjustments to account for differences in the
present situation
 Example: professional wedding planners
2. Mental simulation - mental development of the
steps and imagining what would happen if
those steps were followed
 Used when planning situation cannot be
reduced to a script
 Example: Planning next move in chess
Problem Solving
Mental process in which a question or issue is
considered and analyzed to determine an
appropriate answer or solution
 Arriving at a solution may require:
 Mathematical calculations
 Brainstorming
 Analysis and diagnosis
 Evaluation of alternatives
 Creative design work
 Combinations of these cognitive activities
More About Problem Solving
 Problems have a technical context - a field of
expertise needed to solve the problem
 Chemical engineering problems are different
from accounting problems
 Problems possess a degree of difficulty:
 Uniqueness of the problem
 Number of steps required to solve the
problem
 Technical complexity, e.g., a product with
1000 parts is more complex than a product
with 100 parts
Approaches in Problem Solving
 Skill-based problem solving - recalling from
long-term memory a solution for an identical or
similar problem
 Rule-based problem solving - following a step-
by-step procedure (e.g., a mathematical
algorithm) that leads to the solution
 Knowledge-based problem solving - the
problem is unfamiliar, and the person must rely
on his or her expertise and understanding of
the technical context, combined with a general
problem-solving approach
Problems in Problem Solving
 Cognitive tunneling - when a problem solver
seeks out evidence to confirm a chosen
hypothesis but overlooks or ignore clues that
might disprove it
 One solution fixation - when a problem solver
sticks to a chosen solution even though it is not
succeeding
 Stuck in a loop - when a problem solver
repeats a sequence of actions that do nothing
but lead back to the starting point
 Inability to think ahead more than a few steps
Design Guidelines for Cognitive Work
 Guidelines for sensory reception and
perception
 Guidelines for working memory
 Guidelines for long-term memory

Reception and Perception Guidelines
 Selection of sensory modality - visual
presentation vs. auditory presentation
When to use visual When to use auditory
Long message Short message
Complex message Simple message
Referred to later Requires action now
Noisy environment Very light or very dark
Person remains in Person expected to
one location move around

 Standardization - having similar devices
operate in the same way
 Example: all machines in the plant have the
same controls
 Redundancy - presenting information using
more than one sensory mode
 Example: combine visual and auditory
modes for warning messages

 Graphical displays - information presented
graphically usually more effective than same
information presented as text
 Example: Toyota production system’s use of
graphical instructions
 Stimulus variation - use of variable stimuli
rather than stimuli that are constant and
continuous
 Example: flashing red light on control panel
more likely to alert operator than continuous
red light
Working Memory Guidelines
 Minimize demands on working memory -
minimize the number of alphanumeric items
that must be kept in working memory and
length of time they must be retained
 Exploit chunking
 Formulate meaningful sequences out of a
string of alphanumeric characters so string
can be retained as one chunk
 Use letters rather than numbers (letters are
more likely to have meaning)
 Limit chunk size to 3 or 4 characters
Guidelines for Long-Term Memory
 Increase frequency and recency of using
information stored in long-term memory
 Drills to recall emergency procedures
 Regular and frequent training sessions
 Standardized procedures in batch
operations
 Use memory aids
 Example: written instructions for procedures
that must be carried out in the correct
sequence


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Cognitive Ergonomics

The Human Sensory System and

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

Work Systems and the Methods, Measurement, and Management of Work

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