chapter 1

the human
TOPICS

• Conceptions of human senses for interaction

• Inductive, Deductive, and Abductive reasoning
• Human errors – slips + mistakes
• Emotions and design of interactive system
• Ergonomics
The Human
Humans are limited in their capacity to process
information. This has important implications for
design.
•Information i/o …
– visual, auditory, haptic (sense of touch), movement
•Information stored in memory
– sensory, short-term, long-term
•Information processed and applied
– reasoning, problem solving, skill, error
•Emotion influences human capabilities
•Users share common capabilities. But are
individuals with differences, which should not be
ignored.
Introduction
• The human, the user is the one whom
computer systems are designed to assist. The
requirements of the user should therefore be
first priority.
• In order to design something for some-one,
we need to understand their capabilities and
limitations.
• In 1983, Card, Moran and Newell described
the Model Human Processor, which is a
simplified view of the human processing
involved in interacting with computer systems.
 Introduction
• The model comprises three subsystems: the
perceptual system, handling sensory stimulus
(information) from the outside world, the
motor system, which controls actions, and the
cognitive system, which provides the processing
needed to connect the two.
• Each of these subsystems has its own processor
and memory, although obviously the complexity of
these varies depending on the complexity of the
tasks the subsystem has to perform. The model
also includes a number of principles of operation
which dictate the behavior of the systems under
certain conditions.
Introduction
Three components of this system:
1. input–output,
2. memory and
3. processing
In the human, we are dealing with an
intelligent information-processing system, and
processing therefore includes problem solving,
learning, and, consequently, making mistakes.
This model is obviously a simplification of the
real situation, since memory and processing
are required at all levels, as we have seen in
the Model Human Processor.
Input-Output Channels
• A person’s interaction with the outside world
occurs through information being received and
sent: input and output.
• In an interaction with a computer the user
receives information that is output by the
computer, and responds by providing input to
the computer – the user’s output becomes the
computer’s input and vice versa.
Input-Output Channels
• Input in the human occurs mainly through
the senses and output through the motor
control of the effectors.
• There are five major senses: sight, hearing,
touch, taste and smell.
• First three are the most important to HCI.
Taste and smell do not currently play a
significant role in HCI.
Input-Output Channels
• There are a number of effectors, including
the limbs, fingers, eyes, head and vocal
system.
• In the interaction with the computer, the
fingers play the primary role, through typing
or mouse control, with some use of voice, and
eye, head and body position.
Vision

• Human vision is a highly complex activity with

a range of physical and perceptual limitations,
yet it is the primary source of information for
the average person.

Two stages in vision

• physical reception of stimulus
• processing and interpretation of stimulus
The Eye - physical reception

• mechanism for receiving light and

transforming it into electrical energy
• light reflects from objects
• images are focused upside-down on retina
• retina contains rods for low light vision and
cones for colour vision
• ganglion cells (brain!) detect pattern and
movement
• Vision begins with light. The eye is a mechanism for receiving
light and transforming it into electrical energy. Light is
reflected from objects in the world and their image is focused
upside down on the back of the eye. The receptors in the eye
transform it into electrical signals which are passed to the
brain.
• The eye has a number of important components. The cornea
and lens at the front of the eye focus the light into a sharp
image on the back of the eye, the retina. The retina is light
sensitive and contains two types of photoreceptor: rods and
cones.
• Rods are highly sensitive to light and therefore allow us to see
under a low level of illumination. However, they are unable to
resolve fine detail and are subject to light saturation. This is
the reason for the temporary blindness we get when moving
from a darkened room into sunlight: the rods have been
active and are saturated by the sudden light.
• The cones do not operate either as they are suppressed by
the rods. We are therefore temporarily unable to see at all.
There are approximately 120 million rods per eye which are
mainly situated towards the edges of the retina.

• Cones are the second type of receptor in the eye. They are
less sensitive to light than the rods and can therefore tolerate
more light. There are three types of cone, each sensitive to a
different wavelength of light. This allows color vision. The eye
has approximately 6 million cones, mainly concentrated on
the fovea, a small area of the retina on which images are
fixated.
• Although the retina is mainly covered with photoreceptors
there is one blind spot where the optic nerve enters the eye.
The blind spot has no rods or cones, yet our visual system
compensates for this so that in normal circumstances we are
unaware of it.
Interpreting the signal

• Size and depth

– visual angle indicates how much of view
object occupies
(relates to size and distance from eye)
– visual acuity is ability to perceive detail
(limited)
– familiar objects perceived as constant size
(in spite of changes in visual angle when far
away)
– cues like overlapping help perception of
size and depth
Interpreting the signal (cont)

• Brightness
– subjective reaction to levels of light
– affected by luminance of object
– measured by just noticeable difference
– visual acuity increases with luminance as does
flicker

• Colour
– made up of hue, intensity, saturation
– cones sensitive to colour wavelengths
– blue sharpness is lowest
– 8% males and 1% females colour blind
Interpreting the signal (cont)

• The visual system compensates for:

– movement
– changes in luminance.

• Context is used to resolve ambiguity

• Optical illusions sometimes occur due to

over compensation
Optical Illusions

the Ponzo illusion the Muller Lyer illusion

 Optical Illusions

Which line is longer? Most people when presented with this will
say that the top line is longer than the bottom. In fact, the two lines
are the same length. This may be due to a false application of the
law of size constancy: the top line appears like a concave edge, the
bottom like a convex edge. The former therefore seems further
away than the latter and is therefore scaled to appear larger. A
similar illusion is the Ponzo illusion . Here the top line appears
longer, owing to the distance effect, although both lines are the
same length. These illusions demonstrate that our perception of size
is not completely reliable.
Reading
• Several stages:
– visual pattern perceived
– decoded using internal representation of language
– interpreted using knowledge of syntax, semantics and
pragmatics
• Reading involves saccades and fixations
• Perception occurs during fixations
• Word shape is important to recognition
• Negative contrast improves reading from computer
screen. A negative contrast (dark characters on a light
screen) provides higher luminance and, therefore,
increased acuity, than a positive contrast
Hearing
• Provides information about environment:
distances, directions, objects etc.
• Physical apparatus:
– outer ear – protects inner and amplifies sound
– middle ear – transmits sound waves as
vibrations to inner ear
– inner ear – chemical transmitters are released
and cause impulses in auditory
nerve
• Sound: sound is changes or vibrations in air pressure
– pitch – sound frequency
– loudness – amplitude
– timbre – type or quality
Hearing (cont)

• Humans can hear frequencies from 20Hz to

15kHz
– less accurate distinguishing high frequencies than
low.

• Auditory system filters sounds

– can attend to sounds over background noise.
– for example, the cocktail party phenomenon.
Touch or haptic perception

• Provides important feedback about environment.

• May be key sense for someone who is visually
impaired.
• Stimulus received via receptors in the skin:
– thermoreceptors – heat and cold
– nociceptors – pain
– mechanoreceptors – pressure
(some instant, some continuous)

• Some areas more sensitive than others e.g. fingers.

• Kinesthesis - awareness of body position
– affects comfort and performance.
Movement
• Time taken to respond to stimulus:
reaction time + movement time
• Movement time dependent on age, fitness etc.
• Reaction time - dependent on stimulus type:
– visual ~ 200ms
– auditory ~ 150 ms
– pain ~ 700ms
• Increasing reaction time decreases accuracy in the
unskilled operator but not in the skilled operator.
Movement (cont)

• Fitts' Law describes the time taken to hit a

screen target:

Mt = a + b log2(D/S + 1)
where:a and b are empirically determined constants
Mt is movement time
D is Distance
S is Size of target

⇒ targets as large as possible

distances as small as possible
MEMORY
Memory
There are three types of memory function:

Sensory memories

Short-term memory or working memory

Long-term memory

Selection of stimuli governed by level of arousal.

sensory memory
● Buffers for stimuli received through senses
○ iconic memory: visual stimuli
○ echoic memory: aural stimuli
○ haptic memory: touch stimuli

● Example:
❏ “Sparkler” trail
❏ Stereo sound
● Continuously overwritten
Short-term memory (STM)

• Scratch-pad for temporary recall

• e.g., multiplication 35 × 6 in your head. OR to comprehend this
sentence you need to hold in your mind the beginning of the sentence
as you read
the rest.

– rapid access ~ 70ms

– rapid decay ~ 200ms

– limited capacity - 7± 2 chunks

Examples

21234827849320
44 113 245 8920

Therefore chunking information can increase the short-

term memory capacity. The limited capacity of short-term
memory produces a subconscious desire to create chunks,
and so optimize the use of the memory. The successful
formation of a chunk is known as closure. This process can
be generalized to account for the desire to complete or
close tasks held in short-term memory. If a subject fails to
do this or is prevented from doing so by interference, the
subject is liable to lose track of what she is doing and
make consequent errors.
Example

2123242827843202

01214142626

HEC ATR ANU PTH ETR EET

(The Cat Ran Up The Tree)

Long-term memory (LTM)

• Repository for all our knowledge

– slow access ~ 1/10 second
– slow decay, if any
– huge or unlimited capacity

• Two types
– episodic – serial memory of events
– semantic – structured memory of facts,concepts,
skills

semantic LTM derived from episodic LTM

Long-term memory (cont.)

• Semantic memory structure

– provides access to information
– represents relationships between bits of information

• Model: semantic network

– inheritance – child nodes inherit properties of
parent nodes
– relationships between bits of information obvious
LTM - semantic network
Models of LTM - Frames

• Information organized in data structures

• Slots in structure instantiated with values for instance
of data
• Type–subtype relationships

DOG COLLIE

Fixed Fixed
legs: 4 breed of: DOG
type: sheepdog
Default
diet: carniverous Default
sound: bark size: 65 cm
Variable Variable
size: colour
colour
• The fixed slots are those for which the
attribute value is set, default slots
represent the usual attribute value,
although this may be overridden in
particular instantiations (for example,
the Basenji doesn't bark), and variable
slots can be filled with particular values
in a given instance.
 Models of LTM - Scripts
Model of stereotypical information required to interpret situation

Script for a visit to the vet

Entry conditions: dog ill Roles: vet examines

vet open diagnoses
owner has money treats
owner brings dog in
Result: dog better
pays
owner poorer
takes dog out
vet richer
Scenes: arriving at
Props: examination table
reception
medicine
waiting in room
instruments
examination
paying
Tracks: dog needs medicine
dog needs operation
Models of LTM - Production rules

Representation of procedural knowledge.

Condition/action rules
if condition is matched
then use rule to determine action.

IF dog is wagging tail

THEN pat dog

IF dog is growling
THEN run away
LTM - Storage of information
• rehearsal
– information moves from STM to LTM

• total time hypothesis

– amount learned was directly proportional to the
amount of time spent learning.

• distribution of practice effect

– optimized by spreading learning over time
– For example, in an experiment in which Post Office workers were taught to
type, those whose training period was divided into weekly sessions of one
hour performed better than those who spent two or four hours a week
learning (although the former obviously took more weeks to complete
their training). This is known as the distribution of practice effect.

• structure, meaning and familiarity

– information easier to remember
LTM – Theories of Forgetting
decay
– information is lost gradually but very slowly

interference
– new information replaces old: retroactive
interference
– old may interfere with new: proactive inhibition
If we acquire new information it causes the loss of old information. This is
termed retroactive interference. A common example of this is the fact
that if you change telephone numbers, learning your new number
makes it more difficult to remember your old number. This is because
the new association masks the old. However, sometimes the old
memory trace breaks through and interferes with new information.
This is called proactive inhibition. An example of this is when you find
yourself driving to your old house rather than your new one.

… affected by emotion – can subconsciously `choose' to

forget
LTM - retrieval

recall
– information reproduced from memory can be
assisted by cues, e.g. categories, imagery

recognition
– information gives knowledge that it has been seen
before
– less complex than recall - information is cue
 Thinking

Reasoning
deduction, induction, abduction
Deductive Reasoning

• Deduction:
– derive logically necessary conclusion from given
premises.
e.g. If it is Friday then she will go to work
It is Friday
Therefore she will go to work.

• Logical conclusion not necessarily true:

e.g. If it is raining then the ground is dry
It is raining
Therefore the ground is dry
Deduction (cont.)

• When truth and logical validity clash …

e.g. Some people are babies
Some babies cry
Inference - Some people cry
Correct?
Inductive Reasoning

• Induction:
– generalize from cases seen to cases unseen
e.g. all elephants we have seen have trunks
therefore all elephants have trunks.

• Unreliable:
– can only prove false not true

… but useful!
• Humans not good at using negative evidence
e.g. Wason's cards.
 Wason's cards

7 E 4
K
If a card has a vowel on one side it has an even number on the other

Is this true?

How many cards do you need to turn over to find out?

…. and which cards?

Abductive reasoning

• reasoning from event to cause

e.g. Sam drives fast when drunk.
If I see Sam driving fast, assume drunk.

• Unreliable:
– can lead to false explanations