Human Factors Psychology Commons^™

Assessing Attachment To Ai: Understanding The Theoretical Correlations And Consequences, Brianna Broderick

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Current research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) focuses on its capabilities and our understanding of it as an instrumental tool (i.e., utility completing tasks). However, as its ability to replicate natural language improves through both text and voice, an ever-growing number of users have turned to AI for emotional companionship. Concern grows as prior research on technology dependency suggests AI bonding may lead to less interaction with others and, in extreme circumstances, has already led to cases of suicide and divorce. Kasturiaratna & Hartanto (2025) developed the AI Attachment (AIA) scale, consisting of three factors, which include: emotional closeness (i.e., personal …

Motivational Outsourcing: Ai, Self-Determination, And The Changing Nature Of Adult Learning, Zoe Spanos

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded into adult learning and higher education, serving not only as a support tool for cognitive aid but also as a system that can shape how learners regulate their motivation and engagement. This presentation examines how the use of AI in adult learning contexts may support or undermine self-determined motivation, drawing from Self-Determination Theory (SDT). It is a conceptual paper that draws on existing literature and theoretical analysis, examining AI reliance from minimal use to full automation across SDT's three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Motivation is essential for learning, but the quality …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Human-Ai Interaction Through Animated Shapes, Kavya Dipen Shah, Angel Hinojosa, Caroline Deck

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

As technology becomes more advanced, it is important to understand how people perceive the intentions and abilities of machines. This project, conducted in the InTeRACT Lab, explores how we attribute humanlike qualities to different types of agents, ranging from animals to robots. The study analyzes data from an experiment where participants watched animations of moving triangles. Although the videos were identical, participants were told the shapes represented either humans, robots, dogs, or inanimate objects. While previous math-based data showed that these labels changed how people felt, those structured scales didn't allow for a natural, unbiased explanation of what people actually …

Social Attributions Of Moving Shapes: Comparing Qualitative Analyses Of Humans Vs. Ai, Angel Hinojosa

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

As technology becomes more intelligent, the relationship between humans and machines is rapidly shifting. Whether a machine is perceived as a capable partner or a source of wariness often depends on the intentions and abilities, we attribute to it. My research in the InTeRACT Lab seeks to empirically assess these perceptions by comparing how we view different nonhuman agents, ranging from animals to robots.   This study analyzes qualitative data from a task where participants viewed animations of moving triangles. While the videos remained the same, participants were told the shapes represented either humans, robots, dogs, or inanimate shapes. Previous quantitative …

Stress-Triggered Automation Reliance, Jazmin Elek

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Automation is widely used in complex systems and includes any process that replaces human motor, sensory, or cognitive functions with machines or computers (Norman, 1996). As automation becomes more common, understanding how humans trust and interact with these systems is critical. Trust can be measured by whether users override automation or blindly follow its prompts (Norman, 1996).   Artificial intelligence (AI) introduces additional complexity by enabling systems to learn patterns from data it generates. AI performs tasks with the ability to learn from experience (NASA, 2024). AI builds internal databases that can mimic human-like responses (Norman, 1996). However, AI systems can …

Wip: Developing A Generative Ai Autoethnography Assistant, Jyoti Suhag, Jennifer Drewyor, Kathryn Bugbee, Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, Lynn Albers, Leo Ureel

Michigan Tech Publications

Background: Generative AI (genAI) is transforming educational research, offering new possi-bilities for conducting interviews while local sandboxing minimizes data privacy risks and hallucinations. Purpose: This work-in-progress presents the AI Autoethnography Assistant, a project investigating how large language models (LLMs) can support autoethnographic interview design and execution. Approach: Using prompt engineering grounded in Interpretative Phenomenological Anal-ysis, paraphrasing techniques, and structured follow-up questions, we developed protocols that incorporate po-sitionality and prompt reflection on origin stories and pivotal life moments. Outcomes: Conversations conclude at the user’s discretion, with the AI generating a thematic summary. We tested refined prompts across four platforms (Gemini, Claude, …

Improving Urban Search And Rescue Team Coordination Through Adaptive Context Awareness, Daniel Reyes Duran

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Modern multi-agent Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) operations heavily rely on mobile geospatial Common Operating Pictures (COPs) to maintain team coordination and Situational Awareness (SA). However, the proliferation of high-frequency sensor telemetry at the tactical edge has introduced a data saturation paradox challenge: while information theoretically drives informed decision-making, unmanaged data surges induce increased operator cognitive overload and alert fatigue on mobile End-User Devices (EUDs), while downstream data-broadcasting models inherently strain edge processing and viewport environments.

To resolve these constraints, this dissertation presents a context-aware Value of Information (VoI) data-management framework integrated directly with a custom, event-driven Android Team Awareness …

Interpreting American Sign Language: A Literature Review Of Assistive Technologies, Natalie Louise Paradiso, Emma Grace Kochenderfer

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

American Sign Language (ASL) is a visually elaborate, spatially oriented linguistic methodology that relies on combinations of hand movements, body positioning, facial expressions, and motion/spatial perception, aspects of which make interpretation difficult for automated machine recognition. Current assistive technology approaches to ASL interpretation are generally within the categories of computer vision models (including deep learning, multi-focus image fusion, and keypoint tracking) and wearable, multimodal/sensor-based approaches (such as smart glasses and inertial-sensor gloves). Within controlled environments, computer vision models perform well. However, when applied to conditions such as non-manual signs/features, signer variability, and rapid assimilation, they falter in processing all aspects …

Pong Revised: Network-Based Competitions Through Secure Socket Services, Noah T. Jennings, Destiny D. Hale, Jared D. Williams, Michael J. Lively-Scholz

Knowledge and Creativity Expo

We aim to provide a safe, thrilling, locally hosted, and educational multiplayer experience that can be quickly replicated in modern Capture The Flag (CTF) events.

The Illusion Of Causality In Llms: A Developmentally Grounded Analysis Of Semantic Scaffolding And Benchmark–Capability Mismatches, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

Recent benchmarks increasingly report that large language models (LLMs) exhibit human-like causal reasoning abilities, including counterfactual inference and intervention planning. However, many such evaluations rely on domains that are heavily represented in training data and embed strong semantic cues, raising the possibility that apparent causal competence may reflect semantic pattern recombination rather than structure-sensitive causal reasoning. Drawing on human developmental theories of causal induction, this perspective argues that genuine causal understanding requires robustness to novelty and reliance on conditional structure rather than semantic familiarity. To illustrate the testability of this claim, the paper includes a pilot demonstration using synthetic causal …

Revolutionizing Digital Privacy Education For Older Adults: Enhanced Interventions And Ai-Assisted Learning Strategies, Heba Aly

All Dissertations

As older adults increasingly engage with digital platforms, they face unique privacy risks stemming from limited digital literacy, reduced trust in AI technologies, and constrained access—especially in rural or underserved communities. While digital tools offer benefits like social connection and information access, current privacy education efforts often neglect the needs of older adults. This dissertation addresses this gap by developing, testing, and refining digital privacy education interventions tailored for older adults, with a focus on trust, personalization, and AI-assisted learning.

Study 1 evaluates multiple instructional modalities across age groups, revealing older adults prefer structured videos and interactive tutorials, while younger …

Teamwork And Artificial Intelligence (Ai) : Examining The Effects Of Teammate Identity, Deception, And Ai Literacy On Team Dynamics And Performance In Human-Human Vs. Human-Ai Teams, Jenna Korentsides

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be integrated into collaborative work environments, understanding how humans interact with AI teammates is increasingly important. This study examined how people’s beliefs about who they are working with (whether a teammate is human or AI) can influence teamwork outcomes. Specifically, we explored how perceived teammate identity affects task performance and team experience, with a focus on trust and communication as potential mediators, and AI literacy (familiarity and comfort with AI) as a moderator. Participants completed a series of timed, collaborative problem-solving tasks using a bomb defusal simulation. Each participant worked with both a human …

Exploring Human-Centered Principles To Improve Lecture Slides, Joshua Harlev, Louanne Boyd

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

As a university emphasizing student participation and attention, lectures are central to the educational experience at Chapman. However, slide-based lectures can widely vary in quality and approach. Considering various debunkings of learning styles over the years, it seems more difficult than ever to understand how to most effectively teach students. Effective use of computerized tools has thus become increasingly important as the pace of change continues to increase. Yet, research is available on the effectiveness of teaching methods that can provide guidelines for instructors. With increasingly connected and capable devices at our fingertips, it is imperative to both use the …

Strengthening The Bonds Between Us: An Empirical Investigation Of Morale In Human-Ai Teams And The Socially Supportive Ai Teammates Who Empower It, Rohit Mallick

All Dissertations

This dissertation investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) can be designed to improve the collective emotion within a team. A team's collective emotion, or morale, describes how motivated, optimistic, and enthusiastic the group is in accomplishing its goals. We conducted four studies that compared different social support strategies that AI teammates can provide to the team. Study 1A found that AI teammates who communicate with emotions can better motivate human team members and promote awareness of team dynamics and environmental changes. Study 1B found that human teammates become more motivated and happier when their AI teammates express joy and are close …

Effects Of Reflective Journaling And Nudges On Academic Motivation And Engagement, Lakshmi Satya Sai Veda Mahita Uppuluri

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the effects of reflective journaling and motivational nudges on academic motivation and engagement among college students. Grounded in Self- Determination Theory (SDT), the research examines how different interventions influence intrinsic motivation, and academic behaviors such as class attendance, participation, and preparation. The study employed a between-group experimental design with three conditions: a control group, a journaling group, and a journaling group that also received daily motivational nudges. Results showed that students in the journaling groups—particularly those who received nudges—experienced a significant increase in academic motivation. While changes in academic engagement were not significant, the effect size suggested …

Beyond The Blue Skies: A Comprehensive Guide For Risk Assessment In Aviation, Leila Halawi, Mark Miller, Sam Holley

Publications

Risk assessment in aviation is a critical process that safeguards the safety and reliability of operations. Aviation operations encompass inherent risks, from mechanical failures to human errors and environmental factors. The significance of these risks may be severe, leading to accidents, injuries, and loss of life. Recognizing and mitigating risks is supreme in this dynamic environment, where emerging technologies and innovation constantly reshape this industry. This chapter includes an in-depth explanation of risk management and analysis, leading to the core elements of risk assessment specifically for aviation operations. We will describe the process and explore some of the applications and …

Teaming With Technology: Adaptive Automation In Joint Cognitive Systems For Industry 5.0, Jessica Johnson

Virginia Digital Maritime Center (VDMC) Faculty Publications

Adaptive automation enables dynamic reallocation of functions between people and autonomous agents to improve performance in complex work. This paper presents a meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies (2000-2025) on joint cognitive systems in industrially relevant contexts, quantifying effects on task performance, safety/failure management, workload, trust, and learning. Across studies, adaptive automation reliably reduces operator workload and shows moderate gains in task performance and safety, with healthier trust dynamics when adaptations are triggered by human-state or event cues, made transparent to the user, and remain rapidly overridable. Risks emerge when performance-triggered switching is opaque or poorly timed, which can erode …

Toward An Insider Threat Education Platform: A Theoretical Literature Review, Haywood Gelman, John D. Hastings, David Kenley, Eleanor Loiacono

Research & Publications

Insider threats (InTs) within organizations are small in number but have a disproportionate ability to damage systems, information, and infrastructure. Existing InT research studies the problem from psychological, technical, and educational perspectives. Proposed theories include research on psychological indicators, machine learning, user behavioral log analysis, and educational methods to teach employees recognition and mitigation techniques. Because InTs are a human problem, training methods that address InT detection from a behavioral perspective are critical. While numerous technological and psychological theories exist on detection, prevention, and mitigation, few training methods prioritize psychological indicators. This literature review studied peer-reviewed, InT research organized by …

Prevalence Of Autism Spectrum Characteristics In Students Taking Undergraduate Computing Courses, Rachel Michaela Mettenbrink

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The incidence rate of autism spectrum condition (ASC) has increased significantly in recent decades, as awareness of the condition and its impacts increases amongst clinicians, parents, and the general population. Medical literature has proposed that there may be a relationship between ASC and participation in the computing field. This study tests for the prevalence of autism spectrum condition traits measured by delivering the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) to a population of undergraduate computer science students. We examine the relationships between AQ scores and students taking undergraduate computer science classes, sex, socioeconomic status, and parents in the computing industry. Additionally, we …

Exploring Healthcare Chatbot Information Presentation: Applying Hierarchical Bayesian Regression And Inductive Thematic Analysis In A Mixed Methods Study, Samuel Nelson Koscelny

All Theses

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, significantly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the United States. While contributing to over 691,000 deaths in 2021 alone in the United States (U.S.), it also imposes immense economic burden on the healthcare system, costing approximately $131 billion annually. One way to address this issue is for increased self-care behaviors and medication adherence, both of which require sufficient health literacy. Despite the importance of health literacy, 90% of U.S. adults struggle with health-related subjects. Overcoming the issues associated with health literacy requires addressing the …

Exploring The Relationship Between Anxiety And Virtual Reality Sickness, David Wesley Woolverton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

As virtual reality (VR) becomes more commonly used in education, it is important to understand the technology’s weakness and mitigate any potential negative effects on student success. One adverse side-effect of VR use is simulation-induced motion sickness, known in the context of VR as VR sickness. Previous research by Howard and Van Zandt (2021) found that possessing a phobia had a significant positive correlation with VR sickness, but only if the phobia is triggered by the simulation, suggesting that symptoms are actually connected to the anxiety the phobia induces. This study explored the hypothesized correlation between anxiety and VR sickness, …

Auditory Vigilance Decrement In Drivers Of A Partially Automated Vehicle: A Pilot Study Using A High-Fidelity Driving Simulator, Luca Brooks, Jeffrey Glassman, Yusuke Yamani

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Vigilance decrement is the decline in the ability to monitor and detect behaviorally important signals over time, a phenomenon that can arise even after 30 minutes of watch (Mackworth, 1948). Recently, McCarley & Yamani (2021) found bias shifts, sensitivity losses, and attentional lapses contribute to vigilance decrement, but when each effect is isolated, there was little evidence that sensitivity loss affected vigilance decrement. With the introduction of partially autonomous vehicles, vigilance decrement may be problematic for drivers who must monitor the autonomous system for failures and takeover requests. Thus, this pilot study aims to extend McCarley and Yamani (2021) and …

Using Natural Language Processing To Identify Mental Health Indicators In Aviation Voluntary Safety Reports, Michael Sawyer, Katherine Berry, Amelia Kinsella, R Jordan Hinson, Edward Bynum

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Voluntary Safety Reporting Programs (VSRPs) are a critical tool in the aviation industry for monitoring safety issues observed by the frontline workforce. While VSRPs primarily focus on operational safety, report narratives often describe factors such as fatigue, workload, culture, staffing, and health, directly or indirectly impacting mental health. These reports can provide individual and organizational insights into aviation personnel's physical and psychological well-being. This poster introduces the AVIation Analytic Neural network for Safety events (AVIAN-S) model as a potential tool to extract and monitor these insights. AVIAN-S is a novel machine-learning model that leverages natural language processing (NLP) to analyze …

Enhancing Students’ User Experience With A Code Critiquer, Laura E. Albrant

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis explores the role of human factors in the realm of code critiquers and students’ experiences with them. Across three studies, the work utilized Design Thinking to improve the user experience of WebTA for introductory engineering students learning MATLAB. The first two studies gathered observational and interview data to empathize, define, and ideate a new user interface (UI). Said UI was prototyped and then tested with the third study. Overall, the surveys’ data suggests that most students found the new design to be more appealing, useful, and purposeful; however, there is still plenty of room for improvement. Additionally, analysis …

Exploring The Nexus Of Cybersecurity Leadership, Human Factors, Emotional Intelligence, Innovative Work Behavior, And Critical Leadership Traits, Sharon L. Burton, Darrell Norman Burrell, Calvin Nobles, Laura A. Jones

Publications

Data shows that 12% of leaders are rated as 'very effective' at leadership. This research emphasizes the importance of understanding human behavior and its impact on leadership effectiveness, innovative work behavior (IWB), and the ability to respond to complex cyber threats, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity leadership. Emotional intelligence (EI), a key human factor, is highlighted as a crucial element that can stimulate cognitive absorption, leading to innovative work behavior and improved innovation efficiency (IE). This underscores the need for leaders to not only be technically proficient but also emotionally intelligent to effectively manage their teams and respond to …

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence For Team Cognition In Human-Ai Teams, Beau Schelble

All Dissertations

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have enabled AI to be applied across a wide variety of new fields like cryptography, art, and data analysis. Several of these fields are social in nature, including decision-making and teaming, which introduces a new set of challenges for AI research. While each of these fields has its unique challenges, the area of human-AI teaming is beset with many that center around the expectations and abilities of AI teammates. One such challenge is understanding team cognition in these human-AI teams and AI teammates' ability to contribute towards, support, and encourage it. Team cognition is …

Understanding How To Diversify The Cybersecurity Workforce: A Qualitative Analysis, Maria Chaparro Osman, Maureen Namukasa, Cherrise Ficke, Isabella Piasecki, Tj Oconnor, Meredith Carroll

Aeronautics Faculty Publications

A robust cybersecurity workforce is critical for protection against a range of malicious attacks. However, it has been noted that there are many vacancies and a shortage of individuals entering the cybersecurity workforce. The workforce shortage has been partially attributed to the lack of diversity in the cybersecurity domain, with women, African Americans, and Hispanics remaining underrepresented in educational and professional settings. Using a qualitative approach, this work sought to investigate what led underrepresented minorities currently involved in cybersecurity to the industry, with the goal of determining methods to attract underrepresented minorities and diversify the workforce. A thematic analysis was …

All Hands On Deck: Choosing Virtual End Effector Representations To Improve Near Field Object Manipulation Interactions In Extended Reality, Roshan Venkatakrishnan

All Dissertations

Extended reality, or "XR", is the adopted umbrella term that is heavily gaining traction to collectively describe Virtual reality (VR), Augmented reality (AR), and Mixed reality (MR) technologies. Together, these technologies extend the reality that we experience either by creating a fully immersive experience like in VR or by blending in the virtual and "real" worlds like in AR and MR.

The sustained success of XR in the workplace largely hinges on its ability to facilitate efficient user interactions. Similar to interacting with objects in the real world, users in XR typically interact with virtual integrants like objects, menus, windows, …

The Effects Of Primary And Secondary Task Workloads On Cybersickness In Immersive Virtual Active Exploration Experiences, Rohith Venkatakrishnan

All Dissertations

Virtual reality (VR) technology promises to transform humanity. The technology enables users to explore and interact with computer-generated environments that can be simulated to approximate or deviate from reality. This creates an endless number of ways to propitiously apply the technology in our lives. It follows that large technological conglomerates are pushing for the widespread adoption of VR, financing the creation of the Metaverse - a hypothetical representation of the next iteration of the internet.

Even with VR technology's continuous growth, its widespread adoption remains long overdue. This can largely be attributed to an affliction called cybersickness, an analog to …

Individual Differences In Vulnerability To Phishing, Fake News, And Vishing, Jeff Black

All Theses

Digital deception, such as phishing emails, scam phone calls, and fake news, poses a threat to anyone using digital devices. Research on digital deception often points to individual differences like age, cognitive impulsivity, and digital literacy, but has only investigated different types of digital deception independent of each other. Therefore, it is unclear whether users vulnerable to one type of deception are also vulnerable to others, and why. The present research examined relationships between vulnerability to different types of deception, and how this vulnerability is associated with common individual differences like age, cognitive impulsivity, digital literacy, and gullibility, and exploratory …