Human Factors Psychology Commons^™

Cogtool-Helper: Leveraging Gui Functional Testing Tools To Generate Predictive Human Performance Models, Amanda Swearngin

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Numerous tools and techniques for human performance modeling have been introduced in the field of human-computer interaction. With such tools comes the ability to model legacy applications. Models can be used to compare design ideas to existing applications, or to evaluate products against those of competitors. One such mod- eling tool, CogTool, allows user interface designers and analysts to mock up design ideas, demonstrate tasks, and obtain human performance predictions for those tasks. This is one step towards a simple and complete analysis process, but it still requires a large amount of manual work. Graphical user interface (GUI) testing tools …

Even Moderate Visual Impairments Degrade Drivers' Ability To See Pedestrians At Night, Joanne M. Wood, Richard A. Tyrell, Alex Chaparro, Ralph P. Marszalek, Trent P. Carberry, Byoung Sun Chu

Publications

PURPOSE. To determine the effect of moderate levels of refractive blur and simulated cataracts on nighttime pedestrian conspicuity in the presence and absence of headlamp glare.

METHODS. The ability to recognize pedestrians at night was measured in 28 young adults (M ¼ 27.6 years) under three visual conditions: normal vision, refractive blur, and simulated cataracts; mean acuity was 20/40 or better in all conditions. Pedestrian recognition distances were recorded while participants drove an instrumented vehicle along a closed road course at night. Pedestrians wore one of three clothing conditions and oncoming headlamps were present for 16 participants and absent for …

Inattentional Blindness In A Simulated Driving Task, Kellie D'Hanis Kennedy

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The visual attention failure of inattentional blindness (IB) frequently occurs for visual information that is relevant and detectable, regardless of whether the unexpected event is congruent or incongruent within the task context. In the context of driving, an occurrence of IB has been associated with deadly collisions as well as significant property damage. For example, in 2008, drivers traveling the wrong way on clearly marked one-way roads caused 747 fatal traffic crashes. Many of these were directly attributable to inattentional blindness. Previous research focused on IB using secondary tasks such as billboards, signage, or bicyclists. The current study explored IB …

Useful Field Of View Predicts Driving In The Presence Of Distracters, Joanne M. Wood, Alex Chaparro, Philippe Lacherez, Louise Hickson

Publications

Purpose. The Useful Field of View (UFOV®) test has been shown to be highly effective in predicting crash risk among older adults. An important question which we examined in this study is whether this association is due to the ability of the UFOV to predict difficulties in attention-demanding driving situations that involve either visual or auditory distracters.

Methods. Participants included 92 community-living adults (mean age 73.6 +- 5.4 years; range 65– 88 years) who completed all three subtests of the UFOV involving assessment of visual processing speed (subtest 1), divided attention (subtest 2), and selective attention (subtest 3); driving safety …

Latent Print Examination And Human Factors: Improving The Practice Through A Systems Approach: The Report Of The Expert Working Group On Human Factors In Latent Print Analysis, David H. Kaye, Thomas Busey, Melissa R. Gische, Gerry Laporte, Scott A. Shappell, Et Al.

Publications

Fingerprints have provided a valuable method of personal identification in forensic science and criminal investigations for more than 100 years. Fingerprints left at crime scenes generally are latent prints—unintentional reproductions of the arrangement of ridges on the skin made by the transfer of materials (such as amino acids, proteins, polypeptides, and salts) to a surface. Palms and the soles of feet also have friction ridge skin that can leave latent prints. The examination of a latent print consists of a series of steps involving a comparison of the latent print to a known (or exemplar) print. Courts have accepted latent …

Effects Of Childhood Family Dynamics On Body Dissatisfaction In Adulthood, Adrienne F. Kerbs

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"Past research has identified many singular components of family dynamics that affect body dissatisfaction in adulthood, but have not studied the effects of many different family factors simultaneously. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of multiple early family dynamics on body dissatisfaction in adulthood using a sample of female college students. It was expected that the nature of parental bonding, parental comments, and lack of parental acceptance during childhood would have negative effects on body image in adulthood. A sample of female college students completed self-report questionnaires about their parents from the perspective of when …

Effects Of Visual Interaction Methods On Simulated Unmanned Aircraft Operator Situational Awareness, Brent A. Terwilliger

Publications

The limited field of view of static egocentric visual displays employed in unmanned aircraft controls introduces the soda straw effect on operators, which significantly affects their ability to capture and maintain situational awareness by not depicting peripheral visual data. The problem with insufficient operator situational awareness is the resulting increased potential for error and oversight during operation of unmanned aircraft, leading to accidents and mishaps costing United States taxpayers between $4 million to $54 million per year. The purpose of this quantitative experimental completely randomized design study was to examine and compare use of dynamic eyepoint to static visual interaction …

Benefits And Challenges Of Multidisciplinary Project Teams: "Lessons Learned" For Researchers And Practitioners, Haydee M. Cuevas, Cheryl A. Bolstad, Robert Oberbreckling, Noelle Lavoie, Diane Kuhl Mitchell, James Fielder, Peter W. Foltz

Publications

Adopting a multidisciplinary research approach would enable test and evaluation professionals to more effective!y investigate the complex human performance problems faced in today's technologically advanced operational domains. To illustrate the utility of this approach, we present "lessons learned" based on our experiences as a multi-agency, multidisciplinary team collaborating on an Army research project involving a dynamic military command and control simulation. Our goal with these lessons learned is to provide guidance to researchers and practitioners alike concerning the benefits and challenges of such collaboration. Our project team's diverse members, drawn from both industry and government organizations, offer their multiple p …

The Effect Of Improvisations And Observations On Standardized Patient Encounters, Subjective Workload And Stress, Elizabeth T. Newlin-Canzone

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Standardized patients (SPs) are people trained to present a medical case for teaching and assessing medical students and they simultaneously perform several demanding tasks including portraying the patient, assessing the learner, and providing feedback. This study investigated the effect of improvisations and multiple task performance on the ability to observe another's nonverbal (NV) behaviors and rate their communication skills. Subjective reports of mental workload and stress were also obtained. The first study involved undergraduates interviewing for a job. Type of interview (rote and improvisational) and type of observation (passive and active) were manipulated within groups. Based on theories of attention …

Comics As A Cognitive Training Medium For Expert Decision Making, Amber Nalu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Experts such as military commanders must make decisions quickly and under deadly conditions. A variety of cognitive training media exist, from Powerpoint to virtual reality (VR) simulations; however, there are alternative media that have not yet been comprehensively studied for expert decision making training. In this study, the researcher has examined the use of comics as an alternative to current cognitive training media. In Experiment 1, naval submariners were shown a text-based medium or comic strip and asked to make a decision about the scenario after viewing. The scenario was derived from a situation that submariners were somewhat familiar with …

What Are We Studying? Student Jurors, Community Jurors, And Construct Validity, Stacie R. Keller, Richard L. Weiner

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Jury researchers have long been concerned about the generalizability of results from experiments that utilize undergraduate students as mock jurors. The current experiment examined the differences between 120 students (55 males and 65 females, mean age = 20 years) and 99 community members (49 males and 50 females, mean age = 42 years) in culpability evaluations for homicide and sexual assault cases. Explicit attitude measures served as indicators of bias for sexual assault, defendant, and homicide adjudication. Results revealed that student and community participants showed different biases on these general explicit attitude measures and these differences manifested in judgments of …

The Impeding Role Of Initial Unrealistic Goal-Setting On Training Performance: Identifying Underpinning Self-Regulatory Processes And Solutions, Robert C. Brusso

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The importance of goal-setting within training for enhancing performance has been touted in the literature. Goal-setting theory suggests that setting a moderately difficult, specific goal results in a modest goal-performance discrepancy between the trainee's goal and actual performance level. Such a discrepancy has been found to enhance subsequent performance, as the trainee will employ greater effort and task engagement to resolve the discrepancy. However, research has also shown that the motivating effect of a discrepancy will reverse with repeated feedback indicating that one's performance has fallen short of the desired goal. To date, no prior research has examined the effect …

Simulation-Based Team Training At The Sharp End: A Qualitative Study Of Simulation-Based Team Training Design, Implementation, And Evaluation In Healthcare, Sallie J. Weaver, Eduardo Salas, Rebecca Lyons, Elizabeth H. Lazzara, Michael A. Rosen, Deborah Diazgranados, Julia G. Grim, Jeffrey S. Augenstein, David J. Birnbach, Heidi King

Publications

This article provides a qualitative review of the published literature dealing with the design, implementation, and evaluation of simulation-based team training (SBTT) in healthcare with the purpose of providing synthesis of the present state of the science to guide practice and future research. A systematic literature review was conducted and produced 27 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. These articles were coded using a low-inference content analysis coding scheme designed to extract important information about the training program. Results are summarized in 10 themes describing important considerations for what occurs before, during, and after a training event. Both across disciplines and …

Tools For Evaluating Team Performance In Simulation-Based Training, Michael A. Rosen, Sallie J. Weaver, Elizabeth H. Lazzara, Eduardo Salas, Teresa Wu, Salvatore Silvestri, Nicola Schiebel, Sandra Almeida, Heidi B. King

Publications

Teamwork training constitutes one of the core approaches for moving healthcare systems toward increased levels of quality and safety, and simulation provides a powerful method of delivering this training, especially for face-paced and dynamic specialty areas such as Emergency Medicine. Team performance measurement and evaluation plays an integral role in ensuring that simulation-based training for teams (SBTT) is systematic and effective. However, this component of SBTT systems is overlooked frequently. This article addresses this gap by providing a review and practical introduction to the process of developing and implementing evaluation systems in SBTT. First, an overview of team performance evaluation …

An Investigation Of Interpersonal Disruptions And Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Mental Health Therapists, Rachael Ann Robinson-Keilig

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mental health therapists who work with victims of trauma are often exposed to vivid descriptions of traumatic events and strong emotional expressions from their clients. Research within the last fifteen years has started to explore the impact of this indirect form of trauma exposure on therapists who treat trauma clients.

The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of interpersonal and sexual disruptions as symptoms of secondary traumatic stress/vicarious trauma among practicing mental health therapists, to understand how various therapist characteristics predict interpersonal and sexual disruptions, and to explore the role that gender and prior trauma history play …

Effect Of Simulated Visual Impairment On Nighttime Driving Performance, Joanne Wood, Alex Chaparro, Trent Carberry, Byoung Sun Chu

Publications

Purpose. This study investigated the effects of simulated visual impairment on nighttime driving performance and pedestrian recognition under real-road conditions.

Methods. Closed road nighttime driving performance was measured for 20 young visually normal participants (M = 27.5 +- 6.1 years) under three visual conditions: normal vision, simulated cataracts, and refractive blur that were incorporated in modified goggles. The visual acuity levels for the cataract and blur conditions were matched for each participant. Driving measures included sign recognition, avoidance of low contrast road hazards, time to complete the course, and lane keeping. Pedestrian recognition was measured for pedestrians wearing either black …

Effect Of Time Pressure And Task Uncertainty On Human Operator Performance And Workload For Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Missions, Trevor Petersen

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are being utilized at an increasing rate for a number of military applications. The potential for their use in the national airspace is also of interest to the Federal Aviation Administration, but there are some concerns about the safety of flying unmanned aircraft. The role of a UAS operator differs from that of a pilot in a manned aircraft, and this new role creates a need for a shift in interface and task design in order to take advantage of the full potential of these systems. This study examined the effect of time pressure and task …

Integrating Situation Awareness Assessment Into Test And Evaluation, Cheryl A. Bolstad, Haydee Maria Cuevas

Publications

To guarantee the success if network- centric operations, warfighters need the ability to extract and share critical task-relevant information to develop and maintain the situation awareness that is so critical far effective team performance. As such, the design of emerging technologies and systems must adopt a "user-centric" approach, with consideration for human information processing capabilities and limitations. In turn, to ensure that these technologies and systems are meeting their design objectives, test and evaluation must similarly be expanded to include metrics that assess how well system features and functions are supporting critical human cognitive processes such as situation awareness and …

An Empirical Methodology For Engineering Human Systems Integration, Nicholas S. Hardman

Theses and Dissertations

The systems engineering technical processes are not sufficiently supported by methods and tools that quantitatively integrate human considerations into early system design. Because of this, engineers must often rely on qualitative judgments or delay critical decisions until late in the system lifecycle. Studies reveal that this is likely to result in cost, schedule, and performance consequences. This dissertation presents a methodology to improve the application of systems engineering technical processes for design. This methodology is mathematically rigorous, is grounded in relevant theory, and applies extant human subjects data to critical systems development challenges. The methodology is expressed in four methods …

Depressive Symptoms And Marital Satisfaction In The Context Of Chronic Disease: A Longitudinal Dyadic Analysis, Rachel Pruchno, Maureen Wilson-Genderson, Francine P Cartwright

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

These analyses examined the longitudinal relationships between depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction over a 2-year period as experienced by 315 patients with end-stage renal disease and their spouses. Using multilevel modeling, the authors examined both individual and cross-partner effects of depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction on patients and spouses, testing bidirectional causality. Results indicate that mean and time-varying depressive symptoms of both patients and spouses were associated with their own marital satisfaction. Although mean marital satisfaction was associated with own depressive symptoms for both patients and spouses, time-varying marital satisfaction did not affect depressive symptoms for either patients or spouses. …

A Pilot Study Of Bibliotherapy To Reduce Alcohol Problems Among Patients In A Hospital Trauma Center, Paul Amrhein, Timothy Apodaca, William R. Miller, Carol R. Schermer

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Because alcohol use plays a major role in many injuries that require hospital care, there is increasing interest in developing interventions to address alcohol problems among emergency department and trauma center patients. The aim of the current study was to extend past research on brief interventions by investigating the use of a self-help manual to treat problem drinkers in a hospital trauma center. Forty injured patients who were either intoxicated at the time of injury or screened positive for harmful drinking were randomly assigned to receive either a brief assessment and a self-help booklet with no more than 5 minutes …

Noninvasive Physiological Measures And Workload Transitions:An Investigation Of Thresholds Using Multiple Synchronized Sensors, Lee Sciarini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine under what conditions multiple minimally intrusive physiological sensors can be used together and validly applied for use in areas which rely on adaptive systems including adaptive automation and augmented cognition. Specifically, this dissertation investigated the physiological transitions of operator state caused by changes in the level of taskload. Three questions were evaluated including (1) Do differences exist between physiological indicators when examined between levels of difficulty? (2) Are differences of physiological indicators (which may exist) between difficulty levels affected by spatial ability? (3) Which physiological indicators (if any) account for variation in …

Using Sunflower Plots And Classification Trees To Study Typeface Legibility, Edgar C. Merkle, Barbara S. Chaparro

Publications

This article describes the application of sunflower plots and classification trees to the study of onscreen typeface legibility. The two methods are useful for describing high-dimensional data in an intuitive manner, which is crucial for interacting with both the typographers who design the typefaces and the practitioners who must make decisions about which typeface to use for specific applications. Furthermore, classification trees help us make specific recommendations for how much of a character attribute is “enough” to make it legible. We present examples of sunflower plots and classification trees using data from a recent typeface legibility experiment, and we present …

The Effects Of Display Complexity And Cueing On Monitoring Maternal Fetal Heart Rate Signals, Brittany L. Anderson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of display complexity and cueing predictability on vigilance performance and measures of subjective stress and workload while monitoring maternal fetal heart rate (MFHR) signals. Seventy-two undergraduate students from Old Dominion University performed a simulated MFHR task and were randomly assigned to monitor one, two, or four displays for critical signals. Half of the participants received cues that were 83% reliable, and the other half received cues that were 55% reliable. Stress and workload were assessed before and after the vigil. It was hypothesized that detection ability would be lower, and the decrement would become …

Promoting Teamwork: An Event-Based Approach To Simulation-Based Teamwork Training For Emergency Medicine Residents, Michael A. Rosen, Eduardo Salas, Teresa S. Wu, Salvatore Silvestri, Elizabeth H. Lazzara, Rebecca Lyons, Sally J. Weaver, Heidi B. King

Publications

The growing complexity of patient care requires that emergency physicians (EPs) master not only knowledge and procedural skills, but also the ability to effectively communicate with patients and other care providers and to coordinate patient care activities. EPs must become good team players, and consequently an emergency medicine (EM) residency program must systematically train these skills. However, because teamwork-related competencies are relatively new considerations in health care, there is a gap in the methods available to accomplish this goal. This article outlines how teamwork training for residents can be accomplished by employing simulation-based training (SBT) techniques and contributes tools and …

Work-Related Outcomes Of Financial Stress: Relating Perceived Income Adequacy And Financial Strain To Job Performance And Worker Well-Being, Lindsay Ellen Sears

Dissertations and Theses

With the onset of globalization, the economic contexts and working conditions within many countries are changing, presenting new challenges' for governments, organizations, and workers. Amid these challenges, concerns about personal finances are prevalent among employees and detrimental to workers' health, well-being, and families. Research on how this financial stress affects employees at work is lacking.

In this thesis, I propose an appraisal-based model of financial stress whereby actual income and expenses are related to perceptions of income adequacy to afford wants and needs. These adequacy perceptions are, in turn, related to financial strain, representing a heightened negative affective state regarding …

Simulation-Based Training For Patient Safety: 10 Principles That Matter, Eduardo Salas, Katherine A. Wilson, Elizabeth Lazzara, Heidi B. King, Jeffery S. Augenstein

Publications

Simulation-based training can improve patient care when factors influencing its design, delivery, evaluation, and transfer are taken into consideration. In this paper, we provide a number of principles and practical tips that organizations in health care can use to begin implementing effective simulation-based training as a way to enhance patient safety. We commend the health care community for their efforts thus far. We hope that the information provided in this paper will encourage thinking beyond the "bells and whistles" of the simulation and bring to light full potential of simulation-based training in health care and patient safety.

Social-Cognitive Biases In Simulated Airline Luggage Screening, Jeremy R. Brown

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The study examined the role that social-cognitive biases play in decision making processes during airline luggage screening, Participants (n = 96) performed a computer simulated task where they tried to detect hidden weapons in 200 x-ray images of passenger luggage. Participants saw each luggage image for either two seconds (high time pressure) or six seconds (low time pressure). In addition, on each trial, participants observed the pictures of the "passenger" to whom the luggage purportedly belongs. The "pre-anchor group" answered questions about the passenger before the luggage image appears, the "post-anchor" group answered questions after the luggage appears, and the …

The Effects Of Domain Knowledge And Scene Content On Change Detection Using A Change Blindness Paradigm, Marianne T. Baskin

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This thesis was designed to determine how domain knowledge or scene content affects change detection. Twenty-four participants of medical professionals and non-medical professionals performed a change detection task using a flicker paradigm intended to be similar to saccadic movements or blinks. Each participant viewed 24 pictures on a computer screen, each picture flickering with a blank gray screen alternating between the original and modified version of the picture, and was asked to indicate when a change was detected by depressing a key. Twelve of the pictures were medical X-rays while the other 12 were everyday scenes. Reaction time, number of …

Phonological Facilitation Through Translation In A Bilingual Picture-Naming Task, Paul Amrhein, Aimee Knupsky

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present a critical examination of phonological effects in a picture-word interference task. Using a methodology minimizing stimulus repetition, English/Spanish and Spanish/English bilinguals named pictures in either L1 or L2 (blocked contexts) or in both (mixed contexts) while ignoring word distractors in L1 or L2. Distractors were either phonologically related to the picture name (direct; FISH–fist), or related through translation to the picture name (TT; LEG–milk–leche), or they were unrelated (bear–peach). Results demonstrate robust activation of phonological representations by translation equivalents of word distractors. Although both direct and TT distractors facilitated naming, TT facilitation was more consistent in L2 naming …