Book Review: Human Factors in Simple and Complex Systems

Human Factors in Simple and Complex Systems is a textbook dedicated to the ways in which human factors principles can be applied to a variety of real-world situations and problems. As the authors mention in their preface, “the book, organized around the human as an information-processing system, introduces students with the knowledge necessary to understand the range of human factors issues that may be encountered in the design, implementation, and evaluation of products and systems.” Their textbook bridges the gap between the conceptual and empirical foundations of human factors. It seems ideal for those pursuing a degree in human factors and related disciplines and also to serve as a reference for those already in the field.

In the first part of the book, the authors highlight the foundations of human factors including the historical background, research methods, reliability and human error, and information processing. These are, of course, incredibly important and essential topics for any human factors reference text. Proctor and Van Zandt give very poignant applied examples for these chapters that are easy to understand and give the reader a frame of reference for theoretical concepts. In the second part of their book, the authors focus on perceptual factors and their applications, including visual perception, perception of objects in the world, and the display of different types of information. I appreciate the way these chapters are organized and presented to the reader. Most other human factors texts mention these concepts but Proctor and Van Zandt go beyond that by going in more depth and also with their every day examples of each. Just as I go over the aspects of sensation and perception as it relates to human factors when I teach courses, the authors give this information before moving on to Part III, which focuses on cognitive factors and their applications. From an information processing model, the way information is sensed and perceived, then leads to interpreting and applying that information from a cognitive standpoint. Specifically, in Part III, the authors describe attention and the assessment of mental workload, retention and comprehension of information, solving problems and making decisions, and how experts tackle cognitive tasks.

Part IV focuses on action factors and their applications. Chapters tackle response selection and principles of compatibility, control of movement and learning of motor skills, and controls and controlling actions. Last, in Part V, the authors focus on environmental factors and their applications. It is here where the reader can learn about anthropometrics and workspace design, environmental ergonomics, human resource management and macroergonomics, and the practice of human factors. As you can see from the list of chapters and how they are organized, Proctor and Van Zandt include a comprehensive list of the major topics that should be covered in a reference textbook of this nature. I also found the appendices to be of particular interest, including a z score table, which you normally only see in a statistics textbook, and an entire section on information theory, as well as a log₂ n and −plog₂ p values table. The glossary is informative, and it will be useful to students learning the material for the first time.

Proctor and Van Zandt updated and revamped the third edition of their book to address changes and advances in technology, which in turn affect the types of information needed by human factors practitioners. Of particular interest to me were Chapters 5 to 8 on perceptual factors and their applications. The authors did a great job introducing all the important foundational elements of sensation and perceptions, the senses, and how to display this type of information. I am impressed with their length of detail and use of updated examples to get concepts across. Although many chapters are similar to ones found in most introductory human factors textbooks, these authors managed to both organize the material and add material often overlooked or left out in other textbooks (such as Chapter 12: Experts and Expert Systems and Chapter 18: Human Resource Management and Macroergonomics).

This book is very comprehensive, and it is a great resource for human factors practitioners. I applaud Proctor and Van Zandt for revising this new edition as it addresses how new technologies have affected the way we work and the ways in which technology both affects us and the type of work being conducted. For example, the authors take a stab at the human factors issues associated with social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, how cell phones and texting affect our attentional and cognitive processes, and the impact of autonomous cars to our everyday life. Because of how comprehensive this book is, it is quite hefty (at 698 pages) and can be intimidating to novices. I would not recommend this textbook for an undergraduate introductory human factors course, as more “student friendly” texts out there would serve the purpose better. I would, however, use this book for an upper-level or graduate version of a human factors and ergonomics course. I recommend human factors professionals keep this book on-hand for reference purposes. I know I certainly will.