Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

This study involved an extensive experimental survey of 4000 pilots. It was designed to determine decision-making variables that could be used to identify high risk taking pilots who have had an accident (cases) vs. low risk pilots who have been accident free (controls). The information data set collected with this survey instrument provided a rich core of knowledge that has not been analyzed before as a whole. The ultimate goal was to use this core of information to develop a global index related to a pilot's propensity for accidents.

The analyses included: validating the risk taking hypotheses, the development of a discriminant functions to determine if cases and controls could be correctly classified using the instrument, and the development of a risk taking characteristic model. It was found that 80.1% of the cases and controls could be correctly classified using the entire 122 question set. If a simplified five question set was used, 68.2% of the cases and controls could be correctly classified.

Decision strategies are often characterized as being intuition-based or analytically-based. The use of these strategies is proposed to be associated with individual differences in propensity toward using different decision making styles. A reliable self-report measure, the Decision Making Styles Inventory (DMI), consisting of 15 items on each of three scales was constructed. The items were found to differentiate among an “analytical”, an “intuitive”, and a “regret-based” emotional decision making style. The analytical and intuitive scales were found to predict differences in performance in a complex dynamic decision making task. on a decision making subtask, a greater general reliance on an analytical decision making style was found to lead to poorer performance. Greater reliance on a more intuitive approach had no effect on this subtask, but was found to predict better performance as workload levels increased. These findings suggest that human performance may be significantly influenced when either a more intuitive or analytical decision style is used. Implications for training the adaptive decision maker are discussed.

Prior knowledge and experience influence many of our everyday task interactions and knowledge acquisition. One way this happens is by goal choice and goal-oriented behavior. This study focused on the effects of goal variability with repeated interactions with a complex, dynamic task over several months. The effect of goal variability on knowledge acquisition mechanisms and learning of task domain knowledge was observed through the use of the mircogenetic approach. Prior knowledge had strong implications for the profile of active goals, interactions with the task and ultimately, learning. Goal variability influenced the use of specific knowledge-acquisition mechanisms. By the final session, goal variability, regardless of the content of the goals, heavily influenced increments in domain knowledge. Variability may have beneficial effects when applied to goal selection, knowledge-acquisition mechanisms, task strategies, and learning over time. Implications of this study may extend to training and other learning and teaching environments.

This study investigated predictors of stress responses in customer service personnel working for a major telecommunications company. 91 participants performed a simulation of their work task. They were presented with telephone inquiries, and tested for their knowledge of the correct response. Several findings of a previous study (Matthews & Falconer, 2000) were replicated. Performing the task appeared to be intrinsically stressful, as evidenced by a large magnitude increase in subjective distress. Individual differences in stress state were related to strategy for coping with task demands. The ‘Big Five’ personality traits were compared with measures of dispositional coping style as predictors of subjective stress state. Coping measures added significantly to the variance in stress state explained by the Big Five. Emotion-focused strategies such as self-criticism appeared to be especially damaging in the customer service context. Coping measures might be used by organizations to select operators likely to be resistant to task-induced stress.

Computerized fitness tests are used in workplace settings to measure for impairment resulting from factors such as environmental fatigue, toxic chemicals, environmental stresses, sleep disorders, high workload, illness, emotional upset, and others. One obstacle in implementing these instruments has been resistance from organizations due to concerns with accuracy of the tests and how the scores apply to the tasks in the workplace. Organizations are also often reluctant to adopt this type of instrument due to the potential for false positives in impaired performance. in order to develop a scoring method which addresses these issues by achieving substantial Specificity (>97%), while maintaining high Sensitivity, we employed computerized fitness tests to evaluate subjects with graded alcohol doses. By implementing Multiple Regression and Multiple Cutoff Analyses, we were able to achieve the desired levels of Specificity, while maintaining high Sensitivity.

Pratt and Sohn (2001) suggested that training context impacts those with a holistic strategy while training context does not influence transfer performance for those with an analytic strategy. The present research attempts to compliment and extend their findings by examining the role of complexity and how it interacts with individual differences in visual processing strategy. Participants were given a visual discrimination task in which they trained on one of four stimulus sets that varied in complexity and similarity and then transferred to novel stimuli. Stimulus complexity was defined by the number of points each stimulus had. Stimulus similarity was defined by the six levels of discrimination difficulty. Using methods described by Pratt & Sohn (2001), participant's individual processing strategy was extracted from a screening session prior to training. Participants were categorized as either “analytic” or “holistic” based on their response reaction time as a function of stimulus complexity. Those with an analytic strategy performed with greater accuracy in transfer as complexity level decreased; those with a holistic strategy performed with greater accuracy in transfer as complexity level increased. Graphical design and training techniques are discussed.

People have affective reactions towards tasks, artifacts and interfaces. Theses reactions are caused by design features, which operate either through their perceptual attributes or from a sense of control in handling or from past experience. A systematic framework is proposed to conceptualize Affective Human Factors Design or as we call it - Hedonomics. The word Hedonomics is derived from the Greek “hedone” (pleasure – akin to sweet) and “nomos” (laws, principles). The focus is on pleasurable design of artifacts and tasks. Several existing theories may combine to support this framework, including: Human Information Processing, Activity Theory, and Theory of Flow. There are also analogies with past theories – in human need structure, motivation, job satisfaction, and stress research. The problem is now to conceptualize Hedonomics, to propose theories that can be used for design, and appropriate measurement tools. It is particularly important to develop tools to measure and predict affective design – and on an individual level predict user and customer needs for affect.

A systematic framework is proposed to conceptualize affective customer needs in product design. Customer needs were derived for current and future electronic devices in automobiles. Subjects rated their preferences for fifteen product attributes on 10-point semantic differential scales. Using factor analysis, three generic factors were extracted namely: holistic attributes, styling, and functional design. Depending upon the familiarity of the device there were clear differences among potential customers. Unknown devices such as navigation map were assessed first hand by using holistic attributes. Familiar design such as car radio and cell phone were assessed using styling and functionality attributes. Customer reactions and preferences may be caused by product design parameters that operate either through their perceptual attributes or from the experience they acquire in using the artifacts or interfaces. Functional (or cognitive) customer needs can be derived top-down using product design features. Affective customer needs are difficult to derive top-down – typically they are evaluated by looking at several design propositions.

The extant literature on goal orientation is primarily focused on scholastic and athletic achievement. This study extends the literature by examining the viability of three goal orientation dimensions (learning, performance-approach, and performance-avoid) as predictors of complex skill acquisition. Ninety-eight males participated in 7 hours of training in order to learn a computer-based task that simulated the demands of a dynamic aviation environment. Participants completed paper-and-pencil measures of global and task-specific goal orientation as well as a test of general cognitive ability (g). Training outcomes included declarative knowledge, knowledge structure accuracy, skill acquisition, skill retention, and skill transfer. The results indicated that both performance-approach and performance-avoid orientations explained unique variance in training outcomes beyond that explained by g. However, both performance orientations were related to the training outcomes only when operationalized as task-specific orientations, not when operationalized as global dispositions. Learning orientation was not significantly related to the training outcomes.

In spite of the powerful functionality and message integration offered, unified communication (UC) has yet to be widely adopted as a solution that meets the demands and complexities of modern communicators. By understanding individual differences, requirements, and preferences, it should be possible to design better communication interfaces and services. This study examined the characteristics of communication-related preferences among users of a three-month UC trial. Survey data from 123 respondents were analyzed. A series of factor analyses identified 19 communication traits, 7 of which were particularly interesting. A cluster analysis suggested three types of communication styles: Low-tech, Power, and Strategic. Future research will attempt to relate the current findings to actual communication behaviour. The creation of a communication preference inventory (CPI) is also discussed.

This research examined the strategies, emotions, and beliefs described by participants completing a complex three dimensional spatial task. After completing the task, participants examined a video of themselves performing the task. During the video performance, participants completed a thought listing exercise designed to elicit strategies used, as well participants' beliefs about their own adequacy and the degree of difficulty of the task. These data were coded by two independent observers. Strategies, beliefs, and emotions reported were predicted both by the sex of the participant and the success at the task. Unsuccessful males and females did not differ from one another in their reported strategies, beliefs, or emotions. However, successful males reported many more specific strategies, whereas successful females reported greater emotional regulation. Additionally, trial and error was identified by successful females as their main strategy. Guidelines for eliciting spatial strategies follow.

The effects of individual differences in dispositional pessimism and optimism, and choice of coping strategy, on performance, stress, and workload in vigilance tasks were investigated. Prior research indicated that pessimistic observers performed more poorly and experienced higher levels of stress than optimists. in addition, coping strategies employed by observers have been linked to the stress and workload associated with a variety of tasks. To date, no one has examined the relations among these variables in regard to vigilance within one study. Pessimism and optimism were found to be unrelated to performance, but predictive of both pre- and post-task stress and choice of coping strategy. There was also evidence that the influence of personality on post-task stress and choice of coping strategy may be mediated by pre-task state. Personality and coping strategies also influenced perceived workload.