Environment 4: Ergonomics Flashcards
What was the aim of Drews and Doig (2014) ?
Ergonomics
To develop and evaluate a Configural Vital Signs (CVS) display that would help nurses in ICU units by displaying graphical data that represented changes over time
What was the sample of Drews and Doig (2014)?
Ergonomics
42 nurses with a minimum of 1 year working in ICU
Range 25-64 years (mean age 44.6)
What was the dependant variables of Drews and Doig (2014)?
Ergonomics
- Response time (how quickly the nurse could verbalise their assessment)
- Accuracy of data interpretation (whether the nurse could correctly identify the patient’s condition)
What was the independent variable of Drews and Doig (2014) ?
Ergonomics
Whether the nurse was asked to interpret data presented in traditional numerical format or whether the nurse was asked to interpret data using the CVS display
Where did Drews and Doig (2014) take place ?
Ergonomics
Lab experiment took place in the University of Utah, USA (therefore artificial environment and didn’t take place in the workplace)
What was the procedure of Drews and Doig (2014) ?
Ergonomics
Each participant was presented with four different patient scenarios:
- Early sepsis
- Septic shock
- Pulmonary embolus
- Stable scenario
They all received info on a 15 inch desktop but half of them received info via a CVS display and the other half a traditional ICU numerical data display
They were given info about patient medical history, past and current medications
Instructed to verbally evaluate the patients physiological status, interpret data and recommend interventions as quickly and accurately as possible
Had 5 mins to complete each scenario
When finished, all nurses had to complete a questionnaire on the tasks including the level of mental demand associated with the task
What were the results of Drews and Doig (2014) ?
Ergonomics
Response times:
Compared to participants using the traditional numerical display, those in the graphical CVS display condition identified the patients state 48% quicker in the septic shock scenario, 38% quicker in the pulmonary embolism scenario, and were significantly quicker to identify the patients state in the stable scenario
Accuracy of data assessments:
Compared to participants using the traditional numerical display, nurses using the graphical CVS display were accurate by a third or more in the septic shock and pulmonary embolism scenarios, in the stable scenario they were close to being significantly more accurate
Nurses reported significantly lower mental demand in the graphical CVS display condition than the numerical display condition
What was the conclusion of Drews and Doig (2014) ?
Ergonomics
Presenting ICU nurses with trend data in graphical (rather than numerical) form can lead nurses to diagnose patient’s conditions significantly faster and with significantly improved accuracy
What was Brown and Poulton’s study?
Ergonomics
-Participants drove in either a residential area or in a car park of a crowded shopping centre (higher cognitive demand)
-While doing this they were played a tape containing lists of numbers (a secondary task)
-They had to identify what numbers changed from one sequence to the next
What was Miller’s study?
Ergonomics
-Chunking items into larger groups to make them easier to remember as most people can only remember 7 items of info at a time
-Chunking can be even more effective if the chunks have meaning
-But if rehearsal is prevented then information can vanish from short term memory in a few seconds
What were the Hawthorne Studies?
Ergonomics
Investigating light levels on productivity
-Experimental group = small group of women continued regular jobs but the lighting conditions were varied across different trials
-Control group = other workers that had their lighting constant
Both when the lighting was dim and light the productivity increased and also when the lighting was constant
It was actually the fact that the workers were being watched that increased the productivity called the ‘Hawthorne Effect’
What was Higuera-Trujillo’s study?
Ergonomics
Does the colour of the room affect the ability to work
-Virtual reality study was carried out with 80 spanish uni students
-2 cognitive tasks while wearing VR headset which simulated their uni classroom
-Colour was manipulated by changing the hue of the headsets
-Given memory task and attention task
-Both tasks were performed best when the VR room was either a purple or blue-purple hue
