Mid-Term Review Flashcards
(19 cards)
Focus of Modern HFE
Human/Computer Interaction
HFE Specialty Areas
Accidents, safety, and human error Aerospace Systems Aging Automation, expert systems Biomechanics, anthropometry, work physiology Cognitive Processes Communication systems Computer systems Consumer products, tools Displays and controls
Health and medical systems Psychological states Psychomotor processes Sensory and Perceptual Processes Simulation and virtual reality Surface Transportation Systems Training, education, instructional systems
What is Ergonomics?
The study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movements, and its cognitive abilities.
Where does the word Ergonomics come from?
Derived from the Greek words ergon (work) and nomos (natural laws)
What is Human Factors?
The science of understanding the properties of human capability and applying this understanding to the design, development, and deployment of systems and services.
Define Human Factor
A human factor is a physical or cognitive property of an individual that influences functioning of technological systems as well as human-environment equilibriums.
Goal of HFE
Use knowledge about human cognitive, physical, and social characteristics to design machines, tools, and systems that are easy and safe to use
Why is Human Factors important?
Daily occurrences such as accidents at work, in traffic, and at home, as well as disasters involving cranes, airplanes, and nuclear power stations can often be attributed to human error
Analysis of these failures shows the cause is often a poor and misunderstood relationship between operators and their task
Economic Ergonomics
By preventing health problems such as work-related musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomists not only improve well-being but reduce costs to companies and individuals
Can also improve quality of products
When is HFE successful?
Enhances performance-Reduce error
-Increase productivity
Increases safety
Improves user satisfaction
What are affordances?
Quality of an object, or an environment, that allows an individual to perform an action
What are some solutions in HFE?
Equipment design Task design Environmental design Selection Training
Two steps in the System Development Process
Design
Evaluation
What are the foundations of Science?
+Based on empiricism -Knowledge by observation
+Self-correcting-Continually test scientific
statements with observations
-Revise scientific statements
+Systematically apply the scientific method
What is the Scientific Method?
Logical approach to obtaining answers to questions-Often equated with hypothesis
generating and testing
What are the goals of Science?
1-Description
2-Prediction
3-Explanation/Understanding
- This is achieved by collecting data (gathering facts) to build a theory
- The theory provides the best explanation for the findings in the research
Benefits of Theory
1-Enables sensible interpolation to a specific real-world problem when there are no data
2-Provides quantitative predictions of the type demanded by engineers and designers
3-Allows the practitioner to recognize relations between problems that seem unrelated on the surface
4-Can be used cheaply and effectively to aid system design
Measurement
1-How do we understand the problem?
2-How do we know what to measure?
1-Defines a domain of interest-In HFE, this is usually human performance within a system
2-Defines the conditions under which we can make useful measurements-If we are interested in the effects of cell phone use while driving, then we need to see people using cell phones while driving
Variables
Since conditions can vary we have variables
1-They are anything that can vary or differ
2-Can be an event, situation, behavior, or individual characteristic
3-We have to define our variables before we begin our research
