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Summary Lectures 1 - 7 Improving Human Performance in Practice
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This is an elaborate summary of the lectures (1-7) for the course Improving Human Performance in Practice.
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Summary Lectures Improving Human Performance in Practice 2020-2021Table of Contents
Lecture 1: Work analysis by Guido Band ................................................................................................................. 2
Lecture 2: Managing performance variability by Job Groeneweg .......................................................................... 6
Lecture 3: Perception and attention in practice by Anne Urai.............................................................................. 10
Lecture 4: Optimizing work conditions to trait, state and old age by Guido Band ............................................... 14
Lecture 5: Digitization by Arko Ghosh ................................................................................................................... 19
Lecture 6: Ethics by Jop Groeneweg ..................................................................................................................... 22
Lecture 7: Education, sports and creativity by Guido Band .................................................................................. 26
1
, Lecture 1: Work analysis by Guido Band
Goal for the exam: obtain knowledge regarding the application of cognitive enhancement and ergonomics
techniques in a variety of fields and contexts.
PART 1: SYSTEMS APPROACH
Systems approach = Identify the barriers (i.e., limiting factors) to
performance and the way to handle them (i.e., interventions)
In this approach (see picture → ), a person uses either tools or
cognition to perform (1). Here, there is also an interaction
between other people (2), which can be positive (e.g., inspiration)
or negative (e.g., interruption). The management makes use of
many key performance indicators and controls how the team is
functioning (e.g., through policy) (3). There are two types of
interventions: cognitive ergonomics which focuses on the context
(4) or cognitive enhancement which focuses on the person (5).
Applied cognitive psychology (ACP) can be applied to many sectors. Initially (1950s), ACP was focused on
engineering (e.g., military or aviation). There was a strong focus on human factors and cognitive ergonomics. In
these early days, the focus of ACP was on information processing efficiency (e.g., the layout of a cockpit or
signals on a dashboard)
Important concepts: selective attention, vigilance (or sustained attention), interference, capacity (or
limited resources), identification, and decision making
NOW: Barriers to performance are changing which introduces new challenges. Because of this, ACP can be
applied to many fields (e.g., knowledge work, creativity, and sports, human factors, high-tech and robotics,
education, traffic, or government)
Now, we have a lot of interaction with machines, which means that we face different challenges. For
example, in knowledge work, work is now limited by creativity and not by information processes
ACP can also be used in other fields besides the workplace, such as education
In ACP, what are we applying the psychology to? To improve performance! People should be growing in their
careers. ACP can be applied to:
o Profit
o Efficiency
o Innovation
o Safety key performance Have to be quantifiable,
o Usability indicators relevant and valid
o Health
o Career opportunities
o Customer satisfaction
Current topics of ACP are:
→ Employability in the aging workforce
→ Balancing productivity and well-being
→ Balancing work and private life
→ Balancing teams and individual talents
PART 2: COGNITIVE TASK ANALYSIS
A task analysis is a complex process. Two steps: (1) specify the conditions and (2) find the limiting factor.
STEP 1: Specifying the conditions
Work analysis = improving performance and reducing risk starts with an analysis of the weak spots (limiting
factors; performance shaping factors). SO: you map someone’s job with all the tasks that it is composed of.
Ideally, you want a description of all elements that could lead to good interventions, however, this is not
feasible.
2
, Demands can include: input/output, interdependence, cognitive demands, physical demands,
information demands, material and time, tools, and indirect demands such as fitness, age, team
composition, and stress.
Example in masonry. A mason is building a wall, and to do this he uses many elements (e.g., knowledge, tools,
input from the designer, etc.)
→ However, not very cognitive demanding work, so less interesting
Example in a nuclear process operator (more interesting from an ACP perspective). This employee needs a lot
of information (e.g., pressure, temperature), clear instruction, ergonomic display (real alerts should be the
most visible ones), knowledge and skills (information should be presented in the right form), and cognitive
resources (e.g., selective attention or working memory)
STEP 2: Find the limiting factor
There are two types of limitations (Norman & Bobrow, 1975):
1. Resource limitations → e.g., insufficient energy or insufficient WM capacity leading to overburden.
Here, the demands are too high and the resources are too low
Examples: air traffic controllers can only work 2h shifts and EU linguistic interpreters can only
work 45-minute shifts
Sometimes, the resources can be improved by the employee him/herself through e.g., training or a
healthier lifestyle.
2. Data limitations → people are waiting for new information to come in, and before they get that
information they cannot improve. Here, you have to change the input (i.e., environment), and the
person him/herself cannot change by him/herself
→ Resources/capacity include time, energy/endurance (e.g., long meetings), attention, working memory,
or effort. BUT limited doesn’t mean that it’s not malleable. Several factors can influence the
resources/capacity:
• Emotion, mood and arousal
• Motivation and relevance
• Training and experience
• Physical state and fatigue
When people are performing with limited resources, this can for example
impact situational awareness. Situational awareness (SA) is the ability (1)
to recognize the potentially dangerous situation and (2) to respond to this
situation properly. It can also be referred to as “staying in the loop”.
Example: when flying an airplane, it is a relevant simple task (=
where they are, etc.). As time progresses it gets more difficult to
stay aware of the situation (i.e., falling out of the loop), leading to
perception ↓ resulting in comprehension and projection also
decrease
Automation ↑ means SA ↓ and workload ↑ means SA ↓
→ situational awareness is trainable
How complicated a cognitive task analysis is, depends on (1) safety, (2) costs, and (3) consistency. When
including many work elements, this will cost a lot of time and effort. However, this is often not necessary, as
the analysis should be beneficial. You cannot improve every element.
PART 3: THE CHANGING WORKPLACE
It used to be impossible to work from home. Now, this is possible due to ICT, global economy, 24-hour
economy, and real estate prices (i.e., offices for every worker became too expensive). This made working from
home possible, but also facilitated flexible work schedules and redesigning workplaces.
→ also called working time and place independent
3
,This shift also led to necessary changes in management
→ New role of management: delegate instead of control
→ Result counts, rather than presence at work
→ Strong control is impossible and also counterproductive
Working time and place independent is relatively new. The consequences of this type of working are still hardly
investigated, such as:
o Job satisfaction
o Output → no loss according to telecommuter, colleagues may not think so
o Collaboration / withdrawal
o Stress → lower for telecommuting
o Health
o Commitment and dedication → only if telecommuting is optional
Now, in the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of research is being published due to being mandated to work from
home. In the remainder of this summary of lecture 1, this research will be discussed.
In terms of time-independent work, there are both upsides and downsides
✓ Can work at a preferred time of day Complications in collaboration
✓ Ability to care for family and tend to home Blurring of office hours
obligations during work hours Silent obligations (e.g., working on
weekends) → stress?
In terms of place-independent work, there are some important changes when moving from working at the
office to working from flex desks
Old New (i.e., flex desk)
Some privacy → Little privacy
“Own” office and assets → Dispossessed
Boring and predictable → Flexible and unpredictable
Productive, less distraction → Distraction and interruption
Isolated, lonely → More contact
Not inspiring → Healthy, creative?
Another form of place-independent work is working from home (= telecommuting). Advantages of working
from home include:
✓ Care for family / private requirements
✓ Decorate as you like
✓ Less commuter stress
✓ Less loss of time in travel
✓ Personal solutions for disabilities
✓ Working overtime is less disruptive
✓ Less absenteeism
✓ Perceived autonomy / job satisfaction
However, working from home also has disadvantages, such as:
Risk of distraction by family and obligations
Imperfect (physical) working conditions
Discipline required Productivity ↓
Increased risk of ICT / data security
BYOD: Employee pays for his own office Employee vs.
Career perspective may suffer
employer
Unclear distinction work / private life → Some personalities more stress
Less interaction and commitment: hard to collaborate directly
Lack of social interaction and group cohesion Social disadvantages
Lack of feedback and knowledge exchange
4
, Working at home creates home obligations
Other disadvantages
Blurring of office location
Media synchronicity theory (MST, Dennis et al., 2008) states that collaboration requires a balance between
conveyance and convergence:
→ Conveyance = relative importance of informative detail
→ Convergence = relative importance of collaboration and synchronicity
In working remotely, there are many media that you can choose from (e.g., Skype, phone, Whatsapp, e-mail or
documents), each with its strengths and weaknesses. Different media are suitable for different targets:
• Transmission velocity (i.e., quick transmission of information) → skype and phone most suitable
• Synchronicity (i.e., getting someone to understand something) → skype and phone most suitable
• Reprocessability (i.e., reading something again and again to understand something fully → cloud
collaboration or e-mail most suitable
• Information complexity → cloud collaboration and e-mail most suitable
Task analysis can clarify which medium is best for which actions and whether telecommuting is a good idea at
all
5
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