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Cognitive Psych. and its Applications
Created @September 2, 2020 1:45 PM
Class S1
Type S1
Materials
Lecture 1 (1 Sept 2020)
Introduction to Course [H1, H2, H19]
Aim of the course
get an insight into applications of cognitive theories to solve societal problems.
Learning objectives
To understand the role of human cognitive capabilities and limitations in the design of products, work
places, and large systems
To get acquainted with main areas of human factors
To get acquainted with main theories and findings on human performance
To understand where in the process to apply knowledge
To understand the methods used to analyze human performance
To practice identifying possible problems in human-machine interaction
To practice applying knowledge to analyze/create/improve systems
To practice presenting new ideas and solutions
What is Cognitive Psychology?
💡 Tak van de psychologie die zich bezighoudt met alle psychische processen die te maken hebben met
zaken als begrip, kennis, herinneringen, geheugen, probleem oplossen en informatieverwerking. Het
beschouwt de cognitie als onderwerp dat zelfstandig bestudeerd kan worden, dus niet vanuit het
gedrag van de individu.
To uncover the laws of information processing and behavior through experiments
Fundamental questions
No requirement for application
What is Human Factors?
Cognitive Psych. and its Applications 1
, To apply knowledge by designing systems that work
To accommodate the limits of human performance
Directly applied problems
What is Engineering Psychology?
💡 The study of interaction between humans and systems in order to improve performance, safety,
health and usability
Focuses on information processing capacities of the brain
Psychological perspectives to the problems of system design
“Designing machines to accommodate the limits
of information-processing capacities of the
human brain.”
This creates a better system, the Goals of better systems are:
Development of generic knowledge
Enhance efficiency (productivity)
Ensure safety, reduce error
Assure tasks are within human capability
Increase user satisfaction, comfort
Improve human performance
Reduce costs (economic, legal, social)
Cognitive Psych. and its Applications 2
, Basic Research Applied research
Theory, basic principles Particular population/task/product/
system/environment
Generalizable
Face value
Controlled
But: narrow scope, expensive, possbile, confounds,
But: artificial, not specific. Done in lab so stable
ethical aspects
environment, different from real world
Brief history of HF
WW2: designing a human to fit the machine, the best machine was invented and the human had to use it,
main focus was selected on training → was not optimal, humans where not able to operate them →
scientists realised the approach needed to be different
Technology advancements in last half 20th century and nowadays:
Increased logical: not understand by a lot of people, but still done by training people for it
physical complexity: increases in size, makes it difficult to operate with it
More and more rely on automation
How far can we push our brain to adjust to those technology?
Understanding brain as human information processing system & all the advancements caused the creation
of HF
Human factor Cycle
Human factor engineer can help by A (most common approach, when there is a fault found. Expensive because
not correcting the real problem but applying a plaster) or B (engineer involved since start)
Cognitive Psych. and its Applications 3
