Engineering psychology

Last updated

Engineering psychology, also known as Human Factors Engineering or Human Factors Psychology, is the science of human behavior and capability, applied to the design and operation of systems and technology. [1] As an applied field of psychology and an interdisciplinary part of ergonomics, it aims to improve the relationships between people and machines by redesigning equipment, interactions, or the environment in which they take place. The work of an engineering psychologist is often described as making the relationship more "user-friendly."

Contents

History

Engineering psychology was created from within experimental psychology. [2] Engineering psychology started during World War I (1914). [3] The reason why this subject was developed during this time was because many of America's weapons were failing; bombs not falling in the right place to weapons attacking normal marine life. [2] The fault was traced back to human errors. [2] One of the first designs to be built to restrain human error was the use of psychoacoustics by S.S. Stevens and L.L. Beranek were two of the first American psychologists called upon to help change how people and machinery worked together. [2] One of their first assignments was to try and reduce noise levels in military aircraft. The work was directed at improving intelligibility of military communication systems and appeared to have been very successful. However it was not until after August 1945 that levels of research in engineering psychology began to increase significantly. [2] This occurred because the research that started in 1940 now began to show. [2]

Lillian Gilbreth combined the talents of an engineer, psychologist and mother of twelve. Her appreciation of human factors made her successful in the implementation of time and motion studies and scientific management. She went on to pioneer ergonomics in the kitchen, inventing the pedal bin, for example. [4]

In Britain, the two world wars generated much formal study of human factors which affected the efficiency of munitions output and warfare. In World War I, the Health of Munitions Workers Committee was created in 1915. This made recommendations based upon studies of the effects of overwork on efficiency which resulted in policies of providing breaks and limiting hours of work, including avoidance of work on Sunday. The Industrial Fatigue Research Board was created in 1918 to take this work forward. [5] In WW2, researchers at Cambridge University such as Frederic Bartlett and Kenneth Craik started work on the operation of equipment in 1939 and this resulted in the creation of the Unit for Research in Applied Psychology in 1944. [6]

Engineering Psychology, Ergonomics and Human Factors

Although the comparability of these terms and many others have been a topic of debate, the differences of these fields can be seen in the applications of the respective fields.

Engineering psychology is concerned with the adaptation of the equipment and environment to people, based upon their psychological capacities and limitations with the objective of improving overall system performance, involving human and machine elements [1] Engineering psychologists strive to match equipment requirements with the capabilities of human operators by changing the design of the equipment. [3] An example of this matching was the redesign of the mailbags used by letter carriers. Engineering psychologists discovered that mailbag with a waist-support strap, and a double bag that requires the use of both shoulders, reduces muscle fatigue. [3] Another example involves the cumulative trauma disorders grocery checkout workers suffered as the result of repetitive wrist movements using electronic scanners. Engineering psychologists found that the optimal checkout station design would allow for workers to easily use either hand to distribute the workload between both wrists. [3]

The field of ergonomics is based on scientific studies of ordinary people in work situations and is applied to the design of processes and machines, to the layout of work places, to methods of work, and to the control of the physical environment, in order to achieve greater efficiency of both men and machines [7] An example of an ergonomics study is the evaluation of the effects of screwdriver handle shape, surface material and workpiece orientation on torque performance, finger force distribution and muscle activity in a maximum screwdriving torque task. [8] Another example of an ergonomics study is the effects of shoe traction and obstacle height on friction. [9] Similarly, many topics in ergonomics deal with the actual science of matching man to equipment and encompasses narrower fields such as engineering psychology.

At one point in time, the term human factors was used in place of ergonomics in Europe. [2] Human factors involve interdisciplinary scientific research and studies to seek to realize greater recognition and understanding of the worker's characteristics, needs, abilities, and limitations when the procedures and products of technology are being designed. [7] This field utilizes knowledge from several fields such as mechanical engineering, psychology, and industrial engineering [7] to design instruments.

Human factors is broader than engineering psychology, which is focused specifically on designing systems that accommodate the information-processing capabilities of the brain. [10]

Although the work in the respective fields differ, there are some similarities between these. These fields share the same objectives which are to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency with which human activities are conducted as well as to improve the general quality of life through increased safety, reduced fatigue and stress, increased comfort, and satisfaction. [1]

Importance of Engineering Psychologists

Engineering psychologists contribute to the design of a variety of products, including dental and surgical tools, cameras, toothbrushes and car-seats. They have been involved in the re-design of the mailbags used by letter carriers. More than 20% of letter carriers suffer from musculoskeletal injury such as lower back pain from carrying mailbags slung over their shoulders. A mailbag with a waist-support strap, and a double bag that requires the use of both shoulders, has been shown to reduce muscle fatigue.[ citation needed ]

Research by engineering psychologists has demonstrated that using cell-phones while driving degrades performance by increasing driver reaction time, particularly among older drivers, and can lead to higher accident risk among drivers of all ages. Research findings such as these have supported governmental regulation of cell-phone use. [11]

Related Research Articles

Industrial and organizational psychology "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effectiveness, health, and well-being of both individuals and organizations." It is an applied discipline within psychology and is an international profession. I-O psychology is also known as occupational psychology in the United Kingdom, organisational psychology in Australia and New Zealand, and work and organizational (WO) psychology throughout Europe and Brazil. Industrial, work, and organizational (IWO) psychology is the broader, more global term for the science and profession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillian Moller Gilbreth</span> American psychologist and industrial engineer

Lillian Evelyn Gilbreth was an American psychologist, industrial engineer, consultant, and educator who was an early pioneer in applying psychology to time-and-motion studies. She was described in the 1940s as "a genius in the art of living."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usability</span> Capacity of a system for its users to perform tasks

Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a software can be used by specified consumers to achieve quantified objectives with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a quantified context of use.

Applied psychology is the use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience. Educational and organizational psychology, business management, law, health, product design, ergonomics, behavioural psychology, psychology of motivation, psychoanalysis, neuropsychology, psychiatry and mental health are just a few of the areas that have been influenced by the application of psychological principles and scientific findings. Some of the areas of applied psychology include counseling psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, engineering psychology, occupational health psychology, legal psychology, school psychology, sports psychology, community psychology, neuropsychology, medical psychology and clinical psychology, evolutionary psychology, human factors, forensic psychology and traffic psychology. In addition, a number of specialized areas in the general area of psychology have applied branches. However, the lines between sub-branch specializations and major applied psychology categories are often mixed or in some cases blurred. For example, a human factors psychologist might use a cognitive psychology theory. This could be described as human factor psychology or as applied cognitive psychology. When applied psychology is used in the treatment of behavioral disorders there are many experimental approaches to try and treat an individual. This type of psychology can be found in many of the subbranches in other fields of psychology.

Traffic psychology is a discipline of psychology that studies the relationship between psychological processes and the behavior of road users. In general, traffic psychology aims to apply theoretical aspects of psychology in order to improve traffic mobility by helping to develop and apply crash countermeasures, as well as by guiding desired behaviors through education and the motivation of road users.

Task analysis is a fundamental tool of human factors engineering. It entails analyzing how a task is accomplished, including a detailed description of both manual and mental activities, task and element durations, task frequency, task allocation, task complexity, environmental conditions, necessary clothing and equipment, and any other unique factors involved in or required for one or more people to perform a given task.

In cognitive psychology, cognitive load refers to the amount of working memory resources used. However, it is essential to distinguish it from the actual construct of Cognitive Load (CL) or Mental Workload (MWL), which is studied widely in many disciplines. According to work conducted in the field of instructional design and pedagogy, broadly, there are three types of cognitive load: intrinsic cognitive load is the effort associated with a specific topic; extraneous cognitive load refers to the way information or tasks are presented to a learner; and germane cognitive load refers to the work put into creating a permanent store of knowledge. However, over the years, the additivity of these types of cognitive load has been investigated and questioned. Now it is believed that they circularly influence each other.

The term workload can refer to several different yet related entities.

Ecological interface design (EID) is an approach to interface design that was introduced specifically for complex sociotechnical, real-time, and dynamic systems. It has been applied in a variety of domains including process control, aviation, and medicine.

Cognitive ergonomics is a scientific discipline that studies, evaluates, and designs tasks, jobs, products, environments and systems and how they interact with humans and their cognitive abilities. It is defined by the International Ergonomics Association as "concerned with mental processes, such as perception, memory, reasoning, and motor response, as they affect interactions among humans and other elements of a system. Cognitive ergonomics is responsible for how work is done in the mind, meaning, the quality of work is dependent on the persons understanding of situations. Situations could include the goals, means, and constraints of work. The relevant topics include mental workload, decision-making, skilled performance, human-computer interaction, human reliability, work stress and training as these may relate to human-system design." Cognitive ergonomics studies cognition in work and operational settings, in order to optimize human well-being and system performance. It is a subset of the larger field of human factors and ergonomics.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ergonomics:

Systems psychology is a branch of both theoretical psychology and applied psychology that studies human behaviour and experience as complex systems. It is inspired by systems theory and systems thinking, and based on the theoretical work of Roger Barker, Gregory Bateson, Humberto Maturana and others. Groups and individuals are considered as systems in homeostasis. Alternative terms here are "systemic psychology", "systems behavior", and "systems-based psychology".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial engineering</span> Branch of engineering which deals with the optimization of complex processes or systems

Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information and equipment. Industrial engineering is central to manufacturing operations.

Anthony D. Andre is a researcher, practitioner, and academic in the fields of human factors, ergonomics, usability and product design. He is the founding principal of Interface Analysis Associates, an international human factors and ergonomics consultancy. Andre pioneered the behavioral approach to ergonomics which included behavior modification and computer skill development as its basis, in direct opposition to common product-based approaches. He is a founding member and adjunct professor of the HF/E Graduate Program at San Jose State University. He founded the International Conference on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care, co-created the Ergo-X conference, managed the ergonomic content for several of the annual California Association of Rehabilitation and Re-employment Professionals (CARRP) conferences, and recently produced, hosted, and presented a COVID-19 ergonomics virtual summit on how to work/school from home more safely and comfortably. He has served as president of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Andre is a Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE), recognized by the Board of Certification of Professional Ergonomists (BCPE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ergonomics</span> Designing systems to suit their users

Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goals of human factors engineering are to reduce human error, increase productivity and system availability, and enhance safety, health and comfort with a specific focus on the interaction between the human and equipment.

Human performance modeling (HPM) is a method of quantifying human behavior, cognition, and processes. It is a tool used by human factors researchers and practitioners for both the analysis of human function and for the development of systems designed for optimal user experience and interaction. It is a complementary approach to other usability testing methods for evaluating the impact of interface features on operator performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valeri F. Venda</span> Russian psychologist

Valerii Fedorovich Venda is a Soviet and Russian psychologist, engineer, and designer. His main research areas are perception and cognition, the connection (attachment) between anatomical (structural) perceptual information and complex thoughts, which includes, problem solving; the process of mutual adaptation and transitions in general systems theory, the psychology of engineering and ergonomics; systems of hybrid intellect, and ergodynamics.

Aviation psychology, also known as aerospace psychology, is a branch of psychology that studies psychological aspects of aviation, increasing efficiency improving selection of applicants for occupations, identification of psychological causes of aircraft accidents, and application of cognitive psychology to understand human behaviors, actions, cognitive and emotional processes in aviation, and interaction between employees. Aviation psychology originated at the beginning of the 1920s with the development of aviation medicine and work psychology in the USSR. Human separation from earth leads to a drastic change in spatial orientation; accelerations, drops in barometric pressure, changes in atmospheric composition, can have a substantial effect on the nervous system, and requires uninterrupted concentration and rapid decisions. Currently, research in aviation psychology develops within the framework of engineering psychology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Bedny</span> Ukrainian-American psychologist (1938–2018)

Gregory Z. Bedny, a Ukrainian-American psychologist, was the founder of the Systemic-Structural Activity Theory (SSAT). He developed the qualitative and quantitative methods of the assessment of complexity, reliability and efficiency of human performance and applied his methods to human-machine and human-computer interaction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Gopher</span> Israeli cognitive psychologist and ergonomist

Daniel Gopher is a professor (Emeritus) of Cognitive psychology and Human Factors Engineering at the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. He held the Yigal Alon Chair for the Study of Humans at Work at the Technion. Gopher is a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the Psychonomic Society and the International Ergonomics Association.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Stanton, N. (1996). "Engineering Psychology: Another Science of Common Sense?". The Psychologist. 9 (7): 300–303. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Grether, F (1962). "Engineering psychology in the United States". American Psychologist. 23 (10): 743–751. doi:10.1037/h0026850. PMID   5682833.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Schultz, D; Schultz, E. (2010). Psychology and work today. New Jersey: Pearson. ISBN   978-0-205-68358-1.
  4. ↑ Ludy T. Benjamin (2007), "Lillian Gilbreth's Engineering Psychology", A brief history of modern psychology, Wiley-Blackwell, p. 105, ISBN   978-1-4051-3205-3
  5. ↑ McIvor, A.J. (1987), "Employers, the government, and industrial fatigue in Britain, 1890–1918", British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 44 (11): 724–732, doi:10.1136/oem.44.11.724, PMC   1007909 , PMID   3318915
  6. ↑ "Formation of the APU", Notes on the work of the Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit 1944–1997, MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, archived from the original on 27 September 2011, retrieved 2 July 2011
  7. 1 2 3 Licht, D; D. Polzella; K. Boff. "Human factors, ergonomics, and human factors engineering: An analysis of definitions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011.
  8. ↑ Kong, Y. K.; Lowe, B. D.; Lee, S. J.; Krieg, E. F. (2007). "Evaluation of handle design characteristics in a maximum screwdriving torque task". Ergonomics. 50 (9): 1404–1418. doi:10.1080/00140130701393775. PMID   17654033. S2CID   9911971.
  9. ↑ James, Jeremy; Houser; Leslie; Decker; Stergioub, Nicholas (2008), Steppin over the obstacles of different heights and varued shoe traction alter the kinetic strategy and leading limb., p. 1847
  10. ↑ Wickens, C. and Hollands, J. (1999), Engineering Psychology and Human Performance, Prentice Hall, ISBN   0-321-04711-7
  11. ↑ Schultz, Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen (2010). Psychology and work today : an introduction to industrial and organizational psychology (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. p. 384. ISBN   978-0205683581.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Bibliography

  1. ↑ Formats and Editions of Journal of engineering psychology. [WorldCat.org]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.