Fully up-to-date coverage of human factors
engineering--plus online access to interactive demonstrations
and exercises

Engineering accomplishments can be as spectacular as a moon
landing or as mundane as an uneventful drive to the local grocery
store. Their failures can be as devastating as a plane crash or a
massive oil spill. Over the past decade, psychologists and
engineers have made great strides in understanding how humans
interact with complex engineered systems--human
engineering.

Introduction to Humans in Engineered Systems provides
historical context for the discipline and an overview of some of
the real-world settings in which human engineering has been
successfully applied, including aviation, medicine, computer
science, and ground transportation. It presents findings on the
nature and variety of human-engineering environments, human
capabilities and limitations, and how these factors influence
system performance. Important features include:

* Contents organized around the interaction of the human operator
with the larger environment to guide the analysis of real-world
situations

* A web-based archive of interactive demonstrations, exercises,
and links to additional readings and tools applicable to a range of
application domains

* Web content customizable for focus on particular areas of study
or research

ROGER W. REMINGTON is a professor and Vice-Chancellor's
Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at The University of
Queensland. DEBORAH A. BOEHM-DAVIS is a University Professor
in the Department of Psychology and Associate Dean in the College
of Humanities and Social Sciences at George Mason University.
CHARLES L. FOLK is a professor in the Department of
Psychology and Director of the Cognitive Science Program at
Villanova University.

Fully up-to-date coverage of human factors engineering—plus online access to interactive demonstrations and exercises

Engineering accomplishments can be as spectacular as a moon landing or as mundane as an uneventful drive to the local grocery store. Their failures can be as devastating as a plane crash or a massive oil spill. Over the past decade, psychologists and engineers have made great strides in understanding how humans interact with complex engineered systems—human engineering.

Introduction to Humans in Engineered Systems provides historical context for the discipline and an overview of some of the real-world settings in which human engineering has been successfully applied, including aviation, medicine, computer science, and ground transportation. It presents findings on the nature and variety of human-engineering environments, human capabilities and limitations, and how these factors influence system performance. Important features include:

• Contents organized around the interaction of the human operator with the larger environment to guide the analysis of real-world situations
• A web-based archive of interactive demonstrations, exercises, and links to additional readings and tools applicable to a range of application domains
• Web content customizable for focus on particular areas of study or research

Preface xiii

Part I Historical Perspective 1

References 4

1 Natural and Engineered Systems 7

Purposeful Design 7

User-Centered Design 8

Design against Failure 10

Summary 12

References 12

2 Historical Roots 14

Engineering for Physical Limitations 14

Size 14

Strength 17

Speed and Efficiency 17

Engineering for Human Cognition 21

Writing 21

Number Systems 24

Point-and-Click Interfaces 25

The Modern Era 25

Aviation 26

The Digital Computer 28

A Fractured Field 30

Human Factors/Ergonomics 31

Human-Computer Interaction 33

Human-Systems Integration 33

Summary 34

References 34

3 The Current Practice 37

Aerospace 38

The Human-System Specialist in Aerospace 39

Medicine 40

The Human-System Specialist in Medicine 42

Automotive Industry 42

The Human-System Specialist in the Automotive Industry 43

Computer Industry 43

The Human-System Specialist in Human-Computer Interfaces 44

Summary 44

References 45

Part II The Environment 49

References 51

4 The Varied Nature of Environments 53

Static vs. Dynamic Domains 54

Sources of Difficulty in Static Environments 56

Modes 56

Comprehension 57

Sources of Difficulty in Dynamic Environments 58

Lag 58

Plant Dynamics 59

Control Order 63

Perturbation and Noise 66

Internal vs. External Pacing 67

Error Tolerance 68

Summary 69

References 69

5 The Social Context 71

Methodological Consequences of Group Size 74

Length/Variability of Response Times 74

Methods of Study and Analysis 75

Communication and Coordination Consequences of Group Size 76

Summary 79

References 80

6 Analysis Techniques 81

Modeling Static Environments: Finite State Representations 82

Modeling Dynamic Environments 84

Control Theory 85

Signal Detection Theory 88

Task Analysis 93

Measuring Complexity Using Information Theory 94

Modeling Throughput Using Queuing Theory 97

Summary 99

References 99

Part III The Human Element 101

References 103

7 Determinants of Human Behavior 105

The Human Factor 106

Structure and Content 107

Levels of Analysis 109

Summary 111

References 111

8 The Structure of Human Information Processing 113

Processing Stages 115

Cognition and Action 117

Cognition and Goal-Directed Behavior 119

Response Selection 119

The Hick-Hyman Law 120

Compatibility 123

The Nature of Capacity Limitations 125

Summary 126

References 126

9 Acquiring Information 127

Sensory Processing 127

Vision 127

Illumination 128

Reflectance of the Surface 128

Reflectance of Surrounding Surfaces 131

Anatomy of the Eye 131

Visual Acuity 132

Acuity and Retinal Eccentricity 135

Adaptation 138

Saccadic Eye Movements 139

Temporal Vision 141

Masking and Crowding 141

The What and Where of Vision 142

Summary 143

Color Vision 143

CIE Color Space 144

The Uses of Color 147

Audition 147

The Human Auditory Syst...