ENV Topic 4 - Ergonomics Flashcards
What is ergonomics?
The study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body
What are the two main areas of ergonomics?
Physical and cognitive.
What does physical ergonomics focus on?
Ensuring the user doesn’t experience physical discomfort.
What does cognitive ergonomics focus on?
Designing machinery to fit with how we think.
What is cognitive overload?
The idea that there are limits to the amount of stimuli people can handle at once.
How can cognitive overload be assessed?
By measuring ‘spare capacity’ for secondary tasks.
What did Brown and Poulton (1961) study?
The effects of driving environment on cognitive overload.
What were the findings of Brown and Poulton (1961)?
Participants made more errors in a crowded shopping centre car park.
What is chunking?
Organizing information into smaller
Who proposed the magic number 7 plus or minus 2?
Miller (1956).
What were the Hawthorne studies about?
The effect of the physical environment on productivity.
What was the Hawthorne effect?
The increase in productivity due to the novelty of being observed.
What did Stone’s study investigate?
The effects of room color and setting on study ability.
What was the aim of Drews and Doig (2014) study?
To evaluate a graphical patient data display (CVS) for ICU nurses.
What type of data is traditionally presented in ICU monitoring?
Numerical data.
What was the independent variable (IV) in Drews and Doig (2014) study?
Type of data display (CVS vs. numerical).
What was the dependent variable (DV) in Drews and Doig (2014) study?
Response time and accuracy in clinical data interpretation.
How many participants were in Drews and Doig (2014) study?
42 registered ICU nurses.
How many patient scenarios were used in Drews and Doig (2014) study?
4
What were the findings regarding response time in Drews and Doig (2014) study?
CVS display users were significantly faster in identifying patient status.
What were the findings regarding assessment accuracy in Drews and Doig (2014) study?
CVS display users had improved accuracy.
What were the findings regarding mental demand in Drews and Doig (2014) study?
CVS display users reported lower mental demand.
What was the main conclusion of Drews and Doig (2014) study?
CVS displays improve speed and accuracy of data interpretation in ICU nurses.
