intro to HF Flashcards
what is applied psychology
focuses on real-world application of psychological theories, uses principles to overcome problems such as mental health and product design.
what is human factors?
Hf is involved in conducting research in relation to human psychological, social and physical characteristics and applying it to the design nd use of products.
it focuses on safety.
what are human factors psychologists
they are Hf and engineering psychologists who look at how people interact with machinery and technology.
they can end a project that is deemed to unsafe, a example is the abandonment of the 10 billion pound NHS IT systems.
what are the 3 areas of HF
- physical ergonomics
- cognitive ergonomics
- organisational ergonomics
what is physical ergonomics & an example
human anatomical, physiological and biochemical characteristics.
- working postures, material handling
- the focus is on bodies and not the brain - is it safe? comfortable? for the user.
pedal confusion - TFL have high number of pedal related bus crashes when the driver hits the wrong pedal.
what is cognitive ergonomics & the dual code theory
- looks at mental processes like perception, memory and reasoning and how these effect interaction between humans and technology.
- focuses on how brains perceive information and understand information.
dual code theory: design of traffic lights, colourblind people confuse green and red can safely distinguish between red always beeping at the top and green at the bottom.
what is organisational ergonomics
- takes the optimisation of socio-technical systems which includes structures, policies and processes.
- an example is crew shift management (this played a role in the BP oil explosion)
what is the role of HF in aviation screening
- need to understand the entire work env.
- decision making - does bag have no threat
- env. stressors - performance degradation
- organisational demands - aircrafts running later which costs airlines.
what are the 3 goals of human factors
- user satisfaction - design products the user will enjoy
- perfomance/productivity - increase in work ev. which can increase profitability
- safety - reduces human error in safety critical env.
what is user satisfaction and give the example of APPLE. inc.
- whether the product is successful and is helpful for the users, such as phones.
apple:
- launched iPhone in 2007 to compete with blackberry.
- by 2015 blackberry only had 1% of the market and ceased production.
- apple considered people in their designs and what they would do with the phones which blackberry didn’t.
outline performance/productivity
- aim is to increase productivity in work env. which increases a companies profitability
- if people enjoy work they will work harder.
- organisational psych sits here.
what is a safety critical environment and what is the aim of HF
- safety critical environments include those like nuclear/healthcare/travel.
- the aim is to reduce error and if it does happen to minimise the consequences.
what is Duponts dirty dozen (1993)
the dirty dozen is 12 of the most common human error preconditions which lead to an accident.
lack of comms, complacency, lack of knowledge, distraction, no teamwork, fatigue, no resources, pressure, lacking assertiveness, stress, no awareness, norms.
CASE STUDY: BP oil refinery explosion, Texas 2005
- factors contributing to disaster showing a fail in HF.
- level indicator too high and alarm failed to go off due to lack of maintenance
- 30th day in row of 12 hour shifts - fatigued
- operators left shifts early
- no briefing of ISOM tower levels
- no supervisor present
- calibrator incorrectly calibrated
- workers sat in car with engine on near flammable material - lack awareness
