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Richter M, Wühr P. Associations between physical size and space are strongly asymmetrical. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16256. [PMID: 37759068 PMCID: PMC10533820 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43313-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The spatial-size association of response codes (SSARC) effect describes the phenomenon that left responses are faster and more accurate to small stimuli whereas right responses are faster and more accurate to large stimuli, as compared to the opposite mapping. The effect indicates associations between the mental representations of physical size and space. Importantly, the theoretical accounts of SSARC effects make different predictions about the reciprocity and/or symmetry of spatial-size associations. To investigate the reciprocity of SSARC effects, we compared compatibility effects in two verbal choice-response tasks: a size-location (typical SSARC) task and a location-size (reciprocal SSARC) task. In the size-location task, participants responded verbally to a small/large stimulus by saying "left"/"right". In the location-size task, participants responded verbally to a left-/right-side stimulus by saying "small"/"large". Participants completed both tasks with a compatible (small-left, large-right; left-small, right-large) and an incompatible (small-right, large-left; left-large, right-small) mapping. A regular SSARC effect emerged in the size-location task. However, no reciprocal SSARC effect emerged in the location-size task if outliers were excluded. If outliers were not excluded, small reciprocal SSARC effects occurred. Associations underlying the SSARC effect are thus strongly asymmetrical: Physical (stimulus) size can prime spatial responses much more strongly than spatial (stimulus) position can prime size-related responses. The finding of asymmetrical associations between size and space is in line with some theoretical accounts of the SSARC effect but at odds with others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Richter
- Department of Psychology, TU Dortmund University, Emil-Figge Straße 50, 44227, Dortmund, Germany.
| | - Peter Wühr
- Department of Psychology, TU Dortmund University, Emil-Figge Straße 50, 44227, Dortmund, Germany
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Wühr P, Richter M. Relative, not absolute, stimulus size is responsible for a correspondence effect between physical stimulus size and left/right responses. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 84:1342-1358. [PMID: 35460026 PMCID: PMC9032296 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02490-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated a novel compatibility (or correspondence) effect between physical stimulus size and horizontally aligned responses: Left-hand responses are shorter and more accurate to a small stimulus, compared to a large stimulus, whereas the opposite is true for right-hand responses. The present study investigated whether relative or absolute size is responsible for the effect. If relative size was important, a particular stimulus would elicit faster left-hand responses if the other stimuli in the set were larger, but the same stimulus would elicit a faster right-hand response if the other stimuli in the set were smaller. In terms of two-visual-systems theory, our study explores whether "vision for perception" (i.e., the ventral system) or "vision for action" (i.e., the dorsal system) dominates the processing of stimulus size in our task. In two experiments, participants performed a discrimination task in which they responded to stimulus color (Experiment 1) or to stimulus shape (Experiment 2) with their left/right hand. Stimulus size varied as an irrelevant stimulus feature, thus leading to corresponding (small-left; large-right) and non-corresponding (small-right; large-left) conditions. Moreover, a set of smaller stimuli and a set of larger stimuli, with both sets sharing an intermediately sized stimulus, were used in different conditions. The consistently significant two-way interaction between stimulus size and response location demonstrated the presence of the correspondence effect. The three-way interaction between stimulus size, response location, and stimulus set, however, was never significant. The results suggest that participants are inadvertently classifying stimuli according to relative size in a context-specific manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Wühr
- Institut für Psychologie, Technische Universität Dortmund/TU Dortmund University, Emil-Figge-Straße 50, 44227, Dortmund, Germany.
| | - Melanie Richter
- Institut für Psychologie, Technische Universität Dortmund/TU Dortmund University, Emil-Figge-Straße 50, 44227, Dortmund, Germany
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Zholdassova M, Kustubayeva A, Matthews G. The ANT Executive Control Index: No Evidence for Temporal Decrement. HUMAN FACTORS 2021; 63:254-273. [PMID: 31593487 DOI: 10.1177/0018720819880058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study tested whether indices of executive control, alertness, and orienting measured with Attention Network Test (ANT) are vulnerable to temporal decrement in performance. BACKGROUND Developing the resource theory of sustained attention requires identifying neurocognitive processes vulnerable to decrement. Executive control processes may be prone to impairment in fatigue states. Such processes are also highlighted in alternative theories. Determining the role of executive control in vigilance can both advance theory and contribute to practical countermeasures for decrement in human factors contexts. METHOD In Study 1, 80 participants performed the standard ANT for an extended duration of about 55 to 60 min. Study 2 (160 participants) introduced manipulations of trial blocking and stimulus degradation intended to increase resource depletion. Reaction time and accuracy measures were analyzed. Subjective stress and workload were assessed in both studies. RESULTS In both studies, the ANT induced levels of subjective workload and task disengagement consistent with previous sustained attention studies. No systematic decrement in any performance measure was observed. CONCLUSION Executive control assessed by the ANT is not highly vulnerable to temporal decrement, even when task demands are elevated. Future work should differentiate executive control processes; proactive control may be more implicated in sustained attention decrement than in reactive control. APPLICATION Designing systems and interfaces to reduce executive control demands may be generally beneficial but will not directly mitigate temporal performance decrement. Enhancing design guidelines and neuroergonomic methods for monitoring operator attention requires further work to identify key neurocognitive processes for decrement.
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He Y, Payne SC, Yao X, Smallman R. Improving workplace safety by thinking about what might have been: A first look at the role of counterfactual thinking. JOURNAL OF SAFETY RESEARCH 2020; 72:153-164. [PMID: 32199558 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsr.2019.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2018] [Revised: 11/15/2019] [Accepted: 12/11/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Information processing theories of workplace safety suggest that cognition is an antecedent of safety behavior. However, little research has directly tested cognitive factors as predictors of workplace safety within organizational psychology and behavior research. Counterfactuals (cognitions about "what might have been") can be functional when they consist of characteristics (e.g., "upward' - focusing on better outcomes) that alter behavior in a manner consistent with those outcomes. This field study aimed to examine the influence of counterfactual thinking on safety behavior and explanatory mechanisms and boundary conditions of that relationship. METHOD A sample of 240 medical providers from a hospital in China responded to three surveys over a four-month time frame. RESULTS Results showed that upward counterfactuals were positively related to supervisor ratings of safety compliance and participation. These relationships were mediated by safety knowledge but not by safety motivation. Upward counterfactuals were more strongly related to safety behavior and knowledge than downward counterfactuals. As expected, safety locus of control strengthened the mediating effects of safety knowledge on the relationship between upward counterfactuals and safety behavior. Conclusions and Practical Applications: The findings demonstrated that counterfactual thinking is positively associated with safety behavior and knowledge, thus expanding the variables related to workplace safety and laying some initial groundwork for new safety interventions incorporating counterfactual thinking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yimin He
- Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, United States.
| | | | - Xiang Yao
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, China.
| | - Rachel Smallman
- Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, United States.
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Proctor RW, Xiong A. Can cognitive analytic-abstractive research provide a bridge between functional and cognitive psychologists? Commentary on De Houwer, Hughes, and Barnes-Holmes (2017). JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN MEMORY AND COGNITION 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2016.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Proctor RW, Chen J. The Role of Human Factors/Ergonomics in the Science of Security: Decision Making and Action Selection in Cyberspace. HUMAN FACTORS 2015; 57:721-727. [PMID: 25994927 DOI: 10.1177/0018720815585906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2014] [Accepted: 04/16/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The overarching goal is to convey the concept of science of security and the contributions that a scientifically based, human factors approach can make to this interdisciplinary field. BACKGROUND Rather than a piecemeal approach to solving cybersecurity problems as they arise, the U.S. government is mounting a systematic effort to develop an approach grounded in science. Because humans play a central role in security measures, research on security-related decisions and actions grounded in principles of human information-processing and decision-making is crucial to this interdisciplinary effort. METHOD We describe the science of security and the role that human factors can play in it, and use two examples of research in cybersecurity--detection of phishing attacks and selection of mobile applications--to illustrate the contribution of a scientific, human factors approach. RESULTS In these research areas, we show that systematic information-processing analyses of the decisions that users make and the actions they take provide a basis for integrating the human component of security science. CONCLUSION Human factors specialists should utilize their foundation in the science of applied information processing and decision making to contribute to the science of cybersecurity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jing Chen
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
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Sawyer BD, Finomore VS, Funke GJ, Mancuso VF, Funke ME, Matthews G, Warm JS. Cyber Vigilance. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.1177/1541931214581369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Cyber security operators in the military and civilian sector face a lengthy repetitive work assignment with few critical signal occurrences under conditions in which they have little control over what transpires. In this sense, their task is similar to vigilance tasks that have received considerable attention from human factors specialists in regard to other operational assignments such as air traffic control, industrial process control, and medical monitoring. Accordingly, this study was designed to determine if cyber security tasks can be linked to more traditional vigilance tasks in regard to several factors known to influence vigilance performance and perceived mental workload including time on task, the probability of critical signal occurrence, and event rate (the number of stimulus events that must be monitored in order to detect critical signals). Consistent with the results obtained in traditional vigilance experiments, signal detection on a 40-minute simulated cyber security task declined significantly over time, was directly related to signal probability, and inversely related to event rate. In addition, as in traditional vigilance tasks, perceived mental workload in the cyber task, as reflected by the NASA Task Load Index, was high. The results of this study have potential meaning for designers of cyber security systems in regard to psychophysical factors that might influence task performance and the need to keep the workload of such systems from exceeding the information processing bounds of security operators.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Gregory J. Funke
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH
| | - Vincent F. Mancuso
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
| | - Matthew E. Funke
- Naval medical Research Unit-Dayton, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH
| | | | - Joel S. Warm
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH
- University of Dayton Research Institute, Dayton, OH
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Matthews G, Warm JS, Shaw TH, Finomore VS. Predicting battlefield vigilance: a multivariate approach to assessment of attentional resources. ERGONOMICS 2014; 57:856-875. [PMID: 24678837 DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2014.899630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Technological innovation increasingly requires operators in various applied settings to maintain vigilance for extended periods. However, standard psychometric tests typically predict less than 10% of performance variance. The present study (N = 462) aimed to apply the resource theory of sustained attention to construct a multivariate test battery for predicting battlefield vigilance. The battery included cognitive ability tests, a high-workload short vigilance task and subjective measures of stress response. Four versions of a 60- min simulated military battlefield monitoring task were constructed to represent different operational requirements. The test battery predicted 24-44% of criterion variance, depending on task version, suggesting that it may identify vigilant operators in military and other applied contexts. A multiple-groups path analysis showed that relationships between ability and vigilance were moderated by working memory demands. Findings are consistent with a diffuse theoretical concept of 'resources' in which performance energisation depends on multiple, loosely coupled processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Matthews
- a Institute of Simulation and Training , University of Central Florida , Orlando , FL , USA
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Mehta RK, Parasuraman R. Neuroergonomics: a review of applications to physical and cognitive work. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:889. [PMID: 24391575 PMCID: PMC3870317 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2013] [Accepted: 12/05/2013] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroergonomics is an emerging science that is defined as the study of the human brain in relation to performance at work and in everyday settings. This paper provides a critical review of the neuroergonomic approach to evaluating physical and cognitive work, particularly in mobile settings. Neuroergonomics research employing mobile and immobile brain imaging techniques are discussed in the following areas of physical and cognitive work: (1) physical work parameters; (2) physical fatigue; (3) vigilance and mental fatigue; (4) training and neuroadaptive systems; and (5) assessment of concurrent physical and cognitive work. Finally, the integration of brain and body measurements in investigating workload and fatigue, in the context of mobile brain/body imaging ("MoBI"), is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ranjana K Mehta
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Rural Public Healthy, Texas A&M University, College Station TX, USA
| | - Raja Parasuraman
- Center of Excellence in Neuroergonomics, Technology, and Cognition, George Mason University Fairfax, VA, USA
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Finomore VS, Shaw TH, Warm JS, Matthews G, Boles DB. Viewing the workload of vigilance through the lenses of the NASA-TLX and the MRQ. HUMAN FACTORS 2013; 55:1044-1063. [PMID: 24745198 DOI: 10.1177/0018720813484498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a new index of perceived mental workload, the Multiple Resource Questionnaire (MRQ), with the standard measure of workload used in the study of vigilance, the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). BACKGROUND The NASA-TLX has been used extensively to demonstrate that vigilance tasks impose a high level of workload on observers. However, this instrument does not specify the information-processing resources needed for task performance. The MRQ offers a tool to measure the workload associated with vigilance assignments in which such resources can be identified. METHOD Two experiments were performed in which factors known to influence task demand were varied. Included were the detection of stimulus presence or absence, detecting critical signals by means of successive-type (absolute judgment) and simultaneous-type (comparative judgment) discriminations, and operating under multitask vs. single-task conditions. RESULTS The MRQ paralleled the NASA-TLX in showing that vigilance tasks generally induce high levels of workload and that workload scores are greater in detecting stimulus absence than presence and in making successive as compared to simultaneous-type discriminations. Additionally, the MRQ was more effective than the NASA-TLX in reflecting higher workload in the context of multitask than in single-task conditions. The resource profiles obtained with MRQ fit well with the nature of the vigilance tasks employed, testifying to the scale's content validity. CONCLUSION The MRQ may be a meaningful addition to the NASA-TLX for measuring the workload of vigilance assignments. APPLICATION By uncovering knowledge representation associated with different tasks, the MRQ may aid in designing operational vigilance displays.
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de Winter J. Why person models are important for human factors science. THEORETICAL ISSUES IN ERGONOMICS SCIENCE 2013. [DOI: 10.1080/1463922x.2013.856494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Shaw TH, Funke ME, Dillard M, Funke GJ, Warm JS, Parasuraman R. Event-related cerebral hemodynamics reveal target-specific resource allocation for both "go" and "no-go" response-based vigilance tasks. Brain Cogn 2013; 82:265-73. [PMID: 23727665 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2013.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2012] [Revised: 04/20/2013] [Accepted: 05/05/2013] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Transcranial Doppler sonography was used to measure cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) in the right and left cerebral hemispheres during the performance of a 50-min visual vigilance session. Observers monitored a simulated flight of unmanned aerial vehicles for cases in which one of the vehicles was flying in an inappropriate direction relative to its cohorts. Two types of vigilance tasks were employed: a traditional task in which observers made button press ("go") responses to critical signals, and a modification of the traditional task called the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) in which "go" responses acknowledged nonsignal events and response withholding ("no-go") signified signal detection. Signal detections and global CBFV scores declined over time. In addition, fine-grained event-related analyses revealed that the detection of signals was accompanied by an elevation of CBFV that was not present with missed signals. As was the case with the global scores, the magnitude of the transient CBFV increments associated with signal detection also declined over time, and these findings were independent of task type. The results support the view of CBFV as an index of the cognitive evaluation of stimulus significance, and a resource model of vigilance in which the need for continuous attention produces a depletion of information-processing assets that are not replenished as the task progresses. Further, temporal declines in the magnitude of event-related CBFV in response to critical signals only is evidence that the decrement function in vigilance is due to attentional processing and not specific task elements such as the required response format.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler H Shaw
- Center of Excellence in Neuroergonomics, Technology, and Cognition-CENTEC, George Mason University, Department of Psychology, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA, USA.
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Abstract
This review begins by contrasting the importance ascribed to the study of occupational requirements observed in the early twentieth-century beginnings of industrial-organizational psychology with the diminishing numbers of job analysis articles appearing in top journals in recent times. To highlight the many pending questions associated with the job-analytic needs of today's organizations that demand further inquiry, research on the three primary types of job analysis data, namely work activities, worker attributes, and work context, is reviewed. Research on competencies is also reviewed along with the goals of a potential research agenda for the emerging trend of competency modeling. The cross-fertilization of job analysis research with research from other domains such as the meaning of work, job design, job crafting, strategic change, and interactional psychology is proposed as a means of responding to the demands of today's organizations through new forms of work analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan I. Sanchez
- Department of Management and International Business, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199
| | - Edward L. Levine
- Psychology Department, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620
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Ossowski U, Malinen S, Helton WS. The effects of emotional stimuli on target detection: indirect and direct resource costs. Conscious Cogn 2011; 20:1649-58. [PMID: 21978909 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2011] [Revised: 08/03/2011] [Accepted: 08/20/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
The present study was designed to explore the performance costs of negative emotional stimuli in a vigilance task. Forty participants (20 women) performed a vigilance task in two conditions: one with task-irrelevant negative-arousing pictures and one with task-irrelevant neutral pictures. In addition to performance, we measured subjective state (energetic arousal, tense arousal, task-related and task-unrelated thoughts) and frontal cerebral activity with near infrared spectroscopy. Overall performance in the negative picture condition was lower than in the neutral picture condition and the negative picture condition had elevated levels of energetic arousal, tense arousal and task-related thoughts. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between the impact of the negative pictures on tense arousal and task-related thoughts and the impact of the negative pictures on performance (in comparison to the neutral picture stimuli task). These results provide support for indirect cost models of negative emotional stimuli on target detection performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrike Ossowski
- Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
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Chiappe DL, Strybel TZ, Vu KPL. Mechanisms for the acquisition of situation awareness in situated agents. THEORETICAL ISSUES IN ERGONOMICS SCIENCE 2011. [DOI: 10.1080/1463922x.2011.611267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Helton WS, Russell PN. The effects of arousing negative and neutral picture stimuli on target detection in a vigilance task. HUMAN FACTORS 2011; 53:132-141. [PMID: 21702331 DOI: 10.1177/0018720811401385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The present study was designed to explore whether target detection in a vigilance task is influenced by task-irrelevant negative emotional and neutral picture stimuli and to test predictions derived from the boredom-mindlessness versus resource depletion accounts of vigilance performance. BACKGROUND Previous research indicates that emotional stimuli can capture spatial attention. Research on the effect of negative emotional and neutral visual stimuli on temporal aspects of attention has not, however, been researched in detail. METHOD For this study, 51 participants (15 men and 36 women) were assigned at random to one of three vigilance conditions: a visual vigil with task-irrelevant negative-arousing pictures, a visual vigil with task-irrelevant neutral pictures, or a no-picture visual vigil control. Vigilance performance was assessed in all conditions. RESULTS Overall performance efficiency was negatively influenced by the negative-arousing pictures and was interpreted to favor resource depletion to boredom-mindlessness accounts of vigilance performance. CONCLUSION Task-unrelated negative emotional stimuli appear to impair absolute levels of target detections in a vigilance task. APPLICATION In monitoring settings where negative emotional stimuli are present, the intrusion of negative emotional stimuli should be mitigated via alterations in the system design, or if this is implausible, the monitors may need additional stress coping and emotional resilience training.
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Affiliation(s)
- William S Helton
- Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand.
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Chan AJ, Islam MK, Rosewall T, Jaffray DA, Easty AC, Cafazzo JA. The use of human factors methods to identify and mitigate safety issues in radiation therapy. Radiother Oncol 2010; 97:596-600. [PMID: 21044802 DOI: 10.1016/j.radonc.2010.09.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2010] [Revised: 09/22/2010] [Accepted: 09/26/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE New radiation therapy technologies can enhance the quality of treatment and reduce error. However, the treatment process has become more complex, and radiation dose is not always delivered as intended. Using human factors methods, a radiotherapy treatment delivery process was evaluated, and a redesign was undertaken to determine the effect on system safety. MATERIAL AND METHODS An ethnographic field study and workflow analysis was conducted to identify human factors issues of the treatment delivery process. To address specific issues, components of the user interface were redesigned through a user-centered approach. Sixteen radiation therapy students were then used to experimentally evaluate the redesigned system through a usability test to determine the effectiveness in mitigating use errors. RESULTS According to findings from the usability test, the redesigned system successfully reduced the error rates of two common errors (p<.04 and p<.01). It also improved the mean task completion time by 5.5% (p<.02) and achieved a higher level of user satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrated the importance and benefits of applying human factors methods in the design of radiation therapy systems. Many other opportunities still exist to improve patient safety in this area using human factors methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvita J Chan
- Healthcare Human Factors, University Health Network, Ontario, Canada.
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