Advances in Human Performance and Cognitive Engineering Research – serie

This volume launches a series that will focus on providing chapters that advance our understanding of human performance in organizational systems as cognitive engineering principles are applied. Topics addressed in this volume include: a historical review of a cognitive engineering research at a national laboratory; an adaptive learning system approach to designing an integrated-embedded training system; application of PRONET, a method that provides a useful representation of sequences of behaviour in a human-machine interaction; application of CTA, a method to explain the mental processes involved in performing a task; application of human performance modelling technologies in system design and evaluation; a review of training critical thinking skills that individuals and teams require in changing environments; a review of commercial simulations for team research; and research paradigms for human performance research in complex systems.

We live in an ever complex, dynamic and technological-based world. A world where industries, businesses and agencies rely ever increasingly on automated systems to maintain efficiency, increase productivity, minimize human error or gain a competitive edge. Moreover, automation is now seen by many organizations as the solution to human performance problems. These organizations continue to invest significant resources to implement automated systems wherever possible and there is no doubt that automation has helped such organizations manage their sophisticated, information-rich environments, where humans have limited capabilities. Therefore, automation has helped to improve industrial and commercial progress to the extent that organizations now depend upon it for their own benefit. However, new and unresolved problems have arisen as more individuals, groups and teams interact with automated systems. Hence, the need and motivation of this volume. The chapters contained in this volume explore some of the key human performance issues facing organizations as they implement or manage automated systems. Dealing with a range of topics, from how to design optional use, avoiding misuse, to creating training strategies for automated systems, this volume also explores which theories may help us understand automation better and what research needs to be conducted. This publication attempts to illustrate how human performance research on automation can help organizations design better systems and also hopes to motivate more theoretically-based but practically-relevant research in the technological-based world of the 21st century.

Technology is rapidly changing the field of human resources management (HRM), and propelling the field in some entirely new directions labeled eHR-electronic human resources. Thus, this volume focuses on technology, eHR, and virtual organizations. Well-known experts in eHR review the trends in the field including employee self-service, e-learning, strategies for implementing eHR, virtual work arrangements and their impact on human resources management. In addition, the volume focuses on the implications of using technology for HRM, and the functional and dysfunctional consequences of using technology to achieve HRM goals (such as privacy and employee customer satisfaction issues). The volume should be especially useful for researchers and practitioners in the fields of HRM and information technology.

In work environments world-wide, whether simple or complex, the ways in which people think, do their jobs, and interface with other human beings grow out of their experiences in the groups of which they are or have been a part. How these influences affect their performance and human interfacing in work environments throughout the world is the subject of cultural ergonomics. In this volume, distinguished scientists explore these cultural influences in relation to significant current concerns of ergonomics and human factors. These include scientific-philosophical considerations, aircraft safety, maritime safety, cross-national training, effective use of the world-wide web, multinational decision making, third-world industrial development, implementation of technology transfer, and the functioning of multicultural teams.

Simulations are often used in the military and other performance-critical fields (e.g., law enforcement, aviation, emergency management) to assess readiness, to support training, management, and decision making and to conduct mission rehearsal. This volume documents the state of the art and presents a state of the possible individual and small unit human performance research and simulation. Distinguished scientists from within the military, academe, government and private industry consider how best to gather and relate human performance data, and offer specific recommendations to advance the development of models and simulations of individual and small unit behavior. The result is a uniquely interdisciplinary volume that draws upon the knowledge and experience of recognized experts whose insights converge upon problems of common interest and relevance to researchers, analysts, and developers.

The commonly used terms, 'unmanned' or 'uninhabited,' are misleading in the context of remotely operated vehicles. In the case of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), there are many people involved on the ground ranging from those operating the vehicle from a ground control station, to the people coordinating multiple UAVs in an air operations or air traffic control center. The complexity of remote vehicle operations is also often underestimated and seen as a simple navigation task, neglecting the more complex functions associated with remote camera operations, data gathering, and even weapons activity. In addition, trends in the military and civilian sectors involving reduced staffing, increased number of vehicles to control, and integration with other operations are associated with critical human factors issues. For example, the integration of UAVs with manned aircraft in the national airspace poses numerous human factors challenges. In summary, though these vehicles may be unmanned they are not unoperated, unsupervised, or uncontrolled. The role of the human in these systems is critical and raises a number of human factors research and design issues ranging from multiple vehicle control and adaptive automation to spatial disorientation and synthetic vision. The purpose of this book is to highlight the pressing human factor issues associated with remotely operated vehicles and to showcase some of the state of the art human-oriented research and design that speaks to these issues. In this book the human components of the 'unmanned' system take center stage compared to the vehicle technology that often captures immediate attention.