Deck 15: Human Factors

Question 1

Your ability to perceive detail in moving objects is defined as

A) dynamic visual acuity.
B) static visual acuity.
C) photopic vision.
D) scotopic vision.

Answer 1

dynamic visual acuity.

Question 2

In night viewing conditions, vision is controlled by the ____________ and is called ________ vision.

A) cones; scotopic
B) cones; photopic
C) rods; photopic
D) rods; scotopic

Answer 2

rods; scotopic

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT an advantage of using flight simulators in aviation research?

A) safety factors
B) the ability to simulate actual airplane flight conditions
C) improved experimental control
D) subjective measures can be used

Answer 3

subjective measures can be used

Question 4

A human factors researcher interested in the role of visual illusions in aircraft crashes would use similar independent variables as an experimental psychologist studying

A) perception.
B) memory.
C) social psychology.
D) environmental psychology.

Question 5

An important reward for researchers working in the area of human factors is the

A) potential to improve human life.
B) opportunity to improve equipment safety.
C) opportunity to carry out research.
D) all of these

Question 6

When you read an eye chart at the optometrist, your _____________ is being determined.

A) scotopic vision
B) photopic vision
C) static visual acuity
D) dynamic visual acuity

Question 7

In a small-n design

A) all participants must be assigned randomly to experimental and control conditions.
B) the experimental setting is carefully controlled and the results are easily replicable.
C) inferential statistics are often used to determine the reliability of the results.
D) participants perform a limited number of experimental trials.

Question 8

A study by Strayer and Johnston (2001), examining the effects of phone use on driving found that

A) results were different for handheld and hands-free conditions.
B) results were the same for handheld or hands-free conditions.
C) reaction times were significantly higher in hands-free conditions compared to handheld conditions.
D) phone use had no effect on driving.

Question 9

The first commandment of human factors is

A) "honor thy machine."
B) "blessed is technology."
C) "honor thy user."
D) "complexity is best."

Question 10

In human factors research, the most common dependent variable is

A) reaction time.
B) error rate.
C) movement time.
D) heart rate.

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT a limitation of the study by Strayer and Johnston (2001) on cell phone use while driving?

A) The authors did not realize that they created a triple task and that their baseline condition was actually dual-task.
B) The authors did not show that the pursuit-tracking task is a valid substitute for actual driving.
C) The authors did not report performance on the pursuit-tracking task.
D) The authors used reaction time on a secondary task as a measure of distraction.

Question 12

Which of the following is most likely to provide an objective, continuous, and safe measure of mental workload?

A) a secondary-task technique
B) a physiological measure
C) a judgment task
D) a reaction?time task

Question 13

In addition to the mental workload of pilots, heart-rate is also associated with

A) heart-rate variance.
B) the brain wave index.
C) physical activity.
D) the experimental design.

Question 14

In human factors research, a measured component of total time is

A) interstimulus interval.
B) percent correct.
C) error rate.
D) movement time.

Question 15

Blue targets are easier to perceive when using __________ vision but not when using ___________ vision.

A) scotopic; photopic
B) photopic; scotopic
C) blue targets are perceived equally well using scotopic and photopic vision
D) blue targets are not easily perceived using either scotopic or photopic vision

Question 16

Traffic signs are good examples of

A) well designed interfaces understood universally.
B) interfaces that use readily understood symbols.
C) interfaces that may be understood differently by different groups.
D) user interfaces that are understood equally well by younger and older adults.

Question 17

Which of the following is an objective measure of pilot workload?

A) ratings of effort given during flight
B) heart rate measured during flight
C) responses on a questionnaire given following a flight
D) verbal reports of difficult flying situations

Question 18

_____________ measures are easier to obtain, whereas _____________ measures are easier to verify by researchers.

A) Independent; dependent
B) Dependent; independent
C) Subjective; objective
D) Objective; subjective

Question 19

Which of the following is a subjective measures of pilot workload?

A) judgment of effort
B) heart rate
C) errors on a secondary task done while flying
D) time to respond on a secondary task done while flying.

Question 20

Visual acuity is often measured by presenting a letter often called a Landolt

A) B.
B) C.
C) O.
D) L.

Question 21

Research on attention and workload among pilots

A) extends basic laboratory research on divided and focused attention.
B) is unrelated to basic laboratory research on attention.
C) uses methods of measuring attention that are different from the methods used in the laboratory.
D) suggests that subjective measures of workload at different points during a flight are inconsistent with the objective measures of workload.

Question 22

In the study by Malone and Kirkpatrick on brake-light configurations and the incidence of rear?end collisions, the independent variable(s) was/were

A) age, gender, and prior accident history
B) miles driven
C) number of rear-end collisions
D) the type of light mounting

Question 23

Few people doing human factors research are trained psychologists.

Question 24

Recent studies have found that using hands-free cell phones is a safe alternative to handheld units while driving.

Question 25

If an important effect has been identified correctly in the laboratory, then

A) the same effect should be observable outside the laboratory.
B) no additional research will ever be needed in order to apply this finding outside the laboratory.
C) statements about causality are not justified.
D) further research outside the laboratory is not important.

Question 26

Given the difficulties with experimental control of field research, which of the following statements is the best explanation for their continued use in psychological research?

A) Field research is easier to do than laboratory research.
B) Field research addresses important issues that are not studied by laboratory researchers.
C) It is important for both theoretical and practical reasons to know whether the results obtained in the laboratory can also be observed in the natural environment.
D) The results of field research are easier to interpret than the results of laboratory research.

Question 27

In applied research,

A) experimental control must be very tight.
B) it is often difficult to control for all of the potential confounding variables.
C) field research is rarely done.
D) potential confounding variables are easily identified.

Question 28

Which of the following is LEAST likely to be used as a dependent variable in a human factors experiment?

A) error rate
B) time to complete a task
C) performance on a secondary task
D) the participants' subjective estimates of their performance

Question 29

Even though the rods cannot recognize color, they still respond with different sensitivity to various wavelengths.

Question 30

In the study of mental workload, subjective measures are easier to verify than are objective measures.

Question 31

Dynamic visual acuity refers to

A) the ability to perceive the details in a stationary object.
B) the ability to perceive the details in a moving object.
C) the ability to determine the speed of a moving object.
D) the ability to perceive movement in the visual field.

Question 32

Blue targets are easier for scotopic vision, but not for photopic vision.

Question 33

In a field study of the readability of traffic signs using different type fonts, a researcher measured the distance at which professional drivers were able to read each of four different signs during daylight and nighttime driving; two of the signs used the existing font and two used a new font designed for greater visibility. In this experiment, the independent variable(s) is/are

A) type of font and time of day.
B) distance from which each sign could be read by the drivers.
C) time of day only.
D) type font only.

Question 34

In many human factor settings, the traditional largen research methodology cannot be employed.

Question 35

In human factors research, honoring the user means

A) ensuring that research subjects give their informed consent to participate in the research.
B) designing technology with the user in mind.
C) that it is easier to train the user than to change the technology.
D) that the research done must have an immediate practical benefit to the user.

Question 36

In a field study of the effects of talking on a cell phone while driving, a researcher measured braking time under high and low traffic conditions using a driving simulator. In this research, the dependent variable is

A) traffic conditions.
B) talking on a cell phone.
C) speed.
D) braking time.

Question 37

Small-n designs are used

A) to minimize experimental effort.
B) when replication of an experiment is difficult to do.
C) in highly controlled experiments that are easily replicated.
D) when the experimental procedure takes long to complete.

Question 38

Human factors is defined as the discipline that tries to improve human-technology interaction. In this discipline, technology refers to

A) basic tools.
B) computers.
C) machines.
D) all of these.

Question 39

Rods and cones have similar sensitivities to color.

Question 40

A pilot's rating of workload on a scale of 1 to 10 is an important objective dependent measure.

Question 41

Why is the smallen design a frequently used design in applied psychology? What are the advantages and disadvantages of smallen designs?

Question 42

Static visual acuity refers to the ability to perceive detail in moving objects.

Question 43

If an automobile driver is operating the vehicle during the night, photopic vision is particularly important.

Question 44

Static acuity is an excellent predictor of dynamic acuity.

Question 45

In a dual task situation, performance on the secondary task may indicate the demands of attention for the primary task.

Question 46

An automobile driver's detection of oncoming traffic requires dynamic visual acuity.

Question 47

Discuss the Malone and Kirkpatrick study involving the brake configurations of taxicabs. Did the results of the study have any effect on society? Discuss the ways in which this research benefited from basic research on vision and attention.

Question 48

Describe briefly how laboratory research on attention was applied to aviation research outside the laboratory.

Question 49

The field settings in which most applied research is conducted prevent the kind of experimental control we would demand inside the laboratory.

Question 50

The methods used for measuring pilot mental workload have been unsuccessful when applied to measuring mental workload in truck drivers.

Question 51

It is probably more difficult for a pilot to land a plane than to take off.

Question 52

Subjective measures cannot be directly verified by the experimenter.

Question 53

Total time to complete a task can be separated into reaction time and movement time.

Question 54

In the secondary task technique, it is important that the secondary task does not change performance on the primary task.

Question 55

Describe Long and Garvey's (1988) study of the effect of wavelength (color) upon dynamic visual acuity, including method, independent and dependent variables, and results. What are the practical implications of the findings?

Question 56

The Landolt C is used to measure auditory perception.

Question 57

One step in determining QALY is to adjust for quality of life-years saved.

Question 58

QALY stands for quality-adjusted life year.

Question 59

Scotopic vision refers to night vision and photopic vision refers to day vision.

Question 60

In practical situations, excessive response time can be equivalent to an error.

Question 61

Define what is meant by human factors. Describe the influence of experimental psychology on human factors research.

Question 62

Think of some technology familiar to you that you think is poorly designed for the user. Design a hypothetical experiment to determine whether a specific change in the design might make the technology easier to use. Be sure to specify the independent variable, the dependent variable, and the control variables for your experiment.

Question 63

Describe how a researcher might go about studying the effects of depth of processing in an applied setting (e.g., at school or at work)..

Question 64

Is there any research described in the text that you do not believe could be applied to a real-world setting? Why or why not?

Question 65

Both objective and subjective dependent measures are used in the field research on pilot mental workload. (1) Explain the differences between the two types of measures. (2) List three examples of each type of measure. (3) Describe the advantages and disadvantages of each type of measure.

Question 66

Given the results of the research presented in the text on driving while using a cell phone, laws that prohibit cell seem appropriate. What are some variables that might be influence the extent to which drivers will continue to talk on cell phones while driving, even knowing that it is dangerous? Design a field study to collect empirical evidence to see whether these variables are related to use of a cell phone while driving.

Question 67

Suppose psychology as a discipline were to move toward conducting more applied research and less basic research. What impact would this have on scientific progress and benefits to society?