1. Cognition Rebecca W. Boren, Ph.D. IEE 437/547 October 12, 2011

2. What is a Mental Model? Cognition

3. What is a Mental Model? Cognition Memory for procedures or how things work

4. Cognition How to use an ATM or ride a bicycle.

5. Case Study: The Wrong Mental Model Can Kill You Kenneth Nemire Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 51 st Annual Meeting - 2007 Cognition

6. What is your mental model of a roller coaster?

7. Cognition

8. TOP GUN An inverted roller coaster

9. Cognition Hanging roller coasters have only been around for 20 years. They comprise 4% of the world’s roller coasters.

10. Cognition All of group 1 (118 students) and all of group 2 (31 attorneys) drew pictures of a sit-down roller coaster. Of the 19 people exiting the theme park (group 3), 76% drew a picture of a sit-down roller coaster. This park had a higher than usual number of inverted roller coasters – 75%. Research Results

11. Mental models Thinking Remembering Forgetting Learning Attention Schemata Understanding Comprehension Situation awareness Time-sharing or multi- tasking Knowledge in the Head Information processing & storage Cognition involves

12. Cognition Every day we process large amounts of information.

13. Cognition

14. What do you see?

15. Cognition What do you see?

16. Cognition

18. Mental or cognitive resources are of limited availability and must be allocated. This requires mental effort. Cognition

19. Selective attention focuses on some information and not on other information. Cognition

20. Attentional Capture The understanding of information processing is important to designing alarms and displays. Cognition

21. Attentional Capture Bottom up: when stimulus quality is high bottom-up processing will dominate. Top down: we “sample” the world where we expect to find information. How long we attend to the signal depends on its value. Cognition

22. Attentional Capture Effort: we prefer to scan short distances rather than long ones. We prefer to avoid head movements to select information sources. Why fatigued drivers fail to turn their head and look behind them. Cognition

23. Selective Attention Cognition Salience (conspicuous, unambiguous, clear, obvious) features Effort Expectancy Value

24. Perceptional Processes Extract meaning from information processed by our senses. Cognition compares incoming information with stored knowledge in order to categorize. Cognition

25. Three Perceptional Processes Bottom-up feature analysis. Top-down processing. Unitization (stimuli seen as a whole). –Children see letters; adults see words. Cognition

26. Do you see a letter imbedded in the lines? Cognition

27. What if we put the lines closer together? Cognition

28. High expectations are based on associations and context. Turn the machine … when the red light indicates failure. Cognition

29. Understanding Comprehension relies on working memory unlike perception. Cognition

31. Working Memory Working memory is limited in capacity: 7 ± 2 chunks. Working memory is limited in duration: 7 to 70 seconds. Working memory is also called short- term memory (STM). Cognition

32. A chunk is defined as one bit of information. Examples: RXF is 3 chunks, while CUP is a single chunk. NAT is 1 chunk because it is pronounceable. Cognition Working Memory

33. Create chunks by making spaces or grouping: (480) 965-7258. Social security numbers are chunked. xxx-xx-xxxx Cognition Working Memory

34. Words are easier to remember than numbers: 1-800-FLOWERS. Similarly sounding letters can be more easily confused than letters that sound different. DPZETG versus JTFWRU Group letters and numbers together, not mixed: ABC123 rather than A1B2C3. Cognition

35. Short-term Memory Short-term Memory Cognition

36. Working Memory Working memory is encoded in three ways. –Visual –Phonetic –Semantic Cognition

37. Working Memory Working memory is encoded in three ways. –Visual DOG –Phonetic “dawg” –Semantic Cognition

38. Working Memory Errors are usually acoustic rather than visual. E may be recalled as D rather than F E sounds like D rather than F, although E and F look more alike. Cognition

39. Working Memory Avoid negatives. “Do not turn off the equipment” may be heard as “Turn off the equipment.” Cognition

40. Working Memory Instruction should be followed by action. –“For billing, press 1” –“I want roast beef, 3/4 of a pound” Cognition

41. Working Memory Attention can be diverted. –Example: cell phone use while driving. –Bathing a baby interrupted by the telephone ringing. Cognition

42. For information to be transferred from STM to LTM, the person must direct their attention and make some effort. Cognition

43. End of Part 1 Next time we will talk about the different memory systems and how to transfer STM into LTM Cognition

44. Long-term Memory Lasts a lifetime. Retrieval may pose a problem. Unlimited capacity.

45. Cognition Long-term Memory Two types of LTM: General Knowledge: schemata & mental models Event memory: episodic & prospective

46. Semantic Memory Semantic memory is part of LTM. Knowledge is organized into semantic networks where sections of the network contains related pieces of information. Cognition

47. Semantic Memory Associations are similar to – Databases – Networks – Not like a filing cabinet Information is related in a meaningful way. Cognition

48. Long-term Memory Long-term Memory Information in STM is transferred to LTM by semantically encoding it. Reading the textbook over and over is not enough. The material needs to be related to past experience in some meaningful way. Cognition

49. Organization of LTM – General Knowledge Information stored in associative networks. Memory we use for daily activity is semantic knowledge. Our knowledge is stored in semantic networks. Cognition

50. The Brain is made up of Neurons (HIGHLY SPECIALIZED CELLS THAT GENERATE AND CONDUCT NERVE IMPULSES). http://www.nku.edu/~dempseyd/bio208pg8.htm

51. Cognition The neurons interconnect to send messages through the network of brain cells. How Memories Are Made, And Recalled ScienceDaily (Sep. 16, 2008) — What makes a memory? Single cells in the brain, for one thing. The link below will take you to an article that explains memory from a biological prospective. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008 /09/080908101651.htm

52. Organization of LTM – General Knowledge Semantic memory is memory for concepts and meaning of words. A schema is the entire knowledge structure about a particular topic, e.g. cups, college professors, vacations. Cognition

53. Long-term Memory Long-term Memory To recall more information, it must be analyzed, compared, and related to past knowledge. Retrieval is sometimes difficult. “Forgetting” is a failure of memory retrieval. Cognition

54. Long-term Memory Forgetting is due to –Weak item strength –Weak or few associations –Interfering associations Cognition

55. Long-term Memory “Remembering” is enhanced by frequent rehearsal in STM and by making meaningful associations with other information. “Thinking” involves activation of task- relevant material in working memory. Cognition

56. Organization of LTM – General Knowledge Scripts or mental models are memory for knowledge of procedures (dynamic schemata). Mental models generate a set of expectancies. A large number of people having the same mental model defines a population stereotype. Cognition

57. Organization of LTM – General Knowledge Cognitive maps are mental representation of spatial information. Examples: –Layout of a classroom (POV) –Geographical layout of a city Cognition

58. Organization of LTM – Event Memory Episodic memory for past events. Examples: –Eyewitness testimony –Birthdays and other special days Cognition

59. Organization of LTM – Event Memory Based on visual memory, but not a faithful “video recording.” Memory may be biased Memory may be degraded Eyewitness testimony is generally recognized as unreliable. Cognition

60. Organization of LTM – Event Memory Prospective memory for things that are supposed to happen in the future. Failure of prospective memory is called “absent-mindedness.” Cognition

61. Semantic Network Meaning of concepts & things Schema Entire knowledge structure about a particular topic Mental Models & Dynamic Schemata (Scripts) Procedural Cognitive Maps & Spatial memory Long Term Memory – General Knowledge

62. Memory for Events Episodic Memory for past events Prospective Memory for events that are supposed to happen in the future. Long Term Memory – Event

63. Long-term Memory Implications for Design Encourage regular use of information to increase frequency and recency. Encourage verbalization of information that is to be recalled. Standardize. Cognition

64. Recall Task Cognition

65. Long-term Memory Implications for Design Use recognition rather than recall. Use memory aids. Knowledge in the World. Cognitive artifacts. Checklists. Design information to be easily remembered. Cognition

66. Situation Awareness (SA) Designers, researchers, and users employ the concept of SA to characterize users’ awareness of the meaning of dynamic changes in their environment. Cognition

67. Lack of Situation Awareness A pilot suffers a catastrophic controlled-flight into terrain. Cognition

68. Lack of Situation Awareness Control room operators at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant lost SA when they believed the water level in the plant to be too high rather than too low. Cognition

69. Situation Awareness (SA) Cognition Design easy-to-interpret displays of dynamic systems. Tools for accident analysis. Training is important (especially for attentional skills).

70. Three Stages of Situation Awareness Perception & selective attention Understanding Prediction Cognition All rely on STM and LTM.

71. Time-sharingAttention Time-sharing & Attention Time-sharing is the ability to perform more than one cognitive task by attending to both at once or by rapidly switching attention back and forth between them (divided attention). Cognition

72. Multi-tasking or time-sharing is not doing two things at the same time. It is switching back and forth. It is more difficult than most people realize. Cognition

73. Four major factors determine the extent to which two or more tasks can be time-shared. Cognition

74. 1. The degree to which one or more of the tasks are trained to automaticity. 2. The skill in resource allocation. 3. The degree of shared resources. 4. The degree to which task elements can become confused. Cognition Multi-tasking

75. What happens as we get older? Systems (vision, hearing, cognition) deteriorate at different rates. Individuals undergo changes at different rates. At what age should people stop driving cars?

76. Cognition Older drivers have more accidents per mile driven than younger drivers. One alarming story of the deaths of 10 people because of an 89-year old driver. It was not a visual problem, nor an aging problem. It was a perceptual problem.

77. Cognition UFOV related to attentional capture. Little correlation between driving safety and visual acuity. Useful Field of View (UFOV)

78. Cognition UFOV deficits occur more often in older adults, but cut across all ages. Training can improve UVOF. Useful Field of View (UFOV)

79. Cognition Review of Memory Systems

81. Semantic Network Meaning of concepts & things Schema Entire knowledge structure about a particular topic Mental Models & Dynamic Schemata (Scripts) Procedural Cognitive Maps & Spatial memory Long Term Memory – General Knowledge

82. Memory for Events Episodic Memory for past events Prospective Memory for events that are supposed to happen in the future. Long Term Memory – Event

83. Cognition Questions?