Applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA): a practitioner's toolkit for understanding cognitive task demands

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) is a set of methods for identifying cognitive skills, or mental demands, needed to perform a task proficiently. The product of the task analysis can be used to inform the design of interfaces and training systems. However, CTA is resource intensive and has previously been of limited use to design practitioners. A streamlined method of CTA, Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA), is presented in this paper. ACTA consists of three interview methods that help the practitioner to extract information about the cognitive demands and skills required for a task. ACTA also allows the practitioner to represent this information in a format that will translate more directly into applied products, such as improved training scenarios or interface recommendations. This paper will describe the three methods, an evaluation study conducted to assess the usability and usefulness of the methods, and some directions for future research for making cognitive task analysis accessible to practitioners. ACTA techniques were found to be easy to use, flexible, and to provide clear output. The information and training materials developed based on ACTA interviews were found to be accurate and important for training purposes.     

Improving interface quality: an investigation of human-computer interaction task learning

Abstract

User learning is of critical importance in evaluating interface usability (and in turn interface quality). The focus of this research in on interface leamability, where a stochastic model represents the learning process required for successful completion of human-computer interaction tasks. The parameter used to quantify learning is a learning rale. Of interest here is the validation of learning rate as a measure of interface quality. Learning rate was validated against two traditional measures of interface quality: task completion time, and error frequency. SuperCard(tm), a Macintosh project utility, provided an empirical learning environment in which 32 participants learned 16 fundamental SuperCard tasks. Results of correlation analyses suggested the usefulness of learning rate as an indicator of interfacequality. Our learning rate analysis identified four tasks presenting learning difficulties. (Analysis of task completion times identified two of these four tasks, and error frequency analysis identified one). Learning rate data captured all of the information available from the two traditional interface quality measures and identified two tasks disregarded by them. Incorporating learning rates in the interface evaluation process precludes time-intensive video tape analysis typically required by more traditional interface quality measures.     

Effects of physical exertion on task performance in modern manufacturing: a taxonomy,a review,and a model

Modern manufacturing systems have the characteristic of demanding human cognitive task performance in an environment where sudden physical demands are also possible. There is little research addressing the effects of physical work on cognitive task performance and it is not well organized for application to manufacturing systems design. This paper uses an initial three-dimensional taxonomy to review the literature. Some clear findings emerge, but many studies produced contradictory results. While part of this contradiction was due to experimental technique, some was also due to the lack of a detailed structure to guide future research. Such a model is thus proposed, using the concept of limited resources for both the cognitive and physical aspects of tasks. In addition, specific predictions of research needs for modern manufacturing systems arise.     

Effects of GSS interface and task type on group interaction: An empirical study

The effects of GSS interface and task type on group interaction are examined in this experimental study. A 2 × 2 factorial design is employed. Each treatment has eight groups. Two types of GSS interfaces are studied: icon-based and text-based. Two task types are investigated: intellective and preference. Three dependent variables are measured: efficiency of influence attempts, inequality of influence attempts, and dominance significance. Results of data analysis show that groups using icon-based interface achieve greater efficiency of influence attempts, greater equality of influence attempts, and less dominance significance than groups using text-based interface. Moreover, equality of influence attempts is greater for preference task groups than intellective task groups. These results suggest that an icon-based interface is a useful feature of a GSS, particularly when group members are novice computer users. GSS developers should, therefore, pay attention to interface design on top of the considerations for other GSS features.     

The effects of decision support and task contingencies on model formulation: A cognitive perspective

This paper takes a cognitive cost-benefit approach to understanding model formulation. Work in the behavioral decision literature on the role of effort and accuracy in choice tasks indicates that effort, or cognitive cost, is a key factor in understanding decision behavior. However, the model formulation literature does not discuss how effort interacts with other factors, such as task complexity and decision aids, to influence model formulation. In this paper, based on the work on the cost-benefit theories of cognition, we posit that two types of effort, namely that associated with building or formulating a model and that associated with utilizing that model in the solution of a problem, will influence model formulation. We then examine how the methods used in the behavioral decision making literature and the reported findings concerning the interaction of effort with task and decision aids can be utilized to understand model formulation.     

Cognitive simulation as a tool for cognitive task analysis

Cognitive simulations are runnable computer programs that represent models of human cognitive activities. We show how one cognitive simulation built as a model of some of the cognitive processes involved in dynamic fault management can be used in conjunction with small-scale empirical data on human performance to uncover the cognitive demands of a task, to identify where intention errors are likely to occur, and to point to improvements in the person-machine system. The simulation, called Cognitive Environment Simulation or CES, has been exercised on several nuclear power plant accident scenarios. Here we report one case to illustrate how a cognitive simulation tool such as CES can be used to clarify the cognitive demands of a problem-solving situation as part of a cognitive task analysis.     

Using multiple cognitive task analysis methods for supervisory control interface design in high-throughput biological screening processes

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) approaches are currently needed in many domains to provide explicit guidance on redesigning existing systems. This study used goal-directed task analysis (GDTA) along with abstraction hierarchy (AH) modeling to characterize the knowledge structure of biopharmacologists in planning, executing and analyzing the results of high-throughput organic compound screening operations, as well as the lab automation and equipment used in these operations. It was hypothesized that combining the results of the GDTA and AH models would provide a better understanding of complex system operator needs and how they may be addressed by existing technologies, as well as facilitate identification of automation and system interface design limitations. We used comparisons of the GDTA and AH models along with taxonomies of usability heuristics and types of automation in order to formulate interface design and automation functionality recommendations for existing software applications used in biological screening experiments. The proposed methodology yielded useful recommendations for improving custom supervisory control applications that led to prototypes of interface redesigns. The approach was validated through an expert usability evaluation of the redesigns and was shown to be applicable to the life sciences domain.     

SKETCH'NDO: A framework for the creation of task-based serious games

We present SKETCH'NDO, a framework for the interactive design and creation of single-user task-based serious games in 3D virtual environments. The games are dimensionally congruent: inherently 2D tasks such as reading and writing are done in 2D, while manipulation tasks are 3D. The architecture of the system allows educators to design the tasks with a graphical editor that creates the game automatically. This editor does not require gaming expertise. It only needs educators to specify the correct ways of doing the task, without having to consider all possible erroneous learner's decisions. SKETCH'NDO provides a complete mechanism of monitoring and evaluation of the learner's performance that allows a precise assessment of the learning process. It offers a gradation of levels of assistance that can be fixed by educators or automatically adjusted to the trainee's skills. This way, the same task can be trained from a strictly conductist strategy to a fully constructivist one.     

A tangible user interface for assessing cognitive mapping ability

Wayfinding, the ability to recall the environment and navigate through it, is an essential cognitive skill relied upon almost every day in a person's life. A crucial component of wayfinding is the construction of cognitive maps, mental representations of the environments through which a person travels. Age, disease or injury can severely affect cognitive mapping, making assessment of this basic survival skill particularly important to clinicians and therapists. Cognitive mapping has also been the focus of decades of basic research by cognitive psychologists. Both communities have evolved a number of techniques for assessing cognitive mapping ability. We present the Cognitive Map Probe (CMP), a new computerized tool for assessment of cognitive mapping ability that increases consistency and promises improvements in flexibility, accessibility, sensitivity and control. The CMP uses a tangible user interface that affords spatial manipulation. We describe the design of the CMP, and find that it is sensitive to factors known to affect cognitive mapping performance in extensive experimental testing.     

Cognitive task analysis: a proposal to model reactive behaviours

A tentative analysis and design of behaviours to be implemented in robots has been developed. For that purpose we have analysed the human behaviour of the person who executes the robot task. Afterwards we have transferred this analysis to the robot in charge of the same task. The cognitive task analysis, a powerful tool coming from cognitive psychology, has been used to study the behaviour granularity of the robots. This analysis is of paramount importance because the implementation of more sophisticated robot behaviours depends on the appropriate selection of the basic robot behaviours. The paper introduces a brief explanation of different types of robot architectures, and our motivation, to give, later on, some ideas concerning the cognitive task analysis and the used methods; finally, as an example, the behaviour of a postman is modelled by using those tools to get the necessary behaviours for a robot in charge of that task.     

Facets of simplicity for the smartphone interface: A structural model

Motivated by the need to develop an integrated measure of simplicity perception for a smartphone user interface, our research incorporated visual aesthetics, information design, and task complexity into an extended construct of simplicity. Drawn from three distinct domains of human–computer interaction design and related areas, the new development of a simplicity construct and measurement scales were then validated. The final measurement model consisted of six components: reduction, organization, component complexity, coordinative complexity, dynamic complexity, and visual aesthetics. The following phase aimed at verifying the relationship between simplicity perception of the interface and evaluations of user satisfaction. The hypothesis was accepted that user satisfaction was positively affected by simplicity perception and that the relationship between the two constructs was very strong. The findings imply that a simplified interface design of the task performance, information hierarchy, and visual display attributes contributes to positive satisfaction evaluations when users interact with their smartphone as they engage in communication, information search, and entertainment activities.     

Intelligent interaction based on a surgery task model for a surgical assistant robot: Awareness of current surgical stages based on a surgical procedure model

This paper deals with providing a surgical robot with awareness of the current surgical stage. The awareness of the surgical stage is the first step toward a natural interaction between a surgeon and a surgical robot, the ultimate goal of which is to help the surgeon perform surgery with a minimum control burden. For this purpose, a surgery task model was defined as a structured form of surgical knowledge, which can be understood by both the surgeon and the robot. The model consists of three components: a surgical procedure model, input information, and an action strategy at each surgical stage. This paper focuses on the awareness of current surgical stages based on the surgical procedure model. The surgical procedure model represents the sequential information of the surgery and it is arranged based on key surgical stages. To implement the surgical procedure model of a cholecystectomy, 21 cases of human cholecystectomies are decomposed into surgical stages and their relations are then analyzed. To deal with uncertainty, interaction functions are introduced to the model. While further experiments are necessary, it was shown that the key stages-based surgical procedure model could estimate the key surgical stages correctly during one case of in vivo porcine cholecystectomy.     

The cognitive task analysis methods for job and task design: review and reappraisal

This paper reviews and reappraises the current research on the cognitive task analysis methodology for job or task design and analysis. Specifically, it classifies the current cognitive task analysis methods for job or task design and analysis, sorts out commonalities and differences among all these cognitive task analysis methodology for job and task design and analysis by conducting pros and cons comparisons, and provides guidelines in selecting cognitive task analysis methods for job and task design and analysis. Moreover, based on the current literature review, a validated human-centered information-processing model for cognitive task performance was developed based on human information processing theory. This new model focuses on identifying all cognitive aspects of human performance in technical work, with the goal of assisting job (re)design to increase human job performance.     

Cognitive simulation as a tool for cognitive task analysis.

Cognitive simulations are runnable computer programs that represent models of human cognitive activities. We show how one cognitive simulation built as a model of some of the cognitive processes involved in dynamic fault management can be used in conjunction with small-scale empirical data on human performance to uncover the cognitive demands of a task, to identify where intention errors are likely to occur, and to point to improvements in the person-machine system. The simulation, called Cognitive Environment Simulation or CES, has been exercised on several nuclear power plant accident scenarios. Here we report one case to illustrate how a cognitive simulation tool such as CES can be used to clarify the cognitive demands of a problem-solving situation as part of a cognitive task analysis.     

A fuzzy model of the helmsman performing a course-keeping task

The development of a model that describes the control characteristics of a helmsman whilst course-keeping is reported herein. The basic element of the helmsman model is a fuzzy role-based course-keeping algorithm. The model is used in digital computer simulations to control the non-linear yaw dynamics of a Royal Navy warship model which is subjected to sea state disturbances. For comparison purposes, another helmsman model is developed using linear systems theory. Validation of both models is made by comparing real-time analogue simulation results produced by actual helmsmen with those obtained digitally. Both helmsman models are found to reproduce acceptable yaw response predictions, whilst the fuzzy model more closely approximates the control input of a helmsman.     

A systems approach to task allocation of human-robot interaction in manufacturing

Robots are sharing the manufacturing work environment with humans at an ever increasing rate. As such it has become imperative to analyze the manufacturing tasks and allocate them properly between humans and robots. A systems approach to task allocation has been taken in this paper that includes inventory of anticipated common tasks in manufacturing, design of products to be manufactured, allocation of tasks between humans and robots, and iterative improvement in product design.