Cette thèse porte sur la conduite moto et son apprentissage. Elle s’inscrit dans un effort d’analysescientifique des comportements des motocyclistes novices, population particulièrement exposée entermes d’accidentologie routière. L’objectif de la thèse est d’étudier l’activité de motards en situationd’apprentissage, en formation initiale et durant les premières expériences de conduite après le permis,dans une perspective ergonomique d’amélioration des formations. L’étude a été menée avec lacollaboration de 16 élèves motards dans une approche « d’anthropologie cognitive située »(Theureau, 2004). Des enregistrements audiovisuels du comportement (390 heures), des données surla cinématique du véhicule enregistrées à l'aide d'une motocyclette instrumentée en capteurs (140heures), et des verbalisations en entretien d’auto confrontation (110 heures) ont été recueillis lors dela totalité des sessions de conduite des motocyclistes. Les résultats montrent (1) la relative« pauvreté » des situations de formation pour l’apprentissage de la conduite moto, (2) ladécontextualisation de la formation au regard des exigences de la conduite réelle, (3) l’existence d’un« curriculum caché » après l’obtention du permis, (4) le poids des émotions associées à la conduitemoto et sa non prise en compte dans les contenus d’enseignement. En vue de développer uneformation plus riche au plan de l'apprentissage et en meilleure adéquation avec la conduite réelle,plusieurs pistes de conception sont proposées. Elles intègrent notamment la création de dispositifs deformation « hybrides » associant conduite réelle et simulée. / This PhD dissertation relates to motorcycle riding and its learning. It contributes to a scientific effort ofunderstanding the behaviour of novice motorcyclists, particularly vulnerable road users. The aim ofthis work is to study the activity of motorcyclists during the learning process, in initial training inmotorcycle school and after licensing, and to propose ergonomic improvements of training systems.This investigation was conducted with 16 riders in a “situated cognitive anthropology” approach(Theureau, 2004). Audiovisual recordings of riders’ behaviour (390 hours), cinematic data of thevehicle from an instrumented motorbike (140 hours), and verbalisations in self-confrontation interviews(110 hours) have been collected for all the riders’ sessions. The results show (1) the limits of existingtraining settings for learning, (2) the gap between training situations and real traffic settings, (3) thesignificant part of learning which is done after licensing in a “hidden curriculum”, (4) the weight ofemotions associated with motorcycle riding and its learning. In order to develop training systems whichare more adapted to real world environment, several design perspectives are proposed. It includes thecreation of “hybrid” modules associating traditional training and riding simulation.

La modélisation et la simulation des systèmes complexes constitue une solution idéal pour comprendre ces systèmes. En effet, l'expérimentation virtuelle permet, par rapport à l'expérimentation réelle dans le champ d'étude considéré, d'apporter des réponses plus rapides aux questions posées sur ces systèmes, ce qui donne la possibilité de proposer des solutions en un temps adapté au contexte réel. Ce travail traite la question de la représentation de l'action humaine en prenant en compte sa dimension temporelle et spatiale aux échelles individuelle et collective. Cette question a déjà été traitée dans le domaine de l'intelligence artificielle, en général, et celui des systèmes agricoles, en particulier, qui constitue le domaine d'application de cette thèse. Les modèles proposés jusqu'à présent se basaient principalement sur la théorie de l'action planifiée en ne prenant en compte que la dimension temporelle de l'action. Les limites majeures de ces modèles résident dans leur complexité dans la mesure où il est difficile de pouvoir prédire l'ensemble des changements futurs dans l'environnement de l'acteur. Cela conduit à la nécessité de re-planifier fréquemment les actions afin d'obtenir des résultats cohérents. La deuxième limite réside dans l'écart qu'il peut y avoir entre les résultats des actions simulées et la réalité observée. En effet, un acteur ne réalise pas systématiquement les actions qu'il prévoit selon les situations réelles dans lesquelles il se trouve. Afin de pallier aux limites des modèles de l'action planifiée, nous avons développé un modèle de l'action humaine qui se base sur la théorie de l'action située. L'action est vue comme un processus doté d'une épaisseur temporelle émergent des situations créées par l'interaction entre l'acteur et son environnement dans le temps et dans l'espace. Notre modèle combine le concept d'affordance, le concept de stigmergie ainsi que la notion d'émergence. Nous proposons donc un système multi-agents dans lequel l'espace est explicitement représenté et partitionné en un ensemble de places. Le pilotage de chaque place est attribué à un agent abstrait. Celui-ci représente un observateur capable de détecter à tout instant les affordances émergentes sur sa place ainsi que de déclencher l'action appropriée. Les acteurs sont représentés comme des entités de l'environnement au même titre que les objets passifs. Ces entités de l'environnement portent un ensemble d'informations sur leurs capacités à exécuter ou subir des actions. Ces informations permettent aux agents, grâce aux méta-connaissances qu'ils détiennent de détecter les affordances. Celles-ci, une fois détectées, sont réifiées dans l'environnement et utilisées par les agents grâce à un mécanisme de sélection d'actions pour déterminer l'action qui sera finalement exécuter. La coordination des actions au niveau collectif se fait par stigmergie : les agents communiquent de façon implicite en utilisant un ensemble de marques qui sont une métaphore des phéromones des colonies de fourmis. Afin de montrer la pertinence du modèle proposé, un prototype appliqué au domaine des systèmes de production agricoles a été implémenté en utilisant la plateforme AnyLogic. / Simulation modelling of complex systems nowadays is an ideal solution to get a good understanding of these systems. In effect, compared with real experiments in the field of studies considered, virtual experiments allow one to quickly answer questions about these systems and provide solutions within a delay well adapted to their actual context. This thesis deals with the issue of human action representation, accounting with its temporal and spatial dimensions at individual and collective levels. This question has already been addressed in the field of Artificial intelligence in general and in the one of Agricultural systems in particular, the latter being the application domain of this thesis. The models proposed to date were mainly based upon the theory of planned action, explicitly accounting with the temporal dimension of action only. The main limits of these models lie in their complexity, because the ability to predict all future changes in actors' behaviors is far too difficult. This difficulty leads to the need of frequently re-planning the course of actions in order to get consistent results. The second drawback lies in the discrepancy that may arise between the results of simulated actions and actual observations. In effect, real actors do not realize systematically the actions they forecast according to the situations they actually encounter. In order to overcome the limits of planning models, we developed a model of human action based on the theory of situated action. Action is there viewed as a process endowed with a temporal thickness and emerging from the situations created by the interaction, through time and space, between the actor and its environment. Our model combines the concepts of affordance and stigmergy as well as the notion of emergence. Therefore we propose a multi-agents system within which space is explicitly represented and partitioned into a set of “places”. The control of each place is left to an abstract agent standing for an observer capable of detecting the affordances occurring on its place and trigger appropriate actions. Actors as well as passive objects are represented as “environmental entities”. These entities carry information about their capacity of performing or undergoing actions. This information allows the agents to detect affordances thanks to the meta-knowledge they hold. Once detected, these affordances are reified in the environment to be used to determine the action that will eventually be executed. Coordination of actions, at the collective level, is performed through stigmergy: the agents communicate implicitly between them using a set of marks as a metaphor of pheromons in ant colonies. To prove the relevance of the proposed model, a software prototype, applied to the domain of agricultural production systems, has been implemented with the simulation platform AnyLogic.

Computer-based information systems (IS) play an increasingly pervasive and important role in contemporary organisations. Despite decades of continuing research and the development of an extensive prescriptive literature, IS development projects continue to be problematic, with many failing or being seriously challenged. In addition, the IS development environment has changed significantly in recent years, with rapid advances or shifts in technology, increasing devolution of IS responsibility and expenditure to user groups, high levels of packaged software acquisition and customisation, greater outsourcing of IS development, and an increasing emphasis on enterprise-wide and inter-organisational IS. In many cases these changes are interrelated and involve more flexible, ad hoc or non-traditional development approaches. Combined with the fact that at the same time IS have become increasingly sophisticated and integrated, the potential for unpredictable or unintended consequences has also increased. Together, the continued problematic nature of many IS projects and the changing IS development environment, suggest that there is an ongoing need for a fuller understanding of IS development processes and practices. Given the limitations of factor-based, prescriptive studies, an understanding of how contemporary IS development is enacted needs to be grounded in and built upon the cumulative body of research that attempts to understand the complexity and dynamic nature of IS development. Accordingly, this study uses a conceptualisation of IS development as a process in which an IS emerges from a dynamic and interactive relationship between the technology, its social and organisational context, and the negotiated actions of various individuals and groups. The thesis presents the results of an extensive empirical investigation into contemporary ARE development practices based on data collected from New Zealand. The study uses a range of research methods and ultimately develops a sociotechnical process model of IS development as situated action. Following Walsham’s (1993) emphasis on the content, context and process of IS-related organisational change, the methods used in this study are three-fold. First, an extensive literature review is undertaken to provide a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary empirical knowledge about the content of IS development. Second, a survey is used to collect contextual data about IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand. Finally, these both support an in-depth longitudinal case study of the IS development process in an organisational setting. The literature review synthesises the results of recent empirical studies of the various influences that shape IS development, using a classificatory framework based around actors, project content, IS development processes, and context. The review shows that, while a number of traditional factors influencing IS development continue to be relevant, other factors have emerged as important as a result of changes to the IS development environment and to IS development practice. In particular, increasing recognition within the IS literature has been given to the relative importance of people and process and of the organisational and environmental context in which IS development takes place. The results of the literature review inform the design of a survey instrument intended to provide an updated assessment of IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand organisations. A Web-based survey was administered to a sample of senior IS managers in 460 public and private sector organisations with 200 or more FTEs. Based on the 106 usable responses, the results of the survey confirm the ongoing relevance of a number of traditional factors identified in the IS literature as facilitating or inhibiting IS development. However, a number of factors were identified as emerging or increasing in relevance in light of changes in the IS development environment. While the survey provides a useful description of contemporary IS development and acquisition practice in New Zealand, it does not enable a detailed understanding of IS development in action. To address this, an IS project in a large New Zealand organisation was followed in action for over two years. The project involved the development of a sophisticated financial database model using a purchased commercial software package and external consultants. As such, it provides a useful exemplar of development in a contemporary IS environment. The case study illustrates how a seemingly small, well-defined project experienced delays and difficulties as might be expected in larger, more complex projects. It offers insights into the significance of external actors, the importance of full stakeholder participation, the influence of initial characterisations of the nature of the project, and the observance of project management processes. Consideration of the project outcome reveals its multi-dimensional, subjective and temporal nature. A process approach (Markus & Robey, 1988) is employed to structure the analysis of the case study. A combination of temporal bracketing, narrative analysis and visual representation is used to analyse the sequence of social action and organisational processes involved in the project and to develop a process explanation of how and why the particular project outcome in this case study developed over time. Underpinning and informing this analysis is the construction and utilisation of a model of IS development as a situated, sociotechnical process. Drawing on theoretical concepts from structuration theory and the sociology of technology, the model considers the situated actions and practices of various individuals and groups involved in IS development, the ways in which these are enacted within different contextual elements, and the role of existing and new technological artefacts in this process. IS development is characterised as iterative and emergent, with change occurring dynamically from a trajectory of situated interactions (in which meanings and actions are negotiated) and intended and unintended consequences. As a whole, this PhD highlights the changing nature of the IS development environment and the way a complex ensemble of ‘factors’ interact to influence IS project outcomes. Common themes emerge around the importance of people and process, and the context in which IS development takes place, while at the same time explicitly including a consideration of technology in the analysis.

Plans do not serve the particular circumstances of a given situation, but rather serve as abstract descriptions of some future activities. The relationship between plans, which are abstract, and actions, which are concrete, is referred to as the relationship between plans and situated actions. This relationship can be formulated in the following questions: 1) How do individuals conceive of future activities? 2) How does an individual who is acting upon a plan adjust when facing contingencies? The relationship between plans and situated actions has remained a source of intense academic discussions (e.g., Bardram, 1997; Bardram & Hensen, 2010; Leudar & Costall, 1996; Ng, 2002; Schmidt, 1997; Suchman, 1987). Despite the ample research on the relationship between plans and situated actions, a review of the literature indicates that the problem has not been adequately addressed (Randall et al., 2007; Suchman 2003), which has compelled this researcher to create a theoretical model that integrates the disparate nature of plans and line of actions. Drawing on research on cognition and categorization theory, this thesis proposes a theoretical framework that conceptualizes the relationship between plans and situated actions in terms of activity categories. Specifically, the theoretical framework draws on the prototype and basic-level category theories of categorization, both of which were developed primarily by Rosch (1978), as well as the field theory developed by Lewin (1936). Categorization theories are used to address plans’ abstractness as they capture typifications of human experience. Field theory is used to address the concreteness of action as it captures dynamic properties of the situation in the here and now. The basic premise of the theoretical framework is that individuals conceive (have a knowledge) of plans and their attributes as future activity categories with a range of possibilities. These possibilities are structurally graded, ranging from highly typical to atypical. Plans are believed to be formed based on what is typical for the activity. The theoretical framework argues that an association exists between an individual’s knowledge of typical adjustment relevant to the activity and actual adjustment the individual makes while performing the activity. With this in mind, the theoretical framework considers the actor’s perspective to be central to the investigation. Based on the theoretical framework, several hypotheses are formularized and tested. An in-depth case study conducted in a ready-mix concrete company was used to examine aspects of the theoretical framework empirically. The results of the case study provide a wide range of independent evidence supporting the framework. In addition, an experimental methodology was developed for quantitative testing in the laboratory aspects of the theoretical framework not attainable in the case study. Theoretical and practical implications of the proposed framework and empirical findings are examined. Future research directions are discussed.

Plans do not serve the particular circumstances of a given situation, but rather serve as abstract descriptions of some future activities. The relationship between plans, which are abstract, and actions, which are concrete, is referred to as the relationship between plans and situated actions. This relationship can be formulated in the following questions: 1) How do individuals conceive of future activities? 2) How does an individual who is acting upon a plan adjust when facing contingencies? The relationship between plans and situated actions has remained a source of intense academic discussions (e.g., Bardram, 1997; Bardram & Hensen, 2010; Leudar & Costall, 1996; Ng, 2002; Schmidt, 1997; Suchman, 1987). Despite the ample research on the relationship between plans and situated actions, a review of the literature indicates that the problem has not been adequately addressed (Randall et al., 2007; Suchman 2003), which has compelled this researcher to create a theoretical model that integrates the disparate nature of plans and line of actions. Drawing on research on cognition and categorization theory, this thesis proposes a theoretical framework that conceptualizes the relationship between plans and situated actions in terms of activity categories. Specifically, the theoretical framework draws on the prototype and basic-level category theories of categorization, both of which were developed primarily by Rosch (1978), as well as the field theory developed by Lewin (1936). Categorization theories are used to address plans’ abstractness as they capture typifications of human experience. Field theory is used to address the concreteness of action as it captures dynamic properties of the situation in the here and now. The basic premise of the theoretical framework is that individuals conceive (have a knowledge) of plans and their attributes as future activity categories with a range of possibilities. These possibilities are structurally graded, ranging from highly typical to atypical. Plans are believed to be formed based on what is typical for the activity. The theoretical framework argues that an association exists between an individual’s knowledge of typical adjustment relevant to the activity and actual adjustment the individual makes while performing the activity. With this in mind, the theoretical framework considers the actor’s perspective to be central to the investigation. Based on the theoretical framework, several hypotheses are formularized and tested. An in-depth case study conducted in a ready-mix concrete company was used to examine aspects of the theoretical framework empirically. The results of the case study provide a wide range of independent evidence supporting the framework. In addition, an experimental methodology was developed for quantitative testing in the laboratory aspects of the theoretical framework not attainable in the case study. Theoretical and practical implications of the proposed framework and empirical findings are examined. Future research directions are discussed.

Computer-based information systems (IS) play an increasingly pervasive and important role in contemporary organisations. Despite decades of continuing research and the development of an extensive prescriptive literature, IS development projects continue to be problematic, with many failing or being seriously challenged. In addition, the IS development environment has changed significantly in recent years, with rapid advances or shifts in technology, increasing devolution of IS responsibility and expenditure to user groups, high levels of packaged software acquisition and customisation, greater outsourcing of IS development, and an increasing emphasis on enterprise-wide and inter-organisational IS. In many cases these changes are interrelated and involve more flexible, ad hoc or non-traditional development approaches. Combined with the fact that at the same time IS have become increasingly sophisticated and integrated, the potential for unpredictable or unintended consequences has also increased. Together, the continued problematic nature of many IS projects and the changing IS development environment, suggest that there is an ongoing need for a fuller understanding of IS development processes and practices. Given the limitations of factor-based, prescriptive studies, an understanding of how contemporary IS development is enacted needs to be grounded in and built upon the cumulative body of research that attempts to understand the complexity and dynamic nature of IS development. Accordingly, this study uses a conceptualisation of IS development as a process in which an IS emerges from a dynamic and interactive relationship between the technology, its social and organisational context, and the negotiated actions of various individuals and groups. The thesis presents the results of an extensive empirical investigation into contemporary ARE development practices based on data collected from New Zealand. The study uses a range of research methods and ultimately develops a sociotechnical process model of IS development as situated action. Following Walsham’s (1993) emphasis on the content, context and process of IS-related organisational change, the methods used in this study are three-fold. First, an extensive literature review is undertaken to provide a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary empirical knowledge about the content of IS development. Second, a survey is used to collect contextual data about IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand. Finally, these both support an in-depth longitudinal case study of the IS development process in an organisational setting. The literature review synthesises the results of recent empirical studies of the various influences that shape IS development, using a classificatory framework based around actors, project content, IS development processes, and context. The review shows that, while a number of traditional factors influencing IS development continue to be relevant, other factors have emerged as important as a result of changes to the IS development environment and to IS development practice. In particular, increasing recognition within the IS literature has been given to the relative importance of people and process and of the organisational and environmental context in which IS development takes place. The results of the literature review inform the design of a survey instrument intended to provide an updated assessment of IS development and acquisition practices in New Zealand organisations. A Web-based survey was administered to a sample of senior IS managers in 460 public and private sector organisations with 200 or more FTEs. Based on the 106 usable responses, the results of the survey confirm the ongoing relevance of a number of traditional factors identified in the IS literature as facilitating or inhibiting IS development. However, a number of factors were identified as emerging or increasing in relevance in light of changes in the IS development environment. While the survey provides a useful description of contemporary IS development and acquisition practice in New Zealand, it does not enable a detailed understanding of IS development in action. To address this, an IS project in a large New Zealand organisation was followed in action for over two years. The project involved the development of a sophisticated financial database model using a purchased commercial software package and external consultants. As such, it provides a useful exemplar of development in a contemporary IS environment. The case study illustrates how a seemingly small, well-defined project experienced delays and difficulties as might be expected in larger, more complex projects. It offers insights into the significance of external actors, the importance of full stakeholder participation, the influence of initial characterisations of the nature of the project, and the observance of project management processes. Consideration of the project outcome reveals its multi-dimensional, subjective and temporal nature. A process approach (Markus & Robey, 1988) is employed to structure the analysis of the case study. A combination of temporal bracketing, narrative analysis and visual representation is used to analyse the sequence of social action and organisational processes involved in the project and to develop a process explanation of how and why the particular project outcome in this case study developed over time. Underpinning and informing this analysis is the construction and utilisation of a model of IS development as a situated, sociotechnical process. Drawing on theoretical concepts from structuration theory and the sociology of technology, the model considers the situated actions and practices of various individuals and groups involved in IS development, the ways in which these are enacted within different contextual elements, and the role of existing and new technological artefacts in this process. IS development is characterised as iterative and emergent, with change occurring dynamically from a trajectory of situated interactions (in which meanings and actions are negotiated) and intended and unintended consequences. As a whole, this PhD highlights the changing nature of the IS development environment and the way a complex ensemble of ‘factors’ interact to influence IS project outcomes. Common themes emerge around the importance of people and process, and the context in which IS development takes place, while at the same time explicitly including a consideration of technology in the analysis.

The use of digital technology can be seen in many aspects of daily lives. Once a symbol of business and the corporate world, digital devices such as computers and cell phones are now common artifacts to adults and children alike. While these devices become more practical and common, questions of their impact on behavior and interactions begin to arise. Digital Drumming is a series of three experiments that examined the impact of known computer participation as a partner in a dyadic creative, experience-driven task. The subjective processes associated with the task of rhythmic music production by inexperienced and experienced participants working collaboratively either with a human or computer partner to produce complex poly-rhythm sounds were investigated. Specifically, the research question asked is: How do inexperienced versus experienced drummers solve problems of what to produce when they have a human partner, versus a computer partner? This is a problem of cooperation, synchronization, and microcoordination (Lee, Tatar, & Harrison, 2010). Data was collected through self-reported questionnaires and audio transcriptions of the actual sessions. Behavioral data and subjective experience responses suggested that participants viewed a computer's role differently depending on their experience level. Participants demonstrated a propensity to simultaneous interaction, often sharing a common tempo with variable rhythmic patterns. The importance of partner, as well as the perception of leader were influenced by the partner type, and the experience level of the participant. This work identifies differ- ent perceptions and expectations that humans of varying prior experience levels have when interacting with and responding to technology, and suggests deeper investigation into how people view technology in creative activities. / Master of Science

Human interactions with Information Technology tools are reproducing organisational cultural patterns in a process similar to the evolution of human tools and language. A multidisciplinary research in tool-mediated activity, culture, language and cognition will examine new concepts that can be important for the design of organisationally fit Information Technology interface tools. By using qualitative and quantitative analysis together with the fields of anthropology, philosophy, cognitive sciences and human computer interaction this thesis shows that cultural fitness is an important variable that can determine in a substantial degree the rejection or adoption of a tool in organisational environment. Qualitative and quantitative data collected from organisational simulations at the Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering of the University of Canberra during the period 1995-1997 has been used and analysed.

We sought to examine the potential differences between different types of risky decisions. While some decisions are easily represented as choices between future alternatives, other decisions may be better represented as the management of a personally owned situation. Schneider (2003) created the risk management task, which manifested these situated improvement decisions, and identified a unique pattern of risk preferences when compared to the standard gambling paradigm. To determine what cognitive processes might be differentially activated for each type of decisions so as to yield these risk preference differences, we incrementally manipulated the gambling paradigm to parse potentially influential elements of situational context from both risky choice and risk management. The elements of context found to be influential were (a) making an improvement of your situation rather than a choice within your situation, (b) integrating information into a more compact display, and (c) limiting the visual salience of consequence information. The implications of these results as they relate to current formal models of decision making and subsequent investigations of decision context are addressed. Future directions using a similar appreciation of individual perceptual and cognitive processes when studying decision making are also discussed.

This report is our Master thesis. Our work has taken place at a one-stop-shop in Sölvesborg during the spring of 2002. We have conducted ethnographical studies concerning the one-stop-shops frontdesk and telephone exchange. During these studies we became aware of some differences under which the daily work was to be carried out. When operating the switchboard the staff usually work alone and perform the tasks individually. At the frontdesk there's usually two or more people from the workforce. They carry out their work in the form of a network, where the colleagues support each other in what seemed to be seamless cooperative work. We closely studied the work being carried out by the staff at the frontdesk in order to gain a deeper understanding for their handling of cases in their daily work. How do the staff achieve this seamless cooperative work, and how are the cues that trigger the cooperative work being relayed? In this report we describe aspects of cooperative work and different mechanisms that affects cooperation. With the aid of concrete examples, we highlight how the staff in this environment, design their language and their actions. We argue that cooperative work is formed and coordinated with the aid of various artefacts. In the concrete worksituation there are cues being communicated that plays an important role in the success of the work being carried out. These cues often carry an invitation to cooperative work as we mean that they function as a way to ask the colleagues for assistance in the handling of a case, or reversed, function as to show that one is available and can assist the colleague. To understand these mechanisms of cooperative work, some general and others more specific to the workplace we have studied, is of great importance to the understanding of how cooperation is established. We highlight aspects of cooperation that are important and must be considered when designing new technology intended to support cooperative work. All names on individuals have been changed, to protect their true identity.