Thesis (Ph.D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2005. / Title from second page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [2], vi, 72, [22] p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-37).

In the road transportation industry development is moving towards more advanced technology and the use of automation in the driving environment is increasing. Regarding the safety risks associated with an unconsidered use of a high degree of automation, it is expensive to develop automatic systems dealing with complex situations. As there is still much improvement to do in this area, this thesis aims to contribute to developing safe autonomic systems to assist truck drivers. The aim of the study was twofold, namely 1) to use Cognitive Work Analysis to identify opportunities for enhancing human-heavy vehicle system performance and 2) to contribute to improving the possibilities for identifying opportunities for enhancing system performance through the development of a method of prioritizing Activities using a Contextual Activity Template. To identify the opportunities for improvement, the first two phases of a Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) – Work Domain Analysis (WDA) and Control Task Analysis (ConTA), were conducted. To complete the WDA, five hours of interviews were conducted with a senior technical adviser from Scania CV AB as well as a two hour interview with an experienced commercial driver. Additionally, an observation study was conducted during which three video cameras were used to capture sixteen hours of footage (per camera) from 35 hours (2500kms) of observation (one driver/day over a four day period). During the observation study, drivers were asked to talk out loud about the information needed, decisions made and to provide some rational for their behavior at that time with respect to their driving activities. A total of 40 minutes of talk out loud video data was collected per driver. Finally, around five hours of follow-up interviews were conduct-ed during which these drivers reviewed the videos collected during the observation study. The results from the WDA were presented in an Abstraction Hierarchy. The overall functional purpose of the system was defined as Goods Distribution via Road Transportation with the values and priorities being Effectivity and Efficiency, Safety, Comfort, Laws/regulations, Reputation, and Organizational Regulations. For the WDA in the current thesis, the AH was completed for the first three values listed above. In total the AH included 343 nodes (39 at the Purpose Related Functions level, 77 at the Object Related Processes level, and 211 at the Physical Objects level). The means by which the physical objects were used in different situations was described using a Contractual Activity Template. The object related processes defined in the AH were crosschecked with 42 situations identified during the observation study. Eight hours of further interviews were conducted with the previously-observed drivers to better understand the relationship between the object related processes and the situations. The object related process-situations matrix was then prioritized according to importance and frequency. On the basis of this prioritization, a set of potential improvement areas were identified, as for example communication and visibility during highway driving. / Transportindustrins utveckling går mot mer avancerad teknik och högre automationsgrad i förarmiljön. Det är kostsamt att utveckla automatiska system som klarar att hantera komplexa situationer på grund av de säkerhetsrisker som är förknippade med ogenomtänkt införande av automation. Eftersom det fortfarande finns mycket förbättring att göra inom området syftar denna studie till att bidra i utvecklingen av säkra autonoma system som stödjer lastbilschauffören. Studien hade ett tvåfaldigt syfte, nämligen 1) att använda Cognitive Work Analysis för att identifiera möjligheter att förbättra människa-fordonssystemsprestandan för tunga lastbilar och 2) att bidra till att förbättra möjligheterna att identifiera möjliga systemförbättringar genom utveckling av en metod för prioritering av aktiviteterna i en Contextual Activity Template. För att identifiera förbättringsmöjligheterna genomfördes de två första faserna av Cognitive Work Analysis – Work Domain Analysis (WDA) och Control Task Analysis (ConTA). För WDA utfördes fem timmar av intervjuer med en senior technical adviser från Scania VC AB och en två timmars intervju med en erfaren kommersiell lastbilschaufför. Utöver detta genomfördes en observationsstudie där tre videokameror användes för att samla 16 timmars inspelning (per kamera) från 35 timmars (2500 km) observation (en förare/dag under en fyradagarsperiod). Under observationsstudien berättade förarna högt om informationsbehov, beslut som tas och förklarade beteendet under de olika köraktiviteterna. Totalt 40 minuter av videodata när förarna berättade högt insamlades per förare. Slutligen genomfördes ungefär fem timmar av efterföljande intervjuer där samma förare fick återge körningen utifrån videomaterialet från observationsstudien. Resultatet från WDA presenterades i en abstraktionshierarki. Det övergripande funktionella syftet med systemet var definierat som godsdistribution via vägtransport med värdena och prioriteringarna Effektivitet, Säkerhet, Komfort, Lagar/Regler, Rykte och Organisatoriska regler. För WDA:n i detta examensarbete gjordes en AH för de tre första värdena nämnda ovan. Totalt bestod AH av 343 noder, (39 på nivån med syftesrelaterade funktioner, 77 på nivån med objektrelaterade processer och 211 på nivån med fysiska objekt). I vilka situationer de fysiska objektens funktioner användes beskrevs med en Contractual Activity Template (CAT; Naikar et al., 2006). De objektrelaterade processer definierade i AH:n undersöktes utifrån 42 situationer identifierade under observationsstudien. Åtta timmar av vidare intervju genomfördes med förarna från observationsstudien för att erhålla en bättre förståelse för förhållandet mellan de objektrelaterade processerna och situationerna. Matrisen med objektrelaterade processer och situationer prioriterades sedan enligt betydelse och frekvens. Baserat på prioriteringen identifierades ett antal potentiella förbättringsområden, exempelvis kommunikation och synlighet under landsvägskörning.

Proactive behaviour implies taking initiative and mastering unexpected situations, and hence, is desirable in different situations. The present thesis includes three empirical studies intended to understand the consequences of proactive behaviour, as well as the factors that contribute to proactive behaviour at work and when facing unemployment. More specifically, whether job design, as measured by objective work task analysis, provides conditions conducive to proactivity in the workplace and when facing unemployment. The results of proactive behaviour during unemployment were also of interest. Study I focused on the influence of job design on individuals’ personal initiative and confidence in their ability when facing unemployment. Participants were employees at a downsizing Swedish assembly plant. Confidence in one’s ability mediated the relationship between job design and personal initiative, and personal initiative affected job search behaviour when advised to be dismissed. Study II, a longitudinal exploration, focused on the predictors of re-employment in the same group as in Study I. Men were more than nine times as likely as women to obtain jobs within 15 months. Individuals without children were more than seven times as likely as those with children to find work within 15 months. The desire to change occupation and willingness to relocate also increased the probability of being re-employed, whereas anonymous-passive job-search behaviour and work-related self-efficacy actually decreased the probability of re-employment. The number of job applications did not impact later re-employment. Study III analysed job design as a predictor of group initiative and self-organisational activities in semiautonomous industrial work groups. An input-process-output model showed that group processes such as reflexivity mediated the impact of job design on proactivity in work groups. Taken together, these studies suggest that work task analysis a useful tool, since it provides access to information that cannot be obtained with self-report measures. Job design indirectly affected proactivity both in the face of unemployment, and in industrial work groups. Further, it is worthwhile to continue identifying the antecedents and consequences of proactivity, as this seems to be an important factor regarding work and unemployment.

This study is directed to the problem of the quantitative determination of the number of additional personnel required in an organization for servicing unscheduled priority tasks without delaying the completion of scheduled tasks. The manager of an organization which has been enlarged in order to respond adequately to the random arrival of priority requests may face criticism if the organization appears to be "overstaffed" during periods when only "routine" service requirements must be met. An audit team oriented toward accounting-type data may be reluctant to accept a manager's justification of his organization's size if the justification is based primarily on nonquantitative arguments.

This action research explores ways of adapting Task-based language teaching for teaching grammar to Primary six Hong Kong students while maintaining the structural Presentation-Practice-Production approach. It integrates two kinds of focused tasks into the intervention. They are Consciousness-raising tasks and Practice-based tasks. It investigates learners‘perceptions of those two tasks on English grammar learning by collecting questionnaires and conducting interviews. After the first cycle of the intervention, the researcher analyzed the data, students‘performance and works in order to make adjustments for the second cycle. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed to collect data from high, average and low-achieving students. It was found that students were positive towards Consciousness-raising tasks, Practice-based tasks and the intervention. They were generally satisfied with the chances provided for individual and group learning, teacher‘s PowerPoint presentation, teacher support and task sequencing. Implications for future research encompass investigation on the intervention‘s emphasis on a sequence of focused tasks to learn the form, meaning and use of target structures for leading learners to attain accuracy, fluency and complexity in second language acquisition. Most importantly, it suggests that teachers have to be flexible and design suitable tasks according to the target structures, students‘ability and learning style as well as available resources. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The first step in developing or updating a licensure or certification examination is to conduct a job or task analysis. Following completion of the job analysis, a survey validation study is performed to validate the results of the job analysis and to obtain task ratings so that an examination blueprint may be created. Psychometricians and job analysts have spent years arguing over the choice of scales that should be used to evaluate job tasks, as well as how those scales should be combined to create an examination blueprint. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between individual and composite rating scales, examine how that relationship varied across industries, sample sizes, task presentation order, and number of tasks rated, and evaluate whether examination blueprint weightings would differ based on the choice of scales or composites of scales used. Findings from this study should be used to guide psychometricians and job analysts in their choice of rating scales, choice of composites of rating scales, and how to create examination blueprints based upon individual and/or composite rating scales. A secondary data analysis was performed to help answer some of these questions. As part of the secondary data analysis, data from 20 survey validation studies performed during a five year period were analyzed. Correlations were computed between 29 pairings of individual and composite rating scales to see if there were redundancies in task ratings. Meta-analytic techniques were used to evaluate the relationship between each pairing of rating scales and to determine if the relationship between pairings of rating scales was impacted by several factors. Lastly, sample examination blueprints were created from several individual and composite rating scales to determine if the rating scales that were used to create the examination blueprints would ultimately impact the weighting of the examination blueprint. The results of this study suggest that there is a high degree of redundancy between certain pairs of scales (i.e., the Importance and Criticality rating scale are highly related), and a somewhat lower degree of redundancy between other rating scales; but that the same relationship between rating scales is observed across many variables, including the industry for which the job analysis was being performed. The results also suggest the choice of rating scales used to create examination blueprints does not have a large effect on the finalized examination blueprint. This finding is especially true if a composite rating scale is used to create the weighting on the examination blueprint.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

Several analytical techniques including use case diagrams, process flow diagrams (PFDs), hierarchical task analysis (HTA), failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), systematic human error reduction and prediction approach (SHERPA), hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP), heuristics, the Safe Living Guide and the Resident Assessment Instrument – Home Care (RAI-HC) are applied to data obtained from two pilot home visits to determine whether common failure modes, causes, effects and recommendations are yielded by the techniques. The time required to apply each analytical technique to processes uncovered from the pilot data was measured and outputs of the techniques were reviewed for commonality. Of the tools considered, SHERPA was found to return the most failure modes, effects and recommendations, while FMEA was the only human factors tool to yield causes. Additionally, FMEA and SHERPA provided a means of ranking potential failure modes based on severity and probability.

This thesis investigates the relationships between performance, workload, and situation awareness at varying levels of automation. The relationships observed in this study are compared to a description put forth to formalize the conventional interpretation of the trade-off between the benefits of automation during routine operation and the costs under conditions of automation failure. The original work stipulated that this “routine-failure trade-off” is likely a simplification affected by contextual factors. This work therefore aimed to i) provide empirical evidence to support or refute the trade-off and ii) to identify possible extenuating factors. The results generally supported the routine-failure trade-off, and considered in light of the functional structure of the task suggested that the relationships between goals and individual functions specific to a given task seem to affect the overall costs and benefits of automation through the mechanism of selective reliance. Further work is required to validate the findings of this study.