Comp 15 - Usability and Human Factors Unit 3c - Cognition and Human Performance This material was developed by Columbia University, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number 1U24OC000003.

Mental Models Reason about possible outcomes resulting from actions (e.g., clicking on this link) Retrieve episodes from memory to understand a new situation (e.g., last time my hard disk failed) Psychological construct for describing how individuals form internal models of systems Representations of parts in a system Understanding of how different parts of a system connect Mental models can be used to characterize an individual‘s: Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Mental Models (cont.) Running of a model corresponds to a process of mental simulation which can be used to generate possible future states of a system from observed or hypothetical state Use of a mental model engage temporal and spatial reasoning Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Mental Models (cont.) Predict/Anticipate and Explain How people form internal models of systems “If I click OK on a dialogue box button, what will happen next”? Running a model a process of mental simulation to generate possible future states “Why didn’t the program print” Can be used to explain what happened Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 ATMs 1 image of ATM screen where you can select what you want to do. 1 image of ATM screen where you can enter amount of cash to withdraw or choose pre-set option for fast cash. Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Limitations of Conventional Information Processing & HCI Limitations in application to real world contexts Ways people adapt and make use of tools is poorly understood People don’t fly solo (teams, collaborations) Theories too low level, limited in scope Limitations in application to real world contexts Theories too low level, limited in scope Ways people adapt and make use of tools is poorly understood People don’t fly solo (teams, collaborations) Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Limitations of Conventional Information Processing & HCI Narrow focus on the rational/cognitive processes of the solitary individual Knowledge in the head as opposed to in the world Distributed Cognition External representations Cognition as distributed in the social world Narrow focus on the rational/cognitive processes of the solitary individual Knowledge in the head as opposed to in the world Distributed Cognition External representations Cognition as distributed in the social world Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 Insert Clip Art Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011 To Sit or Not to Sit? Chair Schema Legs: 4 Surface affords sitting: Yes Availability status: Empty Awesome! Image of man looking at chair and thinking about sitting or not sitting. Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Distributed Cognition Intelligence as interwoven processing of internal and external information Focus on the interplay between internal and external representations Emphasis on real-world settings and ethnography The role of artifacts in task completion Organization of mind as an emergent property of interactions among internal and external resources Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Affordances Perceive the possibilities for action (physical property) Gibson: World is directly perceived based upon abundant sensory information Attributes of objects that allow people to know how to use them Door handles, water faucets, elevator panels, post-it notes, menus, buttons, lists, hypertext, scroll bars User needs to learn the meaning and function before knowing how to act Coordination, sequencing, feedback The way structures in the environment invite people to do something Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Distributed Cognition Image of woman working at computer. Distributed Cognition Coordinating internal (user’s mind) and external (interface, environ) resources Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011

Nurse Case Manager Workflow Image of woman working with 2 computer monitors. Component 15/Unit 3c Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 2.0/Spring 2011