HumanFactors

=HUMAN FACTORS PSYCHOLOGY - often involves __Industrial/Organizational psychologists__ (I/O Psych) as well as __cognitive__ and __social psychologists__ AND human factors engineers. It is also known as //engineering psychology//.=

=How can products be made more effective for human use - considering the predisposition to error humans have? Product development, usability testing, safety testing, and marketing research are now based in //human factors science.//=

===

===

In most textbooks, there is a picture of a stove to describe this type of psyc hology. An older stove-top like the one pictured left is counterintuitive: That is, the controls for the
== burners don't typically match where we think they should go. Turning the first knob, for example, does not necessarily turn on the first burner. __HUMAN EXPECTATIONS do not always match results.__ Manufacturers believed consumers would turn to the manual to learn which knob is which, but this is unrealistic in a kitchen. ==

==

==

==Today, human factors psychology has influenced the improvement of stove-top labels and many other items including surgery operating rooms and nuclear plant control rooms.==

= = = = = = =

= =What other industries does HUMAN FACTORS psychology seem CRITICAL?=

SURGERY ROOMS, MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FDA requires __**usability testing**__ to test efficacy and safety of medical devices.

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Human factors failure was one reason for Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. An operator in the room misread one of the lights on the control board - which was invalid during an emergency situation.

At Wichita State University, one can major in human factors psychology and the graduate program offers MANY laboratories to study. One of the labs is called the "Software Usability Research Lab/SURL" where the efficacy of technology is tested.

=Use this website to see a faulty product.= = HUMAN FACTORS PSYCHOLOGY =

GO TO @http://www.baddesigns.com/examples.html

Describe 1-2 bad designs and how psychologists suggest ways to improve.

Want to learn more? "Father" of human factors - studied how to make the telephone easier to use - John E. Karlin Wichita State University Human Factors Psychology page Read an article on Safety & Design provided by the APA, American Psychological Association HOT Careers - Video Game Design Human Factors, Ergonomics

More careers in psychology Careers or APAcareerpage