Wollo University

Kombolcha Institute of
Technology
College of Informatics
Department of Information
Human-Computer Interaction
Technology (HCI)

CHAPTER 2
THE HUMAN
Instructor : Habtamu Abate
Email: [email protected]
1
 Outline
The human
Information i/o …
visual, auditory, haptic, movement
Information stored in memory
sensory, short-term, long-term
Information processed and applied
reasoning, problem solving, skill, error
Emotion influences human capabilities
Each person is different
Chapter 2 The human 2
 Vision

Two stages in vision

 physical reception of stimulus

 processing and interpretation of

stimulus

Chapter 2 The human 3

 The Eye - physical reception

Mechanism for receiving light and

transforming it into electrical energy.
light reflects from objects.
images are focused upside-down on retina.
retina contains rods for low light vision and
cones for colour vision.
ganglion cells (brain!) detect pattern and
movement.

Chapter 2 The human 4

 Interpreting the signal
 Size and depth
 visualangle indicates how much of view
object occupies
• (relates to size and distance from eye)
 visual acuity is ability to perceive detail
• (limited)

 familiar objects perceived as constant size

• (in spite of changes in visual angle when far away)

 cues like overlapping help perception of

size and depth

Chapter 2 The human 5

 Interpreting the signal (cont)
 Brightness
 subjective reaction to levels of light
 affected by luminance of object
 measured by just noticeable difference
 visual acuity increases with luminance as does
flicker
 Colour
 made up of hue, intensity and saturation
 cones sensitive to colour wavelengths
 blue acuity is lowest
 8% males and 1% females colour blind
Chapter 2 The human 6
 Interpreting the signal (cont)
 The visual system compensates for:
 movement

 changes in luminance.

 Context is used to resolve ambiguity.

 Optical illusions sometimes occur due

to over compensation.

Chapter 2 The human 7

 Optical Illusions

the Ponzo illusion the Muller Lyer illusion

Chapter 2 The human 8

 Reading
 Several stages:
 visual pattern perceived
 decoded using internal representation of
language
 interpreted using knowledge of syntax,
semantics, pragmatics
 Reading involves saccades and fixations.
 Perception occurs during fixations.
 Word shape is important to recognition.
 Negative contrast improves reading from
computer screen.
Chapter 2 The human 9
 Hearing
 Provides information about environment:
distances, directions, objects etc.
 Physical apparatus:
 outer ear – protects inner and amplifies sound
 middle ear – transmits sound waves as
vibrations to inner ear
 inner ear – chemical transmitters are released
and cause impulses in auditory nerve
 Sound
 pitch – sound frequency
 loudness – amplitude
 timbre – type or quality

Chapter 2 The human 10

 Hearing (cont)
 Humans can hear frequencies from 20Hz to
15kHz
 less accurate distinguishing high frequencies than
low.

 Auditory system filters sounds

 can attend to sounds over background noise.
 for example, the cocktail party phenomenon.

Chapter 2 The human 11

 Touch
 Provides important feedback about environment.
 May be key sense for someone who is visually impaired.
 Stimulus received via receptors in the skin:
 thermoreceptors – heat and cold
 nociceptors – pain
 mechanoreceptors – pressure
(some instant, some continuous)

 Some areas more sensitive than others e.g. fingers.

 Kinethesis - awareness of body position
 affects comfort and performance.

Chapter 2 The human 12

 Movement
 Time taken to respond to stimulus:
reaction time + movement
time
 Movement time dependent on age, fitness etc.
 Reaction time - dependent on stimulus type:
 visual ~ 200ms
 auditory ~ 150 ms
 pain ~ 700ms
 Increasing reaction time decreases accuracy in
the unskilled operator but not in the skilled
operator.
Chapter 2 The human 13
 Movement (cont)
 Fitts' Law describes the time taken to hit a
screen target:

Mt = a + b log2(D/S + 1)
where: a and b are empirically determined
constants
Mt is movement time
D is Distance
S is Size of target

Þ targets as large as possible

distances as small as possible
Chapter 2 The human 14
 Human Memory
 Our memory contains our knowledge of
actions or procedures.
 It allows us to repeat actions, to use
language, and to use new information
received via our senses.
 It also gives us our sense of identity, by
preserving information from our past
experiences.

Chapter 2 The human 15

 Memory

There are three types of memory function:

Sensory memories

Short-term memory or working memory

Long-term memory

Selection of stimuli governed by level of

arousal.
Chapter 2 The human 16
 sensory memory
 Buffers for stimuli received through
senses
 iconicmemory: visual stimuli
 echoic memory: aural stimuli

 haptic memory: tactile stimuli

 Examples
 “sparkler”trail
 stereo sound

 Continuously overwritten
Chapter 2 The human 17
 Short-term memory (STM)
 Scratch-pad for temporary recall
 rapid access ~ 70ms

 rapid decay ~ 200ms

 limited capacity - 7± 2 chunks

Chapter 2 The human 18

 Examples

212348278493202

0121 414 2626

HEC ATR ANU PTH ETR EET

Chapter 2 The human 19

 Long-term memory (LTM)
 Repository for all our knowledge
 slow access ~ 1/10 second
 slow decay, if any

 huge or unlimited capacity

 Two types
 episodic – serial memory of events
 semantic– structured memory of facts, concepts, skills

 semantic LTM derived from episodic LTM

Chapter 2 The human 20

 Long-term memory
 If short-term memory is our working
memory or ‗scratch-pad‗, long-term
memory is our main resource.
 Here we store factual information,
experiential knowledge, procedural
rules of behavior –
 in fact, everything that we know.

Chapter 2 The human 21

 Long-term memory (cont.)
 Semantic memory structure
 provides access to information
 represents relationships between bits of information
 supports inference

 Model: semantic network

 inheritance – child nodes inherit properties of
parent nodes.
 relationships between bits of information explicit
 supports inference through inheritance

Chapter 2 The human 22

LTM - semantic network

Chapter 2 The human 23

 Models of LTM - Frames
 Information organized in data structures
 Slots in structure instantiated with values for instance of
data
 Type–subtype relationships

DOG COLLIE

Fixed Fixed
legs: 4 breed of: DOG
type: sheepdog
Default
diet: carniverous Default
sound: bark size: 65 cm
Variable Variable
size: colour
colour

Chapter 2 The human 24

 Models of LTM - Scripts
 Model of stereotypical information required to interpret
situation
 Script has elements that can be instantiated with values for
context
Script for a visit to the vet

Entry conditions: dog ill Roles: vet examines

vet open diagnoses
owner has money treats
owner brings dog in
Result: dog better
pays
owner poorer
takes dog out
vet richer
Scenes: arriving at reception
Props: examination table
waiting in room
medicine
examination
instruments
paying
Tracks: dog needs medicine
dog needs operation
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 Models of LTM - Production rules

Representation of procedural knowledge.

Condition/action rules
if condition is matched
then use rule to determine action.

IF dog is wagging tail

THEN pat dog

IF dog is growling
THEN run away
Chapter 2 The human 26
 LTM - Storage of information
 rehearsal
 information moves from STM to LTM

 total time hypothesis

 amount retained proportional to rehearsal time

 distribution of practice effect

 optimized by spreading learning over time

 structure, meaning and familiarity

 information easier to remember
Chapter 2 The human 27
 LTM - Forgetting
 decay
 information is lost gradually but very slowly

 interference
 new information replaces old: retroactive
interference
 old may interfere with new: proactive
inhibition
 so may not forget at all memory is selective …
 … affected by emotion – can subconsciously
`choose' to forget
Chapter 2 The human 28
 LTM - retrieval
recall
 information reproduced from memory can be
assisted by cues, e.g. categories, imagery

recognition
 information gives knowledge that it has been seen
before
 less complex than recall - information is cue

Chapter 2 The human 29

 Thinking
Reasoning
deduction, induction, abduction
Problem solving

Chapter 2 The human 30

 Deductive Reasoning
 Deduction:
 derive logically necessary conclusion from given
premises.
e.g. If it is Friday then she will go to work
It is Friday
Therefore she will go to work.

 Logical conclusion not necessarily true:

e.g. If it is raining then the ground is dry
It is raining
Therefore the ground is dry

Chapter 2 The human 31

 Deduction (cont.)
 When truth and logical validity clash …
e.g. Some people are babies
Some babies cry
Inference - Some people cry
Correct?

 People bring world knowledge to bear

Chapter 2 The human 32

 Inductive Reasoning
 Induction:
 generalize from cases seen to cases unseen
 e.g. all elephants we have seen have trunks
therefore all elephants have trunks.

 Unreliable:
 can only prove false not true

 … but useful!
 Humans not good at using negative evidence.
 e.g. Wason's cards.

Chapter 2 The human 33

 Wason's cards

7 E 4 K
If a card has a vowel on one side it has an even number on the other

Is this true?

How many cards do you need to turn over to find out?

…. and which cards?

Chapter 2 The human 34

 Abductive reasoning
 reasoning from event to cause
 e.g. Sam drives fast when drunk.
 If I see Sam driving fast, assume drunk.

 Unreliable:
 can lead to false explanations

Chapter 2 The human 35

 Problem solving
 Process of finding solution to unfamiliar task
using knowledge.
 Several theories.
 Gestalt
 problem solving both productive and reproductive
 productive draws on insight and restructuring of
problem
 attractive but not enough evidence to explain
`insight' etc.
 move away from behaviourism and led towards
information processing theories

Chapter 2 The human 36

 Problem solving (cont.)
Problem space theory
 problem space comprises problem states
 problem solving involves generating states using legal
operators
 heuristics may be employed to select operators
e.g. means-ends analysis
 operates within human information processing system
e.g. STM limits etc.
 largely applied to problem solving in well-defined areas
e.g. puzzles rather than knowledge intensive areas

Chapter 2 The human 37

 Problem solving (cont.)
 Analogy
 analogical mapping:
• novel problems in new domain?
• use knowledge of similar problem from similar domain
 analogical mapping difficult if domains are
semantically different

 Skill acquisition
 skilled activity characterized by chunking
• lot of information is chunked to optimize STM
 conceptual rather than superficial grouping of
problems
 information is structured more effectively
Chapter 2 The human 38
 Errors and mental models
Types of error
 slips
 right intention, but failed to do it right
 causes: poor physical skill,inattention etc.
 change to aspect of skilled behaviour can
cause slip

 mistakes
 wrong intention
 cause: incorrect understanding
humans create mental models to explain behaviour.
if wrong (different from actual system) errors can occur
Chapter 2 The human 39
 Emotion
 Various theories of how emotion works
 James-Lange: emotion is our interpretation of a
physiological response to a stimuli
 Cannon: emotion is a psychological response to a
stimuli
 Schacter-Singer: emotion is the result of our
evaluation of our physiological responses, in the light
of the whole situation we are in
 Emotion clearly involves both cognitive and
physical responses to stimuli

Chapter 2 The human 40

 Emotion (cont.)
 The biological response to physical stimuli is called
affect.
 Affect influences how we respond to situations
 positive  creative problem solving
 negative  narrow thinking

“Negative affect can make it harder to do

even easy tasks; positive affect can make
it easier to do difficult tasks”
(Donald Norman)

Chapter 2 The human 41

 Emotion (cont.)
Implications for interface design
 stress will increase the difficulty of
problem solving
 relaxed users will be more forgiving
of shortcomings in design
 aesthetically pleasing and rewarding
interfaces will increase positive affect

Chapter 2 The human 42

 Individual differences
 long term
– sex, physical and intellectual abilities
 short term
– effect of stress or fatigue
 changing
– age

Ask yourself:
will design decision exclude section of user
population?

Chapter 2 The human 43

 Psychology and the Design of
Interactive System
 Some direct applications
 e.g. blue acuity is poor
 blue should not be used for important
detail
 However, correct application generally requires
understanding of context in psychology, and an
understanding of particular experimental
conditions.
 A lot of knowledge has been distilled in
 guidelines (chap 5)
 cognitive models (chap 4)
 experimental and analytic evaluation techniques
(chap 7)
Chapter 2 The human 44
Thank you

Questions?

Chapter 2 The human 45

 EXERCISE
1. Observe skilled and novice operators in a familiar domain:
for example, touch and 'hunt-and-peck' typists, expert and
novice game players, or expert and novice users of a
computer application. What differences can you discern
between their behaviours?
2. From what you have learned about cognitive psychology,
devise appropriate guidelines for use by interface
designers. You may find it helpful to group these under key
headings: for example, visual perception, memory, problem
solving, etc, although some may overlap such groupings.
3. What are mental models, and why are they important in
interface design?
4. What can a system designer do to minimise the memory
load of the user?
Chapter 2 The human 46