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PANEL ON HUMAN FACTORS SPECIALISTS' EDUCATION AND UTILIZATION
ROBERT C. WILLIGES (Chair),
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
MOHAMED M. AYOUB,
Department of Industrial Engineering, Texas Tech University
KENNETH R. BOFF, AAMRL/HEX,
Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
DAVID BLOOM,
Russell Sage Foundation, New York
CHARLES W. GEER,
Boeing Aerospace and Electronics, Seattle
OSCAR GRUSKY,*
Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
DOUGLAS H. HARRIS,
Anacapa Sciences, Inc., Charlottesville, Va.
DAVID KNOKE,
Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota
ALAN S. NEAL,
IBM Santa Teresa Lab, San Jose, Calif.
RICHARD PEW,
BBN Laboratories, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.
MARK S. SANDERS,
California State University, Northridge
CHRISTOPHER D. WICKENS,
Aviation Research Laboratory, Savoy, Ill.
HAROLD P. VAN COTT, Study Director
BEVERLY MESSICK HUEY, Associate Study Director
COMMITTEE ON HUMAN FACTORS
RAYMOND NICKERSON (Chair),
BBN Laboratories, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.
PAUL ATTEWELL,
Information Systems Area, New York University
MOHAMED M. AYOUB,
Department of Industrial Engineering, Texas Tech University
PAUL GOODMAN,
Center for Management and Technology, Carnegie Mellon University
JOHN GOULD,
IBM Corporation, Yorktown Heights, New York
ROBERT HELMREICH,
NASA/UT Aerospace Crew Resource Project, Austin, Tex.
ROBERTA KLATZKY,
Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
HERSCHEL LEIBOWITZ,
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University
NEVILLE MORAY,
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana
WILLIAM B. ROUSE,
Search Technology, Inc., Norcross, Ga.
JOYCE SHIELDS,
HAY Systems, Washington, D.C.
CHRISTOPHER D. WICKENS,
Aviation Research Laboratory, Savoy, Ill.
J. FRANK YATES,
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
LAURENCE YOUNG,
Man Vehicle Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Foreword
The Committee on Human Factors was established in October 1980 by the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Research Council. The committee is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, the Army Advanced Systems Research Office, the Army Human Engineering Laboratory, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The principal objectives of the committee are to provide new perspectives on theoretical and methodological issues, to identify basic research needed to expand and strengthen the scientific basis of human factors, and to attract scientists both inside and outside the field for interactive communication and needed research.
Human factors issues arise in every domain in which humans interact with the products of a technological society. To perform its role effectively, the committee draws on experts from a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines. Members of the committee include specialists in such fields as psychology, engineering, biomechanics, physiology, medicine, cognitive sciences, machine intelligence, computer sciences, sociology, education, and human factors engineering. Other disciplines are represented in the working groups, workshops, and symposia organized by the committee. Each of these disciplines contributes to the basic data, theory, and methods required to improve the scientific basis of human factors.
Acknowledgments
The activities of the panel and the preparation of this report are a special achievement, in light of the circumstances under which they occurred. The panel was established with Oscar Grusky and myself as cochairs. Just prior to the initiation of our work, I was involved in a serious automobile accident. My extensive hospitalization and rehabilitation precluded my participation in most of the panel deliberations. Oscar Grusky graciously accepted all the responsibilities of chairing the panel throughout my recovery. Unfortunately, personal responsibilities required that he resign from the panel shortly after my return to professional activities.
In addition to the effort and contributions of each member of the panel, six resource people participated in meetings addressing questionnaire development. These people included Earl Alluisi, assistant for training and personnel technology at the Pentagon; Thomas McCloy, associate professor and deputy for human factors at the United States Air Force Academy; John O'Brien, of the Human Factors Research Division, Electric Power Research Institute; Judith Olson, associate professor in the Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Michigan; Brian Peacock, human factors head at General Motors Corporation; and Ben Schneiderman, professor in the Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland. Their contribution is gratefully acknowledged.
This report is unusual in that its conclusions are based on the results of a survey of human factors specialists that was conducted for the study panel by the Survey Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Seymour Sudman directed all the survey activities, provided an initial summary of results, and was extremely responsive to additional
information requests of the panel members. Staff member Beverly Huey diligently conducted subsequent analyses of the survey data as needed by the panel and provided documentation for the statistical command files. The Close Combat (Light and Heavy) Division of the Human Engineering Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, provided access to their facilities for the follow-up analyses. Three panel members, Douglas Harris, Mark Sanders, and Richard Pew, accepted the major responsibility for summarizing and interpreting the survey results for the panel. Their summaries are presented in Chapters 3, 4, and 5, respectively, of this report.
The diversity of authorship and the integration of survey results and analyses required a major editing responsibility. Beverly Huey and Harold Van Cott expertly provided the necessary technical editing.
As chair of this study panel, I gratefully acknowledge the unselfish efforts of each of these individuals as well as the thoughtful deliberations and contributions of all our panel members. Without such a coordinated effort, we would not have been able to complete our study panel activities.
Robert C. Williges
Chair, Panel on Human Factors Specialists' Education and Utilization