Chapter 2

Human in HCI
 The human

 The central character in any discussion of interactive

system, the human.
 Human/the user is the one whom computer systems are
designed to assist.
 User requirements should be our first priority.
 Needs a look at human cognitive psychology.
 What is psychology/cognitive psychology/?
 Understanding peoples capabilities and limitations in order
to design something for some one.
E.g. usable interactive computing
 How humans receive, perceive information, how they
manipulate objects physically.
how can we help them?
 Analogy
What is the difference Between? Human mind versus
computer information processing system?
 Human
• Input –output
• Memory
• Information Processing( intelligent )
– Problem solving ,learning and errors
• Environmental factors
 Human information input-output
• Information is received and responses given
via a number of input and output channels:
1. Visual channel
2. Auditory channel
3. Haptic channel
4. Movement
 Vision/the human eye/sight/
• Primary source of information for human.
• Two stages in vision
1. The physical reception of the stimulus from the outside
world,
2. The processing and interpretation of that stimulus(internal
visual processing).
Vision begins with light.
 The human eye receives light and transforms into
electrical signal.
 Light is reflected from objects in the world and their
image is focused upside down on the back of the
eye/retina/.
 Eye components
1. Cornea:
 Outermost lens,layer at the front of the eye. The cornea helps
your eye to focus light so you can see clearly.
 The cornea contributes between 65-75 percent of the eye's total
focusing power.
2. Retina:
 Contains rods for low light vision and cones for colour vision
 Retina is light sensitive(light entry control) and contains two types
of photoreceptor: rods and cones.
 Rods: Rods are highly sensitive to light and therefore allow us to
see under a low level of illumination, Temporarily blindness
when we move from darkened room into sunlight
 Cons:
• Tolerate more light
• Color vision
• Approximately 6 million cones, mainly concentrated on the
fovea, a small area of the retina on which images are fixated
Eye components
 Retina contains a ganglion cells(nerve cell): ..visual cortex
• (brain!) detect pattern and movement
– There are two types:
o X-cells: concerned with fovea and are
responsible for the early detection of pattern.
o Y-cells : More widely distributed in the retina
and are responsible for the early detection of
movement.
 How we perceive size ,depth , brightness and color ?
– This is very crucial to design an effective user interface
for HCI!!!!!
 Interpreting the signal
 Size and depth
 How the eye perceives size ,depth and distance?
 Visual angle indicates how much of view object occupies
• Further distance less visual angel
• Less distance more visual angel
 Visual acuity(sharpness/ keenness) is ability to perceive
detail
 Familiar objects perceived as constant size (in spite of
changes in visual angle when far away)
 Interpreting the signal (cont)
 Brightness
– subjective reaction to levels of light
– affected by luminance (amount of light emitted by an
object)
– measured by just noticeable difference
– visual acuity increases with luminance as does flicker
 Colour
– made up of
• hue(wavelength of the light)
• intensity(brightness of the colour)
• saturation(amount of whiteness in the color)
– cones sensitive to colour wavelengths
– blue acuity is lowest
– 8% males and 1% females colour blind
 Interpreting the signal (cont)
• The visual system compensates(Make amends) for:
– movement
– changes in luminance.

• Context is used to resolve ambiguity

• What is optical illusion?
• Optical illusions are images or pictures that we perceive
differently than they really are.
• Optical illusions sometimes occur due to over compensation
 Optical Illusions

the Ponzo illusion the Muller Lyer illusion

the Muller Lyer illusion:-two lines of the same length appear to be of different lengths.

the Ponzo illusion:-identical lines appears distorted due to the pair of converging lines
that follow them.
 Questions
• In which part of retina does best color vision?
– Why?
• Read about color blindness ? And how it happens?

• Discuss Capabilities and limitations of Human visual

processing?
 Reading
• Several stages:
 visual pattern perceived
 decoded using internal representation of language
 interpreted using knowledge of syntax,semantics,pragmatics
 The eye moves backwards over the text as well as forwards,
in what are known as regressions.
• If the text is complex there will be more regressions.

• Reading involves saccades/ jerky movements/rapid movement/

and fixations
• saccade - a rapid movement of the eye between fixation points
• Perception occurs during fixations
• Word shape is important to recognition
 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
• Humans can hear frequencies from 20Hz to 15kHz
• Auditory system filters sounds
– can attend to sounds over background noise.
• For example: the cocktail party phenomenon.
 Touch(haptic perception)
• Provides important feedback about environment.
• May be key sense for someone who is visually impaired!!
• Stimulus received via receptors in the skin:
– thermo receptors – heat and cold
– nociceptors – painful stimuli
– mechanoreceptors – pressure(some instant,some
continuous)
• Some areas more sensitive than others e.g. fingers.
• Kinesthesis - The ability to feel movements of the limbs and
body
 awareness of body position
 affects comfort and performance.
 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.
• 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
• targets as large as possible distances as small as possible
 Human-Memory
There are three types of memory function:

Sensory or buffer memories

Short-term memory or working memory

Long-term memory

Selection of stimuli governed by level of arousal.

 Sensory memory
• Buffers for stimuli received through senses
– iconic memory: visual stimuli
– echoic memory: aural stimuli
– haptic memory: tactile stimuli
• Examples
– “sparkler” trail
– stereo sound
• Continuously overwritten memory
 Short-term memory (STM)
• “Scratch-pad” for temporary recall
• store information which is only required fleetingly
• temporary recall of information
 rapid access ~ 70ms
 rapid decay ~ 200ms
 limited capacity 7± 2 chunks(STM)
• Measuring memory capacity
• Length of sequence which can be remembered
• Items to be freely recalled in any order
• average person can remember =7±2 digits/chanks
• Successful formation of chank is closure.
 Examples
212348278493202

0121 414 2626

HEC ATR ANU PTH ETR EET

 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 and
experiences
– semantic – structured memory of facts, concepts,
skills

semantic LTM derived from episodic LTM

 Long-term memory (cont.)
• Semantic memory structure
– provides access to information
– represents relationships between bits of information
– supports inference(conclusion based on evidence)

• Model: semantic network

– inheritance – child nodes inherit properties of parent
nodes
– relationships between bits of information explicit
– supports inference through inheritance
LTM - Semantic network
 Models of LTM - Frames
• Information organized in data structures
• Slots in structure instantiated with values for instance of data
• Type–subtype relationships

COLLIE
DOG
Fixed
Fixed legs: 4 breed of: DOG
type: sheepdog
Default diet: carnivorous
sound: bark Default
size: 65 cm
Variable
size:…. Variable
Color: color

• Frame based representation of knowledge on LTM, attributes

and values
• Structured representations such as frames and scripts
organize information into data structures
– Slots in these structures allow attribute values to be added
– Frame slots may contain default, fixed or variable
information
– Frame is instantiated when the slots are filled with
appropriate values
– Frames and scripts can be linked together in networks to
represent hierarchical structured knowledge.
– A script allowing us to interpret partial descriptions or cues
fully.
– A script comprises a number of elements, which, like slots,
can be filled with appropriate information
 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

• A script for visiting the vet

 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
 Assignment
• Pick one real world object and design its semantic network
based on your concept, skill and experience.
– Support the semantic network with:
• Frames ,scripts and production rules
And you are expected to present in class.
 LTM - Storage of information
( LTM -Related activity)
 Rehearsal
– information moves from STM to LTM
 Total time hypothesis
– amount retained proportional to rehearsal time
– recall of individual words depends primarily on the
total viewing time
 Distribution of practice effect
– optimized by spreading learning over time
 Structure, meaning and familiarity
– information easier to remember
 LTM - Forgetting
Decay
– information is lost gradually but very slowly
Interference
– new information replaces old: retroactive interference
– old may interfere with new: proactive inhibition

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
 Thinking
 Reasoning
• deduction, induction, abduction
 Problem solving
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
 Deduction (cont.)
• When truth and logical validity clash …
e.g. Some people are babies
Some babies cry
Inference - Some people cry
Correct?
 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.
 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?

 Adductive 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
 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
 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
 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
• Behaviorists researchers
 They argued that problem solving was a reproductive
process
 Organisms faced with a problem applied behavior that had
been successful on a previous occasion
 Successful behavior was itself believed to have been
arrived at through a process of trial-and-error
• The Gestalt approach
 Argued that problem solving was a productive process.
 In particular, in the process of thinking about a problem
individuals sometimes "restructured" their representation of
the problem, leading to a flash of insight that enabled them
to reach a solution.
 Problem space theory cognitive approach
• People solve problems by searching in a problem space
• The problem space consists of the initial (current) state,
the goal state, and all possible states in between
• The actions that people take in order to move from one
state to another are known as operators.
Consider the eight puzzle.
 Errors and mental models
Types of error
• slips
– right intention, but failed to do it right
– causes: poor physical skill, in attention 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
 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
 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)
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
 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?
 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
– cognitive models
– experimental and analytic evaluation techniques
 Summery
• So far we have looked briefly at the way in which humans
receive, process and store information, solve problems and
acquire skill
• But how can we apply what we have learned to designing
interactive systems?
• Human psychology vs interface design?
• What are mental models, and why are they important in
interface design?
• What can a system designer do to minimize the memory
load of the user?