Lecture 2

HUMAN COMPUTER
INTERACTION

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Summary
 In previous lecture we learnt about,
 Basics of Human Computer Interaction
 Alarm Clock Example
 Dos time versus software application

 Don Norman’s Door Example

 The human
 Information i/o …
 visual,
 auditory,

 haptic,

 movement
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TODAY’S OUTLINE
 The MEMORY
 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

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Memory
Memory
• Without the capacity to remember and to learn, it is difficult to
imagine what life would be like, whether it could be called living
at all. Without memory, we would be servants of the moment,
with nothing but our innate/inborn reflexes to help us deal with
the world. There could be no language, no art, no science, no
culture.’ (Blakemore, 1988)

Neurons Cell Brain

Memory
There are three types of memory function:

Sensory memories( visual sensor, auditory sensor, haptic )

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 (small time stay)
 echoic memory: aural stimuli
 haptic memory: tactile stimuli

 Examples
 “sparkler”trail
 stereo sound

 Continuously overwritten or Passed to

longer term memory)
Short-term memory (STM)
 Scratch-pad for temporary recall
(intermediate stage e.g. 36X 6)

 rapid access ~ 70ms

 rapid decay ~ 200ms

 limited
capacity - 7± 2 chunks 2 digit
chunks(unix command attribute not more than
7)
Examples

212348278493202

0121 414 2626

( Grouped or Chunked)

HEC ATR ANU PTH ETR EET

(The Cat Ran Up The Tree)
Long-term memory (LTM)
 Repository for all our knowledge
 slow access ~ 1/10 second ( 100 ms)
 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

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

 Model: semantic network

 inheritance – child nodes inherit properties of parent nodes
 relationships between bits(small piece) of information explicit
 supports inference through inheritance
LTM - semantic network

inheritance – child nodes inherit

properties of parent nodes
relationships between bits of
information explicit
supports inference through inheritance
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

DOG is class and collie is instance with data

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
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 pet dog

IF dog is growling
THEN run away
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(Two week one hour, one week two hour)

 structure, meaning and familiarity

 Meaningful information easier to remember(user name )
 Not meaningful info. more difficult to remember(password)
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(tend to
remember positive information rather than negative)
LTM - retrieval
recall
 information reproduced from memory can be assisted by cues,
e.g. categories, imagery ( visualized a scene then question
about scene, football match and about football match)
 child red plane dog friend blood cold tree big
angry
recognition
 information gives knowledge that it has been seen before
 less complex than recall - information is cue
 Easy
 Thinking

Reasoning
deduction, induction, abduction

Problem solving
Deductive Reasoning
 Deduction:
 derive logically necessary conclusion from given premises.
e.g. If it is Friday then he will go to work
It is Friday
Therefore he 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?
since we are not told that all babies are people.
possible that the babies who cry are those who
are not people.
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 prove true false.

… 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?

Abductive reasoning
 reasoning from event to cause
e.g. Sam drives fast when drunk.
If I see Sam driving fast, assume drunk. If I see Sam
driving fast, assume drunk. may be another reason why she is
driving fast: Emergency.

 Unreliable:
 can lead to false explanations
Problem solving
 Process of finding solution to unfamiliar task using
knowledge. Richard Mayer (1995)
noted that insight occurs
when a problem solver
 Several theories. moves from a state of not
knowing how to solve a
problem to knowing how
 Gestalt to solve a problem
 problem solving both productive and reproductive(Previous experience)
 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
 Behaviorists believe that our responses to environmental-stimuli shape
our actions
 The basic idea of Information processing theory is that the human
mind is like a computer or information processor. Human takes in
information, organizes and stores it to be retrieved at a later time.
 Problem solving (cont.)
Problem space theory
 Problem solving centres on problem space.
 problem space comprises problem states(initial state, goal state)
 problem solving involves generating states using legal operators
 people use the operators to move from the former(initial) to the latter(goal)
 heuristics may be employed to select operators e.g. means-ends analysis
 means-ends: initial state is compared with the goal state and an operator
chosen to reduce the difference between the two. e.g. Moving desk
 Newell and Simon’s model operates within constraints of human
information processing system e.g. STM limits, experience etc.
 Newell and Simon’s model applied well-defined areas e.g. puzzles is
unfamiliar but knowledge there to solve problem
Problem solving (cont.)
 Analogy ( new problem)
 analogical mapping:
 novel problems in new domain?
 To solve problem use knowledge from similar domain to new problem called
analogical mapping
 Similarities between the known domain and the new one are noted
and operators from the known domain are transferred to the new one.
 analogical mapping difficult if domains are semantically different

 Skill acquisition (familiar problem)

 To get insight how skills acquired done by considering the difference
between novice and expert behavior in given domains.
 conceptual rather than superficial grouping of problems
 information is structured more effectively
 Problem solving (cont.)
 Skill acquisition (familiar problem)
 To get insight how skills acquired done by considering the difference
between novice and expert behavior in given domains.
 Anderson’s ACT* model
1. The learner uses general-purpose rules which interpret facts about
a problem. This is slow and demanding on memory access.
2. The learner develops rules specific to the task.
3. The rules are tuned to speed up performance.
 Proceduralization
is a mechanism to move from the first to the second. removes the
parts of the rule which demand memory access and replaces
 Generalization
is a mechanism which moves from the second level to the third
 conceptual rather than superficial grouping of problems
 information is structured more effectively
 Problem solving (cont.)
IF cook[type, ingredients, time]
THEN
cook for: time
cook[casserole, [ chicken, carrots, potatoes], 2 hours]
cook[casserole, [beef,dumplings,carrots], 2 hours]
cook[cake, [flour,sugar,butter,eggs], 45 mins]
 Gradually your knowledge becomes proceduralized and you
have specific rules for each case:
 IF type is casserole
 AND ingredients are [chicken,carrots,potatoes]
 THEN
 cook for: 2 hours
 IF type is casserole
 AND ingredients are [beef,dumplings,carrots]
 THEN
 cook for: 2 hours
 Problem solving (cont.)
IF type is cake
AND ingredients are [flour,sugar,butter,eggs]
THEN
cook for: 45 mins
 Finally, you may generalize from these rules to produce general-purpose
rules, which
exploit their commonalities:
IF type is casserole
AND ingredients are ANYTHING
THEN
cook for: 2 hours
The
Errors and mental models
Types of error
 Familiar pattern may break through and cause an error. Change
in context,
Example, plan interface change for missile with ejection
 Right intention, but failed to do it right

 Mental models are prepared but often partial: the person does
not have a full understanding of the working of the whole system
Example: Lift button on inner side of frame than on wall.
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(perception)
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)
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
Individual differences
 long term
– gender, 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
SUMMARY
 Today we learnt about,
 MEMORY
 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

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