Publication statistics
Pub. period:1991-1995
Pub. count:16
Number of co-authors:22
Co-authors
Number of publications with 3 favourite co-authors:
N. Clayton Silver:7Janan Al-Awar Smither:3Robert S. Kennedy:3 Productive colleagues
Curt C. Braun's 3 most productive colleagues in number of publications:
Eduardo Salas:47Robert S. Kennedy:33N. Clayton Silver:16
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”
-- Alfred North Whitehead
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Curt C. Braun
Publications by Curt C. Braun (bibliography)
Braun, Curt C., Glusker, Stephanie A., Holt, Ronda S. and Silver, N. Clayton (1995): Adding Consequence Information to Product Instructions: Changes in Hazard Perceptions. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. pp. 346-350.
“Product instructions represent one possible medium through which product hazard and safety information can be conveyed. Recent research has demonstrated that the likelihood of precautionary behavior increases when such behaviors are explicitly described within the product-use instructions. Although precautionary information has been provided within the instructions, some users are unable to translate this information into action. Moreover, the inclusion of explicit actions within product-use instructions has not been shown to influence perceptions of product related hazards. The present effort evaluated the utility of adding consequence information to product instructions. A sample of 193 participants evaluated the likelihood that they would be injured while using two different products displaying instructions that outlined only the actions to be performed, actions followed by consequences, consequences followed by actions, and actions with the product warning repeated within the instructions. The data revealed that instructions outlining the consequences before the actions yielded the highest likelihood of injury ratings. Measures of instruction complexity, however, revealed no significant differences between instruction sets. The data, in conjunction with previous findings, suggest that product-use instructions represent a viable means of conveying product hazards.”
© All rights reserved Braun et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Alves-Foss, Janice D., Thomas, Gregory W. and Braun, Curt C. (1995): The Effects of Pictograph Explicitness on Hazard Perceptions. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. p. 934.
“Little is known about how warning label pictographs representing the same hazard condition compare in effectiveness. Thirty-three undergraduate students viewed six pictographs that varied across three levels of pictograph explicitness (high, medium and low) and two hazard conditions (electric shock and hand trauma). Subjects rated each pictograph on five variables: hazardousness, carefulness, likelihood of injury, severity of injury and exaggeration of the hazard. A composite variable named "perceived hazard" was formed from the averaged ratings of hazardousness and carefulness. Results showed that increasing explicitness was associated with higher levels of perceived hazard, likelihood of injury and severity of injury. The data also indicated that increases in explicitness were viewed as exaggerations of the hazard. These results suggest that the pictograph can play a role in communicating varying levels of hazard.”
© All rights reserved Alves-Foss et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Smither, Janan Al-Awar, Braun, Curt C. and Navarro, Guillermo (1995): The Effects of Print Type on the Readability of Computer Displays by Older and Younger Adults. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. p. 960.
“The present research investigated the readability of computer text using various combinations of fonts, sizes, and weights of print. Older and younger adult's reading speeds and error rates for the different print types were compared. The overall findings of the study indicate significant differences in reading speed and error rates for the print characteristics investigated. Furthermore, the effects of these print characteristics varied for individuals of different age groups. Implications of these findings for the design of computer text for older adults are discussed.”
© All rights reserved Smither et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Smither, Janan Al-Awar, Piccione, Frances and Braun, Curt C. (1995): Computer Displays and Older Adults. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. p. 960.
“The present study investigated the effects of enhanced visual displays on the reading speed and comprehension of younger and older adults. The findings indicated that when the characteristics of the display medium accommodated visual declines related to aging no differences in performance between the two age-groups were detected. Findings of the present study suggest that some of the factors that contribute to the poor performance of older adults in HCI research may be related to the use of software that does not accommodate for age-related visual declines. Future research investigating age-related differences in computer performance should take the readability of the screen into account.”
© All rights reserved Smither et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Braun, Curt C. and Silver, N. Clayton (1995): Interaction of Warning Label Features: Determining the Contributions of Three Warning Characteristics. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. pp. 984-988.
“Warning label features such as signal words, typefaces, and color, have largely been evaluated independently of one another. Despite the statistically significant findings resulting from virtually every experiment involving these warning features, the literature has yet to address the larger issue of how these features interact when all three are present. The present effort evaluated the interaction of three different warning features to identify the extent to which each feature contributes to the perception of product hazard. These features included: signal word, legibility, and color. A sample of 34 participants rated the level of perceived hazard associated with labels that depicted the factorial combinations of two products, three signal words (DANGER, CAUTION, NOTICE), two levels of legibility (Helvetica and Arabia), and four colors (red, orange, green, and black). The data revealed significant main effects for each factor and a significant three-way interaction. The interaction indicated that in conditions of reduced legibility, color may be the only source of hazard information. Consumer product warning design implications are discussed.”
© All rights reserved Braun and Silver and/or Human Factors Society
Braun, Curt C., Greeno, Brian and Silver, N. Clayton (1994): Differences in Behavioral Compliance as a Function of Warning Color. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 38th Annual Meeting 1994. pp. 379-383.
“A body of literature asserts color's influence on display preference, cognition, behavior, and performance. Although these results have clear implications for the design of consumer product warnings, color has been disproportionately underrepresented in warnings research. The present study examined the effect of color on compliance with printed warnings. Sixty-five undergraduates interacted with a pool water test kit and a two-part adhesive. The warning on each product was factorial for color (i.e., red, green, and black) and was constant for content. Participants indicated a higher likelihood of injury associated with products printed in red than green or black. Behavioral compliance was assessed by indicating if subjects donned protective gloves as directed by the warning. The data indicated that warnings printed in red resulted in a higher proportion of compliant behavior than green and black combined.”
© All rights reserved Braun et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Silver, N. Clayton, Braun, Curt C. and Kennedy, Robert S. (1994): Identification of Standardized Tasks for the Assessment of Operator Workload. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 38th Annual Meeting 1994. p. 982.
“As cockpits become increasingly complex, operation and control of the aircraft requires that pilots integrate information from a wide variety of sources. Thus, the pilot's workload has increased as a function of this complexity. Traditional efforts aimed at reducing operator workload via automation have produced mixed results. An alternative to this approach involves using adaptive automation in which system and subsystems are automated as a function of operator workload. The feasibility of such automation, however, is dependent upon the reliable measurement of operator workload. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the differences in workload and performance in a cognitive task, namely channel monitoring. Nineteen undergraduate psychology students completed a complex counting task. Participants were instructed to monitor a specific number of channels and respond after counting a specific number of tones in each monitored channel. There were three monitored channels, three interstimulus intervals (0.5, 1.5, and 3.0 seconds), and number of events counted (2, 4, and 8). The participant responded to all 27 conditions. Perceived workload increased and performance decreased as the number of channels monitored increased, the interstimulus interval decreased, and the number of events counted increased. These results demonstrate that an available workload measure can provide differences in operator workload and serve as the foundation for future research. These findings and tasks can be used as a tool to assess the sensitivity of other workload measures.”
© All rights reserved Silver et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Berbaum, Kevin S., Kennedy, Robert S. and Braun, Curt C. (1994): Postural Disequilibrium Following Adaptation to Virtual Environments: Concern for Post Simulator Activity. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 38th Annual Meeting 1994. p. 986.
“Virtual environment technology may increase the usefulness of simulation in military training by improving on some aspects of current technology and by permitting simulation to be applied in training domains not currently addressed. However, like its forerunner -- current simulation technology, there may be some hazards associated with its use. To assess changes in postural stability associated with adaptation to simulated environments, measures of simulator sickness and postural stability were taken from 127 military pilots completing flight training in a helicopter simulator which included full 6 degrees of motion and 60 inches of travel. Before and after each of ten simulator flights flown every weekday for two weeks, the participants completed a Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, a self report symptom checklist that may be scored for nausea, visuomotor and disorientation. In addition, before-and-after tests of walking and standing steadiness were completed. Postflight sickness was significantly greater than preflight. Postflight postural stability was significantly lower than preflight stability. Both motion-sickness and postural stability decreased across ten exposures to the simulator. That individuals adapt to the simulator is indicated the reduction in reported motion-sickness following repeated exposure. However, as they become increasing adapted to the simulated environment, they experience a reduction in postural stability upon leaving the simulator. As they become adapted to the simulator, they are less well adapted to the real world. The implications of an individual who is less able to function in the real world extend far beyond the training effectiveness of a simulator or the symptoms experienced by a trainee. Individual adapted to a virtual environment should not be expected to interact appropriately with the now non-adapted real world.”
© All rights reserved Berbaum et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Braun, Curt C., Sansing, Lori, Kennedy, Robert S. and Silver, N. Clayton (1994): Signal Word and Color Specifications for Product Warnings: An Isoperformance Application. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 38th Annual Meeting 1994. pp. 1104-1108.
“Recent work in the area of color and warnings has indicated that the level of hazard communicated by signal words varies as a function of the color in which they are printed. These findings suggest that signal word and color combinations create a continuum of perceived hazard. Although individual experiments advance the understanding of how color affects the perception of product hazard, explicit data do not always provide label designers and product manufacturers with the tools necessary to successfully apply them. To explore how color and signal words can be jointly used, the present effort applied the isoperformance technique to the problem of specifying signal word and color combinations. This technique identifies combinations of variables that produce equal (iso) levels of warning (performance). Using perceived hazard data from 30 participants, signal words and colors were systematically grouped into categories that conveyed equal levels of hazard. How the isoperformance technique might serve as a tool for label designers is described.”
© All rights reserved Braun et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Kline, Paul B., Braun, Curt C., Peterson, Nancy and Silver, N. Clayton (1993): The Impact of Color on Warnings Research. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting 1993. pp. 940-944.
“Researchers have examined a variety of attributes that influence a warning's ability to communicate important product hazards. These attributes include font type, signal words, and the use of icons. One attribute that has been noticeably absent from the warnings literature is color. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine the appropriateness of achromatic stimuli in product warning research. Thirty-three undergraduate students rated color and achromatic versions of twelve labels. These labels varied across four levels of product class and three levels of signal word. All labels were evaluated on six attributes: salience, readability, hazardousness, likelihood of injury, carefulness, and familiarity. A composite variable called "perceived hazard" was formed from the averaged ratings of hazardousness, carefulness, and likelihood of injury. Moreover, an additional variable "perceived readability" was composed of the mean ratings of readability and saliency. Results showed that color labels were perceived as more readable and hazardous than achromatic labels. Implications for warning research are discussed.”
© All rights reserved Kline et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Braun, Curt C., Bowers, Clint A., Holmes, Barbara E. and Salas, Eduardo (1993): Impact of Task Difficulty on the Acquisition of Aircrew Coordination Skills. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting 1993. pp. 1262-1266.
“The skills approach to aircrew coordination focuses on the training of specific coordination behavior. While this approach has shown promise, careful consideration must be given to the manner in which these skills are trained. A growing body of literature suggests that training workload impacts the acquisition of skills. The present study examined the effectiveness of two training paradigms on the development of aircrew coordination. One regimen of training was characterized by consistent levels of task difficulty over a series of training sessions. The other regimen involved incrementally increasing task difficulty over training sessions. Twenty IFR rated pilots comprised 10 two-person crews. One-half of the crews (control group) completed nine training flights that were of consistent task difficulty. The remaining half completed nine training flights that increased incrementally in task difficulty: three low, three moderate, and three high task difficulty flights. Following the nine training flights, all crew completed five novel aerial reconnaissance flights during which they were instructed to map buildings within a specified area. Measures of subjective workload, flight performance, and secondary task performance were taken for all flights. An additional measure of building identification was also taken for the five reconnaissance-type flights. Measures of subjective workload validated the increasing workload associated with the experimental training regimen. Analysis of the workload data taken during novel task flights failed to reveal differences between training groups. Moreover, there were no significant differences in flight performance between groups. Measures of building identification, a task heavily dependent on crew coordination, revealed significant differences between groups. Experimental crews identified significantly more buildings than their control counterparts for two of the five flights. Implications for aircrew coordination training are discussed.”
© All rights reserved Braun et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Braun, Curt C. (1992): Increasing the Breadth of the Human Factors Scientist-Practitioner. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting 1992. pp. 563-565.
“It has been 40 years since the Department of Defense first commissioned the development of the Human Engineering Guide to Equipment Design. In this, the 40th anniversary year, it is fitting to examine the training of human factors purveyors and provide suggestions for supplemental training where little formal training exists. Review of current human factors education programs reveals that many of the published guidelines are, to a greater degree, being fulfilled. These findings should be encouraging, yet human factors educators, students, and practitioners alike are hesitant to conclude that psychologists or human factors specialists are necessarily complete upon attaining these skills. Many newly graduated human factors practitioners, while competent in human processes, do not possess the skills and background necessary to perform in a variety of domains. The goal of this symposium is to address the issues of human factors training by providing curriculum material designed to build upon fundamental skills.”
© All rights reserved Braun and/or Human Factors Society
Urban, Julie M., Braun, Curt C. and Weaver, Jeanne L. (1992): The Human Factors Toxicologist. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting 1992. pp. 572-574.
“Toxicology is a relatively new science in which much work is needed. The human factors professional is uniquely qualified to contribute to this field in a variety of ways. On a long-term basis, the work of the human factors professional is needed for a) the development of appropriate testing procedures to identify situations of unknown exposure, and b) the monitoring of research on the effects of specific toxins to serve the basis of legal exposure standards. There is also an immediate need for the human factors professional's knowledge of systems integration, design, and training to protect the human from the toxins to which he/she may be currently exposed in a variety of environments.”
© All rights reserved Urban et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Urban, Julie M., Bowers, Clint A., Morgan, Jr. Ben B., Braun, Curt C. and Kline, Paul B. (1992): The Effects of Hierarchical Structure and Workload on the Performance of Team and Individual Tasks. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting 1992. pp. 829-833.
“This study represents an attempt to understand the individual and team level performance processes and communication of tactical decision making teams. The findings of a past study on decision making in dyads (Kleinman&Serfaty, 1989) was replicated and extended to include (a) larger teams (b) hierarchically structured teams (c) concurrent performance of team and individual tasks, and (d) verbal communication, in an attempt to enhance the generalizability of the research. The major findings of the current study differ from those reported by Kleinman and his colleagues (1989).”
© All rights reserved Urban et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Braun, Curt C., Silver, N. Clayton and Stock, Barry R. (1992): Likelihood of Reading Warnings: The Effect of Fonts and Font Sizes. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting 1992. pp. 926-930.
“Legibility of a warning is a major issue in the labeling of various consumer products, and over the counter and prescription drugs. The purpose of the present research was to examine certain variables that are associated with legibility, namely font type, font weight, point size, and point size contrast between the signal word and the main body of the warning. A sample of undergraduate students and elderly people rated 24 Ultra Tide detergent labels for their likelihood to read the warning, the saliency of the warning, and readability of the warning. The results indicated that participants were more likely to read the warning in Helvetica type than in Times or Goudy. Times was more likely to be read than Goudy. Bold type was more likely to be read than Roman type. There was a greater likelihood of reading the warning when the main body was in 10 point size as compared to 8 point size. A 2 point size difference between the signal word and the main body of the warning produced a greater likelihood of reading the warning over a 4 point size difference. One possibility for this result is that the 4 point difference minimizes the importance of the main body of the warning, therefore making only the signal word salient.”
© All rights reserved Braun et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Smither, Janan Al-Awar, Braun, Curt C. and Smither, Robert D. (1991): Adoption of ATM Technology by Elderly Users. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 35th Annual Meeting 1991. pp. 177-179.
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