Publication statistics
Pub. period:1987-2011
Pub. count:21
Number of co-authors:21
Co-authors
Number of publications with 3 favourite co-authors:
Karl U. Smith:4Christopher M. Keran:3Eric J. Koehler:3 Productive colleagues
Thomas J. Smith's 3 most productive colleagues in number of publications:
Norman I. Badler:27David Meister:22Neville Moray:16
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Thomas J. Smith
Publications by Thomas J. Smith (bibliography)
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Smith, Thomas J. (2011): Ergonomics of Learning Environments -- Designs with Strong, Equivocal or Poor Returns on Educational Investment. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 55th Annual Meeting 2011. pp. 560-564.
“This report introduces evidence for the conclusion that a common theme underlies almost all proposed solutions for improving the performance of K-12 students, namely their reliance on the design of educational system environments, features and operations. Two categories of design factors impacting such performance are addressed: (1) 10 factors reliably shown to have a strong influence; and (2) 10 factors with an equivocal or weak influence. It is concluded that: (1) student learning outcomes, and more broadly the edifice of education itself, are largely defined in terms of an extensive system of design factors and conditions; and (2) educators should emphasize allocation of resources to positive impact design factors.”
© All rights reserved Smith and/or HFES
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Smith, Thomas J. (2009): Usability Analysis of Learning Environments Needs and Realities. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 53rd Annual Meeting 2009. pp. 483-487.
“This paper addresses the question of whether the application of principles and methods of usability analysis can benefit the design of learning environments, and can thereby benefit student learning. The application of principles and practices of usability and ergonomic analysis have achieved proven success in improving performance of many sociotechnical systems areas. However, the benefits that the application of HF/E science might bring to promoting educational system and student learning performance have yet to be widely recognized. On the assumption that such recognition may someday be realized, an analysis is offered of the comparative advantages and disadvantages of ergonomic program intervention, versus usability analysis, for purposes of improving the design quality of K-12 learning environments. Usability analysis may provide benefits in terms of flexibility of application, ease of implementation, and student learning gains. The true test of applying HF/E science as a meaningful strategy to benefit education and learning rests upon: (1) establishing that the role of task and environmental design in learning has relevance to educational psychology; and (2) promoting recognition and acceptance of HF/E, in a systematic and comprehensive manner, by the educational community.”
© All rights reserved Smith and/or his/her publisher
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Watson, Jeffery, Smith, Thomas J., Kraemer, Sara, Halverson, Richard and Woodcock, Andree (2009): Macroergonomics in Education: On Your Mark, Set, GO!. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 53rd Annual Meeting 2009. pp. 1042-1046.
“Macroergonomics (ME) theory and methods have not been systematically applied to the field of education despite the fact that as a complex work system, education would almost assuredly benefit from ME applications. This discussion panel proposal briefly describes the complexity of the US education system and some of the areas where resources are currently being directed by federal and state funding agencies. In addition, a brief overview of technical subsystems is provided to demonstrate where mismatches between work and technology might be found. The panel members' expertise and current work will focus an discussion on three questions: 1) what are the expected benefits of applying ME theory to educational settings, 2) where and how should ME practitioners target efforts to do more work in education, and 3) what strategies should one consider to ensure successful application and outcomes.”
© All rights reserved Watson et al. and/or their publisher
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Shi, Jianping, Smith, Thomas J., Granieri, John P. and Badler, Norman I. (1999): Smart Avatars in JackMOO. In: VR 1999 1999. pp. 156-163.
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Duchon, James C., Smith, Thomas J., Keran, Christopher M. and Koehler, Eric J. (1995): Psychophysiological Effects of Extended Workshifts. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. pp. 794-798.
“Working extended workshifts has been linked to decrements in behavioral performance and physiological function, plus subjective complaints. This report describes findings before and after workers in an underground mine converted from a continuous 8-hour to a 12-hour rotating shift schedule. A psychophysiological approach to work schedule evaluation was employed, involving continuous heart rate (HR) recording accompanied by pre-, mid-, and post-shift measures of cognitive and psychomotor behavioral performance, HR recovery and estimated VO{sub:2max} levels using submaximal exercise testing, and subjective mood and sleepiness responses. The continuous HR results suggest adaptation of work effort or output on 12-h relative to 8-h shifts. Some measures of performance, namely self-report mood and sleepiness responses plus HR recovery, suggest more fatigue on 12-h shifts. We conclude that working extended workshifts may result in an adaptive response to fatigue, manifest in the form of pacing or modulated work effort by the workforce.”
© All rights reserved Duchon et al. and/or Human Factors Society
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Smith, Thomas J. (1994): Human Factors and Design Factors: Two Sides of the Same Coin?. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 38th Annual Meeting 1994. p. 520.
“Since its emergence, the field of human factors has been engaged in an ongoing debate regarding the scientific essence of the discipline. Many observers believe that the crux of the debate centers upon the link between human factors and design factors, or performance-design interaction. Presenters in this symposium offer a series of perspectives on this theme, in relation to: (1) emphasis on behavioral considerations in design of complex automated systems (Meister); (2) emphasis on contextual specificity in teaching of design (Moray); (3) an ecological analysis of human-environment interaction as an integrated system (Flach); and (4) core principles of human factors science centered upon performance-design interaction (Smith). The rationale for this symposium rests upon the widespread belief that the relationship between performance and design represents the defining issue of human factors science. That is, through its focus on functional integration of performance and design, human factors departs from the traditional dissected treatment of these phenomena by psychology and engineering. Therefore, the status of human factors science as an integral discipline may be considered to rest upon the answer to the question of how and why human behavior and performance vary in relation to design factors in the performance environment. Papers presented in this symposium provide insight into this question from a number of different perspectives.”
© All rights reserved Smith and/or Human Factors Society
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Smith, Thomas J. (1994): Core Principles of Human Factors Science. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 38th Annual Meeting 1994. pp. 536-540.
“This report introduces three core principles that define human factors science, and summarizes conceptual and empirical evidence in support of their validity. The principles are: (1) performance and design are interdependent; (2) the unit of analysis is the human-machine system; and (3) tailor design to the control capabilities of behavior.”
© All rights reserved Smith and/or Human Factors Society
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Smith, Thomas J., Flach, John M., Meister, David and Moray, Neville (1994): Human Factors and Design Factors: Two Sides of the Same Coin?. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 38th Annual Meeting 1994. pp. 541-543.
“This panel accompanies the symposium with the same title; the panelists are the symposium presenters. The rationale for offering both a symposium and a panel on the same topic rests upon the following considerations: (1) the nature and extent of interdependence between performance and design factors represents a defining issue for human factors science; and (2) the symposium and the panel together provide a comprehensive forum for addressing the topic, inasmuch as the symposium allows the presenters to offer their perspectives on the topic, and the panel facilitates audience input into the discussion.”
© All rights reserved Smith et al. and/or Human Factors Society
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Keran, Christopher M., Smith, Thomas J., Koehler, Eric J. and Mathison, Peter K. (1994): Behavioral Control Characteristics of Performance under Feedback Delay. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 38th Annual Meeting 1994. pp. 1140-1144.
“As part of a larger research project dealing with technological change, the U.S. Bureau of Mines has initiated a study of the nature and sources of variability in human performance during teleoperation. One important source of performance degradation during remote work is delay in sensory feedback from the remote site to the operator during task execution, caused by such factors as transmission and signal processing lags or inertia/momentum properties of large equipment. To investigate the properties of the behavioral control system under delayed feedback conditions, the Bureau has implemented a pursuit tracking task during which delay is imposed as a continuously varying sinusoidal forcing function. Using 11 subjects, the dynamic characteristics of tracking performance were assessed across a range of variable delay frequencies. Specifically, sinusoidal variations in visual feedback delay between 0 and 400 msec were imposed during a tracking task at frequencies between .05 and 2 Hz. The results show that RMS error, gain (fundamental FFT peak for the cursor signal/fundamental FFT peak for the target signal), and phase (phase angle difference between the target signal and the cursor signal) of the tracking control system are independent of variable feedback delay imposed across a forty-fold range of frequencies. One important implication of these findings is that operators may have limited ability to adapt to feedback delay conditions that may be present during teleoperation of large mobile mining equipment.”
© All rights reserved Keran et al. and/or Human Factors Society
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Smith, Thomas J. (1993): The Scientific Basis of Human Factors -- A Behavioral Cybernetic Perspective. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting 1993. pp. 534-538.
“This report summarizes a body of empirical evidence supporting the conclusion that the preponderance of variability in human behavior and performance is attributable to design factors in the performance environment. This may be considered the central doctrine of human factors science that establishes the scientific basis of human factors as an integral discipline. The report goes on to offer a conceptual interpretation, based on behavioral cybernetic theory, of how and why design factors influence human behavior and performance. [This is not an official Bureau publication. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.]”
© All rights reserved Smith and/or Human Factors Society
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Smith, Thomas J. (1993): Automation of Work in Dangerous Environments -- Symposium Summary. In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 1993. pp. 273-277.
“Since the dawn of the species, humans have employed technology such as fabricated weapons or dwellings to provide protection from dangerous environmental conditions. Use of technology to increase safety in the workplace also has a long history. For example, in his seminal De Re Metallica published in 1556, the first scientific treatise on human work, Agricola discusses use of technology for accident prevention in underground mining operations. Generally speaking, application of technology to provide safety at work is based on one of two strategies. The first is protection, such as use of protective clothing or equipment. The second is replacement, in which a technological surrogate is used to augment or replace the worker in performance of a dangerous, unhealthy, or arduous task or operation. An early example of the latter strategy is the plow. This example illustrates the point that mechanization of work usually has increased productivity as its primary aim, but improved safety and health typically is a welcome concomitant.”
© All rights reserved Smith and/or Elsevier Science
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Keran, Christopher M., Randolph, Robert F. and Smith, Thomas J. (1993): Automation of Mobile Equipment in Mining: A Human Factors Perspective. In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 1993. pp. 307-312.
“Over the past two decades, there has been growing interest in automating equipment in both underground and surface mining operations. This report reviews current applications of mining automation, and discusses some key human factors implications based on Bureau of Mines research. It concludes that although the trend towards automation of mining operations may have developed a strong if not irreversible impetus, serious questions remain pertaining to safety, health, and operational implications.”
© All rights reserved Keran et al. and/or Elsevier Science
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Smith, Karl U. and Smith, Thomas J. (1993): Human-Computer Interaction and the Automation of Work. In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 1993. pp. 837-842.
“Computers have greatly expanded the scope and complexity of work automation. This report presents a behavioral cybernetic analysis of human-computer interaction (HCI) and work automation, dealing with how the computer serves to augment human self-control of work behavior. Major conclusions are that computer automation of work: (1) feedback influences human behavior and performance; (2) is key to human efforts to effectively manage high population density and worldwide socioeconomic integration; and (3) from a human factors perspective represents one of the most significant scientific and socioeconomic issues confronting humankind.”
© All rights reserved Smith and Smith and/or Elsevier Science
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Mathison, Peter K., Koehler, Eric J. and Smith, Thomas J. (1993): Behavioral Effects of Delayed and Displaced Visual Feedback Using Computer-Mediated Perturbation Forcing Functions. In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction - Poster Sessions: Abridged Proceedings 1993. p. 134.
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Smith, Thomas J. (1993): Automation of Work in Dangerous Environments. In: Smith, Michael J. and Salvendy, Gavriel (eds.) HCI International 1993 - Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction - Volume 1 August 8-13, 1993, Orlando, Florida, USA. pp. 273-277.
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Smith, Karl U. and Smith, Thomas J. (1991): A Study of Handwriting and Its Implications for Cognitive Considerations in Human-Computer Interactions. In International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 3 (1) pp. 1-30.
“This study deals with the phenomenon of cognitive performance relative to handwriting behavior, and the human factors involved in the design of handwriting characters (letters, numbers, and words). Experimental methods of electronic motion analysis were used to study the human factors related to specialization of movements, writing tasks, and individual characteristics of handwriting activity. These three parameters of handwriting performance are assumed, for the purpose of this research, to constitute also the primary parameters of cognitive performance in both handwriting and keyboard operations with computers. Analyzing the behavioral parameters of cognition in handwriting constitutes a "natural" human factors investigation of thinking and communication, inasmuch as designs of handwriting characters and tasks (letters, numbers, words, and phrases) have been human factored over some 5,000 years in relation to the tools, materials, and functions of writing. As the most recently evolved special tool for writing, the computer can be studied in relation to the human factors in design of the behavioral parameters of handwriting. The experimental research measured the nature of specialization and variability of cognitive performance in handwriting in relation to: (a) component movements in writing; (b) writing tasks (letter, numbers, specific words); and (c) individual legibility in writing performance. An electronic handwriting analyzer was used to measure the temporal specialization of the different parameters of writing, and a rating procedure was used to assess spatiotemporal specialization of individual legibility in writing. A historical survey of the major studies of this century dealing with cognitive learning complements the results of the experimental study in showing that the main source of variability and specialization of cognitive performance during learning is related to the makeup or human factors design of cognitive tasks. The main implication is that cognitive performance, as manifest in learning generally as well as in human-computer interactions in particular, is mediated behaviorally through feedback-controlled motorsensory interactions, and not primarily by hidden brain processes.”
© All rights reserved Smith and Smith and/or Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
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Smith, Thomas J. and Larson, Thomas L. (1991): Integrating Quality Management and Hazard Management: A Behavioral Cybernetic Perspective. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 35th Annual Meeting 1991. pp. 903-907.
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Smith, Thomas J. and Stuart, Mark A. (1990): Human Factors of Teleoperation in Space. In: D., Woods, and E., Roth, (eds.) Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting 1990, Santa Monica, USA. pp. 116-120.
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Nelson, Bruce C. and Smith, Thomas J. (1990): User Interaction with Maintenance Information: A Performance Analysis of Hypertext versus Hard Copy Formats. In: D., Woods, and E., Roth, (eds.) Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting 1990, Santa Monica, USA. pp. 229-233.
“Four different formats of an existing mining equipment repair manual were prepared for comparative human performance test: (1) original hard copy text; (2) improved hard copy text with enhanced readability and indexing features; (3) computerized (hypertext) version of original text; and (4) hypertext version of improved text with interactive help features. Students in a diesel mechanics class (n=55) then were tested for proficiency in accessing and understanding information presented in these different formats. The results indicate that: (1) although the users accessed the information less quickly using the computer compared with hard copy, they positively endorsed computerized hypertext presentation of maintenance information; and (2) enhanced text readability and indexing improve access to and understanding of maintenance information, but this improvement was not subjectively appreciated by the users relative to other manuals they had used. This text indicates that change to computerized maintenance manuals should be made cautiously, and that more research is needed to measure different hypertext design and training factors.”
© All rights reserved Nelson and Smith and/or Human Factors Society
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Smith, Thomas J., Smith, Randy L., Stuart, Mark A., Smith, Steven T. and Smith, Karl U. (1989): Interactive Performance in Space -- The Role of Perturbed Sensory Feedback. In: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 1989. pp. 484-495.
“This report addresses the phenomenon of perturbed sensory feedback as a potentially serious obstacle to optimal performance and safety of interactive human-computer and telerobotic tasks in extraterrestrial environments. Human-factors considerations suggest that spatiotemporal perturbations plus other types of distortions in sensory feedback will arise during use of interactive telerobots for space station assembly, maintenance, and servicing. Potential consequences for the performance of the extraterrestrial operator include reduced fidelity of visual-manual tracking, impaired visual perception, problems with speech production and recognition, memory and learning decrements, impaired decision-making, and elevated behavioral-physiological stress, with a concomitant increase in the risk of performance errors and accidents. Findings from laboratory research documenting these effects are summarized, followed by a discussion of how such effects may contribute in a major way to variability of interactive performance in space.”
© All rights reserved Smith et al. and/or Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
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Smith, Thomas J. and Smith, Karl U. (1987): Motor Feedback Control of Human Cognition: Implication for the Cognitive Interface. In: Salvendy, Gavriel, Sauter, Steven L. and Jr., Joseph J. Hurrell (eds.) Social, Ergonomic and Stress Aspects of Work with Computers, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction - Volume 1 August 10-14, 1987, Honolulu, Hawaii. pp. 239-254.
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