COGNITION

INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL

INFORMA
INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL
WORKING MEMORY
Working memory (sometimes termed short-term
memory), is relatively transient and limited to
holding a small amount of information that may
be either rehearsed or "worked on" by other

WORKING
cognitive transformations.

MEMORY
It is the temporary store that keeps information
active while we are using it or until we use it.
WORKING MEMORY MODEL
WORKING MEMORY
IS LIMITED. SO?
THE
IMPLICATIONS
Minimize working memory load.

ARE…
An overall rule of thumb is that both the time and the
number of alphanumeric items that human operators have
to retain in working memory during task performance
should be kept to a minimum (Loftus, Dark, &Williams,
1979). Hence, any technique that can off-load more
information in working memory sooner will be of value. As
an example, an advantage of the touch tone phone over the
old rotary dial system was the greater speed of number
entry with the touch tone and therefore a shorter time that
the phone number needed to be stored in the phone user's
vulnerable working memory.
WORKING MEMORY
IMPLICATIONS (CONT’D)
Provide visual echoes.
Wherever synthetic voice is used to convey verbal
messages, these messages can, and ideally should, be
coupled with a redundant visual (print) readout of the
information so that the human's use of the material is not
vulnerable to working memory failures. For example,
since automated telephone assistance can now "speak"
phone numbers with a synthetic voice, a small visual
panel attached to the phone could display the same
number as a "visual echo."
 WORKING MEMORY
IMPLICATIONS (CONT’D)
Exploit chunking.
We have seen how chunking can increase the amount of material held in working memory and increase
its transfer to long-term memory.Thus, any way in which we can take advantage of chunking will be
beneficial.There are several ways in which this can be done:
– Physical chunk size. For presenting arbitrary strings of letters, numbers, or both, the optimal
chunk size is three to four numbers or letters per chunk (Bailey, 1989;Wickelgren, 1964).
– Meaningful sequences. The best procedure for creating cognitive chunks is to find or create
meaningful sequences within the total string of characters.A meaningful sequence should
already have an integral representation in long-term memory.This means that the sequence is
retained as a single item rather than a set of the individual characters. Meaningful sequences
include things such as 555, JUNE, or 4321.
– Superiority of letters over numbers. In general, letters induce better chunking than numbers
because of their greater potential for meaningfulness. Advertisers on TV have capitalized on
this principle by moving from numbers such as "1-800-663-5900;' which has eight chunks, to
letter-based chunking such as "I-800-GET HELP," which has three chunks (" 1-800" is a
sufficiently familiar string that it is just one chunk). Grouping letters into one word, and thus
one chunk, can greatly increase working memory capabilities.
– Keeping numbers separate from letters. If displays must contain a-mixture of numbers and
letters, it is better to keep them separated (Preczewski & Fisher, 1990). For example, a license
plate containing one numeric and one alphabetic chunk, such as "458 GST;' will be more easily
kept in working memory than a combination such as "4G58ST" or "4G58 ST."
WORKING MEMORY
IMPLICATIONS (CONT’D)
Minimize confusability.
The principle of confusability applies to working memory
just as it does to visual and auditory perception.Thus, the
items in working memory will be more difficult to recall in
their correct order if they sound similar. Similar arguments
can be made with regard to the visuo-spatial sketchpad: It
will be more difficult for the air traffic controller to
remember the relative locations of three similar-looking
aircraft than of three distinct ones.
EXPERIMENT

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EXPERIMENT

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WORKING MEMORY
IMPLICATIONS (CONT’D)
Exploit different working-memory codes.
Wehave seen that working memory processes and retains
two qualitatively different types of information, visual-
spatial and verbal-phonetic.These two subsystems in
Baddeley's model are sometimes referred to as working
memory codes. Each of these systems seems to process
information somewhat independently, and each has its own
resources.
This means that if one code is being used in working
memory, it will be interrupted more by processing that
same type of information than by processing information
in the alternative code.
WORKING MEMORY
IMPLICATIONS (CONT’D)
Ordering of text and instructions.
Text can be written that places greater or lesser loads on working
memory. For example, comprehension will be made more difficult
by any text that requires retention of words whose meaning are
not immediately apparent until a later portion of the sentence is
read. A related issue concerns the use of congruent versus
incongruent instructions (Wickens, 1992).With congruent
instructions, the order of words (or commands) in the instructions
corresponds with the actual order in which they are to be carried
out ("Do A, then do B, then do C"); whereas with incongruent
instructions, this matching of order is missing ("Prior to doing C,
do B, and before B is done, do X').
YOUR TASK

• Select a socio-technical system or design,

• Evaluate the system or design, and
• Improve the system or design using the principles in preserving working memory
 LONG TERM MEMORY
• We constantly maintain information in working memory for its immediate use, but
we also need a mechanism for storing information and retrieving it at later times.
This mechanism is termed long-term memory, or long-term store
 IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN

1. Encourage regular use of information to increase frequency and recency.

2. Standardize. One way that we can decrease the load on long-term memory is to standardize
environments and equipment, including controls, displays, symbols, and operating procedures.
Knowing how to perform basic operations with one microwave oven should be retrievable and
applicable to all other microwave ovens. An example from the automotive industry where a control is
being standardized is the shift pattern, and where a control has still not been standardized is the
location and operation of electronic windows and lighting. Standardization results in development of
strong yet simple schemas that are applicable to a wide variety of circumstances. Computer software
designers are beginning to realize the benefits of standardization, with Microsoft Windows being a
good example.
IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN (CONT’D)

3. Use memory aids. When a task will be performed infrequently, or when correct task
performance is critical, designers should provide computer-based or hardcopy memory aids.
These consist of information critical for task performance and can be as simple as a list of
procedures.
IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN (CONT’D)

4. Carefully design information to be remembered. Information that must be remembered and

later
retrieved unaided should have characteristics such as the following:
• Be meaningful to the individual and semantically associated with other information
• Concrete rather than abstract words when possible
• Distinctive concepts and information (to reduce interference)
• Well-organized sets of information (grouped or otherwise associated)
• An item should be able to be guessed based on other information
• A diverse set of modalities
• Little technical jargon
• Adequate context and background knowledge
IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN (CONT’D)

5.Encourage active verbalization or production of information that is to be recalled. For example,

taking notes in class, or requiring active recitation or "readback“ of heard instructions will
increase the likelihood that the information will not be forgotten.
6.Design information to be consistent with existing mental models and population
stereotypes. This guideline emphasizes the point made on design: Know Thy User.
IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN (CONT’D)

7. Design to support development of mental models. One way to do this is to apply the concept of
visibility, as suggested by Norman (1988).This guideline suggests that a device has visibility if
one can immediately and easily determine the state of the device and the alternatives for action.
For example, switches that have different positions when activated have visibility whereas
push/toggle switches do not.The concept of visibility also relates to the ability of a system to
show variables intervening between an operator's action and the ultimate system response. An
example would be an oven display showing that an input has been read, the heat system is
warming up, and the temperature has not reached the target temperature. Mental model
development can also be encouraged by the appropriate wording of instructional manuals that
describe why a particular action is required, as well as what the action is.
YOUR TASK

• Go check on the heuristic evaluation by Norman 1988

• Select a socio-technical system or design,
• Evaluate the system or design, and
• Improve the system or design using the principles related to the LTM
ATTENTION
THE RELATIONSHIP

OPTIMIZE MULTIPLE
ATTENTIONAL RESOURCES
RESOURCES PRINCIPLE
MULTIPLE RESOURCES

• Input modes, response devices, and tasks should be

combined such that they are as dissimilar as possible in
terms of processing stages, input modalities, and
processing codes.
 MULTIPLE RESOURCES (CONT’D)
1. Stages: Early versus Late Processing. Research evidence indicates that the
processing resources used for perceptual processing and central processing or
cognitive activity are largely separate from resources used for response selection
and execution (e.g., Isreal,Wickens, Chesney, & Donchin, 1980).This implies that
adding the task of "responding" will not significantly interfere with perception of
input or processing in working memory.We can easily scan the roadside (early
processing) while we steer (late processing), but our steering performance will be
more disrupted if we are concurrently fiddling with another manual control task
(late processing, e.g., pushing buttons).
 MULTIPLE RESOURCES (CONT’D)
• 2. Input Modalities:Visual versus Auditory. Weare generally better at dividing
our attention between one visual and one auditory input (cross-modal time-
sharing) than between two visual or two auditory channels (intramodal time-
sharing).
 MULTIPLE RESOURCES (CONT’D)
3. Processing Codes: Spatial versus Verbal in Early Processing and Manual versus
Vocal in Responding.
To the extent that any two tasks draw on separate rather than common resources, time-
sharing will generally be more efficient, and increasing the difficulty of one task will be
less likely to impact performance of the concurrent task. As an example, consider the
design of instructions. Capitalizing on the importance of redundancy, we might choose to
present instructions on a pair of channels, selected from voice, print, or pictures. The
principle of multiple resource separation would suggest using voice and pictures, since
these can be processed in parallel, using different modalities and codes.
YOUR TASK

• Select a socio-technical system or design,

• Design a task involving multiple
resources.
THANK YOU