Academics
Ph.D. Program in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors
and M.S. in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors
Graduate Program
About | Research | Facilities | News
New faculty positions are available in response to the establishment of this graduate program.
NOTE: The new admission deadline for full financial aid consideration is February 15.
About Applied Cognitive Science - Human Factors
Applied cognitive science addresses a diverse array of contemporary human phenomena, resulting in practical solutions for many real world problems. Through the application of cognitive psychology’s principles, applied cognitive scientists investigate diverse topics such as effective modes for the delivery of instruction, eyewitness memory, artificial intelligence, and human factors considerations in the design of systems.
Human Factors (HF) is the multi-disciplinary science within the purview of cognitive science that focuses on the needs of the human in the design of products, work processes, and technology systems in an effort to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. HF is concerned with the design and evaluation of technological systems from the perspectives of human needs, abilities, and limitations. HF professionals may examine human-machine interactions from cognitive, social, biological, physical, or other perspectives.
From an Applied Cognitive Science perspective, Human Factors is involved in conducting research regarding human cognitive abilities and limitations with respect to the design, operation, or use of products or systems. It is a subfield of applied cognitive science that focuses upon human-machine interactions. Overall goals include optimizing human performance, health, safety, and/or habitability. Thus, the proposed program in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors will integrate the knowledge of human experts (psychology and cognitive science) and built systems experts (for example, technology and engineering).
Human Factors is a critical area of research because of (a) human safety concerns, (b) market forces, and (c) environmental sustainability. Human operators are often critical contributors to lapses in overall system safety. Human errors, for example, have been attributed as the cause of up to 98,000 preventable patient deaths a year in US medical practice. Despite our desire for automated, faultless systems, our current technological knowledge is not capable of foolproof technological fixes to problems of human error. Substantial funding has been allocated to research on machine intelligence, pattern-recognition technologies, and expert systems, but there is only one alternative for many complex systems: human operators. Although they have limitations, humans are excellent pattern recognizers and, unlike current automated systems, are immensely flexible. HF is concerned with understanding human abilities and limitations, information critical to the prevention of human-related errors and the preservation of human life and well-being.
Critical to understanding market forces, HF researchers are motivated to assess customer needs and desires in order to increase customer satisfaction by improving the usability of products. User-centered design is a widespread paradigm in information technology and consumer products. The success of a human factors perspective in improving customer satisfaction in these industries suggests wider application.
Human Factors is not only important for human safety, well-being, and the economy, but it is also a critical component in forming a sustainable society. Many environmental disasters, such as the Exxon Valdez incident, are due to poor HF design, task design, and working conditions. Good HF design not only prevents human casualties, it also prevents environmental catastrophes. In addition, HF leads to better consumer products. Customers will discard poorly-designed products as they seek products they can actually use. Throwing away products because of poor user design is not a sustainable practice. Therefore, HF design is sustainable design.
Research
Current research projects include work in human-robot interaction, interface design, multi-modal display design, data visualization, cognitive-perceptual performance assessment, transportation systems, computer automated systems, covert communication strategies, detection of deception (polygraph), human performance modeling, and STEM education. Affiliated faculty in the departments of Computer Science, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Exercise Science, Health, and Physical Education, Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, and Biomedical Engineering have expertise in human-computer interaction, simulations, robotics, biomechanics, and work physiology.
See Areas of Specialization in Graduate Research.
Facilities
Graduate and undergraduate psychology students share basic computing resources.
For information on computing, laboratory facilities, and library materials, see Resources.
News
Cokely Publishes on Visual Aids for Health Risks
The Scientific World Journal published an article on the research of Assistant Professor Edward Cokely (CLS) and colleagues on risk literacy, specifically as it regards health. The article is entitled "Using Visual Aids to Improve Communication of Risks about Health: A Review."
Tech Today, May 8, 2012
Cokely Publishes in Salzburg Newspaper
Assistant Professor Ed Cokely's research on risk literacy was featured in the Salzburger Nachrichten, the daily newspaper of Salzburg, Austria, on April 27. Also, two online publications, Artikelmagazin and lehrer-online, have published stories on Cokely and his work at the Max Planck Institute.
Tech Today, May 3, 2012
In the News
Assistant Professor Ed Cokely's research on risk intelligence was featured in R&D Magazine.
Tech Today, April 24, 2012
In the News
The work of Assistant Professor Ed Cokely (CLI) was featured in a press release from the Max Planck Society, where he worked on risk literacy. Three science news websites picked up the press release: Science Daily, Medical Xpress and Laboratory Journal. As well, the story was published in Reason.com (a US magazine's website), 20min.ch (a Swiss newspaper's website) and de Volkskrant (the largest newspaper in Holland).
Tech Today, April 19, 2012
Research Excellence Fund Awards Announced
The vice president for research is pleased to announce this year's recipients of the Research Excellence Fund Awards, which total $515,000. Recipients in CLS - Psychology - include:
Mentoring Grant
Ranjana Mehta
Research Seed Grant
Ranjana Mehta
Tech Today, April 12, 2012
Cokely Receives Best Paper Award
Assistant Professor Edward Cokely (CLI) has received the Raymond S. Nickerson Best Paper Award, sponsored by the American Psychological Association Division 21 (Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology). Cokely and a colleague's paper, "Effective Communication of Risks to Young Adults: Using Message Framing and Visual Aids to Increase Condom Use and STD Screening," appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Vol. 17, No. 3, 270–287 (2011).
Tech Today, April 11, 2012
Seminar Addresses Occupational Health Research
Assistant Professor Ranjana Mehta (CLS/KIP) will present "Neuroergonomics Applications to Occupational Health Research" at 2 p.m., Friday, March 16, in Chem Sci 101.
Tech Today, March 15, 2012
2012 MSGC Awards Announced
Michigan Tech faculty, staff members and students received awards tallying $101,875 through the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which includes 11 university members.
Among the faculty members receiving $5,000 seed grants was Ranjana Mehta (Cognitive & Learning Sciences): "Interactive effects of physical and mental fatigue on task performance during orthostatic challenge."
Tech Today, March 14, 2012
UPDATED: Ranjana Mehta CV, Publications, Research Interests, Funded Grants
February 28, 2012
Proposal in Progress
Assistant Professor Robert Pastel (CS), Associate Professor Kedmon Hungwe (CLS), Associate Professor Karla Kitalong (Humanities), Associate Professor Charles Wallace (CS) and Associate Professor Paul Ward (CLS), "Building an Undergraduate Community of Practice in Human-centered Design," NSF
Tech Today, February 27, 2012
GSG Research Colloquium
The Graduate School Government held its annual research colloquium on February 2-3, 2012. Presenters from CLS include:
Improvement of Decision Making in Complex and Dynamic Environments (oral)
by
PATRICK BELLING & PAUL WARD
Using a Prediction and Option Generation Paradigm to Understand Decision Making (oral)
by
JOEL SUSS & PAUL WARD
The Effect of Encoding Type and Experience on Spatial Recognition of Dynamic Information (poster)
by
PATRICK BELLING, EMMA VEACH, BRYNN AHONEN, & PAUL WARD
Read the abstracts.
CLS News, February 23, 2012
On the Road
Assistant Professor Ranjana Mehta (CLS/KIP) attended the 18th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) in Recife, Brazil, from Feb 12-16. She presented findings from her recent projects on "Effects of physical and mental demands on shoulder muscle fatigue" and "Associations between psychosocial risk factors and musculoskeletal disorders: Application to the IT profession in India."
Tech Today, February 20, 2012
New Research Predicts Risky Decision Making
Assistant Professor Edward Cokely has led an initiative to develop the Berlin Numeracy Test, which began in 2007 at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, Germany. The study addresses risk literacy--the ability to comprehend and act on information about life's many risks... READ MORE
Tech Today, February 20, 2012 | Risk Literacy Test
New Funding
Graduate student Erich Petushek (CLS) and co-PI Karen Roemer (KIP) have received $40,500 from the National Science Foundation for a project, "Effect of Pediatric Obesity on Lower Extremity Biomechanics: Implications for Injury Risk Assessment and Screening."
Tech Today, February 1, 2012
CLS Seminar
Assistant Professor Ranjana Mehta (CLS/KIP) will present "Influence of Mental Workload on Muscular Fatigue and Recovery" from 2:05 to 2:35 p.m., Monday, Jan. 30, in Chem Sci 211. The presentation is hosted by the Interdisciplinary Human Factors Research Group, a part of the CLS doctoral program in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors. All are welcome.
Tech Today, January 27, 2012
CLS Presentation
Assistant Professor Edward Cokely (CLS) will present a talk, "Measuring Risk Literacy," from 2:05 to 2:35 p.m., Monday, January 23, 2012, in Chem Sci 211. The presentation is hosted by the Interdisciplinary Human Factors Research Group, a part of the CLS doctoral program in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors. All are welcome. For more information, see Risk Literacy.
Tech Today, January 23, 2012
Proposal in Progress
Assistant Professor Scott Kuhl (CS) and Associate Professor Paul Ward (CLS), "HCC: Small: General Redirected Walking for Virtual Environments," NSF
Tech Today, January 11, 2012
Proposal in Progress
Assistant Professor Shane Mueller (CLS), "Narrative Networks," Wright State Research Institute
Tech Today, January 5, 2012
Proposal in Progress
Associate Professor Paul Ward (CLS/CISSIC) and Associate Professor Jindong Tan (ECE/CISSIC), "A Mobile Manipulation Framework for Wheelchair Pushing and Tele-presence in Assisted Living," NSF
Tech Today, January 4, 2012
Lecture/Scholar Series Announces Awards
The Office for Institutional Diversity announces the following departments have been awarded funds to bring guest speakers to campus as part of the Visiting Women and Minority Lecturer/Scholar Series (VWMLS). Cognitive and Learning Sciences receives $1,200 for Advanced Associate Professor Rocio Garcia-Retamero, of the University of Granada-Spain, who is scheduled for a two-week visit to campus Feb. 12-26. Her expertise includes gender issues in the workplace, cross-cultural psychology and medical decision making. She will also discuss opportunities for graduate study abroad.
Tech Today, December 21, 2011
On the Road
Assistant Professor Edward Cokely (Cognitive and Learning Sciences), students and two colleagues attended the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making in Seattle, Wash., in November.
Cokely, students and colleagues also attended the 52nd Psychonomic Society Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle in November.
Tech Today,
December 9, 2011
CLS Colloquium
The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences will host Dr. Robert Hoffman, of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, who will speak on "Reinventing Statistics to Meet the Challenges of Our Age" at 2 p.m., today, in Memorial Union Alumni Lounge A and B.
Tech Today, December 1, 2011
Proposal in Progress
Erich Petushek (CLS) and Karen Roemer (KIP), "Effect of Pediatric Obesity on Lower Extremity Biomechanics: Implications for Injury Risk Assessment and Screening," NSF
Tech Today, November 10, 2011
Century II Campaign Endowed Equipment Fund Awards Announced
Vice President for Research David Reed has awarded Century II Campaign Endowed Equipment Fund (C2E2) grants at the recommendation of the C2E2 Committee. The committee reviewed eight proposals totaling $33,385 and awarded $19,550. A recipient of funding this year in CLS is Ranjana Mehta, for "A teaching laboratory to measure human behavior and performance."
Tech Today, November 15, 2011
In the News
Michigan Tech and the psychological research of Assistant Professor Edward Cokely (CLS) were mentioned in a feature article in the November 2011 issue of Scientific American, titled "Thought Experiments: Philosophers." See Science.
Tech Today, October 28, 2011
In Print
An article coauthored by Assistant Professor Edward Cokely (CLS), "Persistent bias in expert judgments about free will and moral responsibility: A test of the expertise defense," was published in Consciousness and Cognition, an international journal published by Elsevier.
Tech Today, October 24, 2011
Is High Ability Necessary for Greatness?
"A few years back, I was kindly invited by one of Ericsson's former students, Edward Cokely, to give a talk at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, where he was working at the time as a postdoctoral Fellow. At dinner, we were discussing Anders Ericsson's theory of deliberate practice and I was questioning how it could possibly be true."
Scientific American, October 14, 2011
In Print
Assistant Professor Edward Cokely (CLS/Max Planck Institute for Human Development) coauthored a paper, "Effective Communication of Risks to Young Adults: Using Message Framing and Visual Aids to Increase Condom Use and STD Screening," in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. The APA's press release was in September 12, 2011.
Tech Today, October 6, 2011
Michigan Tech Hires 11 New Faculty in Health and Energy Initiatives
Michigan Technological University has hired 11 new faculty members as part of the University's most recent Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative (SFHI).
One new faculty in CLS is part of the cross-disciplinary theme of Health: Basic Sciences, Technologies and Medical Informatics.
Ranjana Mehta, with a PhD from the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, researches human factors engineering issues. Her work focuses on quantifying the effects of physical and psychosocial risk factors and their relative contributions in the development of workplace injuries. Her faculty appointment is in Cognitive and Learning Sciences.
Michigan Tech News, August 11, 2011
New Funding
Associate Professor Paul Ward (CLS) and Co-PI Joel Suss (CLS) have received $13,920 from the National Science Foundation for a one-year project, "Doctoral Dissertation Research: Using a Prediction and Option Generation Paradigm to Understand and Improve Decision Making."
Tech Today, July 22, 2011
Students Journey to Lansing for Graduate Education Week
Graduate students, all from Michigan, ventured to Lansing last week for Michigan Graduate Education Week in the Capitol Building. Among those attending from Michigan Tech was Natasha Hagadone, a PhD candidate in applied cognitive science and human factors from Central Lake. "I was honored to represent Michigan Tech and my department," said Hagadone. She spent time with Senator Howard Walker (R-Traverse City), telling him about the DeSciDE (Decision Sciences and Decision Engineering) lab at Tech and her research in personalized decision support.
Tech Today, April 20, 2011
ACSHF Admission Requirements Updated
CLS News, March 24, 2011
Michigan Tech Graduate Research Colloquium 2011
The Graduate School Government sponsored a campuswide research symposium on March 3-4, 2011. The main events of this symposium were a Poster Presentation Session and a Research Colloquium. A CLS poster was Failure under pressure: Is performance moderated by attentional focus and skill level? by Joel Suss, Cognitive & Learning Sciences Advisor: Dr Paul Ward .Joel Suss took 2nd Place in the Poster Presentation.
CLS News, March 21, 2011
CLS Sponsors SFHI Candidate in Human Factors
CLS will host a seminar as part of the Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative in Human Factors. Ranjana Mehta, a PhD candidate in industrial and systems engineering at Virginia Tech, will present "Interactive Effects of Physical and Psychosocial Stressors on Occupational Health and Worker Performance" from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 28, in Rekhi G06. Mehta's research interests include using human factors and biomechanics to improve worker health and safety, physical and mental workload and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. For more information, contact Paul Ward at pward@mtu.edu , or Deb Meyers at dmmeyers@mtu.edu .
Tech Today, February 24, 2011
Spanish Scholar Visits, Presents
CLS will sponsor two presentations on Gender Stereotypes and Health Risk Communication, by Associate Professor Rocio Garcia-Retamero, of University of Granada, Spain. The first presentation, "The Malleability of Gender Stereotypes: Causal Attributions about Success and Failure in Men and Women," will be from 4 to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb 22, in Memorial Union Ballroom A1. The second presentation, "Using Visual Aids to Communicate Medical Risks: Overcoming Low Numeracy in Patients," will be 12 to 12:50 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 23, in ChemSci 201. Garcia-Retamero is an expert in the psychology of stereotype formation, gender issues, medical decision making and risk communication. She has published nearly 100 articles and chapters on these topics, including two books.
Tech Today, February 18, 2011
SFHI Candidate Seminar in Human Factors:Jennifer Wagner
Tech Today, January 13, 2011
New Funding
Associate Professor Paul Ward (CLS) has received $50,000 from the US Soccer Federation for the first year of a two-year project, "Soccer Skill, Deliberate Practice and Performance Improvement."
Mining Gazette, January 12, 2011
On the Road
Associate Professor Paul Ward (Cognitive and Learning Sciences) and graduate student Joel Suss traveled to San Francisco in late September to present two papers at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Suss and Ward presented "Skill-based differences in the cognitive mechanisms underlying failure under stress." As well, Ward was the principal author of "Option generation and decision making in critical-care nursing." Both presentations are included in the proceedings of the international conference.
Tech Today, October 1, 2010
Faculty Meet, Visitors Welcome
Faculty affiliated with Tech’s PhD program in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors meet routinely. Visitors are welcome. Here are discussion topics and the schedule for fall semester.
Noon, Wednesday, Oct. 20--Associate Professor Paul Ward will speak on "Using process tracing in a simulated task environment to examine skilled law enforcement officers' option generation process," Alumni Lounge B.
Noon, Wednesday, Nov. 3--Associate Professor Susie Amato-Henderson will speak on "I bet I can guess what you're thinking: a 10-minute introduction to polygraph," Alumni Lounge A.
Noon, Wednesday, Dec. 1-- Graduate student Joel Suss will speak on "Shooting performance under stress," Alumni Lounge B
September 30, 2010
NEW: Applied Cognition & Expertise (ACE) Laboratory
September
23, 2010
NEXT: See Requirements
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