Cognition, Technology & Work

Health care has evolved rapidly to meet the medical demands of society, but not to meet the demands of consistent operational safety. In other high risk domains in which the consequences of systems failure are unacceptable, organisational and operational work systems have been developed to deliver consistent, high-quality, failure-free performance. In this paper we review contributions to a special issue of Cognition, Technology and Work on ‘Enhancing Surgical Systems’. We consider their implications for improving the reliability of care processes in light of theoretical developments in the area of high-reliability organisations and resilience engineering. Health care must move from reactive safety cultures to be more proactively resilient to the continual threats posed by complexity in clinical care processes and the multi-professional hospital environment. Our analysis emphasises the importance of team working for reliable operational performance. A schematic framework to illustrate how safety interventions in surgery might cohere within an organisational strategy for achieving high-reliability is proposed. The implications for continuous quality improvement and effective regulation of system safety over differing time scales and organisational levels are discussed.

The aim of this study was to analyze pilots’ visual scanning under conditions visually restricted by the occlusion paradigm. During manual flight, pilots experienced interruptions in their panel scan due to concurring tasks and monitoring of distant displays. Eleven volunteer airline pilots performed several manual instrument landing system approaches in a fixed-base flight simulator. Some of these approaches were performed using the paradigm of occlusion with shutter glasses. Under occlusion, the gaze pattern analysis revealed that pilots demonstrated reduced mean glance durations, but did not reduce their attention to lesser information displays. The results also indicated that the attitude indicator (artificial horizon) as a preview instrument was less affected by occlusion compared to other areas of interest. A subsequent scanpath analysis revealed that vertical tracking was the predominant information acquisition strategy and corresponded to larger deviations on the glideslope. These results imply the need to optimize information even for short glances, and to be very cautious with adaptive layouts of free programmable or dynamic displays, and not to overburden the pilot flying with parallel tasks.

Traffic congestion and accidents are more likely to occur on gently undulating roads called sags, because drivers are less likely to recognize a change in velocity. Therefore, to induce appropriate judgement and operation, we have proposed to bias the perception of velocity by tactile stimulation. Our previous study showed that the frequency of vibrotactile stimulation based on an engine is related to the perception of velocity and that an increase or decrease in frequency makes the driver feel they are traveling faster or slower than the actual velocity. In this study, to define the control initiation condition that biases the perception of velocity, we investigated a boundary model that can notice a change in velocity based on the velocity and the acceleration. Additionally, we investigated the effect of noticing a change in velocity and the driver’s response by biasing the perception of velocity. Psychophysical experiments were conducted using a driving simulator that simulates the vibration of an actual vehicle. The results showed that the change in velocity required to notice an increase or decrease in velocity was 4 km/h when the accelerations were 0.02 and 0.04 m/s $$^{2}$$ , − 6 km/h when the acceleration was − 0.02 m/s $$^{2}$$ , and − 4 km/h when the accelerations were − 0.04 and − 0.06 m/s $$^{2}$$ . Furthermore, by biasing the perception of velocity, we demonstrated that the participants recognized a change in velocity on a gently undulating road and appropriately operated the acceleration pedal.

Icebreakers are special-purpose ships designed to operate in different ice-covered waters, either independently or during assistance of weaker ships. In the Baltic Sea, as well as elsewhere, they are essential for maintaining continuous sea transport services during wintertime. Icebreaker operations are complex, and every situation in which a vessel requires assistance is unique, due to, e.g. changing ice and weather conditions, geographical location or language proficiency of the crew on board the icebreaker or assisted vessel. The icebreaker crew has considerable freedom to adapt to each situation, yet, for safe operations, there are constraints to which the crew has to conform. The study presented in this paper aims at identifying the constraints on nautical officers on board icebreakers during operations, as well as special situations that increase cognitive load. A work domain analysis based on a group interview with nautical icebreaker officers shows the multitude of tasks performed on board icebreakers. Furthermore, it identifies constraints specific to icebreaker operations such as ice assessment and direct icebreaking, but also generic constraints such as language and communication skills. At times, safety and efficiency come into conflict, resulting in a trade-off between the two. When that happens, safety gets priority, and the operation stops until the situation has been evaluated. In addition, several situations that increase cognitive load are identified, with the common denominator that they add elements of uncertainty, e.g. severe weather and technical malfunctions. Finally, further research within the area of icebreaker operations is recommended, with a continued focus on the system constraints, and their potential for system improvement.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of various vibration parameters on the cognitive process of reasoning in humans. Previous researches have shown that whole-body vibration (WBV) from vehicles can negatively impact cognition, while certain frequencies of WBV may have positive effects. As reasoning is a crucial skill in work activities, understanding the impact of WBV on cognition is important. Forty university students participated in the study and were divided randomly into four groups, each comprising ten volunteers. They underwent six tests, including two control tests without vibration and four tests with different orders of vibration parameters based on their assigned group. The frequencies used were 5 Hz or 30 Hz, and the amplitudes were 0.8 m/s2 or 1.2 m/s2. Cognitive performance was assessed using a score system from a cognitive training app. There was a decline in performance during the initial stages, particularly between the first control test and the first application of vibrational parameters. The volunteers became proficient at using the app, indicating that their performance was influenced more by practice and learning rather than the effects of vibrations alone, as indicated by the statistical analysis. The findings suggest that the effects of vibration on cognition are more noticeable when studying individual parameters separately since studies applying it individually had shown some effect. When multiple parameters are considered, their effects tend to cancel each other out although negative effects were more pronounced during the early stages of exposure. The multivariate longitudinal analysis indicated that the primary effect observed was a "learning effect."

Rail traffic is controlled by operators working in multiple control centres. Although each of these control centres enjoy quite some autonomy and authority, their activities are highly interdependent. This is especially the case during the management of disruptions. In this study, we look at the role of leader teams with system-wide responsibilities and the task of synchronizing the control centres’ activities. Research on leadership in this multiteam setting of networked control centres, which operate in a dynamic and time-compressed environment, is limited. Hence, this study explores the behaviours and functions of these leader teams during the management of two large-scale disruptions in the Dutch railway system. We will show how various factors influence the ability to provide leadership within this specific real-world context. This study demonstrates that combining insights from the literature on multiteam systems and resilience engineering can contribute to our knowledge of the critical challenges of control in polycentric adaptive systems.

In a changing business environment, data within and around organizations rapidly accumulate. In recent years, many organizations have implemented business intelligence (BI) to manage and refine the vast stocks of data. The effective use of BI can support managers to make faster and better decisions. The goal of this study is to investigate how to increase a manager’s intention to read information and to create reports. Based on the technology acceptance model, a research model is developed and tested to assess the factors (i.e., usefulness and ease of use) affecting a manager’s intention to use BI. In addition, the relationship between the intention to read information and the intention to create reports is linked using Dholakia and Bagozzi (D&B) model. A survey of 271 managers supports the proposed model. The empirical results show that the usefulness of BI directly and indirectly affects the intention to read information. Both the reading and creating interfaces of BI affect the intention to read information and the intention to create reports, respectively. The intention to read information positively and significantly affects the intention to create reports. Given the empirical findings, this study provides theoretical and managerial insights for organizations and managers.