industrial psychology IP Unit 3 (1).pptx

industrial psychology for students

1. Industrial Psychology (BAS-12/ BHM-05) Unit 3 Lecture 1 Engineering Psychology

2. If we list all the “things” we use everyday, we would find that majority of them are man-made. In other words, we live in an engineered environment i.e. made up by man. In the days to come, the environment around us will be increasingly engineered. An important thing about engineered environment is that we have some degree of control over it.

3. A major assumption of Engineering Psychology is that the human use of any man-made thing can be enhanced or degraded, by its design. Therefore, Engineering Psychology is concerned with the way human beings interact with machines.

4. A sub-branch of Industrial Psychology. It is also referred to as ‘Human Factors Engineering’ or ‘Human Engineering’ in the United States and ‘Ergonomics’ in UK. Engineering Psychology is concerned with the ‘ discovery and application of information about human behavior and its relation to machines, tools, and jobs so that their design may best match the abilities and limitations of their human users.’

5. The objectives of Engineering Psychology are to: - Enhance the effectiveness of the physical objects and facilities people use. Maintain or enhance certain desirable human values such as health, safety, satisfaction etc. in this process.

6. The approach of engineering psychology is the systematic application of relevant information about human behavior and characteristics to the designing of: - Things people use and the methods for their use. The environments in which people work and live.

7. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY Human beings were always concerned with improving their tools ever since they began using them. But Engineering Psychology emerged as a distinct discipline only by the end of nineteenth century when the first systematic investigations on the influence of tools/equipment on work efficiency were conducted. The pioneering work of Taylor and Gilbreth couples could be considered as the beginning of Engineering Psychology.

8. Taylor tried to design best shovels and to determine the optimum weight of material per shovelful for handling different products. Later, the Gilbreth couple invented an adjustable scaffolding so that the bricks and mortar are kept at an appropriate height and bricklayer could work at the most convenient level at all the times. In the following years, engineers developed a number of principles of motion economy, work arrangement and work design. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY

9. By the start of WW-I a new class of machines appeared- machines that did not require not muscular power but sensory, perceptual, judgmental and decision making abilities of the operator to use them For example, the job of sonar operator requires virtually no muscular effort, but it makes severe demands on his sensory capacity, attentiveness, and decision making. Problems of this type could no longer be dealt with older principles of industrial engineering. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY

10. During the WW-I, most of the psychologists were involved in selection, training and other personnel issues. But a few of them, notably Raymond Dodge, Knight Dunlap, and Carl E. Seashore, were working on different sorts of problem-problems related to the designing of gas masks, binoculars & monocular, and listening devices. WW-I ended before any major accomplishments were made by engineering psychologists. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY

11. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY During WW-II, America and its allied forces faced a peculiar problem-failure of many of their weapon and surveillance systems (bombs not falling on the correct targets, weapons attacking normal marine life etc. It was later discovered that the major reason of failure of these systems were there faulty designs leading to human errors in using or operating them. After the WW-II, two American psychologists S.S. Stevens, and L.L. Beranek got an assignment to reduce noise levels in military aircraft. Similar other efforts were made to improve the design of machines enabling better human machine interactions.

12. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY Engineering Psychology grew rapidly after the WW-II. It was recognized as the Society of Engineering Psychologists, Division 21 of the American Psychological Association. Currently, engineering psychology is most developed and exploited in the United States of America. Other countries where engineering psychology is in advanced state include Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, UK, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland.

13. STATUS OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY TODAY Engineering psychologists now contribute to the designing of a variety of products ranging from advanced health care equipment, leisurely items, and articles of regular use. For example, research by engineering psychologists demonstrated that using cell phones while driving degrades performance by increasing reaction time, particularly among older drivers leading to higher driving accident risk.

14. RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY Engineering psychologists aim to discover principles about human behavior which could be helpful in machine design. Unfortunately, engineering psychologists are able to find answers for only a small set of problems because: - Man ­machine interactions occur in an almost infinite way. And it is becoming increasingly difficult to study all or most of the ways in which man and machines interact. There are millions of people who are actively engaged in the business of designing and constructing machines and machine systems, but there are scarcely few people working of man machine interactions.

15. RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY Experimentation is the dominant method used in engineering psychologist’s research work. Whenever possible, engineering psychologists use full- scale, rigorous, and sophisticated experimentation. Because of the complexity of problems and the diversity of variables that influence human behavior in machine situations, engineering psychologists typically employ experimental designs using several variables, deriving, for example, from methods of analysis of variance.  Psychophysical methods are widely used for obtaining useful data on sensory capacities.

16. RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY Articulation test methods are used for measuring the effectiveness of speech communication devices and systems. Engineering psychologists have borrowed and adapted a number of other techniques from industrial engineering such as activity sampling procedures, process analysis, and micro motion methods.  Finally, some traditional methods/techniques of industrial psychology used by engineering psychologists include job analysis, task analysis, personnel requirement inventories, questionnaires, tests, and rating scales.

17. THIS PRESENTATION IS BASED ON FOLLOWING SOURCES Deshpandey , A. (2010). Industrial Psychology. New Delhi: Sun India Publications. Bisen , V., & Priya (2010). Industrial Psychology . New Delhi: New Age International Publishers.