The following alarm is most likely to wake up a

sleeping person:

Human Factors
Example Questions
Exam 1 10/4/07

a) an interrupted auditory signal (on-off) that is loud

b) a steady-state auditory signal (constantly on) that
is loud
c) an interrupted visual signal (on-off) that is bright
d) a steady-state visual signal (constantly on) that is
bright
e) a moderately loud tone (too loud will decrease
reaction time)

A forklift is used in a noisy environment (auditory

noise) with many flashing lights (visual noise) on
machines in the work area. What type of signal
might be best to draw attention to the forklift to
prevent workers from being struck by the signal.
a) an interrupted auditory signal (on-off) that is loud
b) a steady-state auditory signal (constantly on) that
is loud
c) an interrupted visual signal (on-off) that is bright
d) a steady-state visual signal (constantly on) that is
bright
e) posting a watch me sign on the forklift in ALL
CAPS

What is the difference between an

open-loop and a closed-loop
system?

Define a "system".

Discuss, briefly, the advantages

and disadvantages of a laboratory
experiment and a field
experiment.

Your goal is to increase

compliance with an instruction to
shake a bottle of medicine.
Whether or not the subject read
the label would be an example of:
- a terminal criterion
- an intermediate criterion

If our psychological test can

looks like a good test or what
we would expect a good test to
look like, then it has high:
a. face validity
b. content validity
c. construct validity
d. reliability
e. motor skill congruence

If our psychological test seems to test the

range of concepts (e.g., various forms of
punching, kicking, grappling, etc.)
related to our outcome measure (e.g.,
ultimate fighter test), then it has high:
a. face validity
b. content validity
c. construct validity
d. reliability
e. motor skill congruence

If our psychological test can

actually predict performance of a
particular skill or ability, then it
has high:
a. face validity
b. content validity
c. construct validity
d. reliability
e. motor skill congruence

If our psychological test is

repeatable and gives the same
score regardless of the user
applying the test, then it has high:
a. face validity
b. content validity
c. construct validity
d. reliability
e. motor skill congruence

True or False: The more unlikely

an event, the more information it
provides if it occurs.

Multiple-resource theory of divided attention would predict

that for two separate tasks (using different mental resources)
performed simultaneously:

True or False: People tend to

give an undue amount of weight
to early evidence or information.

a: performance on each task should decrease when compared

to the tasks performed individually
b: performance on each task should increase when compared
to the tasks performed individually
c: performance on each task should not change when
compared to the tasks performed individually
d: performance of the higher demand task will decrease more
than the lower demand task when compared to the tasks
performed individually
e: performance of the higher demand task will decrease less
than the lower demand task when compared to the tasks
performed individually

When you leave a theater during

the day, you can't see well for a
while, why?

Discuss the advantages and

disadvantages of a digital and
analog display used as a
speedometer.

What is check reading?

You are driving a fire truck at

night on your way to a fire and
you must pass through downtown
Salt Lake City during Christmas
time (typical holiday decorations
are up). What might interfere
with other's visibility of your
truck? Explain.

Your ear has a protective

mechanism (the stapedius
muscle) to help attenuate loud
sounds. Why doesn't this system
help much for a sudden intense
impulse noises such as gun shots?

When might an olfactory display

be used?
What are the advantages of an
olfactory display?
What are the disadvantages?

What is EMG
(electromyography)?
In a manual material handling
sense, what does it attempt to
measure?

True or False: People are

generally good at localizing
sound (determining where a noise
came from), especially when they
hold really still.

With regard to intelligibility of

speech, which provide more
information to the listener:
consonants or vowels?
Which are generally spoken with
more intensity?

Men typically have greater

strength than women. For what
types of manual material handling
activities are the differences less
pronounced?

Sometimes a basketball player "knows"

instantly that his/her shot will be good. This is
an example of what theory:

With regard to motor skills, what

is the difference between openloop and closed-loop theories?

a. recall schema theory

b. recognition schema theory
c. repeated skills theory
d. cognitive dissonance theory
e. March madness theory (final four finger
theory)

When controls and displays are arranged in

corresponding patterns, this is known as:

What is a generalized motor

program?

True or False: Compensatory

tracking is generally superior to
pursuit tracking.

a. spatial compatibility
b. movement compatibility
c. operator compatibility
d. common location compatibility
e. modality compatibility
f. flippity floppity do-dadd theory (if you do
not cross this off, Ill be disappointed!)

True or False: According to

Rasmussen, rule-based behavior
requires more processing and is
less "automatic" than knowledgebased behavior.