Objective
ISE 3614 – Introduction to Human Factors Engineering 2018 Fall Lab 1: Information Theory – Hick’s Law
Providing practical experience of applying information theory to quantify information processing demanded of an operator. Specifically, this laboratory requires completion of a choice-reaction task to illustrate Hick’s Law. This is an individual assignment.
Equipment for Laboratory
• Software program
• Windows PC
Choice Reaction Time – Stimulus Response Alternatives and Hick’s Law
Decision-making and response selection are very complex phenomena that are central to an understanding of Human Information Processing. While class discussion included many stages and steps in the information processing model, a central component of response selection (timing and error) is nested in the concept of reaction time. Based on Information Theory and Hick’s Law, reaction time (the time required to respond to a given stimulus) has been shown to be linearly related to the amount of information presented. [Note that information H is expressed in bits, which are expressed as – log2(# S/R pairs).]
1. Open the program titled “Hick’s Law” located on Canvas. This is a .zip file that you will need to unzip in order to install the program. The instructor will give a brief explanation and demonstration regarding how it works.
2. Go through the test for each set of S/R pairs (1, 2, 4, 6, and 8). When you do so, please make an attempt to pseudo-randomize the order and don’t do it in sequential order. Because each person is doing the test at each one of the S/R combinations, all of you will experience learning to some degree. Randomizing it and changing the order between participants will control for this “learning effect” to some extent.
3. Following the completion of each test, please record the mean reaction time that was determined by the program in Table 1 below. This is an average that was determined based on the 10 replications you did within each test condition.
Table 1: Response time data for the five experimental conditions.
All students must complete the task and record their data. The data will be gathered and comparisons will be made across the class. These data are also to be used (and commented on) within your lab write-up as well.
S/R Pairing Conditions
Average Response Time (ms)
1
2
4
6
8
1
ISE 3614 – Introduction to Human Factors Engineering 2018 Fall
4. Submit your data on through a quiz on Canvas. You will receive a grade of ZERO for the lab report if
you fail to submit your data before midnight of Sep 20th.
Report Guidelines
The reaction time data set will be a compilation of all the students. Once we have received all data, we will compile & post the file onto Canvas by Sep 23rd for you to analyze and discuss in your lab report. If you have any questions, ask the TAs.
As you prepare your report, you should consult the lab writing guide (Lab_Guide.docx) that is posted on Canvas. The lab writing guide helps you in the development of a high quality report. In addition, below is a detailed list of the analyses you must perform and some guidelines for your conclusions/discussion section. These are the minimum requirements! Do not forget to address any of these. You are to integrate these ideas and concepts into your document, simply answering them one at a time within the report is not good enough and you probably won’t like the grade that follows.
1. Results: These include but are not limited to:
• Plot the class reaction time data using a Box-and-Whisker scatterplot that graphs the
measured reaction times on the Y-axis and information (in bits – Log2) on the X-axis.
• Calculate the average reaction time recorded for each of the S/R alternatives that were
presented. Calculate the standard deviation as well. Provide other descriptive statistics as
appropriate.
• Plot average reaction times with error bars (using the computed standard deviations) for all
the conditions.
• Using the trendline function, plot a line of best fit. Ensure that you document the equation
that best explains the your data and the amount of variance explained (R2).
2. Discussion/Conclusions: This section should include but is not limited to:
• Comment on the overall shape of the graph, as well as the variability (standard deviation magnitude) that exists across the class at each level we tested (1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 S/R pairs). Is this value consistent, or does it change as a function of the amount of information that was presented? Discuss the implications of this within your write-up.
• Discuss any practical design implications that might result from this experiment. Formulate 3-5 design principles based on the results of this experiment. Your design principles should all relate to the same field/industry – you could discuss training, lecturing in a classroom, software interfaces, or a field of your choice.
References
Sanders, M.S. and McCormick, E.J. (1992). Human Factors in Engineering and Design (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
2