International Journal of Psychology 20 (1985) 373-378 North-Holland
373
REPORT ON THE FIRST NETWORK-SEMINAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES ON MAN-COMPUTER-INTERACTION RESEARCH (MACINTER)
A meeting of scientists interested in man-computer-interaction research took place 15-19 October, 1984 at Humboldt-University Berlin, GDR. This first MACINTER-Network Seminar was initiated by the 1.U.Psy.S. Executive Committee in 1982. According to the aim of the network to strengthen the cooperation of psychologists with computer scientists, researchers from both disciplines attended the seminar: systems designers, software engineers, cognitive psychologists and work psychologists. The major part of participants was formed by psychologists. 94 scientists from 16 different countries discussed psychological aspects of man-computer interaction. The programme touched several topics within the general framework of MACINTER. Sessions - each .of. them lasting half a day - were organized for information exchanges in the following areas of research: -
-
Design of Man-Computer Dialogues; Knowledge Acquisition and Learning in Man-Computer Systems; Information Representation on Visual Display Units; General Aspects of Man-Computer Systems; Knowledge Representation and Use in Man-Computer Systems; Measurement of Requirement, Mental Load and Stress; Job Organization and Allocation of Functions between Man and Computer.
In an opening session the chairman of the seminar, F. Klix (GDR), outlined the aim and goals of MACINTER. He stressed that new tasks for psychological research result from growing use of computers in all spheres of life. Furthermore, he put emphasis on the fact that psychology is competent to work in this field and to contribute in solving specific kinds of these tasks. The relationship between new tasks and problem-solving strategies was demonstrated by him in special direc0020-7594/85/$3.30 0 1985, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.(North-Holland)
314
Firs: MACINTER-Network Seminar
tions of research: the contribution of psychology in the development and evaluation of programming languages, expert systems, and the use of computers in the classroom. In the second part of his lecture he made proposals for future MACINTER activities and cooperation. These proposals formed the basis for the discussion in the course of the Seminar. In the subtopic sessions of the seminar 44 papers were presented. They dealt with theoretical and methodological foundations as well as experimental and empirical findings. In the subtopic Dialogue Design contributions were mainly of experimental character. One important aspect was the adaption of computers to interindividual differences in users. Rothkopf (USA) could show that information retrieval from data bases is much more successful when individual experience in naming of objects is taken into account. Ruum (GDR) dealt with interindividual differences in perceptual and encoding processes with regard to information representation on VDUs. Streitz (FRG) presented a general approach to cognitive processes in human-computer interaction. He outlined promising strategies of research and summarized possible contributions of cognitive psychology to urgent problems of dialogue design. Other papers dealt with experimental evaluation of different dialogue structures ( Wundke, GDR) and with the presentation of the interface layout for a question-answering system (Koch, GDR) and of the dialogue design for the INTAK-system (Kiesewetter, GDR). Also in the subtopic Knowledge Acquisition individualization played an important role, e.g., in the contribution of Van der Veer (The Netherlands) who investigated the impact of different cognitive styles on human-computer interaction. His experiments were carried out with children as subjects in order to determine the effect of different learning styles on knowledge acquisition in complex situations. Wuern (Sweden) demonstrated in a series of elucidating examples from CADwork what kind of barriers are still against easy use of computers. Dridu (FRG) informed on basic assumptions of an automatic protocol analysis for dialogues between users and computers designed to describe the process of knowledge acquisition. Mutern (GDR) and Schindler (GDR) discussed the problem of training. In the approach of Schindler three theoretically different training strategies were experimentally tested with a text editing system. In the session Information Representation cognitive processing of
First M A CINTER-Network Seminar
315
visual displayed information was of main interest. d’Ydewalle (Belgium) reported on eye movement research aimed at identification of serial and/or parallel phases of information processing. Scheidereiter (GDR) provided empirical evidence for the necessity of task-code compatibility. Norros (Finland) showed how general work orientation in,a power plant control room was improved by psychological oriented layout of information displays. Chalupa (Czechoslovakia) and Baer (FRG) dealt with basic research in visual search and signal detection aimed at application in man-computer interaction. General Aspects were dealt by M . de Montmollin (France) who discussed different approaches in tackling the ergonomic and psychological problems raised by the introduction of new technologies. Genou (Bulgaria) concentrated on necessary qualification and personality characteristics for people working with computers. Schmitt (GDR) discussed psychological aspects of programming languages. Tauber (FRG) dealt with theoretical prerequisites for metacommunication in man-computer systems. Green (UK) demonstrated by some highlighting examples the still existing great difference between current man-computer interaction and smooth communication especially with programming and command languages. Gelleri (Hungary) discussed conclusions for psychological research drawn from the rapid technical development of computers and their broad distribution among different people. Fuchs-Kittowski (GDR) dealt with methodological problems and the organizational aspect in dialogue work. In the subtopic Knowledge Representation and Use basic and applied research in human memory was of main interest. This session was opened by a paper of Helbig (GDR) who asked some questions to cognitive psychology from the point of view of artificial intelligence. Klix (GDR) could show in his lectu’re on memory research and knowledge engineering how psychology is able to contribute to software ergonomics. A computer programme for producing semantic analogies was demonstrated as a model for intelligent behaviour in humans. Ziessler (GDR) explained how psychological models of text analysis and text comprehension can be applied for assembling procedures in text management systems. Hagendorf (GDR) reported on a study of knowledge representation and use in human-computer problem solving. The relevance of source knowledge and content or focal knowledge related to externally stored information was the central point of experiments conducted by Schonpj7ug (Berlin West). Battmann (Berlin West)
.
316
First MA CIN TER-Network Seminar
compared two different strategies in using an experimental information-retrieval system with regard to the competence of the subjects. The largest number of contributions was in the session Requirement, Mental Load and Stress. The papers touched a wide spectrum of research areas: Analysis of reaction times dependent on different work load and strategies in reading and typing activities (Kiihn, FRG); design of tracking systems adaptive to the psychophysiological state of the human (Zabrodin and Zuzykin, USSR), validation and use of physiological parameters to identify mental load in human-computer interaction - especially the use of the pupil reflex (Marek and Noworol, Poland) and the power spectrum of heart rate (Zimmer, GDR). Other papers dealt with the evaluation of mental load by means of secondary tasks ( Quaas, GDR) respectively by computer simulation of work activities ( Wovf, GDR). Long-term studies of psychological effects of computerization ( Leppiinen, Finland and Hugler, GDR) completed this topic. In Job Organization and Allocation of Functions the framework of introduction of computers into work was discussed. Timpe (GDR) explained some psychological principles for allocation of functions when robots will be introduced into production processes. Hacker (GDR) and Ulich (Switzerland) dealt in two related papers with the introduction of computers into clerical work. While Hacker concentrated on methods of analyzing and evaluating the work situation, UIich compared different design strategies in work structuring. Tyszka (Poland) discussed problems of allocation of functions within a special system designed for flood control. Wifpert (Berlin West) outlined organizational (social and social psychological) aspects of new information technologies in offices. In a second paper Hacker (GDR) made some proposals for the allocation of functions based on results in a laboratory experiment. The proceedings of the First Network-Seminar of MACINTER will be published by North-Holland. Beside the sessions some authors used the facilities to demonstrate their programmes and systems for those participants who were interested in details. A panel discussion was held to the special topic of Child and Computer. As a possible domain of cognitive research in this area the teaching of programming languages in the age of 13-15 was discussed. The comparison of different languages, teaching strategies and their
Firs1 MACINTER-Network Seminar
377
impact on general cognitive performance seemed to be interesting questions of further research. A second aspect in the panel discussion was how to continue with MACINTER. The answers in a short questionnaire distributed among the participants served as a basis for this discussion. All participants were interested in future MACINTER-Network activities and most of them are able to active contributions and cooperation. Participants agreed in organizing future activities in the following way: Smaller groups of members should meet during the next two or three years and deal with subtopics of MACINTER. The subtopics of main interest are: -
-
Knowledge Representation and Use; Knowledge Acquisition and Learning; Design of Dialogues; Measurement of Mental Load; Job Organization.
There were a great number of proposals for further topics but they do not actually result in new research areas. These proposals serve rather for specification of those five subtopics. The most essential one is to concentrate on the individualization aspect. Several participants stressed that MACINTER should have its own profile compared with other forms of international cooperation in human-computer-interaction research or conference series in this field. The specific characteristic of MACINTER should be its primary orientation to psychology and the strong connection between basic and applied research. Special emphasis was put to the statement that psychological research is competent in answering optimization questions in man-computer interaction. It has been reported that there is a hope that Humboldt-University will grant the establishment of a small office of MACINTER. The tasks of this office will be to coordinate the activities.in and between the MACINTER-Groups, to inform the MACINTER-Community on meetings, research projects, publishing activities etc. by a MACINTER-NEWSLETTER, and to organize MACINTERNetwork-Seminars for all members in larger time intervals. The participants of the seminar confirmed this plan and agreed with
378
Firsr
MACINTER-Network Seminar
the establishment of a MACINTER coordination centre at HumboldtUniversity, Berlin, GDR. During the seminar competent scientists from different countries summarized the state of the art, the main research objectives and strategies, and organizational necessities for each future subtopic. These draft papers are the basis for an expertise. It will be distributed to different groups in UNESCO and to ISSC as well as to ICSU representatives. Different institutions applied for organization of further meetings. One of the next meetings of MACINTER-Groups will take place during the 7th Meeting of Psychologists from the Danubian Countries in Varna (Bulgaria), 22-29 September 1985.
373
REPORT ON THE FIRST NETWORK-SEMINAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES ON MAN-COMPUTER-INTERACTION RESEARCH (MACINTER)
A meeting of scientists interested in man-computer-interaction research took place 15-19 October, 1984 at Humboldt-University Berlin, GDR. This first MACINTER-Network Seminar was initiated by the 1.U.Psy.S. Executive Committee in 1982. According to the aim of the network to strengthen the cooperation of psychologists with computer scientists, researchers from both disciplines attended the seminar: systems designers, software engineers, cognitive psychologists and work psychologists. The major part of participants was formed by psychologists. 94 scientists from 16 different countries discussed psychological aspects of man-computer interaction. The programme touched several topics within the general framework of MACINTER. Sessions - each .of. them lasting half a day - were organized for information exchanges in the following areas of research: -
-
Design of Man-Computer Dialogues; Knowledge Acquisition and Learning in Man-Computer Systems; Information Representation on Visual Display Units; General Aspects of Man-Computer Systems; Knowledge Representation and Use in Man-Computer Systems; Measurement of Requirement, Mental Load and Stress; Job Organization and Allocation of Functions between Man and Computer.
In an opening session the chairman of the seminar, F. Klix (GDR), outlined the aim and goals of MACINTER. He stressed that new tasks for psychological research result from growing use of computers in all spheres of life. Furthermore, he put emphasis on the fact that psychology is competent to work in this field and to contribute in solving specific kinds of these tasks. The relationship between new tasks and problem-solving strategies was demonstrated by him in special direc0020-7594/85/$3.30 0 1985, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.(North-Holland)
314
Firs: MACINTER-Network Seminar
tions of research: the contribution of psychology in the development and evaluation of programming languages, expert systems, and the use of computers in the classroom. In the second part of his lecture he made proposals for future MACINTER activities and cooperation. These proposals formed the basis for the discussion in the course of the Seminar. In the subtopic sessions of the seminar 44 papers were presented. They dealt with theoretical and methodological foundations as well as experimental and empirical findings. In the subtopic Dialogue Design contributions were mainly of experimental character. One important aspect was the adaption of computers to interindividual differences in users. Rothkopf (USA) could show that information retrieval from data bases is much more successful when individual experience in naming of objects is taken into account. Ruum (GDR) dealt with interindividual differences in perceptual and encoding processes with regard to information representation on VDUs. Streitz (FRG) presented a general approach to cognitive processes in human-computer interaction. He outlined promising strategies of research and summarized possible contributions of cognitive psychology to urgent problems of dialogue design. Other papers dealt with experimental evaluation of different dialogue structures ( Wundke, GDR) and with the presentation of the interface layout for a question-answering system (Koch, GDR) and of the dialogue design for the INTAK-system (Kiesewetter, GDR). Also in the subtopic Knowledge Acquisition individualization played an important role, e.g., in the contribution of Van der Veer (The Netherlands) who investigated the impact of different cognitive styles on human-computer interaction. His experiments were carried out with children as subjects in order to determine the effect of different learning styles on knowledge acquisition in complex situations. Wuern (Sweden) demonstrated in a series of elucidating examples from CADwork what kind of barriers are still against easy use of computers. Dridu (FRG) informed on basic assumptions of an automatic protocol analysis for dialogues between users and computers designed to describe the process of knowledge acquisition. Mutern (GDR) and Schindler (GDR) discussed the problem of training. In the approach of Schindler three theoretically different training strategies were experimentally tested with a text editing system. In the session Information Representation cognitive processing of
First M A CINTER-Network Seminar
315
visual displayed information was of main interest. d’Ydewalle (Belgium) reported on eye movement research aimed at identification of serial and/or parallel phases of information processing. Scheidereiter (GDR) provided empirical evidence for the necessity of task-code compatibility. Norros (Finland) showed how general work orientation in,a power plant control room was improved by psychological oriented layout of information displays. Chalupa (Czechoslovakia) and Baer (FRG) dealt with basic research in visual search and signal detection aimed at application in man-computer interaction. General Aspects were dealt by M . de Montmollin (France) who discussed different approaches in tackling the ergonomic and psychological problems raised by the introduction of new technologies. Genou (Bulgaria) concentrated on necessary qualification and personality characteristics for people working with computers. Schmitt (GDR) discussed psychological aspects of programming languages. Tauber (FRG) dealt with theoretical prerequisites for metacommunication in man-computer systems. Green (UK) demonstrated by some highlighting examples the still existing great difference between current man-computer interaction and smooth communication especially with programming and command languages. Gelleri (Hungary) discussed conclusions for psychological research drawn from the rapid technical development of computers and their broad distribution among different people. Fuchs-Kittowski (GDR) dealt with methodological problems and the organizational aspect in dialogue work. In the subtopic Knowledge Representation and Use basic and applied research in human memory was of main interest. This session was opened by a paper of Helbig (GDR) who asked some questions to cognitive psychology from the point of view of artificial intelligence. Klix (GDR) could show in his lectu’re on memory research and knowledge engineering how psychology is able to contribute to software ergonomics. A computer programme for producing semantic analogies was demonstrated as a model for intelligent behaviour in humans. Ziessler (GDR) explained how psychological models of text analysis and text comprehension can be applied for assembling procedures in text management systems. Hagendorf (GDR) reported on a study of knowledge representation and use in human-computer problem solving. The relevance of source knowledge and content or focal knowledge related to externally stored information was the central point of experiments conducted by Schonpj7ug (Berlin West). Battmann (Berlin West)
.
316
First MA CIN TER-Network Seminar
compared two different strategies in using an experimental information-retrieval system with regard to the competence of the subjects. The largest number of contributions was in the session Requirement, Mental Load and Stress. The papers touched a wide spectrum of research areas: Analysis of reaction times dependent on different work load and strategies in reading and typing activities (Kiihn, FRG); design of tracking systems adaptive to the psychophysiological state of the human (Zabrodin and Zuzykin, USSR), validation and use of physiological parameters to identify mental load in human-computer interaction - especially the use of the pupil reflex (Marek and Noworol, Poland) and the power spectrum of heart rate (Zimmer, GDR). Other papers dealt with the evaluation of mental load by means of secondary tasks ( Quaas, GDR) respectively by computer simulation of work activities ( Wovf, GDR). Long-term studies of psychological effects of computerization ( Leppiinen, Finland and Hugler, GDR) completed this topic. In Job Organization and Allocation of Functions the framework of introduction of computers into work was discussed. Timpe (GDR) explained some psychological principles for allocation of functions when robots will be introduced into production processes. Hacker (GDR) and Ulich (Switzerland) dealt in two related papers with the introduction of computers into clerical work. While Hacker concentrated on methods of analyzing and evaluating the work situation, UIich compared different design strategies in work structuring. Tyszka (Poland) discussed problems of allocation of functions within a special system designed for flood control. Wifpert (Berlin West) outlined organizational (social and social psychological) aspects of new information technologies in offices. In a second paper Hacker (GDR) made some proposals for the allocation of functions based on results in a laboratory experiment. The proceedings of the First Network-Seminar of MACINTER will be published by North-Holland. Beside the sessions some authors used the facilities to demonstrate their programmes and systems for those participants who were interested in details. A panel discussion was held to the special topic of Child and Computer. As a possible domain of cognitive research in this area the teaching of programming languages in the age of 13-15 was discussed. The comparison of different languages, teaching strategies and their
Firs1 MACINTER-Network Seminar
377
impact on general cognitive performance seemed to be interesting questions of further research. A second aspect in the panel discussion was how to continue with MACINTER. The answers in a short questionnaire distributed among the participants served as a basis for this discussion. All participants were interested in future MACINTER-Network activities and most of them are able to active contributions and cooperation. Participants agreed in organizing future activities in the following way: Smaller groups of members should meet during the next two or three years and deal with subtopics of MACINTER. The subtopics of main interest are: -
-
Knowledge Representation and Use; Knowledge Acquisition and Learning; Design of Dialogues; Measurement of Mental Load; Job Organization.
There were a great number of proposals for further topics but they do not actually result in new research areas. These proposals serve rather for specification of those five subtopics. The most essential one is to concentrate on the individualization aspect. Several participants stressed that MACINTER should have its own profile compared with other forms of international cooperation in human-computer-interaction research or conference series in this field. The specific characteristic of MACINTER should be its primary orientation to psychology and the strong connection between basic and applied research. Special emphasis was put to the statement that psychological research is competent in answering optimization questions in man-computer interaction. It has been reported that there is a hope that Humboldt-University will grant the establishment of a small office of MACINTER. The tasks of this office will be to coordinate the activities.in and between the MACINTER-Groups, to inform the MACINTER-Community on meetings, research projects, publishing activities etc. by a MACINTER-NEWSLETTER, and to organize MACINTERNetwork-Seminars for all members in larger time intervals. The participants of the seminar confirmed this plan and agreed with
378
Firsr
MACINTER-Network Seminar
the establishment of a MACINTER coordination centre at HumboldtUniversity, Berlin, GDR. During the seminar competent scientists from different countries summarized the state of the art, the main research objectives and strategies, and organizational necessities for each future subtopic. These draft papers are the basis for an expertise. It will be distributed to different groups in UNESCO and to ISSC as well as to ICSU representatives. Different institutions applied for organization of further meetings. One of the next meetings of MACINTER-Groups will take place during the 7th Meeting of Psychologists from the Danubian Countries in Varna (Bulgaria), 22-29 September 1985.
