T02: Cognitive Neuroscience for Human Factors

Half Day Tutorial

Chris Forsythe (short bio)
Sandia National Laboratories, United States

Objectives:

Enable practitioners to apply basic knowledge from cognitive neuroscience to achieve more effective human-systems design.

Content and Benefits:

There has been a revolution in our knowledge of the brain, and despite broad appreciation of the relevance of brain processes to everyday life, brain science has had little impact on most professional activities. The objective of this tutorial is to provide those working in Human Factors with a synopsis of key findings and theoretical advances from cognitive neuroscience that have direct bearing upon their profession. In some cases, this will entail new insights into factors explaining human performance and behavior, and in other cases, elucidate the mechanisms that underlie accepted practices regarding communication, decision making, training, team performance, etc.

Topics covered in the tutorial will include: attention and conscious awareness, decision making, perception, learning and memory, individual differences, and social interactions, as well as factors mediating brain processes such as sleep, caffeine, stress, etc. Additionally, the tutorial will address factors contributing to effective engineering systems design and management, and particularly, team collaboration. Through discussion of alternative approaches to neuroscience data collection, participants will be provided the knowledge to be thoughtful consumers of neuroscience research. Finally, the tutorial will summarize developments in operational neuroscience and neuroergonomics, and the use of neuroscience methods and technologies in operational settings.

Target Audience:

The tutorial should be of broad interest to those practitioners and academics working in Human Factors, Human-Computer Interaction, Ergonomics or related fields. The tutorial requires no previous knowledge of neuroscience and is appropriate for individuals ranging from beginner to expert.

Bio Sketch of Presenter:

Chris Forsythe (PhD) is a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories in the USA. He has advanced degrees in cognitive psychology and biopsychology and 25 years experience working in applied settings. Primary interests have focused on the application of technology to improve human performance and developing operational applications of cognitive neuroscience.