| Abstract: | "For years experimental psychologists have worked diligently in academic laboratories studying man's capacities to perceive, to work, and to learn. Only very slowly, however, have the facts and methods which they have assembled been put to use in everyday life. A particularly glaring gap in modern technology, both industrial and military, is the lack of human engineering--engineering of machines for human use and engineering of human tasks for operating machines. Today, there are many groups busy with research on man-machine problems. They use different names to describe the work in its various aspects: biotechnology, biomechanics, psychoacoustics, human engineering, applied psychophysics, engineering psychology, and systems research. In casting about for a title for this book, we tried to select one that would describe the subject matter without the restrictive connotations attaching to some of the names mentioned above. Applied Experimental Psychology seemed best to fill these requirements, because the traditional data and subject matter of experimental psychology are fundamental to this field. Throughout the book, we have also used the terms engineering psychology and human engineering in talking about this subject matter. But whatever the name, the objective is the same--to develop, through fundamental research and applied tests, a science that can deal adequately with the design and operation of machines for human use"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). |
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