Formulating the cognitive design problem of air traffic management

Evolutionary approaches to cognitive design in the air traffic management (ATM) system can be attributed with a history of delayed developments. This issue is well illustrated in the case of the flight progress strip where attempts to design a computer-based system to replace the paper strip have consistently been met with rejection. An alternative approach to cognitive design of air traffic management is needed and this paper proposes an approach centred on the formulation of cognitive design problems. The paper gives an account of how a cognitive design problem was formulated for a simulated ATM task performed by controller subjects in the laboratory. The problem is formulated in terms of two complimentary models. First, a model of the ATM domain describes the cognitive task environment of managing the simulated air traffic. Second, a model of the ATM worksystem describes the abstracted cognitive behaviours of the controllers and their tools in performing the traffic management task. Taken together, the models provide a statement of worksystem performance, and express the cognitive design problem for the simulated system. The use of the problem formulation in supporting cognitive design, including the design of computer-based flight strips, is discussed

Conception of the cognitive engineering design problem

Cognitive design, as the design of cognitive work and cognitive tools, is predominantly a craft practice that currently depends on the experience and insight of the designer. However, the emergence of a discipline of cognitive engineering promises a more effective alternative practice, one that turns on the prescription of solutions to cognitive design problems. In this paper, the authors first examine the requirements for advancing cognitive engineering as a discipline. In particular, they identify the need for a conception for explicitly formulating cognitive design problems. A proposal for such a conception is then presented

Host Plant Suitability and a Test of the Feeding Specialization Hypothesis Using \u3ci\u3ePapilio Cresphontes\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

The concept that host plant favorites would be used for more rapid and/or efficient growth of the locally adapted individuals was tested in a preliminary way using the giant swallowtail butterfly, Papilio cresphontes. Populations feeding only on northern prickly ash, Zanthoxylum americanum (from Wisconsin), primarily (or exclusively) on hoptree, Ptelea trifoliata (in Ohio) and on lime prickly ash, Z. fagara, or Citrus, (in Florida) were compared on alternate hosts and on their actual local hosts under controlled environmental conditions. While the results with final instar larvae generally support the feeding specialization hypothesis with regard to more rapid and/or more efficient growth on local food plant favorites, we are hesitant to extrapolate these results to the species as a whole for several reasons dis- cussed herein

Accurate nine-decade temperature-compensated logarithmic amplifier

Transistor-driven temperature-stable amplifier with logarithmic operating characteristics permits presentation of the entire range of the reactor without range switching. This circuit is capable of monitoring ion chamber currents over spans of 8 or 9 decades and is used in nuclear reactor instrumentation. Application is found in materials under ultrahigh vacuum

Sickness certification system in the United Kingdom: qualitative study of views of general practitioners in Scotland

Objectives: To explore how general practitioners operate the sickness certification system, their views on the system, and suggestions for change. Design: Qualitative focus group study consisting of 11 focus groups with 67 participants. Setting: General practitioners in practices in Glasgow, Tayside, and Highland regions, Scotland. Sample: Purposive sample of general practitioners, with further theoretical sampling of key informant general practitioners to examine emerging themes. Results: General practitioners believed that the sickness certification system failed to address complex, chronic, or doubtful cases. They seemed to develop various operational strategies for its implementation. There appeared to be important deliberate misuse of the system by general practitioners, possibly related to conflicts about roles and incongruities in the system. The doctor-patient relationship was perceived to conflict with the current role of general practitioners in sickness certification. When making decisions about certification, the general practitioners considered a wide variety of factors. They experienced contradictory demands from other system stakeholders and felt blamed for failing to make impossible reconciliations. They clearly identified the difficulties of operating the system when there was no continuity of patient care. Many wished either to relinquish their gatekeeper role or to continue only with major changes. Conclusions: Policy makers need to recognise and accommodate the range and complexity of factors that influence the behaviour of general practitioners operating as gatekeepers to the sickness certification system, before making changes. Such changes are otherwise unlikely to result in improvement. Models other than the primary care gatekeeper model should be considered

Beyond Lancaster and York: Contextualizing Wars of the Roses Board Games in Scholarly Consensus

David DefriesThe English Wars of the Roses, fought from roughly 1455 to 1485 between the royal houses of Lancaster and York, have proven surprisingly popular among board game designers. In creating games that seek to demonstrate the infamous chaos of the wars, these games have also begun engaging with each other on a historical level—each new game attempts to build upon the achievements of the first by drawing closer and closer to the current scholarly consensus. Despite this unique feat of forming an academic debate through the medium of board games, however, no designer has yet fully reflected key elements of the scholarly consensus. For this reason, this paper lays out an original design, intended as a contribution to the ongoing discussion of how the wars should best be adapted into tabletop games. This paper describes the ways in which this new design constitutes an important addition to the set of Wars of the Roses board games, through incorporating both newer innovations in game design and recent scholarship. First, the template for this type of board game is traced back to the Avalon Hill title Kingmaker. It is then explained how additional games have diverged from Kingmaker’s model, but have not yet fully matched the current academic consensus regarding the motivations and timeframe of the war. Finally, the original design is explained, highlighting the ways in which this new game selectively breaks from Kingmaker’s precedent in order to better reflect these elements that scholars find key to explaining the wars

Improving proactive decision making with object trend displays

Operators of dynamic systems often use time-series data to support their diagnostic and proactive decision-making. Those data have traditionally been displayed in the form of separate trend charts, for example, line graphs of pressure and temperature over time. Configural object displays are a widely advocated approach to the visual integration of information yet have been applied only rarely to time-series data. One example was the 'time tunnel' format but its benefits were equivocal, seemingly compromised by its graphical complexity. There is then the need to investigate other graphical forms for object displays of time series data. This research will require a microworld representing a knowledge-rich task domain accessible to multiple participants (the nuclear power plant simulation used with the time tunnel display studies required participants to have 20 hours of experience with the system). We report a design for such a microworld that adopts the domain of financial control of a business where decisions need to be made about the pricing of products to optimize returns in a changing and sometimes volatile market. Alternative visual displays of the essential time series data for this domain are possible and whilst decision making is knowledge rich, involving reasoning about high level relationships, pilot tests showed that it is accessible to participants with only moderate training