Attention and Information Acquisition: Comparison of Mouse-Click with Eye-Movement Attention Tracking.

Attention is crucial as a fundamental prerequisite for perception. The measurement of attention in viewing and recognizing the images that surround us constitutes an important part of eye movement research, particularly in advertising-effectiveness research. Recording eye and gaze (i.e. eye and head) movements is considered the standard procedure for measuring attention. However, alternative measurement methods have been developed in recent years, one of which is mouse-click attention tracking (mcAT) by means of an on-line based procedure that measures gaze motion via a mouse-click (i.e. a hand and finger positioning maneuver) on a computer screen. Here we compared the validity of mcAT with eye movement attention tracking (emAT). We recorded data in a between subject design via emAT and mcAT and analyzed and compared 20 subjects for correlations. The test stimuli consisted of 64 images that were assigned to eight categories. Our main results demonstrated a highly significant correlation (p < 0.001) between mcAT and emAT data. We also found significant differences in correlations between different image categories. For simply structured pictures of humans or animals in particular, mcAT provided highly valid and more consistent results compared to emAT. We concluded that mcAT is a suitable method for measuring the attention we give to the images that surround us, such as photographs, graphics, art or digital and print advertisements.

Crew resource management training within the automotive industry: does it work?

OBJECTIVE: This article presents the development, implementation, and evaluation of a crew resource management (CRM) training program specifically designed for employees within the automotive industry. BACKGROUND: The central objective of this training program was to improve communication, teamwork, and stress management skills as well to increase the workers' situational awareness of potential errors that can occur during the production process. METHOD: Participants in the training program of this study were 80 employees, all of whom were working in a production unit for gearbox manufacturing. Effectiveness of the CRM training course was evaluated two times (1 month and 6 months after the training program). RESULTS: The results showed a significant improvement in a wide range of CRM-relevant categories, especially in teamwork-related attitudes, in addition to an increase in the workers' situational awareness after the training program. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the results, it can be stated that CRM training, which was originally developed for the aviation industry, can be transferred to the automotive industry. However, because of the lack of behavioral observations, these effects are limited to CRM attitudes and knowledge changes. APPLICATION: Several recommendations for future research and training development in the field of human factors training are made.

Night-time Noise Annoyance: State of the Art.

The annoyance-reaction is one of the central variables in noise research. After an introduction to different concepts and definitions of noise annoyance different scales of how noise annoyance can be measured are shown. The question is discussed whether disturbance effects of noise at different times of day are given. To clarify this problem, the results of a series of actual German noise studies are reported. In these studies differences between day- and night-time annoyance are found depending on the sound sources. For the case of road traffic noise no differences between day and night-time annoyance were found. In contrast, annoyance reactions are related to the time of day for railway and air traffic noise. Especially for aircraft noise, above a Leq of 50 dB(A) night-time annoyance rises faster than day-time annoyance. The effects are discussed in the frame of a cognitive model of noise annoyance. It is argued that annoyance judgements are based on an internal representation of the noise situation. Part of this representation are the event characteristics of the sound sources and their estimated impacts for disturbances at different times of day.