James A. Wise

Sample proportions and subjective probability revisions

The hypothesis was that the proportions of poker chips in the displayed samples influence subjective probability revisions that are obtained in “book bags-and-poker chips” experiments. Subjects revised for simultaneous and sequential samples from two 80%–20% symmetrical binomial populations and two 70%–30% symmetrical binomial populations. Sample proportions account in large part for the revision responses for both kinds of populations for simultaneous samples. For sequential samples, however, proportions appeared to have less influence on revision responses even though 62% of the subjects claimed to use them. The implications are discussed.

Decision emergence: A Lewinian perspective

Abstract The purpose of this essay is to examine the parallels between Kurt Lewins ideas and various concepts in modern decision theory. In the main, such parallels are reasonably clear. However, the field nature of Lewinian thinking permits speculation about how some decisions seemingly ‘emerge’ without apparent consideration of available alternatives or deliberate choice. Modern field-theoretical concepts are explored as possible ways of characterizing this decision emergence.

Decisions in Design

Most of us spend our lives both using and occupying the products of other people’s imaginations. The worlds we inhabit are built environments—designed entities that shelter and succor us, provide us with warmth, illumination, private space, and a host of supports and props that delineate our different work and social roles.

On being the right sex: discrimination by design in the built and the product environment

The field study reported here investigated the various ways in which women are handicapped and constrained in their behavior, or socially discomforted by the design of common objects and places. The survey showed that most “discrimination by design” was due to failures of ergonomics, environmental interaction effects with feminine dress and biology, or being placed on unwanted display. Women evidenced a remarkable variety of ingenious and casual adaptations to these circumstances — most of which are avoidable through sensitive human factors design. The ubiquity of objects and settings that place women at a disadvantage and the relative lack of awareness of these effects suggest that such conditions will persist for a long time.

Principles of Centaurian Design

This paper describes the form and example results of the “Centaurian Design Exercise”. This is an assignment that requires design students to discover and utilize ergonomic and behavioral considerations to deduce appropriate design solutions for a hypothetical sentient centaurian society. The value of introducing ergonomic concerns through the centaurian mode is that the basic aspects of spatial orientation and arrangement that most students have long taken for granted for themselves become visibly questionable. This consequently reveals the subtle constraints on the design of artifact and environment imposed by biological form and behavior. Included are charts, rationale and annotated examples that should permit any interested instructor to repeat this exercise for their own educational purpose.

Human Factors Applications to the Design of Legal Offices

A programming study was undertaken to examine diverse human factors considerations associated with a renovation design appraisal for a small public defender clinic. The study used a multimethod approach involving interviews, a questionnaire, and a participatory design session. Subsequently, the programming team was able to describe a variety of design implications arising from human functional concerns within the firm. These ranged from appropriate workplace arrangement of the legal secretary to the social/professional image of client accessed interview spaces.

The Psychology of the Ouija Board

We live in an age of games. It is a time when our most personal actions are acknowledged as “games people play”, when our highest elected officials unfold their “economic game plans”, and when our academic and business colleagues exhort us “to play the game” for our professional success.