CogNovo fellow Michael Sonne Kristensen presented an ethnographic study from the European Space Agency at the annual meeting of the Europe Chapter of the The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
The study provides an evidence-based qualitative and quantitative description of natural (i.e. non-experimental/simulating) alarm responses of space controllers in a space mission control room. Seven work shifts involving four space controllers were documented by use of wearable and fixed video cameras and sound recorders. The presentation demonstrated how this data can be analysed in order to integrate 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person perspectives on their subjective experiences and cognitive-behavioural responses. Moreover, it extended into a more general discussion of the methodological challenges involved in the evaluation of cognitive-behavioural responses to sound in a naturalistic setting. The study is carried out as part of Michael's PhD project Signs of alarm fatigue.
The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Europe Chapter, is [according to its website] 'organised to serve the needs of the human factors profession in Europe. Its purpose is to promote and advance through the interchange of knowledge and methodology in the behavioural, biological, and physical sciences, the understanding of the human factors involved in, and the application of that understanding to the design, acquisition, and use of hardware, software, and personnel aspects of tools, devices, machines, equipment, computers, vehicles, systems, and artificial environments of all kinds.'