Knut Inge Fostervold

University of Oslo · Department of Psychology

The literature discussing visual ergonomics often mention that human vision is adapted to light emitted by the sun. However, the theoretical and practical implications of this viewpoint is seldom discussed and taken into account. The paper discusses some of the main theoretical implications of an evolutionary approach to visual ergonomics. Based on...

Sustainable work is a vital factor in the transition towards global sustainability. The term itself, as well as its relations to work content, working conditions, and quality of life are somewhat vague. Applying a resources management perspective, Fostervold, Koren and Nilsen aim at bridging the long-term needs of the three main work-life stakehold...

The need for recovery after work (NFR) is an important warning of work-related fatigue. NFR is linked to prolonged work-related efforts and depletion of resources, creating a need for temporary respite from work demands. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationships between NFR and the five-factor model (FFM), comprising the per...

On March 12, 2020, Norwegian universities closed campus areas and reorganised teaching to digital environments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a sample of 8,907 university students, we investigated how aspects of students’ self-regulation were affected by their motivation, perceived stress, working conditions, and remote teaching offered in the ne...

The discovery of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells in the eye and their interaction with melatonin has shown that light has significant effects beyond vision. The present study compared the effect of an integrative lighting system, providing low-intensity melanopic illuminance with the effect of an ordinary, qualitatively equivale...

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate (i) the main effects of office design and access to telework from home (TWFH) on self-certified sickness absence and (ii) the moderating effects of access to TWFH on the relationship between office design and self-certified sickness absence. Methods: The study used cross-sectional survey data from a na...

Social chatbots have become more advanced, paving the way for human–chatbot relationships (HCRs). Although this phenomenon has already received some research attention, the results have been contradictory, and there is uncertainty regarding how to understand HCR formation. To provide the needed knowledge on this phenomenon, we conducted a qualitati...

The “Driver 65+” course is a voluntary refresher course offered to all drivers aged 65 years or older in Norway. The current study estimated differences in at-fault motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) between older drivers who had attended in the course and older drivers who had not attended the course. Methods Two samples of drivers were selected fro...

Despite a growing body of research, there is no systematic body of evidence that establishes the rigour of existing measures of stress among police. The aim of this scoping review was to investigate (1) the diversity of stress measures used in police research and (2) the psychometric properties of such measures and the ways in which they are utilis...

Chatbots are increasingly taken up to support organizational functions and processes, particularly in support of the Human Resource Management (HRM) function. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the organizational implications of this support – in particular the operational interplay between the chatbot, the HRM function, and the organization...

Background Vast sums are distributed based on grant peer review, but studies show that interrater reliability is often low. In this study, we tested the effect of receiving two short individual feedback reports compared to one short general feedback report on the agreement between reviewers. Methods A total of 42 reviewers at the Norwegian Foundat...

Colours are important features in human and natural environments and are related to several psychological functions. However, a possible relation between colour preferences and personality traits is scarcely investigated. The aim of the present study was to find out whether differences in preferences for colours also reflected differences in Big Fi...

Background Vast sums are distributed based on grant peer review, but studies show that interrater reliability is often low. In this study, we tested the effect of receiving a short individual feedback report compared to a short general feedback report on the agreement between reviewers.MethodsA total of 42 reviewers at the Norwegian Foundation Dam...

There has been a recent surge of interest in social chatbots, and human–chatbot relationships (HCRs) are becoming more prevalent, but little knowledge exists on how HCRs develop and may impact the broader social context of the users. Guided by Social Penetration Theory, we interviewed 18 participants, all of whom had developed a friendship with a s...

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has been found to vary over time, but its longitudinal development has remained unexplored. Drawing from event system theory and human capital theory, we investigate the development of OCB over time and contextualize it with events in the organization that affect employees and their work tasks and with reso...

Readiness for change is seen as an important factor in organisational change processes, but it is unclear how organisational climate might affect readiness for change. Addressing this important gap, the purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between human relations climate, a dimension of the Quinn and Rohrbaugh’s competing values...

Police work has become increasingly demanding and complex. Beside heightened pressure for efficiency employees in the police service need to handle a wide array of operational and organisational challenges in their profession (Shane, 2010; Berg et al., 2005). The impact of work stressors on employees in the police is well documented and some tasks...

Purpose Exposure to additional environmental stress during computer work, such as visual and psychological demands, is associated with increased eye and neck discomfort, altered moods, and reduced well-being. The aim of this study is to elucidate further how subjective responses in healthy, young females with normal binocular vision are affected by...

This chapter covers the following issues: air quality, thermal conditions and ventilation. It comprises ventilation, human and other sources of pollution and energy load, cooling and humidification, microbial and organic pollutions. Open shelves, fleecy surfaces, carpets and office machines can add to pollutions. An addendum is included with Norweg...

Work zone safety from a psychological perspective has received little attention in scientific literature. Therefore, the present study aims to explore the influence of roadwork characteristics and drivers' individual differences in terms of personality traits and self-assessment of driving skills on speed preferences in a rural work zone. Eight hun...

Potential sources of strain at work are often divided into operational and organisational demands (Berg et al., 2005; Shane, 2010). In the police service the former, job-specific conditions, may include traumatic events and threats to physical and mental health, shift work, and overtime. The latter, organisational demands, affects all organisationa...

The project focuses on specific differences in working conditions that are of importance for mental and musculoskeletal health and for work engagement and mastery of work at the Norwegian Police Service

One of the most common safety issues at work zones is high speed variation. Nevertheless, few studies have addressed psychological variables to deepen the understanding of drivers’ speed choice in work zones. The present study examined whether work zones represent a type of situation that may trigger the expression of certain personality traits res...

Subjective evaluations of physical working conditions are common in the field of human factors and ergonomics (HFE). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of personality factors on judgements of important physical factors in the work environment. The sample consisted of 80 informants working in a white-collar organization. User evalua...

In this study we have investigated which eye-parameters that most reliably can indicate increased mental workload. Being able to detect high mental workload in individuals, allows for early detection of potentially dangerous situations, and possibly adjustment of the information flow that creates the high workload. N-back memory tasks with four dif...

Purpose: Among computer workers, visual complaints, and neck pain are highly prevalent. This study explores how occupational simulated stressors during computer work, like glare and psychosocial stress, affect physiological responses in young females with normal vision. Methods: The study was a within-subject laboratory experiment with a counter...

The effects of the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) and the specific addition of a violence prevention module were observed in a preidentified population in Colombia where children are experiencing high levels of violence. Participants were 176 parents of 3- to 4-year-olds attending child centers who were randomly allocated to one o...

Kontorlandskap har blitt lansert som gunstig for arbeidstakere og team med samarbeid som krever løpende kontakt. For fagprofesjonelt arbeid som krever konsentrasjon og uforstyrret korttidshukommelse ser dette imidlertid ut til å fungere dårlig. Slike arbeidsoppgaver krever hovedsakelig individuell innsats der samspill mellom andre arbeidstakere ikk...

Formålet med publikasjonen Kontorbelysning er å gi råd og veiledning for hvordan planlegging og prosjektering as gode belysningsanlegg på arbeidsplasser kan gjennomføres. Den gir videre nyttige beskrivelser av prosesser frem til vellykkede løsninger.

The present study used a video-based experimental design to investigate the influence of visible roadwork activity on speed preferences at work zones. Four videos from real work zones in Norway were used. Two roadwork areas were filmed at two moments – with and without visible roadwork activity. A total of 815 drivers watched two videos and answere...

Self-perceived health (SPH) has received increasing attention in the discussion of employee health and sickness absence. The present study investigated how psychosocial work related factors influence SPH. The study utilized structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse a large cross sectional questionnaire survey in the educational sector in Norwa...

This publication is written in Norwegian

Den bærende ideen bak universell utforming er å søke en best mulig tilrettelegging av våre omgivelser slik at alle mennesker kan inkluderes i normalsamfunnet - uansett funksjonsnivå. Universell utforming har lenge vært et viktig satsningsområde i Norge, noe som bl.a. gjenspeiles i innføringen av diskriminerings- og tilgjengelighetsloven i 2009. God...

New schools and rehabilitation of old schools represents huge investments. This paper discusses premises for good lighting quality in learning environments and stresses the importance of understanding human capabilities and limitations as evolutionary adaptations. The paper point toward that vision must be considered as work and that poor lighting...

Employees differ in their apperception of open plan offices. Despite this, individual differences have been sparsely treated in the literature discussing effects of office design. The aim of the present study was to investigate how stimulus screening, working memory, and attention interrelate and affect important factors in the work environment. Th...

Retrofitting of Kampen School in Norway has been a demonstration project where new concepts for energy efficient ventilation and lighting are integrated. Before retrofitting, the school had a mechanically balanced ventilation system that provided each classroom with approximately 120 liter/second of fresh air. After retrofitting, the school has dem...

This quasi-experimental study explores trust as a mediator, explaining how cultural diversity may affect team processes and outcomes in distributed ad hoc teams. Data were collected both through self-report and direct behavioral measures from a military sample. Our results demonstrate significantly lower trust in culturally heterogeneous distribute...

Providing optimal lighting for the user’s needs at all times is the lighting system’s first and foremost task. Increasing energy prices and concern over greenhouse gas emissions have motivated the development of more energy-efficient ways to fulfil those needs. A fully automated and adaptive lighting control system allows us to do this. It is impor...

Estimates about uncertain quantities can be expressed in terms of lower limits (more than X, minimum X), or upper limits (less than Y, maximum Y). It has been shown that lower limit statements generally occur much more often than upper limit statements (Halberg & Teigen, 2009). However, in a conversational context, preferences for upper and lower l...

The aim of this current project was to investigate gender profiles in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), primarily the Internet and mobile phones, and problems encountered in the use of these technologies. The sample survey consisted of teenagers, 4294 15-16 year olds (2067 females and 2227 males) from two counties in Easter...

Indirect lighting has been recommended as a way to accommodate lighting needs in offices. To investigate this recommendation, the effect of four ceiling-mounted lighting schemes providing inverse proportions of direct and indirect lighting were studied in ordinary office environments. The study used a 4×3 mixed randomised-repeated design. Dependent...

The scientific basis for ergonomics recommendations for controls has usually not been related to active goal-directed use. The present experiment tests how different knob sizes and torques affect operator performance. The task employed is to control a pointer by the use of a control knob, and is as such an experimentally defined goal-directed task...

People often describe uncertain quantities by suggesting a lower or upper limit of an uncertainty interval, rather than the complete range. Five studies are reported, which demonstrate how interval limits function as provisional reference points (PRP), conferring evaluative meanings to the target objects, by suggesting downward or upward comparison...

Uncertain quantities can be described by single-point estimates of lower interval bounds (X1), upper interval bounds (X2), two-bound estimates (separate estimates of X1 and X2), and by ranges (X1−X2). A price estimation task showed that single-bound estimates phrased as “T costs more than X1” and “T costs less than X2,” yielded much larger interval...

This study investigated the long-term effects of vertical monitor placement in 150 ordinary offices workers. Random assignment was used in creating a high line-of-sight (HLS) group (n=75) and a downward line-of-sight (DLS) (n=75) group. The line-of-sight to the midpoint of the screen was 15° below horizontal for the HLS-group and 30° for the DLS-gr...

A reversed intervention field-study was conducted in a modern Norwegian primary school with balanced ventilation with very low pressure-drop and ground-coupled supply air duct. The used supply air filter bank was removed for one week to investigate the effect on perceived air quality (PAQ). The pupils were blind to the intervention. Removing the fi...

Lower monitor placements, with gaze angles to the centre of the screen 30–45° below the horizontal line are proposed as an alternative to higher monitor placements advocated by prevailing guidelines. A scientific basis for this proposition has been established within a comprehensive theoretical framework, founded on an ecological systemic approach...

The claim that visual display units (VDU)-screen filters improve health by reducing exposure to electrical fields and/or improving screen legibility was investigated by introducing VDU screen filters into an office environment. The study design was quasi-experimental, with the first part conducted according to a simulated control group design with...

Based on an ecological analysis of the visual system, a systemic model is proposed linking visual stress and symptoms in other parts of the body. The model links the interaction between the oculomotor system and other body muscles to the slow-acting mechanism of Scohr's two-step theory of vergence control. Implications of the model have been examin...

The integration of scanning eye movements with head and body movements as well as the synergetic interaction of accommodation and convergence have been known for a long time. Surprisingly, little interest, if any, has been devoted to the possible interaction between vergence/accommodation and other body muscles. Experimental evidence suggesting the...

The aim of this study was to compare the postural load during VDU work in the following work postures: (1) Supporting and not supporting the forearms on the table top, (2) Sitting and standing positions, and (3) Sightline to the centre of the screen at an angle of 15 degrees and 30 degrees below the horizontal. The muscle load from the upper part o...

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a filed study that searches for symptom clusters among video display units (VDU)-workers participating in an on-going field study in Norway. The present paper is based on the symptom questionnaire administered as a part of the baseline measurements in this field study. The field study design includes the foll...

This project was introduced at the CIE 2007 session in Beijing as a poster and we now wish to present a paper with the results from this unique intervention study. Providing optimal lighting for the user's needs at all times is the lighting systems first and foremost task. With today's increasing energy prices and the awareness the effect that incr...