Lauren Reinerman-Jones

University of Central Florida | UCF · Institute for Simulation and Training

Cyber challenges faced by organizations today involve malicious inside actors, often labeled insider threats (ITs). These present a difficult challenge in that the most well-designed cybersecurity apparatus is vulnerable to those inside the organization who have privileged access to information systems. Innovative methods must be developed to help...

Potential benefits of technology such as automation are oftentimes negated by improper use and application. Adaptive systems provide a means to calibrate the use of technological aids to the operator’s state, such as workload state, which can change throughout the course of a task. Such systems require a workload model which detects workload and sp...

This book constitutes late breaking papers from the 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2020, which was held in July 2020. The conference was planned to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, but had to change to a virtual conference mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From a total of 6326 submissions, a total of 1439 paper...

Head mounted displays (HMD) are becoming ubiquitous. Simulator sickness has been an issue since the first simulators and HMDs were created. As computational power and display capabilities increase, so does their utilization in technologies such as HMDs. However, this does not mean that the issues that once plagued these systems are now obsolete. In...

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in HCI, AI-HCI 2020, held as part of the 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2020, in July 2020. The conference was planned to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, but had to change to a virtual conference mode du...

Analog, full-scope, full-scale simulators with the fidelity to simulate all of the physical and underlying thermodynamics in the real system are representative of training simulators used by current operating nuclear power plants. However, digital simulators are becoming desirable to researchers and utility companies alike due to their increased ac...

The effect of task switching on performance has been examined in many different fields and contexts. Sudden changes in task load can significantly impair performance, which can have detrimental consequences in dismounted military operations. As technology is advancing, robots are sought to take on the role of a teammate to the human soldier in the...

We evaluated the performance of three highly practiced participants on three task types that comprised a simulated nuclear power plant control operation. Multiple subjective, physiological, and objective performance measures were collected on these three highly-practiced individuals. Results indicated ceiling effects in terms of performance accurac...

Individuals within an organization who repeatedly fall victim to phishing emails, referred to as Repeat Clickers, present a significant security risk to the organizations within which they operate. The causal factors for Repeat Clicking are poorly understood. This paper argues that this behavior afflicts a persistent minority of users and is explai...

Holographic technologies allow for direct three-dimensional (3D) imaging without the need for special glasses or headwear. Holographic imaging ranges from static (i.e., unchanging) toward dynamic (i.e., changing) presentations. Since dynamic holographic products are in their developmental infancy, this study utilized static holographic images to pr...

In the dismounted military field, robots and unmanned vehicles are increasingly used as force multipliers and teammates. As such, a fluent human-robot interaction (HRI) becomes vital and is stimulated by fitting the robot and its interface to the human teammate’s capabilities. This is where individual differences of the human needs to be considered...

Adaptive systems typically comprise components that interrelate and interact to enable the whole system to respond and adjust to changes in the environment, operator, and task in order to regulate or maintain a level of performance or homeostasis. In so doing, they enable a degree of individualization and customization for many technological innova...

Education in general has transcended boundaries of a physical classroom and given rise to the phenomenon of ubiquitous learning (u-learning) and the ability to access knowledge on-demand. To understand the effect of learning as it is evolving, the present chapter puts forth a framework of formal, non-formal, and informal virtual learning environmen...

Insider Threat (IT) is a growing cybersecurity issue. Countermeasures based on cognitive engineering may utilize diagnostic eye fixation responses indicative of insider intent, elicited by Active Indicator Probes (AIPs). The current study embedded AIPs into an immersive simulation of espionage activities. Participants allocated to an insider role w...

Very often, technologies are developed with more of an understanding about the tasks to be accomplished than of the mental processes associated with performing the task. In multitasking environments, this can be detrimental to system and task design since the brain may not distinguish and process tasks in the same way as systems do. This can result...

Multiple factors may influence Warfighters’ ability to team effectively with personnel from other nations in joint military operations. The present study (N = 696) used a situation judgement test (SJT) to assess multinational decision-making competence. We hypothesized that both social identity and general decision-making competencies would be asso...

The purpose of the present research is to validate a measure of motivation collimated from an individual’s motivational, affective, and personality traits. The Motivational Assessment Tool (MAT) is being developed to assess multiple variables for an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) to deploy individualized adaptations through various levels of lea...

Recent research argues for the supplementation of traditional anatomical training with emerging three-dimensional visualization technologies (3DVTs); however, little is known regarding the effect these technologies have on learner workload. In this experiment, sixty-one participants studied gross brain anatomy using either a plastic physical model...

Assessment for understanding, predicting, and improving human performance and system design is a key for human-computer interaction (HCI) research. Assessments can be behavioral, physiological, performance-based, and phenomenological. Assessments are important in a variety of domains, including unmanned vehicle operations, human-robot teaming, nucl...

When technology opens up new domains or areas of research, such as human-agent teaming, new challenges in assessments emerge. Assessments may not be as systematically conducted as new measures develop, and the research may not be as firmly grounded in theory since theories in newer domains are still being formulated. As a result, research in these...

Recent developments in the Internet of Things (IoT), social media, and the data sciences have resulted in larger volumes of data than ever before, offering more opportunity for observing and understanding behaviors. Advances in data analytic and machine learning techniques have also enabled assessments to be more multi-faceted, incorporating data f...

The global reach of the US military requires commanders to manage multinational teams effectively but cultural factors make effective decision-making challenging. This article reports a series of three studies with a total sample of 696 participants. They examined how sociocultural factors, personality traits, and decision-making competencies corre...

With technological developments in robotics and their increasing deployment, human-robot teams are set to be a mainstay in the future. To develop robots that possess teaming capabilities, such as being able to communicate implicitly, the present study implemented a closed-loop system. This system enabled the robot to provide adaptive aid without th...

Robert Stelmack's distinguished contributions to differential psychology demonstrated the importance of appropriate choice of electroencephalographic (EEG) metrics, and of establishing the functional significance of EEG. This article reports a study of individual differences in EEG that developed these themes. 150 participants performed two signal...

Contemporary military operations require the US to partner with coalition nations, so that commanders must make effective decisions for multinational teams. The effectiveness of decision-making may depend on various factors. General decision-making competence and personality traits that promote interpersonal functioning may be advantageous in the t...

Insider Threats (ITs) are hard to identify because of their knowledge of the organization and motivation to avoid detection. One approach to detecting ITs utilizes Active Indicators (AI), stimuli that elicit a characteristic response from the insider. The present research implemented this approach within a simulation of financial investigative work...

The study of performance, workload, and stress have become a mainstay in the field of Human Factors. These constructs are multi-faceted and are assessed by a variety of measures. In seeking to enhance performance by managing mental workload and stress, it is important for measures to be anchored to meaningful criteria. Workload and stress must be c...

A key ingredient of achievement, engagement, and learning is motivation. Motivated trainees believe, value, focus on learning, manage a task or time more efficiently, and persist. The flip-side results in disengagement, procrastination, anxiety, loss of control, negative thoughts, failure, or a complete shutdown. The benefits to properly assessing...

We first tested the effect of differing tactile informational forms (i.e. directional cues vs. static cues vs. dynamic cues) on objective performance and perceived workload in a collaborative human–robot task. A second experiment evaluated the influence of task load and informational message type (i.e. single words vs. grouped phrases) on that same...

Personnel Selection has been a long standing focus in the fields of Organizational Psychology, Human Factors Psychology, Business Management, Human Resources, and Industrial Engineering. Assessment methods in personnel selection can be categorized into subjective and objective methods. Selection assessments are often broad in attempting to capture...

Personalized learning with technology is in full demand across all context. Learning occurs through motivation therefore, personalizing motivation is key to enhancing learning rate and retention for the learner. Supplying the intelligent tutors with key information not will advance the familiarity of individual’s motivational factors and interest f...

The concept of the “construct” is essential and ubiquitous in the social and psychological sciences, but is often glossed over as being well understood by members of a single community of interest (COI) and not necessarily used uniformly across communities. With the explosive increase in digital augmentation technologies, there is an opportunity, e...

In addition to efforts to increase the intelligence and perception capabilities of robots to enable collaboration with human counterparts, there is also a focus towards improving interaction mechanics. Multimodal communication is one such tool under investigation due to its dynamic ability to select explicit and implicit communication modalities wi...

Wrist worn fitness trackers have become ubiquitous in recent years. Economies of scale have drastically reduced the cost of these devices while concurrent advances in technology have expanded their physiological recording capabilities. These devices now contain numerous sensors capable of monitoring and collecting various physiological attributes....

The U.S. Army Aviation Combined Arms Training Strategy highlights the use of Training Aids, Devices, Simulations, and Simulators (TADSS) as key, low cost tools to prepare Army aviation forces for future combat. A prominent component of this strategy is an increasing reliance on games-for-training. Game-based systems are capable of supporting traini...

Education in general has transcended boundaries of a physical classroom and given rise to the phenomenon of ubiquitous learning (u-learning) and the ability to access knowledge on-demand. To understand the effect of learning as it is evolving, the present chapter puts forth a framework of formal, non-formal, and informal virtual learning environmen...

This research investigated the impact physical fidelity has on error frequencies when operating a simulated nuclear power plant (NPP) main control room (MCR). The simulated environment used in this study uses dual 24″ monitors and a mouse as its interface, which represents the interface of digital power plants planned to come online. The simulator...

In the spring of 2012, as part of a ‘hub and spoke’ model of research to address the human performance concerns related to current as well as new and advanced control room designs and operations, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sponsored a project to procure a low cost simulator to empirically measure and study human performance aspect...

In many disciplines and fields, theories help organize the body of knowledge in the field and provide direction for research. In turn, research findings contribute to theory building. The field of human-robot teaming (HRT) is a relatively new one, spanning only over the last two decades. Much of the research in this field has been driven by expedie...

Nuclear power plant (NPP) operators perform a variety of tasks that differ in mental workload. These include detection tasks that may be vulnerable to vigilance decrement. The present study used a simulation of NPP operation to investigate possible loss of vigilance during detection. Metrics used to assess operator functioning included subjective m...

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operators complete a variety of tasks to ensure the NPP is running safely and efficiently. However, the levels and types of workload associated with the different task types are not yet fully understood. The present investigation examined workload levels and types for three common NPP Main Control Room (MCR) tasks in a con...

This study examines current resting baseline practices in physiological measurement. Specifically, we investigated between- and within-baseline stability of two-minute resting periods for electrocardiography (ECG), cerebral bloodflow velocity (CBFV), function near-infrared imaging (fNIR), and electroencephalography (EEG). A 4 x 4 within subjects AN...

Like other organizations with a global reach, the US military faces challenges associated with multicultural teaming. Cultural differences in norms for work and social relationships may impair decision-making. This article reports the initial stages of the development of a Situation Judgment Test (SJT) for multicultural decision-making ability. SJT...

The present study investigated how three task demand factors influenced performance, subjective workload and stress of novice intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operators within a simulation of an unmanned ground vehicle. Manipulations were task type, dual-tasking and event rate. Participants were required to discriminate human targets...

Advances in the technology of autonomous systems calls for an examination of the factors that confer resilience on the human-machine system. We identify challenges for teaming between human operators and autonomous systems associated with cognitive demands, trust and operator self-regulation. Solutions to these challenges partly require designing s...

Variable selection for predictive modeling has traditionally relied on theory in the psychological domain. Given the recent advancements in computing technology and availability, researchers are able to utilize more sophisticated mathematical modeling techniques with greater ease. The challenge becomes evaluating whether theory or mathematics shoul...

The evolution of robots from tools to teammates requires a paradigm shift. Robot teammates need to interpret naturalistic forms of human communication and sense implicit, but important cues that reflect the human teammate’s psychological state. A closed-loop system where the robot teammate detects the human teammate’s workload state would enable th...

There are several different baseline techniques available for completing psychophysiological research, yet no overarching set of guidelines exists to help researchers choose the best method. This review examines several methods used in various fields and highlights the importance and pitfalls of each. As part of this effort we conducted a small stu...

The decisions that humans make are often multidimensional and complex, and system aids have been developed to support decision-making. However it is often difficult to evaluate the decision making of both the human or these system decision aids as decision making is a skill that is difficult to quantify. Traditionally, decision-making skill is asse...

Many cyber security officers are more concerned with outside rather than insider threats because the enemy is generally perceived as being “out there” or beyond the organization. Therefore, defensive actions are readily available once an outside threat is identified (Colwill in Human factors in information security: the insider threat—who can you t...

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Main Control Room (MCR) operators oversee proper functioning of the facilities, including the controls to maintain the nuclear reactor. At least three operators, two reactor operators (ROs) and one senior reactor operator (SROs), are required for safe operations. The level of detail involved in performing the duties requir...

Team environments include an interaction component that contributes to human performance and mission success. Investigating individual differences in these complex team environments allows researchers to study the interactions that affect every day complex tasks and determine if these types of team interactions influence the safety and effectivenes...

As the deployment of unmanned systems becomes increasingly mainstream, it is crucial to understand the effects of the workload (WL) associated with operating and interacting with these systems. There are multiple categories and types of WL measures, but not all meet the criteria for useful measures. It is not uncommon to find that multiple WL measu...

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operators complete a variety of tasks to ensure the NPP is running safely and efficiently. However, the levels and types of workload associated with the different task types are not yet fully understood. The present investigation examined workload levels and types for three common NPP Main Control Room (MCR) tasks in a con...

Unmanned systems operations are complex, cognitively demanding tasks that elicit highly variable workload. The ability to predict performance and workload within these complex tasks can provide a powerful tool for practitioners regarding fit-for-duty verification. Further, monitoring workload aids in diagnostic assessment of factors that impact per...

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operation requires multiple task types to complete necessary day-to-day activities and operating procedures. The accurate completion of these tasks is necessary for safety-critical domains, as errors and omissions can potentially result in severe consequences. As a result, it is important to determine the cause of human er...

This study investigated the consistency of stress responses to different sources of stress during simulated multiple unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operation. Of particular interest is whether or not resilience is a general factor that predicts stress response across different stressors. Participants completed two 10-minute test conditions designed...

The goal for multimodal communication (MMC) is to facilitate the conveyance of information through various modalities, such as auditory, visual, and tactile. MMC has become a major focus for enabling human-robot teaming, but it is often the case that the technological-state of robot capabilities is limited for research and development. Currently, r...

Understanding sociocultural factors and the role they play in a military context is becoming recognized as a shortcoming within both military training and decision-making tools for commanders in the field. We begin by discussing sociocultural theory, its development, and history. Next, we discuss approaches to collecting small-scale friendly force...

Cybersecurity is a computer term regarding the detection, anticipation, and prevention of computer technologies and peripherals from damage, attack, or unauthorized access. These technologies include the monitoring of networks, programs, applications, and personnel. Cybersecurity can be viewed from both an offensive or defensive posture involving m...

It is commonly assumed that workload is a unitary construct, but recent data suggest that there are multiple subjective and objective facets of workload that are only weakly intercorrelated. This article reviews the implications of treating workload as multivariate. Examples from several simulated task environments show that high subjective workloa...

Adaptive automation (AA) has emerged as a viable solution to improving human performance in complex environments. However, understanding when to prompt, pause, and terminate AA remains unclear. Augmenting the user with physiological sensors offers new insight into the user’s state, and thus, offers insight into when and how to implement AA. The res...

This chapter explains the experimental design and the results of our first experiment, the design of the simulated environments used in that experiment, and a variety of technical details about the equipment we used in addition to what we measured. The use of a simulated environment to create an experimental test bed where a number of variables can...

It is remarkable to think that visual phenomena that we take for granted today, and that seem self-evident and in no need of further explanation, appear in history only at a specific point in time. Today it is possible, for example, to create and reproduce photographic images of lightning flashes and the Milky Way. In regard to such images, the usu...

Is wonder inconceivable? The question is not, is wonder impossible, but is it inconceivable, that is, is it impossible to put into concepts, despite the fact that clearly people experience it, and we talk and write about it? Is wonder absolutely unique to each person who experiences it? Do concepts undermine wonder as wonder, turning it into someth...

As research into emotions and affective phenomena, such as awe and wonder grows, so will the methodological challenges for addressing such inquiries. These inherently nebulous and conceptually ambiguous topics draw the interests of researchers from various disciplines, each coming with distinct perspectives and biases concerning what counts as good...

Experiment 1 had confirmed a number of important points for our project. First, we were able to elicit experiences of awe and wonder that replicated (or came close to) those articulated by the astronauts. Second, the specific combination of methods in a neurophenomenological framework showed potential as a way to explore those experiences. As we de...

This chapter looks at the original expressions and descriptions of the experiences of awe and wonder, as well as related experiences, including curiosity and feelings of humility, given by astronauts in their in-flight journals and in interviews after their return to Earth. Our aim in analyzing the astronauts’ descriptions of their experiences was...

Throughout the previous chapters we have talked about a non-reductionist science. In this chapter, we want to clarify what that means. We first look at the very successful notion of scientific reductionism as it gets used in the natural and social sciences. We then focus on some complications for the reductionist project in cognitive science that d...

Near the ruins of the ancient city of Miletus, you can still walk out into an open field at night and gaze at an extremely rich array of stars. According to a famous legend, in the sixth century BCE, Thales of Miletus, one of the first philosophers to appeal to naturalistic explanations, walking across a field and gazing at the stars, found the hea...

Research into human-system interaction, specifically focusing on workload, has intensified in the nuclear domain. Past research on workload in the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) domain has attempted to use both subjective and physiological measures of workload, yet the sensitivity of the workload measures used in past experiments is unknown. This initia...

Distracted driving is becoming more prevalent as automobile use is commonplace and technology use grows in pervasiveness. The present study investigated the impact of cell phone, touch MP3, and external environmental distractions on commercial truck driving performance. Commercial truck drivers’ performance and physiological responses were monitore...

The U.S. Army projects a considerable increase in the number of operational Unmanned Ground Systems (UGS) within the next ten years. There is a need to enhance UGS capabilities to support remote Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) operations involving the identification of High-Value Individuals (HVI). Emerging UGS capability requireme...

Various psychophysiological indices of mental workload exhibit sensitivity to task demand factors, but the psychometrics of indices has been neglected. In particular, the extent to which different metrics converge on a common latent factor is unclear. In the present study, 150 participants performed in four task scenarios based on a simulation of u...

Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operators complete multiple types of tasks within Emergency Operating Procedures (EOPs). Due to the potential serious consequences of committing an error, it is important to determine if the workload (WL) demands operators encounter are at acceptable levels. This study investigates whether there are workload differences ar...

Predicting decision making may be essential for personnel selection. The present study aimed to predict sustained decision making using measures of subjective state and physiological response to a short task battery. Volunteers completed a short battery of decision tasks, followed by a dynamic task simulating business decision making. Subjective st...

Research exploring the implementation of surrogates has included areas such as training (Chuah et al., 2013), education (Yamashita, Kuzuoka, Fujimon, & Hirose, 2007), and entertainment (Boberg, Piippo, & Ollila, 2008). Determining the characteristics of the surrogate that could potentially influence the human’s behavioral responses during human-sur...

Advancements in technology in the field of robotics have made it necessary to determine integration and use for these in civilian tasks and military missions. Currently, literature is limited on robot employment in tasks and missions, and few taxonomies exist that guide understanding of robot functionality.As robots acquire more capabilities and fu...

Astronauts report certain experiences that can be classified as awe and wonder when looking out of their space station or shuttle portals at two different stimuli: the earth and deep space. Based on these reports, it was of interest to further investigate those types of experiences by using a mixed-reality environment resembling an International Sp...

Two experiments were performed to investigate the feasibility for robot-to-human communication of a tactile language using a lexicon of standardized tactons (tactile icons) within a sentence. Improvements in autonomous systems technology and a growing demand within military operations are spurring interest in communication via vibrotactile displays...

A study was run to test the sensitivity of multiple workload indices to the differing cognitive demands of four military monitoring task scenarios and to investigate relationships between indices. Various psychophysiological indices of mental workload exhibit sensitivity to task factors. However, the psychometric properties of multiple indices, inc...