Tag: brock

Our recent paper on anthropomorphic technology and stereotypes has just been published.

Pak, R., McLaughlin. A. C., & Bass, B. (In press). A Multi-level Analysis of the Effects of Age and Gender Stereotypes on Trust in Anthropomorphic Technology by Younger and Older Adults. Ergonomics

Abstract: Previous research has shown that gender stereotypes, elicited by the appearance of the anthropomorphic technology, can alter perceptions of system reliability. The current study examined whether stereotypes about the perceived age and gender of anthropomorphic technology interacted with reliability to affect trust in such technology. Participants included a cross-section of younger and older adults. Through a factorial survey, participants responded to health-related vignettes containing anthropomorphic technology with a specific age, gender, and level of past reliability by rating their trust in the system. Trust in the technology was affected by the age and gender of the user as well as its appearance and reliability. Perceptions of anthropomorphic technology can be affected by pre-existing stereotypes about the capability of a specific age or gender.

Practitioner Summary: The perceived age and gender of automation can alter perceptions of the anthropomorphic technology such as trust. Thus, designers of automation should design anthropomorphic interfaces with an awareness that the perceived age and gender will interact with the user’s age and gender.

Faces as Ambient Displays: Assessing the Attention-Demanding Characteristics of Facial Expressions

Thesis Defense

Dr. Richard Pak (Advisor), Dr. Leo Gugerty, Dr. Christopher Pagano

Ambient displays are used to provide information to users in a non-distracting manner. The purpose of this research was to examine the efficacy of facial expressions as a method of conveying information to users in an unobtrusive way. Facial expression recognition requires very little if any conscious attention from the user, which makes it an excellent candidate for the ambient presentation of information. Specifically, the current study quantified the amount of attention required to decode and recognize various facial expressions. The current study assessed the attention-demanding characteristics of facial expressions using the dual-task experiment paradigm. Results from the experiment suggest that Chernoff facial expressions are decoded with the most accuracy when happy facial expressions are used. There was also an age-effect on decoding accuracy; indicating younger adults had higher facial expression decoding performance compared to older adults. The observed decoding advantages for happy facial expressions and younger adults in the single-task were maintained in the dual-task. The dual-task paradigm revealed that the decoding of Chernoff facial expressions required more attention (i.e., longer response times and more face misses) than hypothesized, and did not evoke attention-free decoding. Chernoff facial expressions do not appear to be good ambient displays due to their attention-demanding nature.

1 pm, Monday December 16th, 419 Brackett

Congratulations to Brock Bass for receiving the Outstanding Master’s Degree Candidate in Psychology Award