Abstract
Cognitive Technology explores ways in which the cognitive fit between people and technology may be optimized. If this goal is to be achieved we will require methods of assessing tools and information arftifacts in order that we may properly examine the interplay between human cognition and technologies. Examination of this relationship neccessitates recogniton of the fact that it will be shaped by the cognitive and embodiment characteristics of the user, as well as the activity being carried out and the nature of the technology or artifact itself. The Cognitive Dimensions (CDs) framework provides a set of tools and measures which may contribute to Cognitive Technology’s aims. CDs provide a pragmatic approach to the assessment of information artifacts, highlighting properties which affect cognition. We argue that not only may CDs be of benefit to Cognitive Technology, but that Cognitive Technology provides a broader context for understanding the importance and impact of CDs. Greater awareness of the importance of particular characteristics of users may serve to inform the application of CDs. In this paper we provide a general introduction to the CD framework, and show how CDs have been used in the evaluation and improvement of a temporal specification notation for interactive systems. We then discuss the ways in which user characteristics may be taken into account in applications of the CD framework. We illustrate the discussion with examples showing the differing impact of a temporal specification notation’s properties on experienced and novice users.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Barker, T., Jones, S., Britton, C. & Messer, D. J. (2000), Individual Cognitive Style and Performance in a Multimedia Learning Application, in ‘EURO EDUCATION 2000 Conference, Aalborg, Denmark, 8–10 February, 2000’.
Britton, C. & Jones, S. (1999), ‘The Untrained Eye: How Languages for Software Specification Support Understanding in Untrained Users’, Human Computer Interaction 14, 191–244.
Britton, C. & Kutar, M. (2001), Cognitive Dimensions Profiles: A Cautionary Tale, in G. Kadoda, ed., ‘Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of The Psychology of Programming Interest Group’.
Corsetti, E., Montanari, A. & Ratto, E. (1991), ‘Dealing with Different Time Granularities in Formal specifications of Real-time Systems’, The Journal of Real-Time Systems 3, 191–215.
Cox, K. (1999), Cognitive Dimensions of Use Cases-Feedback from a Student Questionaire, in A. Blackwell & E. Bilotta, eds, ‘Proceedings of the Twelth Annual Meeting of The Psychology of Programming Interest Group’, Memoria, Cosenza, Italy.
Dix, A. (1992), Pace and Interaction, in Monk, Diaper & Harrison, eds, ‘People and Computers VII’, Cambridge University Press.
Green, T. (1989), Cognitive Dimensions of Notations, in A. Sutcliffe & L. Macaulay, eds, ‘People and Computers V, Proceedings of HCI’89’, Cambridge University Press.
Green, T. (1991), Describing Information Artefacts with Cognitive Dimensions and Structure Maps, in D. Diaper & N. Hammond, eds, ‘People and Computers VI, Proceedings of HCI’91’, Cambridge University Press.
Green, T. & Blackwell, A. (1996), ‘Thinking about Visual Programs’, In Thinking with diagrams (IEE Colloquium Digest No: 96/010). Institute for Electronic Engineers, London.
Green, T. & Blackwell, A. (1998), ‘A Tutorial on Cognitive Dimensions’, Available online at: http://www.ndirect.co.uk/thomas.green/workStuff/Papers/index.html.
Kadoda, G. (1999), A Cognitive Dimensions View of the Differences Between Designers and Users of Theorem Proving Assistants, in A. Blackwell & E. Bilotta, eds, ‘Proceedings of the Twelth Annual Meeting of The Psychology of Programming Interest Group’, Memoria, Cosenza, Italy.
Kutar, M., Britton, C. & Nehaniv, C. (2000), Specifying Multiple Time Granularities in Interactive Systems, in P. Palanque & F. Paternó, eds, ‘Interactive Systems: Design, Specification and Verification’, Springer, pp. 51–63. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 1946.
Kutar, M., Nehaniv, C. & Britton, C. (in press), NGT: Natural Specification of Temporal Properties of Interactive Systems with Multiple Time Granularities, in ‘Design, Specification, and Verification of Interactive Systems: 2001 (8th International Workshop DSV-IS, Glasgow, Scotland, 13–15 June 2001)’, Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science.
Modugno, F., Green, T. & Myers, B. (1994), Visual Programming in a Visual Domain: A Case Study of Cognitive Dimensions, in ‘People and Computers IX, Proceedings of HCI’94’, Cambridge University Press.
Nehaniv, C. L. (1997), Formal Models for Understanding: Coordinate Systems and Cognitive Empowerment, in ‘Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Cognitive Technology’, IEEE Computer Society, pp. 147–162.
Nehaniv, C.L. (1999a), Narrative for Artifacts: Transcending Context and Self, in ‘Narrative Intelligence: Papers from the 1999 AAAI Fall Symposium, (5–7 November 1999-North Falmouth, Massachusetts)’, Vol. FS-99-01, American Association for Artificial Intelligence, pp. 101–104.
Nehaniv, C.L. (1999b), Story-Telling and Emotion: Cognitive Technology Considerations in Networking Temporally and Affectively Grounded Minds, in ‘Third International Conference on Cognitive Technology: Networked Minds (CT’99), Aug. 11–14, 1999 San Francisco/Silicon Valley, USA’, pp. 313–322.
Norman, D. (1988), The Psychology of Everyday Things, Harper Collins.
Roast, C. (1995), Modelling Temporal Requirements for Interactive Behaviour, in ‘Proceedings of the International Symposium on Human Factors in Telecommunications’.
Scaife, M. & Rogers, Y. (1996), ‘External Cognition: How do Graphical Representations Work?’, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 45, 185–213.
Shneiderman, B. (1997), Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, 3rd edn, Addison-Wesley.
Shum, S. (1991), Cognitive Dimensions of Design Rationale, in D. Diaper & N. Hammond, eds, ‘People and Computers VI, Proceedings of HCI’91’, Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, R. (1998), Long Term Human-Computer Interaction: An Exploratory Perspective, Springer Verlag.
Yang, S. et al. (1997), ‘Representation Design Benchmarks: A Design-Time Aid for VPL Navigable Static Representations’, Journal of Visual Languages and Computing 8, 563–599.
Zhang, J. & Norman, D. (1994), ‘An Account of how Readers Search for Information in Diagrams’, Cognitive Science 18, 87–122.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kutar, M.S., Nehaniv, C.L., Britton, C., Jones, S. (2001). The Cognitive Dimensions of an Artifact vis-à-vis Individual Human Users: Studies with Notations for the Temporal Specification of Interactive Systems. In: Beynon, M., Nehaniv, C.L., Dautenhahn, K. (eds) Cognitive Technology: Instruments of Mind. CT 2001. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 2117. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44617-6_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44617-6_32
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-42406-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44617-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive