In our CPEC Colloquium series, we invite distinguished speakers to share their research on perspicuity and related topics. We’re happy to announce the following talk:

Friday, Jan 29, 3:15pm: Robert R. Hoffman, Ph.D. (Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Pensacola, FL)

A Macrocognitive Perspective on Human-Computer Interdependence

A considerable number of theoretical concepts characterize the modern discourse regarding human-computer interaction and system design. We have methodologies including Cognitive Work Analysis and Interaction Design. We have paradigms such as Human-Centered Computing, Sociotechnical Systems, and Naturalistic Decision Making. We have hot topics including Explainable AI and Resilience Engineering. These are all getting at many of the same notions. This presentation will focus on some ideas and conceptual models that can pull much of this together by providing a descriptive framework, grounded in research findings, and enabling us to find elegance in this morass of complexity. The framework integrates various “laws of complex cognitive work systems” that have been proposed. It enables descriptions of emergent phenomena, and is suggestive of an approach to work system design and data visualization.