We focus on smart approaches to solving complex problems. Each problem is unique, but we have found we can consider three elements to inform our approach:
- The human behavior, meaning the task at hand and its demands and affordances;
- Who is involved, user characteristics, and social processes; and
- The situation, encompassing the nature of the domain and the environmental context.
Here are some examples of problems and approaches. There are details provided through links here and elsewhere on this website:
- Managing law enforcement encounters. [+]Law enforcement personnel need to learn how to manage encounters with the potential to escalate. Such situations may involve agitated individuals, mentally ill persons, or those with little trust in policing. We have developed training materials, specific outcome objectives, and focused technology to address this critical societal demand. [–]
- Testing stress inoculation. [+]Studies involving teaching coping skills comprised of attentional retraining and focused breathing required some means of determining the effectiveness of training. For this work we developed a multimedia stressor environment for simulating stress exposure for participants to practice learned coping skills. [–]
- Standardizing social skills assessment. [+]A set of studies sought to assess social functioning deficits in at-risk youth. For one project we developed virtual vignettes to identify underlying neurocognitive and emotional regulatory dysfunction. For another we developed a standardized instrument for facial expression recognition by systematically manipulating expressions. [–]
- Visualizing and representation. [+]The way that information is presented to people influences how they interpret that information. For instance, graphs and tables allow for different conclusions to be drawn compared to that same information given as sentences or even pictures. We have worked with visualization techniques and presentation formats to help different users to be able to capture what they need from the information quickly and accurately. [–]
- Interpreting student feedback. [+]In professional schools, students are often given real-world experiences, such as working with practitioners to apply what they have learned in the classroom on the job. The practitioners usually provide the schools with feedback on how well the students have performed. But this feedback is typically unstructured and profuse. We have developed methods to automatically analyze these data and highlight comments where there might be indication of areas to address students to help them improve. [–]
