Cognitive systems engineering (CSE) is a field of study that examines the intersection of people, work, and technology, with a focus on safety-critical systems. The central tenet of cognitive systems engineering is that it views a collection of people and technology as a single unit that is capable of cognitive work, which is called a joint cognitive system. CSE draws on concepts from

cognitive psychology Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...

and

cognitive anthropology Cognitive anthropology is an approach within cultural anthropology and biological anthropology in which scholars seek to explain patterns of shared knowledge, cultural innovation, and transmission over time and space using the methods and theorie ...

, such as

Edwin Hutchins Edwin Hutchins (b. 1948) is a professor and former department head of cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego. Hutchins is one of the main developers of distributed cognition. Hutchins was a student of the cognitive anthrop ...

distributed cognition Distributed cognition is an approach to cognitive science research that was developed by cognitive anthropologist Edwin Hutchins during the 1990s. From cognitive ethnography, Hutchins argues that mental representations, which classical cognitive s ...

, James Gibson's ecological theory of visual perception,

Ulric Neisser Ulric Richard Gustav Neisser (December 8, 1928 – February 17, 2012) was a German-American psychologist, Cornell University professor, and member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He has been referred to as the "father of cognitive ps ...

's ''perceptual cycle,'' and

William Clancey William J. Clancey (born 1952) is a computer scientist who specializes in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. He has worked in computing in a wide range of sectors, including medicine, education, and finance, and had performed research ...

situated cognition Situated cognition is a theory that posits that knowing is inseparable from doing by arguing that all knowledge is situated in activity bound to social, cultural and physical contexts. Under this assumption, which requires an epistemological shift ...

. CSE techniques include cognitive task analysis and

cognitive work analysis Cognitive work analysis (CWA) is a framework that was developed to model a complex sociotechnical system. Modeling of system constraints The framework models different types of constraints, building a model of how work could proceed within a give ...

Origins

Three Mile Island

Cognitive systems engineering emerged in the wake of the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident. At the time, existing theories about safety were unable to explain how the operators at TMI could be confused about what was actually happening inside of the plant. Following the accident, Jens Rasmussen did early research on cognitive aspects of nuclear power plant control rooms. This work influenced a generation of researchers who would later come to be associated with CSE, including Morten Lind, Erik Hollnagel, David Woods, and

Kim Vicente Kim Vicente is an inactive professor of Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. He was previously a researcher, teacher, and author in the field of human factors. He is best known for his two ...

"Cognitive systems engineering" vs "Cognitive engineering"

The term "cognitive systems engineering" was introduced in a 1983 paper by Hollnagel and Woods. Although the term ''

cognitive engineering Cognitive engineering is a method of study using cognitive psychology to design and develop engineering systems to support the cognitive processes of users. History It was an engineering method used in the 1970s at Bell Labs, focused on how peopl ...

'' had already been introduced by

Don Norman Donald Arthur Norman (born December 25, 1935) is an American researcher, professor, and author. Norman is the director of The Design Lab at University of California, San Diego. He is best known for his books on design, especially ''The Design ...

, Hollnagel and Woods deliberately introduced new terminology. They were unhappy with the framing of the term ''cognitive engineering'', which they felt focused too much on improving the interaction between humans and computers, through the application of cognitive science. Instead, Hollnagel and Woods wished to emphasize a shift in focus from human-computer interaction to ''joint cognitive systems'' as the unit of analysis. Despite the intention by Hollnagel and Woods to distinguish ''cognitive engineering'' from ''cognitive systems engineering'', some researchers continue to use the two terms interchangeably.

Themes

Joint cognitive systems

As mentioned in the ''Origins'' section above, one of the key tenets of cognitive systems engineering is that the base unit of analysis is the ''joint cognitive system''. Instead of viewing cognitive tasks as being done only by individuals, CSE views cognitive work as being accomplished by a collection of people coordinating with each other and using technology to jointly perform cognitive work as a system.

Studying work in context

CSE researchers focus their studies on work

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

, as opposed to studying how work is done in controlled laboratory environments. This research approach, known as

macrocognition Macrocognition indicates a descriptive level of cognition performed in natural instead of artificial (laboratory) environments. This term is reported to have been coined by Pietro Cacciabue and Erik Hollnagel in 1995. However, it is also reported ...

, is similar to the one taken by

naturalistic decision-making The naturalistic decision making (NDM) framework emerged as a means of studying how people make decisions and perform cognitively complex functions in demanding, real-world situations. These include situations marked by limited time, uncertainty, ...

. Examples of studies of work done in context include Julian Orr's ethnographic studies of copy machine technicians,

Lucy Suchman Lucy Suchman is a Professor of Anthropology of Science and Technology in the Department of Sociology at Lancaster University, in the United Kingdom. Her current research extends her longstanding critical engagement with the field of human-comp ...

's ethnographic studies of how people use photocopiers,

Diane Vaughan Diane Vaughan is an American sociologist and professor at Columbia University. She is known for her work on organizational and management issues, in particular in the case of the space shuttle ''Challenger'' Disaster. In the understanding of saf ...

's study of engineering work at NASA in the wake of the

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster On January 28, 1986, the broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39a.m. Eastern Time Zone, EST (1 ...

, and Scott Snook's study of military work in the wake of the

1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident The 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident, sometimes referred to as the Black Hawk Incident, was a friendly fire incident over northern Iraq that occurred on 14 April 1994 during Operation Provide Comfort (OPC). The pilots of two United States Ai ...

Coping with complexity

A general thread that runs through cognitive systems engineering research is the question of how to design joint cognitive systems that can deal effectively with complexity, including common patterns in how such systems can fail to deal effectively with complexity.

Anomaly response

As mentioned in the Origins section above, CSE researchers were influenced by TMI. One specific application of coping with complexity is the work that human operators must do when they are supervising a process such as nuclear power plant, and they must then deal with a problem that arises. This work is sometimes known as anomaly response or dynamic fault management. This type of work often involves uncertainty, quickly changing conditions, and risk tradeoffs in deciding what remediation actions to take.

Coordination

Because joint cognitive systems involve multiple agents that must work together to complete cognitive tasks, coordination is another topic of interest in CSE. One specific example is the notion of common ground and its implications for building software that can contribute effectively as agents in a joint cognitive system.

Cognitive artifacts

CSE researchers study how people use technology to support cognitive work and coordinate this work across multiple people. Examples of such cognitive artifacts, which have been studied by researchers, include "the bed book" used in intensive care units, "voice loops" used in space operations, "speed bugs" used in aviation, drawings and sketches in engineering work, and the various tools used in marine navigation. Of particular interest to CSE researchers is how computer-based tools influence joint cognitive work, in particular the impact of automation, and computerized interfaces used by system operators.

Books

*''Cognitive Systems Engineering: The Future for a Changing World'' by Philip J. Smith and Robbert R. Hoffman, eds. 2017 *''Joint Cognitive Systems: Patterns in Cognitive Systems Engineering'' by David Woods and Erik Hollnagel, 2005. 978-0849328213 *''Joint Cognitive Systems: Foundations of Cognitive Systems Engineering'' by Erik Hollnagel and David Woods, 2005. 978-0367864156 *''Cognitive Systems Engineering'' by Jens Rasmussen, Annelise Mark Pejtersen, and L.P. Goodstein, 1994.

References

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External links

Journals

Cognition, Technology & Work

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

Ergonomics

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): The Journal of Collaborative Computing and Work Practices
Systems engineering