Connecting humans to computers

Lydia Hardie 

Week 1 Definitions

As someone coming in with more of a psychology background than anything, I found room for elaboration in the definition of a computer provided by Dix.  It states “By computer we mean any technology ranging from the general desktop computer to a large-scale computer system, a process control system or an embedded system.” 
I think much of the lack of clarity comes from the use of the word in its definition.  I guess, I was largely looking to this reading as a guide to what qualified as human-computer interaction, especially in light of brainstorming topics for the research project. The opening example of this article in which the delete button is pressed instead of the save button seems as though it could be quite analogous to poor button layout design on a simple calculator, but I do not think that the simple calculator qualifies as a computer.  Likewise, the automatic syringe example seems very similar, but again this is not a computer as I know it.  Furthermore, the example research project regarding prosthetics also does not appear to include a computer, or at least one that meets my current understanding.

                On the other hand, I find that Reisberg simply and adequately defines cognitive psychology “as the scientific study of knowledge,” and sufficiently elaborates on what this encompasses.  I do realize that with my background of psychology, my requirements for a definition are less for cognitive psychology, though.  Lastly, in a bit of irony, I was amused that Reisberg’s use of the computer as a metaphor for psychological explanation perhaps provided the best attempt of a definition for a computer as information storage and retrieval were emphasized.

Lydia,

I agree with your summation of the lack of computer-based examples in the reading, at least computers in a software development sense: that include a monitor, hard drive, keyboard, and a mouse - heck even more tablet or phone interface examples would have been nice. I did enjoy the readings as starters for understanding psychology, how humans interact with machines, and the underlying basic principals of psychology. I guess I've never really just thought of cognitive psychology as "the scientific study of knowledge" but I'm sure that is true. I do not have an extensive psychology background. I know it relates to perception, learning, experience, and obviously knowledge but for some reason have always considered it more like a path within the mind and how things are processed. Like a railway connecting to various stations. The rail line being just as important as the cargo, destination, or train. Maybe my love for hyperbole and parables is why I enjoyed the reading from Daniel Resiber so much. He used analogies to describe abstract ideals and draw conclusions while posing additional questions like why do we do what we do and how?

Desarae