What do Psychology and Civil Engineering have in Common to Promote Well-Being and Excellence?
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Said Easa
Department of Civil Engineering, Ryerson University What do Psychology and Civil
Maureen Reed
Department of Psychology, Ryerson University Engineering have in Common
Frank Russo
Department of Psychology, Ryerson University to Promote Well-Being and
Excellence?
Many people are probably not aware of the explains its strong linkage to civil engineer-
strong linkage between psychology and civil ing. Psychology encompasses the field of
engineering. Psychology tools are used in ergonomics (a term originated in Europe)
many areas of civil engineering, some areas which is synonymous to human factors
are old and some are recent. Other areas (a term often used in North America).
where psychology can play an important Ergonomics refers to three groups of human
role are emerging. You may be surprised to characteristics (physical, physiological, and
know that almost half the psychologists, in psychological or behavioral) and addresses
the broader sense, work in areas related to the human-machine-system interface.1 The
civil engineering. guiding concept of ergonomics is that the
Psychology, the science that deals with human is an integral element of the system,
mental processes and behavior of humans and not merely a user or an operator to be
and animals, differs from other social sci- considered after the system is developed.
ences (like political science and sociology) Clearly, this concept is essential in optimiz-
due to its focus on experimentation. This ing the performance, productivity, usability,
s #! .! $ ) ! . # ) 6 ) , % . ' ) . % % 2 s &! , , and safety of civil engineering systems as
well as aiding education and training.
The purpose of this article is to dis-
cuss the role that psychology plays in civil
engineering and to highlight some emerg-
ing and interesting applications. Before
addressing these aspects, a brief description
of some basic fundamentals of psychology
is presented.
A) BRAIN B) MIND (NEURAL NETWORK)
PSYCHOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS
Psychology is a broad and diverse field FIGURE 1. Information processing in psychology involves the brain (hardware) and the mind (software). Panel A shows
a side view of the brain. The occipital cortex (green) lies at the back of the brain and is responsible for primary visual
involving over 60 subfields, and the number processing. The inferotemporal projections (purple) are primarily responsible for object vision (i.e. “what”), whereas the
is constantly growing and evolving.2 There parietal projections (blue) are primarily responsible for spatial vision (i.e. “where”). A current view of the corresponding
is currently no universal classification of the neural networks is shown in Panel B.
psychology areas. However, for purposes
of this article, psychology is divided into
two broad areas: clinical and experimental. Psychology
Clinical psychologists assess, diagnose, treat,
and prevent mental, emotional, and behav-
ioural disorders, and conduct research for
Transportation Planning
the purpose of understanding dysfunction
and promoting well-being. Experimental Construction Design
psychologists approach psychology as one Mining CIVIL ENGINEERING Operations
of the natural sciences, and therefore are Architecture Safety
concerned with basic and applied research
Other Education
in all aspects of human behaviour.
There are several categories of experi-
mental psychology that would be of interest
FIGURE 2. Conceptual linkage between psychology and civil engineering.
to civil engineers. These are: (1) cognitive
psychology (human thought processes, nature and their expertise is in the design hand coordination and attention.3 Other
including awareness, perception, reasoning, of experiments that are intended to evaluate scientists have examined signal attributes
judgment, and decision making), (2) biopsy- human performance. It is also not unusual and the interpretation/confusion of signals
chology (the relationship between the body for them to collaborate with engineers. meant to warn people. Also psychologists
systems and behavior), (3) industrial/organi- As such, they are frequently involved in develop computer models for artificial intel-
zational psychology (workplace behavior to experiments to determine how human par- ligence designs that make robotic behaviour
increase productivity, efficiency, and safety), ticipants deal with environmental designs. more human like. Finally, many psycholo-
(4) developmental psychology (psychologi- For example, participants are often asked gists examine human organizations and
cal changes that occur across the life-span), to determine the smallest change that an their effect on memory, decision making,
(5) educational psychology (the processes individual might notice or the limits of the and attention.
of learning, remembering, and thinking individuals’ perceptual abilities. Experimental psychology has many tools
in order to design, develop, and evaluate Engineers and others have elected to work for addressing issues of human performance.
materials and procedures for education and with psychologists to gain insights into The independent measures collected include
training), (6) environmental psychology human populations. Psychologists often reaction time (commonly used where atten-
(how cognitive and psychological processes examine the effect of changes in cognitive tion is an issue), evoked potentials (brain
affect the design of environments), (7) social or perceptual function on everyday abilities waves), physiological responses (e.g. heart
psychology (how a person’s thoughts, behav- for various environments, such as driv- rate), cognitive tests (e.g. memory, atten-
iors, and feelings are affected by the presence ing, use of equipment, and reading. They tion, processing speed), and behavioral
of other people), and (8) health psychology may focus on special populations, such as responses (e.g. eye movement). In particu-
(how biological, psychological, and social the elderly, accident victims, individuals lar, information processing in psychology
factors affect health and illness). Most exper- with disorders, or any group that requires is computational in nature, involving the
imental psychologists cross a number of high levels of human performance such, brain (hardware) and the mind (software)
these categories. as air traffic controllers. For example, psy- which is represented by a neural network
In general, experimental psychologists chologists have worked with the Canadian (Fig. 1). This mind-based neural network is
(especially in cognition) are interested in Space Agency and NASA to understand the foundation for the well-known neural
how individuals perceive and interpret the perceptual processes in microgravity and network estimation techniques commonly
environment. Their training is scientific in the effects of extended spaceflight on eye- used in engineering.
!54/-.% s ,).'³.)%52 #)6), #!.!$)%. s ERGONOMICS IN INDIVIDUAL CIVIL holistic perspective include understanding of exposure to the tasks. Other strategies
ENGINEERING AREAS human perception (e.g. visual limitations), include publishing an ergonomics informa-
Ergonomics has been addressed in several groups (e.g. communication), technology tion bulletin and establishing awareness of
civil engineering areas, including transpor- (e.g. human/instrument interactions), orga- ergonomics among managers. New ergo-
tation, construction, and mining (Fig. 2). In nizations (e.g. policies), work practices (e.g. nomically related awards for excellence have
transportation, ergonomics has been incor- informal rules), society and culture (e.g. been established, such as the Safe-in-Sound
porated in the planning, design, operations, socio-political environment), and the physi- award which will be offered in 2009 by the
and safety of all systems, including high- cal environment (e.g. vibration).5 Future National Institute for Occupational Safety
way, public transit, rail transit, bicycles and human factors research includes the effect and Health.6
pedestrians, aviation, and maritime. The of new enhanced navigation technology and In architecture (an area closely related
Transportation Research Board recently increased automation in the engine room. to civil engineering), ergonomics is a key
held a workshop to review the developments In construction, technical regulations ingredient in the design of buildings and
in human system integration and presented and programs have been developed to other infrastructure.7 Architects focus on
a number of “Best Practice” cases to exam- ensure a basic level of equipment and pro- the physical features that reflect people’s
ine how best to apply behavioural science cedural safety for workers. Human factors needs/preferences and shape their behavior.
principles, knowledge, and analytical mod- engineering programs aim to modify work For example, in buildings attention is given
els.4 For example, one case involved opera- procedures and equipment to account for to the design and arrangement of facilities
tor fatigue and alertness, where programs the physical and psychological capabilities and associated features, such as lighting,
have been developed to actively manage and limitations of humans. Examples of fixtures, and furnishings to develop the
fatigue in a tailored and non-prescriptive research topics include the perception of most efficient and safer interactions with
way (i.e. no set maximum hours of service). balance at sloped roof surfaces, work com- people. In fact, the relatively new field of
There was general consensus that success patibility and musculoskeletal disorders, environmental psychology is quite related
would depend not only on a technically and effect of forklift operation on lower to architecture.
well-designed process, but also on a number back pain. For information on the exten- Ergonomics considerations in other civil
of critical elements, such as management sive array of relevant topics in this area, engineering areas have been limited. In
commitment, user/stakeholder involvement, the reader is referred to various ergonomics structural engineering, for example, some
qualified personnel, and funding support. journals. sporadic research has addressed occupant
Some interesting work in maritime trans- In the mining industry, ergonomics issues comfort during wind-induced tall building
portation is worth noting. The U.S. Coast include lighting design, physical and pos- motion, human-based design approaches to
Guard has changed national and interna- tural stress, noise, dust, vibration, and com- minimize excessive vibrations in residential
tional culture to include human factors munications. Examples of the implemented timber floors, and human error in structural
considerations in all regulatory develop- strategies are the design of integrated control reliability analysis.
ments and operating procedures. The need and monitoring, mining machinery, and It is clear that ergonomics has been
for human factors implementation from a rest breaks or rotation to alter the duration considered more prominently in some
areas of civil engineering than in others.
Nonetheless, managers should place impor-
tance on the role of the human in the total
system, and knowledge and awareness of
ergonomics should become part of the cul-
tural fabric of all civil engineering areas.
EMERGING AND INTERESTING
APPLICATIONS
Aging Driver Mobility
Addressing aging-driver mobility and safety
requires a multidisciplinary approach that
Branching out across Canada. should involve the psychology field. The
AECOM has branched out again, with the recent addition of Earth Tech, Tecsult Canadian Council of Motor Transport
and TSH to our family of companies. Combined with Gartner Lee, KMK, and Administrators has established an “Aging
UMA, AECOM now has more than 4,000 talented professionals in Canada. Driver Strategy 2006–2010” to help juris-
dictions develop plans and programs to
As North America’s fastest-growing consulting engineering firm, we have expanded
support safe mobility for older Canadians.
the depth and breadth of our expertise to enhance the full-service solutions we offer
to our clients. The strategy addresses key issues, including
fitness-based assessment, multi-modal plan-
ning, evidence-based policies and programs
www.aecom.com
(e.g. proven best practices and research
needs), and partnerships and collaboration.
s #! .! $ ) ! . # ) 6 ) , % . ' ) . % % 2 s &! , , To ensure success, the strategy involves not
only civil engineers, planners, and driver
…managers should place importance on
licensing authorities, but also social support the role of the human in the total system, and
agencies and the medical profession
As for research, it is well known that knowledge and awareness of ergonomics
age causes changes to both perceptual and
cognitive mechanisms. Psychologists have should become part of the cultural fabric of all
recently become interested in the effects
of these losses on activities of daily living.
civil engineering areas.
Older adults show losses in their ability
to process motion, contrast, depth, script, the extent of cognitive processing that is improved auditory warnings is the design
and information, as well as visually search required by a secondary task (e.g. warning of rumble strips (raised or grooved pat-
environments.8,9 While studies have related signal) is to monitor performance across terns constructed on specific road elements
cognitive and visual losses to collision fre- varying levels of attention. If performance such as shoulders). This innovation was
quency, driving self-restrictions, and dif- in the secondary task is consistent when the initially introduced as a measure to combat
ficulties in driving maneuvers, the effects of demand of the primary task increases, then drift-off-road collisions. When a vehicle
these losses on specific driving situations are processing of the secondary task is thought makes contact with the rumble strip, a low-
largely unknown. to be not demanding of cognitive resources. tech multisensory alarm is activated that
Developmental psychology research has The ultimate objective in this research is to involves auditory (or vibrotactile) stimula-
led to two emerging fields in transportation. develop interfaces and signals that provide tion. Ideally, this stimulation will be per-
First, there is a focus on determining the meaningful, easily processed information. ceived as urgent enough so as to cause a
combination of perceptual and cognitive Other research has addressed the effect of driver to take appropriate action.
losses that can best predict older driver per- road geometric elements on driver men- The question of urgency is particularly
formance. Such work would help to identify tal workload which represents a promising acute in situations where the driver is
at-risk drivers through perceptual and cog- approach for road design and safety.11 drowsy, intoxicated, or under high cognitive
nitive tests. Second, the design of driving load (e.g. talking on cell phone). Further
environments that might compensate for Education gains in safety may be obtained by opti-
age-related losses has become important. There is currently little attention given to mizing the configuration pattern of rumble
Examples include improved road light- ergonomics in undergraduate civil engineer- strips to increase urgency and reduce reac-
ing, in-vehicle collision warning systems, ing education. Given the emerging impor- tion time.13
improved sign reflectance, and older driver tance of this field in almost all areas of Electrophysiology may be combined with
training. The authors of this article are civil engineering, it is recommended that behavioral methods to better understand
currently conducting a research project for ergonomics material should be explicitly the effectiveness of auditory warnings. For
the Ministry of Transportation Ontario to incorporated in all relevant civil engineer- example, galvanic skin (sweat) response
determine whether improved street lighting ing courses and should receive more treat- provides a useful measure of the physi-
can benefit older drivers. ment in current core courses on ethics and ological reactivity to an auditory warning.
professionalism. Differences in physiological reactivity may
Human Workload Furthermore, offering a core cognitive provide useful information that helps, for
One emerging area in transportation safety engineering course at the undergraduate example, in deciding whether a warning
is human workload in the context of the level should be explored. A panel at the was actually perceived.
human interface for driver-assist technolo- 2007 Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
gies.10 While such technologies may be help- annual meeting has discussed various issues Macroergonomics
ful, they may also act as a distracter on the related to the development of a cognitive Macroergonomics, also known as organi-
driver. Similar to cell phones, interfaces engineering textbook. The panel, which zational psychology, is among the newest
may divert attention away from the road, consisted of recognized leaders from uni- fields in psychology. It focuses on a broad
particularly when there is a visual compo- versities and industry, has discussed related system view of design, examining organiza-
nent involved that the driver must react challenges, produced useful ideas about the tional environments, culture, history, and
to. Emerging technologies are prudently ideal content of such a book, and prompted work goals.2 Its objective is to develop an
making use of non-visual modalities (e.g. continued dialogue on these issues. efficient work system that improves produc-
auditory) to minimize visual interference. tivity and promotes employee satisfaction,
Nonetheless, for many interfaces, the pro- Auditory Warnings health, safety, and commitment. An exam-
cessing demands are cognitive as much as Auditory warnings are useful in a number ple is conducting a safety culture review of a
they are perceptual. Therefore, there exists of civil engineering applications, especially rail industry that may involve analyzing the
a need to identify perceptually meaningful transportation. Psychologists have worked safety management system, reviewing safety
signals that do not require extensive cogni- with Transport Canada to examine means training, inspecting records, and interview-
tive processing. of increasing the urgency of auditory warn- ing the workforce.
One promising method that cognitive ings without increasing loudness.12 Another Most universities and organizations have
psychologists have developed to assess area in which research may contribute to human resources and development units
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with many responsibilities related to mac- For further information, the reader may York University (2008). Space science
roergonomics. Civil engineers, whether consult the website of the International fact sheet. Internet: research.yorku.ca/
in academia or in practice, ought to take Ergonomics Association (www.iea.cc) _files/file.php?fileid=&filename=file_
advantage of these units in all planning, which provides information related to the SpaceFactSheet.pdf (accessed August 5,
design, operations, and safety aspects. Close science of ergonomics. The IEA has several 2008).
4
collaboration with these units can help the technical committees that are of interest Landsburg, A.C. (2008). The art of success-
system to be more functional and more to civil engineers, such as Aging, Auditory fully applying human systems integration
enjoyable for its people. Ergonomics, Building and Construction, (HSI). Internet: www.navalengineers.
Ergonomics in Design, Organizational org /Event s/HSIS20 07/docu ment s/
CONCLUDING REMARKS Design and Management, Psychophysiology ANSEPaperdraft22ArtofHSI070411.pdf
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edge of environmental design, while civil nomics in civil engineering and encourage time domain. CRC Press, Boca Raton,
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