cognitive engineering
{{Short description|Method of study of neuro-psychology}}
{{Distinguish|Cognitive ergonomics}}
Cognitive engineering is an interdisciplinary field that applies principles from cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and human factors to design and develop engineering systems that effectively support or enhance human cognitive processes.{{Cite journal|title=Cognitive engineering|journal=Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science|volume=4|issue=1|pages=17–31|doi=10.1002/wcs.1204|pmid=26304173|year = 2013|last1 = Wilson|first1 = Kyle M.|last2=Helton|first2=William S.|last3=Wiggins|first3=Mark W.|url=http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/28844/1/WilsonHeltonWiggins_Cognitive%20Engineering_Authors%20Pre-print%202012.pdf }}{{Cite journal |last=John R. Gersh, Jennifer A. McKneely, and Roger W. Remington |title=Cognitive Engineering: Understanding Human Interaction with Complex Systems |url=https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/content/techdigest/pdf/V26-N04/26-04-Gersh.pdf |journal=Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest |volume=26 |issue=4 |year=2005}} The field emerged in the 1980s when Donald Norman and others recognized the need to better understand how humans interact with complex technological systems.{{Cite book|title=User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction|last=Norman|first=Donald A.|last2=Draper|first2=Stephen W.|publisher=CRC Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0898598728}}
Unlike traditional engineering design approaches that focus primarily on physical and technical aspects, cognitive engineering emphasizes understanding the mental models, decision-making processes, attention, memory, and information processing capabilities of users. This user-centered approach aims to create systems that are intuitive, reduce cognitive load, minimize human error, and optimize overall human-computer interaction. Cognitive engineering methods include task analysis, cognitive work analysis, cognitive modeling, usability testing, and various forms of user research.
History
It was an engineering method used in the 1970s at Bell Labs, focused on how people form a cognitive model of a system based upon common metaphors.{{Cite web|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~hos/mike/transcripts/condon.htm|title=Interview with Joseph H. Condon (transcript)|last=|first=|date=|website=History of Science, Princeton University|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2017-05-17}} As explained, by Joseph Henry Condon:
{{blockquote|sign=Joseph Henry Condon|source={{Cite web|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~hos/mike/transcripts/condon.htm|title=Interview with Joseph H. Condon (transcript)|last=|first=|date=|website=History of Science, Princeton University|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2017-05-17}}|"The idea is that people form a model. You present them with some instruments, tools, like a faucet, electric stove or something like that and demonstrate how it works. They then form in their heads a model that shows how it works inside to help them remember how to use it in the future. It may be a totally erroneous model of what is going on inside the black box."}}
According to Condon, the ideas of cognitive engineering were developed later than, and independent from, the early work on the Unix operating system.{{cite web|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~hos/mike/transcripts/condon.htm|author=Michael S. Mahoney|title=Joseph H. Condon|publisher=Princeton University History of Science}}
Don Norman cited principles of cognitive engineering in his 1981 article, "The truth about Unix: The user interface is horrid." Norman criticized the user interface of Unix as being "a disaster for the casual user."{{cite news | last1 = Norman | first1 = Don | title = The truth about Unix: The user interface is horrid | url = http://www.ceri.memphis.edu/people/smalley/ESCI7205F2009/misc_files/The_truth_about_Unix_cleaned.pdf | work = Datamation | issue = 12 | date = 1981| volume = 27 }} However the "casual user" is not the target audience for UNIX and as the Condon quote above indicates, a high level of user interface abstraction leads to cognitive models that may be "totally erroneous."{{Fact or opinion|date=February 2025}}