Making Computer Use Humane

In~~rlicdior~e for Pnlirv nncl Prnc*tice. I \ n c i ~ ~W r .I .

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Making Computer Use Humane

ware toole, the l ~ s ~ ~ ~ ~ l o ~foprogram logy rnit~g.artificial intrlligrncc. and expe systems. I l e also raises i r n p o r t a ~ ~ t (~IIC( tionc ancl prclvicles pertitlet~tdata and il k,rnwcl spec~~latiot~s a l ~ o r the ~ t i~npactl information technologies on jobs (e y ofice work) and on colnm~~nication an information wrvirrs. 111 an IIIIIIFIIRI rhal ter. he exl)lores how information trd

Rcoinu Ivy Roy D. Pea

Rwmond S. Nickerson U h g Computerc~The Ilrlmttn Factom o f Information System. Caml~riclge,ht A: h l l T Prese. I9RG. 434 pp. I S B N 0-262-14040-3. $22.50

nnlogies might he I I F C ~ to better ~ I I U life-to help o\-ercorne h ~ ~ n g and e r ma nt~trititm,i g ~ ~ o r n nnwl w illitrracy, and 11 c r i p p l i ~ ~elfects g of (Iica1)ilitirs. This book invites corn par is or^ to t l recent h ) k s on 1111111a11-cotn~11kr ink action (Card, hloran. k NcwcII, 198 Norrnan Ec I)rapf.r, IURfi). As a first Im for the intelligrnt reader learning a110 people tiring computers,

Nickersol

I)ook i c by far the rnoct c w i ~ p r e h e ~ ~ c i and a ( w w i l ~ l e l. i e explains ftrr~tlarnentc.:

~(IPRS taken for

granted as part o f the w

cal)ulary of professionals (to whom 1 other two lmr~ksare directed). Unlil Card et at.. Nickerson does not aim1 offrr a (Iesign g~liclefor interactive q ickerson ha* written a uniquely

to ask critical qwctions al)out new infor-

terns. Insteatl, he prcn;itles a map o f icsw

comprehensive and compassionate book ahout h ~ ~ m a nwsi n p rompr~trrs.I t will be broadly appealing hrca~rseit informs and awakens the critical cpirit. articulating challengec to psychology posed

mation trcl~r~ologies. Nickersnn prnvitles a sweeping, dramatic accor~ntof rapid aclvancee i n computer technologies and of IIOW the infor-

col~trnvrrsies.and rrlatcd research th

N

mat ion r e v o l r ~ t i o n has profounclly by computer use. Nickersnn I ~ r i r ~a gwells changed fielcls as diverse a5 farming. tlereasoned and renriscancelike perspective fence. and education w l ~ i l ecreating the to thic cowplrx interrlisciplinary tnpir. glol)aI villnge. I l e cKec*tivrlv convrys tile hloct important. he continr~nllvnskc a t ~ o r ~ t exciternrnt and it~~plirations o f new dethe moral science o f comlwtation " W l ~ a t w l o p r n ~ n t cin retourcr sharing atid !let-

cl1o111tl hecome part of the conlnlon sen of tile interactive systems designer. AI 1111likeN n r n i a ~antl ~ I h p e r ' s I)ook, 11 vol~~~ provitl~s ne a t~scr'sg ~ ~ i to d ethe, search I i t e r a t ~ ~on r e ucing conlp~tters(i c l ~ d i n ga 56-page Id,liography). U Normnn a 1 ~ 1 I h p r r . Nic.krrsou rerp ni7es the many moral r e c p n n c i ~ ) i l i t i ~ ~

the system dtsigner who creates en ronmentc that will i ~ ~ l l r l e n ct11e e HI the rntrging of computer nntl c o ~ i ~ r n ~ ~ users n i - think, w11:1t thev think al)out, a

can we cia to ihcreasr tlw chance* that

working, the tremen~loucsignifirance o f

thc ckvelopme"~ and exploitation of thiv technology will contrilu~teto the cornmon good, to rrluity, to h ~ ~ m adignity. n and to the quality of life i n getwral?" (p. 7). His trektment of these important i r -

cations trr~~nologies, at~clthe a h n t of Itow they feel almr~lwhat they are doit parallel-processor comprtting arcl~itecOne striking frature is the autho twes tha! will bring wprreorrrp~~ter I,alanced ires sent at ion ~ t y l e for discr~svi power to clesktops w i t l ~ i na clecatle. nllt tliflbrent sicles of complex and contrw

his work i s a vaIml)le set

sues i s (ensithe. for he i s neitlier doorn-

at the (.ore of

sayr nor technoromantic, hnt an optimist

of uitlclnws that

for rrsearch-informed sl~aping of the technolngy and its nses.

literatr~rei n hr~man-computer interac-

IIP opens on the recearch

sial research isertes or making predictia of the computer's effects i n the f~~tuc

tion. I l e does an excellent job o f captur-

For example, will pervasive use of rk tronic messagingsystems promote eqa ity among nsers. or will s ~ ~ easy c h aca

an nu-

ing valid itlferencm from e~perinwntson

dience of human factor9 researcllerc and

the peyrl~ologpof IIII~I~II-comp~tter in-

sil)ility hamprr

engineering pqychologists creating inter-

terartiort in w h t i s w i d ~ l yacknowleclged

workers will I)e flooded w i t h mail? Nit

active system3 for e o r n p ~ ~ t r r n m i c rTo c. this end, hi* broad critical tynthesit o f human factom .trdiec of compr~tinp -charts major findings and new directions for research to puidr humane compr~ter u-ec t i e later hroatlenetl his reaclrrship to include anyone interected i n characterictiec and implications of t11e 1 1 5 ~ so f stems i n eoriety I n a cence computer he has wri ten two hooks i n one. The technical ar~diencrcan f o c ~ ~on s t l w research synthe*i~;technologv n w i r e s can lenrn R ~ I I ~ I ~comp~~tcrc ant1 tlwir ~ ~ c e and. e from 111human r fa(-tors rrvirw, may lrarn

as a ~ I ky I I field. erson oftrn attrtnpts to identify con I n cl~aptersconstit~ttinghalf of ~IIP tions under which i t appears prohab I)ook. Nickerson cleccrilws methotls for that the cornpr~ter'sefTects will go in a the str~dyof p e r c o ~ ~ - c o n ~ ~interac~ ~ t t r r direction or anotI~rr. tiotl. ics~~es RIII~ research involving the Ilr also cloc~~mrnts important cases physical interface (mainly inpctt-nr~tput w h i c l ~cornp~~ters are promoting m clevices) and the cognitive interface (fo- than eficiencv, enahling new methods1 crtsing on information organi7ation and thinking, SIICII as i n n~athematical,n preset~tation.input modes. ant1 progress entific, and ctatistiral reasoning. 1 toward the use of written natural Ian- availal)ility of mathematical prohla grlage or speech for computer interac- solving tools i s already c l ~ ~ n g i n the g I r ernatl~rn~atics Iearning. and rlr tinns). nntl i w ~ e sin nntl g ~ ~ i d r l i ~fnr ~ e st ~ ~ of clrcigr~ing1 1 ~ 1 ) intrractivc le syste~ns.tie pntcntial e f l ~ c t el h r o r t g h ~ tec\ncali oflers hrief treatments o f types o f coftcnll for systerr~atiepsycl~ologicrlstud!

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tackerson could make improvements in the (inevitable) future editions of this classic work. It is a highly verbal book. There are only two figures, even though graphs, tables, or diagrams would aid the reader's understanding. Some parts of the book are less u p to date than others. Nickerson devotes less than a page to videodisc and optical compact-disc imaging technologies, which are likely to revolutionize consumer electronics and data storage, h e pays little attention to the explosive and important areas of machine learning and robotics. As well organized u the book is, because the field's rubtopics are hard to define as chapters, the subject index becomes critical.. Urrfortunately. I f w n d it sparse; I often could not find entries for key topics. l b o important topics deserve more treatment than they receive. Nickerson does not describe uses of computers as creative aids in art, architecture, music, and film. Another area of special interest concerns.the problems in designing cognitive and physical interfaces for children's uses of computers. Nickerson devotes little attention to the need for developmentally sensitive human-computer interaction research with different age or knowledge-iwel groups. The book will be widely useful, but it is the rare reader who will be interested in all of it, or who can understand it all. For example. an educational software designer might read the treatment of design guidelines for the cognitive interface with great Interest, but might not ,have the physics background to understand descriptions of new computer components. such as Josephson junctions or optical transistors. T h e book seems to b e more o f a critical survey and reader's guide than a stand-alone book for insGuction on any specific topic in detail. This fact is especially apparent in the thin discussions of such complex issues ac knowledge representation and expert systems design architectures. Nickerson raises many challenges to psychologists. Most have to do with the need to better anticipate possible negatlve und positlve eHectr that computer uses might bring and to establish research knowledge that will guide the humane design and use of computers. Many issues stretch current psychological theory: HOW will parallel computing machines change the nature of theories of d i n d ? H w will the use of new problem-solving tools change the ways in which people think and the complexities of problems people are able to solve? Nickerron often spotlights psychologists an mord d e n t i s t s CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY, 1987. \.

who should not stand by passively docum e r ~ t i ~the ~ g impacts of computers 0% people but should proactively wwk to define better roles for human-computer interactions. A great value of Nickers~n's book is that it provoker prolonged thought ahout such matters. His balanced, humanistic treatment of the complex effects of using computers will stimulate readers to think anew about what they Pie doing and to prwide the research

needed to make a world enhanced b y technology. not bridled by it. Rcfennccr Card. S. K.. Moron, T.P..h Newell. A. (1983). The p r & n l o g y of humanc m ~ p u t r rinteradion. 1iIIIdde. NJ: Erlbaum. Norman. D. A.. & Draper. S. W.

m.).

( 19 86). User centered r y r h &dgw perapectios; on human-computer interaction. H i l l d e . NJ; Erlbum'

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