Engineering psychology, a sub-branch of industrial psychology, focuses on the interaction between humans and man-made environments, aiming to enhance user effectiveness and maintain human values in design. It emerged as a distinct discipline at the end of the 19th century and gained prominence through significant developments during World War I and II, addressing issues related to machine design and human error. Today, engineering psychologists apply experimental research methods to improve various products while addressing the complexities of human-machine interactions.

1. Industrial Psychology
(BAS-12/ BHM-05)
Unit 3 Lecture 1
Engineering Psychology

2. • If we list all the “things” we use everyday, we
would find that majority of them are man-
made.
• In other words, we live in an engineered
environment i.e. made up by man.
• In the days to come, the environment around us
will be increasingly engineered.
• An important thing about engineered
environment is that we have some degree of
control over it.

3. • A major assumption of Engineering Psychology
is that the human use of any man-made thing
can be enhanced or degraded, by its design.
• Therefore, Engineering Psychology is concerned
with the way human beings interact with
machines.

4. • A sub-branch of Industrial Psychology.
• It is also referred to as ‘Human Factors
Engineering’ or ‘Human Engineering’ in the
United States and ‘Ergonomics’ in UK.
• Engineering Psychology is concerned with the
‘discovery and application of information about
human behavior and its relation to machines,
tools, and jobs so that their design may best
match the abilities and limitations
of their human users.’

5. • The objectives of Engineering Psychology
are to: -
1. Enhance the effectiveness of the physical
objects and facilities people use.
2. Maintain or enhance certain desirable
human values such as health, safety,
satisfaction etc. in this process.

6. • The approach of engineering psychology is
the systematic application of relevant
information about human behavior and
characteristics to the designing of: -
1. Things people use and the methods for
their use.
2. The environments in which people work
and live.

7. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY
• Human beings were always concerned with
improving their tools ever since they began using
them.
• But Engineering Psychology emerged as a distinct
discipline only by the end of nineteenth century
when the first systematic investigations on the
influence of tools/equipment on work efficiency
were conducted.
• The pioneering work of Taylor and Gilbreth couples
could be considered as the beginning of Engineering
Psychology.

8. • Taylor tried to design best shovels and to determine
the optimum weight of material per shovelful for
handling different products.
• Later, the Gilbreth couple invented an adjustable
scaffolding so that the bricks and mortar are kept at
an appropriate height and bricklayer could work at
the most convenient level at all the times.
• In the following years, engineers developed a
number of principles of motion economy, work
arrangement and work design.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY

9. • By the start of WW-I a new class of machines
appeared- machines that did not require not
muscular power but sensory, perceptual,
judgmental and decision making abilities of the
operator to use them
• For example, the job of sonar operator requires
virtually no muscular effort, but it makes severe
demands on his sensory capacity, attentiveness, and
decision making.
• Problems of this type could no longer be dealt
with older principles of industrial engineering.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY

10. • During the WW-I, most of the psychologists were
involved in selection, training and other personnel
issues.
• But a few of them, notably Raymond Dodge, Knight
Dunlap, and Carl E. Seashore, were working on
different sorts of problem-problems related to the
designing of gas masks, binoculars & monocular, and
listening devices.
• WW-I ended before any major accomplishments
were made by engineering psychologists.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY

11. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY
• During WW-II, America and its allied forces faced a peculiar problem-
failure of many of their weapon and surveillance systems (bombs not
falling on the correct targets, weapons attacking normal marine life etc.
• It was later discovered that the major reason of failure of these
systems were there faulty designs leading to human errors in using or
operating them.
• After the WW-II, two American psychologists S.S. Stevens, and L.L.
Beranek got an assignment to reduce noise levels in military aircraft.
• Similar other efforts were made to improve the design of machines
enabling better human machine interactions.

12. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY
• Engineering Psychology grew rapidly after the WW-II.
• It was recognized as the Society of Engineering Psychologists,
Division 21 of the American Psychological Association.
• Currently, engineering psychology is most developed and
exploited in the United States of America.
• Other countries where engineering psychology is in advanced
state include Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, UK, Japan,
Sweden and Switzerland.

13. STATUS OF ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
• Engineering psychologists now contribute to the
designing of a variety of products ranging from
advanced health care equipment, leisurely items,
and articles of regular use.
• For example, research by engineering
psychologists demonstrated that using cell
phones while driving degrades performance by
increasing reaction time, particularly among
older drivers leading to higher driving accident
risk.

14. RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY
• Engineering psychologists aim to discover principles
about human behavior which could be helpful in
machine design.
• Unfortunately, engineering psychologists are able to
find answers for only a small set of problems because:
-
1. Man ­
machine interactions occur in an almost infinite
way. And it is becoming increasingly difficult to study
all or most of the ways in which man and machines
interact.
2. There are millions of people who are actively engaged

15. RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY
• Experimentation is the dominant method used in engineering
psychologist’s research work.
• Whenever possible, engineering psychologists use full- scale,
rigorous, and sophisticated experimentation.
• Because of the complexity of problems and the diversity of variables
that influence human behavior in machine situations, engineering
psychologiststypicallyemploy experimental designs using several
variables, deriving, forexample, from methodsofanalysisofvariance.
• Psychophysical methods are widely used for obtaining useful data
on sensory capacities.

16. RESEARCH METHODS IN ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY
• Articulation test methods are used for measuring the
effectiveness of speech communication devices and
systems.
• Engineering psychologists have borrowed and adapted a
number of other techniques from industrial engineering
such as activity sampling procedures, process analysis,
and micro motion methods.
• Finally, some traditional methods/techniques of
industrial psychology used by engineering psychologists
include job analysis, task analysis,
personnel requirement inventories, questionnaires,
tests, and rating scales.

17. THIS PRESENTATION IS BASED ON FOLLOWING SOURCES
• Deshpandey, A. (2010). Industrial Psychology. New Delhi: Sun
India Publications.
• Bisen, V., & Priya (2010). Industrial Psychology. New Delhi:
New Age International Publishers.