Human Performance Cognition, Stress and Individual Differences

"Human Performance" provides the student and researcher with a comprehensive and accessible review of both performance in the real world, and essential cognitive science theory.
"Human Performance" has four main sections that cover both theoretical and practical issues:
- Section One outlines the perspective on performance offered by contemporary cognitive science, including information processing and neuroscience perspectives.
- Section Two presents a multi-leveled view of the performer as biological organism, information-processor and intentional agent. It reviews the development of the cognitive theory of performance through experimental studies and also looks at practical issues such as human error.
- Section Three reviews the impact of stress factors on performance such as noise, fatigue and illness.
- Section Four assesses individual and group differences in performance with accounts of ability, personality and aging.

Human Performance provides the student and researcher with a comprehensive and accessible review of performance, in the real world and essential cognitive science theory.Four main sections cover both theoretical and practical issues: Section One outlines the perspectives on performance offered by contemporary cognitive science, including information processing and neuroscience perspectives.Section Two presents a multi-level view of the performer as biological organism, information-processor and intentional agent. It reviews the development of the cognitive theory of performance through experimental studies and also looks at practical issues such as human error.Section Three reviews the impact of stress factors such as noise, fatigue and illness on performance. Section Four assesses individual and group differences in performance with accounts of ability, personality and aging.

Prologue. Section I, 1. Introduction. Section II. 2. Modelling the Cognitive Architecture. 3. Key Subsystems of the Cognitive Architecture. 4. Selective Attention. 5. Divided Attention and Workload. 6. Vigilance and Sustained Attention. 7. Skilled Performance. 8. Human Error. Section III. 9. Stress, Arousal and Performance: An Introduction. 10. Noise and Irrelevant Speech. 11. Thermal Stress and Other Physical Stressors. 12. Fatigue the Energetics of Performance. 13. Lifestyle and Performance: Health, Diet and Drugs. Section IV 14. Individual Differences in Ability and Performance. 15. Individual Differences: Personality and Mood. 16. Ageing and Human Performance. Epilogue.

Gerald Mathews is Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Cincinnati. D. Roy Davies is Reader in Experimental Psycholgy at Aston University. Stephen J. Westerman is a lecturer at the Psycholgy Institute at Aston university. Rob B. Stammers is the Professor of Occupational Psychology at Leicester University.