Abstract
Human-computer interaction adds the human component to the operational environment of a system. Furthermore, the unpredictability of human behaviour largely increases the overall system complexity and causes the emergence of errors and failures also in the systems that have been proved correct in isolation. Rather than trying to capture and model human errors that have been observed in the past, as it has been done traditionally in human reliability assessment, we consider cognitive aspects of human behaviour and model them in a formal framework based on the CSP process algebra. We consider two categories of human behaviour, automatic behaviour, mostly representative of a user carrying out everyday activities, and deliberate behaviour, mostly representative of an operator performing tasks driven by specific goals set up within the purpose of a working context. The human cognitive model is then composed with the physical interface/system and with a number of environmental aspects, including available resources, human knowledge and experience. Finally, the overall model is analysed using model checking within the verification framework provided by the Process Analysis Toolkit (PAT). The ATM case study from Chap. 3 and a number of other case studies illustrate the approach.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
20 December 2022
.
References
R. Butterworth, Ann E. Blandford, and D. Duke. Demonstrating the cognitive plausability of interactive systems. Form. Asp. of Comput., 12:237–259, 2000.
Giovanna Broccia, Paolo Milazzo, and Peter Csaba Ölveczky. Formal modeling and analysis of safety-critical human multitasking. Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering, 2019.
Paul Curzon and Ann E. Blandford. Formally justifying user-centred design rules: a case study on post-completion errors. In Integrated Formal Methods, LNCS 2999, pages 461–480. Springer, 2004.
A. Cerone, S. Connelly, and P. Lindsay. Formal analysis of human operator behavioural patterns in interactive surveillance systems. Softw. Syst. Model., 7(3):273–286, 2008.
Antonio Cerone and Norzima Elbegbayan. Model-checking driven design of interactive systems. In Proceedings of FMIS 2006, volume 183 of Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, pages 3–20. Elevier, 2007.
S.K. Card, W.K. English, and B.J. Burr. Evaluation of mouse, rate-controlled isometric joystick, step keys, and text keys for text selection on a CRTl. Ergonomics, 21:601–613, 1978.
Antonio Cerone. Closure and attention activation in human automatic behaviour: A framework for the formal analysis of interactive systems. In Proc. of FMIS 2011, volume 45 of Electronic Communications of the EASST, 2011.
Antonio Cerone. A cognitive framework based on rewriting logic for the analysis of interactive systems. In Software Engineering and Formal Methods, LNCS 9763, pages 287–303. Springer, 2016.
Antonio Cerone. Towards a cognitive architecture for the formal analysis of human behaviour and learning. In STAF collocated workshops, LNCS 11176, pages 216–232. Springer, 2018.
Antonio Cerone. Behaviour and reasoning description language (BRDL). In Javier Camara and Martin Steffen, editors, SEFM 2019 Collocated Workshops (CIFMA), LNCS 12226, pages 137–153. Springer, 2020.
M.C. Caschera, F. Ferri, and P. Grifoni. Multimodal interaction systems: information and time features. International Journal of Web and Grid Services, 3(1):82–99, 2007.
Antonio Cerone, Peter Lindsay, and Simon Connelly. Formal analysis of human-computer interaction using model-checking. In Proc. of SEFM 2005, pages 352–361. IEEE, 2005.
Antonio Cerone and Diana Murzagaliyeva. Information retrieval from semantic memory: BRDL-based knowledge representation and Maude-based computer emulation. In SEFM 2020 Collocated Workshops (CIFMA), LNCS 12524, pages 159–175. Springer, 2021.
S.K. Card, T.P Moran, and A. Newell. The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction. Laurence Erlbaum, 1983.
Antonio Cerone and Peter Csaba Ölveczky. Modelling human reasoning in practical behavioural contexts using Real-Time Maude. In FM’19 Collocated Workshops (FMIS), LNCS 12232, pages 424–442. Springer, 2020.
Antonio Cerone and Graham Pluck. A formal model for emulating the generation of human knowledge in semantic memory. In From Data to Models and Back (DataMod 2020), LNCS 12611, pages 104–122. Springer, 2021.
Raquel Araujo De Oliveira. Formal Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems with Plasticity : Applications to Nuclear-Plant Supervision. PhD thesis, University of Grenoble, 2015.
Alan Dix, John Finlay, Gregory Abowd, and Russel Beale. Human-Computer Interaction. Pearson Education, 3rd edition, 2004.
Alan John Dix. Formal Methods for Interactive Systems. Academic Press, 1991.
G.C van der Veer G. de Haan and J.C. van Vliet. Formal modelling techniques in human-computer interaction. Acta Psychologica, 78:27–67, 1991.
Rüdiger Heimgärtner. Cultural differences in human computer interaction: Results from two online surveys. In Open Innovation. Proc. of the 10th Symposium for Information Science, pages 145–157, 2007.
Ioanna Iacovides, Ann Blandford, Ann Cox, and Jonathan Back. How external and internal resources influence user action: the case of infusion device. Cognition, Technology and Work, 18(4):793–805, 1991.
C. Johnson. Reasoning about human error and system failure for accident analysis. In Proc. of INTERACT 1997, pages 331–338. Chapman and Hall, 1997.
B. Kirwan. Human reliability assessment. In Evaluation of Human Work, chapter 28. Taylor and Francis, 1990.
Iuliia Kotseruba and John K. Tsotsos. 40 years of cognitive architectures: core cognitive abilities and practical applications. Artificial Intelligence Review, 2018.
Peter Lindsay and Simon Connelly. Modelling erroneous operator behaviours for an air-traffic control task. In Third Australasian User Interfaces Conference (AUIC2002), pages 43–54. Australian Computer Society, 2002.
N. G. Leveson. Safeware: System Safety and Computers. Addison-Wesley, 1995.
J.E. Lairs, C. Lebiere, and P.S. Rosembloom. A standard model for the mind: towards a common computational framework across artificial intelligence, cognitive science, neuroscience, and robotics. AI Magazine, 38:13–26, 2017.
C. Mach. Knowledge and Error. Reidel, 1905. English translation, 1976.
G. A. Miller. The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity to process information. Psychological Review, 63(2):81–97, 1956.
C. Martinie, P. Palanque, R. Fahssi, J. P. Blanquart, C. Fayollas, and C. Seguin. Task model-based systematic analysis of both system failures and human errors. IEEE Trans. Human-Mach. Syst., 46(2):243–254, 2016.
Paolo Masci, Rimvydas Rukšėnas, Patrick Oladimeji, Abigail Cauchi, Andy Gimblett, Yunqiu Li, Paul Curzon, and Harold Thimbleby. The benefits of formalising design guidelines: a case study on the predictability of drug infusion pumps. Innovations Syst. Softw. Eng., 11(2):73–93, 2015.
A. Newel and H.A. Simon. Human Problem Solving. Prentice-Hall, 1972.
Donald A. Norman and Tim Shallice. Attention to action: Willed and automatic control of behavior. In Consciousness and Self-Regulation, volume 4 of Advances in Research and Theory. Plenum Press, 1986.
Peter Csaba Ölveczky. Designing Reliable Distributed Systems — A Formal Methods Approach Based on Executable Modeling in Maude. Springer, 2017.
Antti Oulasvirta, Per Ola Kristensson, Xiaojun Bi, and Andrew Howes, editors. Computational Interaction. Oxford University Press, 2018.
PAT: Process Analysis Toolkit. User manual (online version). http://pat.comp.nus.edu.sg/wp-source/resources/OnlineHelp/htm/index.htm, 1 Dec 2019.
P. Palanque, R. Bastide, and F. Paterno. Formal specification as a tool for objective assessment of safety-critical interactive systems. In Proc. of INTERACT 1997, pages 323–330. Chapman and Hall, 1997.
Jennifer Preece, Yvonne Rogers, and Helen Sharp. Interaction Design — beyond human-computer interaction. Wiley, 5th edition, 2017.
Rimvydas Rukšėnas, Paul Curzon, and Ann E. Blandford. Modelling rational user behaviour as games between an angel and a demon. In Sixth IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods, pages 355–364. IEEE Computer Society, 2008.
R. Rukšėnas, P. Curzon, A. E. Blandford, and J Back. Combining human error verification and timing analysis: A case study on an infusion pump. Form. Asp. of Comput., 26:1033–1076, 2014.
James Reason. Human Error. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Alexei V. Samsonovic. Toward a unified catalog of implemented cognitive architectures. In Proceedings of the 1st Annual Meeting on Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures (BICA 2010), pages 195–244. IOS Press, 2010.
Li. Su, Howard Bowman, Philip Barnard, and Brad Wyble. Process algebraic model of attentional capture and human electrophysiology in interactive systems. Form. Asp. of Comput., 21(6):513–539, 2009.
Harold Thimbleby. Press On. MIT Press, 2007.
Benjamin Weyers, Judy Bowen, Alan Dix, and Philippe Palanque, editors. The Handbook of Formal Methods in Human-Computer Interaction. Springer, 2017.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cerone, A. (2022). Formal Methods for Human-Computer Interaction. In: Formal Methods for Software Engineering. Texts in Theoretical Computer Science. An EATCS Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38800-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38800-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-38799-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-38800-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)