A human factors psychologist studies human behavior’s abilities and limitations in order to design tools, machines, tasks, and work environments. Comfortable, safe, and user-friendly products may be designed using a combination of engineering techniques and psychological theories. Much of a person’s work in this field takes place in a laboratory setting, where experiments are designed, carried out, and analyzed.
Government agencies, including the military, may hire psychologists who work in this field. They could also work in the private sector, providing data on human behavior to help companies develop new products. A human factors psychologist, for example, might work for a commercial airline company, conducting research on how pilots interact with cockpit equipment. This research could look into the impact of automation on human performance or ways to make pilot seating more comfortable.
A human factors psychologist in the transportation industry might research how drivers make decisions, what factors cause distraction, or how cognition and perception play a role in accidents. The psychologist may also assess how new technology in the auto industry affects people, including its safety features. New product design typically considers how humans interact with technology through ergonomics.
As a consultant to administrative departments, you might be able to find work. In this field, a human factors psychologist might study and report on how humans process information and how it affects job performance. Corporations may hire someone in this field to reduce the number of errors that have a negative impact on profits.
Human factors psychologists typically have a master’s or doctorate degree in the field. He or she usually takes courses in a variety of areas of psychology, such as research methods, statistics, methodology, and physiological psychology. Research projects and an internship outside of the university are common requirements in college courses.
Organizational psychology and safety are frequently discussed in seminars. Computer science and how it applies to industrial settings are required skills for a human factors psychologist. Cognitive psychology studies how people learn at different ages by using perception and memory. When it comes to product design, understanding the psychology of human performance could be beneficial.
Measurement of how personality affects job performance when using tools or performing tasks could be part of a research project. The psychologist could look at how stress and fatigue affect human-machine interaction. Workload studies could be used to help researchers figure out how to reduce human error and improve safety.