Author Description

The contents of this special issue are all extended and expanded versions of papers presented at the First International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics. More than 110 papers were presented at the conference by delegates from 18 countries. This issue represents a small selection of those papers. It is difficult to define exactly what constitutes "engineering psychology" and "cognitive ergonomics," therefore it is difficult to draw a meaningful distinction between these two disciplines. Some would argue that the emphasis in engineering psychology is placed on science, whereas in cognitive ergonomics the emphasis is placed firmly on technology. This could reflect the academic-industrial emphasis inherent in the two subject matter areas. Others would suggest that in engineering psychology the emphasis is biased toward the person, however in cognitive ergonomics the accent is slightly more biased toward the machine and/or operating environment. What is certain is that both disciplines are intimately interwoven. The papers in this special issue all span this divide between the two symbiotic fields.