Penny Sanderson's research on workplace interruptions reveals strategies professionals use to mitigate their negative effects.
Penny Sanderson's work in auditory displays in healthcare focuses on using sonification to enhance patient monitoring without solely relying on alarming sounds.
Deep dives
Penny Sanderson's Academic Background and Research Areas
Penny Sanderson, a professor of cognitive engineering and human factors, has made significant contributions in complex socio-technical systems, such as healthcare, power systems, air defense, air traffic control, and emergency response. She has studied the impact of workplace interruptions on work performance, designed effective auditory interfaces for safety critical systems, and explored the perceptual, cognitive, and social effects of wearable technologies. Penny has received numerous accolades for her research and is a fellow of several distinguished organizations.
Penny Sanderson's Journey into Naturalistic Decision Making
Penny initially started her academic career in experimental psychology but became interested in human factors and decision making while studying at the University of Toronto. Inspired by the work of scholars like Tom Sheridan and John Senders, she delved into applying different paradigms to understand human-system interaction. Through collaborations with experts in the field, Penny discovered the value of joining the international community of practice in solving real-world problems. Her involvement with the Department of Industrial Engineering and immersion in the post-Three Mile Island era shaped her journey into naturalistic decision making.
Penny Sanderson's Work on Workplace Interruptions
Penny's research on workplace interruptions, particularly in healthcare, has shed light on how interruptions impact work performance and patient safety. Her work explores the cognitive challenges and system complexities related to interruptions. In collaboration with fellow researchers, Penny found that professionals develop strategies and natural behaviors to mitigate the negative effects of interruptions. These strategies include holding vital items, using reminders, and employing a distributed prospective memory approach. Although theory suggests that interruptions may impede task resumption, Penny's studies showed that resumption time was often minimal or even absent due to the effectiveness of these strategies.
Penny Sanderson's Contributions to Auditory Displays in Healthcare
Penny's work in auditory displays in healthcare focuses on making auditory information in medical devices more informative and less demanding of attention. Collaborating with clinicians, she explored the use of sonification, which expresses data relations through sound, to enhance patient monitoring. In particular, Penny examined respiratory sonification in operating theaters and neonatal resuscitation environments. Her research aimed to alert healthcare professionals to patient deterioration and provide background awareness without relying solely on alarming sounds. These efforts involved improving the pulse oximeter sound, considering acoustic enhancements, and integrating multiple sonification techniques. Penny's work in this area bridges cognitive engineering and clinical practices.
Penny Sanderson is Professor of Cognitive Engineering and Human Factors at The University of Queensland, where she has appointments in the School of Psychology, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, and School of Clinical Medicine. She graduated with her BA (with Honors) from University of Western Australia and then completed her PhD at University of Toronto in Canada. She worked for 11 years at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before returning to her native Australia. In her research, Penny develops, tests and applies theories about the human role in complex sociotechnical systems. She has conducted research in healthcare, power systems, air defence, air traffic control, and emergency response. She has made important contributions to our understanding of the impact of workplace interruptions on work performance; the design of effective auditory interfaces in safety-critical systems; and the perceptual, cognitive, and social effects of wearable technologies. Penny is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the International Ergonomics Association.
Penny has received many awards including:
· The Distinguished International Colleague Award and the Paul M. Fitts Educator Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society include
· The Jerome H. Ely Best Paper Award (twice) in the journal Human Factors.
· The Franklin V Taylor Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Applied Experimental/Engineering Psychology from the American Psychological Association.
