How do people interact with their surroundings? How can we make everyday objects safer, more comfortable, and more intuitive? Can we model the decision-making process to accurately predict outcomes of complex social scenarios? These are just a few of the questions facing Michigan Technological University’s human factors and psychological sciences researchers.
Our research in this area studies a bevy of topics, ranging from cognitive engineering and decision making to educational technology, individual differences in human performance, and human-centered design. Our state-of-the-art Virtual Reality Lab focuses on using the latest technologies, like 3D head-mounted displays and virtual reality systems, as a platform to learn more about human spatial cognition. Members of the Motor Behavior Lab focus their work on understanding the link between motor imagery and learning, memory, and the decision-making process. And researchers analyzing risk literacy draw data from people around the globe to help them understand how information about risks is interpreted and acted upon.
Researchers in human factors and psychological sciences at Michigan Tech dive deep into issues of emotions, models of attention, and the relation between art and stress—all in an attempt to better understand the human mind and the factors that impact the way we interpret the world around us.