Professor Bob Hockey BSc, PhD

Address
The University of Sheffield
Sheffield S10 2TP, UK
Tel: (+44) 0114 222 6523
Fax: (+44) 0114 276 6515
Email G.R.J.Hockey@sheffield.ac.uk
Room: G-19

Qualifications

BSc (Leicester), PhD (Cambridge)

Research Interests

My primary research goal has been to develop a broad approach to the understanding of individual adaptation to cognitive and environmental stressors.

Performance goals
My core work has been concerned with the management of performance goals under the threat of disruption by environmental and psychological stressors, and interactions between the cognitive resources underpinning performance and energetic processes such as effort and fatigue.

Individual differences
In addition, I have been concerned with individual differences, both in performance, and in the management of task demands – the methods and strategies used to manage stress and compensate for changing underlying states, and the pattern of costs associated with performance maintenance under demanding work conditions that result in cognitive strain.

Compensatory regulatory process
For example, we have found strong evidence for the operation of a compensatory (effort-driven) regulatory process that helps maintain performance on top-level goals under increased stress or workload, though with associated costs (latent decrements): high levels of psychological and physiological strain; use of more risky strategies in managing primary goals; disruption of secondary goals; and fatigue-induced after effects on subsequent tasks.

Applying methods of analysis
My recent research is more clearly located within the cognitive engineering and human factors domain, and aims at applying these methods of analysis more directly to applied problems. Two major current activities are: (1) the detection of brain markers of cognitive strain for use in managing the transfer of control between human operator and computer system in adaptive automation interfaces; and (2) the understanding of information management needs for the effective design of cab interfaces for train drivers.

Grants

EPSRC. "Design and evaluation of auditory displays within vehicles." D. McKeown (PI) and G. R. J. Hockey (January 2002-December 2003). £141,877

NATO. "Advanced Research Workshop: Operator functional state and impaired performance in complex tasks." G. R. J. Hockey (Director) (March 2002). £18,200.

EU FP5. "IMMORTAL – Impaired Motorists, Methods of Roadside Testing and Assessment for Licensing." G. R. J Hockey (Coordinator) plus a consortium of nine partners. (February 2002-May 2005). Approx £2.5 Million

EPSRC "Integration of human factors across the railway network." G. R. J. Hockey (PI) and J. Wilson. £49,798

EPSRC. "Human factors modelling of integrated train operations." G. R. J. Hockey (PI)and J. Wilson. £248,970

EPSRC. "Adaptive control of automation in human-machine systems through operator functional state monitoring." G. R. J. Hockey (PI), M. Mahfouf (October 2004-September 2007). £356,789

Activities and Distinctions

• Member of NATO Human Factors and Medicine panel task group (NATO RTO HFM-056/TG-008) on Operator Functional State Assessment (2000-2003).
• Director, NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Operator functional state and impaired performance in complex tasks (Il Ciocco, Italy, March 2002).
• Trustee of CIRAS (Confidential Incident Reporting and Alerting System for the railways) (2000-2004).
• Member of Council of EPSRC Centre for Rail Research (RRUK) (2003-2006).
• Consultant on human factors issues to the Nuclear Safety Directorate (2005).
• Invited contributor to EC Driving License Committee meeting on measurement of driving impairment (Brussels, February 2003); and to International Workshop on Fatigue in Driving (Oslo, October 2003).

Key Publications

HOCKEY, G. R. J., SAUER, J. & WASTELL, D. G. (2006).
Adaptability of training in simulated process control: Comparison of knowledge- and rule-based guidance under task changes and environmental stress.
Human Factors (in press).

HOCKEY, G. R. J. & EARLE, F. (2006).
Control over the scheduling of simulated office work reduces the impact of workload on mental fatigue and task performance.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 12, 50-65.

HOCKEY, G. R. J. (2005).
Operator functional state: The prediction of breakdown in human performance. In J. Duncan, P. McLeod & L. Phillips (Eds.),
Speed, control and age: In honour of Patrick Rabbitt. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

JAMSON, A. H., WESTERMAN, S. J., HOCKEY, G. R. J. & CARSTEN, O. J. M. (2004).
Speech-based 'email' and driver behavior: effects of in-vehicle message system interface.
Human Factors, 46, 625-639.

HOCKEY, G. R. J., HEALEY, A., CRAWSHAW, C. M., WASTELL, D. G. & SAUER, J. (2003).
Cognitive demands of collision avoidance in simulated ship control.
Human Factors, 45, 252-265.

HOCKEY, G. R. J., GAILLARD, A. W. K. & BUROV, O. (2003) (Eds.)
Operator functional state: the assessment and prediction of human performance degradation in complex tasks.
Amsterdam: IOS.

View a full list of Bob Hockey's publications.

Postgraduate Students

• Anjum Naweed - PhD student
• Adam Roberts - PhD student
• Mike Roberts - PhD student
• Jeffrey Whitmore - PhD student

Research Assistants

• Peter Nickel
• Richard Bye