About

The Human Performance, Assessment and Modeling (HPAM) Laboratory is directed by Dr. Ling Rothrock. The research team consists of both graduate and undergraduate students of Dr. Rothrock. It is one of four human factors (HF) laboratories located in the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Human Performance and decision making are important parts of the Industrial Engineering course at Penn State University, which is largely team-focused.

While other HF labs focus on ergonomics, social-technical systems, and usability, HPAM focuses on the understanding of human constraints, abilities, and goals in the context of dynamic task environments. The lab’s objective is to improve the designs of systems that facilitate multi-modal (visual and auditory perception) man-machine interactions. Research within HPAM is used towards that goal and forms a mutually-supporting triad with human-in-the-loop simulations informing the development of inductive learning models to test hypotheses grounded in cognitive science.

The HPAM laboratory contributes to the Penn State Institute for CyberScience by providing a team simulation platform to investigate models of human-machine integration.