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132000Volume 13, Issue8October 2000

Presidential Column

Robert Bjork
Robert A. Bjork
University of California, Los Angeles
APS President 2000 - 2001
All columns

In this Issue:
Human Factors 101: How About Just Trying Things Out?

About the Observer

The Observer is the online magazine of the Association for Psychological Science and covers matters affecting the research, academic, and applied disciplines of psychology. The magazine reports on issues of interest to psychologist scientists worldwide and disseminates information about the activities, policies, and scientific values of APS.

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Up Front


  • Human Factors 101: How About Just Trying Things Out?

    While I was staring at my iMAC screen pondering options for this month's column, one of my favorite images, a self-portrait by Norman Rockwell, came to mind. In the portrait, we see Rockwell from behind, scratching his head and staring at a canvas that is blank, except for a Saturday Evening Post banner across the top. A clock, a calendar, a pinned-up note with the deadline for his cover, and assorted crumpled-up sketches make it clear that the artist (Rockwell preferred to call himself an illustrator) has little time and no ideas. In that mental state, I looked over at the iMAC mouse, a cute little thing that is an ergonomic nightmare. It's round, like a smallish and multicolored hockey puck, which means that it provides few tactual cues as to its orientation.