Memory and Action Selection in Human-Machine Interaction

ConclusionTechnique versus Skill Viewed from MHP/RT’s Four-Processes

As the final section of this book, this Conclusion tries to consider the relationships between HMI and MHP/RT from a wider perspective by integrating what has been described in the previous chapters. MHP/RT shows that the processes of action selection and memorization are cyclic and are carried out in the four distinct processing modes. How they actually work has been described in Chapters 6 and 7. The cyclic process has continued for years driven by behavioral needs defined by the satisfaction structure of human beings. Chapter 8 (section 8.3) discussed how changes in behavioral needs occur in overt behavior. The trace of moment-by-moment interaction with the environment accumulates in human memory and affects action selection processes. This chapter considers how it can be viewed based on what has been explained so far in this book and derives implication to HMI design.

Two distinct forms of HMI in using artifacts: technique and skill¹

MHP/RT describes people’s daily behavior as a cyclic process of action selection and memory formation. In our daily life, we spend a lot of time in interacting with artifacts, and therefore it is obvious that it should affect development of individual memory systems. At the same time, any particular artifacts that exist as they are should embed in themselves their own histories including their predecessors. Occasional innovations might have caused evolution of memory structure ...