Ebook: Psychology of System Design

This is a book about systems, including: systems in which humans control machines; systems in which humans interact with humans and the machine component is relatively unimportant; systems which are heavily computerized and those that are not; and governmental, industrial, military and social systems. The book deals with both traditional systems like farming, fishing and the military, and with systems just now tentatively emerging, like the expert and the interactive computer system. The emphasis is on the system concept and its implications for analysis, design and evaluation of these.;Front Cover; Psychology of System Design; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Dedication; Preface; PART I; Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE SYSTEM; 1.1 OVERVIEW; 1.2 THE SCOPE OF THE BOOK; 1.3 FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS; 1.4 THE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM; 1.5 A MODEL OF SYSTEM FUNCTIONING; Chapter 2. SYSTEM STRUCTURE; 2.1 OVERVIEW; 2.2 INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM STRUCTURE; 2.3 SIZE; 2.4 DIFFERENTIATION; 2.5 BOUNDARIES; 2.6 ORGANIZATION; 2.7 COMMUNICATION CHANNELS; 2.8 SYSTEM ATTRIBUTES; 2.9 CENTRALIZATION, DECENTRALIZATION, AND AUTONOMY; 2.10 HIERARCHICAL LEVELS; 2.11 GOALS, FUNCTIONS, TASKS, AND OUTPUTS.