| Much of the cognitive activity in complex, high hazard, high tempo work settings such as air traffic control and military operational commands is directed toward anticipation of future requirements, deadlock prediction, reaction to evolving situations, and resource reallocation. These complex cognitive activities are difficult to study because they involve both deep domain knowledge and a detailed understanding of the myriad local details and contingencies that offer opportunities for action and constrain those opportunities. Cognitive artifacts such as schedules and status boards help to manage such knowledge, making cognitive activities more robust. The study of artifacts reveals how cognitive activities are accomplished and also shows their strengths and vulnerabilities.; This research explored the creation and use of a set of cognitive artifacts in a major urban teaching hospital's surgical operating room unit through laboratory studies and field studies. The laboratory studies examined the factors that shape the anesthesia assignment schedule by tracing protocols of coordinators as they planned the next day's anesthesia staff assignments to meet heterogeneous demands for care. The field studies showed how the schedule makes possible and supports the cognitive activities of the workers in the operating room unit.; Applications of information technology to support complex technical work often convert pen-and-paper cognitive artifacts into computerized replicas. The success of these applications depends on producing artifacts that are suited to users' cognitive activities. Detailed study of the creation and use of cognitive artifacts can inform the creation of computer-based artifacts.; Prior studies of cognitive artifacts have focused primarily on how they function as representations of the current state of a process. This research explores how the assignment schedule reflects the deliberate anticipation of the kinds of situations that can occur. It depicts the schedule as a dynamic artifact that is carefully created to embody the variety of constraints and concerns that play out during the workday. It demonstrates that the schedule artifact encodes an assignment plan that foresees opportunities, potential challenges, and uncertainties in the day ahead. It also broadens and clarifies the functions of cognitive artifacts and the details of representation that make those functions possible. |
