Queuing Network Modeling of Transcription Typing

Abstract

Transcription typing is one of the basic and common activities in human-machine interaction and 34 transcription typing phenomena have been discovered involving many aspects of human performance including interkey time, typing units and spans, typing errors, concurrent task performance, eye movements, and skill effects. Based on the queuing network theory of human performance [Liu 1996; 1997] and current discoveries in cognitive and neural science, this article extends and applies the Queuing Network-Model Human Processor (QN-MHP [Liu et al. 2006]) to model 32 transcription typing phenomena. The queuing network model of transcription typing offers new insights into the mechanisms of cognition and human-computer interaction. Its value in proactive ergonomics design of user interfaces is illustrated and discussed.