Vita

Recent experience

Founder and User Researcher (1/2015 – present), Designology, LLC, Norfolk, VA

Graduate Research Assistant (5/2012 – 2015), Old Dominion University Research Foundation, Norfolk, VA

Human Factors Intern (Student Temporary Employee Program) (6/2009 – 9/2009) Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock detachment Norfolk, Combatant Craft Division, US Navy Little Creek Amphibious Base, Norfolk, VA

Human Factors Engineer (part-time) (9/2009 – 12/2012) Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock detachment Norfolk, Combatant Craft Division, US Navy Little Creek Amphibious Base, Norfolk, VA

Education

B.S., Psychology and Sociology (2005) – Double Major, Biology Minor (cum laude), University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL.

  • Undergraduate research: Internet behavior dependence and its relationship with anxiety, depression, social isolation, and quality of social relationships.

M.S., Experimental Psychology (2011), Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.

  • Thesis: Team performance and emergent leadership as a function of task difficulty and role assignment in a video game

A.B.D., Ph.D., Human Factors Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.

  • Candidacy exam area of concentration: Fidelity and transfer of training in serious games (passed August 2012)
  • Dissertation in progress: Gesture-controlled telemanipulation mental models and training

Graduate coursework

  • Statistics: Analysis of Variance & Experimental Design; Multiple Regression & Correlational Design
  • Psychology: Cognition; Decision Making Theory; Physiological Psychology Seminar; Sensation & Perception; Social Psychology; Teaching of Psychology
  • Human Factors: Ergonomics; Game Usability; Human-Computer Interface Design; Human Factors and Advanced Human Factors; Human Factors Methods, Measurements, Tools; Human Performance Assessment; Occupational Safety; Personnel Psychology
  • Modeling and Simulation: Modeling & Simulation Fundamentals; Simulations in Training
  • Systems Engineering: Rational Decision Making in Engineering Management

Certifications

Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) certifications

  • Old Dominion University – CITI Health Information Privacy and Security (HIPS), Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research, Social & Behavioral Research (Basic/Refresher)
  • Department of the Navy – Investigators and Key Research Personnel, IRB Reference Resource

Recent research  

The following projects took place at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA

Multi-robot control and gesture controlled telemanipulation (2013 – 2015)

  • Worked on a multi-disciplinary team to develop physiological and performance data logging software and to program multi-robot control training scenarios using a virtual environment.
  • Evaluated two competing multi-robot control navigation interfaces and control methods through heuristic evaluations, user testing sessions with enlisted personnel and ROTC students, and performance and physiological data analysis.

Mobile versus computer based talent assessments (2013 – present),

  • Evaluating the equivalency and usability of unproctored mobile talent assessment methods compared to traditional computer-based assessment.

Trust, flow and presence as a function of teammate agency (avatar or human) (2013- present),  Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA

  • Investigating the relationships among flow state, social and physical presence, and behavioral and affective trust as a function of whether an individual is working alongside a human with an avatar or a computer agent. Using a modified version of a popular video game (ARMA 3) as the task training environment.

Trust in automation (2013 – 2015)

  • Investigated the role of trust as a mediator between automated system characteristics and response behaviors.

Rapid serial visual presentation in virtual environments (2012 – 2013),  Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA

  • Investigated the relationships among task difficulty, gaming experience, gender, team composition, team task performance, and emergent leadership during a team environment search task using a modified version of a popular video game (Half Life 2) as the task training environment. 

Emergent leadership and distributed team training in serious games (>2008 – 2012)

  • Investigated the relationships among task difficulty, gaming experience, gender, team composition, team task performance, and emergent leadership during a team environment search task using a modified version of a popular video game (Half Life 2) as the task training environment.

Teaching experience

Psychology Department, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA

  • Instructor (1/2012 – present)
    • Introduction to Psychology – Spring 2012 – PSYC 201 (4.6/5 evaluation)
    • Introduction to Psychology – Fall 2012 – PSYC 201 (4.0/5 evaluation)
    • Perception – Spring 2013 – PSYC 413 (4.8/5 evaluation)
    • Human Factors – Spring 2014 – PSYC 344 (5/5 evaluation)
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant (8/2008 – 12/2012)
    • Introduction to Psychology – PSYC 201S
    • Psychology of Women – PSYC 323
    • Industrial/Organizational Psychology – PSYC 303
    • Physiological Psychology – PSYC 424
    • Drugs and Behavior – PSYC 325
    • Abnormal Psychology – PSY 405
    • Psychology and Law – PSYC 495

Psychology Department, University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL

  • Administrative and Teaching Assistant (8/2002 – 5/2005)

Software, hardware and programming

  • Physiological metrics: Tobii eye tracker, Zephyr and Equivital heart rate monitors, Emotiv Epoc and Neurosky EEG headsets and associated software
  • Game and virtual environment design: Scenarion, ARMA3, G-DIS 2 (Game-based distributed interactive simulation), Half Life 2, GAMBIT (Game-based distributed interactive training), Second Life
  • Education tools: Blackboard, Adobe Connect, Second Life, Portal 2
  • Statistics: SPSS, R, GPower, PASS
  • Survey development: Survey Monkey, Google Docs, Inquisite
  • Web design and front end development: HTML, PHP, CSS, Adobe Creative Suite (e.g., Dreamweaver), WordPress, Axure, Balsamiq
  • Photo and video editing: Audacity, Debut, VLC,  iMovie, Photoshop

Publications and Presentations

Manuscripts

Peer-reviewed published proceedings

Peer-reviewed presentations, panels, workshops and invited talks

  • Landers, R. N., Reddock, C. M., Cavanaugh, K. J. & Proaps, A. B. (2014, May). Talent assessment using mobile devices. In T. Kantrowitz & C. M. Reddock (Chairs), Shaping the future of mobile assessment: Research and practice update.  Symposium presented at the 29th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Honolulu, HI.
  • Proaps, A.B. (2013). Rapid serial visual presentation and search task performance in a computer game. Poster presented at The User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA) Conference, Washington, DC.
  • Proaps, A.B. (2013). Search task performance as a function of rapid serial visual in a computer game. Abstract presented at The North Carolina Cognition Conference, Raleigh, NC.
  • Proaps, A.B. & Bliss, J.P. (2012). Influence of rapid serial visual presentation on search task performance in a computer game. Paper presented at The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
    • 2012 Best Student Paper for Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Virtual Environments Technical Group (VETG)
  • Proaps, A.B. & Bliss, J.P. (2009). Emergent leadership and team performance as a function of task difficulty in a computer game-based architecture. Abstract published at Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) of Old Dominion University’s 2009 Modeling, Simulation, & Gaming Student Capstone Conference, Suffolk, VA.
    • 2009 Special Recognition for Excellence in Modeling and Simulation Research – Second Place in Homeland Security/Military Track.
  • Proaps, A.B. & Bliss, J.P. (2009). Emergent leadership and team performance as a function of task difficulty in a computer game-based architecture. Abstract published at The Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, Richmond, VA.
  • Proaps, A.B., Williams, S.J., Staik, I., Gilbert, K.G., & Burling, J.P. (2004). Internet behavior dependence and its relationship with anxiety, depression, social isolation, and quality of social relationships. Paper presented at University of Montevallo’s Undergraduate Research Day, Montevallo, AL.
  • Proaps, A.B., Williams, S.J., Staik, I., Gilbert, K.G., & Burling, J.P. (2004). Internet behavior dependence and its relationship with anxiety, depression, social isolation, and quality of social relationships. Paper presented at The Annual Meeting of the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, Indianapolis, IN.
    • 2005 Psychology Scholarship for Excellence in Undergraduate Research

Presentations, workshops, and invited talks

  • Proaps, A.B (December, 2015). Process vs. product: Building a UX portfolio (December, 2015). Old Dominion University’s HFES student chapter, Norfolk, VA.
  • Proaps, A.B. & Chancey, E.T. (November, 2015). Task analysis: Theory and application. Old Dominion University’s HFES student chapter, Norfolk, VA.
  • Proaps, A.B. (November, 2015). What developers need to know about accessibility. Hampton Roads .NET User Group, Virginia Beach, VA.
  • Proaps, A.B. (June, 2015). Human-robot interaction. June 2015. Norfolk JavaScript User Group, Norfolk, VA.
  • Proapsa, A.B. (November, 2014). Building a UX portfolio. UXPA Norfolk World Usability Day, Norfolk, VA.
  • Proaps, A.B. & Kennedy, R.K. (2014, February). Why a portfolio? What you need to know as Human Factors students. Invited workshop presented at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA.
  • Proaps, A.B. & Bliss, J.P. (2011). Old Dominion University REACTS lab. Poster session presented at The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.

Manuscripts, in progress

  • Proaps, A.B. & Bliss, J.P. Emergent leadership and distributed team performance. To be submitted to the journal Military Psychology.
  • Proaps, A.B. & Landers, R.N. Mobile versus computer-based workplace surveys: Implications of mental and physical workload, usability, and preference. To be submitted to the journal Computers in Human Behavior. Note: Title and authorship still tentative.

White papers

  • Stark, J.S., Ganey, H.C.N., Proaps, A., & Yagoda, R. (2011). White Paper: Current Naval Ship Design Modeling Tools and the Need for Integrated Human Modeling. NAVSEA, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Combatant Craft Division. Norfolk, VA.
  • Stark, J.S., Mihalecz, M., & Proaps, A. (2010). Job-task analysis of Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewmen (SWCC) teams for the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) rigid inflatable boat (RIB). NAVSEA, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, Combatant Craft Division. Norfolk, VA.

Book chapters

Other publications

Service

Learn more by accessing my service portfolio.

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES)

  • Old Dominion University student chapter

    • 2011 President
      • Earned HFES national Gold Status for the chapter during 2011-2012.
      • Was awarded the 2011 Psychology Graduate Student Service Award, Old Dominion University, Psychology department.
      • Edited or contributed to quarterly newsletters.
      • Organized monthly meetings and multiple educational, networking, alumni and social events
      • Co-organized 2012 Virginia HFES student conference with other VA HFES student chapters.
      • Collaborated with the Virginia Tech HFES student chapter President to coordinate a site visit to Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI)
    • 2012 Vice President
      • Assisted President in managing events.
      • Contributed to quarterly newsletter.
    • 2010 Webmaster and Vice President
      • Designed group logo and website.
    • 2009  Treasurer

  • Virtual Environments Technical Group

    • 2014-16 Program Chair-Elect
      • Organized reviews and sessions, communicated with reviewers, worked with sponsor for book raffles.
    • 2014 Reviewer, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
    • 2013  Webmaster
      • Designed current website using Dreamweaver and My SQL.
    • 2013 Reviewer, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA
    • 2012 Session Co-chair, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Annual Meeting, Boston, MA
    •  2011 Assistant Webmaster
      • Assisted webmaster in maintaining website materials.

User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA)

  • UXPA International Conference

    • 2015 Reviewer, Los Angeles, CA
    • 2014 Reviewer, London, UK
    • 2013 Session Chair, Washington, DC

  • Norfolk chapter (UXPA Norfolk)

    • 2015 President
      • Managed events.
      • Worked with sponsorships and locations, managed Eventbrite pages, and lead board member activities.
      • Managed social media accounts: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook 
    • 2015 Judge, Dominion Enterprises, HackU-Coding Student Life Hackathon
    • 2014 Events Coordinator
      • Managed events and assisted board members in working with sponsors.
    • 2013 Social Media Coordinator

      Other service

      • 2016 Scientific Board, Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) conference, Orlando, FL
      • 2015 Scientific Board, Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) conference, Las Vegas, NV
      • 2012 Judge, 35th Virginia Junior Academy of Science, Norfolk, VA
      • 2011 Judge, 34th Virginia Junior Academy of Science, Richmond, Virginia
      • 2011 Judge, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVSI), International Foundation  Office of Naval Research 5th International Roboboat competition, Virginia Beach, VA

      Current affiliations

      • Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES)
      • Tidewater Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES)
      • Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
      • Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (SIGCHI)
      • User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA)
      • Norfolk User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA)
      • Student member, Society for the Teaching of Psychology

      Download Full Vita (March 2015)