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Abstract
Four examples are cited to illustrate the application of the methods and principles of experimental psychology to practical telecommunications problems.
(1) The decay theory of immediate memory was used to predict the relative merits, in terms of error, of the telephone dial and an alternative of a set of 10 push buttons. Predictions were also made regarding the effect of a prefix digit on accuracy of recall. Experiments substantially confirmed the predictions.
(2) Laboratory experiments were used to investigate factors relevant to the design of long telephone codes for easy remembering. Factors considered were : Length ; grouping ; letters v. numbers.
(3) An operational telephone exchange was used for 5 weeks during a controlled experiment on the effects on operators' performance of varying the traffic load. Operator time per call was shown to be a function of traffic per operator.
(4) The frequency distribution of the time to sort letters by key pressing was recorded in the practical situation. The effect of practice is shown, and the influence of a machine lag in restraining output is demonstrated.