Home

Publications

Research

Vita

Teaching

Links

Education

Rice University

Ph.D. May, 2005 - Psychology
Dissertation: Software Use in the Workplace: A Study of Efficiency <pdf>
Advisor David Lane. Committee members: Michael Byrne, H. Al Napier, and Christopher Kelty

M.A. June, 2004 - Psychology
Thesis: Dimensions of Sound in Auditory Displays: The Effects of Redundant Dimensions <pdf>
Advisor David Lane. Committee members: James Pomerantz and Michael Byrne

University of Houston-Clear Lake

M.A. December, 1996
Psychology - Behavior Science

M.A. May, 1990
Theatre Arts

Honors/Awards

Rice University Adjunct Faculty Appointment, 2007

Laughery Award for the best Master's Thesis in Psychology - 2005

Member of the 2004 Graduate Delegation for incoming President of Rice University

Psi Chi - Psychology Honor Society

University of Houston-Clear Lake Human Science's Graduate Student of the Year - Spring 1996

Grants

Schlumberger “Software Ergonomics Assessment Tools ” Co-PI, January, 2008; $66,651.00

National Science Foundation Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) “Efficient Strategy Selection—Predictors and Cognitive Mechanisms” PI, May 1, 2006; $51,869.00

Faculty Research Support Fund at the University of Houston-Clear Lake “Evaluation of Online Statistics: An Interactive Multimedia Course of Study.” PI, November, 2005; $4,500

National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education grants DUE 9751307 and DUE 0089435. "Online Statistics: A Multimedia Course of Study" Co-PI, June, 2005; $14,000.

Underwood, D. G., Peres, S. C., & Perales, B. (2000) Effects of Computer Animation Software on Learning Synaptic Transmission Processes. Evaluation grant funded by the Faculty Research Support Funds at the University of Houston-Clear Lake

Journal Publications/Book Chapters

Peres, S. C., Best, V., Brock, D., Shinn-Cunningham, B., Frauenberger, C., Hermann, T., Neuhoff, J., Nickerson, L., & Stockman, T. (2008). Auditory Displays. In P. Kortum (Ed.), HCI Beyond the GUI: The Human Factors of Non-traditional Interfaces: Morgan Kaufman. pp. 147-196

Lane, D. M., Peres, S. C., Sándor, A., & Napier, H. A. (2005). A process for anticipating and executing icon selection in graphical user interfaces. International Journal of Human Computer Interaction, 19 (2), pp. 241-252. <pdf>

Lane, D. M., Napier, H.A., Peres, S. C., & Sándor, A. (2005). The Hidden Costs of Graphical User Interfaces: Users' Failures to Make the Transition from Menus and Icon Tool Bars to Keyboard Shortcuts. International Journal of Human Computer Interaction, 18 (2), pp. 133-144. <pdf>

Lane, D. M., Sándor, A., & Peres, S. C. (2004) Sonification. In W. S. Bainbridge (Ed.), Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 669-672). Great Barrington, MA.

Peer-reviewed Conference Proceedings

Stallman, K. Peres, S.C., & Kortum, P. (In press) Auditory Stimulus Design: Musically Informed. Proceedings of the 14th annual international conference on auditory displays, Paris, France

Kortum, P., Ling, A., Su, A., Peres, S.C., & Stallman, K (In press). Subjective Workload Assessment for On-Hold Telephone Stimuli. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 52st Annual Meeting, New York, USA.

Black, D., Peres, S. C., Tamborello II, F. P., & Amos, A. (In press). Computer Based Training with a Twist: Leveraging Peer to Peer Learning to Improve Training Effectiveness. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 52st Annual Meeting, New York, USA.

Kortum, P., & Peres, S. C. (2007). A Survey of Secondary Activities of Telephone Callers Who are Put on Hold. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 51st Annual Meeting, 51, 1153-1157.

Peres, S.C., Kortum, P., & Stallman, K. (2007). Auditory progress bars preference, performance, and aesthetics. Proceedings of the 13th annual international conference on auditory displays, Montreal, Canada, 391-395

Tamborello II, F. P., Peres, S. C., & Fleetwood, M. D. (2006). A peer mediated leap to efficiency: A theory of cost-benefit analysis in the selection of efficient strategies. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting, 50, 349-353 <pdf>

Kortum, P., & Peres, S. C. (2006). An exploration of the use of complete songs as auditory progress bars. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting, 50, 2071-2075. <pdf>

Lane, D. M. & Peres, S. C. (2006). Interactive simulations in the teaching of statistics: Promise and pitfalls. 7th International Conference on the Teaching of Statistics, 7. <pdf>

Peres, S. C., & Lane, D. M. (2005) Auditory Graphs: The effects of redundant dimensions and divided attention, Proceedings of the 11th Annual International Conference on Auditory Displays. Limerick, Ireland.<pdf>

Peres, S. C., Fleetwood, M. D., Tamborello II, F. P., Yang, M., & Paige-Smith, D. L. (2005). Pros, cons, and changing behavior: An application in using the keyboard to issue commands. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 49th Annual Meeting, 49, 637-641.<pdf>

Kortum, P., Peres, S. C., Knott, B., & Bushey, R. (2005). The effect of auditory progress bars on consumer's estimation of telephone wait time Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 49th Annual Meeting, 49, 628-632. <pdf>

Peres, S. C., Tamborello, F. P., II, Fleetwood, M. D., Chung, P., & Paige-Smith, D. L. (2004). Keyboard shortcut usage: The roles of social factors and computer experience. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 48th Annual Meeting, 48, 803-807. <pdf>

Peres, S. C., & Lane, D. M. (2003) Sonification of Statistical Graphs. In E. Brazil & B. Shinn-Cunningham (Eds.), Proceedings of the 9th Annual International Conference on Auditory Displays. Boston, MA: Boston University Publications Production Department. <pdf>

Manuscripts in Preparation

Sandor, A., Peres, S. C., & Lane, D. M. (in preparation). Redundant Sound Dimensions in Auditory Displays: Classical Integrality Increases Performance.

Peres, S. C. (in preparation). Software Use in the Workplace: A Study of Efficiency

Peres, S. C., Fleetwood, M. D., & Tamborello II, F. P. (in preparation). Impacts of Observing Efficient Behavior: Users Adopt the Behavior They Observe

Conference Presentations

Peres, S. C., Nguyen, V., Alexander, M., & Dutt, S. (May, 2007). Efficiency with Microsoft Word: Validating Self-report data. Poster presented at the Houston Human Factors and Ergonomics One-Day conference, Houston, TX.

Lane, D. M., & (November, 2006). Interactive simulations in the teaching of statistics: Promise and pitfalls. Presentation at the Southwest Teaching of Psychology Conference, Houston, Texas

Marchesini, M., Sanders, B. & Peres, S. C. (November, 2006) Evaluation of Multimedia Methods of Statistics Instruction, Poster presented at the Southwest Teaching of Psychology Conference, Houston, Texas, Faculty Sponsor.

Peres, S. C. & Byrne, M. D. (July 2005) The interactive behavior triad and auditory graphs: suggestions for an organizing framework. International Conference on Auditory Displays--Auditory Graph Symposium  (website)

Peres, S. C., & Lane, D. M. (November 2004) Dimensions of Sound in Auditory Displays: the Effects of Integral Dimensions. Poster presented at the Auditory Perception, Cognition and Action Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.

Peres, S. C., & Lane, D. M. (November 2004). Online Statistics: A Multimedia Course of Study. Poster presented at the Southwest Teaching of Psychology Conference. Seguin, TX.

Peres, S. C., & Lane, D. M. (November 2003) Pitch, Loudness & Temporal Dimensions of Sound in Auditory Displays: the Effects of Redundant Designs Paper presented at the Auditory Perception, Cognition and Action Meeting, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Perales, B., Peres, S. C., & Malin, D. (November 2002) Effects of Computer Animation Software on Learning Synaptic Transmission Processes. Poster presented at the Society for Neuroscience, Orlando, FL.

Peres, S. C., & Shelley, K. (June 1996) The Effects of Creative Activities on Affect. Poster presented at the American Psychological Society National Convention, San Francisco, CA.

Research Interests

Cognitive mechanisms associated with the acquisition of efficient strategies; Science of design associated with auditory displays; Use of computer simulations and multimedia for the teaching of statistics.

Research Projects

Efficient Strategy Selection—Research investigating the cognitive mechanisms associated with the acquisition and utilization of efficient strategies for using software, specifically, the selection rules people use and what influences these rules. I initiated the development of an interdisciplinary group and we are developing a theory regarding how the contextual cue of watching others use a procedure increases the base activation level of the procedure to a sufficient level that it will be selected in the future. We propose that the relevant components of the contextual cues can be identified and manipulated and that strong contextual cues include those that influence the cost/benefit analysis and provide task relevance.

Auditory Displays—Research investigating how auditory displays can be designed for optimal performance and satisfaction, both at the most basic level (e.g. how dimensions of sound used in auditory displays impact user's performances) and at more complex levels (can the utilization of principles of composition in the design of auditory displays improve performance/satisfaction). Further, I am interested in the appropriate training paradigms for these alternative displays.

Interactive Simulations for the Teaching of Statistics: Research on the impacts of using simulations for teaching statistics in a traditional classroom environment. This work is investigating how using simulations for teaching impacts students’ performance and motivation and whether these effects differ based on intellectual capacity. In particular, the project utilizes the online textbook Online Statistics Education, a Multimedia Course of Study (http://onlinestatbook.com) that incorporates this learning tool in the presentation of statistical concepts.

Teaching Interests

Statistics, Cognitive Psychology, Human Factors, Human Computer Interaction, Training, and Introduction to Psychology

Teaching Experience

Undergraduate - Cognitive Psychology, Inferential Statistics, Research Design and Statistics, Introduction to Psychology, and Lifespan

Graduate - Research Design and Statistics

Professional Service

Reviewer, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2007

Reviewer, International Conference on Auditory Displays, 2006, 2007

Grant review panel member, National Science Foundation, September 2005

President-Elect, Houston Chapter HFES, 2005-2006

University Service

Professional Administrative Staff Association (PASA) representative on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Self-study Subcommittee on Students. As a part of the university's 10-year reaccredidation effort, this committee was charged with identifying the vision of teaching and the student experience at UHCL in the year 2020.

Scholarship Review Committee for the University of Houston-Clear Lake, Summer 1999, 2000. This committee awarded scholarships for UHCL. Reviewed scholarship applications for merit and fit with the donors' requirements for scholarship award.

Memberships and Professional Organizations

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) - Society whose mission it is to promote "the discovery and exchange of knowledge concerning the characteristics of human beings that are applicable to the design of systems and devices of all kinds."

International Community for Auditory Display (ICAD) International group of researchers and practitioners focused on the development and implementation of auditory displays.

Professional Experience

July 2004 Conducted needs analysis for Rice University's Human Resources website

2003 Intern Usability Engineer: Online Marketing Group - Reliant Energy
Conducted heuristic review of online business journal; developed page design requirements and visual layout for a website providing forms and information to homebuilders; analyzed brand lift data from usability study on Reliant.com's residential website

1999 - 2001 Research Associate: Office of Institutional Effectiveness, University of Houston-Clear Lake
Identified and developed institutional research projects; coordinated the collection and analysis of data, also interpreted results and prepared reports; wrote statistical programs to analyze data; developed, administered and analyzed institutional surveys.

1998 - 1999 Projects Coordinator: Department of Psychology Center for Academic and Reading Skills, University of Houston (CARS-UH, now named TIMES-UH)
Research center involved in conducting large longitudinal studies on reading curriculum development.

1998 - 1999 Project Manager: Department of Psychology, University of Houston: Project C.A.R.E.
Program evaluation of the Harris County SheriffÕs Department, ÒNew ChoicesÓ Substance abuse treatment program in the Harris County Jail. Project was funded by the National Institute of Justice:

1996 Project Manager: Department of Psychology, University of Houston: Psychiatric Severity and the Stages of Change. A project funded by National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism designed to examine the profiles of individuals with co-morbid alcohol abuse (or dependence) and mental illness with the Transtheoretical Model of Change.

1996 - 1997 Research Assistant: Department of Psychology, University of Houston: Project Check-In
Program evaluation of the Substance Abuse Felony Treatment Facility for special needs offenders at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Estelle Unit, Huntsville, Texas. Funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment and Gateway Foundation.

1995 Student Research Assistant: Human Psychophysiology Laboratory: University of Houston-Clear Lake
Laboratory in which the physiological effects of stressors were measured under different conditions.

1993 - 1994 Vocational Rehabilitation Assistant: Transitional Learning Community
Community Re-Entry Program for individuals with traumatic head injuries.

1992 - 1993 Job Coach: Transitional Learning Community
Community Re-Entry Program for individuals with traumatic head injuries.