Quan T' Tran

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How an Older and a Younger Adult Adopted a
Cooking Memory Aid
HCI-International 2005

• Quan T. Tran
• Gina Calcaterra
• Elizabeth D. Mynatt

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Cooking at Home

• examples of forgetting
• Did I add this ingredient? Did I miss anything?
• How many of this ingredient have I added?
• probable causes
• automatic routines, absentmindedness
• divided, interrupted, overloaded attention
• age-related declines in working memory
• possible solutions
• memory strategies
• memory aids (e.g., Cooks Collage)

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Longitudinal Study
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Longitudinal Study
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Longitudinal Study
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Longitudinal Study
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Memory Aid cooks collage
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Longitudinal Study
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Primary Task food preparation
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Longitudinal Study
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Dual Task stove monitoring simulation
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Interruption Task alarms
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Longitudinal Study
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An older adult a younger adult

• Susan (older adult)
• 78 yrs old female
• cooks everyday
• multitask 20
• talking on telephone
• laundry

• Jane (younger adult)
• 36 yrs old female
• cooks every other day
• multitask 50
• talking on telephone
• laundry
• cleaning

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Results Susans pre-session

• observed cooking results

• follow-up interviews
• I just followed the directions on the recipe
• confidently said she did not forget any
  ingredient
• confidently said she added the exact amounts

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Results Susans 4 sessions with aid

• uses of Cooks Collage
• It would just be a good idea, especially if you
  have young children and get disturbed a lot. It
  looks really good!
• I had it count for me.
• when I go to the bell, I had to come back and
  check it. I saw that I needed to add some more.
• I used it a lot. To check my measurements after
  tending to the stove.

• cooking strategies
• This time I put the frozen ingredients out first
  so I wouldnt forget the sherbet.
• I changed around this time. I added the ginger
  ale first.

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Results Janes pre-session

• observed cooking results

• follow-up interviews
• I just followed the recipe and counted (aloud)
  to myself
• confidently said she did not forget any
  ingredient
• doubted her counts for water and soda

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Results Janes 4 sessions with aid

• cooking strategies
• I went backwards, just to mix it up a little.
• I put in the juices in first because that helps
  them melt faster.
• I added sugar first so the scoop wouldnt be
  wet.

• uses of Cooks Collage
• This would be really good for a long,
  complicated recipe.
• I used it to double check that everything was
  put in correctly.
• When I went to get the alarm I forgot how many I
  put in so I had to check it when I got back.

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Summary of emerging comparisons

• memory strategies
• forgetting ingredients vs. repeating amounts
• self-rating doubt vs. confidence
• reliance faulty self vs. faulty machine

• work strategies
• serial tunnel vision vs. multitask switching
• offloading memory vs. confirming memory
• prevention vs. recovery

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Acknowledgments

• Experimental design consultants
• Dr. Anne-Sophie Melenhorst
• Julian Sanchez
• Support
• Aware Home faculty and students
• Everyday Computing Lab
• Funded by
• Aware Home Research Initiative and
• Broadband Institute at Georgia Institute of
  Technology

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Questions?
www.cc.gatech.edu/fce/ecl/projects/dejaVu/cc/index
.html www.awarehome.gatech.edu www.cc.gatech.edu/f
ce/ecl quantt_at_cc.gatech.edu ginac_at_cc.gatech.edu m
ynatt_at_cc.gatech.edu

• Project website
• Aware Home
• Everyday Computing Lab
• Quan T. Tran
• Gina Calcaterra
• Elizabeth D. Mynatt