Activity Catalog Tool (ACT) user manual, version 2.0

Abstract

This report comprises the user manual for version 2.0 of the Activity Catalog Tool (ACT) software program, developed by Leon D. Segal and Anthony D. Andre in cooperation with NASA Ames Aerospace Human Factors Research Division, FLR branch. ACT is a software tool for recording and analyzing sequences of activity over time that runs on the Macintosh platform. It was designed as an aid for professionals who are interested in observing and understanding human behavior in field settings, or from video or audio recordings of the same. Specifically, the program is aimed at two primary areas of interest: human-machine interactions and interactions between humans. The program provides a means by which an observer can record an observed sequence of events, logging such parameters as frequency and duration of particular events. The program goes further by providing the user with a quantified description of the observed sequence, through application of a basic set of statistical routines, and enables merging and appending of several files and more extensive analysis of the resultant data.