Human Factors and Behavioral Science: A Brief History of Applied Behavioral Science at Bell Laboratories

The history of applied behavioral sciences at Bell Laboratories follows two main paths. The first, the primarily customer-oriented “human factors” tradition, began in the late 1940s and has been characterized by an empirical approach, relying heavily on laboratory and field simulation. The second, the employee-oriented “human performance technology” tradition, had its roots in Bell Laboratories behavioral research organization formed in the late 1950s. It has been characterized by a more rule-oriented approach to the integration of human users and operators into large, computerized systems. This paper traces the evolution of these two applied traditions and the behavioral research organization and examines the people and the events that influenced their growth and success.