Showing papers by "Marc M. Sebrechts published in 1997"
TL;DR: It is suggested that additional encoding or rehearsal time does not have an appreciable impact on short-term performance, and differences in forgetting appeared to be a function of the contribution of secondary memory rather than of the time available to engage in primary memory rehearsal strategies.
Abstract: When a memory test is unexpected, recall performance is quite poor at retention intervals as short as 2–4 seconds. Orienting tasks that change encoding conditions are known to affect forgetting in such “very rapid forgetting” paradigms where people are misled to believe that recall will not be required. We evaluated the hypothesis that differences in forgetting among orienting tasks are attributable to contributions of secondary memory during encoding in two experiments. In Experiment 1, short-term recall performance was inversely related to task demands during encoding, although long-term memory performance was not. Task demands were assessed by making the duration of stimulus presentation dependent on the time required to perform three different orienting tasks. In Experiment 2, we compared performance of that variable-length stimulus presentation to the fixed-length presentation used in most prior research. The results suggested that additional encoding or rehearsal time does not have an appreciable impact on short-term performance. Thus, differences in forgetting appeared to be a function of the contribution of secondary memory rather than a function of the time available to engage in primary memory rehearsal strategies.
19 citations
TL;DR: This article created a computer-delivered problem-solving task based on the cognitive research literature and investigated its validity for graduate admissions assessment, and found that those who sorted well tended to have higher GRE General Test scores and college grades than did examinees who sorted less proficiently.
Abstract: In this study, we created a computer-delivered problem-solving task based on the cognitive research literature and investigated its validity for graduate admissions assessment. The task asked examinees to sort mathematical word problem stems according to prototypes. Data analyses focused on the meaning of sorting scores and examinee perceptions of the task. Results showed that those who sorted well tended to have higher GRE General Test scores and college grades than did examinees who sorted less proficiently. Examinees generally preferred this task to multiple-choice items like those found on the General Test's Quantitative section and felt the task was a fairer measure of their ability to succeed in graduate school. Adaptations of the task might be used in admissions tests, as well as for instructional assessments to help lower- scoring examinees localize and remediate problem-solving difficulties.
16 citations
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: There is potential value of heuristic evaluation paired with user testing as a strategy for optimal system performance design in the design and development of a web-based telemedicine system.
Abstract: The objective is to introduce the usability engineering methodology, heuristic evaluation, to the design and development of a web-based telemedicine system. Using a set of usability criteria, or heuristics, one evaluator examined the Spacebridge to Russia web-site for usability problems. Thirty-four usability problems were found in this preliminary study and all were assigned a severity rating. The value of heuristic analysis in the iterative design of a system is shown because the problems can be fixed before deployment of a system and the problems are of a different nature than those found by actual users of the system. It was therefore determined that there is potential value of heuristic evaluation paired with user testing as a strategy for optimal system performance design.
1 citations