Showing papers on "Task analysis published in 1982"

Contingent decision behavior.

Abstract: Reviews the literature showing the effects of task and context variables on decision behavior and evaluates alternative theories for handling task and context effects. These frameworks include (a) cost/benefit principles, (b) perceptual processes, and (c) adaptive production systems. Both the cost/b

Variations in Decision Makers' Use of Information Sources: The Impact of Quality and Accessibility of Information

Abstract: Variations in the reported frequency of use of four information sources by decision makers was investigated. Although the perceived quality of information available for decision making was related ...

Figuring Things Out: A Trainer's Guide To Needs And Task Analysis

Abstract: Introduction Why This Book? The Strategies of, and Tactics for, Conducting an FTO Study Finding a Place to Startor, Why You Have to Have a Model Watching People Work: Observational Approaches to Figuring Things Out Simple Observations, Time Studies, and Task Listings Developing and Using S-R Tables: The Deterline Approach to Task Analysis Behavioral Algorithms: An Information-Processing Approach to Task Analysis Using Behavioral Frequency Counts Talking to People About Work Talking to People in Groups: The Focus Group Discussion Doing It Face-to-Face: Making the Most of One-On-One Interviews Let Your Fingers Do the Walking: Gathering Information Over the Telephone Playing Twenty Questions Tell Me a Story: The Critical Incident Technique Making Order from Chaos: Using Consensus Groups Using Surveys and Questionnaires Odds and Ends Looking at Performance Information: Reading the Other Persons Watch Fault Tree Analysis: Making Progress Working Backwards Pyramid Power: Using Learning Hierarchies in Task Analysis Matching Techniques and Problems Deciding When to Use What: Technical Criteria Deciding When to Use What: Organizational Criteria A Flow Chart Approach to Selecting the Right Technique In Summary Reporting Results to Management Beyond Figuring Things out: Solutions Still Pay the Rent.

Task categorization and the limits of human performance in extreme heat.

Abstract: This paper examines human performance limitations in differing task categories in conditions of elevated ambient temperature. Analysis of extant data affirms that decrement in the three task categories, namely: 1.) mental and cognitive skills; 2.) tracking and 3.) dual task performance, may be expected as environmental exposure exceeds 85 degrees F, effective temperature (E.T.). Further, the systematic changes in impairment onset with tasks requiring differing levels of response complexity in varying time, E.T. conditions, are documented. These changes imply earlier heat stress related decrement in those task categories which require greater response complexity. The proposed thresholds of performance impairment are subsequently equated with absolute, physiologically noncompensable, rises in deep body temperature. Support for the notion that prescribed rises in deep body temperature may delimit efficient performance in each category is found in studies which have examined task performance in situations where deep body temperature has been independently manipulated. Performer skill level is posited as potentially most influential in the mitigation of such heat induced decrement.

Explaining performance variability: Contributions of goal setting, task characteristics, and evaluative contexts.

Abstract: A laboratory experiment was conducted in order to test the effects on performance and satisfaction of goal-setting, task-characteristic, and evaluative contexts. Two hundred and sixty-three students participated in a 4 goal conditions (no goal, do your best, easy goal, and difficult goal) X 3 evaluative contexts (control, peer evaluation, and compliance) X 2 task characteristics (low and high variety) X 2 (order of task presentation) factorial design; all subjects worked on two tasks (manual and cognitive). Univariate analyses of multivariate analyses of variance results revealed: (a) Performance on the cognitive task was significantly affected by type of goal, task variety, and evaluative context, and (b) performance on the manual task was affected by task variety and evaluative context but not by type of goal. For both tasks, satisfaction was adversely affected by the presence of goals but was unaffected by evaluative contexts. For the cognitive task only, satisfaction was significantly higher in the low-variety condition. Research examining the effects of several potentially important task characteristics is suggested in order to develop a better understanding of goal-setting effects.

Job competencies: Can they help you design better training?

Abstract: Three distinct approaches are used to develop job competency models: Modified Task Analysis (MTA); Critical Trait (CT) and Situational (SA). A competency is the capability to perform in a role or job. A competency model is a list of the highest-leverage competencies for a specific role, job, or job family performed within a given time. MTA evaluates the most relevant tasks and attempts to capture attitudes as well as motor skill peformance and related knowledge. CT uncovers behaviors and general attitudes; it focuses on the individual not the job. SA relates to the level of or complexity of a profession, job, or jab family. High-level jobs tend towards the abstract; lower level jobs towa rds the concrete. Some uses include: career development; self-assessment; performance assessment; and review. (kbc)

Reallocation of Mental Resources over the Productive Lifespan

Abstract: Changes in intelligent behavior over the working lifespan are analyzed within an information-processing framework. Methodological issues raised by previous aging research were examined in conjunction with a preliminary task analysis based on computational theory. A survey of the recent literature was first presented revealing that (a) most studies are cross-sectional; (b) few researchers systematically insure age-group comparability; and (c) all older subjects are functional volunteers, possibly unlike subjects who do not volunteer. The assumptions underlying these practices were analyzed. Their consequences are potentially serious enough to undermine most generalizations in the cognitive aging literature. A study using a broad array of cognitive tasks tested the underlying assumptions. Old and young subjects were carefully equated by drawing samples from a homogeneous population of white female schoolteachers. Non- volunteers were induced to participate by payment of a large honorarium, and their performance on a broad array of tasks included some that reflect current trends in information-processing research (metamemory, inference, world knowledge) and others that were chosen because of their popularity in the surveyed literature (WAIS subtests, recall, recognition). They were classified in a four-way ordered set reflecting evolutionary considerations and information-processing theory, into tasks involving information maintenance, location and creation, and system interrogation.

The Cyclical Nature of Decision Making An Exploratory Empirical Investigation

Abstract: As group decision making becomes more popular as a vehicle for making decisions in organizations, the lack of knowledge about effective and efficient decision practices becomes increasingly apparent. Literature in small group behavior suggests that although groups are less efficient than individuals in making decisions, they are often more effective (Hare, 1976; Vroom and Yetton, 1973). In addition, participation in decision making tends to increase commitment to the decision made (Granvold, 1978; Kadushin, 1976). Consequently it may be reasonable to assume that cooperative decision making will continue to increase as a pivotal factor in the functioning of most organizations. While the outcomes of group decisions may have been found to be effective, the processes leading to them appear to be less than

Learning by chunking summary of a task and a model

Abstract: The power law of practice states that performance on a task improves as a power-law function of the number of times the task has been performed. In this article we describe recent work on a model of this effect. The model, called the chunking theory of learning, is based on the notion of chunking. A limited version of this model has been implemented within the Xaps2 production system architecture. When it is applied to a 1023-choice reaction-time task (encoded as a set of productions), task performance is improved (measured in terms of the number of production system cycles). Moreover, the practice curves are power law in form.

Occupational therapy and special education: some issues and concerns related to Public Law 94-142.

Abstract: Because of the evolving nature of the professions involved in providing services to the developmentally disabled as mandated by PL 94-142, the potential of theoretical and programmatic conflict exists. Some of the philosophical differences and similarities between occupational therapy and special education are reviewed. Two conceptual approaches to therapy and education are identified. The first approach is based on the medical model, which emphasized diagnostic evaluation to determine the cause of a disorder and the prescription of remedial activities to alleviate the dysfunction. The second approach is the task analysis model, which emphasized task content and behaviorally based teaching strategies and objectives. It is proposed that, through a mutual understanding and cooperative effort on the part of all professionals, the two models may be combined to provide comprehensive services to the developmentally disabled.

Level and Source of Feedback as Determinants of Feedback Effectiveness.

Abstract: Although feedback research has examined the effects of different levels and sources of feedback, these two have never been studied together. The present study involved 126 subjects working on 2 gro...

Objective Measurement of Organizational Environments.

Abstract: This paper argues for the advantages of research on organizational populations and proposes that industrial classifications deserve increased attention. Dimensions of organizational task environmen...

Aptitude- versus content-treatment interactions

Abstract: Interest in adapting instructional methodology to accommodate individual learner characteristics has been stimulated by the recent popularity of aptitude-by-treatment interaction research. While relevant to a descriptive theory of learning, ATI has failed to provide an adequate conceptual or empirical basis for a prescriptive set of adaptive instructional designs. The validity of adaptive designs as a focus for interaction research is questioned. Based upon cognitive task analysis and content analysis, the search for content-treatment interactions and their applications to instructional development should make adaptive designs more feasible, efficient, and consistent as well as developing important cognitive skills that may be short-circuited by learner-adaptive designs. Examples of research-based content-treatment interactions are provided.

Age, typicality, and task effects on categorization of objects.

Abstract: Object categories seem to have a prototypic structure: a central core of typical members and a periphery of atypical, borderline cases. Our internal concepts of categories must include representations of this prototypic structure. Given such concepts, however, people may use different processing strategies for judging membership in a category. These depend on a person's age and the demands of the categorization task. 3-, 4-, 5-yr.-old, and adult subjects were tested in three different categorization tasks with the same materials. Some of the items to be categorized were central and some were peripheral category members. For 3-yr.-olds there were strong effects of typicality on all three tasks, suggesting that these children were matching items and judging membership in a category on the basis of a wholistic process of comparison. Slightly older children and adults, however, showed differential effects of typicality across tasks, suggesting that they were using various processing strategies in different situations. In some of the tasks, older children and adults may have been using abstraction skills, and for one of the tasks adults may have been using logical classification skills.

Another Look at Task Analysis

Abstract: An overview of approaches to task analysis is presented together with suggestions for alternative approaches that the teacher may consider.

The Effects of Multiple Sources of Performance Feedback on Perceptions of Task Competence and Feedback Accuracy.

Abstract: A laboratory experiment assessed the effects of "number of feedback agents" and "level of feedback" on perceptions of "feedback accuracy" and "task competence." The "level of feedback" manipulation...

The tractor driver's steering control task

Abstract: A driver's most basic function is to control the direction in which the vehicle is moving. In agricultural field operations this guidance task assumes considerable importance since crop losses are influenced by steering. The paper discusses two models which may prove to be useful in the evaluation of the tractor driver's steering sub-task and in the longer term his total monitoring and control task. The experiments planned to evaluate the models are described briefly.

An analysis of the dimensions of job‐related reading∗

Abstract: This paper analyzes the information processing requirements of different forms of job‐related reading. First, “reading to do” and “reading to learn” are differentiated. Second, the component skills of reading are broken into a seven point taxonomy. These seven components are then used as a basis for describing how information processing differs in reading to do and reading to learn. It is highly recommended that a task analysis of reading requirements precede any job‐related reading assessment. Many published tests of reading comprehension measure skill in reading to learn. Use of such tests in reading‐to‐do contexts can lead to incorrect judgments regarding job performance capability.

Using first-order cognitive analysis to understand problem solving behavior: An example from accounting

Abstract: We report a study of human problem solving in the accounting domain. This study has three characteristics. First, it is explicitly intended to aid in the development of instructional materials. Second, it uses a powerful task analyzing scheme as the basis for its conclusions. Third, we use a technique called First-Order Cognitive Analysis that combines the advantages of task analysis to overcome some of the traditional methodological problems posed to protocol analysis. Our representational scheme, KO, seems to be largely valid as a basis for reasoning about cognition, although only three subjects were studied.

Effects of Work Group Size and Task Size on Observers' Job Characteristics Ratings

Abstract: The effects of number of workers (work-group size) and number of tasks (task size) on perceptions of job enrichment were investigated using a simulated assembly-line job. Forty subjects observed workers performing a job in four combinations of work-group size and task size, rating the respective jobs on dimensions taken from the Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1975). The results indicated that jobs performed by smaller work groups were perceived as significantly more enriched on four of the five dimensions and had greater potential for worker motivation. Significant main effects were also found for task size on three of the five dimensions such that jobs with larger tasks were seen as more enriched and as having greater motivating potential for the workers. A significant interaction was noted for only one job dimension. An ecological perspective of the data (manning theory) supported these results and suggests theoretically useful interpretations of the data.

The Effect of Giving Performance Feedback on Memory-Based Performance Ratings.

Abstract: Two laboratory experiments tested the hypothesis that giving performance feedback can significantly influence one's subsequent memory-based judgments about the performance of the person receiving t...

Innovations in task analysis of nuclear power plant control room crews

Abstract: A task analysis of nuclear-power-plant control-room crews was performed by General Physics Corporation and BioTechnology, Inc., for the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. The task analysis methodology used in the project is discussed and compared to traditional task-analysis and job-analysis methods. The objective of the project was to conduct a crew task analysis that would provide data for evaluating six areas: (1) human engineering design of control rooms and retrofitting of current control roooms, (2) the numbers and types of control room operators needed with requisite skills and knowledge, (3) operator qualification and training requirements, (4) normal, off-normal, and emergency operating procedures, (5) job performance aids, and (6) communications. The data collection approach focused on a generic structural framework for assembling the multitude of task data that were observed. The results of the data-collection effort were compiled in a computerized task database. Results including a description of the computerized task analysis data format.

Human Factors in Control Room Design a Matter of Decision and Implementation

Abstract: TMI-2 focused attention on Human Engineering deficiencies in all nuclear plant control rooms while overlooking the evolution of their design and the principles of good system design. Reasons for the less than desirable features of the control rooms are explained. Standardization and modularization of board structure and board-mounted components are proposed to help achieve improvement in the designs. Mockups and more extensive use of C.R.T.' s are urged. A method of "Usage" or task analysis is presented and the importance of operator participation is emphasized.

An Empirical Test of Activation Theory-Based Predictions.

Abstract: This experiment tested several activation theory-based predictions concerning task design. Results supportive of the predictions included: (a) a negative relationship between task stimulation level and physiological arousal, (b) an inverted-U relationship between arousal and task performance, and (c) significant moderator effects of Extraversion and Electrodermal Lability on task characteristics-task response relationships.

Applying the ID process to the guided design teaching strategy

Abstract: This article describes the application of the ID process to an instructional technique called Guided Design. Guided Design is an approach to teaching that is intended to teach decision making skills within the context of a given content area. This case study traces the development of a Production-Operations Management course from the client’s initial contact with the developer to the final evaluation of the course. To implement the Guided Design technique in the course it was necessary to complete a comprehensive task analysis of the content, develop mastery level self-instruction units, group activities to serve as synthesizing exercises for the content, as well as grading and course management procedures. Student final performance on major course goals was assessed and indicated mastery. The article concludes with the personal observations of the developer and the client about the project and discusses some of the implications of this experience for developers.