Showing papers on "Task analysis published in 1985"

A Critical View of Driver Behavior Models: What Do We Know, What Should We Do?

Abstract: There appears to be a lack of new ideas in driver behavior modeling. Although behavioral research is under some pressure, it seems too facile to attribute this deplorable state of affairs only to a lack of research funds. In my opinion the causal chain may well run in the opposite direction. An analysis of what is wrong has led me to the conclusion that human factors research in the area of driver behavior has hardly been touched by the “cognitive revolution” that swept psychology in the past fifteen years. A more cognitive approach might seem advisable and the “promise of progress” of such an approach should be assessed.

Cognitive and motivational functions of imagery in human performance.

Abstract: Anecdotal and research evidence suggest that imagery rehearsal can improve performance in a variety of sports activities at least some of the time. However, the reasons for the effects (or lack of them) are unclear. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that could be used to evaluate the available research literature and guide further research on the use of imagery techniques to modify performance. The framework is based on evidence that imagery mediates behaviour through either cognitive or motivational mechanisms, which affect specific or general response systems. Special emphasis is given to task analysis and the functions of memory and verbal mechanisms in imagery rehearsal.

Behavioral Analysis and Measurement Methods

Abstract: The Structure of Analysis and Measurement Function/Task Analysis Design-Aiding Techniques Computerized Methods Human Reliability Analysis and Prediction Training Analysis Evaluation of the Man-Machine Interface Evaluation of the Man-Machine System Subjective and Objective Methods Self-Report Techniques Application Techniques Statistical Techniques Glossary of Abbreviations Index.

Personal Involvement and Strategies for Making Contingency Judgments. A Stake in the Dating Game Makes a Difference

Abstract: To examine the relation between degree of involvement in a task and the complexity of strategy a subject applies to the task, we randomly assigned 48 female university volunteers to either a dating condition (high-involvement) or one of two (low-involvement) control conditions. These subjects performed a covariation judgment task for which the likelihood of their using simple or complex strategies was calculated. High-involvement subjects used more complex strategies and tended to be more accurate. These data are discussed in terms of the functionality of human information processing, heuristic analyses of inference strategies, and the importance of considering level of personal involvement in analyses of task performance.

Event-related potentials elicited by automatic targets: a dual-task analysis

Abstract: The role of limited capacity processes in the detection of automatic targets was investigated in a dual-task paradigm using both behavioral and event-related brain potential (ERP) measures. An automatic detection task was paired with another concurrent discrimination while the relative importance of each task was systematically varied. The resulting performance operating characteristic (POC) showed that both the speed and accuracy of automatic detection responses were affected by the allocation of attention. Reductions in the accuracy of each task were accompanied by reductions in the amplitude of a late-positive component of the ERP (P300). In addition, the latency of the P300 component elicited by automatic targets was increased in dual-task conditions. A comparison of behavioral and ERP measures suggested the involvement of two separate limited-capacity processes in automatic detection: one concerned with the formation of an episodic representation of target occurrence and the other with the execution of rapid motor responses. Language: en

Effects of rest and secondary task on simulated truck-driving task performance.

Abstract: The study was designed to examine the effects of extra task stimulation and extra rest on performance and fatigue of haul truck drivers engaged in a simulated driving task. Sixty male subjects, randomly selected from the population of truck drivers in a large mining company, operated a driving simulator for a period of 7 h. A 2 x 3 experimental design was employed including two levels of rest conditions and three levels of secondary-task manipulations. The results show that performance and perceived fatigue were significantly higher when a secondary task involving voice communication was added to the basic driving task, but an added vigilance task had less effect. An extra 30-minute rest period in the middle of the experimental session significantly alleviated the reported experience of fatigue but did not affect performance. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance to actual industrial driving tasks.

Task performance, perceived competence, and attributed causes of performance as determinants of intrinsic motivation

Abstract: Volunteer subjects engaged in a task that was highly intrinsically motivating under three conditions: no pay, fixed reward, and performance-contingent reward. Results indicated that extrinsic rewar...

Hierarchical Task Analysis and Training Decisions.

Abstract: The technique of hierarchical task analysis (HTA), proposed by Annett et al. (1971), which requires the analyst to describe a task in terms of a hierarchy of operations and plans, is reviewed and examined as a basis for making training decisions. The basic ideas as originally stated are in the main accepted, with some qualifications. The benefit of neutrally stated operations is emphasized as a means of establishing agreement between the analyst and the sponsor of the work, before more speculative human factor decisions are undertaken. The necessity of plans as statements of the conditions under which operations are carried out is stressed. The benefits of a hierarchical description in terms of economy of analysis and a means of accounting for complex performance are outlined. But the value of retaining the input‐action‐feedback classification as an integral part of HTA is questioned. HTA facilitates training design in a number of ways: by raising non‐training issues and thereby clarifying traini...

The design of a rule-based CAI tutorial

Abstract: Rule-based systems are a development associated with recent research in artificial intelligence (AI). These systems express their decision-making criteria as sets of production rules, which are declarative statements relating various system states to program actions. For computer-assisted instruction (CAI) programs, system states are defined in terms of a task analysis and student model, and actions take the form of the different teaching operations that the program can perform. These components are related by a set of means-ends guidance rules that determine what the program will do next for any given state. The paper presents the design of a CAI course employing a rule-based tutorial strategy. This design has not undergone the test of full implementation; the paper presents a conceptual design rather than a programming blueprint. One of the unique features of the course design described here is that it deals with the domain of computer graphics. The precise subject of the course is ReGIS, the Remote Graphics Instruction Set on Digital Equipment Corporation GIGI and VT125 terminals. The paper describes the course components and their inter-relationships, discusses how program control might be expressed in the form of production rules, and presents a program that demonstrates one facet of the intended course: the ability to parse student input in such a way that rules can be used to update a dynamic student model.

Learning difficulties in high school physics: Development of a remedial teaching method and assessment of its impact on achievement

Abstract: Many high school students experience serious learning difficulties in physics. This issue was examined and dealt with, within the context of an introductory physics course in Israeli high schools. Following a detailed task analysis, the cognitive entry requirements for this course were identified, and students tested for them. Secondly, specific difficulties students encountered during the study of the course, and prevailing misconceptions held by many of them, were identified. Based on all the above information, a remedial teaching method was developed. It consisted of supplying students with immediate and frequent feedback, to reinforce their understanding, correct misunderstandings, and fill in gaps in necessary background skills, while teachers could continuously monitor the progress of each individual student. The whole process took place within the natural classroom setting, without additional staff or time requirements. The method was implemented in a large number of schools, and its impact was assessed using an experimental versus control analysis of covariance design. Achievements in the experimental group were significantly higher. The statistical analysis used students' background as the covariate. Of the 47% of the variance, which the model accounted for, 24% were explained by the covariate (background), 16% were the effect of the treatment, and both were highly significant. An additional 7% were the teachers' effect (nested within treatments), but this effect did not reach statistical significance.

Task specification chart: a key to a better understanding of test results

Abstract: A task specification chart (TSC) that integrates the content facets and the procedural steps of a specified task is suggested as a tool for designing a test and for interpreting its results. An instructional unit for adding and subtracting fractions was used to demonstrate the design and application of the TSC. To evaluate its efficacy, a test based on the TSC was administered to two independent samples. Accounts of the variance of item difficulty indices and errors in students’ responses were used as the criteria for this evaluation. The results indicated that a very high percentage of variance in item difficulty indices was accounted for by item characteristics representing different task components. The typology of errors constructed on the basis of the TSC proved to be an efficient tool for identifying erroneous rules of operation underlying students' response patterns on the test.

Computer-video instruction in mathematics: Field test of an interactive approach.

Abstract: Field tests were conducted to evaluate theory-based computer-video instructional modules designed to teach or review concepts and operations for factors, prime numbers, and fractions. Task analysis and demand specification procedures were used to sequence instructional objectives within and across topics. Cognitive social learning theory provided a framework for the incorporation of attentional, retentional, and motivational features into the video sequences. Field testing of the factors and prime numbers modules with ninth graders from five mathematics classes revealed statistically and practically significant effects on achievement and on the attribution of outcomes to effort. More limited testing of the fractions modules with a small group of high school students who had failed a basic skills competency test required for graduation also provided evidence supporting the efficacy of the approach.

A Task-Analytical Approach to Social Behavior

Abstract: Social behavior interventions are often reactive in nature in the sense that educators respond to isolated inappropriate behaviors instead of teaching social skills. This article examines the need for instruction in social skills and discusses the role of task analysis in such instruction. The task-analytic approach to curriculum development is explained and applied to sample social skill tasks. Particular attention is given to the need for specification of the strategic components of social tasks.

Cognitive Style and Learner Strategy Interaction in the Performance of Primary and Related Maze Tasks

Abstract: The effect of designated learning strategies and reflective versus impulsive cognitive styles on performance in a maze learning task was investigated. Twenty-four female subjects were randomly assigned to a strategy or control group. The strategies group was provided with three potentially effective strategies (imagery, rhythm, and feedback) as identified by an information processing task analysis procedure. The Matching Familiar Figures test further classified subjects within the two groups according to their preferred styles of responding. Eleven primary task trials were administered with direct view of maze and four related task trials were completed with an indirect view of it. Traversal speed and time in the incorrect pathways were analyzed with a 2 × 2 × 7 (Strategies × Cognitive Styles × Trial Blocks) repeated measures ANOVA. A significant three-way interaction was found for both dependent measures. As hypothesized, during the primary task the control reflective subjects traversed the maze...

Acquisition and Maintenance of Video Game Initiation, Sustaining and Termination Skills.

Abstract: An instructional program is reported in which a young adult with severe handicaps was taught to initiate, sustain, and terminate an age-appropriate leisure skill: an Atari video game. A multiple probe design across these three skill clusters was used to validate the instructional package. Instruction consisted of total task presentation with teacher praise for correct task step performance and a gradually increased intervention hierarchy for task step errors. The results indicated acquisition of the initiation, sustaining, and termination skills. Partial skill maintenance was noted on probes administered 4 weeks following program completion. Over the past 5 to 10 years, practitioners have come to recognize the importance of leisure skills instruction for persons with severe disabilities. Whereas researchers once merely documented the relatively nonpro ductive use of free time by adults with intellectual handicaps (Berryman, 1968; Katz & Yekutiel, 1974; Stanfield, 1973), and later called for more empirical efforts in this area (Burke & Cohen, 1977; Wehman, 1978), a number of published sources are now avail able to assist practitioners in designing and implementing leisure skill training programs (cf. Nietupski, Hamre-Nietupski, & Ayres, 1984). A common thread throughout the recent leisure literature is the emphasis upon the selection of normalized, chronological age appropriate leisure skills (Certo, Schleien, & Hunter, 1983; Ford, et al 1984; Wehman & Schleien, 1981; Wuerch & Voeltz, 1982). Persons with severe handicaps have been taught such age appropriate skills as frisbee, cassette recorder and electronic bowling game use (Horst, Wehman, Hill, & Bailey, 1981), physical fitness activities (Stainback, Stainback, Wehman, & Spangiers, 1983; Wehman, Renzaglia, Berry, Schutz, & Karan, 1978), camera use (Giangreco, 1983; Weh man, Schleien, & Kiernan, 1980), and pin ball/video game skills (Hill, Wehman, & Horst, 1982; Sedlack, Doyle, & Schloss, 1982). Video game use seems particularly 1 The authors appreciate the assistance of Ms. Patricia Swatta and Ms. Becky Anderson in the implementation of this program. appropriate for severely handicapped persons in that it is enjoyed by the general population and is one of the fastest growing segments of the $4.5 billion toy industry (Bernstein, 1981). While the increase in leisure research has indicated that, with systematic instruction, persons with severe handicaps can be taught to sustain/play age appropriate leisure skills, few studies have addressed teaching students to initiate and terminate leisure activity (Nie tupski et al., 1984). As stressed by Williams, Hamre-Nietupski, Pumpian, McDaniel Marks, and Wheeler (1978), if severely handicapped persons are to use nonstruc tured free time appropriately, they must be taught to obtain/set up materials and put materials away when finished, in addition to simply sustaining the leisure activity. One approach toward teaching leisure skill sustaining and terminating is to task analyze and teach the steps involved in these skill clusters. Specifically, nonhandicapped per sons might be observed in order to determine the sequence of actions needed to set up the materials, perform the activity, and put the materials away. Recently, Nietupski and Svo boda (1982) taught six adults with severe handicaps to play a lotto-type board game. Once these individuals could sustain the ac tivity, instruction was extended to initiation plus sustaining and finally to initiation, sus taining, and termination. While this approach would appear to have merit, the authors did not employ a sufficiently rigorous design to validate program effectiveness. Further, no attempt was made to assess skill maintenance. Video Game Instruction / 157 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.14 on Sat, 16 Apr 2016 06:03:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Finally, the Nietupski and Svoboda (1982) #CX2602), was selected. This game involved effort was directed at a multiple person targets moving horizontally across the screen, leisure skill. Given that persons with severe The students only needed to press the fire handicaps frequently find themselves without button to shoot toward the targets. Move a leisure partner, self-initiated and termiment of the joystick allowed the "gun" to nated single-person leisure skills also are be aimed toward the left or right. However, needed. unlike many other Atari games (e.g., The purpose of this program was to demPacMan), precise use of the joystick was not onstrate that a young adult with severe required in this particular game, handicaps could be taught to self-initiate, sustain, and terminate use of an Atari video game. An attempt also was made to assess whether such skills, once taught, would be The task analysis for the Atari "Air Sea maintained. Battle" was organized into three skill clusters, involving the task steps necessary to initiate, sustain, and terminate the game. The three skill clusters are described below. Task Analysis

The Effects of Comparison others and Prior Experience on Responses to Task Design

Abstract: The article discusses the influence of knowledge of other organizational tasks and prior experience on responses to task design or job enrichment. The study demonstrated that comparison group manipulation affected the quantity of job performance. Comparison group manipulation also impacted error rates in task performance. Comparison group manipulation did not affect job satisfaction although prior experience affected job satisfaction. Participants who had prior knowledge of other organizational tasks were less satisfied compared to those who had no prior experience.

Chapter 5: Cognitive Psychological Approaches to Instructional Task Analysis

Abstract: Contemporary American society has invested large amounts of money and manpower in the business of education. This investment is apparent not only in the massive public school system of the United States, but also in the private sector where companies must finance the training of their employees. Given the size of society's investment in education, we need to ask ourselves, \"Is education being conducted efficiently?\" Recent findings from the field of cognitive psychology offer some hope of making the educational process more effective. Cognitive psychologists have made progress in analyzing a number of the skills we attempt to teach, and these task analyses have yielded some interesting implications for the field of education. This paper describes some of the current work in cognition and the implications of this work for education.

Teaching Positioning and Handling Techniques to Public School Personnel through Inservice Training. Brief Report.

Abstract: Two public school teachers were taught positioning and handling techniques using written task analyses, demonstrations by an occupational therapist, verbal and modeling prompts, corrective feedback, and praise. Training took place in the natural school environment, during school hours, and with students that the teachers taught. A multiple baseline design indicated that a functional relationship existed between inservice training and the teachers' acquisition of skills.

To Speak or not to Speak: A Multiple Resource Perspective

Abstract: The desirability of employing speech response in a dynamic dual task situation was discussed from a multiple resource perspective. A secondary task technique was employed to examine the time-sharing performance of five dual tasks with various degrees of resource overlap according to the structure-specific resource model of Wickens (1980). The primary task was a visual/manual tracking task which required spatial processing. The secondary task was either another tracking task or a spatial transformation task with one of four input (visual or auditory) and output (manual or speech) configurations. The results show that the dual task performance was best when the primary tracking task was paired with the visual/speech transformation task. This finding was explained by an interaction of the stimulus-central processing-response compatibility of the transformation task and the degree of resource competition between the time-shared tasks. Implications on the utility of speech response were discussed.

Adaptive Aiding for Symbiotic Human-Computer Control: Conceptual Model and Experimental Approach

Abstract: : This report summarizes development of an experimental approach to investigation of benefits of adaptive aiding A conceptual framework of the human-computer interface is presented, and its implications for the design of adaptive aids is discussed The conceptual framework contains parallel elements for both the operator and the computer and emphasizes those factors expected to be important to successful cooperative task performance A laboratory task for empirical investigation of some of the important design issues is presented The task environment includes two competing tasks which must be performed simultaneously: a target spotting task and a tracking task The target spotting task may be adaptively aided or not, depending on experimental conditions This type of task was chosen for the investigation of adaptive aiding because it relies greatly on pattern recognition, an activity to which human operators and computers can be both make important contributions The tracking task is included to provide a means of varying competing workload, a factor which is expected to alter the usefulness of the aid for the spotting task Results of pilot testing with this task are presented Additional keywords: Man machine systems

The Effect of Total Task Chain Training on the Acquisition of Busperson Job Skills at a Full Service Community Restaurant.

Abstract: Competitive job training for indixnduals with severe handicapping conditions has recently emerged as a programmatic focus. This study examined competitive on the job training with a 20-year old institutionalized severely handicapped nonverbal male with Down's Syndrome. The job selected was that of a busperson at a full service community restaurant. Training consisted of systematic instructional procedures focusing primarily on behavioral chain training for acquisition and combined verbal prompts and self-selected reinforcement during break time for rate building. A multiple probe design was employed across four skill clusters to evaluate the effects of instruction. Results demonstrated acquisition of the 152 step task analysis in 45 one hour sessions. The need to give serious consideration to competitive employment instruction with students who are severely handicapped is discussed. One important measure of effectiveness of public school education for students with handicaps should be the employment and subsequent economic independence of its graduates (Whitehead, 1979). Unfortunately employment that even approximates eco nomic independence is virtually nonexistent for public school graduates with severe handicaps (Brown et al., in press). As Bellamy, Sheehan, Horner, and Boles (1980) point out, adult individuals with severe handicaps typically enter segregated day activity centers if space is available. However, space is often not available. In addition, the average yearly income is inconsequential in terms of eco nomic independence (Bellamy & Wilcox, 1980; Greenleigh Associates, 1975). This dismal situation is compounded further by 1 This manuscript was supported in part by Grant No. G00-83-02840 to the University of Maryland-College Park from the United States Department of Education, Special Education Pro grams, Division of Innovation and Development, Handicapped Children's Model Programs, Wash ington, D.C. 2 This article was written by Dawn Hunter in her private capacity. No official support or en dorsement by the United States Department of Education is intended or should be inferred. the fact that not all day activity centers provide income producing work for clients. The superiority of competitive employ ment in terms of wages, benefits, social and linguistic role models, and opportunity for social interactions and friendships is so ob vious it requires little support. Yet few public school systems organize vocational training programs to result in competitive job place ments for students with severe handicaps. There appears to be a prevailing attitude among special educators that students with severe handicaps are incapable of securing competitive jobs. Certainly such an attitude is not an unreasonable assumption when one compares the job and job related skills re quired for a particular competitive position with the skill repertoires, problems in skill acquisition, physical handicaps, and behavior problems found among students with severe handicaps. In terms of job skill complexity though, it has been demonstrated that students with severe handicaps can acquire long, complex behavioral chains requiring subtle and fre quent stimulus and response discriminations (Gold, 1972; Bellamy, Peterson, & Close, 1975; Horner, Lahren, Schwartz, O'Neill, & Hunter, 1979; O'Neill & Bellamy, 1978). In comparison, the stimulus discrimination 148 / Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded-June 1985 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.212 on Sun, 09 Oct 2016 05:04:23 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms and motor response requirements of many guage. Although he was imitative, he was competitive jobs may be less demanding than very withdrawn and did not interact with some of the assembly job skills taught in others, positioning his head downward when these studies. Furthermore, work related he came into contact with strangers. Other skills can be simplified through adaptations than his inability to interact, the student (e.g., picture communication cards) or elimpresented no behavior problems, inated entirely (e.g., pay a co-worker for a ride to work). Given that severely handicapped individTeacher / Trainer uals have learned complicated job skills, it is One teacher was responsible for implement reasonable to consider competitive employing vocational training. She had worked with ment. Current literature is limited in this the student for the previous six months in area however. It is extremely difficult to the classroom, prior to vocational training, advocate for public school on-the-job training The student, therefore, was familiar with programs for competitive employment for the teacher. The teacher had instructed the students with severe handicaps when there student in a number of educational tasks are so few data available to support compeland was acquainted with his pattern of skill itive job skill acquisition. acquisition. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to extend the literature in this area demon strating that a worker with severe handicaps Setting can acquire a competitive job skill (i.e., job Vocational training took place at a local full skills related to functioning as a bus person servke restaurant with two dining areas and at a full service restaurant) utilizing a total a ful] bar This restaurant served lunch and task presentation procedure (Bellamy, Hordinner and was open six days a week from ner, & Inman, 1979; Gold, 1976; Spooner appr0ximately 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. The & Spooner, 1984) for acquisition. Total task restaurant employed approximately 25 peo presentation has been successfully used to ,e in fu„ and part.time positions. Restaurant teach assembly tasks involving long chains ns were primarily local business people> of responses to students with severe handiuniversity faculty/staff, and college students, caps. Skills needed to function as a busperson wkhin the restaurant; the busperson du involve long chains of responses. However, des involved working in the subenvironments these skills extend beyond table bussing and, listed below therefore, are not as discrete as most assem bly tasks. As such, functioning as a busperson 1. Coatroom—A room located off the bar involves several long behavioral chains. Each room and used for coat storage, chain sequence should be amenable to a total 2. Backbar—An area behind the bar where task instructional approach. clean glasses and dirty glass bins were stored. Method 3. Dance Floor—A small area, approximately 20 X 20 feet, with a wooden floor for „ , dancing located behind the back bar. U m 4. D. J. Booth—A small area next to the One male student with severe handicaps dance floor used by a D.J. to play records, enrolled in a self-contained class at a Special 5. Kitchen alcove—A small service area off Center participated in this study. The student the main dining room were clean silver had lived in a state institution for 13 years, ware, placemats, and napkins were stored was ambulatory, and was 20 years, 5 months along with the bins for dirty dishes, old. He was mentally retarded due to Down's 6. Main dining room—A room that contains Syndrome. His intelligence quotient on the tables for bussing. Stanford-Binet (given at CA 18 years 11 7. Dish receiving area—An area located in a months) was below 32. The student was separate room off the main dining room nonverbal and possessed limited sign lanwhich contained the dishwasher. Acquisition of Busperson Job Skills / 149 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.212 on Sun, 09 Oct 2016 05:04:23 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms