Showing papers on "Task analysis published in 2005"

Multiple processes in prospective memory retrieval: factors determining monitoring versus spontaneous retrieval.

Abstract: Theoretically, prospective memory retrieval can be accomplished either by controlled monitoring of the environment for a target event or by a more reflexive process that spontaneously responds to the presence of a target event. These views were evaluated in Experiments 1-4 by examining whether performing a prospective memory task produced costs on the speed of performing the ongoing task. In Experiment 5, the authors directly tested for the existence of spontaneous retrieval. The results supported the multiprocess theory (M. A. McDaniel & G. O. Einstein, 2000) predictions that (a) spontaneous retrieval can occur and can support good prospective memory and (b) depending on task demands and individual differences, people rely to different degrees on monitoring versus spontaneous retrieval for prospective remembering.

Evaluation of Human Work

Abstract: Methods in the Understanding of Human Factors, J.R. Wilson General approaches and methods Designing Ergonomics Studies, C.G. Drury Applications of Archival and Observational Data, A.B. Bisantz and C.G. Drury Participative Assessment, M.A. Sinclair Qualitative Methodology, S. Hignett Task Analysis, A. Shepherd and R.B. Stammers Verbal Protocol Analysis, L. Bainbridge and P. Sanderson Eliciting Expertise, N. Shadbolt Simulation and Modeling as a Tool for Analyzing Human Performance, R. Laughery Techniques in Design Systems Analysis, J. Wilson and G. Morrisroe Involving People in Design, I. McClelland and J. Fulton Suri Is This Chapter Any use? Methods for Evaluating Text, J. Hartley Evaluation in Human -Computer Interaction, C. Baber Control Facilities Design, J.A. Rajan, J.R. Wilson, and J. Wood Consequences of work activities Dynamic Work Assessment, V. Louhevaara and A. Kilbom Static Muscle Loading and the Evaluation of Posture, E.N. Corlett Biomechanical Methods for Task Analysis, P. Dempsey and M. Munro The Definition and Measurement of Mental Workload, T. Megaw The Nature and Measurement of Work-Related Stress: Theory and Practice, T. Cox and A. Griffiths Vision and Visual Work, P.A. Howarth and M. Bullimore Practical Measurement of Psychophysiological Functions for Determining Workloads, M. Kumashiro Assessment and design of the physical workplace The Environmental Ergonomics Survey, K. Parsons Ergonomics Assessment of Thermal Environments, K. Parsons Assessment of the Visual Environment, P.A. Howarth Auditory Environment and Noise Assessment, C.M. Haselgrave Anthropometry and the Design of Workspaces, S.T. Pheasant and L.P.A.(Bea)St

On the Origins of the Task Mixing Cost in the Cuing Task-Switching Paradigm.

Abstract: Poorer performance in conditions involving task repetition within blocks of mixed tasks relative to task repetition within blocks of single task is called mixing cost (MC). In 2 experiments exploring 2 hypotheses regarding the origins of MC, participants either switched between cued shape and color tasks, or they performed them as single tasks. Experiment 1 supported the hypothesis that mixed-tasks trials require the resolution of task ambiguity by showing that MC existed only with ambiguous stimuli that afforded both tasks and not with unambiguous stimuli affording only 1 task. Experiment 2 failed to support the hypothesis that holding multiple task sets in working memory (WM) generates MC by showing that systematic manipulation of the number of stimulus-response rules in WM did not affect MC. The results emphasize the role of competition management between task sets during task control.

How two share a task: Corepresenting stimulus-response mappings

Abstract: Previous research has shown that individuals unintentionally adjust their behavior to others by mimicking others' actions and by synchronizing their actions with others. This study investigated whether individuals form a representation of a coactor's task when the context does not require interpersonal coordination. Pairs of participants performed a reaction time (RT) task alongside each other, responding to 2 different dimensions of the same stimulus. Results showed that each actor's performance was influenced by the other's task. RTs on trials that required a response from both participants were slowed compared with trials that required only a response from 1 actor. Similar results were observed when each participant knew the other's task but could not observe the other's actions. These findings provide evidence that shared task representations are formed in social settings that do not require interpersonal coordination and emerge as a consequence of how a social situation is conceptualized.

Competition Between Endogenous and Exogenous Orienting of Visual Attention

Abstract: The relation between reflexive and voluntary orienting of visual attention was investigated with 4 experiments: a simple detection task, a localization task, a saccade toward the target task, and a target identification task in which discrimination difficulty was manipulated. Endogenous and exogenous orienting cues were presented in each trial and their validity was manipulated orthogonally to examine whether attention mechanisms are mediated by separate systems and whether they have additive and independent effects on visual detection and discrimination. The results showed that each orienting mechanism developed its typical and independent effect in every case except for the difficult identification task. A theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between endogenous and exogenous orienting of attention is proposed, tested, and confirmed.

Cognitive Load and Learning Effects of Having Students Organize Pictures and Words in Multimedia Environments: The Role of Student Interactivity and Feedback

Abstract: The cognitive load and learning effects of dual-code and interactivity—two multimedia methods intended to promote meaningful learning—were examined. In Experiment 1, college students learned about the causal chain of events leading to the process of lightning formation with a set of words and corresponding pictures (Group WP), pictures (Group P), or words (Group W). Some students were presented with the organized causal chain of events to study, whereas others were given a self-organization task. Consistent with a cognitive theory of multimedia learning, Condition WP was the highest in instructional efficiency for retention and transfer. However, contrary to our predictions, having students organize the multimedia materials was detrimental to transfer. Two follow-up experiments tested the hypotheses that the negative effects of interactivity were due to students' lack of time control (Experiment 2) and the form of feedback (Experiment 3). The findings showed that interactivity was effective when students were asked to evaluate their answers before receiving corrective feedback from the system.

Method and system for improved electronic task flagging and management

Abstract: An improved method and system are provided for creating tasks and for inputting information associated with created tasks according to an electronic task management application or system. Electronic correspondence items may be flagged as tasks. Upon flagging an individual electronic correspondence item, a corresponding task is created for the flagged item, and the created task is then populated into and exposed by one or more applications used for displaying tasks such as a tasks application, calendar application, or electronic to-do list application. Properties such as task start dates and task categories may be applied to the created task, as desired.

Surrogate in-vehicle information systems and driver behaviour: effects of visual and cognitive load in simulated rural driving

Abstract: The underlying aim of HASTE, an EU FP5 project, is the development of a valid, cost-effective and reliable assessment protocol to evaluate the potential distraction of an in-vehicle information system on driving performance. As part of this development, the current study was performed to examine the systematic relationship between primary and secondary task complexity for a specific task modality in a particular driving environment. Two fundamentally distinct secondary tasks (or surrogate in-vehicle information systems, sIVIS) were developed: a visual search task, designed such that it only required visual processing/demand and an auditory continuous memory task, intended to cognitively load drivers without any visual stimulus. A high fidelity, fixed-base driving simulator was used to test 48 participants on a car following task. Virtual traffic scenarios varied in driving demand. Drivers compensated for both types of sIVIS by reducing their speed (this result was more prominent during interaction with the visual task). However, they seemed incapable of fully prioritising the primary driving task over either the visual or cognitive secondary tasks as an increase in sIVIS demand was associated with a reduction in driving performance: drivers showed reduced anticipation of braking requirements and shorter time-to-collision. These results are of potential interest to designers of in-vehicle systems.

Modeling behavior in a clinically diagnostic sequential risk-taking task.

Abstract: This article models the cognitive processes underlying learning and sequential choice in a risk-taking task for the purposes of understanding how they occur in this moderately complex environment and how behavior in it relates to self-reported real-world risk taking. The best stochastic model assumes that participants incorrectly treat outcome probabilities as stationary, update probabilities in a Bayesian fashion, evaluate choice policies prior to rather than during responding, and maintain constant response sensitivity. The model parameter associated with subjective value of gains correlates well with external risk taking. Both the overall approach, which can be expanded as the basic paradigm is varied, and the specific results provide direction for theories of risky choice and for understanding risk taking as a public health problem.

A Guide to Human Factors and Ergonomics

Abstract: Information-Centered Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics Cost Benefit Analysis of Improvements in the Human Factor Design Conducting a Human Factor Investigation Vision and Illumination Design Human Information Processing Design of Controls, Displays, and Symbols Design of Human Computer Interaction Human-Body-Centered Anthropometry in Workstation Design Work Posture Manual Materials Handling Repetitive Motion Injury and Design of Hand Tools Physical Workload and Heat Stress Noise and Vibration Organization/Management-Centered Ergonomics of Computer Workstations Training, Skills, and Cognitive Task Analysis Shift Work Design for Manufacture and Maintenance Accidents, Human Errors and Safety References Appendix: The Use of Human Factors/ Ergonomics Checklists Index

Voluntary Task Switching: Chasing the Elusive Homunculus.

Abstract: In the voluntary task switching procedure, subjects choose the task to perform on a series of bivalent stimuli, requiring top-down control of task switching. Experiments 1-3 contrasted voluntary task switching and explicit task cuing. Choice behavior showed small, inconsistent effects of external stimulus characteristics, supporting the assumption of top-down control of task choice. Switch costs were smaller when subjects chose to switch tasks than when instructed by an external cue. Experiments 4-6 separated choice costs from switch costs. These findings support models of task switching that incorporate top-down processes in accounts of switch costs. The degree to which task switching procedures capture top-down versus bottom-up processes may depend on the extent of environmental support provided by the procedure.

“Task” as Research Construct

Abstract: The article examines “task” as research construct as predominantly conceived in terms of task-as-workplan in the task-based learning/second language acquisition literature. It is suggested that “task” has weak construct validity and ontology in an overwhelmingly quantitative paradigm because the construct has a “split personality.” Conceptualization is based on the task-as-workplan, but data are gathered from the task-in-process. The article adopts a conversation analysis perspective and demonstrates that the two can be very different. It is proposed that a secure basis for “task” as research construct and for the quantification of discoursal data is attainable only by switching the conceptual and methodological focus to task-in-process.

The interaction between driving and in-vehicle information systems: comparison of results from laboratory, simulator and real-world studies

Abstract: The main objective of this study was to compare a standardized visual performance test in three driving research environments: laboratory, simulator and instrumented vehicle. The effects of the standardized secondary visual search task on the primary task, i.e., aspects of driving performance, were evaluated and compared between the three facilities. One main purpose of the EU project HASTE, which was the context of the present study, is to produce guidelines for and assess the suitability of each of the test environments for testing the effects of in-vehicle information systems on driving performance. Results showed that for gross effects on performance indicators, aspects of lateral position control in the laboratory test gave a sufficient first indication of sizeable influence as soon as visual attention was diverted towards the secondary task. More subtle differences between levels of visual search difficulty were only found in the simulator and in the field. Keywords: Driver distraction;

Classroom Learning, Teaching, and Research: A Task‐Based Perspective

Abstract: In an increasing number of second language (L2) classrooms, teachers and researchers are taking on new roles and responsibilities From these new perspectives, they are developing similar concerns about L2 learning processes, which they typically express in ways that reflect their different backgrounds and goals To support learning, teaching, and research in the L2 classroom, researchers and teachers have attempted to develop activities that both address their concerns and accommodate their differences on a long-term basis This article reflects my participation as a researcher in this context and presents the ways in which the teachers and students with whom I have worked have turned to information gap tasks to serve many of our needs The first part of the article describes the contributions of information gap tasks as seen from our learning, teaching, and research perspectives The second part describes the issues and challenges we have faced in integrating and implementing them Then the third part presents an approach that we have developed for designing information gap tasks both as authentic activities for teaching and learning and as reliable instruments for research Examples of our tasks are provided, together with excerpts from the discourse of their classroom implementation These excerpts reveal the effectiveness of the tasks in drawing students' attention to form, function, and meaning in ways that we considered vital to students' L2 learning [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving Cyber Defense Situational Awareness: A Cognitive Task Analysis of Information Assurance Analysts

Abstract: A Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) was performed to investigate the workflow, decision processes, and cognitive demands of information assurance (IA) analysts responsible for defending against attacks on critical computer networks. We interviewed and observed 41 IA analysts responsible for various aspects of cyber defense in seven organizations within the US Department of Defense (DOD) and industry. Results are presented as workflows of the analytical process and as attribute tables including analyst goals, decisions, required knowledge, and obstacles to successful performance. We discuss how IA analysts progress through three stages of situational awareness and how visual representations are likely to facilitate cyber defense situational awareness.

Control of the contents of working memory--a comparison of two paradigms and two age groups.

Abstract: Two experiments investigated whether young and old adults can temporarily remove information from a capacity-limited central component of working memory (WM) into another component, the activated part of long-term memory (LTM). Experiment 1 used a modified Sternberg recognition task (S. Sternberg, 1969); Experiment 2 used an arithmetic memory-updating task. In both paradigms, participants memorized 2 lists, one of which was cued as temporarily irrelevant. Removal of the irrelevant list from capacity-limited WM was indexed by the disappearance of list-length effects of that list on latencies for concurrent processing tasks. Young adults could outsource the irrelevant list within 2-3 s and retrieve it back into the central part of WM later. Old adults showed the same flexibility in the arithmetic updating task but seemed somewhat less able or inclined to temporarily move information into the activated part of LTM in the modified Sternberg task.

The Effects of Processing Instruction, Traditional Instruction and Meaning--Output Instruction on the Acquisition of the English Past Simple Tense.

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a parallel classroom experiment investigating the effects of processing instruction, traditional instruction and meaning-based output instruction on the acquisition of the English past simple tense. The subjects involved in the present studies were Chinese and Greek school-age learners of English residing in their respective countries. The participants in both schools were divided into three groups. The first group received processing instruction; the second group was exposed to traditional instruction; the third group received meaning-based output instruction. One interpretation and one production measure were used in a pre-test and post-test design (immediate effect only). The results showed that processing instruction had positive effects on the processing and acquisition of the target feature. In both studies the processing instruction group performed better than the traditional instruction and meaning-based output instruction groups in the interpretation task and the three groups made equal gains in the production task.

Seizing the Opportunity to Create Uncertainty in Learning Mathematics

Abstract: The paper is a reflective account of the design and implementation of mathematical tasks that evoke uncertainty for the learner. Three types of uncertainty associated with mathematical tasks are discussed and illustrated: competing claims, unknown path or questionable conclusion, and non-readily verifiable outcomes. One task is presented in depth, pointing to the dynamic nature of task design, and the added value stimulated by the uncertainty component entailed in the task in terms of mathematical and pedagogical musing.

Disentangling dimensions in the dimensional change card-sorting task.

Abstract: The dimensional change card-sorting task (DCCS task) is frequently used to assess young children’s executive abilities. However, the source of children’s difficulty with this task is still under debate. In the standard DCCS task, children have to sort, for example, test cards with a red cherry or a blue banana into two boxes marked with target cards showing a blue cherry and a red banana. Typically, 3-year-olds have severe problems switching from sorting by one dimension (e.g. color) to sorting by the other dimension (e.g. shape). Three experiments with 3- to 4-year-olds showed that separating the two dimensions as properties of a single object, and having them characterize two different objects (e.g. by displaying an outline of a cherry next to a red filled circle on the card) improves performance considerably. Results are discussed in relation to a number of alternative explanations for 3-year-olds’ difficulty with the DCCS task. The dimensional change card-sorting task (DCCS task; Frye, Zelazo & Palfai, 1995; Zelazo, Frye & Rapus, 1996) is often used to assess the self-control abilities of preschool children. In the standard version, children are required to sort test cards (e.g. blue banana, red cherry) first according to one dimension (e.g. color) and then according to another dimension (e.g. shape) into two boxes, each marked with a target card (red banana, blue cherry). Each test card matches one target card on one dimension and the other target card on the other dimension. In the pre-switch phase, children are told a pair of rules, for example, the color rules: they are asked to sort all the blue ones into the box portraying something blue and to sort all the red ones into the box displaying something red. Typically, 3-year-olds have no problems when sorting the cards according to the first dimension. However, they usually have severe difficulties in the postswitch phase when the sorting rules change from, for example, color to shape. By about 4 years of age, most children switch correctly to the new dimension. Several explanations have been proposed in the literature to explain 3-year-olds’ difficulty. The traditional explanation (e.g. Zelazo & Frye, 1997) is referred to as the cognitive complexity and control theory (CCC theory). Complexity corresponds to the number of levels of embedding inherent in complex rule systems (systems of condition‐action statements). Zelazo and Frye analyzed the card-sorting task in terms of conditional relations from different antecedents (a) to consequences (c) that change according to setting conditions (s) of the form ‘if s1, then if a1, then c1’. According to CCC theory, the rule pairs that children are given (‘If it is something blue, then it goes here; if it is something red, then it goes there’) have to be embedded within the higher-order conditional antecedent of which game is being played (‘If we are playing the color game’). Younger children are thought unable to represent ‘a higher-order rule that integrates two incompatible pairs of rules’ (Zelazo & Frye,

Rethinking Task-Based Language Learning: What We Can Learn from the Learners.

Abstract: To investigate the use, or otherwise, of conversational adjustments (CAs), in a normal instructional setting, the quality of speech generated during meaning negotiation, and learner perception of t...

Task-based Language Learning and Teaching: Theories and Applications

Abstract: Task-based language teaching is not new. Prabhu1 used a task-based approach with secondary school classes in Bangalore, India, on his Communicational Teaching Project, beginning in 1979. American Government Language Institutions switched to task-based instruction (TBI) for foreign languages for adults in the early 1980s.2 Some of the teachers writing for this book have been using task-based learning (TBL) for many years and all are convinced of its value. Other teachers and institutions are following suit. So why are people making this change to TBL?

Team Task Analysis: Identifying Tasks and Jobs That Are Team Based

Abstract: This paper presents initial information on the development and validation of three team task analysis scales. These scales were designed to quantitatively assess the extent to which a group of tasks or a job is team based. During a 2-week period, 52 male students working in 4-person teams were trained to perform a complex highly interdependent computer-simulated combat mission consisting of both individual- and team-based tasks. Our results indicated that the scales demonstrated high levels of interrater agreement. In addition, the scales differentiated between tasks that were predetermined to be individual versus team based. Finally, the results indicated that job-level ratings of team workflow were more strongly related to team performance than were aggregated task-level ratings of team-relatedness or team workflow. These results suggest that the scales presented here are an effective means of quantifying the extent to which tasks or jobs are team based. A research and practical implication of our findings is that the team task analysis scales could serve as criterion measures in the evaluation of team training interventions or predictors of team performance.

Age Differences in Creativity: Task Structure and Knowledge Base.

Abstract: This study explored performances on 3 types of creativity tasks (real-world problem, figural, and verbal; Torrance, 1974) in 22 6th-grade students and 22 university students from Hong Kong. As compared to 6th-grade students' scores, university students' scores (both quality and quantity) were significantly higher on the real-world problem and significantly lower on the figural task. On the verbal task, the groups did not differ. Results are interpreted in terms of an interaction between task structures and students' knowledge bases. Knowledge enhances one's performance in knowledge-rich creativity tasks, whereas functional fixedness may occur in knowledge-lean tasks.

Collaborative intelligent task processor for insurance claims

Abstract: An insurance claim processing system may include an insurance claim database, an event processor component, a task engine component and a collaborative intelligent task processor. The insurance claim database may be configured to store and provide access to data in a data record that is related to an insurance claim. The event processor component may be executable with a computer to iteratively monitor the data in the data record and identify events. The task engine component may be executable with a computer in response to one of the identified events to generate tasks indicative of information that needs to be acquired based on the contents of the data record. The collaborative intelligent task processor may be executable with a computer to analyze a task generated by the task engine component and select an action plan that is responsive to the task. The action plan may include a first procedure that enables the collaborative intelligent task processor to acquire information related to the insurance claim, and a second procedure that enables the collaborative intelligent task processor to process the information to yield a result responsive to the task.

The effects of task complexity and time availability limitations on human performance in database query tasks

Abstract: Prior research on human ability to write database queries has concentrated on the characteristics of query interfaces and the complexity of the query tasks. This paper reports the results of a laboratory experiment that investigated the relationship between task complexity and time availability, a characteristic of the task context not investigated in earlier database research, while controlling the query interface, data model, technology, and training. Contrary to expectations, when performance measures were adjusted by the time used to perform the task, time availability did not have any effects on task performance while task complexity had a strong influence on performance at all time availability levels. Finally, task complexity was found to be the main determinant of user confidence. The implications of these results for future research and practice are discussed.