Task Performance Data Research Articles

Toward a hybrid intelligent system for scheduling and rescheduling of FMS

Abstract The paper gives preliminary information on the methodology for developing and validating the use of hybrid intelligence for scheduling and rescheduling FMS. For this purpose a computer simulator for FMS was developed with interactive and look-ahead capabilities. During the subjects' performance of the task both performance data and verbal protocols were collected. These were compared with traditional dispatching rules. Results indicate the effectiveness of using hybrid intelligence for scheduling FMS. The hybrid intelligence, which is a fusion model of human intelligence and machine intelligence, includes expert systems (from verbal protocol), traditional algorithms and human decision-making.

Analyses of performance, behavior, and predictors for severely disturbed children: A comparison of adult vs. computer instruction

Abstract A comparison between adult and computer-delivered instruction was conducted with 17 children (ages 4 to 14 years) with severe learning and behavior problems. The rationale for this comparison is based on the conceptualizations that adult attention may be a source of inadvertent reinforcement for maladaptive behavior and adult directions may set the occasion for avoidance responding. Therefore, this investigation provides an analysis of the stimulus functions of the presence of an adult in the task-demand situation. The task employed was a two-choice discrimination that became progressively more difficult, analogous to educational tasks in general. Subjects alternated sessions between conditions, but the criteria for advancement were independent between conditions. Measures of task performance and observational behavior data were collected. The results suggest that there was no overall difference in task performance between conditions, but that the children as a group did exhibit more deviant behavior in the adult condition. In an attempt to identify critical variables for the prediction of individual differences in performance and behavior, the results of correlational analyses on diagnoses, developmental measures, and pretest compliance measures are presented. The results of this investigation are discussed in the context of the task-avoidance conceptualization and the implications for computer-assisted instruction in the education and treatment of severely disturbed children.

An automated version of the digit symbol substitution test (DSST)

An automated version of the Digit Symbol Substitution Test is described that employs a relatively inexpensive, commercially available microcomputer to present and score the task. Advantages of the automated DSST include: (1) objective scoring of both speed and accuracy of test performance, (2) printed copies of test scores, (3) convenient administration under standardized test conditions, and (4) the capacity for repeated assessment of an individual’s performance over time. Task performance data for individual subjects following doses of pentobarbital are presented; these data illustrate both the stability of task performance under constant conditions and the within-subjects sensitivity of task performance to experimental manipulations.