Resolving the paradox of the active user: stable suboptimal performance in interactive tasks

This paper brings the intellectual tools of cognitive science to bear on resolving the “paradox of the active user” [Interfacing Thought: Cognitive Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction, Cambridge, MIT Press, MA, USA]—the persistent use of inefficient procedures in interactive tasks by experienced or even expert users when demonstrably more efficient procedures exist. The goal of this paper is to understand the roots of this paradox by finding regularities in these inefficient procedures. We examine three very different data sets. For each data set, we first satisfy ourselves that the preferred procedures used by some subjects are indeed less efficient than the recommended procedures. We then amass evidence, for each set, and conclude that when a preferred procedure is used instead of a more efficient, recommended procedure, the preferred procedure tends to have two major characteristics: (1) the preferred procedure is a well-practiced, generic procedure that is applicable either within the same task environment in different contexts or across different task environments, and (2) the preferred procedure is composed of interactive components that bring fast, incremental feedback on the external problem states. The support amassed for these characteristics leads to a new understanding of the paradox. In interactive tasks, people are biased towards the use of general procedures that start with interactive actions. These actions require much less cognitive effort as each action results in an immediate change to the external display that, in turn, cues the next action. Unfortunately for the users, the bias to use interactive unit tasks leads to a path that requires more effort in the long run. Our data suggest that interactive behavior is composed of a series of distributed choices; that is, people seldom make a once-and-for-all decision on procedures. This series of biased selection of interactive unit tasks often leads to a stable suboptimal level of performance.     

MEASURING AGENCY ATMOSPHERE AND COUNSELOR STYLE

A preliminary questionnaire designed to measure confrontive counseling styles was given to 101 counselors from the state division of vocational rehabilitation (DVR) and the state employment service (ES). The responses were analyzed to see which items discriminated between agencies and between the counselors' sexes, ages, levels of education, and number of years with the agency. There were 13 significant (p = .01) items and they are described and discussed.     

The effect of first names on perceptions of female attractiveness

The effect of a female's first name on subsequent judgments of her attractiveness was investigated via a Latin square design. The results indicated that the impact of a desirable or undesirable first name on attractiveness is minimal—less than 1% of the explained variance. These results appear to be a consistent extension of earlier findings on the impact of first names.An earlier version of this article was competitively selected to be presented at the fifth annual Communication, Language, and Gender Conference, Athens, Ohio, October 15–16, 1982. The authors are indebted to Lee Ann Bryan, Paul Cox, Karen Farnsworth, Karen Lemon, and Kelly Sisson for assistance in data gathering.     

Isolating cognitive modules with the dual-task paradigm: Are speech perception and production separate processes?

A dual-task paradigm is used to investigate whether the auditory input logogen is distinct from the articulatory output logogen. In the first two experiments it is shown that the task of detecting an unspecified name in an auditory input stream can be combined with reading aloud visually presented words with relatively little single- to dual-task decrement. The stimuli for both tasks are independent streams of random words presented at rapid rates. A series of control experiments suggest that the first task places a considerable information processing load on the auditory input logogen, the second a considerable load on the phonological output logogen, and that subjects do not switch between the two tasks. The fact that the two tasks can be combined with ease is therefore interpreted as supporting the view that the systems underlying reading aloud and listening are separate. The ease of performance when the input streams are in different modalities, compared to the difficulties when they are in the same, has implications for general models of attention.     

TEXT COMPREHENSION RESEARCH TO CLASSROOM APPLICATION: DEVELOPING AN INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Reading comprehension skills are routinely taught and they are often learned to a point of “mastery” on criterion referenced tests; but students relatively seldom apply them effectively when they read content‐area materials. In this paper we argue that the problem can best be solved not by abandoning skill‐centered teaching but by discovering ways to help students make effective use of the skills they acquire through skill‐centered instruction. Our approach is to develop procedures for glossing expository text; that is, we are using marginal and other intratext notations‐‐gloss‐‐to direct students’ attention while they read in order to help them internalize, direct, and apply specific skills and strategies. We describe the purpose and rationale for our developmental approach and show how we are attempting to bring research implications to bear on our work.