The Impact of Task Characteristics on Display Format Effects

1988 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 352-356
Author(s):  
David R. Schwartz

A study was conducted to determine how well the display format effects described by Tullis (1983, 1984) and the resulting prediction equations could be generalized to other display situations. Task complexity and visual monitoring load were identified as task variables which could potentially moderate the format effects and, thus, were varied factorially. The current study also sought to extend Tullis's findings to tasks where the use of several pieces of information from predictable display locations is required. In general, the data indicate the need to study Tullis's format dimensions more fully before using his regression equations to evaluate display designs for use outside the task situation in which the equations were developed. Also, subjects were unable to evaluate their performance accurately under alternative display designs. Their evaluations seemed to be determined mostly by the perceived ease with which information was extracted from the display. This outcome should serve as a warning to system designers. That is, empirical human performance research should be conducted when performance is the paramount design criterion and a validated prediction system, such as the one developed by Tullis for search, is not available.

This chapter looks into horizontal issues in ICT advances and discusses how the factor of human performance could help in increasing the impact of eAccessibility and assistive technologies in the future. More specifically, it revisits some of the ideas presented in earlier chapters looking at them from a different angle. The one of maximizing the audience and target group for assistive technologies through the increase in human performance, issues related with exoskeletons for working environments and dual use of assistive technology, sports as a motivator, aesthetics and fashion of prosthetics are discussed from this same perspective. Human performance could be a critical factor for the future of assistive technologies, and today's people with disabilities could become tomorrow's people with super-abilities and leaders in human performance issues.


2016 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 34-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Skehan

ABSTRACTThis chapter explores the contrast between the effects on second language performance of tasks and task characteristics, on the one hand, and the conditions under which tasks are done, on the other. The first major section explores the evidence on this issue and proposes that the impact of conditions such as pretask planning, task repetition, and posttask activities is greater and more consistent than the impact of tasks and features such as time perspective or number of elements. The second major section explores the theoretical accounts that have been proposed regarding tasks and conditions. It is suggested that deductive accounts have, so far, only had limited success regarding the use of tasks, but that psycholinguistic models of speaking do provide a looser but more useful framework to account for the effects of conditions. It is also suggested that an important difference between tasks and conditions concerns the tension between constraint and flexibility in performance and that the flexibility provided by task conditions is an important component in the more dependable results they have generated. Finally, pedagogic implications are discussed linking task conditions to the methodological choices that are available to teachers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick De Graaff

In this epilogue, I take a teaching practice and teacher education perspective on complexity in Instructed Second Language Acquisition. I take the stance that it is essential to understand if and how linguistic complexity relates to learning challenges, what the implications are for language pedagogy, and how this challenges the role of the teacher. Research shows that differences in task complexity may lead to differences in linguistic complexity in language learners’ speech or writing. Different tasks (e.g. descriptive vs narrative) and different modes (oral vs written) may lead to different types and levels of complexity in language use. On the one hand, this is a challenge for language assessment, as complexity in language performance may be affected by task characteristics. On the other hand, it is an opportunity for language teaching: using a diversity of tasks, modes and text types may evoke and stretch lexically and syntactically complex language use. I maintain that it is essential for teachers to understand that it is at least as important to aim for development in complexity as it is to aim for development in accuracy. Namely, that ‘errors’ in language learning are part of the deal: complex tasks lead to complex language use, including lexical and syntactical errors, but they are a necessary prerequisite for language development.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 451-459
Author(s):  
Ashraf Yehia El-Naggar ◽  
Mohamed A. Ebiad

Gasoline come primarily from petroleum cuts, it is the preferred liquid fuel in our lives. Two gasoline samples of octane numbers 91 and 95 from Saudi Arabia petrol stations were studied. This study was achieved at three different temperatures 20oC, 30oC and 50oC representing the change in temperatures of the different seasons of the year. Both the evaporated gases of light aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) of gasoline samples inside the tank were subjected to analyze qualitatively and quantitatively via capillary gas chromatography. The detailed hydrocarbon composition and the octane number of the studied gasoline samples were determined using detailed hydrocarbon analyzer. The idea of research is indicating the impact of light aromatic compounds in gasoline on the toxic effect of human and environment on the one hand, and on octane number of gasoline on the other hand. Although the value of octane number will be reduced but this will have a positive impact on the environment as a way to produce clean fuel.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 244-261
Author(s):  
Mariola Tracz ◽  
Małgorzata Bajgier-Kowalska ◽  
Radosław Uliszak

Podkarpackie Voivodeship is one of the regions of Poland in which the number of agritourism entities is very high. Therefore tourism plays a significant role in its development strategy. The aim of the paper is to identify the current state of agritourism and the changes that have occurred in the region in the years 2000–2016. Specific objectives are to determine the distribution of agritourism farms and their offer, together with a comprehensive analysis of the environmental and socio-economic factors, as well as the impact of the Slovak-Ukrainian border. The report was developed on the statistical materials from the Polish Central Statistical Office, Podkarpackie Agricultural Advisory Centre in Boguchwała and data collected from municipalities and district offices that is published on their websites, as well as through interviews with 100 owners of agritourism farms in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The research has shown, on the one hand, the decline in the number of farms in the region and, on the other hand, the increase in the diversity of the tourist offer of these entities. Distribution of agritourism farms is closely linked to the attractiveness of natural environment and quality of secondary tourism resources. Traditional agritourism has not yet fully used its countryside, as well as cross-border advantages of its location.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 91-99
Author(s):  
E. V. KOSTYRIN ◽  
◽  
M. S. SINODSKAYA ◽  

The article analyzes the impact of certain factors on the volume of investments in the environment. Regression equations describing the relationship between the volume of investment in the environment and each of the influencing factors are constructed, the coefficients of the Pearson pair correlation between the dependent variable and the influencing factors, as well as pairwise between the influencing factors, are calculated. The average approximation error for each regression equation is determined. A correlation matrix is constructed and a conclusion is made. The developed econometric model is implemented in the program of separate collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) in Moscow. The efficiency of the model of investment management in the environment is evaluated on the example of the growth of planned investments in the activities of companies specializing in the export and processing of solid waste.


Author(s):  
Anna Peterson

This book examines the impact that Athenian Old Comedy had on Greek writers of the Imperial era. It is generally acknowledged that Imperial-era Greeks responded to Athenian Old Comedy in one of two ways: either as a treasure trove of Atticisms, or as a genre defined by and repudiated for its aggressive humor. Worthy of further consideration, however, is how both approaches, and particularly the latter one that relegated Old Comedy to the fringes of the literary canon, led authors to engage with the ironic and self-reflexive humor of Aristophanes, Eupolis, and Cratinus. Authors ranging from serious moralizers (Plutarch and Aelius Aristides) to comic writers in their own right (Lucian, Alciphron), to other figures not often associated with Old Comedy (Libanius) adopted aspects of the genre to negotiate power struggles, facilitate literary and sophistic rivalries, and provide a model for autobiographical writing. To varying degrees, these writers wove recognizable features of the genre (e.g., the parabasis, its agonistic language, the stage biographies of the individual poets) into their writings. The image of Old Comedy that emerges from this time is that of a genre in transition. It was, on the one hand, with the exception of Aristophanes’s extant plays, on the verge of being almost completely lost; on the other hand, its reputation and several of its most characteristic elements were being renegotiated and reinvented.


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