Attitudes Toward Computers: The Impact on Performance

The proliferation of personal computers throughout business environments will continue to place demands on workers at all levels to develop proficient computer skills. A variety of training mechanisms exist that allow workers to introduce, develop, and hone any needed computer skills. Identical training mechanisms, however, are nonetheless likely to result in individuals with different computer abilities (Hicks, Hicks, and Senn, 1991). Existing researchhas examined differences in demographic factors (Dambrot, Silling, and Zook; 1988) as well as differences in attitudes (Torkzadeh and Koufteros, 1993). Much of the research that has examined this area has focused on the changes in attitudes (e.g. computeranxiety) that occur due to a training intervention. Research to date, however, has not extended this effect of training on attitudes as well as to performance. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) suggests that attitudes will influence behavior, including performance. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) ( Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw, 1989) also suggests that attitudes towards use directly influence intentions to use the computer and ultimately actual computer use. Davis et al. demonstrate that an individual\u27s initial attitudes regarding a computer\u27s ease of use and a computer\u27s usefulness influence attitudes toward use. In addition to the attitudes of computer ease of use and computer usefulness, a number of other attitudes related to computer use have been identified in the research literature. Items measuring attitudes examined in this study have been previously defined and used in other studies. The attitudes and measures used in this study were perceived usefulness , perceived ease of use (Davis et al. 1989), computer anxiety (Loyd and Gressard, 1984), anticipation of computer use (Heinssen, Glass, and Knight, 1987), fear of computer use (Heinssen et al.,1987), and attitude toward previous academic achievement. Computer anxiety has been an attitude of primary focus that corresponds closely to the concept of math anxiety (Torkzadeh and Angulo, 1992). Although computer anxiety has definitions ranging from psychological, physical or sociological discomfort to fear. The definition of anxiety in this research referred to the psychological discomfort that might come from using a computer. This discomfort might come from using something unknown, concern over making mistakes or destroying pertinent information. In addition to measuring computer anxiety, we also wanted to measure computer fear. Although extreme anxiety might become fear, there is a distinction between the two constructs. Fear was defined as a trepidation that computers would change something about the individual, such as making the person too dependent on computers. Anticipation was defined as comfort with the idea of learning and using computer skills (Harrison and Ranier, 1992). Academic achievement provided a perceived measure of a subject\u27s past performance in both math and other academic endeavors. The perceived ease of use and usefulness constructs have been well established in the work by Davis et al. (Davis, 1989; Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw, 1992). Perceived usefulness was defined as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance . Perceived ease of use was defined as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort (Davis, 1989, pg. 320)

Oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol and 2-aminophenol by molecular oxygen catalyzed by an organocatalyst

1,3,2-Oxazaphospholes are able to catalyze the oxidation of 3,5-di- tert -butylcatechol with 3 O 2 to the corresponding o -quinone and 2-aminophenol to 2-aminophenoxazine-3-one in methanol. In both the cases, an overall third order reaction rate equation and a new type of biomimetic organocatalyst for oxidation reactions was found. A one electron transfer of the phenolate, which is formed through the deprotonation of the substrates by the catalyst, to dioxygen seems to be rate-determining step

Follow-Up Assessment of Intracranial Aneurysms Treated with Endovascular Coiling: Comparison of Compressed Sensing and Parallel Imaging Time-of-Flight Magnetic Resonance Angiography

The aim of our study was to compare compressed sensing (CS) time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with parallel imaging (PI) TOF MRA in the evaluation of patients with intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization or stent-assisted coiling. We enrolled 22 patients who underwent follow-up imaging after intracranial aneurysm coil embolization. All patients underwent both PI TOF and CS TOF MRA during the same examination. Image evaluation aimed to compare the performance of CS to PI TOF MRA in determining the degree of aneurysm occlusion, as well as the depiction of parent vessel and vessels adjacent to the aneurysm dome. The reference standard for the evaluation of aneurysm occlusion was PI TOF MRA. The inter-modality agreement between CS and PI TOF MRA in the evaluation of aneurysm occlusion was almost perfect (κ = 0.98, p < 0.001) and the overall inter-rater agreement was substantial (κ = 0.70, p < 0.001). The visualization of aneurysm parent vessel in CS TOF images compared with PI TOF images was evaluated to be better in 11.4%, equal in 86.4%, and worse in 2.3%. CS TOF MRA, with almost 70% scan time reduction with respect to PI TOF MRA, yields comparable results for assessing the occlusion status of coiled intracranial aneurysms. Short scan times increase patient comfort, reduce the risk of motion artifacts, and increase patient throughput, with a resulting reduction in costs. CS TOF MRA may therefore be a potential replacement for PI TOF MRA as a first-line follow-up examination in patients with intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization

Soluble iron modulates iron oxide particle-induced inflammatory responses via prostaglandin E2 synthesis: In vitro and in vivo studies

© 2009 Beck-Speier et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

‘What are you going to do, confiscate their passports?’ Professional perspectives on cross-border reproductive travel

Objective: This article reports findings from a UK-based study which explored the phenomenon of overseas travel for fertility treatment. The first phase of this project aimed to explore how infertility clinicians and others professionally involved in fertility treatment understand the nature and consequences of cross-border reproductive travel. Background: There are indications that, for a variety of reasons, people from the UK are increasingly travelling across national borders to access assisted reproductive technologies. While research with patients is growing, little is known about how ‘fertility tourism’ is perceived by health professionals and others with a close association with infertility patients. Methods: Using an interpretivist approach, this exploratory research included focussed discussions with 20 people professionally knowledgeable about patients who had either been abroad or were considering having treatment outside the UK. Semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and subjected to a thematic analysis. Results: Three conceptual categories are developed from the data: ‘the autonomous patient’; ‘cross-border travel as risk’, and ‘professional responsibilities in harm minimisation’. Professionals construct nuanced, complex and sometimes contradictory narratives of the ‘fertility traveller’, as vulnerable and knowledgeable; as engaged in risky behaviour and in its active minimisation. Conclusions: There is little support for the suggestion that states should seek to prevent cross-border treatment. Rather, an argument is made for less direct strategies to safeguard patient interests. Further research is required to assess the impact of professional views and actions on patient choices and patient experiences of treatment, before, during and after travelling abroad

Investigating child participation in the everyday talk of a teacher and children in a preparatory year

In early years research, policy and education, a democratic perspective that positions children as participants and citizens is increasingly emphasized. These ideas take seriously listening to children’s opinions and respecting children’s influence over their everyday affairs. While much political and social investment has been paid to the inclusion of participatory approaches little has been reported on the practical achievement of such an approach in the day to day of early childhood education within school settings. This paper investigates talk and interaction in the everyday activities of a teacher and children in an Australian preparatory class (for children age 4-6 years) to see how ideas of child participation are experienced. We use an interactional analytic approach to demonstrate how participatory methods are employed in practical ways to manage routine interactions. Analysis shows that whilst the teacher seeks the children’s opinion and involves them in decision-making, child participation is at times constrained by the context and institutional categories of “teacher” and “student” that are jointly produced in their talk. The paper highlights tensions that arise for teachers as they balance a pedagogical intent of “teaching” and the associated institutional expectations, with efforts to engage children in decision-making. Recommendations include adopting a variety of conversational styles when engaging with children; consideration of temporal concerns and the need to acknowledge the culture of the school

Resistance to the impact of interruptions during multitasking by healthy adults and dysexecutive patients

Two experiments (one with healthy adult volunteers and the other with controls and dysexecutive patients) assessed the impact of interruptions on a novel test of multitasking. The test involved switching repeatedly between four tasks (block construction, bead threading, paper folding, alphabetical searching) over a 10 minute period. In Experiment 1, there were 4 groups of 20 healthy participants. One group attempted multitasking with no interruption, a second group was interrupted early in the test, a third group late in the test and a fourth group was interrupted both early and late. Interruption involved carrying out a fifth, unexpected task for a period of one minute before returning to the four main tasks. There was no difference in multitasking performance between the groups. In Experiment 2 the participants were seven dysexecutive patients and 14 age-matched controls. A repeated measures approach was employed to assess the impact of two interruptions (early and late) for both groups. Contrary to predictions, the patients as well as controls were resistant to the effects of interruptions, despite their clearly impaired multitasking performance. These results suggest that the ability to deal with interruptions may be separable from the ability to organise and execute multiple tasks within a limited time frame