Designing for dynamic task allocation

Future platforms are envisioned in which human-machine teams are able to share and trade tasks as demands in situations change. It seems that human-machine coordination has not received the attention it deserves by past and present approaches to task allocation. In this paper a simple way to make coordination requirements explicit is proposed and for dynamic task allocation a dual-route approach is suggested. Advantages of adaptable automation, in which the human adjusts the way tasks are divided and shared, are complemented with those of adaptive automation, in which the machine allocates tasks. To be able to support design for dynamic task allocation, a theory about task allocation decision making by means of modeling of trust is proposed. It is suggested that dynamic task allocation is improved when information about situational abilities of agents is provided and the cost of observing and re-directing agents is reduced

Towards Task Allocation Decision Support by means of Cognitive Modeling of Trust

An important issue in research on human-machine cooperation concerns how tasks should be dynamically allocated within a human-machine team in order to improve team performance. The ability to support humans in task allocation decision making requires a thorough understanding of its underlying cognitive processes, and that of relative trust more specifically. This paper presents a computational agent-based model of these cognitive processes and proposes an experiment design that can be used to validate theoretical aspects of this model

Measurement of Turbulence Power Spectra in Agitated Vessels of Different Size with a Laser-Doppler Velocimeter

We have used the laser-Doppler velocimeter with a new noise reduction technique for measurements in water-filled, turbine-agitated vessels of several sizes, but of the same geometry. Mean velocities, turbulence intensities and turbulence power spectra were obtained in the impeller stream region. With these results we hope, in the future, to put scaling rules for mixing vessels on a sounder basis

Bodyspace at the pub: sexual orientations and organizational space

In this article we argue that sexuality is not only an undercurrent of service environments, but is integral to the way that these workspaces are experienced and negotiated. Through drawing on Sara Ahmed’s (2006a) ‘orientation’ thesis, we develop a concept of ‘bodyspace’ to suggest that individuals understand, shape and make meaning of work spaces through complex sexually-orientated negotiations. Presenting analysis from a study of UK pubs, we explore bodyspace in the lived experience of workplace sexuality through three elements of orientation: background; bodily dwelling; and lines of directionality. Our findings show how organizational spaces afford or mitigate possibilities for particular bodies, which simultaneously shape expectations and experiences of sexuality at work. Bodyspace therefore provides one way of exposing the connection between sexual ‘orientation’ and the lived experience of service sector work

Implicit association tests: Stimuli validation from participant responses

The Implicit Association Test (IAT, Greenwald et al., J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., 74, 1998, 1464) is a popular instrument for measuring attitudes and (stereotypical) biases. Greenwald et al. (Behav. Res. Methods, 54, 2021, 1161) proposed a concrete method for validating IAT stimuli: appropriate stimuli should be familiar and easy to classify – translating to rapid (response times <800 ms) and accurate (error < 10%) participant responses. We conducted three analyses to explore the theoretical and practical utility of these proposed validation criteria. We first applied the proposed validation criteria to the data of 15 IATs that were available via Project Implicit. A bootstrap approach with 10,000 ‘experiments’ of 100 participants showed that 5.85% of stimuli were reliably valid (i.e., we are more than 95% confident that a stimulus will also be valid in a new sample of 18- to 25–year-old US participants). Most stimuli (78.44%) could not be reliably validated, indicating a less than 5% certainty in the outcome of stimulus (in)validity for a new sample of participants. We then explored how stimulus validity differs across IATs. Results show that only some stimuli are consistently (in)valid. Most stimuli show between-IAT variances, which indicate that stimulus validity differs across IAT contexts. In the final analysis, we explored the effect of stimulus type (images, nouns, names, adjectives) on stimulus validity. Stimulus type was a significant predictor of stimulus validity. Although images attain the highest stimulus validity, raw data show large differences within stimulus types. Together, the results indicate a need for revised validation criteria. We finish with practical recommendations for stimulus selection and (post-hoc) stimulus validation

Organizational sensegiving: Indicators and nonprofit signaling

Resource acquisition depends upon the agreement between an organization's sense of identity and the perceptions of organizational identity held by resource providers. To smooth the flow of resources and buffer against potential issues, organizations seek to manage external perceptions and, to the extent possible, control their organizational identity. Using exploratory factor analysis, we examine the data from 300 GuideStar profiles to develop a sense of how nonprofit organizations “give sense” to resource providers and attempt to manage their organizational identity. We find evidence of three sensegiving strategies. We then use a seemingly unrelated regression model to examine the relationship between these strategies and revenue outcomes, finding evidence that (a) nonprofit organizations demonstrate intentional sensegiving, and (b) different sensegiving approaches are related to different income streams

Confidentiality and public protection: ethical dilemmas in qualitative research with adult male sex offenders

This paper considers the ethical tensions present when engaging in in-depth interviews with convicted sex offenders. Many of the issues described below are similar to those found in other sensitive areas of research. However, confidentiality and public protection are matters that require detailed consideration when the desire to know more about men who have committed serious and harmful offences is set against the possibility of a researcher not disclosing previously unknown sensitive information that relates to the risk of someone being harmed.</p