Selecting and representing information structures for battlefield decision systems

Issued as Progress reports no. [1-2], and Final report, Project no. G-36-62

Representing and displaying information for tactical decision processing

Issued as Final report of expenditures, Quarterly progress reports no. 1-3, and Final report, Project no. G-36-62

A workshop on the gathering of information for problem formulation

Issued as Quarterly progress reports no. [1-5], Proceedings and Final contract report, Project no. G-36-651Papers presented at the Workshop/Symposium on Human Computer Interaction, March 26 and 27, 1981, Atlanta, G

comparative ease of use of a diagrammatic vs an iconic query language

Abstract The importance of designing query systems which are effective and easy to use has been widelyrecognized in the database area. Also, it is well known that the adequacy of a system should be testedagainst actual users in a well monitored experiment. However, very few such experiments have beenconducted. The objective of our study is to measure and understand the comparative ease with whichsubjects can construct queries in two kinds of visual languages, one diagrammatic and the other iconic.More specifically, we are interested in determining if there is significant interaction between: 1) the queryclass and the query language type; and 2) the type of query language and the experience of the user.Experimental results indicate that the effectiveness of a diagrammatic or an iconic query language variesdepending on the classes of queries and the kinds of users. This supports the opinion that an interfaceoffering to the user various visual representations and query modalities is the most appropriate for a wide setof users and applications.Keywords: Human-Computer Interaction; Query Languages; Visual Interfaces; Usability; Experiment

On recognizing and formulating mathematical problems

When mathematics is used to help people cope with real-life situations, a three-stage intellectual process is involved. First, a person becomes aware of a problem-situation which stimulates him to generate a problem-statement, a verbal story-problem. This may be in writing, expressed orally, or merely thought and evidenced by other behavior. Second, he transforms the verbal problem-statement into a mathematical formulation. Third, he analyzes this mathematically stated problem into subproblems to which the solution is more immediate.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43864/1/11251_2004_Article_BF00052419.pd

The cognitive neuroscience of prehension: recent developments

Prehension, the capacity to reach and grasp, is the key behavior that allows humans to change their environment. It continues to serve as a remarkable experimental test case for probing the cognitive architecture of goal-oriented action. This review focuses on recent experimental evidence that enhances or modifies how we might conceptualize the neural substrates of prehension. Emphasis is placed on studies that consider how precision grasps are selected and transformed into motor commands. Then, the mechanisms that extract action relevant information from vision and touch are considered. These include consideration of how parallel perceptual networks within parietal cortex, along with the ventral stream, are connected and share information to achieve common motor goals. On-line control of grasping action is discussed within a state estimation framework. The review ends with a consideration about how prehension fits within larger action repertoires that solve more complex goals and the possible cortical architectures needed to organize these actions

GCATT seed grant

Issued as Final report, Project no. C-50-64

Interacting with electronic work surfaces : studies in note taking and writing behavior

Issued as Interim reports [nos. 1-2], and Final report, Project no. C-36-62

The Effects of Cross Cultural Interface Design Orientation on World Wide Web User Performance

The electronic environment of the World Wide Web evolves daily, increasing the likelihood of international participants and transactions. With this in mind, we investigated several key issues and questions related to the cultural context of Web interface design. We conducted three major studies to get at the issues of the relationship of culture to design on the Web. In the first study we asked the general question, are there design elements that repeat themselves in different cultures and different genres that we can use to design genre-specific and culture-specific Web sites? To answer this question, we conducted a foraging study in which we inspected dozens of Web sites from various countries. We found that indeed there are a few design elements, we called cultural markers, that are both culture specific and genre specific. In the second study, we designed and conducted a controlled experiment in which we designed culture-specific Web sites using a few of the cultural markers identified in the foraging study, and compared their effects on native users performance and preferences. The results were mixed. We found that for Italian participants, the Italian designs were preferable for navigation markers but not for color. We were not able to show significant differences as a result of varying the markers' cultural values for American participants. In the third study, we defined culture with a small c, referring to an audience with a set of habits and practices based on experience. We used people experienced in two different genres, e-shopping and news sites, on the World Wide Web to investigate preferences and performance as a function of Web cultural experience. We found significant effects for both preference and performance

Cultural markers and world wide web interface design

Issued as final repor