Model building techniques from Artifical Intelligence and Information-Processing Psychology are applied to human-computer interface tasks to evaluate existing interfaces and suggest new and better ones. The model is in the form of an augmented transition network (ATN) grammar which is built by applying grammar induction heuristics on a sequential…

A proposed student model consisting of a set of programs to represent the student's knowledge state. Teaching proceeds after a comparative evaluation of student and teacher programs, and learning is represented by direct modification of the student model. The advantages of an explicit procedural model are illustrated by considering a program which…

The Computerized Decision Training (CDT) system, which focuses on improving and sharpening higher order cognitive skills in judgmental decision making, incorporates an adaptive computer program which learns the student's value structure, and uses this structure to train the student in practical decision making. The application of decision models…

Outlines design requirements for situation description, policy specifications, and decision consequences feedback systems of type that could be used to help manage Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) portfolios for large organizations. Several systems are described, and three additional systems design characteristics are…

This paper explores languages for communicating precise ideas within limited domains, which include mathematical notation and general purpose and high level computer programming languages. Low-level properties of such natural artificial languages are discussed, with emphasis on those in which names are chosen for concepts and symbols are chosen…

This summary of methods for improving the user-computer interface is based on a review of the pertinent literature. Requirements of the personal computer user are identified and contrasted with computer designer perspectives towards the user. The user's psychological needs are described, so that the design of the user-computer interface may be…

Different aspects of human-machine interaction are discussed in the five brief papers that comprise this report. The first paper, "Some Observations on Mental Models," discusses the role of a person's mental model in the interaction with systems. The second paper, "A Psychologist Views Human Processing: Human Errors and Other…

The Voice Interactive Analysis System study continued research and development of the LISTEN real-time, minicomputer based connected speech recognition system, within NAVTRAEQUIPCEN'S program of developing automatic speech technology in support of training. An attempt was made to identify the most effective features detected by the TTI-500 model…

To minimize training time, an adaptive training model for optimizing path sequencing in computer aided instruction was developed. The model reduced a course to logical components or quanta, then plotted the material for possible sequences and evaluated each component quanta as to importance to subject assimilation. For implementation and testing,…

The model presented identifies three basic needs which must be met in order to increase our understanding of the user interface in computerized information systems: empirical studies of users' attitudes; systematic summaries and critical analyses of these studies; and an interim set of guidelines for user interface design. (EJS)