Discussion of local area networks and multiple file servers for concurrent information retrievals provides a rationale for workload and data allocation and presents an analytical model which will attain effective allocation policies. Nonlinear integer programming is discussed, and computational results show the effectiveness of the heuristic.…

Introduces Rene Thom's catastrophe theory, which is based upon complex theorems in multidimensional geometry. Catastrophe theory analysis begins by identifying the occurrence of major discontinuities, or catastrophes, in a system such as civil service exams, resulting in catastrophic change. (KS)

An inquiry into the origins of dynamical awareness shows that impressions of dynamical quantities are not generally correlated with the values that these quantities take in equations of motion but are highly correlated with simple ratios of kinematic quantities or with specific kinematic features that do not specify underlying dynamics. (SLD)

Presents a process for developing certificate programs based on components of Kemp's Instructional Design model: learning needs, job tasks, learner characteristics, task analysis, pretesting, learning objectives, teaching/learning activities, instructional resources, support services, learning evaluation, formative evaluation, summative…

Tome Associates developed techniques to process natural language queries into search statements suitable for use in online text database systems. Problems discussed include word identification, handling of unknown words, system dictionaries, semantic categories and classification, truncation, stemming, disambiguation of multimeaning words, noun…

Heuristic research is a highly autobiographical investigation of one's experience with a question or problem. This article examines the basic concepts and processes of heuristic research (in adult education), including self-dialog, tacit knowing, inverted perspective, intuition, indwelling, and focusing. Heuristic research design phases involve…

Describes factors that may bias psychoeducational decision making and discusses three heuristic principles that affect decision making. Discusses means by which school psychologists can be made aware of these heuristic principles and encouraged to consider them when making psychoeducational decisions. Also discusses methods by which bias in…

Finds that naive human lie detectors follow content-related heuristics (like infrequency of reported events or falsifiability) but can flexibly change their strategy as they learn about authentic nonverbal cues that discriminate lies from truthful communications. (SR)

Reviews optimal test-assembly literature and introduces the contributions to this special issue. Discusses four approaches to computerized test assembly: (1) heuristic-based test assembly; (2) 0-1 linear programming; (3) network-flow programming; and (4) an optimal design approach. Contains a bibliography of 90 sources on test assembly.…

Recommends academic strategies to contribute to an issue of great interest in industry--workplace documentation. Describes strategies including contextualizing quality definitions, advocating use of multiple quality measures, conducting research to identify specific heuristics for defining and measuring quality in particular workplace contexts,…

Discusses the strengths and limitations of the current pragmatic focus of research in suicidology and presents an argument for theoretical grounding as a precursor for continued advancement in this area. Presents an existential-constructivist framework of "meaning creation" as a theoretical heuristic for understanding suicide. Outlines general…

Describes heuristic-systematic information-processing model and risk perception--the two major conceptual areas of the analysis. Discusses the proposed model, describing the context of the data collections (public health communication involving cancer epidemiology) and providing the results of a set of three replications using the proposed model.…

In this article, Ralf St. Clair makes the argument that induction--the process of applying research findings from one setting to another--is logically unsupported, irrespective of method or methodology, due to the existence of superunknowns. Superunknowns are defined as factors that cannot be anticipated, not because of instrumentation defects,…

Problem-solving is one of the main goals in science teaching and is something many students find difficult. This research reports on the development, implementation and evaluation of a problem-solving heuristic. This heuristic intends to help students to understand the steps involved in problem solving (metacognitive tool), and to provide them…

The prominent cognitive theories of probability judgment were primarily developed to explain cognitive biases rather than to account for the cognitive processes in probability judgment. In this article the authors compare 3 major theories of the processes and representations in probability judgment: the representativeness heuristic, implemented as…