Identifies human performance (HP) models of five prominent human performance technology authors; contrasts the models with each other; combines elements into a new model; and discusses how the model can be used to help assess performance problems and explain HP to clients at three different levels. (LRW)

Discussion of management conflict highlights differing job perceptions held by middle managers. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Assessment Program is described, and a management structure that requires members of each group to experience job perceptions and tasks of the other group is recommended for performance improvement. (Contains three…

Technology can extend human memory and improve performance, but bypassing human intelligence has its dangers. Cognitive apprenticeships that compress learning experiences, provide coaching, and allow trial and error can build complex problem-solving skills and develop expertise. (SK)

This progress report presents findings from a failure analysis of two full-text computer-assisted legal research systems, Lexis and Westlaw. Linguistic analyses of unretrieved documents and false drops are discussed, and examples of natural language phenomena that affect Boolean retrieval system performance are examined. (Author/LRW)

It is time to reframe thinking about the training profession and its relevance. Trainers must shift their focus from training to high performance. (JOW)

Examines the retrieval effectiveness of five hierarchical clustering methods (single link, complete link, group average, Ward's method, and weighted average) as a function of indexing exhaustivity with four test collections. Evaluations of retrieval effectiveness are based on three measures of optimal retrieval performance. (Author/LRW)

Explored performance and strategies of children on three sets of LOGO tasks in which they copied a given LOGO figure and directed the turtle to a destination. Found that when the copy task preceded the track task, there were no significant performance differences in accuracy or efficiency of moves to reach the path's end, in contrast to reverse…

Six functionally misarticulating preschool children were taught to produce [r] and one other sound absent from their phonetic inventory. For 86 percent of the 28 monitored sounds, generalization was consistent with pretreatment stimulability skills; production of stimulable sounds tended to improve regardless of whether treatment target was a…

Verbal-repetition and picture-pointing tasks were used in this study of semantic, lexical, and phonological factors of short-term memory in 6 children (ages 6-9) with specific language impairment (SLI) and 17 language-matched control subjects. Both group and individual analyses found no significant differences between the performance of the SLI…

Three experiments explored determinants of two-year olds' perseverative errors in a search task. Found that active search, even in the absence of observation, produced perseveration on post-switch trails, but mere observation did not. Results indicated that active search is required to elicit perseveration, which points to failures of response…

A review of research on the correlation between the intake of alcohol and creativity hypothesizes that modest alcohol consumption inhibits aspects of creativity based mainly on the secondary process (preparation, certain parts of illumination, and verification), and disinhibits those based mainly on the primary process (incubation, certain parts…

Three experiments assessed the claim that preschoolers override form class cues in the interest of honoring word- meaning assumptions when acquiring new labels. Results demonstrated that children respected the form class cues when these cues and word-meaning assumptions suggested conflicting interpretations. It was suggested that past findings…

Examined dual representation among toddlers and preschoolers in four studies. Found that dual representation was as difficult for 2.5-year-olds with a set of individual objects as it was with an integrated model. Decreasing the physical salience of a scale model made representation easier for 2.5-year-olds. Increasing the model's salience made…

To determine the effects on test performance and test validity of releasing essay topics before an examination, 300 prospective graduate students wrote essays on a released and an unreleased topic. Analyses did not reveal any statistically significant effect of topic release. (SLD)

Discussion of performance improvement in human performance technology focuses on the fact that not all favorite solutions may produce useful results. Highlights include a focus on meeting goals, not implementing solutions; three case studies that show popular misconceptions; determining instructional effectiveness; and how to check out popular…