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Results for “Task Performance and Analysis”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

Utilization of psychomotor screening for USAF pilot candidates: enhancing predictive validity.

Subjects for this research were 320 prospective pilots who were tested on computerized versions of the Two Hand Coordination (2HC) and Complex Coordination (CC) psychomotor tests. Independent variables included five basic error measures associated with the two tests, as well as seven new variables that had not previously been utilized. Results of MANOVA and multiple regression analyses revealed that performance on the two psychomotor tests were significantly related to Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) outcome. A trend was observed for a prediction model based on early and total trial data to yield higher simple and multiple correlations than a model based on late trials. Regressing the basic five independent variables on UPT outcome yielded R values of 0.334, 0.271, and 0.310 for early, late, and total trial data, respectively. The predictive validity of the basic five error scores was not incrementally increased by stepping in independent variables associated with the hypotenuse of horizontal and vertical error or stick movement. A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the best two-variable prediction equation included the hypotenuse of horizontal and vertical error for both psychomotor tests (R = 0.329).

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed1978

Staffing pattern of a health maintenance organization. A systems approach.

A systems analysis approach was applied to a study of health provider jobs in a health maintenance organization to develop a proposal for an improved staffing pattern and an appropriate training curriculum for the provider. Physicians reported performing 512 ambulatory care tasks; health associates, 372; and health assistants, 284. Overlap was found among each group, especially in data-gathering tasks. This led to reallocation of tasks, with the most complex but smallest number assigned to the physician, and the least complex but highest number assigned to the assistant. In turn, a staffing pattern was suggested whereby a team of two physicians, four associates, and eight assistants would be able to manage the visits of 10,000 patients.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1991

Goal setting and the differential influence of self-regulatory processes on complex decision-making performance.

The effects of goal setting and cognitive self-regulatory processes were examined on a highly complex task, a managerial decision-making simulation. It was hypothesized that the presence vs. absence of a specific performance goal would moderate the strength of relations between performance and 2 self-regulatory processes: self-efficacy judgments and self-evaluative reactions. Ss received either a moderately or extremely difficult task goal, or no specific goal. Self-regulatory processes were assessed after an initial trial block. Regression analyses revealed that, as predicted, both self-regulatory processes more strongly affected performance when Ss received a specific goal. Contrary to earlier findings obtained with simple activities, dissatisfaction with prior outcomes impaired performance. Ss who were dissatisfied with past attainments exerted much decision effort but adopted inferior task strategies that produced poorer results.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Age cohort differences in the ability to perform closure on degraded figures.

Young (17-26) and old (60-80) men and women performed a perceptual closure task for degraded line drawings under three conditions of prior picture knowledge (exact, similar, no prior knowledge) and two conditions of perceptual noise (contour or detail drawings) resulting in six levels of task difficulty. Young and old subjects took equal advantage prior knowledge conditions, however, old subjects required a greater percentage of picture and more time to make closure under all conditions when compared to young subjects. To test the perceptual slowing hypothesis, old subject performance was regressed on that of young across three levels of task difficulty. The slope of these regression equations supported the notion of a perceptual slowing hypothesis to explain age cohort differences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Comparison of the residual effects of two benzodiazepines (nitrazepam and flurazepam hydrochloride) and pentobarbitone sodium on human performance.

1 The residual effects of two benzodiazepines, nitrazepam (10 mg) and flurazepam hydrochloride (30 mg), and pentobarbitone sodium (200 mg) were studied by adaptive tracking and by reaction time. Performance was measured at 10 h, 13 h, 16 h, 19 h and 34 h after ingestion of each drug. Impaired performance on adaptive tracking was observed at 10 h, 13 h, 16 h and 19 h after nitrazepam and pentobarbitone sodium and at 10 h, 13 h and 16 h after flurazepam hydrochloride. Enhanced performance was observed at 34 h after nitrazepam and pentobarbitone sodium. 2 Increased reaction time persisted to 16 h after nitrazepam, flurazepam hydrochloride and pentobarbitone sodium and reaction time was also increased at 34 h after nitrazepam and pentobarbitone sodium. 3 During the morning immediately after ingestion, the subjects as a group were able to differentiate correctly between placebo and drugs, but they were not able to assess accurately the persistence of the residual effects of nitrazepam and pentobarbitone sodium. 4 Flurazepam hydrochloride would appear to be a more promising benzodiazepine than nitrazepam for use as a hypnotic by persons involved in skilled activity. There was a rapid recovery of performance during the afternoon and, unlike pentobarbitone sodium and nitrazepam, subjects retained the ability to recognize impaired skill.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Basic skills for hospital pharmacy technicians: development of a programmed training manual.

The development of a programmed training manual to teach basic skills to hospital pharmacy technicians is described. Steps in the development of the manual included reviewing pertinent literature, writing a job description for a pharmacy technician position, performing a task analysis, writing learning objectives and sequencing course content into a programmed format. Five units of the manual cover dosage forms and routes of administration, drug nomenclature, abbreviations, calculations and medication orders. The programmed format should help to provide quality, economic and efficient training for technicians.

Goals↗
PubMed1975

Labor performance measurement in visual inspection and packing operations.

A methodological procedure for identifying and measuring the variables involved and their impact on labor performance in manual inspection and sorting operations is presented. The applicability of the procedure is shown as it applies in an analysis of canning asparagus spears. Worker output rates for any given spear size index tended to decrease along successive work stations, with exceptions where there were changes in proportion to specific sizes available. The canning performance was influenced by interactions among the size, positional line-load, and worker position variables as the product moved along the supply conveyer. Because linear regression equations computed to estimate the number of can per canner per minute were not effective in indicating the effect of spear size distribution nor that of interactions among other relevant variables, a more comprehensive model was developed to estimate cans per worker per minute as a function of line-load, worker position, and three binary variables representing interactions between these variables and spear-size indices. The results of this and similar studies may be used as a basis for suggesting better planning of raw product delivery schedules, introduction of innovative processes, and crew reorganization.

Decision Making↗
PubMed1990

Normal variation of P300 in children: age, memory span, and head size.

The P300 (P3) event-related brain potential was elicited in a group of 50 children and young adults (4-20 years). A simple auditory task was employed in which subjects indicated with a finger movement when a randomly occurring target tone (high pitch) was presented in a series of standard (low pitch) tones. The probability of the target tone was varied across conditions at 10%, 30%, or 50% to assess possible developmental changes in P300 amplitude. Memory capacity was assessed with forward and reverse digit spans. Circumference of the head also was measured. P300 latency decreased with age, and P300 amplitude tended to become larger with age. Polynomial regression analyses revealed significant quadratic trends in these relationships, with changes leveling off for older subjects. Digit span and head circumference also were related curvilinearly to P300 values. Multiple regression analysis indicated that changes in age and memory span both predicted significant changes in P300 latency and amplitude. Target stimulus probability generally affected all subjects in a similar fashion, although the strength of the correlational relationships tended to decline with increases in probability. Developmental changes for the N1, P2, and N2 components from the standard stimuli also were obtained. The results are discussed in terms of previous P3 findings for children and their implications for future studies.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1976

Systems analysis of computerized EKG processing center.

A functional description of a computerized system for analysis of electrocardiograms (EKGs) is presented. Although it is recognized that the diagnostic accuracy of the program is the critical parameter in determining system acceptance, other system features such as quality control, turn around time and cost are shown to be of high importance. A digital simulation of alternative configurations for on-line data acquisition is presented. The simulation predicts the system throughout and wait times in different phases of a telephone EKG transmission for combinations of interfaces, telephone lines and acquisition procedures. These results should be helpful in selecting the appropriate configuration for each special situation.

Computers↗
PubMed1976

Categorization behavior in aging subjects.

Age changes in categorization and conceptual styles were studied using an object-sorting task in 276 subjects representing 7 age groups: 5, 6, 7, 19-21, 60-69. 70-79, and 80-89. Significant age effects (p less than 01) were found in the analysis of variance for four of six measures; there were no significant sex or interaction effects. Strong quadratic trends were found for number of ungrouped objects, % relational-thematic responses, and % categorical-inferential responses; oldest groups' responses were similar to children's. A linear trend was found for number of groups. There was no significant age effect for category breadth. Use of descriptive-analytic categories by the elderly was negligible compared to younger subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Task variables and visual discomfort associated with the use of VDT's.

We investigated task variables that may influence the incidence of visual discomfort amongst subjects who routinely spent a proportion of their day working with visual display terminals (VDT's). A diary was kept by subjects over five consecutive working days, in which they recorded visual symptoms, the visual tasks undertaken, the amount of time spent on workbreaks, work pressure, work interest, and personal moderating factors which may have influenced the symptoms recorded. The symptoms recorded by subjects were then treated as dependent variables in multiple regression analyses with the diary findings (task-related factors) as independent variables. The incidence of some types of symptoms was significantly associated with specific categories of work tasks, personal moderating influences, work pressure, work interest, time of day, and day of week.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

A nonstationarity test for the spectral analysis of physiological time series with an application to respiratory sinus arrhythmia.

The spectral analysis of time series requires the signal to be at least weakly stationary; i.e., the mean, (co-) variance, and spectrum of the time series should not vary from segment to segment. It is commonly assumed that psychophysiological time series are not stationary. This study introduces a nonstationarity test to the psychophysiological literature, which is derived from evolutionary spectral analysis. Basically, the test consists of a double window technique in both the time and frequency domains, leading to a two-way analysis of variance for times and frequencies. In the current study, the nonstationarity test is applied to heart rate data obtained in a typical psychophysiological setting. Heart rate and respiration were measured in four age groups under four conditions--rest, paced breathing, vigilance, and reaction time. The results indicate that only few physiological time series were completely stationary. However, for every subject, and in every condition stationary stretches could be found that were long enough to apply spectral analysis. Spectral measures (power, coherence, and phase spectra) were then compared for stationary parts of the data and the total data. This comparison indicated that nonstationarity affects all spectral measures. Most importantly, Stationarity x Task Condition x Frequency Band interactions were observed for coherence and phase spectra, and there were significant interactions with age for each of the spectral indices. These findings suggest that nonstationarity may result in biased outcomes of significance tests of the effects of task manipulations on the spectral indices of cardiac time series. Thus, it was concluded that the stationarity test should be routinely applied in the spectral analysis of physiological time series. In addition, it was suggested that the nonstationarity test has an even wider range of application that might be of interest to the psychophysiologist.

Adult↗