Quantifying and predicting the effects of basic text display variables on the perceived urgency of warning labels: tradeoffs involving font size,border weight and colour

Design variables surrounding the presentation of signal words in warnings have been previously shown to affect performance, or variables likely to be related to performance. The present study emphasized the signal word WARNING by presenting it in red, surrounded by a red border. It was at the head of an otherwise black pesticide label that used 8-point type. A study using 24 undergraduates investigated the effect of signal-word font size (8 to 32 points), white space around the signal word (2 to 32 points), and border width (1 to 8 points) on the rated urgency of the label. A measure of the aesthetic merit of each label was also obtained from nine design students and professionals. Seven levels of each variable were used, covering the practically-useful range of each variable in the circumstances. Results showed a linear relationship between each variable and perceived urgency, with text size having the greatest effect, followed by border width. It was shown that, within the variable ranges used, the perceived urgency of the emphasized signal word resulted from the sum of the urgencies associated with the separate dimensions used in the emphasis. Tradeoffs are discussed—for example an increase of 4 points in text size produced the same increase in urgency rating as produced by an increase in border width of 2-3 points. A second study, using a further 24 students, compared the red labels with labels in black only. It was found that the signal word had to be approximately twice as big in black as in red to give the same perceived urgency. Design implications of the finding that the most urgent labels are not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing are discussed.     

Perceived urgency of and response time to multi-tone and frequency-modulated warning signals in broadband noise

Several pulse parameters that were believed to affect the perceived urgency and response time to auditory warning signals were investigated in a factorial experiment. The independent variables included pulse format (sequential, simultaneous, and frequency-modulated pulses), pulse level (65 and 79dBC), and inter-pulse interval (0, 150 and 300 ms). The applications environments of interest were those having steady-state broadband noise. A probability monitoring task from the Criterion Task Set was used as an operator loading task to impose additional attentional demands during the signal detection and response task. The psychophysical methods of free-modulus magnitude estimation and paired comparison were used to measure subjective perceived urgency. An objective measure of response time to the signal was also obtained. Multivariate statistical analyses indicated that response time decreased significantly as perceived urgency increased. Perceived urgency of the signal increased and response time decreased as pulse level increased. Sequential signals took longer to detect and were rated as less urgent than the other two signal types. Shorter inter-pulse interval was associated with greater perceived signal urgency.     

Interaction of signal word and colour on warning labels: differences in perceived hazard and behavioural compliance

Previous research has examined the connoted hazard of various colour and signal words separately. The purpose of the present research was to examine the interaction of signal words and colours. Two separate experiments examined the influence of colour on perceptions of hazard and on compliance to printed warnings. In experiment 1, a sample of 30 undergraduates rated the perceived hazard of signal words printed in specific hazard colours. Results indicated that the level of hazard varied as a function of the signal word and the colour in which it was presented. Of the colours used, red conveyed the highest level of perceived hazard followed by orange, black, green and blue. More importantly, it was noted that a signal word such as DEADLY connoted less hazard when printed in green than in red ink. Experiment 2 examined the effect of colour on compliance with printed warnings. Sixty-five undergraduates interacted with a pool-water test kit and a two-part adhesive. The warning on each product was factorial for colour (i.e. red, green and black). Behavioural compliance was assessed by indicating if subjects donned protective gloves as directed by the warning. The data indicated that warnings printed in red resulted in a higher proportion of compliant behaviour than green and black combined. Implications for warning design are discussed.     

Auditory alerts for in-vehicle information systems: The effects of temporal conflict and sound parameters on driver attitudes and performance

In-vehicle information systems will soon confront drivers with an increasing number of warnings and alerts for situations ranging from imminent collisions to the arrival of e-mail messages. Coordinating these alerts can ensure that they enhance rather than degrade driving safety. Two experiments examined how temporal conflict and sound parameters affect driver performance and acceptance. The temporal conflict of an e-mail alert occurring 300?ms before a collision warning interfered with the response to the collision warning, but an e-mail alert occurring 1000?ms before the collision warning had the opposite effect and enhanced the response to the collision warning. These results emphasize the need to consider how in-vehicle devices influence drivers' strategic anticipation of high-demand situations. Regarding sound parameters, results showed that highly urgent sounds tended to speed drivers' accelerator release, but the annoyance associated with highly urgent sounds increased workload. In fact, there was a strong positive association between ratings of annoyance and subjective workload. Consistent with the urgency mapping principle, there was a slight negative association between the differences in the rated urgency of collision warnings and e-mail alerts and subjective workload. The results suggest that warning and alert design should consider an annoyance trade-off in addition to urgency mapping.     

Auditory alerts for in-vehicle information systems: the effects of temporal conflict and sound parameters on driver attitudes and performance

In-vehicle information systems will soon confront drivers with an increasing number of warnings and alerts for situations ranging from imminent collisions to the arrival of e-mail messages. Coordinating these alerts can ensure that they enhance rather than degrade driving safety. Two experiments examined how temporal conflict and sound parameters affect driver performance and acceptance. The temporal conflict of an e-mail alert occurring 300 ms before a collision warning interfered with the response to the collision warning, but an e-mail alert occurring 1000 ms before the collision warning had the opposite effect and enhanced the response to the collision warning. These results emphasize the need to consider how in-vehicle devices influence drivers' strategic anticipation of high-demand situations. Regarding sound parameters, results showed that highly urgent sounds tended to speed drivers' accelerator release, but the annoyance associated with highly urgent sounds increased workload. In fact, there was a strong positive association between ratings of annoyance and subjective workload. Consistent with the urgency mapping principle, there was a slight negative association between the differences in the rated urgency of collision warnings and e-mail alerts and subjective workload. The results suggest that warning and alert design should consider an annoyance trade-off in addition to urgency mapping.     

Perceived urgency mapping across modalities within a driving context

Hazard mapping is essential to effective driver-vehicle interface (DVI) design. Determining which modality to use for situations of different criticality requires an understanding of the relative impact of signal parameters within each modality on perceptions of urgency and annoyance. Towards this goal we obtained psychometric functions for visual, auditory and tactile interpulse interval (IPI), visual color, signal word, and auditory fundamental frequency on perceptions of urgency, annoyance, and acceptability. Results indicate that manipulation of IPI in the tactile modality, relative to visual and auditory, has greater utility (greater impact on urgency than annoyance). Manipulations of color were generally rated as less annoying and more acceptable than auditory and tactile stimuli; but they were also rated as lower in urgency relative to other modality manipulations. Manipulation of auditory fundamental frequency resulted in high ratings of both urgency and annoyance. Results of the current investigation can be used to guide DVI design and evaluation.     

Discrimination among sign and label warning signal words

Signal words are commonly used in warnings to quickly communicate potential hazards. Current standards and guidelines define the terms DANGER, WARNING, CAUTION, and NOTICE as denoting decreasing hazard levels, respectively. This study examined whether definitions assigned to these words coincide with people's understanding of them. Seventy-two participants attempted to match published definitions to the terms. Additionally, they rated the terms on various dimensions (e.g., hazardousness, understandability). The results showed that people differentiate DANGER and NOTICE but less clearly discriminate between WARNING and CAUTION. The term DEADLY, a proposed higher level signal word, was perceived as connoting the greatest hazard. Implications for warning design are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

吕苏语口语标注语料的自动分词方法研究*

濒危语言典藏以抢救和长久保存濒危语言口语中所包含的声学、语言学以及文学、历史、传统文化等内涵的全部信息为目的,吕苏语作为一种无文字文献记录的濒危语言,对其口语语料典藏意义重大。吕苏语口语的汉语标注语料自动分词是后续建立高质量的吕苏语口语语料库和吕苏语典藏系统的基础性工作。目前对于吕苏语标注语料分词的研究几乎为零,本文首先对吕苏语特点进行了分析,同时将中文自动分词结巴方法应用到吕苏语汉语标注语料中,并针对结巴分词算法对吕苏语标注语料分词存在的误分词问题,提出了改进结巴算法。经过实验对比,改进结巴的分词方法准确率更高,提高了吕苏语汉语标注语料的分词效果。     

Chinese perceptions of implied hazard for signal words and surround shapes

With the increase of international trade and communications, the issue—whether people in different cultures similarly interpret and understand the extent implied by signal words and their associated panels in warning design—is getting more and more interesting and important. Two experiments were conducted to collect data on perception of arousal strength of signal words and surround shapes of the Chinese population and to determine whether those findings for Chinese are validated for Americans. A total of 120 Chinese mainland subjects were tested in each of the experiments. In Experiment 1, 16 Chinese signal words were tested for their arousal strength. The results indicated that the words could imply different levels of hazard for the Chinese population. The comparative results revealed that both the Chinese and the Americans perceived similar levels of hazard in a signal word. In Experiment 2, six signal words and five different shapes were factorally combined to receive ratings on the perceived hazard level. Data indicated that both surround shapes and their interaction with signal words could connote different levels of hazard by the Chinese population. Their rank ordering of the shapes was found to be almost consistent with that of the Americans. Strong gender, age, and career effects were found in the two experiments. In general, there is only a minor difference in the perceived hazard for signal words and surround shapes between Chinese and American participants. However, it is suggested that care should be taken when the warning signs in facilities are designed for different populations. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 14: 69–80, 2004.     

基于神经网络的汉语口语多义选择

汉语口语分析是交互式话语处理中的重要环节.在汉语中,有意义的最小单位是词,因此多义选择是口语分析系统必须首先解决的问题.该文提出了一种基于精简循环网络的汉语口语多义选择方法,并从词汇的语法、语义分类所固有的内在联系出发,给出了语法、语义的一致化处理策略.通过使用会面安排领域的口语语料进行实验,多义选择的开放测试的正确率为96.9%.     

Modeling and verification of real-time embedded systems with urgency

Real-time embedded systems are often designed with different types of urgencies such as delayable or eager, that are modeled by several urgency variants of the timed automata model. However, most model checkers do not support such urgency semantics, except for the IF toolset that model checks timed automata with urgency against observers. This work proposes an Urgent Timed Automata (UTA) model with zone-based urgency semantics that gives the same model checking results as absolute urgency semantics of other existing urgency variants of the timed automata model, including timed automata with deadlines and timed automata with urgent transitions. A necessary and sufficient condition, called complete urgency, is formulated and proved for avoiding zone partitioning so that the system state graphs are simpler and model checking is faster. A novel zone capping method is proposed that is time-reactive, preserves complete urgency, satisfies all deadlines, and does not need zone partitioning. The proposed verification methods were implemented in the SGM CTL model checker and applied to real-time and embedded systems. Several experiments, comparing the state space sizes produced by SGM with that by the IF toolset, show that SGM produces much smaller state-spaces.     

Spoken query based word spotting in digitized Tamil documents

This paper presents an integrated approach to spot the spoken keywords in digitized Tamil documents by combining word image matching and spoken word recognition techniques. The work involves the segmentation of document images into words, creation of an index of keywords, and construction of word image hidden Markov model (HMM) and speech HMM for each keyword. The word image HMMs are constructed using seven dimensional profile and statistical moment features and used to recognize a segmented word image for possible inclusion of the keyword in the index. The spoken query word is recognized using the most likelihood of the speech HMMs using the 39 dimensional mel frequency cepstral coefficients derived from the speech samples of the keywords. The positional details of the search keyword obtained from the automatically updated index retrieve the relevant portion of text from the document during word spotting. The performance measures such as recall, precision, and F-measure are calculated for 40 test words from the four groups of literary documents to illustrate the ability of the proposed scheme and highlight its worthiness in the emerging multilingual information retrieval scenario.     

量词在知识图中的分类与表示

在当今知识表示领域中,知识图作为自然语言理解的语义模型有其独到之处,而在自然语言处理中普遍认为词是最基本的单位,本文从语义学和自然语言处理的角度（主要是从知识图的角度,）在对介词的逻辑词的研究之后,按照量词图的结构,对汉语中的量词进行了分类,并且按照知识量词构造,给一词图。     

基于词语聚类的汉语口语自动推送素材研究

新冠肺炎的蔓延使得线上移动教学成为教育发展的必然趋势,该文以适合为学习者自动推送的汉语口语素材为研究对象,抽取10 341条生活类口语语料,对词汇的整体特点进行计量分析,在此基础上采用腾讯AL LAB公开的中文词向量数据,使用K-means算法对口语词汇进行词语聚类。参考词语聚类结果及对口语语料话题和场景的考察,该文构建了一个包含15个一级话题、102个二级话题及81个交际场景的汉语口语话题—场景素材库,同时对各级话题常用词进行了总结。该文可为教材自动定制的素材库提供资源支持。     

自然语言处理中的逻辑词

词是自然语言处理中最基本的单位,在当今知识表示领域,知识图作为自然语言理解的语义模型有其独到之处。本文从语言学和逻辑学的角度,首次提出并探讨了逻辑词研究逻辑词分类及如何用知识图表示各类逻辑词的结构。对自然语言处理中研究复句和篇章的理解提供了一种新的途径。     

一种基于部件CNN的网络安全命名实体识别方法

基于知识图谱的网络安全动态预警方法,能够主动感知和应对网络安全攻击,增强感知的实时性和精准性。然而,在构建网络安全知识图谱的实体抽取过程中,传统的命名实体识别工具和方法无法识别网络安全领域中的特定类别实体,文本中的未登录和中英文混合的网络安全实体也难以被准确识别。网络安全文本中的网络安全命名实体存在中英文混合、单词缩写等问题,仅基于字的命名实体识别方法难以充分表征字或词的语义信息。因此,论文考虑中英文更细粒度的部件语义捕捉字或词的语义特征,提出一种基于部件CNN的网络安全命名实体识别方法(C C-NS-NER),利用部件CNN抽取词语部件特征中的关键语义特征,丰富字词级别的语义信息,并引入BiLSTM-CRF确保抽取字向量和部件特征中的抽象信息,同时获取标签之间的关联信息,识别文本中的网络安全命名实体。在人工标注的网络安全数据集上的实验结果表明,该方法相较于传统模型,能有效获取字或词的部件语义信息,显著提高网络安全命名实体识别的效果。     

A cross-cultural comparison of perceived hazard in response to warning components and configurations: US vs. China

There is increasing momentum towards international harmonization of warning standards. Therefore, it is critical to determine the applicability of existing standards across different cultures. Perceived hazard in response to isolated warning components (colors, signal words and symbols) and warning configurations was examined as a function of culture of the product-user (US vs. China) to determine the extent to which ANSI (American National Standards Institute)-recommended components/configurations communicate the expected level of hazard across cultures. 40 college students in the US and 43 in China rated colors, signal words, symbols, and complex configurations on a scale from 1 (not at all hazardous) to 9 (extremely hazardous). US participants consistently provided higher ratings of perceived hazard than Chinese participants. Cross-cultural differences were also observed in the relative levels of perceived hazard assigned to different levels of a label component, particularly in response to colors. However, relative levels of perceived hazard among more complex configurations were similar across culture, even though Chinese participants continued to provide lower absolute ratings of perceived hazard. These results have important implications - if it is assumed that perceived hazard-level must attain some threshold value in order to trigger compliance, then differences in perception could result in a failure of product-users to take appropriate precautions.     

Empirical studies on programming language stimuli

Comprehending and debugging computer programs are inherently difficult tasks. The current approach to building program execution and debugging environments is to use exclusively visual stimuli on programming languages whose syntax and semantics has often been designed without empirical guidance. We present an alternative: Sodbeans, an open-source integrated development environment designed to output carefully chosen spoken auditory cues to supplement empirically evaluated visual stimuli. Originally designed for the blind, earlier work suggested that Sodbeans may benefit sighted programmers as well. We evaluate Sodbeans in two experiments. First, we report on a formal debugging experiment comparing (1) a visual debugger, (2) an auditory debugger, and (3) a multimedia debugger, which includes both visual and auditory stimuli. The results from this study indicate that while auditory debuggers on their own are significantly less effective for sighted users when compared with visual and multimedia debuggers, multimedia debuggers might benefit sighted programmers under certain circumstances. Specifically, we found that while multimedia debuggers do not provide instant usability, once programmers have some practice, their performance in answering comprehension questions improves. Second, we created and evaluated a pilot survey analyzing individual elements in a custom programming language (called HOP) to garner empirical metrics on their comprehensibility. Results showed that some of the most widely used syntax and semantics choices in commercial programming languages are extraordinarily unintuitive for novices. For example, at an aggregate level, the word for , as in a for loop, was rated reliably worse than repeat by more than 673% by novices. After completing our studies, we implemented the HOP programming language and integrated it into Sodbeans.     

计算机识别藏语虚词的方法研究

藏文虚词的研究是藏文信息处理技术中词、句及语义研究的基础,而计算机自动识别藏文虚词又是藏语虚词研究的前提。该文在论述藏语虚词在藏语文本中的作用和使用方法的基础上,分析了计算机识别藏语虚词的难度,提出了一个计算机识别藏语虚词的方法,并用2525句典型藏文句子进行了验证,对结果进行分析发现藏文虚词识别的正确率高达97.0768%。     

Alerts for in-vehicle information systems: annoyance, urgency, and appropriateness

OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the influence of the auditory characteristics of alerts on perceived urgency and annoyance and whether these perceptions depend on the context in which the alert is received. BACKGROUND: Alert parameters systematically affect perceived urgency, and mapping the urgency of a situation to the perceived urgency of an alert is a useful design consideration. Annoyance associated with environmental noise has been thoroughly studied, but little research has addressed whether alert parameters differentially affect annoyance and urgency. METHOD: Three 2(3) x 3 mixed within/between factorial experiments, with a total of 72 participants, investigated nine alert parameters in three driving contexts. These parameters were formant (similar to harmonic series), pulse duration, interpulse interval, alert onset and offset, burst duty cycle, alert duty cycle, interburst period, and sound type. Imagined collision warning, navigation alert, and E-mail notification scenarios defined the driving context. RESULTS: All parameters influenced both perceived urgency and annoyance (p < .05), with pulse duration, interpulse interval, alert duty cycle, and sound type influencing urgency substantially more than annoyance. There was strong relationship between perceived urgency and rated appropriateness for high-urgency driving scenarios and a strong relationship between annoyance and rated appropriateness for low-urgency driving scenarios. CONCLUSION: Sound parameters differentially affect annoyance and urgency. Also, urgency and annoyance differentially affect perceived appropriateness of warnings. APPLICATION: Annoyance may merit as much attention as urgency in the design of auditory warnings, particularly in systems that alert drivers to relatively low-urgency situations.