Computer user training and attitudes: a study of business undergraduates

For many users, the first real encounter with a computer occurs when taking an introductory course to computers at a college. To the extent that these training courses impact user understanding and motivation, they are important determinants of the user attitudes towards computers and merit serious assessment. Using 327 business undergraduates at two universities in the US, this paper reports on the reactions of students to computers and computer-related tasks before and after an introductory course to computers. Responses to a 20-item scale were analysed to examine the pattern of attitude change experienced by students in their training course. Factor analysis revealed five constructs for describing patterns of computer user attitude: negative reaction to computers; positive reaction to computers; reaction to computers for children education; reaction to computer-mediated services; and reaction to computer games. Four factors show significant change in mean scores after the training courses. The attitudes changed for males more than females, indicating improvement in attitudes. The respondents' attitude to computer-mediated services remained unchanged. While the directions of changes indicate an overall improvement in respondents' reactions, many attitudes did not change significantly after having taken the training courses. This may be due to the content or the format of these courses.     

A STRENGTHENED ALGORITHM FOR TEMPORAL REASONING ABOUT PLANS

Allen's interval algebra has been shown to be useful for representing plans. We present a strengthened algorithm for temporal reasoning about plans, which improves on straightforward applications of the existing reasoning algorithms for the algebra. This is made possible by viewing plans as both temporal networks and hierarchical structures. The temporal network view allows us to check for inconsistencies as well as propagate the effects of new temporal constraints, whereas the hierarchical view helps us to get the strengthened results by taking into account the dependency relationships between actions.
We further apply our algorithm to the process of plan recognition through the analysis of natural language input. We show that such an application has two useful effects: the temporal relations derived from the natural language input can be used as constraints to reduce the number of candidate plans, and the derived constraints can be made more specific by combining them with the prestored constraints in the plans being recognized.     

DMSH—支持直接操纵的用户接口管理系统

本文介绍一个用于生成直接操纵用户接口的用户管理系统(ULMS-UserInterface Management System)——直接操纵用户接口自动生成系统DMSH(Direct Manipulation SHell)的设计与实现,该系统提供图形操作对象和接口描述语言供用户使用。生成用户接口,并可随时扩充;接口描述语言具有第四代语言的特征——直观性和非过程性。     

ORACLE数据库中报表方式的设计

介绍了在以TNVT220方式远程登录服务器的局域网中，采用SCO UNIX操作系统和0RACLE数据库的报表方式设计，用于图书馆的计算机信息管理系统中。所设计的用户出口报表有4种方式：SQL*PLUS、SQL*ReportWrite、Pro*C、SQL*Forms。并对4种报表方式进行了描述与比较。     

无线本地环路技术的发展与市场展望

论文简要介绍了无线本地环路的发展史及所采用的技术和设备,尤其是微蜂窝技术的应用情况及在我国的应用前景,并分析了无线用户环路在我国的市场前景。     

Autonomy and job satisfaction in task-oriented groups.

Ss were placed in apparent 3-person communication structures in which written notes were used to create illusions of centrality (or peripherality) and of autonomy (or dependence). A simple task was given requiring coordination of the Ss' activities. Results indicate that "positional autonomy is a major determinant of job satisfaction in task-oriented groups." The relationship between autonomy and job satisfaction seems to be mediated by satisfaction of a need for autonomy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job satisfaction, job performance, and situational characteristics.

How are job satisfaction and performance related to the variables of the situation? S were approximately 2500 workers in 72 warehouses of 1 company. Job satisfaction was measured by questionnaire items. Factor analysis was used to relate the variables of quantity, quality, profitability, turnover, size of workforce, city size, wage rate and unionization and percentage of males. Job satisfaction was highest with the greatest productivity and profit. Small town culture had the most satisfaction and performance. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3LH65K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Assigned and Participative Goal Setting on Performance and Job Satisfaction: Erratum.

Reports an error in the the article "Effects of Assigned and Participative Goal Setting on Performance and Job Satisfaction" by Gary P. Latham and Gary A. Yukl (Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol 61(2) Apr 1976, 166-171). The last paragraph in the Results section subtitled "Manipulation Check and Reliability of Measures" on page 168 was a repetition of the previous paragraph. It should be changed to read as follows: The internal consistency of the satisfaction measure was .83, The stability of the satisfaction scale, as estimated by the correlation between the before and after measures of satisfaction, was .70 (p 1977-30702-001.) Evaluated the job performance of 41 female typists under participative or assigned goal setting conditions over a 10-wk period. Significant productivity improvement occurred in both conditions during the 2nd 5 wks. There was no significant difference between conditions with respect to goal difficulty or frequency of goal attainment. Job satisfaction declined slightly in both conditions. Individual trait measures such as need for independence did not moderate the effects of either type of goal setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

USER INTERFACE FOR COLOR SELECTION

The user-computer interface for color selection is of great significance for the use of colors incomputer graphics, particularly in some fields where the used colors have to be selected carefully. Thispaper discusses what factors have to be considered to design an effective user interface for color selec-tion. It also presents a method which shows how to represent 3D color spaces according to the psychol-ogy of color perception. Two examples of user interface for color selection are given. One is based onthe CLELUV uniform color space, the other is based on RGB-rotated color model.     

Marital closeness, functional disability, and adjustment in late life.

Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) posits that emotionally close relationships are increasingly valued as people perceive constraints on time. Based on SST, this study of 1,532 older married persons hypothesized that emotional dimensions of marriage would more strongly predict adjustment at higher levels of functional disability. High levels of marital closeness were negatively associated with depression and anxiety and positively associated with self-esteem. Consistent with predictions derived from SST, marital closeness moderated the negative psychological effects of high levels of functional disability on depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Results are discussed in the context of SST and traditional stress-buffering models of social support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)