Utility and limitations of the SHAPE-assisted intuitive decision-making procedure.

The SHAPE-assisted decision-making procedure (C. E. J. H?rtel & G. F. H?rtel, 1997) is examined. The model provides a simple strategy for making decisions under time pressure, stress, or cognitive load. The approach is useful under such conditions because it encourages decision makers to examine the problem, identify a preferred alternative, assess the alternative as time permits, take action, and evaluate the results. The model may be less appropriate for important decisions that are made under low levels of time pressure or stress, have nonintuitive solutions, require thorough consideration of alternatives, or involve low levels of expertise. Implications of the SHAPE model for future research and practice are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognition and utilization of expertise in problem-solving groups: Expert characteristics and behavior.

The authors examined how personal characteristics and behaviors of the most expert group member relate to the group's recognition and utilization of expertise. One hundred sixty-six college students worked in 34 small groups to complete a survival exercise. Characteristics and behaviors of the most expert member of each group were correlated with measures of recognition of expertise and influence. An expert who was talkative and high (relative to other members) in the use of the influence tactic reason was more likely to be recognized as an expert by other group members. An expert was more influential if male and when he or she frequently talked, was dominant, received support from a talkative colleague, and used reason. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Casino Gambling as Local Growth Generation: Playing the Economic Development Game in Reverse?

Over the past decade, casino gambling has become increasingly popular as a local economic development strategy. This article makes the case that using gambling as an economic development tool presupposes a rather different economicdevelopment “game” from that traditionally played. While the introduction of gambling into a community might induce the same short-run effects (local jobs and incomes) as the introduction of any other economic development project, the economic development processes at work are very different. This article compares the way the economic development game is traditionally played to the way it is played “in reverse” when casino gambling is used as the tool. The main differences are in the areas of community-corporate relations, fiscal versus economic impacts, market development, the role of government, and the provision of public goods. In light of these differences, distinctions in strategic behavior are drawn. Empirical evidence from Indiana is used to analyze the economic development game as played in the traditional setting of corporate recruitment and in the context of casino gambling. The conclusions point to some of the factors that constrain a community from fully maximizing its negotiating advantage as a resource holder.     

Transactive memory and performance in work groups: Specificity, communication, ability differences, and work allocation.

The present study examined the effects of specificity, communication, ability differences, and work allocation, on the utilization of transactive memory in work groups. Clerical staff members (N = 36) worked individually and then with a coworker to complete a quiz covering six domains of work-related knowledge and to allocate domains of knowledge or specific quiz items in a manner that maximized group performance. Allocations were made first individually and then collaboratively. Results indicated that transactive memory facilitated group performance. Specificity (item allocations vs. domain allocations) led to more effective utilization of member knowledge, but communication did not. Group performance was higher when members differed in ability and when they allocated more work to the more proficient member. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Interactive Chromosone Scanning System

To the relatively few groups actively engaged in automated chromosome studies, the title of this paper is rather self explanatory because it proposes to address a problem which has become apparent to all of us who have sought to automate cell analysis. The need for human interaction implies that our automated procedures are not error free and require some degree of human verification and correction within the procedure. Indeed this is so. The fact that a problem exists may be attributed to an over-optimistic concept of the capability of machines to duplicate apparently simple human activity. It follows that certainly one purpose of this paper would be to discuss the need for human interaction in automated chromosome analysis and to suggest an approach to the question of where and how interaction should be implemented. However, so that others who may be unfamiliar with automated chromosome analysis can achieve a better understanding, the format of this paper includes a brief overview of human cytogenetics along with an attempt to treat the significance of chromosome abnormalities in terms of the need for population studies. Unfortunately, the justification for automated procedures in cytogenetics has been based upon the need to reduce the labor and tedium involved in large studies without the need for the large studies themselves being clearly established on a cytogenetic basis.     

An input-process-output analysis of influence and performance in problem-solving groups.

Member characteristics and social processes that determine influence in problem-solving groups were examined. University students completed a non-eureka intellective task—the Desert Survival Situation—both individually and in small groups. LEVEL-adjusted correlations and EQS structural modeling revealed that the extent of talking was predicted by dominance and confidence, but not actual expertise. Perceived expertise was most closely predicted by the extent of talking. Perceived expertise mediated the relation between talking and influence. Groups attempted to base decisions on expertise, but were not proficient at recognizing expertise. Additional analyses, which examined the impact of 8 influence tactics, indicated that the tactics of reason and autocracy predicted perceived expertise. Group performance was related to level of member expertise and recognition of expertise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Method for Designing an Instrument System Controller

A systematic approach to designing a controller for a scanning cytophotometer is described. The approach, applicable to most instrument control requirements, is used to ensure that the various instrument subunits will operate together as a reliable system and that the system itself will operate reliably with other external systems such as computers. The instrument functional objectives are developed through a series of steps into a logic diagram that is easily implemented in hardware. This approach is most suitable to instruments that must perform a sequence of automatic operations on command. It may be used independently or with a microprocessor to provide both fixed and programmable capability in instrument control.