59784824
A cognitive systems engineering approach to the design of decision support systems
2979008
Strategies for designing distributed systems: case studies in the design of an air traffic management system
The air traffic management system in the USA is an example of a distributed problem-solving system. It has elements of both cooperative and competitive problem-solving. It includes complex organizations such as Flight Operations Centers, the FAA Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center (ATCSCC), and traffic management units at en route centers that focus on daily strategic planning, as well as individuals concerned more with immediate tactical decisions (such as air traffic controllers and pilots). The design of this system has evolved over time to rely heavily on the distribution of tasks and control authority in order to keep cognitive complexity manageable for any one individual operator, and to provide redundancy (both human and technological) to serve as a safety net to catch the slips or mistakes that any one person or entity might make. Within this distributed architecture, a number of different conceptual approaches have been applied to deal with cognitive complexity and to provide redundancy. These approaches can be characterized in terms of the strategy for distributing: (1) control or responsibility, (2) knowledge or expertise, (3) access to data, (4) processing capacity, and (5) goals and priorities. This paper will provide an abstract characterization of these alternative strategies for distributing work in terms of these 5 dimensions, and will illustrate and evaluate their effectiveness in terms of concrete realizations found within the National Airspace System.
61094206
Bibliographic information retrieval systems: increasing cognitive compatibility
Afin d'eviter la traduction de la question de l'utilisateur par des mots cles, des groupes de recherche tentent d'utiliser les techniques des systemes de bases de connaissances pour se servir au mieux des systemes de recherche en ligne. Il faut donc faire appel a l'intelligence artificielle pour identifier et coder les connaissances; et il faut pouvoir identifier les facteurs humains afin de concevoir les interfaces appropriees
38064374
A Catalog of Errors
Abstract This paper reviews various errors that have been described by comparing human behavior to the norms of probability, causal connection and logical deduction. For each error we review evidence on whether the error has been demonstrated to occur. For many errors, the occurrence of a bias has not been demonstrated; for other, a bias does occur, but arguments can be made that the bias is not always an error. Based on the conclusions of this review, we caution researchers and practitioners in referring to well known biases and errors.
2902641
Teaching problem-solving through a cooperative learning environment
The Biology Sleuth was developed to provide a testbed in which the distribution of critical resources could be varied and the consequent effects on group dynamics and individual learning could be studied. The primary teaching goal of The Biology Sleuth is to teach important problem-solving skills (specifically, diagnostic reasoning) to high school students. In order to meet this goal a cooperative learning [3] environment has been developed in which students work in groups, aided by each other, software, and the classroom teacher,
14730101
EP-X: a demonstration of semantically based search of bibliographic databases
EP-X (Environmental Pollution eXpert) is a prototype knowledge-based system that assists users in conducting bibliographic searches of the environmental pollution literature. This system combines artificial intelligence and human factors engineering techniques, allowing us to redesign traditional bibliographic information retrieval interfaces. The result supports semantically-based search as opposed to the typical character-string matching approach. This paper discussesa sample interaction with EP-X,
the knowledge representations necessary to support this semantically-based interaction,
preliminary results of empirical studies to evaluate the interface, and
recommendations for future directions

209401863
ELSA: An Electronic Library Search Assistant (Demo).
117003092
VISUALIZING TURBULENT MIXING OF GASES AND PARTICLES
A physical model and interactive computer graphics techniques have been developed for the visualization of the basic physical process of stochastic dispersion and mixing from steady-state CFD calculations. The mixing of massless particles and inertial particles is visualized by transforming the vector field from a traditionally Eulerian reference frame into a Lagrangian reference frame. Groups of particles are traced through the vector field for the mean path as well as their statistical dispersion about the mean position by using added scalar information about the root mean square value of the vector field and its Lagrangian time scale. In this way, clouds of particles in a turbulent environment are traced, not just mean paths. In combustion simulations of many industrial processes, good mixing is required to achieve a sufficient degree of combustion efficiency. The ability to visualize this multiphase mixing can not only help identify poor mixing but also explain the mechanism for poor mixing. The information gained from the visualization can be used to improve the overall combustion efficiency in utility boilers or propulsion devices. We have used this technique to visualize steady-state simulations of the combustion performance in several furnace designs.
27065306
ELSA (abstract): an electronic library search assistant
interface for the Gratefid Med system. Because about 30% of all Grateful Med searches result in no hits, our contract from the National Library of Medicine was focused on query formulation and intermediate results. In the first phase of the project, we designed guidelines and prototype smens for the existing character-based system. Inthe second phase presented he~, we designed guidelines and prototypes for a GUI. The prototype anchors the user on a query form screen to avoid disorientation provides systematic and consistent feedback for seamh progress, and provides simple suggestions for the special cases of no hits and too many hits. The prototype was mocked up using HyperCard and illustrates what we believe is an impmved component for Grateful Med without assuming Internet access speeds or high-performance workstations. Suggestions for interfaces that am less-constrained by
58774786
Challenges in Indexing Electronic Text and Images
41698316
Cloud tracing in convection-diffusion systems
The paper describes a highly interactive method for computer visualization of simultaneous three-dimensional vector and scalar flow fields in convection-diffusion systems. This method allows a computational fluid dynamics user to visualize the basic physical process of dispersion and mixing rather than just the vector and scalar values computed by the simulation. It is based on transforming the vector field from a traditionally Eulerian reference frame into a Lagrangian reference frame. Fluid elements are traced through the vector field for the mean path as well as the statistical dispersion of the fluid elements about the mean position by using added scalar information about the root mean square value of the vector field and its Lagrangian time scale. In this way, clouds of fluid elements are traced not just mean paths. We have used this method to visualize the simulation of an industrial incinerator to help identify mechanisms for poor mixing.<<ETX>>