Past research has found that infants between 1- and 4-months of age prefer extremely slow infant-directed (ID) speech to normal ID speech. Given that previous studies have paired the speech with a visual display, it was thought that perhaps the characteristics of the visual display affected infant preferences for rate of speaking. The present investigation was an attempt to explore this possibility. In Experiment 1, 3- to 4-month old infants were presented with ID-normal and ID-slow speech samples paired with displays of higher and lower complexity. Here, the results showed that infants preferred ID-slow to ID-normal speech regardless of display complexity. The purpose of Experiment 2 was to determine whether infant preference for speaking rate could be affected by structural differences in the visual displays. The same ID-normal and ID-slow speech samples used in Experiment 1 were paired with visual displays that either had components in a face-like or scrambled arrangement. The results of Experiment 2 showed that infants preferred the face-like display over the scrambled display regardless of what speech type was presented (i.e., there was not preference for ID-slow speech). The results of the study as a whole indicate that young infants prefer ID-slow to ID-normal speech, but that the presence of a face-like image may overshadow this preference. The study as a whole indicates that assertions about the power of ID-slow speech, as well as any auditory event in general, should not fail to address the potential influence of other sensory factors, particularly visual. / Ph. D.

Existing guidelines detail assessment criteria that should be used to evaluate offshore emergency response (ER) team members’ performance; however, minimal research has investigated this testing. Therefore, using a Human System Integration approach, this thesis examines the impact of including an electronic Emergency Response Focus Board (ERFB) during simulation testing. Archival ER performance videos were analyzed, subject matter experts (SMEs) were interviewed, and an iterative human-centered design process was used to test prototype ERFBs. Situation awareness, accuracy, and reaction times were collected during ERFB testing in simulated emergencies. Results indicate that SMEs use different assessment factors to predict future ER performance and that the type of ERFB and offshore experience significantly influenced speed and accuracy of responses. Based on these results, it was concluded that a dynamic ERFB improves the development and maintenance of SA. Therefore, it was recommended that a similar ERFB configuration be implemented into future offshore ER assessments.

The call of the recent Regular Education Initiative for special educators to provide support services to regular classroom teachers is echoing loud and clear in core subject areas (e.g., History and Social Studies). Special educators need to know the best methods for instructing learning and behaviorally disordered populations prior to transmitting the information to regular classroom teachers. This study asked questions about the relative effectiveness and efficiency of two instructional procedures: Direct Instruction with visual displays and Direct Instruction without visual displays. These were used to bring about the acquisition, maintenance and generalization of basic historical information for 41 learning and behaviorally handicapped youngsters. Subjects were from 12-15 years of age, I.Q.'s in 80-100 range, and attended special education non-public schools. Thirteen teachers were trained to implement four Direct Instruction lessons about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. Although significant learning occurred, results indicated there were no statistically significant differences in learning as a result of the two approaches. The implications for use or non-use of visual displays in teaching content area material are discussed.

The increasing use of 3D user interface elements, particularly 3D menus, demonstrates the need to expand research in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) as it pertains to 3D user interfaces. The results of this thesis contribute to the understanding of the cognitive impacts of using 3D menus. Multiple application areas for 3D menus have been identified where memory retention is a critical success factor, but little research has been done in the area of memory retention for 3D menus. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the use of 3D carousel menus increases retention of information over 2D menus and if is there a gender effect with these results. A three factor split-plot (one-between subject factor and two-within subject factors) experiment was designed to test if menu dimension, content type, and gender are significant factors in memory retention and to determine if there are any interactions between these factors. The results of the experiment revealed that dimension and gender are not significant factors in the retention of information and none of the interactions of dimension (2D vs. 3D), gender, and content were significant. Several subjects’ questionnaire responses demonstrated that the menu dimension they perceived to better aid retention was 3D; however these results were not statistically significant. While these results showed that within the boundaries chosen the use of a 3D menu neither promotes nor degrades memory retention, there are still a number of questions that need to be answered regarding the use of 3D menus and their effect on other cognitive processes.

No description available.