A technique that measures the impact of command selection on task time and errors is described. Users were timed while performing a drawing task, then while performing the same task with interpolated command selections. The difference between these times, consisting of both the time to select the command and to resume drawing, is the time cost of command selection. Several interface configurations were evaluated with this method including selected combinations of single mouse, two mice, voice and touch.Touch and voice input resulted in faster command selection times (approximately 1 set) than any of the mouse conditions (approximately 3 set).
Administration of the dopamine receptor blocker pimozide (1.0 mg/kg) disrupted the initiation, but not the maintenance, of home cage food consumption. Likewise, the number of pellets consumed during magazine training was decreased among pimozide-treated rats during the first, but not the second day of training. The acquisition of a bar-press response for food reinforcement (using a retractable bar) was severely retarded by pimozide. However, such an impairment was not evident if animals initially received 2 training days in the absence of the drug. Further, among rats trained to bar press to asymptote using a nonretractable bar, pimozide reduced the within and between days bar-press rate such that performance was indistinguishable from that of animals placed on extinction in the absence of the drug treatment. When transferred from the pimozide treatment to extinction in the absence of drug, the response rate increased to the level observed during the first session of either extinction or pimozide in the continuous reinforcement condition. The results are discussed in terms of sensory-motor and reinforcement consequences of dopamine receptor blockade.
Response decrements in an operant task produced by either extinction or by the dopamine receptor blocker pimozide were examined in three experiments which employed intermittent reinforcement schedules. In contrast to the congruency between these treatments previously observed following continuous reinforcement training, treatment with pimozide was markedly more effective than extinction in decreasing performance after training with variable interval, fixed interval, and fixed ratio reinforcement. The two treatments also produced substantially different patterns of responding. A shift from extinction to pimozide did not alter the progressive decline in response rate over days, but a shift from pimozide to extinction caused a pronounced increase of performance. These results indicate that the pimozide and extinction treatment did not produce functionally equivalent effects, and that the role of dopamine on reward processes should not be inferred from comparisons between pimozide and extinction.
Computer‐based conferencing is a form of computer‐mediated communication which supports group discussion. This report describes the reaction of scientists who participated in such a conference and were asked to comment on the technology itself and on the scientific value of the exercise. While 78% indicated that they would participate in other computer‐based conferences, they also identified improvements that they would like to see. Scientists from developing countries were concerned primarily with technical problems because their capability for on‐line participation was low; most received the transcript in the mail and sent their contributions by TELEX. However, the problems identified by the industralized‐country participants require social, not technical, solutions. These scientists were concerned about the lack of contribution of others, the quality of the information that was presented, and the lack of focus or direction to the conference. They saw little of value contributed by others, but were also reluctant to contribute themselves to such an open conference. These concerns are described and related to a number of topics in social psychology such as equity, leadership, and communication networks.
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