SAGE Journal Articles

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Rovira, E., McGarry, K., & Parasuraman, R. (2007). Effects of imperfect automation on decision making in a simulated command and control task. Human Factors, 49, 76-87.

Objective: Effects of four types of automation support and two levels of automation reliability were examined. The objective was to examine the differential impact of information and decision automation and to investigate the costs of automation unreliability. Background: Research has shown that imperfect automation can lead to differential effects of stages and levels of automation on human performance. Method: Eighteen participants performed a “sensor to shooter” targeting simulation of command and control. Dependent variables included accuracy and response time of target engagement decisions, secondary task performance, and subjective ratings of mental workload, trust, and self-confidence. Results: Compared with manual performance, reliable automation significantly reduced decision times. Unreliable automation led to greater cost in decision-making accuracy under the higher automation reliability condition for three different forms of decision automation relative to information automation. At low automation reliability, however, there was a cost in performance for both information and decision automation. Conclusion: The results are consistent with a model of human-automation interaction that requires evaluation of the different stages of information processing to which automation support can be applied. Application: If fully reliable decision automation cannot be guaranteed, designers should provide users with information automation support or other tools that allow for inspection and analysis of raw data.

Meltzer, A. L., McNulty, J. K., Novak, S., Butler, E., & Karney, B. R. (2011). Marriages are more satisfying when wives are thinner than their husbands. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 416-424.

Body weight plays a significant role in attraction and relationship formation, but does it continue to shape more established relationships? The current 4-year longitudinal study of 169 newlywed couples addressed this question by examining the implications of own and partner body mass index (BMI) for the trajectory of marital satisfaction. In contrast to findings from studies of attraction and mate selection, own and partner BMI demonstrated inconsistent effects on the trajectory of satisfaction. However, consistent with predictions derived from interdependence theory, normative resource theories, and evolutionary perspectives, husbands were more satisfied initially and wives were more satisfied over time to the extent that wives had lower BMIs than their husbands, controlling for depression, income, education, and whether the relationship ended in divorce. These findings suggest that a dyadic perspective may be more appropriate than an individual one for understanding how partners' qualities shape established relationships such as marriage.

Docking, K., Munro, N., Cordier, R., & Ellis, P. (2013). Examining the language skills of children with ADHD following a play-based intervention. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 29, 291-304.

Communication and play skills are important aspects of development yet are largely uncharted in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This exploratory study examined whether changes in pragmatic skills and problem-solving skills were observed in children with ADHD pre- and post-participation in a play-based intervention conducted by occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists. The study also investigated whether the presence of language difficulties affected the children’s play outcomes. Fourteen children with ADHD (5;0–10;7 years) participated in a 7-week, pilot intervention to address play and social skill deficits. Pre- and post-intervention testing included: (a) the assessment of play and problem-solving skills via standardized testing, and (b) pragmatic skills via parent report. The children’s language skills were also screened and compared with their play scores. Play skills significantly improved post-intervention. No significant differences were observed for pragmatic skills while prediction skills, an aspect of problem-solving, significantly improved pre- and post-play-based intervention. Fifty percent of children failed the language screener, yet separate paired t-tests identified significant play improvements irrespective of the presence or absence of language difficulty. Two independent t-tests revealed significant differences in play scores between these groups at pre- but not post-intervention.

While play and predicting skills significantly improved post-play-based intervention, other aspects of problem-solving and pragmatics did not. Reasons for the lack of change in these areas are discussed. The presence of language difficulties did not appear to affect the play outcomes of children with ADHD following a play-based intervention. A larger scale experimental trial investigating the play and language skills of children with ADHD is warranted, as is future collaborative research between occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists in the assessment and management of children with ADHD.