Technical Communication--Taking the User into Account.

Abstract

This research study investigated whether reading effectiveness of procedural texts for a performance task is influenced by media formats which differed in design according to the Educational Cognitive Style (ECS) preference of the user/reader. Significant individual differences among the cognitive style types in their ability to follow the directions was found. One cognitive style type in particular tended to be more compatible with processing and understanding the technical information. Statistically significant differences were also found to result from the effect of media format design--graphics had a strong facilitative effect on user efficiency and accuracy. These results indicated that to plan and design effective instructional materials which maximize the user's understanding of the task, designers should recognize and focus on the user's strengths and weaknesses for processing technical information. A model for designing technical instructions based on the user's needs was presented. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1981
Accession Number
ADA107030

Entities

People

  • Marvin D. Glock
  • Thomas L. Crandell

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Applied Psychology
  • Biological Sciences
  • Cognition
  • Computer Science
  • Educational Psychology
  • Educational Technology
  • Human Behavior
  • Information Processing
  • Information Science
  • Military Research
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychology
  • Social Sciences
  • Students
  • Word Processors

Readers

  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Organizational Psychology.