Yechiam Eldad, Erev Ido, Yehene Vered, Gopher Daniel
Technion--Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Hum Factors. 2003;45(4):671-84. doi: 10.1518/hfes.45.4.671.27085.
Previous research shows that success in touch-typing training does not ensure its continuation into everyday use. It is postulated that an important contributor to this problem is melioration--that is, maximizing local rates of reinforcement. In the context of typing, melioration implies an intuitive tendency to choose typing strategies that lead to a better immediate performance level than that obtained by touchtyping. One such strategy is visually guided typing, in which the performer looks at the keys to locate their position. The present research describes a training approach that changes the reinforcement structure by increasing the attractiveness of looking at the screen while typing. This approach is implemented by using a secondary task that requires typists to respond to signals appearing on the screen. In an experiment that evaluated this solution, 22 students were given a touch-typing training course followed by a period in which they had to type their own homework. The results showed that under a modified reinforcement condition, the effect of melioration on touch-typing scores in the posttraining phase decreased. In addition, the experimental manipulation facilitated the acquisition and maintenance of the touch-typing skill. Actual or potential applications of this research include research in training, choice behavior, and human-computer interaction.
先前的研究表明，触摸打字训练取得成功并不意味着能持续应用到日常使用中。据推测，造成这一问题的一个重要因素是行为改善——也就是说，将局部强化率最大化。在打字的情境中，行为改善意味着一种直观的倾向，即选择能带来比触摸打字更好的即时表现水平的打字策略。一种这样的策略是视觉引导打字，即打字者看着键盘来确定其位置。本研究描述了一种训练方法，该方法通过增加打字时看屏幕的吸引力来改变强化结构。这种方法是通过使用一项次要任务来实现的，该任务要求打字员对屏幕上出现的信号做出反应。在一项评估该解决方案的实验中，22名学生参加了触摸打字训练课程，随后有一段时间他们必须打自己的作业。结果表明，在经过修改的强化条件下，行为改善对训练后阶段触摸打字分数的影响有所降低。此外，实验操作有助于触摸打字技能的习得和保持。本研究的实际或潜在应用包括训练、选择行为和人机交互方面的研究。
