Publication statistics
Pub. period:1991-1995
Pub. count:9
Number of co-authors:10
Co-authors
Number of publications with 3 favourite co-authors:
Curt C. Braun:3Guillermo Navarro:2Jennifer L. Dyck:2 Productive colleagues
Janan Al-Awar Smither's 3 most productive colleagues in number of publications:
Curt C. Braun:16Clint A. Bowers:12Janet J. Turnage:9
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Janan Al-Awar Smither
Publications by Janan Al-Awar Smither (bibliography)
Smither, Janan Al-Awar (1995): Voice Feedback and Performance. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. p. 945.
“This experiment examined the effects of voice feedback on the performance and attitudes of computer users. The experiment was also designed to examine the effects of providing this feedback to users in a private versus a public situation. The results of the study indicated that users performing the computer task in private completed it faster than those performing it in public. The results also indicated that subjects in both groups preferred visual to auditory feedback on performance. However, users performing the task in private were less in agreement than those performing the task in public. Although the results of this study may not be applicable to all other voice systems and applications, they underscore the importance of a cautious approach whenever implementing voice technology is in question.”
© All rights reserved Smither and/or Human Factors Society
Navarro, Guillermo, Bowers, Clint A. and Smither, Janan Al-Awar (1995): Gender Differences in Multiple Task Performance among the Young and Old. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. p. 946.
“This experiment investigated gender differences in multiple task performance among younger (mean age = 20.5) and older adults (mean age = 62.5). Specifically of interest, was whether there were differences in performance on dual-tasks which were considered ipsilateral or contralateral. Previous research has indicated that with age, the distinction between processing centers lessens, leading to greater task interference. The goal of the research was to determine if, with age, there are differential effects between men and women. In the current study, participants tapped with their right and left hands singularly, and performed a spatial rotation task and vocalization task in the dual-task conditions. Congruent with previous research, the findings indicate performance decrements for older adults in individual and dual task conditions when compared to younger adults. However, when gender is also considered, men appear to demonstrate the greatest changes in performance. For example, when right-hand finger tapping and vocalizing, younger men are the best performers whereas older men are the worst. In dual-task conditions involving ipsilateral tasks, greater performance decrements were observed than dual-task conditions involving contralateral tasks. The results of this research provide data supporting the assertion that the difficulty older adults experience in dual-task conditions is a function of natural decreases in functional cerebral distance. Furthermore, the data provide preliminary indication regarding the potential for reallocation training as an intervention to minimize dual-task interference effects.”
© All rights reserved Navarro et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Smither, Janan Al-Awar, Braun, Curt C. and Navarro, Guillermo (1995): The Effects of Print Type on the Readability of Computer Displays by Older and Younger Adults. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. p. 960.
“The present research investigated the readability of computer text using various combinations of fonts, sizes, and weights of print. Older and younger adult's reading speeds and error rates for the different print types were compared. The overall findings of the study indicate significant differences in reading speed and error rates for the print characteristics investigated. Furthermore, the effects of these print characteristics varied for individuals of different age groups. Implications of these findings for the design of computer text for older adults are discussed.”
© All rights reserved Smither et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Smither, Janan Al-Awar, Piccione, Frances and Braun, Curt C. (1995): Computer Displays and Older Adults. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. p. 960.
“The present study investigated the effects of enhanced visual displays on the reading speed and comprehension of younger and older adults. The findings indicated that when the characteristics of the display medium accommodated visual declines related to aging no differences in performance between the two age-groups were detected. Findings of the present study suggest that some of the factors that contribute to the poor performance of older adults in HCI research may be related to the use of software that does not accommodate for age-related visual declines. Future research investigating age-related differences in computer performance should take the readability of the screen into account.”
© All rights reserved Smither et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Smither, Janan Al-Awar (1993): Short Term Memory Demands in Processing Synthetic Speech by Old and Young Adults. In Behaviour and Information Technology, 12 (6) pp. 330-335.
“This experiment investigated the demands synthetic speech places on short term memory by comparing performance of old and young adults on an ordinary short term memory task. Items presented were generated by a human speaker or by a computer based text-to-speech synthesizer. Results were consistent with the idea that the comprehension of synthetic speech imposes increased resource demands on the short term memory system. Older subjects performed significantly more poorly than younger subjects, and both groups performed more poorly with synthetic than with human speech. Findings suggest that short term memory demands imposed by the processing of synthetic speech should be investigated further, particularly regarding the implementation of voice response systems in devices for the elderly.”
© All rights reserved Smither and/or Taylor and Francis
Turnage, Janet J., Walker, Bonnie J., Kirk, Linda J., Greenis, Jennifer L., Dyck, Jennifer L. and Smither, Janan Al-Awar (1993): Individual Differences in Technology Stress. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting 1993. pp. 930-934.
“Two years ago, we convened a panel discussion at the Annual Meeting of the Human Factors Society (Turnage&Howell, 1991) to examine the possible negative effects of advanced computerized technologies. The session, titled "Technostress: Fad, Fallacy, or Fact?", explored whether or not the concept of technostress could be sufficiently well-defined and operationalized to lend itself to scientific scrutiny. The consensus of those in attendance was that the concept of technostress does deserve further research attention, particularly by human factors specialists who can offer a unique perspective to an area which heretofore has been treated from clinical and organizational psychology perspectives. Recognizing that the main goal in studying the phenomenon is to develop interventions to ameliorate technology stress through understanding the interrelationships among individual, organizational, and human-computer components, Turnage (1992) proposed an integrative model of technology stress. The model, like many other models of job stress, depicts technology stress as a multi-determined, multi-symptomatic construct that is composed of objective and subjective stressors which lead through various decision processes to stress responses. Stress responses are largely shaped by both individual and situational moderators and are translated by performance processes into individual and organizational consequences. Intervention strategies may be directed toward alleviating the stressors themselves, various components of the stress response, or symptomatic consequences of the stress response.”
© All rights reserved Turnage et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Dyck, Jennifer L. and Smither, Janan Al-Awar (1992): Computer Anxiety and the Older Adult: Relationships with Computer Experience, Gender, Education and Age. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting 1992. pp. 185-189.
“Research in the area of computer anxiety has traditionally concentrated on the younger adult. In this study older adults (55 years and over) were compared to younger adults (30 years and under) on levels of computer anxiety and computer experience. Subjects in the study completed a demographic and computer experience questionnaire, and two computer anxiety scales. Previous research findings indicating a negative relationship between computer anxiety and computer experience was replicated for both young and older adults. Additional findings indicated that older adults were less computer anxious and had less computer experience than younger adults. Furthermore, older subjects indicated more liking for computers than younger subjects. However, while young males liked computers more than young females, no differences between older males and older females were found on the computer liking subscale. Some discrepancies between the two computer anxiety scales suggest further research is needed to validate computer anxiety scales for use with older adults.”
© All rights reserved Dyck and Smither and/or Human Factors Society
Smither, Janan Al-Awar (1992): The Processing of Synthetic Speech by Older and Younger Adults. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting 1992. pp. 190-192.
“This experiment investigated the demands synthetic speech places on short term memory by comparing performance of old and young adults on an ordinary short term memory task. Items presented were generated by a human speaker or by a text-to-speech computer synthesizer. Results were consistent with the idea that the comprehension of synthetic speech imposes increased resource demands on the short term memory system. Older subjects performed significantly more poorly than younger subjects, and both groups performed more poorly with synthetic than with human speech. Findings suggest that short term memory demands imposed by the processing of synthetic speech should be investigated further, particularly regarding the implementation of voice response systems in devices for the elderly.”
© All rights reserved Smither and/or Human Factors Society
Smither, Janan Al-Awar, Braun, Curt C. and Smither, Robert D. (1991): Adoption of ATM Technology by Elderly Users. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 35th Annual Meeting 1991. pp. 177-179.
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