Divide and conquer: improving parental understanding of health-related instructions using sequential pictorial instructions

Divide-and-Conquer with Sequential Monte Carlo

We propose a novel class of Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithms, appropriate for inference in probabilistic graphical models. This class of algorithms adopts a divide-and-conquer approach based upon an auxiliary tree-structured decomposition of the model of interest, turning the overall inferential task into a collection of recursively solved sub-problems. The proposed method is applicable ...

Usability of Pictorial Assembly Instructions for Young Children

This human factors research demonstrated the importance of instruction design on assembly performance and self-efficacy in young children. The mixed-method usability study evaluated the effect of gender, age, toy, and experience on assembly performance, frequency and duration of instruction looks, subjective evaluations, and usability problems. A total of twenty-four boys and girls, sixand nine...

Better transitions: improving comprehension of discharge instructions.

Discharge out of the hospital is a time of heightened vulnerability for our patients. The combination of shorter lengths of stay and increased clinical acuity results in increased complexity of discharge instructions and higher expectations for patients to perform challenging self-care activities. Yet, the amount of time and resources available for patient and family caregiver preparation prior...

Sports Health Instructions for Authors

A Framework for Understanding Verbal Route Instructions

My goal is to understand human verbal route instructions by modeling and implementing the language, knowledge representation, and cognitive processes needed to communicate about spatial routes. To understand human route instructions, I ran a study of how people give and follow route instructions. I modeled the language used in the route instruction texts using standard computational linguistics...