TRAINING FOR A FLOATING-POINT DISPLAY OF NUMBERS

摘要

An automatic typewriter was programmed for use in evaluating the response of subjects to floating and fixed-point numbers. The task of receiving and returning numbers to a digital computer was simulated;that is, the subjects typed a fixed-point number on the machine or converted it to a floating-point number before typing it. Output was the reverse operation;that is, floatingpoint form was converted to fixed-point and fixed-point remained in fixedpoint form. The results indicate that, under the conditions of the experiment, the high initial error rates in converting numbers decreased with training and became comparable to those made in simply repeating the fixed-point numbers. It is concluded that intensive training of inexperienced subjects on this "task element" is advantageous. The design of displays for digital computers which read out in floating-point form may not seriously affect performance if the subject is trained specifically for the task. The computer itself may be programmed to provide the initial practice and subsequent refresher exercises.