Suchergebnisse

In my collection of images and concepts that are associated with Howard Davis and knowledge creation, transfer and utilization (KT) there are many that summarize the bittersweet context of our meetings. There is one, however, that serves as a leitmotif. In comfortable lawn chairs, wrapped in blankets against the evening mountain chill, sippping fine scotch, watching the glorious sunset on the mountains in Aspen, Colorado, discussing the validity of personal religious experiences, the reason for being of Davis and NIMH, where I fit into the overall mental health service scheme of things. But then that night, hearing his heavy footsteps pacing in the room overhead, pacing alone, my wondering at the contrast between the peaceful, constructive, creative state I had seen him in earlier and this Ahab-like pacing, perhaps torment; sleep overtaking me, the contrast unresolved.

Howard Davis had a vision as to how he could improve the lives of all people in the future. His profound interest in the plight of individuals at the grass roots is embodied in his references to the mythical Mrs. Swanson. This daring man communicated his caring concerns to the colleagues with whom he worked. He entered their lives substantially with impact on their careers and research interests in order to achieve the first goal: improvements in the quality oflifefor all persons. Colleagues contributing to this journal expanded Davis's ideas and dreams. Each contributor develops further Davis's scientific exploration in mental health service delivery, knowledge utilization, planned change, and program evaluation. They underscore Davis's desire for the production of useful knowledge, not just an empty response to the academic reward system. Of greater importance is the recognition of his leadership in the transfer and utilization of significant new findings from the research community to public policy and service delivery.

ABSTRACTThe transfer of expert knowledge to novices is one means of improving decision quality. Research needs to identify (1) the knowledge to be transferred to novices, and (2) the best method for transferring that knowledge. Studies that compare the judgment behavior of experienced and novice auditors address the first issue. The present study addresses the second issue in the context of using a computer‐assisted training (CAT) program. CAT was selected for study because of evidence that it can both improve the effectiveness and reduce the costs of training. An experiment was conducted in which two factors were manipulated: (1) the design of the human‐computer interface of the CAT program, and (2) the content of training tasks. The judgment of interest involved causal reasoning about the relationships between various internal control procedures and possible errors. The results indicate that alternative styles of interaction with a CAT program differ in terms of learning effectiveness. In addition, there was also evidence that training task content affected learning.