University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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The Human Performance Center, found within the Department of Psy- chology, is a research organization concerned with the processing of in- formation by human beings. Faculty members and affiliated graduate stu- dents are seeking to advance knowl- edge regarding information storage, attention, perception, long and short- term memory, and choice and deci- sion processes. A basic interest is the effect of learning and instruction on man ' s performance in these areas. With regard to human learning and memory, researchers are interested in finding out how humans store verbal information, keep it over time, and later retrieve it to put out a response. Effects of repeating and rehearsing the information before storage are determined through experimentation. Some results suggest that people re- member verbal items by mentally as- signing arbitrary identities to them. The subject under observation is re- quired to attempt verbatim recall, de- layed recognition, and cued responding. Another focus of research is on per- ception of size, color and form of ob- jects. Investigation involves factors such as similarity and contrast be- tween the things perceived; it also in- cludes studies of unique color hues, after-images, visual illusions and pat- tern recognition. Other interests of the HPC include human decision-making, signal detec- tion, and the process of simple prob- lem solving. PROBLEM TO SOU IS WHO E = HC 14