Information processor

Abstract: Understanding the successful adoption of information technology is largely based upon understanding the linkages among quality, satisfaction, and usage. Although the satisfaction and usage constructs have been well studied in the information systems literature, there has been only limited attention to information and system quality over the past decade. To address this shortcoming, we developed a model consisting of nine fundamental determinants of quality in an information technology context, four under the rubric of information quality (the output of an information system) and five that describe system quality (the information processing system required to produce the output). We then empirically examined the aptness of our model using a sample of 465 data warehouse users from seven different organizations that employed report-based, query-based, and analytical business intelligence tools. The results suggest that our determinants are indeed predictive of overall information and system quality in data warehouse environments, and that our model strikes a balance between comprehensiveness and parsimony. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for both theory and the development and implementation of information technology applications in practice.

Abstract: In this paper we describe a complex information processing system, which we call the logic theory machine, that is capable of discovering proofs for theorems in symbolic logic. This system, in contrast to the systematic algorithms that are ordinarily employed in computation, relies heavily on heuristic methods similar to those that have been observed in . human problem solving activity. The specification is written in a formal language, of the nature of a pseudo-code, that is suitable for coding for digital computers. However, the present paper is concerned exclusively with specification of the system, and not with its realization in a computer. The logic theory machine is part of a program of research to understand complex information processing systems by specifying and synthesizing a substantial variety of such systems for empirical study.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses production systems and the way in which they operate. A production system is a scheme for specifying an information processing system. It consists of a set of productions, each production consisting of a condition and an action. It has also a collection of data structures: expressions that encode the information upon which the production system works—on which the actions operate and on which the conditions can be determined to be true or false. The chapter discusses the possibility of having a theory of the control structure of human information processing. Gains seem possible in many forms such as completeness of the microtheories of how various miniscule experimental tasks are performed, the ability to pose meaningfully the problem of what method a subject is using, the ability to suggest new mechanisms for accomplishing a task, and the facilitation of comparing behavior on diverse tasks. The chapter presents a theory of the control structure.