Francis Pérée

Collective Control in an Automatized System as Apprehended in Verbal Communications

Abstract The control of an automatized system in the iron and steel industry has been apprehended through verbal communications in two different teams. A relationship was established between the performance level of production of the teams and the way in which information circulated, the subjects broached in the verbal exchanges and the chief speakers. If, at first sight, the structure of the verbal exchanges is very similar in both teams - very close percentages for the themes discussed, and a fairly similar distribution among the speakers - a closer analysis, based on several months of observation on the site reveals very different styles of working. These styles, oriented in the first team towards technique and the quality of production, and in the second towards social aspects, seem to govern the manner in which the knowledge of the system is structured. The behaviour observed appear to be determined by the interaction of individual, cognitive, and social variables. These results are presented in relation to theoritical models of regulation of human behaviour, of which they stress some Iimits.

COLLECTIVE CONTROL IN AN AUTOMATIZED SYSTEM AS APPREHENDED IN VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS

Abstract The control of an automatized system in the iron and steel industry has been apprehended through verbal communications in two different teams. A relationship was established between the performance level of production of the teams and the way in which information circulated, the subjects broached in the verbal exchanges and the chief speakers. If, at first sight, the structure of the verbal exchanges is very similar in both teams - very close percentages for the themes discussed, and a fairly similar distribution among the speakers - a closer analysis, based on several months of observation on the site reveals very different styles of working. These styles, oriented in the first team towards technique and the quality of production, and in the second towards social aspects, seem to govern the manner in which the knowledge of the system is structured. The behaviour observed appear to be determined by the interaction of individual, cognitive, and social variables. These results are presented in relation to theoritical models of regulation of human behaviour, of which they stress some limits.

Factors influencing assignment of anaphoric pronoun coreference in children and adults

Studies are reported on the way schoolchildren, adolescents and young adults assign the coreferent of anaphoric pronouns in ambiguous and nonambiguous sentences presented orally with pictorial support or in writing. First, Kail’s so-called parallel function hypothesis (Kail 1976, Kail & Leveille 1977) is refuted. This hypothesis states that if two noun phrase with different grammatical functions can be coreferential with a personal pronoun and if number and gender cannot be used to properly select the coreferent, then the interlocutor will choose systematically as coreferent of