Archive for the 'Tutorials' Category

ALLCAPS

This entry is part 16 of 18 in the series Words

I was just a few seconds ago scanning a page of possible tests in the program DocuTAP, a list of about fifty items, to enter an order for an EKG. On the list, everything is in ALL CAPS. Even though I knew the approximate location of what I was looking for, it took me a long [...]

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What’s in a word?

This entry is part 15 of 18 in the series Words

What’s in a word? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2) OK, I cheated. I changed “name” to “word.” It sounded better for the purposes of this essay, which is about the need to choose words carefully. Yes, I changed a word [...]

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Ignore

This entry is part 14 of 18 in the series Words

No, I’m not talking about a system error message like Windows’ infamous “Abort, Retry, Fail?” I’m talking about active cognitive ignoring. This occurred to me as I’ve been using an electronic medical record system called DocuTAP. It has many very, very busy screens, each with a hundred or so items from which to choose. But [...]

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Dialog-Box Rooms

This entry is part 13 of 18 in the series Words

An experimental study recently (late 2011) ballyhooed in the press looks at how we tend to forget things as we move into a doorway, and that walking back into the room doesn’t help you recover the memories. (Duh. I could have told anyone this. As could everyone.) Not sure why prior studies on the same [...]

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Cognitive Friction

This entry is part 12 of 18 in the series Words

The Whorf-Sapir hypothesis says that our language shapes how we think. It’s been moderately debunked in recent decades, but it’s likely true, at least in small part. And one of those small parts is when someone coins a new word that encapsulates a new idea. There has been a debate within philosophy since Plato’s time [...]

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