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Baron et al. briefly summarized the history of human performance modeling¹ (HPM) in their 1990 review. The application of control theory to aircraft simulations and the development of task network models stimulated the development of methods to represent the human contribution to system dynamics. These groundbreaking efforts first identified the manifold difficulties associated with the simulation of human performance in military settings, and many of these difficulties remain matters of contemporary concern. The technical challenges associated with the representation of human performance have endured, and military applications continue to be a major driver of interest in HBR. The expense and various difficulties associated with laboratory research, field studies, and operational tests have pushed modeling and simulation to center stage as an affordable alternative to empirical studies. Simulation is now an essential component of military force development, operational planning, engineering development and acquisition, and training.

Pew and Mavor (1998) called for an integrative representation of human behavior for use in models of individual combatants and organizations. Models with integrated representation of behavior have only been achieved at rudimentary levels according to those performing the studies (e.g. Pew & Mavor, 1998; Tulving, 2002) and those building the models (e.g. Warwick et al., 2002). This chapter will address aspects of cognitive performance that are important to incorporate into models of combat based on acceptance of theory, strength of empirical data, or for other reasons such as to bridge gaps where incomplete knowledge exists about cognitive behavior and performance. As a starting point, this chapter will assess which of Pew and Mavor’s recommendations are still appropriate as determined by a review of selected literature on cognition and its representation. We will also provide some review and extensions of key literature on cognition and modeling and suggest a way ahead to close the remaining gaps. Different aspects of cognition are described with recent findings, and most are followed by an example of how they have been represented in computer models or a discussion of challenges to their representation in modeling.

The fields of virtual reality and microworld simulation have advanced significantly in the past decade. Today, computer generated personas or agents that populate these worlds and interact with human operators are now used in many endeavors and avenues of investigation. A few of many example application areas are Hollywood animations for movies, cartoons, and advertising (von-Neuman & Morganstern, 1947); immersive industrial and safety training simulations (Fudenberg & Tirole, 2000; Silverman et al., 2001); distributed, interactive military war games and mission rehearsals (Johns & Silverman, 2001); and personal assistant agents to reduce technologic complexity for the general public, among others (Weaver, Silverman, Shin & Dubois, 2001).

Several studies find that there is little sex gap in wages at labor market entry, and that the sex gap in wages emerges (and grows) with time in the labor market. This evidence is consistent with (i) there is little or no sex discrimination in wages at labor market entry, and (ii) the emergence of the sex gap in wages with time in the labor market reflects differences between women and men in human capital investment (and other decisions), with women investing less early in their careers. Indeed, some economists explicitly interpret the evidence this way. We show that this interpretation ignores two fundamental implications of the human capital model, and that differences in investment can complicate the interpretation of both the starting sex gap in wages (or absence of a gap), and the differences in “returns” to experience. We then estimate stylized structural models of human capital investment and wage growth to identify the effects of discrimination (or other sources of a starting pay gap) and differences in human capital investment.

Facial expression recognition by human observers is affected by subjective components. Indeed there is no ground truth. We have developed Discrete Choice Models (DCM) to capture the human perception of facial expressions. In a first step, the static case is treated, that is modelling perception of facial images. Image information is extracted using a computer vision tool called Active Appearance Model (AAM). DCMs attributes are based on the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), Expression Descriptive Units (EDUs) and outputs of AAM. Some behavioural data have been collected using an Internet survey, where respondents are asked to label facial images from the Cohn–Kanade database with expressions. Different models were estimated by likelihood maximization using the obtained data. In a second step, the proposed static discrete choice framework is extended to the dynamic case, which considers facial video instead of images. The model theory is described and another Internet survey is currently conducted in order to obtain expressions labels on videos. In this second Internet survey, videos come from the Cohn–Kanade database and the Facial Expressions and Emotions Database (FEED).

Purpose — This paper explores the field of ethical conflicts of human resource (HR) managers in Slovenian organizations: unfair payments, extreme differences in rewards, not respecting employees’ rights, discrimination; using over excessive disciplinary power, not paying social contributions, and engaging in manipulations, among others. The main attention is paid to the implementation of employees’ rights and the factors that affect the process of the implementation of employees’ rights.Design/methodology/approach — We applied an ABC (antecedents — behavior — consequences) analysis of ethical organizational behavior. The survey encompasses 73 HR managers of Slovenian companies.Findings — HR managers perceive their role in an organization as being caught in a specific position in relation to senior management and employees. The study shows that in organizations where the “soft” and “combined” model of human resource management (HRM) is developed, the implementation of employees’ rights is more strongly realized.Research limitations — The sample size is one of the chapter’s limitations. The other is the use of quantitative statistical approach without applying other methods. In the future it should be accompanied with qualitative techniques by which dishonesty would be more directly linked to the violation of employees’ rights.Practical implications — Professional education can (1) form a solid system of professional values that can help to prioritize expectations and demands in the work place and (2) equip HR managers with competencies to solve ethical issues and to engage in ethical behavior.Social implications/value — The results show that first of all, HR managers are responsible in their role (responsibility of the role in developing the model of HRM which facilitates the implementation of employees’ rights) and only secondly, comes the responsibility of HR managers in an active sense of responsibility (responsibility as a virtue).

Vintage capital growth models have been at the heart of growth theory in the 1960s. This research line collapsed in the late 1960s with the so-called embodiment controversy and the technical sophisitication of the vintage models. This chapter analyzes the astonishing revival of this literature in the 1990s. In particular, it outlines three methodological breakthroughs explaining this resurgence: a growth accounting revolution, taking advantage of the availability of new time series; an optimal control revolution, allowing to safely study vintage capital optimal growth models; and a vintage human capital revolution, along with the rise of economic demography, accounting for the vintage structure of human capital similarly to physical capital age structuring. The related literature is surveyed.

Human performance, particularly that of the warfighter, has been the subject of a large amount of research during the past few decades. For example, in the Medline database of medical and psychological research, 1,061 papers had been published on the topic of “military performance” as of October 2003. Because warfighters are often pushed to physiological and mental extremes, a study of their performance provides a unique glimpse of the interplay of a wide variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on the functioning of the human brain and body. Unfortunately, it has proven very difficult to build performance models that can adequately incorporate the myriad of physiological, medical, social, and cognitive factors that influence behavior in extreme conditions. The chief purpose of this chapter is to provide a neurobiological (neurochemical) framework for building and integrating warfighter performance models in the physiological, medical, social, and cognitive areas. This framework should be relevant to all other professionals who routinely operate in extreme environments. The secondary purpose of this chapter is to recommend various performance metrics that can be linked to specific neurochemical states and can accordingly strengthen and extend the scope of the neurochemical model.

The main purpose of this study is analyzing the influence of corporate social responsibility practices and programs on employee human resources performances in Puerto Rico. The study used an exploratory approach and primary data for this research was obtained through a questionnaire collected from 205 employees of companies with CSR active programs. The study uses structural equation model (SEM) technique to test the hypotheses. The study found the highest significantly positive relationship in CSR programs and employee human resources performances than CSR practices and employee human resources performances. The present study discusses important implications regarding uses of CSR for enhancing employee’s organizational commitment and satisfaction. One of the least studied areas at the moment is the internal corporate social responsibility which is directly related to company’s employees. This dimension of the corporate social responsibility refers to the set of responsible activities and practices that the company realizes toward their employees that consider the living conditions of each one of them and the contribution that it can do to improve their well-being.