Abstract
The present study examined the possibility that users will model or can be shaped to the vocabulary and phrase structure of a program's output in creating their own inputs. Novice and occasional computer users interacted with four versions of an inventory program ostensibly capable of understanding natural-language inputs. The four versions differed with respect to the vocabulary and/or the phrase length presented on the subjects' CRT. One-half of the subjects were unknowingly restricted to input phrases identical to those used by their respective program, the other half were not. Additionally, one-half of the subjects communicated with the program by speaking, the other half by typing. The results indicate that recognition rates of natural-language processors will increase if users are provided with a consistently worded program output to model and then are shaped with nonthreatening error messages that reiterate those vocabulary and/or phrases that the processor can understand.
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