Dr. David E. Clement
Distinguished Professor Emeritus

David Clement received his Ph.D. in psychology from Johns Hopkins in 1963 (he had a B.S. in engineering and had worked for Eastman Kodak as an engineer prior to returning to graduate school). He taught at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon) and the University of South Florida prior to joining the University of South Carolina faculty in 1978.

His research has been in the general area of human performance, with applications to both engineering/human factors psychology and industrial/organizational psychology. It has included studies of:

• perceptual processing (impact of pattern organization and pattern variability/uncertainty on response selection, response latency, and discrimination)
• learning and memory (auditory and visual confusability impacts on encoding and reaction time)
• impact of training/correctional/educational programs (program evaluation)
• factors involved in safety and accident prevention, and
• group performance (small group tasks, communications).

He has published fifty-five journal articles and chapters in these areas, as well as presenting a similar number of papers and workshops. He has received 20 research grants and contracts in these areas. Clement's current research is focused upon aspects of safety and accident prevention in the workplace. One specific line of research is concerned with the use of job sanctions to improve worker adherence to safety procedures. A second specific direction has been in the general use and interpretations of instructions and warnings both in work settings (equipment, etc.) and in other environments (including consumer products).

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