Children's Production of Subject-Verb Agreement in Hebrew When Gender and Context Are Ambiguous

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karniol, Rachel; Artzi, Sigal; Ludmer, Maya

2016-01-01

Third and 5th grade Hebrew-speaking children performed two sentence completion tasks, one requiring the assignment of male, female, or gender-ambiguous names and the inflection of verbs for male-stereotyped, female-stereotyped, and gender-neutral activities, and the other task, of inflecting verbs for male- and female-stereotyped activities…

Dynamic Re-Tasking: The JFACC and the Airborne Strike Package

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-04-01

Information Management ......................................................................... 23 The Future JAOC...complete the mission. It is assumed the re-tasked assets have no prior knowledge of their newly assigned target (i.e. that it is not a preplanned alternate...et al, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook : Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, (New York: Doubleday, 1994), 530. 7 Chapter 2 JFACC

An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Worry on Responses to a Discrimination Learning Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salters-Pedneault, Kristalyn; Suvak, Michael; Roemer, Lizabeth

2008-01-01

The current study examined the impact of both the tendency to worry (trait worry) and the process of worry (state worry) on subsequent behavioral responding in a schedule discrimination learning task. High and low trait worriers were randomly assigned to a state worry or relaxation incubation condition and completed a test of executive functioning…

Training Providers of Services to Persons with Developmental Disabilities. Level I. Technical Committee Report and Curriculum Guide. Invest in Success.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Idaho State Dept. of Education, Boise. Div. of Vocational Education.

Under the Idaho state system for curriculum development in vocational education, Technical Committees made up solely of industry personnel are responsible for drawing up task lists for each program. A Technical Committee Report is prepared on completion of the committees assignment. This Technical Committee Report presents a task list that…

Verifiable Task Assignment and Scheduling Controller

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-01

15 Figure 8. Summary of results for NASA -TLX overall workload and individual...using the NASA Task Load Index ( NASA -TLX; Hart & Staveland, 1988), which was completed using a computerized version of the questionnaire. The...filled out the NASA -TLX. Then prior to the second trial, participants were trained on how to use SPEC. SPEC training consisted of: an explanation of the

IMU-to-Segment Assignment and Orientation Alignment for the Lower Body Using Deep Learning

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Human body motion analysis based on wearable inertial measurement units (IMUs) receives a lot of attention from both the research community and the and industrial community. This is due to the significant role in, for instance, mobile health systems, sports and human computer interaction. In sensor based activity recognition, one of the major issues for obtaining reliable results is the sensor placement/assignment on the body. For inertial motion capture (joint kinematics estimation) and analysis, the IMU-to-segment (I2S) assignment and alignment are central issues to obtain biomechanical joint angles. Existing approaches for I2S assignment usually rely on hand crafted features and shallow classification approaches (e.g., support vector machines), with no agreement regarding the most suitable features for the assignment task. Moreover, estimating the complete orientation alignment of an IMU relative to the segment it is attached to using a machine learning approach has not been shown in literature so far. This is likely due to the high amount of training data that have to be recorded to suitably represent possible IMU alignment variations. In this work, we propose online approaches for solving the assignment and alignment tasks for an arbitrary amount of IMUs with respect to a biomechanical lower body model using a deep learning architecture and windows of 128 gyroscope and accelerometer data samples. For this, we combine convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for local filter learning with long-short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent networks as well as generalized recurrent units (GRUs) for learning time dynamic features. The assignment task is casted as a classification problem, while the alignment task is casted as a regression problem. In this framework, we demonstrate the feasibility of augmenting a limited amount of real IMU training data with simulated alignment variations and IMU data for improving the recognition/estimation accuracies. With the proposed approaches and final models we achieved 98.57% average accuracy over all segments for the I2S assignment task (100% when excluding left/right switches) and an average median angle error over all segments and axes of 2.91° for the I2S alignment task. PMID:29351262

Marijuana Craving During a Public Speaking Challenge: Understanding Marijuana Use Vulnerability among Women and those with Social Anxiety Disorder

PubMed Central

Silgado, José; Schmidt, Norman B.

2010-01-01

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with risk for developing marijuana dependence, yet it remains unclear whether urge to use marijuana increases in anticipation of social anxiety-provoking situation, during the situation, or afterwards (to avoid post-event processing). The present study examined the timing of marijuana craving in response to a social anxiety task among 60 (50% female; 33% with SAD) marijuana users randomly assigned to either a speech or reading task. Participants completed ratings of marijuana craving at baseline (prior to being informed of task assignment), before, during, and after task. Among women and participants with SAD, the speech task was associated with greater craving than the reading task. This effect was particularly pronounced during the social anxiety induction task. This effect was not observed for men or participants without SAD. Identification of timing of urge to use marijuana has important implications for treatment and relapse prevention of marijuana problems among women and people with SAD (a group at particular risk for marijuana-related problems). PMID:20797696

Automation of block assignment planning using a diagram-based scenario modeling method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, In Hyuck; Kim, Youngmin; Lee, Dong Kun; Shin, Jong Gye

2014-03-01

Most shipbuilding scheduling research so far has focused on the load level on the dock plan. This is be¬cause the dock is the least extendable resource in shipyards, and its overloading is difficult to resolve. However, once dock scheduling is completed, making a plan that makes the best use of the rest of the resources in the shipyard to minimize any additional cost is also important. Block assignment planning is one of the midterm planning tasks; it assigns a block to the facility (factory/shop or surface plate) that will actually manufacture the block according to the block characteristics and current situation of the facility. It is one of the most heavily loaded midterm planning tasks and is carried out manu¬ally by experienced workers. In this study, a method of representing the block assignment rules using a diagram was su¬ggested through analysis of the existing manual process. A block allocation program was developed which automated the block assignment process according to the rules represented by the diagram. The planning scenario was validated through a case study that compared the manual assignment and two automated block assignment results.

Performance comparison of heuristic algorithms for task scheduling in IaaS cloud computing environment.

PubMed

Madni, Syed Hamid Hussain; Abd Latiff, Muhammad Shafie; Abdullahi, Mohammed; Abdulhamid, Shafi'i Muhammad; Usman, Mohammed Joda

2017-01-01

Cloud computing infrastructure is suitable for meeting computational needs of large task sizes. Optimal scheduling of tasks in cloud computing environment has been proved to be an NP-complete problem, hence the need for the application of heuristic methods. Several heuristic algorithms have been developed and used in addressing this problem, but choosing the appropriate algorithm for solving task assignment problem of a particular nature is difficult since the methods are developed under different assumptions. Therefore, six rule based heuristic algorithms are implemented and used to schedule autonomous tasks in homogeneous and heterogeneous environments with the aim of comparing their performance in terms of cost, degree of imbalance, makespan and throughput. First Come First Serve (FCFS), Minimum Completion Time (MCT), Minimum Execution Time (MET), Max-min, Min-min and Sufferage are the heuristic algorithms considered for the performance comparison and analysis of task scheduling in cloud computing.

Performance comparison of heuristic algorithms for task scheduling in IaaS cloud computing environment

PubMed Central

Madni, Syed Hamid Hussain; Abd Latiff, Muhammad Shafie; Abdullahi, Mohammed; Usman, Mohammed Joda

2017-01-01

Cloud computing infrastructure is suitable for meeting computational needs of large task sizes. Optimal scheduling of tasks in cloud computing environment has been proved to be an NP-complete problem, hence the need for the application of heuristic methods. Several heuristic algorithms have been developed and used in addressing this problem, but choosing the appropriate algorithm for solving task assignment problem of a particular nature is difficult since the methods are developed under different assumptions. Therefore, six rule based heuristic algorithms are implemented and used to schedule autonomous tasks in homogeneous and heterogeneous environments with the aim of comparing their performance in terms of cost, degree of imbalance, makespan and throughput. First Come First Serve (FCFS), Minimum Completion Time (MCT), Minimum Execution Time (MET), Max-min, Min-min and Sufferage are the heuristic algorithms considered for the performance comparison and analysis of task scheduling in cloud computing. PMID:28467505

The effectiveness of self-compassion and self-esteem writing tasks in reducing body image concerns.

PubMed

Seekis, Veya; Bradley, Graham L; Duffy, Amanda

2017-12-01

This study investigated whether single-session self-compassion and self-esteem writing tasks ameliorate the body image concerns evoked by a negative body image induction. Ninety-six female university students aged 17-25 years (M age =19.45, SD=1.84) were randomly assigned to one of three writing treatment groups: self-compassion, self-esteem, or control. After reading a negative body image scenario, participants completed scales measuring state body appreciation, body satisfaction, and appearance anxiety. They then undertook the assigned writing task, and completed the three measures again, both immediately post-treatment and at 2-week follow-up. The self-compassion writing group showed higher post-treatment body appreciation than the self-esteem and control groups, and higher body appreciation than the control group at follow-up. At post-treatment and follow-up, self-compassion and self-esteem writing showed higher body satisfaction than the control. The groups did not differ on appearance anxiety. Writing-based interventions, especially those that enhance self-compassion, may help alleviate certain body image concerns. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parallel processing considerations for image recognition tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simske, Steven J.

2011-01-01

Many image recognition tasks are well-suited to parallel processing. The most obvious example is that many imaging tasks require the analysis of multiple images. From this standpoint, then, parallel processing need be no more complicated than assigning individual images to individual processors. However, there are three less trivial categories of parallel processing that will be considered in this paper: parallel processing (1) by task; (2) by image region; and (3) by meta-algorithm. Parallel processing by task allows the assignment of multiple workflows-as diverse as optical character recognition [OCR], document classification and barcode reading-to parallel pipelines. This can substantially decrease time to completion for the document tasks. For this approach, each parallel pipeline is generally performing a different task. Parallel processing by image region allows a larger imaging task to be sub-divided into a set of parallel pipelines, each performing the same task but on a different data set. This type of image analysis is readily addressed by a map-reduce approach. Examples include document skew detection and multiple face detection and tracking. Finally, parallel processing by meta-algorithm allows different algorithms to be deployed on the same image simultaneously. This approach may result in improved accuracy.

Comparative Effects of Antihistamines on Aircrew Mission Effectiveness under Sustained Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-06-01

measures consist mainly of process measures. Process measures are measures of activities used to accomplish the mission and produce the final results...They include task completion times and response variability, and information processing rates as they relate to unique task assignment. Performance...contains process measures that assess the Individual contributions of hardware/software and human components to overall system performance. Measures

Technical engineering services in support of the Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket vehicle system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

Task assignments in support of the Nike-Tomahawk vehicles, which were completed from May, 1970 through November 1972 are reported. The services reported include: analytical, design and drafting, fabrication and modification, and field engineering.

The impact of crosstalk on three-dimensional laparoscopic performance and workload.

PubMed

Sakata, Shinichiro; Grove, Philip M; Watson, Marcus O; Stevenson, Andrew R L

2017-10-01

This is the first study to explore the effects of crosstalk from 3D laparoscopic displays on technical performance and workload. We studied crosstalk at magnitudes that may have been tolerated during laparoscopic surgery. Participants were 36 voluntary doctors. To minimize floor effects, participants completed their surgery rotations, and a laparoscopic suturing course for surgical trainees. We used a counterbalanced, within-subjects design in which participants were randomly assigned to complete laparoscopic tasks in one of six unique testing sequences. In a simulation laboratory, participants were randomly assigned to complete laparoscopic 'navigation in space' and suturing tasks in three viewing conditions: 2D, 3D without ghosting and 3D with ghosting. Participants calibrated their exposure to crosstalk as the maximum level of ghosting that they could tolerate without discomfort. The Randot® Stereotest was used to verify stereoacuity. The study performance metric was time to completion. The NASA TLX was used to measure workload. Normal threshold stereoacuity (40-20 second of arc) was verified in all participants. Comparing optimal 3D with 2D viewing conditions, mean performance times were 2.8 and 1.6 times faster in laparoscopic navigation in space and suturing tasks respectively (p< .001). Comparing optimal 3D with suboptimal 3D viewing conditions, mean performance times were 2.9 times faster in both tasks (p< .001). Mean workload in 2D was 1.5 and 1.3 times greater than in optimal 3D viewing, for navigation in space and suturing tasks respectively (p< .001). Mean workload associated with suboptimal 3D was 1.3 times greater than optimal 3D in both laparoscopic tasks (p< .001). There was no significant relationship between the magnitude of ghosting score, laparoscopic performance and workload. Our findings highlight the advantages of 3D displays when used optimally, and their shortcomings when used sub-optimally, on both laparoscopic performance and workload.

"Barriers to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Homework Completion Scale- Depression Version": Development and Psychometric Evaluation.

PubMed

Callan, Judith A; Dunbar-Jacob, Jacqueline; Sereika, Susan M; Stone, Clement; Fasiczka, Amy; Jarrett, Robin B; Thase, Michael E

2012-01-01

We conducted a two-phase study to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of an instrument to identify barriers to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) homework completion in a depressed sample. In Phase I, we developed an item pool by interviewing 20 depressed patients and 20 CBT therapists. In Phase II, we created and administered a draft instrument to 56 people with depression. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a 2-factor oblique solution of "Patient Factors" and "Therapy/Task Factors." Internal consistency coefficients ranged from .80 to .95. Temporal stability was demonstrated through Pearson correlations of .72 (for the therapist/task subscale) to .95 (for the patient subscale) over periods of time that ranged from 2 days to 3 weeks. The patient subscale was able to satisfactorily classify patients (75 to 79 %) with low and high adherence at both sessions. Specificity was .66 at both time points. Sensitivity was .80 at sessions B and .77 at session C. There were no consistent predictors of assignment compliance when measured by the Assignment Compliance Rating Scale (Primakoff, Epstein, & Covi, 1986). The Rating Scale and subscale scores did, however, correlate significantly with assignment non-compliance (.32 to .46).

“Barriers to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Homework Completion Scale- Depression Version”: Development and Psychometric Evaluation

PubMed Central

Callan, Judith A.; Dunbar-Jacob, Jacqueline; Sereika, Susan M.; Stone, Clement; Fasiczka, Amy; Jarrett, Robin B.; Thase, Michael E.

2013-01-01

We conducted a two-phase study to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of an instrument to identify barriers to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) homework completion in a depressed sample. In Phase I, we developed an item pool by interviewing 20 depressed patients and 20 CBT therapists. In Phase II, we created and administered a draft instrument to 56 people with depression. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a 2-factor oblique solution of “Patient Factors” and “Therapy/Task Factors.” Internal consistency coefficients ranged from .80 to .95. Temporal stability was demonstrated through Pearson correlations of .72 (for the therapist/task subscale) to .95 (for the patient subscale) over periods of time that ranged from 2 days to 3 weeks. The patient subscale was able to satisfactorily classify patients (75 to 79 %) with low and high adherence at both sessions. Specificity was .66 at both time points. Sensitivity was .80 at sessions B and .77 at session C. There were no consistent predictors of assignment compliance when measured by the Assignment Compliance Rating Scale (Primakoff, Epstein, & Covi, 1986). The Rating Scale and subscale scores did, however, correlate significantly with assignment non-compliance (.32 to .46). PMID:24049556

Internet Skills Performance Tests: Are People Ready for eHealth?

PubMed Central

van Dijk, Jan A G M

2011-01-01

Background Despite the amount of online health information, there are several barriers that limit the Internet’s adoption as a source of health information. One of these barriers is highlighted in conceptualizations of the digital divide which include the differential possession of Internet skills, or “eHealth literacy”. Most measures of Internet skills among populations at large use self-assessments. The research discussed here applies a multifaceted definition of Internet skills and uses actual performance tests. Objective The purpose of this study was to assess how ready a sample of the general population is for eHealth. More specifically, four types of Internet skills were measured in a performance test in which subjects had to complete health-related assignments on the Internet. Methods From November 1, 2009, through February 28, 2010, 88 subjects participated in the study. Subjects were randomly selected from a telephone directory. A selective quota sample was used divided over equal subsamples of gender, age, and education. Each subject had to accomplish assignments on the Internet. The Internet skills accounted for were categorized as operational (basic skills to use the Internet), formal (navigation and orientation), information (finding information), and strategic (using the information for personal benefits). The tests took approximately 1.5 hours and were conducted in a University office, making the setting equally new for all. Successful completion and time spent on the assignments—the two main outcomes—were directly measured by the test leader. Results The subjects successfully completed an average of 73% (5.8/8) of the operational Internet skill tasks and an average of 73% (2.9/4) of the formal Internet skill tasks. Of the information Internet skills tasks, an average of 50% (1.5/3) was completed successfully and, of the strategic Internet skills tasks, 35% (0.7/2). Only 28% (25/88) of the subjects were able to successfully complete all operational skills tasks, 39% (34/88) all formal skills tasks, 13% (11/88) all information skills tasks, and 20% (18/88) both the strategic skill tasks. The time spent on the assignments varied substantially. Age and education were the most important contributors to the operational and formal Internet skills. Regarding the formal Internet skills, years of Internet experience also had some influence. Educational level of attainment was the most important contributor to the information and strategic Internet skills. Conclusions Although the amount of online health-related information and services is consistently growing, it appears that the general population lacks the skills to keep up. Most problematic appear to be the lack of information and strategic Internet skills, which, in the context of health, are very important. The lack of these skills is also problematic for members of younger generations, who are often considered skilled Internet users. This primarily seems to account for the operational and formal Internet skills. The results of the study strongly call for policies to increase the level of Internet skills. PMID:21531690

Assignment of protein sequences to existing domain and family classification systems: Pfam and the PDB.

PubMed

Xu, Qifang; Dunbrack, Roland L

2012-11-01

Automating the assignment of existing domain and protein family classifications to new sets of sequences is an important task. Current methods often miss assignments because remote relationships fail to achieve statistical significance. Some assignments are not as long as the actual domain definitions because local alignment methods often cut alignments short. Long insertions in query sequences often erroneously result in two copies of the domain assigned to the query. Divergent repeat sequences in proteins are often missed. We have developed a multilevel procedure to produce nearly complete assignments of protein families of an existing classification system to a large set of sequences. We apply this to the task of assigning Pfam domains to sequences and structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). We found that HHsearch alignments frequently scored more remotely related Pfams in Pfam clans higher than closely related Pfams, thus, leading to erroneous assignment at the Pfam family level. A greedy algorithm allowing for partial overlaps was, thus, applied first to sequence/HMM alignments, then HMM-HMM alignments and then structure alignments, taking care to join partial alignments split by large insertions into single-domain assignments. Additional assignment of repeat Pfams with weaker E-values was allowed after stronger assignments of the repeat HMM. Our database of assignments, presented in a database called PDBfam, contains Pfams for 99.4% of chains >50 residues. The Pfam assignment data in PDBfam are available at http://dunbrack2.fccc.edu/ProtCid/PDBfam, which can be searched by PDB codes and Pfam identifiers. They will be updated regularly.

Opportunistic Computing with Lobster: Lessons Learned from Scaling up to 25k Non-Dedicated Cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolf, Matthias; Woodard, Anna; Li, Wenzhao; Hurtado Anampa, Kenyi; Yannakopoulos, Anna; Tovar, Benjamin; Donnelly, Patrick; Brenner, Paul; Lannon, Kevin; Hildreth, Mike; Thain, Douglas

2017-10-01

We previously described Lobster, a workflow management tool for exploiting volatile opportunistic computing resources for computation in HEP. We will discuss the various challenges that have been encountered while scaling up the simultaneous CPU core utilization and the software improvements required to overcome these challenges. Categories: Workflows can now be divided into categories based on their required system resources. This allows the batch queueing system to optimize assignment of tasks to nodes with the appropriate capabilities. Within each category, limits can be specified for the number of running jobs to regulate the utilization of communication bandwidth. System resource specifications for a task category can now be modified while a project is running, avoiding the need to restart the project if resource requirements differ from the initial estimates. Lobster now implements time limits on each task category to voluntarily terminate tasks. This allows partially completed work to be recovered. Workflow dependency specification: One workflow often requires data from other workflows as input. Rather than waiting for earlier workflows to be completed before beginning later ones, Lobster now allows dependent tasks to begin as soon as sufficient input data has accumulated. Resource monitoring: Lobster utilizes a new capability in Work Queue to monitor the system resources each task requires in order to identify bottlenecks and optimally assign tasks. The capability of the Lobster opportunistic workflow management system for HEP computation has been significantly increased. We have demonstrated efficient utilization of 25 000 non-dedicated cores and achieved a data input rate of 30 Gb/s and an output rate of 500GB/h. This has required new capabilities in task categorization, workflow dependency specification, and resource monitoring.

The Effects of Self-Monitoring with a MotivAider[R] on the On-Task Behavior of Fifth and Sixth Graders with Autism and Other Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Legge, Dina Boccuzzi; DeBar, Ruth M.; Alber-Morgan, Sheila R.

2010-01-01

This study examined the effects of self-monitoring on the on-task behavior of three fifth and sixth grade boys with autism and other disabilities. While completing math assignments independently, the students wore an electronic device called a MotivAider[R] that vibrated at pre-set time schedules prompting the students to self-record whether or…

Online Academic Integrity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mastin, David F.; Peszka, Jennifer; Lilly, Deborah R.

2009-01-01

Psychology students completed a task with reinforcement for successful performance. We tested academic integrity under randomly assigned conditions of check mark acknowledgment of an honor pledge, typed honor pledge, or no pledge. Across all conditions, 14.1% of students inflated their self-reported performance (i.e., cheated). We found no…

Preempting Performance Challenges: The Effects of Inoculation Messaging on Attacks to Task Self-Efficacy

PubMed Central

Jackson, Ben; Compton, Josh; Whiddett, Ryan; Anthony, David R.; Dimmock, James A.

2015-01-01

Although inoculation messages have been shown to be effective for inducing resistance to counter-attitudinal attacks, researchers have devoted relatively little attention toward studying the way in which inoculation theory principles might support challenges to psychological phenomena other than attitudes (e.g., self-efficacy). Prior to completing a physical (i.e., balance) task, undergraduates (N = 127, Mage = 19.20, SD = 2.16) were randomly assigned to receive either a control or inoculation message, and reported their confidence in their ability regarding the upcoming task. During the task, a confederate provided standardized negative feedback to all participants regarding their performance, and following the completion of the task, participants again reported their self-efficacy along with measures assessing in-task processes. Findings supported the viability of efficacy inoculation; controlling for pre-task self-efficacy, task performance, and relevant psycho-social variables (e.g., resilience, self-confidence robustness), participants in the inoculation condition reported greater confidence in their ability (i.e., task self-efficacy) than those in the control condition at post-task. Relative to those in the inoculation condition, participants in the control condition also experienced greater concentration disruption and self-presentation concerns during the task. PMID:25898287

Inhibition Plasticity in Older Adults: Practice and Transfer Effects Using a Multiple Task Approach.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Andrea J; Yang, Lixia

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE. To examine plasticity of inhibition, as indexed by practice effects of inhibition tasks and the associated transfer effects, using a multiple task approach in healthy older adults. METHOD. Forty-eight healthy older adults were evenly assigned to either a practice group or a no-contact control group. All participants completed pretest (2.5 hours) and posttest (2 hours) sessions, with a 2-week interval in between. During the 2-week interval, only the practice group completed six 30-minute practice sessions (three sessions per week for two consecutive weeks) of three lab-based inhibition tasks. RESULTS. All three inhibition tasks demonstrated significant improvement across practice sessions, suggesting practice-induced plasticity. The benefit, however, only transferred to near-near tasks. The results are inconclusive with regard to the near-far and far-far transfer effects. DISCUSSION. This study further extends literature on practice effects of inhibition in older adults by using a multiple task approach. Together with previous work, the current study suggests that older adults are able to improve inhibition performance through practice and transfer the practice gains to tasks that overlap in both target cognitive ability and task structure (i.e., near-near tasks).

Inhibition Plasticity in Older Adults: Practice and Transfer Effects Using a Multiple Task Approach

PubMed Central

Wilkinson, Andrea J.; Yang, Lixia

2016-01-01

Objective. To examine plasticity of inhibition, as indexed by practice effects of inhibition tasks and the associated transfer effects, using a multiple task approach in healthy older adults. Method. Forty-eight healthy older adults were evenly assigned to either a practice group or a no-contact control group. All participants completed pretest (2.5 hours) and posttest (2 hours) sessions, with a 2-week interval in between. During the 2-week interval, only the practice group completed six 30-minute practice sessions (three sessions per week for two consecutive weeks) of three lab-based inhibition tasks. Results. All three inhibition tasks demonstrated significant improvement across practice sessions, suggesting practice-induced plasticity. The benefit, however, only transferred to near-near tasks. The results are inconclusive with regard to the near-far and far-far transfer effects. Discussion. This study further extends literature on practice effects of inhibition in older adults by using a multiple task approach. Together with previous work, the current study suggests that older adults are able to improve inhibition performance through practice and transfer the practice gains to tasks that overlap in both target cognitive ability and task structure (i.e., near-near tasks). PMID:26885407

Health literacy and task environment influence parents' burden for data entry on child-specific health information: randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Porter, Stephen C; Guo, Chao-Yu; Bacic, Janine; Chan, Eugenia

2011-01-26

Health care systems increasingly rely on patients' data entry efforts to organize and assist in care delivery through health information exchange. We sought to determine (1) the variation in burden imposed on parents by data entry efforts across paper-based and computer-based environments, and (2) the impact, if any, of parents' health literacy on the task burden. We completed a randomized controlled trial of parent-completed data entry tasks. Parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were randomized based on the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) to either a paper-based or computer-based environment for entry of health information on their children. The primary outcome was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (TLX) total weighted score. We screened 271 parents: 194 (71.6%) were eligible, and 180 of these (92.8%) constituted the study cohort. We analyzed 90 participants from each arm. Parents who completed information tasks on paper reported a higher task burden than those who worked in the computer environment: mean (SD) TLX scores were 22.8 (20.6) for paper and 16.3 (16.1) for computer. Assignment to the paper environment conferred a significant risk of higher task burden (F(1,178) = 4.05, P = .046). Adequate literacy was associated with lower task burden (decrease in burden score of 1.15 SD, P = .003). After adjusting for relevant child and parent factors, parents' TOFHLA score (beta = -.02, P = .02) and task environment (beta = .31, P = .03) remained significantly associated with task burden. A tailored computer-based environment provided an improved task experience for data entry compared to the same tasks completed on paper. Health literacy was inversely related to task burden.

Investigations carried out under the Director's Discretionary Fund

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chahine, M. T.

1985-01-01

This annual report comprises a set of summaries, describing task objectives, progress and results or accomplishments, future outlook, and financial status for each director's discretionary fund (DDF) task that was active during fiscal year 1984. Publications and conference presentations related to the work are listed. The individual reports are categorized as interim or final according to whether the task efforts are ongoing or completed. A partial list of new tasks to be initiated with fiscal year 1985 funds and a glossary of abbreviations and acronyms, used by the task authors in their summaries are included. The table of contents lists the DDF reports in sequence by their task number, which is derived from the 13-digit code assigned to account for the fund awarded to the task project.

Assignment of protein sequences to existing domain and family classification systems: Pfam and the PDB

PubMed Central

Dunbrack, Roland L.

2012-01-01

Motivation: Automating the assignment of existing domain and protein family classifications to new sets of sequences is an important task. Current methods often miss assignments because remote relationships fail to achieve statistical significance. Some assignments are not as long as the actual domain definitions because local alignment methods often cut alignments short. Long insertions in query sequences often erroneously result in two copies of the domain assigned to the query. Divergent repeat sequences in proteins are often missed. Results: We have developed a multilevel procedure to produce nearly complete assignments of protein families of an existing classification system to a large set of sequences. We apply this to the task of assigning Pfam domains to sequences and structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). We found that HHsearch alignments frequently scored more remotely related Pfams in Pfam clans higher than closely related Pfams, thus, leading to erroneous assignment at the Pfam family level. A greedy algorithm allowing for partial overlaps was, thus, applied first to sequence/HMM alignments, then HMM–HMM alignments and then structure alignments, taking care to join partial alignments split by large insertions into single-domain assignments. Additional assignment of repeat Pfams with weaker E-values was allowed after stronger assignments of the repeat HMM. Our database of assignments, presented in a database called PDBfam, contains Pfams for 99.4% of chains >50 residues. Availability: The Pfam assignment data in PDBfam are available at http://dunbrack2.fccc.edu/ProtCid/PDBfam, which can be searched by PDB codes and Pfam identifiers. They will be updated regularly. Contact: Roland.Dunbracks@fccc.edu PMID:22942020

Stigma and Status: The Interrelation of Two Theoretical Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lucas, Jeffrey W.; Phelan, Jo C.

2012-01-01

This article explicates and distinguishes the processes that produce status orders and those that produce stigmatization. It describes an experimental study in which participants were assigned interaction partners before completing a task where they had opportunities to be influenced by the partners and opportunities to socially reject the…

Amazing Race: Finding and Correctly Citing Credible Sources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field-Springer, Kimberly; Striley, Katie Margavio

2016-01-01

The "Amazing Race" activity utilizes experiential learning by encouraging students to venture outside the classroom to collect and cite sources for an upcoming assignment. In the popular TV show, "Amazing Race," teams compete to complete tasks that take them around the world. Similarly, in this classroom activity, groups…

Sources of unbounded priority inversions in real-time systems and a comparative study of possible solutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davari, Sadegh; Sha, Lui

1992-01-01

In the design of real-time systems, tasks are often assigned priorities. Preemptive priority driven schedulers are used to schedule tasks to meet the timing requirements. Priority inversion is the term used to describe the situation when a higher priority task's execution is delayed by lower priority tasks. Priority inversion can occur when there is contention for resources among tasks of different priorities. The duration of priority inversion could be long enough to cause tasks to miss their dead lines. Priority inversion cannot be completely eliminated. However, it is important to identify sources of priority inversion and minimize the duration of priority inversion. In this paper, a comprehensive review of the problem of and solutions to unbounded priority inversion is presented.

Optimal processor assignment for pipeline computations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicol, David M.; Simha, Rahul; Choudhury, Alok N.; Narahari, Bhagirath

1991-01-01

The availability of large scale multitasked parallel architectures introduces the following processor assignment problem for pipelined computations. Given a set of tasks and their precedence constraints, along with their experimentally determined individual responses times for different processor sizes, find an assignment of processor to tasks. Two objectives are of interest: minimal response given a throughput requirement, and maximal throughput given a response time requirement. These assignment problems differ considerably from the classical mapping problem in which several tasks share a processor; instead, it is assumed that a large number of processors are to be assigned to a relatively small number of tasks. Efficient assignment algorithms were developed for different classes of task structures. For a p processor system and a series parallel precedence graph with n constituent tasks, an O(np2) algorithm is provided that finds the optimal assignment for the response time optimization problem; it was found that the assignment optimizing the constrained throughput in O(np2log p) time. Special cases of linear, independent, and tree graphs are also considered.

The Roles of Explanation and Feedback in False Belief Understanding: A Microgenetic Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guajardo, Nicole R.; Petersen, Rachel; Marshall, Timothy R.

2013-01-01

The authors examined effects of feedback and explanation on false belief performance. Thirty-three children (42-54 months; 15 girls, 18 boys) were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions: explanation, feedback, feedback researcher explains, and feedback child explains. Children completed false belief tasks during pretraining, 8 training…

Current Behavioral Models of Client and Consultee Resistance: A Critical Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cautilli, Joe; Riley-Tillman, T. Chris; Axelrod, Saul; Hineline, Phil

2005-01-01

Resistance is the phenomena that occurs in the therapeutic relationship when the patient refuses to complete tasks assigned by the therapist which would benefit the patient in improving their psychological situation. Resistance is also used to describe situations in the consulting relationship where the consultee does not do what the consultant…

Behavior Modification

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boardman, Randolph M.

2010-01-01

In a perfect world, students would never talk back to school staff and never argue or fight with each other. They would complete all their assigned tasks, and disciplinary actions never would be needed. Unfortunately, people don't live in a perfect world. Student behavior is a daily concern. Teachers continue to refer students to the office as a…

Instructional Management Tips for Teachers of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marks, Susan Unok; Shaw-Hegwer, Jennifer; Schrader, Carl; Longaker, Tricia; Peters, Iris; Powers, Fran; Levine, Mark

2003-01-01

The following tips are provided for teachers of students with autism: highlight important concepts; establish alternate modes for completing assignments; use graphic and visual and mnemonic devices for maximizing retention; and prepare the student for instructional and classroom transitions. Tips for increasing time on task and attention are also…

Common Literacy Struggles with College Students: Using the Reciprocal Teaching Technique

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gruenbaum, Elizabeth A.

2012-01-01

Many college students struggle with the literacy skills needed to be successful in higher education (Bettinger & Long, 2009; Snyder, Tan, & Hoffman, 2004). The difficulties emerge within students' capabilities in reading and writing. Students must be taught the skills needed to be successful to complete the tasks assigned in college classes and in…

Developing learning community model with soft skill integration for the building engineering apprenticeship programme in vocational high school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutrisno, Dardiri, Ahmad; Sugandi, R. Machmud

2017-09-01

This study aimed to address the procedure, effectiveness, and problems in the implementation of learning model for Building Engineering Apprenticeship Training Programme. This study was carried out through survey method and experiment. The data were collected using questionnaire, test, and assessment sheet. The collected data were examined through description, t-test, and covariance analysis. The results of the study showed that (1) the model's procedure covered preparation course, readiness assessment, assignment distribution, handing over students to apprenticeship instructors, task completion, assisting, field assessment, report writing, and follow-up examination, (2) the Learning Community model could significantly improve students' active learning, but not improve students' hard skills and soft skills, and (3) the problems emerging in the implementation of the model were (1) students' difficulties in finding apprenticeship places and qualified instructors, and asking for relevant tasks, (2) teachers' difficulties in determining relevant tasks and monitoring students, and (3) apprenticeship instructors' difficulties in assigning, monitoring, and assessing students.

Acute exercise and aerobic fitness influence selective attention during visual search.

PubMed

Bullock, Tom; Giesbrecht, Barry

2014-01-01

Successful goal directed behavior relies on a human attention system that is flexible and able to adapt to different conditions of physiological stress. However, the effects of physical activity on multiple aspects of selective attention and whether these effects are mediated by aerobic capacity, remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a prolonged bout of physical activity on visual search performance and perceptual distraction. Two groups of participants completed a hybrid visual search flanker/response competition task in an initial baseline session and then at 17-min intervals over a 2 h 16 min test period. Participants assigned to the exercise group engaged in steady-state aerobic exercise between completing blocks of the visual task, whereas participants assigned to the control group rested in between blocks. The key result was a correlation between individual differences in aerobic capacity and visual search performance, such that those individuals that were more fit performed the search task more quickly. Critically, this relationship only emerged in the exercise group after the physical activity had begun. The relationship was not present in either group at baseline and never emerged in the control group during the test period, suggesting that under these task demands, aerobic capacity may be an important determinant of visual search performance under physical stress. The results enhance current understanding about the relationship between exercise and cognition, and also inform current models of selective attention.

Acute exercise and aerobic fitness influence selective attention during visual search

PubMed Central

Bullock, Tom; Giesbrecht, Barry

2014-01-01

Successful goal directed behavior relies on a human attention system that is flexible and able to adapt to different conditions of physiological stress. However, the effects of physical activity on multiple aspects of selective attention and whether these effects are mediated by aerobic capacity, remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a prolonged bout of physical activity on visual search performance and perceptual distraction. Two groups of participants completed a hybrid visual search flanker/response competition task in an initial baseline session and then at 17-min intervals over a 2 h 16 min test period. Participants assigned to the exercise group engaged in steady-state aerobic exercise between completing blocks of the visual task, whereas participants assigned to the control group rested in between blocks. The key result was a correlation between individual differences in aerobic capacity and visual search performance, such that those individuals that were more fit performed the search task more quickly. Critically, this relationship only emerged in the exercise group after the physical activity had begun. The relationship was not present in either group at baseline and never emerged in the control group during the test period, suggesting that under these task demands, aerobic capacity may be an important determinant of visual search performance under physical stress. The results enhance current understanding about the relationship between exercise and cognition, and also inform current models of selective attention. PMID:25426094

Thrive or overload? The effect of task complexity on novices' simulation-based learning.

PubMed

Haji, Faizal A; Cheung, Jeffrey J H; Woods, Nicole; Regehr, Glenn; de Ribaupierre, Sandrine; Dubrowski, Adam

2016-09-01

Fidelity is widely viewed as an important element of simulation instructional design based on its purported relationship with transfer of learning. However, higher levels of fidelity may increase task complexity to a point at which novices' cognitive resources become overloaded. In this experiment, we investigate the effects of variations in task complexity on novices' cognitive load and learning during simulation-based procedural skills training. Thirty-eight medical students were randomly assigned to simulation training on a simple or complex lumbar puncture (LP) task. Participants completed four practice trials on this task (skill acquisition). After 10 days of rest, all participants completed one additional trial on their assigned task (retention) and one trial on a 'very complex' simulation designed to be similar to the complex task (transfer). We assessed LP performance and cognitive load on each trial using multiple measures. In both groups, LP performance improved significantly during skill acquisition (p ≤ 0.047, f = 0.29-0.96) and was maintained at retention. The simple task group demonstrated superior performance compared with the complex task group throughout these phases (p ≤ 0.002, d = 1.13-2.31). Cognitive load declined significantly in the simple task group (p < 0.009, f = 0.48-0.76), but not in the complex task group during skill acquisition, and remained lower at retention (p ≤ 0.024, d = 0.78-1.39). Between retention and transfer, LP performance declined and cognitive load increased in the simple task group, whereas both remained stable in the complex task group. At transfer, no group differences were observed in LP performance and cognitive load, except that the simple task group made significantly fewer breaches of sterility (p = 0.023, d = 0.80). Reduced task complexity was associated with superior LP performance and lower cognitive load during skill acquisition and retention, but mixed results on transfer to a more complex task. These results indicate that task complexity is an important factor that may mediate (via cognitive overload) the relationship between instructional design elements (e.g. fidelity) and simulation-based learning outcomes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Health Literacy and Task Environment Influence Parents' Burden for Data Entry on Child-Specific Health Information: Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Guo, Chao-Yu; Bacic, Janine; Chan, Eugenia

2011-01-01

Background Health care systems increasingly rely on patients’ data entry efforts to organize and assist in care delivery through health information exchange. Objectives We sought to determine (1) the variation in burden imposed on parents by data entry efforts across paper-based and computer-based environments, and (2) the impact, if any, of parents’ health literacy on the task burden. Methods We completed a randomized controlled trial of parent-completed data entry tasks. Parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were randomized based on the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) to either a paper-based or computer-based environment for entry of health information on their children. The primary outcome was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (TLX) total weighted score. Results We screened 271 parents: 194 (71.6%) were eligible, and 180 of these (92.8%) constituted the study cohort. We analyzed 90 participants from each arm. Parents who completed information tasks on paper reported a higher task burden than those who worked in the computer environment: mean (SD) TLX scores were 22.8 (20.6) for paper and 16.3 (16.1) for computer. Assignment to the paper environment conferred a significant risk of higher task burden (F1,178 = 4.05, P = .046). Adequate literacy was associated with lower task burden (decrease in burden score of 1.15 SD, P = .003). After adjusting for relevant child and parent factors, parents’ TOFHLA score (beta = -.02, P = .02) and task environment (beta = .31, P = .03) remained significantly associated with task burden. Conclusions A tailored computer-based environment provided an improved task experience for data entry compared to the same tasks completed on paper. Health literacy was inversely related to task burden. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00543257; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00543257 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5vUVH2DYR) PMID:21269990

A Jigsaw Cooperative Learning Application in Elementary Science and Technology Lessons: Physical and Chemical Changes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tarhan, Leman; Ayyildiz, Yildizay; Ogunc, Aylin; Sesen, Burcin Acar

2013-01-01

Background: Cooperative learning is an active learning approach in which students work together in small groups to complete an assigned task. Students commonly find the subject of "physical and chemical changes" difficult and abstract, and thus they generally have many misconceptions about it. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the…

How Helpful Are Error Management and Counterfactual Thinking Instructions to Inexperienced Spreadsheet Users' Training Task Performance?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caputi, Peter; Chan, Amy; Jayasuriya, Rohan

2011-01-01

This paper examined the impact of training strategies on the types of errors that novice users make when learning a commonly used spreadsheet application. Fifty participants were assigned to a counterfactual thinking training (CFT) strategy, an error management training strategy, or a combination of both strategies, and completed an easy task…

The Use of Learning Journals to Foster Textbook Reading in the Community College Psychology Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bartolomeo-Maida, Maria

2016-01-01

Across disciplines, faculty members face a common challenge of finding methods to get their students to complete assigned course readings. It becomes an even larger task to develop strategies whereby students are also engaging in deep reading that promotes critical thinking. Reading positively impacts students on a number of variables, and when…

Gender Stereotypes and Women's Reports of Liking and Ability in Traditionally Masculine and Feminine Occupations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oswald, Debra L.

2008-01-01

Gender stereotypes were examined for their causal influence on women's reported liking for and perceived ability to succeed in traditionally masculine and feminine occupations. One hundred twenty-one women were assigned to either a gender-stereotype activation or filler task and then completed measures of liking for, and perceived ability to…

Evaluating the Impact of a Brief Artistic Intervention on Cardiovascular Recovery from Acute Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keogh, Katharina; Creaven, Ann-Marie

2017-01-01

In this study we tested whether drawing and coloring influence cardiovascular recovery and perceived stress following exposure to a stressor. In a mixed experimental design, participants (N = 62) completed an acute stress task before being randomly assigned to one of three brief activities: free-form drawing (full creative control), coloring…

Effectiveness of Using a Video Game to Teach a Course in Mechanical Engineering

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coller, B. D.; Scott, M. J.

2009-01-01

One of the core courses in the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum has been completely redesigned. In the new numerical methods course, all assignments and learning experiences are built around a video/computer game. Students are given the task of writing computer programs to race a simulated car around a track. In doing so, students…

Age, task complexity, and sex as potential moderators of attentional focus effects.

PubMed

Becker, Kevin; Smith, Peter J K

2013-08-01

The study tested whether age, sex, or task complexity moderate the effect of attentional focus on motor learning. Children (24 boys, 24 girls) and adults (24 men, 24 women) were assigned to an internal or external attentional focus, and were timed while riding either a Double Pedalo with handles (simple task) or without handles (complex task) over a distance of 7 meters. A Double Pedalo is a four-wheeled device that involves standing on two connected platforms, and alternately pushing them forward to make it move. Participants completed 20 acquisition trials, followed by a 24-hour retention test. For the simpler task, no time differences due to attentional focus emerged. With the complex task, an external focus resulted in faster times in retention than an internal focus, but only for males. These findings suggest that attentional focus affects children and adults similarly, but task complexity and sex moderate these effects.

Improving Care for Veterans with PTSD: Comparing Risks and Benefits of Antipsychotics Versus Other Medications to Augment First-Line Pharmacologic Therapy

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-01

for all project Aims. Timeline- months 3-6. Status: completed. Task 6: Complete primary analyses and hypothesis testing for Aim 2, including...glucose. For each of these lab tests , each VA site can name them something different and can change names over times. Labs should be linked to Logical...Observation Identifiers Names (LOINC) codes, an international standard system that assigns a numeric code to specific lab tests . However, VA data

U. S. Naval Forces, Vietnam Monthly Historical Summary for October 1971

DTIC Science & Technology

1971-12-01

COUNTY (LST-1166) as the Third Coastal Zone LST. t NNIMCB-5 Detail Bronco completed assigned tasks at ACTOVRAD Site Nui Ta Kou and returned to Bien...The last two weeks in Ca Mau were spent building access roads with very wet conditions prevailing. Detail Bronco at Nui Ta Kou, ACTOVRAD Site Nine...completed all work on 20 October and redeployed all material and men to Bien Hoa on the same doty. During October, Detail Bronco had finished road and

Working memory supports inference learning just like classification learning.

PubMed

Craig, Stewart; Lewandowsky, Stephan

2013-08-01

Recent research has found a positive relationship between people's working memory capacity (WMC) and their speed of category learning. To date, only classification-learning tasks have been considered, in which people learn to assign category labels to objects. It is unknown whether learning to make inferences about category features might also be related to WMC. We report data from a study in which 119 participants undertook classification learning and inference learning, and completed a series of WMC tasks. Working memory capacity was positively related to people's classification and inference learning performance.

Workflow-Based Software Development Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Izygon, Michel E.

2013-01-01

The Software Developer's Assistant (SDA) helps software teams more efficiently and accurately conduct or execute software processes associated with NASA mission-critical software. SDA is a process enactment platform that guides software teams through project-specific standards, processes, and procedures. Software projects are decomposed into all of their required process steps or tasks, and each task is assigned to project personnel. SDA orchestrates the performance of work required to complete all process tasks in the correct sequence. The software then notifies team members when they may begin work on their assigned tasks and provides the tools, instructions, reference materials, and supportive artifacts that allow users to compliantly perform the work. A combination of technology components captures and enacts any software process use to support the software lifecycle. It creates an adaptive workflow environment that can be modified as needed. SDA achieves software process automation through a Business Process Management (BPM) approach to managing the software lifecycle for mission-critical projects. It contains five main parts: TieFlow (workflow engine), Business Rules (rules to alter process flow), Common Repository (storage for project artifacts, versions, history, schedules, etc.), SOA (interface to allow internal, GFE, or COTS tools integration), and the Web Portal Interface (collaborative web environment

Mediators of methylphenidate effects on math performance in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

PubMed

Froehlich, Tanya E; Antonini, Tanya N; Brinkman, William B; Langberg, Joshua M; Simon, John O; Adams, Ryan; Fredstrom, Bridget; Narad, Megan E; Kingery, Kathleen M; Altaye, Mekibib; Matheson, Heather; Tamm, Leanne; Epstein, Jeffery N

2014-01-01

Stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate (MPH), improve the academic performance of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the mechanism by which MPH exerts an effect on academic performance is unclear. We examined MPH effects on math performance and investigated possible mediation of MPH effects by changes in time on-task, inhibitory control, selective attention, and reaction time variability. Children with ADHD aged 7 to 11 years (N = 93) completed a timed math worksheet (with problems tailored to each individual's level of proficiency) and 2 neuropsychological tasks (Go/No-Go and Child Attention Network Test) at baseline, then participated in a 4-week, randomized, controlled, titration trial of MPH. Children were then randomly assigned to their optimal MPH dose or placebo for 1 week (administered double-blind) and repeated the math and neuropsychological tasks (posttest). Baseline and posttest videorecordings of children performing the math task were coded to assess time on-task. Children taking MPH completed 23 more math problems at posttest compared to baseline, whereas the placebo group completed 24 fewer problems on posttest versus baseline, but the effects on math accuracy (percent correct) did not differ. Path analyses revealed that only change in time on-task was a significant mediator of MPH's improvements in math productivity. MPH-derived math productivity improvements may be explained in part by increased time spent on-task, rather than improvements in neurocognitive parameters, such as inhibitory control, selective attention, or reaction time variability.

The Virtual Shop: A new immersive virtual reality environment and scenario for the assessment of everyday memory.

PubMed

Ouellet, Émilie; Boller, Benjamin; Corriveau-Lecavalier, Nick; Cloutier, Simon; Belleville, Sylvie

2018-06-01

Assessing and predicting memory performance in everyday life is a common assignment for neuropsychologists. However, most traditional neuropsychological tasks are not conceived to capture everyday memory performance. The Virtual Shop is a fully immersive task developed to assess memory in a more ecological way than traditional neuropsychological assessments. Two studies were undertaken to assess the feasibility of the Virtual Shop and to appraise its ecological and construct validity. In study 1, 20 younger and 19 older adults completed the Virtual Shop task to evaluate its level of difficulty and the way the participants interacted with the VR material. The construct validity was examined with the contrasted-group method, by comparing the performance of younger and older adults. In study 2, 35 individuals with subjective cognitive decline completed the Virtual Shop task. Performance was correlated with an existing questionnaire evaluating everyday memory in order to appraise its ecological validity. To add further support to its construct validity, performance was correlated with traditional episodic memory and executive tasks. All participants successfully completed the Virtual Shop. The task had an appropriate level of difficulty that helped differentiate younger and older adults, supporting the feasibility and construct validity of the task. The performance on the Virtual Shop was significantly and moderately correlated with the performance on the questionnaire and on the traditional memory and executive tasks. Results support the feasibility and both the ecological and construct validity of the Virtual Shop. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Work assignments, delegation of tasks and job satisfaction among Danish dental hygienists.

PubMed

Hach, M; Aaberg, K B; Lempert, S M; Danielsen, B

2017-08-01

Recent legislation in Denmark has made it possible for dentists to delegate their tasks to dental hygienists. Previous studies have shown that Danish dental hygienists primarily were performing assignments within their own work field. These assignments include prophylaxis or instructing patients in oral health care. However, studies have also shown that Danish dental hygienists performed dental nurse assignments such as chair-side assistance, unit cleaning and disinfection of instruments. The objectives of this study were to investigate (i) the range of work assignments performed by Danish dental hygienists, (ii) the types of dentist tasks performed by Danish dental hygienists and (iii) job satisfaction among Danish dental hygienists. Dental hygienists graduating in 2004-2007 were invited to participate in this study. Participants answered an email-distributed questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of questions regarding job satisfaction, assignments performed, postgraduate course attendance, receiving assistance from a dental nurse and which work assignments Danish dental hygienists wish to perform in the future. The results of this study showed that 90% of Danish dental hygienists were satisfied with their job and 52% were performing dentists' tasks. Among dentists' tasks performed by Danish dental hygienists, invasive caries therapy was the most frequently performed task. The type of assignments performed by Danish dental hygienists today appears to be changing compared to previous studies. From initially performing prophylaxis and chair-side assistance for the dentist, Danish dental hygienists today are performing a wider range of tasks which includes dentists' tasks. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Static assignment of complex stochastic tasks using stochastic majorization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicol, David; Simha, Rahul; Towsley, Don

1992-01-01

We consider the problem of statically assigning many tasks to a (smaller) system of homogeneous processors, where a task's structure is modeled as a branching process, and all tasks are assumed to have identical behavior. We show how the theory of majorization can be used to obtain a partial order among possible task assignments. Our results show that if the vector of numbers of tasks assigned to each processor under one mapping is majorized by that of another mapping, then the former mapping is better than the latter with respect to a large number of objective functions. In particular, we show how measurements of finishing time, resource utilization, and reliability are all captured by the theory. We also show how the theory may be applied to the problem of partitioning a pool of processors for distribution among parallelizable tasks.

Task Assignment Heuristics for Parallel and Distributed CFD Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lopez-Benitez, Noe; Djomehri, M. Jahed; Biswas, Rupak

2003-01-01

This paper proposes a task graph (TG) model to represent a single discrete step of multi-block overset grid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. The TG model is then used to not only balance the computational workload across the overset grids but also to reduce inter-grid communication costs. We have developed a set of task assignment heuristics based on the constraints inherent in this class of CFD problems. Two basic assignments, the smallest task first (STF) and the largest task first (LTF), are first presented. They are then systematically costs. To predict the performance of the proposed task assignment heuristics, extensive performance evaluations are conducted on a synthetic TG with tasks defined in terms of the number of grid points in predetermined overlapping grids. A TG derived from a realistic problem with eight million grid points is also used as a test case.

Performance differences between male and female marines on standardized physical fitness tests and combat proxy tasks: identifying the gap.

PubMed

Jameson, Jason; Pappa, Leon; McGuire, Brian; Kelly, Karen R

2015-01-01

For decades women have been restricted from direct assignment to certain military occupational specialties such as infantry. These restrictions can limit the advancement of women through the ranks of military leadership. Thus, the purpose of this effort was to identify those physical requirements most likely to serve as barriers for women wanting to enter closed combat arms positions, and to evaluate the quality of existing physical fitness tests as potential measures of assessment of combat readiness. Data were collected from 3 different sites within the US Marine Corps Training and Education Command. All participants (409 male, 379 femaile) were active-duty Marines who recently completed the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) and Combat Fitness Test (CFT). Participants completed 6 physical tasks: 120-mm tank loading drill, 155-mm artillery round carry, negotiating an obstacle course wall while wearing a fighting load (≈30 lb), pull-ups, deadlift, and clean and press. Overall, there was a high rate of successful completion on the combat proxy tasks (men, ≈80% to 100%; women, ≈70% to 100%), with the notable exception being the clean and press (men, 80%; women, 9%) and pull-ups (men, 16±4; women, 4±2). The PFT and CFT components tasks were also related, strongly in some cases, with performance on combat-related proxy tasks (Spearman's ρ typically ranged from 0.60 to 0.80). Estimates of fat-free mass and VO2max were also strongly related to an overall measure of combat readiness (Spearman's ρ=0.77 and ρ=0.56, respectively). The primary physical obstacle for women is upper body strength. However, some women could successfully complete all of the proxy tasks and thus are physically capable of meeting the demands of closed combat occupations. The fact that some female Marines could complete the most challenging upper body strength tasks suggests that these barriers are not inherent but may be due to a lack of training specificity.

77 FR 27538 - Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee-Continuing a Task

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-10

... Committee--Continuing a Task AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of continuing a task assignment for the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC). SUMMARY: The FAA assigned the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) a continuing task to provide advice and...

Research on a dynamic workflow access control model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yiliang; Deng, Jinxia

2007-12-01

In recent years, the access control technology has been researched widely in workflow system, two typical technologies of that are RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) and TBAC (Task-Based Access Control) model, which has been successfully used in the role authorizing and assigning in a certain extent. However, during the process of complicating a system's structure, these two types of technology can not be used in minimizing privileges and separating duties, and they are inapplicable when users have a request of frequently changing on the workflow's process. In order to avoid having these weakness during the applying, a variable flow dynamic role_task_view (briefly as DRTVBAC) of fine-grained access control model is constructed on the basis existed model. During the process of this model applying, an algorithm is constructed to solve users' requirements of application and security needs on fine-grained principle of privileges minimum and principle of dynamic separation of duties. The DRTVBAC model is implemented in the actual system, the figure shows that the task associated with the dynamic management of role and the role assignment is more flexible on authority and recovery, it can be met the principle of least privilege on the role implement of a specific task permission activated; separated the authority from the process of the duties completing in the workflow; prevented sensitive information discovering from concise and dynamic view interface; satisfied with the requirement of the variable task-flow frequently.

Multisensory perceptual learning is dependent upon task difficulty.

PubMed

De Niear, Matthew A; Koo, Bonhwang; Wallace, Mark T

2016-11-01

There has been a growing interest in developing behavioral tasks to enhance temporal acuity as recent findings have demonstrated changes in temporal processing in a number of clinical conditions. Prior research has demonstrated that perceptual training can enhance temporal acuity both within and across different sensory modalities. Although certain forms of unisensory perceptual learning have been shown to be dependent upon task difficulty, this relationship has not been explored for multisensory learning. The present study sought to determine the effects of task difficulty on multisensory perceptual learning. Prior to and following a single training session, participants completed a simultaneity judgment (SJ) task, which required them to judge whether a visual stimulus (flash) and auditory stimulus (beep) presented in synchrony or at various stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) occurred synchronously or asynchronously. During the training session, participants completed the same SJ task but received feedback regarding the accuracy of their responses. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three levels of difficulty during training: easy, moderate, and hard, which were distinguished based on the SOAs used during training. We report that only the most difficult (i.e., hard) training protocol enhanced temporal acuity. We conclude that perceptual training protocols for enhancing multisensory temporal acuity may be optimized by employing audiovisual stimuli for which it is difficult to discriminate temporal synchrony from asynchrony.

Robotic technology results in faster and more robust surgical skill acquisition than traditional laparoscopy.

PubMed

Moore, Lee J; Wilson, Mark R; Waine, Elizabeth; Masters, Rich S W; McGrath, John S; Vine, Samuel J

2015-03-01

Technical surgical skills are said to be acquired quicker on a robotic rather than laparoscopic platform. However, research examining this proposition is scarce. Thus, this study aimed to compare the performance and learning curves of novices acquiring skills using a robotic or laparoscopic system, and to examine if any learning advantages were maintained over time and transferred to more difficult and stressful tasks. Forty novice participants were randomly assigned to either a robotic- or laparoscopic-trained group. Following one baseline trial on a ball pick-and-drop task, participants performed 50 learning trials. Participants then completed an immediate retention trial and a transfer trial on a two-instrument rope-threading task. One month later, participants performed a delayed retention trial and a stressful multi-tasking trial. The results revealed that the robotic-trained group completed the ball pick-and-drop task more quickly and accurately than the laparoscopic-trained group across baseline, immediate retention, and delayed retention trials. Furthermore, the robotic-trained group displayed a shorter learning curve for accuracy. The robotic-trained group also performed the more complex rope-threading and stressful multi-tasking transfer trials better. Finally, in the multi-tasking trial, the robotic-trained group made fewer tone counting errors. The results highlight the benefits of using robotic technology for the acquisition of technical surgical skills.

The Group-Based Assessment Approach in Nursing Education: The Perspective of Nursing Students on Group-Based Assessment Process at a Namibian University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nuuyoma, Vistolina

2017-01-01

Group-based assessments used in the Bachelor of Nursing Science (clinical) Honours programme at a public university in Namibia are usually in the form of assignments and projects. Completing tasks in groups helps students to develop important skills like critical thinking and debating. In addition, it prepares them to work in the health-care…

The effect of two different electronic health record user interfaces on intensive care provider task load, errors of cognition, and performance.

PubMed

Ahmed, Adil; Chandra, Subhash; Herasevich, Vitaly; Gajic, Ognjen; Pickering, Brian W

2011-07-01

The care of critically ill patients generates large quantities of data. Increasingly, these data are presented to the provider within an electronic medical record. The manner in which data are organized and presented can impact on the ability of users to synthesis that data into meaningful information. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that novel user interfaces, which prioritize the display of high-value data to providers within system-based packages, reduce task load, and result in fewer errors of cognition compared with established user interfaces that do not. Randomized crossover study. Academic tertiary referral center. Attending, resident and fellow critical care physicians. Novel health care record user interface. Subjects randomly assigned to either a standard electronic medical record or a novel user interface, were asked to perform a structured task. The task required the subjects to use the assigned electronic environment to review the medical record of an intensive care unit patient said to be actively bleeding for data that formed the basis of answers to clinical questions posed in the form of a structured questionnaire. The primary outcome was task load, measured using the paper version of the NASA-task load index. Secondary outcome measures included time to task completion, number of errors of cognition measured by comparison of subject to post hoc gold standard questionnaire responses, and the quantity of information presented to subjects by each environment. Twenty subjects completed the task on eight patients, resulting in 160 patient-provider encounters (80 in each group). The standard electronic medical record contained a much larger data volume with a median (interquartile range) number of data points per patient of 1008 (895-1183) compared with 102 (77-112) contained within the novel user interface. The median (interquartile range) NASA-task load index values were 38.8 (32-45) and 58 (45-65) for the novel user interface compared with the standard electronic medical record (p < .001). The median (interquartile range) times in seconds taken to complete the task for four consecutive patients were 93 (57-132), 60 (48-71), 68 (48-80), and 54 (42-64) for the novel user interface compared with 145 (109-201), 125 (113-162), 129 (100-145), and 112 (92-123) for the standard interface (p < .0001), respectively. The median (interquartile range) number of errors per provider was 0.5 (0-1) and two (0.25-3) for the novel user interface and standard electronic medical record interface, respectively (p = .007). A novel user interface was designed based on the information needs of intensive care unit providers with a specific goal of development being the reduction of task load and errors of cognition associated with filtering, extracting, and using medical data contained within a comprehensive electronic medical record. The results of this simulated clinical experiment suggest that the configuration of the intensive care unit user interface contributes significantly to the task load, time to task completion, and number of errors of cognition associated with the identification, and subsequent use, of relevant patient data. Task-specific user interfaces, developed from an understanding of provider information requirements, offer advantages over interfaces currently available within a standard electronic medical record.

Undergraduates improve upon published crystal structure in class assignment.

PubMed

Horowitz, Scott; Koldewey, Philipp; Bardwell, James C

2014-01-01

Recently, 57 undergraduate students at the University of Michigan were assigned the task of solving a crystal structure, given only the electron density map of a 1.3 Å crystal structure from the electron density server, and the position of the N-terminal amino acid. To test their knowledge of amino acid chemistry, the students were not given the protein sequence. With minimal direction from the instructor on how the students should complete the assignment, the students fared remarkably well in this task, with over half the class able to reconstruct the original sequence with over 77% sequence identity, and with structures whose median ranked in the 91(st) percentile of all structures of comparable resolution in terms of structure quality. Fourteen percent of the students' structures produced Molprobity steric clash validation scores even better than that of the original structure, suggesting that multiple students achieved an improvement in the overall structure quality compared to the published structure. Students were able to delineate limiting case chemical environments, such as charged interactions or complete solvent exposure, but were less able to distinguish finer details of hydrogen bonding or hydrophobicity. Our results prompt several questions: why were students able to perform so well in their structural validation scores? How were some students able to outperform the 88% sequence identity mark that would constitute a perfect score, given the level of degenerate density or surface residues with poor density? And how can the methodology used by the best students inform the practices of professional X-ray crystallographers? Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Reducing involuntary memory by interfering consolidation of stressful auditory information: A pilot study.

PubMed

Tabrizi, Fara; Jansson, Billy

2016-03-01

Intrusive emotional memories were induced by aversive auditory stimuli and modulated with cognitive tasks performed post-encoding (i.e., during consolidation). A between-subjects design was used with four conditions; three consolidation-interference tasks (a visuospatial and two verbal interference tasks) and a no-task control condition. Forty-one participants listened to a soundtrack depicting traumatic scenes (e.g., police brutality, torture and rape). Immediately after listening to the soundtrack, the subjects completed a randomly assigned task for 10 min. Intrusions from the soundtrack were reported in a diary during the following seven-day period. In line with a modality-specific approach to intrusion modulation, auditory intrusions were reduced by verbal tasks compared to both a no-task and a visuospatial interference task.. The study did not control for individual differences in imagery ability which may be a feature in intrusion development. The results provide an increased understanding of how intrusive mental images can be modulated which may have implications for preventive treatment.. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Brief Mindfulness Exercise Promotes the Correspondence Between the Implicit Affiliation Motive and Goal Setting.

PubMed

Strick, Madelijn; Papies, Esther K

2017-05-01

People often choose to pursue goals that are dissociated from their implicit motives, which jeopardizes their motivation and well-being. We hypothesized that mindfulness may attenuate this dissociation to the degree that it increases sensitivity to internal cues that signal one's implicit preferences. We tested this hypothesis with a longitudinal repeated measures experiment. In Session 1, participants' implicit affiliation motive was assessed. In Session 2, half of the participants completed a mindfulness exercise while the other half completed a control task before indicating their motivation toward pursuing affiliation and nonaffiliation goals. In Session 3, this procedure was repeated with reversed assignment to conditions. The results confirmed our hypothesis that, irrespective of the order of the conditions, the implicit affiliation motive predicted a preference to pursue affiliation goals immediately after the mindfulness exercise, but not after the control task. We discuss implications of these findings for satisfaction and well-being.

A Brief Mindfulness Exercise Promotes the Correspondence Between the Implicit Affiliation Motive and Goal Setting

PubMed Central

Strick, Madelijn; Papies, Esther K.

2017-01-01

People often choose to pursue goals that are dissociated from their implicit motives, which jeopardizes their motivation and well-being. We hypothesized that mindfulness may attenuate this dissociation to the degree that it increases sensitivity to internal cues that signal one’s implicit preferences. We tested this hypothesis with a longitudinal repeated measures experiment. In Session 1, participants’ implicit affiliation motive was assessed. In Session 2, half of the participants completed a mindfulness exercise while the other half completed a control task before indicating their motivation toward pursuing affiliation and nonaffiliation goals. In Session 3, this procedure was repeated with reversed assignment to conditions. The results confirmed our hypothesis that, irrespective of the order of the conditions, the implicit affiliation motive predicted a preference to pursue affiliation goals immediately after the mindfulness exercise, but not after the control task. We discuss implications of these findings for satisfaction and well-being. PMID:28903636

The Effects of Varying Ratios of Physical and Mental Practice, and Task Difficulty on Performance of a Tonal Pattern

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cahn, Dan

2008-01-01

Sixty undergraduate students who had completed at least one semester of jazz improvisation were assigned to either: (a) physical practice (PP); (b) mental practice (MP); (c) combined 66 percent PP and 33 percent MP (66%PP:33%MP); and (d) combined 33 percent PP and 66 percent MP (33%PP:66%MP) groups. Subjects were to perform a 3-1-7-5 tonal pattern…

A Scheduling Algorithm for Cloud Computing System Based on the Driver of Dynamic Essential Path.

PubMed

Xie, Zhiqiang; Shao, Xia; Xin, Yu

2016-01-01

To solve the problem of task scheduling in the cloud computing system, this paper proposes a scheduling algorithm for cloud computing based on the driver of dynamic essential path (DDEP). This algorithm applies a predecessor-task layer priority strategy to solve the problem of constraint relations among task nodes. The strategy assigns different priority values to every task node based on the scheduling order of task node as affected by the constraint relations among task nodes, and the task node list is generated by the different priority value. To address the scheduling order problem in which task nodes have the same priority value, the dynamic essential long path strategy is proposed. This strategy computes the dynamic essential path of the pre-scheduling task nodes based on the actual computation cost and communication cost of task node in the scheduling process. The task node that has the longest dynamic essential path is scheduled first as the completion time of task graph is indirectly influenced by the finishing time of task nodes in the longest dynamic essential path. Finally, we demonstrate the proposed algorithm via simulation experiments using Matlab tools. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm can effectively reduce the task Makespan in most cases and meet a high quality performance objective.

A Scheduling Algorithm for Cloud Computing System Based on the Driver of Dynamic Essential Path

PubMed Central

Xie, Zhiqiang; Shao, Xia; Xin, Yu

2016-01-01

To solve the problem of task scheduling in the cloud computing system, this paper proposes a scheduling algorithm for cloud computing based on the driver of dynamic essential path (DDEP). This algorithm applies a predecessor-task layer priority strategy to solve the problem of constraint relations among task nodes. The strategy assigns different priority values to every task node based on the scheduling order of task node as affected by the constraint relations among task nodes, and the task node list is generated by the different priority value. To address the scheduling order problem in which task nodes have the same priority value, the dynamic essential long path strategy is proposed. This strategy computes the dynamic essential path of the pre-scheduling task nodes based on the actual computation cost and communication cost of task node in the scheduling process. The task node that has the longest dynamic essential path is scheduled first as the completion time of task graph is indirectly influenced by the finishing time of task nodes in the longest dynamic essential path. Finally, we demonstrate the proposed algorithm via simulation experiments using Matlab tools. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm can effectively reduce the task Makespan in most cases and meet a high quality performance objective. PMID:27490901

The K-8 Aeronautics Internet Testbook: Project Plan-Year 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pallis, Jani Macari

1997-01-01

The Project Plan - Year 3 includes: the major tasks and milestones, the assignment of tasks, and the key personnel assigned to each task, a description of the milestone and major task, and the deliverables for the project. Milestones have project numbers ending in "0.0", such as "25.0.0 Phase III Development". Major tasks under that milestone begin with the same first number such as, "25.0.1 Develop Future Of Aeronautics". The assignment of tasks included in the Year 3 project plan contains the names of the key personnel responsible for the task and others participating on the task. Although the PI has the overall and ultimately responsible for all the tasks and milestones, the name of the first individual on a task or milestone is the person responsible for that task. Other names listed under that task will be participating on the task. Since there are two individuals at Cislunar Aerospace, Inc. with the name "J. Pallis", the principal investigator, Jani Macari Pallis is designated as PI in the Project Plan and James Pallis is designated as J. Pallis.

Mindfulness and mind wandering: The protective effects of brief meditation in anxious individuals.

PubMed

Xu, Mengran; Purdon, Christine; Seli, Paul; Smilek, Daniel

2017-05-01

Mind wandering can be costly, especially when we are engaged in attentionally demanding tasks. Preliminary studies suggest that mindfulness can be a promising antidote for mind wandering, albeit the evidence is mixed. To better understand the exact impact of mindfulness on mind wandering, we had a sample of highly anxious undergraduate students complete a sustained-attention task during which off-task thoughts including mind wandering were assessed. Participants were randomly assigned to a meditation or control condition, after which the sustained-attention task was repeated. In general, our results indicate that mindfulness training may only have protective effects on mind wandering for anxious individuals. Meditation prevented the increase of mind wandering over time and ameliorated performance disruption during off-task episodes. In addition, we found that the meditation intervention appeared to promote a switch of attentional focus from the internal to present-moment external world, suggesting important implications for treating worrying in anxious populations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bit by Bit or All at Once? Splitting up the Inquiry Task to Promote Children's Scientific Reasoning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazonder, Ard W.; Kamp, Ellen

2012-01-01

This study examined whether and why assigning children to a segmented inquiry task makes their investigations more productive. Sixty-one upper elementary-school pupils engaged in a simulation-based inquiry assignment either received a multivariable inquiry task (n = 21), a segmented version of this task that addressed the variables in successive…

[Modern aspects of organization of medical support for the Armed Forces].

PubMed

Stavila, A G; Krasavin, K D; Levchenko, V N; Lemeshko, A L; Roenko, A S

2015-09-01

The challenges that medical service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation faces cannot be solved without a new qualitative approach to military and medical support. In order to create a complete organizational system of the medical support, consisting of united process of material flow management and management of accompanying elements, the. structure of the medical support and its equipment must correspond to performed tasks. The article describes a set of activities that are performed in the system of military-medical support and offers some promising approaches, which are supposed to solve assigned tasks imposed upon the center of pharmacy and medical technology and its interaction with superior body control, maintainable and third party organizations.

Synchronized movement experience enhances peer cooperation in preschool children.

PubMed

Rabinowitch, Tal-Chen; Meltzoff, Andrew N

2017-08-01

Cooperating with other people is a key achievement in child development and is essential for human culture. We examined whether we could induce 4-year-old children to increase their cooperation with an unfamiliar peer by providing the peers with synchronized motion experience prior to the tasks. Children were randomly assigned to independent treatment and control groups. The treatment of synchronous motion caused children to enhance their cooperation, as measured by the speed of joint task completion, compared with control groups that underwent asynchronous motion or no motion at all. Further analysis suggested that synchronization experience increased intentional communication between peer partners, resulting in increased coordination and cooperation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Investigation of the Partial-Assignment Completion Effect on Students' Assignment Choice Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawthorn-Embree, Meredith L.; Skinner, Christopher H.; Parkhurst, John; Conley, Elisha

2011-01-01

This study was designed to investigate the partial assignment completion effect. Seventh-grade students were given a math assignment. After working for 5 min, they were interrupted and their partially completed assignments were collected. About 20 min later, students were given their partially completed assignment and a new, control assignment…

Evil genius? How dishonesty can lead to greater creativity.

PubMed

Gino, Francesca; Wiltermuth, Scott S

2014-04-01

We propose that dishonest and creative behavior have something in common: They both involve breaking rules. Because of this shared feature, creativity may lead to dishonesty (as shown in prior work), and dishonesty may lead to creativity (the hypothesis we tested in this research). In five experiments, participants had the opportunity to behave dishonestly by overreporting their performance on various tasks. They then completed one or more tasks designed to measure creativity. Those who cheated were subsequently more creative than noncheaters, even when we accounted for individual differences in their creative ability (Experiment 1). Using random assignment, we confirmed that acting dishonestly leads to greater creativity in subsequent tasks (Experiments 2 and 3). The link between dishonesty and creativity is explained by a heightened feeling of being unconstrained by rules, as indicated by both mediation (Experiment 4) and moderation (Experiment 5).

Identity, Meaning, and Engagement with School: A Native American Student's Composition of a Life Map in a Senior English Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smagorinsky, Peter; Anglin, Joanna L.; O'Donnell-Allen, Cindy

2012-01-01

This case study of a Native American high school senior focuses on one of the final assignments he completed before dropping out of school early in the school year. The task was to draw a life map--a nonverbal text that identified 10 key life events on his journey to that point--as part of a larger unit on identity for his senior English class.…

An Expert Supervisor For A Robotic Work Cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moed, M. C.; Kelley, R. B.

1988-02-01

To increase task flexibility in a robotic assembly environment, a hierarchical planning and execution system is being developed which will map user specified 3D part assembly tasks into various target robotic work cells, and execute these tasks efficiently using manipulators and sensors available in the work cell. One level of this hierarchy, the Supervisor, is responsible for assigning subtasks of a system generated Task Plan to a set of task specific Specialists and on-line coordination of the activity of these Specialists to accomplish the user specified assembly. The design of the Supervisor can be broken down into five major functional blocks: resource management; concurrency detection; task scheduling; error recovery; and interprocess communication. The Supervisor implementation has been completed on a VAX 11/750 under a Unix environment. PC card Pick-Insert experiments were performed to test this implementation. To test the robustness of the architecture, the Supervisor was then transported to a new work cell under a VMS environment. The experiments performed under Supervisor control in both implementations are discussed after a brief explanation of the functional blocks of the Supervisor and the other levels in the hierarchy.

Questioning the rule of thumb: can verbal tasks be administered during the CVLT-II delay interval?

PubMed

Williams, Bethany R; Donovick, Peter J

2008-09-01

In the manual for the California Verbal Learning Test - II (CVLT-II), the authors suggest that nonverbal, rather than verbal, tasks be administered during the delay interval between administrations of the Short- and Long-Delay Recall trials of this test. They contend that this method minimizes the retroactive interference produced by intervening tasks. The purpose of the current study was to compare the extent to which verbal and nonverbal intervening tasks produce retroactive interference on CVLT-II List A recall following the long-delay. Participants in the present study were 120 undergraduate students. All participants completed the CVLT-II, and were randomly assigned to a group in which they were administered either a verbal (WAIS-III Vocabulary or Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - IIIB) or nonverbal (Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices or WAIS-III Block Design) intervening task during the long-delay interval of the CVLT-II. Statistical analyses revealed that regardless of the type of intervening task given, participants in all groups recalled the same number of words and produced a similar number of intrusions during the CVLT-II recall trials. This indicates that not all verbal tasks produce retroactive effects beyond those produced by nonverbal tasks.

Computer-generated reminders and quality of pediatric HIV care in a resource-limited setting.

PubMed

Were, Martin C; Nyandiko, Winstone M; Huang, Kristin T L; Slaven, James E; Shen, Changyu; Tierney, William M; Vreeman, Rachel C

2013-03-01

To evaluate the impact of clinician-targeted computer-generated reminders on compliance with HIV care guidelines in a resource-limited setting. We conducted this randomized, controlled trial in an HIV referral clinic in Kenya caring for HIV-infected and HIV-exposed children (<14 years of age). For children randomly assigned to the intervention group, printed patient summaries containing computer-generated patient-specific reminders for overdue care recommendations were provided to the clinician at the time of the child's clinic visit. For children in the control group, clinicians received the summaries, but no computer-generated reminders. We compared differences between the intervention and control groups in completion of overdue tasks, including HIV testing, laboratory monitoring, initiating antiretroviral therapy, and making referrals. During the 5-month study period, 1611 patients (49% female, 70% HIV-infected) were eligible to receive at least 1 computer-generated reminder (ie, had an overdue clinical task). We observed a fourfold increase in the completion of overdue clinical tasks when reminders were availed to providers over the course of the study (68% intervention vs 18% control, P < .001). Orders also occurred earlier for the intervention group (77 days, SD 2.4 days) compared with the control group (104 days, SD 1.2 days) (P < .001). Response rates to reminders varied significantly by type of reminder and between clinicians. Clinician-targeted, computer-generated clinical reminders are associated with a significant increase in completion of overdue clinical tasks for HIV-infected and exposed children in a resource-limited setting.

Survey to assess the role of pharmacy technicians and nonpharmacist staff in the operation of research pharmacies.

PubMed

Siden, Rivka; Tamer, Helen R; Skyles, Amy J; Dolan, Christopher S; Propes, Denise J; Redic, Kimberly

2014-11-01

Results of a survey assessing trends and innovations in the use of pharmacy technicians and other nonpharmacist staff in the research pharmacy setting are reported. A Web-based survey was distributed to Internet communities of members of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the University Health-System Consortium involved in investigational drug research and related practice areas. The survey collected data on the characteristics of institutions with pharmacy department staff dedicated to such research activities and the participation of pharmacists, technicians, and other staff in key areas of research pharmacy operations. Survey responses from 51 institutions were included in the data analysis. Overall, the reported distribution of assigned responsibility for most evaluated research pharmacy tasks reflected traditional divisions of pharmacist and technician duties, with technicians performing tasks subject to a pharmacist check or pharmacists completing tasks alone. However, some institutions reported allowing technicians to perform a number of key tasks without direct pharmacist supervision, primarily in the areas of inventory management and sponsor monitoring and auditing; almost half of the surveyed institutions reported technician involvement in teaching activities. In general, the reported use of "tech-check-tech" arrangements in research pharmacies was very limited. Some responding institutions reported the innovative use of nonpharmacist staff (e.g., paid interns, students and residents on rotation). Although the majority of research pharmacy tasks related to direct patient care are performed by or under the direct supervision of pharmacists, a variety of other essential tasks are typically assigned to pharmacy technicians and other nonpharmacist staff. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

Assignment Choice, Effort, and Assignment Completion: Does Work Ethic Predict Those Who Choose Higher-Effort Assignments?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parkhurst, John T.; Fleisher, Matthew S.; Skinner, Christopher H.; Woehr, David J.; Hawthorn-Embree, Meredith L.

2011-01-01

After completing the Multidimensional Work-Ethic Profile (MWEP), 98 college students were given a 20-problem math computation assignment and instructed to stop working on the assignment after completing 10 problems. Next, they were allowed to choose to finish either the partially completed assignment that had 10 problems remaining or a new…

Laboratory-Induced Stress and Craving among Individuals with Prescription Opioid Dependence

PubMed Central

Back, Sudie E.; Gros, Daniel F.; Price, Matthew; LaRowe, Steve; Flanagan, Julianne; Brady, Kathleen T.; Davis, Charles; Jaconis, Maryanne; McCauley, Jenna L.

2015-01-01

Background Stress and conditioned drug cues have been implicated in the initiation, maintenance and relapse to substances of abuse. Although stress and drug cues are often encountered together, little research exists on whether stress potentiates the response to drug cues. Method Participants (N = 75) were 39 community recruited individuals with current prescription opioid (PO) dependence and 36 healthy controls. Participants stayed overnight in the hospital for one night and then completed laboratory testing the following morning. During laboratory testing, participants were randomly assigned to a stress task (Trier Social Stress Task; TSST) or a no-stress condition. Following the stress manipulation, all participants completed a PO cue paradigm. Immediately before and after the stress and cue tasks, the following were assessed: subjective (stress, craving, anger, sadness, happiness), physiological (heart rate, blood pressure, galvanic skin response), and neuroendocrine responses (cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone). Results Internal validity of the stress task was demonstrated, as evidenced by significantly higher subjective stress, as well as cortisol, heart rate and blood pressure in the TSST compared to the no-stress group. Individuals with PO dependence evidenced significantly greater reactivity to the stress task than controls. Craving increased significantly in response to the drug cue task among PO participants. No stress × cue interaction was observed. Conclusions In this study, heightened stress reactivity was observed among individuals with PO dependence. Exposure to acute stress, however, did not potentiate craving in response to conditioned drug cues. PMID:26342626

Goal selection versus process control while learning to use a brain-computer interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Royer, Audrey S.; Rose, Minn L.; He, Bin

2011-06-01

A brain-computer interface (BCI) can be used to accomplish a task without requiring motor output. Two major control strategies used by BCIs during task completion are process control and goal selection. In process control, the user exerts continuous control and independently executes the given task. In goal selection, the user communicates their goal to the BCI and then receives assistance executing the task. A previous study has shown that goal selection is more accurate and faster in use. An unanswered question is, which control strategy is easier to learn? This study directly compares goal selection and process control while learning to use a sensorimotor rhythm-based BCI. Twenty young healthy human subjects were randomly assigned either to a goal selection or a process control-based paradigm for eight sessions. At the end of the study, the best user from each paradigm completed two additional sessions using all paradigms randomly mixed. The results of this study were that goal selection required a shorter training period for increased speed, accuracy, and information transfer over process control. These results held for the best subjects as well as in the general subject population. The demonstrated characteristics of goal selection make it a promising option to increase the utility of BCIs intended for both disabled and able-bodied users.

Training Endogenous Task Shifting Using Music Therapy: A Feasibility Study.

PubMed

Lynch, Colleen; LaGasse, A Blythe

2016-01-01

People with acquired brain injury (ABI) are highly susceptible to disturbances in executive functioning (EF), and these effects are pervasive. Research studies using music therapy for cognitive improvement in this population are limited. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of a Musical Executive Function Training (MEFT) intervention to address task-shifting skills in adults with ABI and to obtain preliminary evidence of intervention effect on task shifting. Fourteen participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a music therapy intervention group (MTG), a singing group (SG), or the no-intervention control group (CG). The SG and MTG met for one hour a day for five days. Feasibility measures included participant completion rates and intervention fidelity. Potential benefits were measured using the Trail Making Test and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task as a pre- and posttest measure. Participant completion rates and interventionist fidelity to the protocol supported feasibility. One-way ANOVA of the pre- and posttest group differences revealed a trend toward improvement in the MTG over the SG. Feasibility and effect size data support a larger trial of the MEFT protocol. © the American Music Therapy Association 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A computerized assessment to compare the impact of standard, stereoscopic, and high-definition laparoscopic monitor displays on surgical technique.

PubMed

Feng, Chuan; Rozenblit, Jerzy W; Hamilton, Allan J

2010-11-01

Surgeons performing laparoscopic surgery have strong biases regarding the quality and nature of the laparoscopic video monitor display. In a comparative study, we used a unique computerized sensing and analysis system to evaluate the various types of monitors employed in laparoscopic surgery. We compared the impact of different types of monitor displays on an individual's performance of a laparoscopic training task which required the subject to move the instrument to a set of targets. Participants (varying from no laparoscopic experience to board-certified surgeons) were asked to perform the assigned task while using all three display systems, which were randomly assigned: a conventional laparoscopic monitor system (2D), a high-definition monitor system (HD), and a stereoscopic display (3D). The effects of monitor system on various performance parameters (total time consumed to finish the task, average speed, and movement economy) were analyzed by computer. Each of the subjects filled out a subjective questionnaire at the end of their training session. A total of 27 participants completed our study. Performance with the HD monitor was significantly slower than with either the 3D or 2D monitor (p < 0.0001). Movement economy with the HD monitor was significantly reduced compared with the 3D (p < 0.0004) or 2D (p < 0.0001) monitor. In terms of average time required to complete the task, performance with the 3D monitor was significantly faster than with the HD (p < 0.0001) or 2D (p < 0.0086) monitor. However, the HD system was the overwhelming favorite according to subjective evaluation. Computerized sensing and analysis is capable of quantitatively assessing the seemingly minor effect of monitor display on surgical training performance. The study demonstrates that, while users expressed a decided preference for HD systems, actual quantitative analysis indicates that HD monitors offer no statistically significant advantage and may even worsen performance compared with standard 2D or 3D laparoscopic monitors.

Replicating and Extending Research on the Partial Assignment Completion Effect: Is Sunk Cost Related to Partial Assignment Completion Strength?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawthorn-Embree, Meredith L.; Taylor, Emily P.; Skinner, Christopher H.; Parkhurst, John; Nalls, Meagan L.

2014-01-01

After students acquire a skill, mastery often requires them to choose to engage in assigned academic activities (e.g., independent seatwork, and homework). Although students may be more likely to choose to work on partially completed assignments than on new assignments, the partial assignment completion (PAC) effect may not be very powerful. The…

Comparing errors in ED computer-assisted vs conventional pediatric drug dosing and administration.

PubMed

Yamamoto, Loren; Kanemori, Joan

2010-06-01

Compared to fixed-dose single-vial drug administration in adults, pediatric drug dosing and administration requires a series of calculations, all of which are potentially error prone. The purpose of this study is to compare error rates and task completion times for common pediatric medication scenarios using computer program assistance vs conventional methods. Two versions of a 4-part paper-based test were developed. Each part consisted of a set of medication administration and/or dosing tasks. Emergency department and pediatric intensive care unit nurse volunteers completed these tasks using both methods (sequence assigned to start with a conventional or a computer-assisted approach). Completion times, errors, and the reason for the error were recorded. Thirty-eight nurses completed the study. Summing the completion of all 4 parts, the mean conventional total time was 1243 seconds vs the mean computer program total time of 879 seconds (P < .001). The conventional manual method had a mean of 1.8 errors vs the computer program with a mean of 0.7 errors (P < .001). Of the 97 total errors, 36 were due to misreading the drug concentration on the label, 34 were due to calculation errors, and 8 were due to misplaced decimals. Of the 36 label interpretation errors, 18 (50%) occurred with digoxin or insulin. Computerized assistance reduced errors and the time required for drug administration calculations. A pattern of errors emerged, noting that reading/interpreting certain drug labels were more error prone. Optimizing the layout of drug labels could reduce the error rate for error-prone labels. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Study of Plasma Motor Generator (PMG) tether system for orbit reboost

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

A progress report is given on a system study by TRW begun in January 1987 of a 2 kW Plasma Motor Generator Tether to be used for orbit reboost. Following the completion of the initial phase in September 1987, additional tasks were agreed on and work on them begun in March 1988. These tasks fell into three categories: tests on the prototype tether fabricated during the first phase, simulations of the spacecraft and tether system after deployment using GTOSS, and a brief investigation of the impact and feasibility of increasing the system to 20 kW and hosting it on the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle. The subcontractor, Energy Sciences Laboratory, was assigned the responsibility of performing the simulations and some mechanical tests on the prototype tether to supplement those done at TRW. A summary of the significant findings and issues from each task follows. Recommendations for future work constitutes the third section. A copy of the final briefing is in Appendix A, plus additional reports for each task and additional analysis.

Effects of monetary reward and punishment on information checking behaviour.

PubMed

Li, Simon Y W; Cox, Anna L; Or, Calvin; Blandford, Ann

2016-03-01

Two experiments were conducted to examine whether checking one's own work can be motivated by monetary reward and punishment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a flat-rate payment for completing the task (Control); payment increased for error-free performance (Reward); payment decreased for error performance (Punishment). Experiment 1 (N = 90) was conducted with liberal arts students, using a general data-entry task. Experiment 2 (N = 90) replicated Experiment 1 with clinical students and a safety-critical 'cover story' for the task. In both studies, Reward and Punishment resulted in significantly fewer errors, more frequent and longer checking, than Control. No such differences were obtained between the Reward and Punishment conditions. It is concluded that error consequences in terms of monetary reward and punishment can result in more accurate task performance and more rigorous checking behaviour than errors without consequences. However, whether punishment is more effective than reward, or vice versa, remains inconclusive. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Hands-on Simulation versus Traditional Video-learning in Teaching Microsurgery Technique

PubMed Central

SAKAMOTO, Yusuke; OKAMOTO, Sho; SHIMIZU, Kenzo; ARAKI, Yoshio; HIRAKAWA, Akihiro; WAKABAYASHI, Toshihiko

2017-01-01

Bench model hands-on learning may be more effective than traditional didactic practice in some surgical fields. However, this has not been reported for microsurgery. Our study objective was to demonstrate the efficacy of bench model hands-on learning in acquiring microsuturing skills. The secondary objective was to evaluate the aptitude for microsurgery based on personality assessment. Eighty-six medical students comprising 62 men and 24 women were randomly assigned to either 20 min of hands-on learning with a bench model simulator or 20 min of video-learning using an instructional video. They then practiced microsuturing for 40 min. Each student then made three knots, and the time to complete the task was recorded. The final products were scored by two independent graders in a blind fashion. All participants then took a personality test, and their microsuture test scores and the time to complete the task were compared. The time to complete the task was significantly shorter in the simulator group than in the video-learning group. The final product scores tended to be higher with simulator-learning than with video-learning, but the difference was not significant. Students with high “extraversion” scores on the personality inventory took a shorter time to complete the suturing test. Simulator-learning was more effective for microsurgery training than video instruction, especially in understanding the procedure. There was a weak association between personality traits and microsurgery skill. PMID:28381653

Physician's assistants in primary care practices: delegation of tasks and physician supervision.

PubMed

Ekwo, E; Dusdieker, L B; Fethke, C; Daniels, M

1979-01-01

Little information is available on factors influencing physicians (MDs) to delegate health care tasks to physician's assistants (PAs). Information about assignment of tasks to PAs was sought from 19 MDs engaged in practice in primary care settings in Iowa. These MDs employed 28 PAs. Tasks assigned to PAs appeared to be those that MDs judged to require little or no supervision. Tasks that could be performed efficiently by other non-MD personnel were not asigned to PAs. However, PAs were observed at the practice sites to perform tasks which the MDs had indicated could be appropriately assigned to PAs, as well as some tasks that could be performed by other non-MD personnel. The MDs provided health care to 126 (13.6 percent) of the 925 patients seen by PAs for whom the sequences of patient-provider contact were recorded. In these settings, the PAs functioned with a high degree of autonomy in providing health care. These findings have implications for educators and potential employers of PAs.

How "mere" is the mere ownership effect in memory? Evidence for semantic organization processes.

PubMed

Englert, Julia; Wentura, Dirk

2016-11-01

Memory is better for items arbitrarily assigned to the self than for items assigned to another person (mere ownership effect, MOE). In a series of six experiments, we investigated the role of semantic processes for the MOE. Following successful replication, we investigated whether the MOE was contingent upon semantic processing: For meaningless stimuli, there was no MOE. Testing for a potential role of semantic elaboration using meaningful stimuli in an encoding task without verbal labels, we found evidence of spontaneous semantic processing irrespective of self- or other-assignment. When semantic organization was manipulated, the MOE vanished if a semantic classification task was added to the self/other assignment but persisted for a perceptual classification task. Furthermore, we found greater clustering of self-assigned than of other-assigned items in free recall. Taken together, these results suggest that the MOE could be based on the organizational principle of a "me" versus "not-me" categorization. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mental workload and cognitive task automaticity: an evaluation of subjective and time estimation metrics.

PubMed

Liu, Y; Wickens, C D

1994-11-01

The evaluation of mental workload is becoming increasingly important in system design and analysis. The present study examined the structure and assessment of mental workload in performing decision and monitoring tasks by focusing on two mental workload measurements: subjective assessment and time estimation. The task required the assignment of a series of incoming customers to the shortest of three parallel service lines displayed on a computer monitor. The subject was either in charge of the customer assignment (manual mode) or was monitoring an automated system performing the same task (automatic mode). In both cases, the subjects were required to detect the non-optimal assignments that they or the computer had made. Time pressure was manipulated by the experimenter to create fast and slow conditions. The results revealed a multi-dimensional structure of mental workload and a multi-step process of subjective workload assessment. The results also indicated that subjective workload was more influenced by the subject's participatory mode than by the factor of task speed. The time estimation intervals produced while performing the decision and monitoring tasks had significantly greater length and larger variability than those produced while either performing no other tasks or performing a well practised customer assignment task. This result seemed to indicate that time estimation was sensitive to the presence of perceptual/cognitive demands, but not to response related activities to which behavioural automaticity has developed.

Training Basic Visual Attention Leads to Changes in Responsiveness to Social-Communicative Cues in 9-Month-Olds.

PubMed

Forssman, Linda; Wass, Sam V

2018-05-01

This study investigated transfer effects of gaze-interactive attention training to more complex social and cognitive skills in infancy. Seventy 9-month-olds were assigned to a training group (n = 35) or an active control group (n = 35). Before, after, and at 6-week follow-up both groups completed an assessment battery assessing transfer to nontrained aspects of attention control, including table top tasks assessing social attention in seminaturalistic contexts. Transfer effects were found on nontrained screen-based tasks but importantly also on a structured observation task assessing the infants' likelihood to respond to an adult's social-communication cues. The results causally link basic attention skills and more complex social-communicative skills and provide a principle for studying causal mechanisms of early development. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Design and test of a situation-augmented display for an unmanned aerial vehicle monitoring task.

PubMed

Lu, Jen-Li; Horng, Ruey-Yun; Chao, Chin-Jung

2013-08-01

In this study, a situation-augmented display for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) monitoring was designed, and its effects on operator performance and mental workload were examined. The display design was augmented with the knowledge that there is an invariant flight trajectory (formed by the relationship between altitude and velocity) for every flight, from takeoff to landing. 56 participants were randomly assigned to the situation-augmented display or a conventional display condition to work on 4 (number of abnormalities) x 2 (noise level) UAV monitoring tasks three times. Results showed that the effects of situation-augmented display on flight completion time and time to detect abnormalities were robust under various workload conditions, but error rate and perceived mental workload were unaffected by the display type. Results suggest that the UAV monitoring task is extremely difficult, and that display devices providing high-level situation-awareness may improve operator monitoring performance.

Reducing the stigma associated with seeking psychotherapy through self-affirmation.

PubMed

Lannin, Daniel G; Guyll, Max; Vogel, David L; Madon, Stephanie

2013-10-01

Psychotherapy may be underutilized because people experience self-stigma-the internalization of public stigma associated with seeking psychotherapy. The purpose of this study was to experimentally test whether the self-stigma associated with seeking psychotherapy could be reduced by a self-affirmation intervention wherein participants reflected on an important personal characteristic. Compared with a control group, we hypothesized that a self-affirmation writing task would attenuate self-stigma, and thereby evidence indirect effects on intentions and willingness to seek psychotherapy. Participants were 84 undergraduates experiencing psychological distress. After completing pretest measures of self-stigma, intentions, and willingness to seek psychotherapy, participants were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or a control writing task, and subsequently completed posttest measures of self-stigma, intentions, and willingness to seek psychotherapy. Consistent with hypotheses, participants who engaged in self-affirmation reported lower self-stigma at posttest. Moreover, the self-affirmation writing task resulted in a positive indirect effect on willingness to seek psychotherapy, though results failed to support an indirect effect on intentions to seek psychotherapy. Findings suggest that self-affirmation theory may provide a useful framework for designing interventions that seek to address the underutilization of psychological services through reductions in self-stigma.

Ceci n'est pas un walrus: lexical processing in vigilance performance.

PubMed

Neigel, Alexis R; Claypoole, Victoria L; Hancock, Gabriella M; Fraulini, Nicholas W; Szalma, James L

2018-03-01

Vigilance, or the ability to sustain attention for extended periods of time, has traditionally been examined using a myriad of symbolic, cognitive, and sensory tasks. However, the current literature indicates a relative lack of empirical investigation on vigilance performance involving lexical processing. To address this gap in the literature, the present study examined the effect of stimulus meaning on vigilance performance (i.e., lure effects). A sample of 126 observers completed a 12-min lexical vigilance task in a research laboratory. Observers were randomly assigned to a standard task (targets and neutral events only) or a lure task (lures, targets, and neutral events presented), wherein lures were stimuli that were categorically similar to target stimuli. A novel analytical approach was utilized to examine the results; the lure groups were divided based on false alarm performance post hoc. Groups were further divided to demonstrate that the presence of lure stimuli significantly affects the decision-making criteria used to assess the performance of lexical vigilance tasks. We also discuss the effect of lure stimuli on measures related to signal detection theory (e.g., sensitivity and response bias).

The incorporation of focused history in checklist for early recognition and treatment of acute illness and injury.

PubMed

Jayaprakash, Namita; Ali, Rashid; Kashyap, Rahul; Bennett, Courtney; Kogan, Alexander; Gajic, Ognjen

2016-08-31

Diagnostic error and delay are critical impediments to the safety of critically ill patients. Checklist for early recognition and treatment of acute illness and injury (CERTAIN) has been developed as a tool that facilitates timely and error-free evaluation of critically ill patients. While the focused history is an essential part of the CERTAIN framework, it is not clear how best to choreograph this step in the process of evaluation and treatment of the acutely decompensating patient. An un-blinded crossover clinical simulation study was designed in which volunteer critical care clinicians (fellows and attendings) were randomly assigned to start with either obtaining a focused history choreographed in series (after) or in parallel to the primary survey. A focused history was obtained using the standardized SAMPLE model that is incorporated into American College of Trauma Life Support (ATLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS). Clinicians were asked to assess six acutely decompensating patients using pre - determined clinical scenarios (three in series choreography, three in parallel). Once the initial choreography was completed the clinician would crossover to the alternative choreography. The primary outcome was the cognitive burden assessed through the NASA task load index. Secondary outcome was time to completion of a focused history. A total of 84 simulated cases (42 in parallel, 42 in series) were tested on 14 clinicians. Both the overall cognitive load and time to completion improved with each successive practice scenario, however no difference was observed between the series versus parallel choreographies. The median (IQR) overall NASA TLX task load index for series was 39 (17 - 58) and for parallel 43 (27 - 52), p = 0.57. The median (IQR) time to completion of the tasks in series was 125 (112 - 158) seconds and in parallel 122 (108 - 158) seconds, p = 0.92. In this clinical simulation study assessing the incorporation of a focused history into the primary survey of a non-trauma critically ill patient, there was no difference in cognitive burden or time to task completion when using series choreography (after the exam) compared to parallel choreography (concurrent with the primary survey physical exam). However, with repetition of the task both overall task load and time to completion improved in each of the choreographies.

28 CFR 301.106 - Repetitious accidents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... on a particular work site in a comparatively short period of time, regardless of whether injury... of the inmate's work supervisor, implies a danger of further accidents in the task assigned, the inmate shall be assigned to another task more suitable to the inmate's ability. ...

28 CFR 301.106 - Repetitious accidents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... on a particular work site in a comparatively short period of time, regardless of whether injury... of the inmate's work supervisor, implies a danger of further accidents in the task assigned, the inmate shall be assigned to another task more suitable to the inmate's ability. ...

28 CFR 301.106 - Repetitious accidents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... on a particular work site in a comparatively short period of time, regardless of whether injury... of the inmate's work supervisor, implies a danger of further accidents in the task assigned, the inmate shall be assigned to another task more suitable to the inmate's ability. ...

Flexible Multi agent Algorithm for Distributed Decision Making

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

How, J. P. Consensus - Based Auction Approaches for Decentralized task Assignment. Proceedings of the AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control...G. ; Kim, Y. Market- based Decentralized Task Assignment for Cooperative UA V Mission Including Rendezvous. Proceedings of the AIAA Guidance...scalable and adaptable to a variety of specific mission tasks . Additionally, the algorithm could easily be adapted for use on land or sea- based systems

Improving Participation Rates for Women of Color in Health Research: The Role of Group Cohesion

PubMed Central

Mama, Scherezade; Reese-Smith, Jacqueline Y.; Estabrooks, Paul A.; Lee, Rebecca E.

2015-01-01

Adherence to physical activity and dietary interventions is a common challenge. Interventions that use group cohesion strategies show promise for increasing adherence, but have not been tested among women of color. The purpose of this study was to determine whether dimensions of group cohesion mediate the association between intervention condition and attendance within a community physical activity program for women of color. African American and Hispanic or Latina women (N=310) completed measurements at baseline and post-intervention and participated in a social cohesion intervention to improve physical activity and dietary habits. Women were assigned to a physical activity or fruit and vegetable intervention group. Social and task cohesion was measured using the Physical Activity Group Environment Questionnaire (PAGE-Q). Attendance was recorded at each of six intervention sessions. Women were generally middle-age (M age = 46.4 years, SD=9.1) and obese (M BMI = 34.4 kg/m2, SD=7.7). The estimate of the mediated effect was significant for all group cohesion constructs, indicating both task constructs—attraction to the group’s task (SE=0.096, CI: −0.599 to −0.221) and group integration around the task (SE=0.060, CI: −0.092 to −0.328)—and social constructs—attraction to the group’s social aspects (SE=0.046, CI: −0.546 to −0.366) and group integration around social aspects (SE=0.046, CI: −0.546 to −0.366)—significantly mediated the association between group assignment and attendance. Both task and social constructs are important to improve attendance in health promotion interventions for women of color. PMID:21826476

Communication Delays Impact Behavior and Performance Aboard the International Space Station.

PubMed

Kintz, Natalie M; Palinkas, Lawrence A

Long-duration space explorations will involve significant communication delays that will likely impact individual and team outcomes. However, the extent of these impacts and the appropriate countermeasures for their mitigation remain largely unknown. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) as a research platform to assess the impacts of communication delays on individual and team behavior and performance. For this study, 3 ISS crewmembers and 18 mission support personnel performed 10 tasks identified by subject matter experts as meeting study criteria, 6 tasks without a delay in communication and 4 tasks with a 50-s one-way delay. Assessments of individual and team performance and behavior were obtained after each task. The completion rate of posttask assessments and postmission interviews with astronauts were used to assess feasibility and acceptability. Posttask assessments were completed in 100% of the instances where a crewmember was assigned to a task and in 83% where mission support personnel were involved. Qualitative analysis of postmission interviews found the study to be important and acceptable to the three astronauts. However, they also reported the study was limited in the number and type of tasks included, limitations in survey questions, and preference for open-ended to scaled items. Although the ISS is considered a high fidelity analog for long-duration space missions, future studies of communication delays on the ISS must take into considerations the constraints imposed by mission operations and subject preferences and priorities. Kintz KM, Palinkas LA. Communication delays impact behavior and performance aboard the International Space Station. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 87(11):940-946.

Effects of Neurofeekback Training on EEG, Continuous Performance Task (CPT), and ADHD Symptoms in ADHD-prone College Students.

PubMed

Ryoo, Manhee; Son, Chongnak

2015-12-01

This study explored the effects of neurofeedback training on Electroencephalogram (EEG), Continuous Performance Task (CPT) and ADHD symptoms in ADHD prone college students. Two hundred forty seven college students completed Korean Version of Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS-K) and Korean Version of Beck Depression Inventory (K-BDI). The 16 participants who ranked in the top 25% of CAARS-K score and had 16 less of K-BDI score participated in this study. Among them, 8 participants who are fit for the research schedule were assigned to neurofeedback training group and 8 not fit for the research schedule to the control group. All participants completed Adult Attention Deficiency Questionnaire, CPT and EEG measurement at pretest. The neurofeedback group received 15 neurofeedback training sessions (5 weeks, 3 sessions per week). The control group did not receive any treatment. Four weeks after completion of the program, all participants completed CAARS-K, Adult Attention Deficiency Questionnaire, CPT and EEG measurement for post-test. The neurofeedback group showed more significant improvement in EEG, CPT performance and ADHD symptoms than the control group. The improvements were maintained at follow up. Neurofeedback training adjusted abnormal EEG and was effective in improving objective and subjective ADHD symptoms in ADHD prone college students.

Robotics and STEM Learning: Students' Achievements in Assignments According to the P3 Task Taxonomy--Practice, Problem Solving, and Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barak, Moshe; Assal, Muhammad

2018-01-01

This study presents the case of development and evaluation of a STEM-oriented 30-h robotics course for junior high school students (n = 32). Class activities were designed according to the P3 Task Taxonomy, which included: (1) practice-basic closed-ended tasks and exercises; (2) problem solving--small-scale open-ended assignments in which the…

Development and Application of ANN Model for Worker Assignment into Virtual Cells of Large Sized Configurations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murali, R. V.; Puri, A. B.; Fathi, Khalid

2010-10-01

This paper presents an extended version of study already undertaken on development of an artificial neural networks (ANNs) model for assigning workforce into virtual cells under virtual cellular manufacturing systems (VCMS) environments. Previously, the same authors have introduced this concept and applied it to virtual cells of two-cell configuration and the results demonstrated that ANNs could be a worth applying tool for carrying out workforce assignments. In this attempt, three-cell configurations problems are considered for worker assignment task. Virtual cells are formed under dual resource constraint (DRC) context in which the number of available workers is less than the total number of machines available. Since worker assignment tasks are quite non-linear and highly dynamic in nature under varying inputs & conditions and, in parallel, ANNs have the ability to model complex relationships between inputs and outputs and find similar patterns effectively, an attempt was earlier made to employ ANNs into the above task. In this paper, the multilayered perceptron with feed forward (MLP-FF) neural network model has been reused for worker assignment tasks of three-cell configurations under DRC context and its performance at different time periods has been analyzed. The previously proposed worker assignment model has been reconfigured and cell formation solutions available for three-cell configuration in the literature are used in combination to generate datasets for training ANNs framework. Finally, results of the study have been presented and discussed.

Effects of mindful eating training on delay and probability discounting for food and money in obese and healthy-weight individuals.

PubMed

Hendrickson, Kelsie L; Rasmussen, Erin B

2013-07-01

Obese individuals tend to behave more impulsively than healthy weight individuals across a variety of measures, but it is unclear whether this pattern can be altered. The present study examined the effects of a mindful eating behavioral strategy on impulsive and risky choice patterns for hypothetical food and money. In Experiment 1, 304 participants completed computerized delay and probability discounting tasks for food-related and monetary outcomes. High percent body fat (PBF) predicted more impulsive choice for food, but not small-value money, replicating previous work. In Experiment 2, 102 randomly selected participants from Experiment 1 were assigned to participate in a 50-min workshop on mindful eating or to watch an educational video. They then completed the discounting tasks again. Participants who completed the mindful eating session showed more self-controlled and less risk-averse discounting patterns for food compared to baseline; those in the control condition discounted similarly to baseline rates. There were no changes in discounting for money for either group, suggesting stimulus specificity for food for the mindful eating condition. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of simulated three-dimensional perception on precision of depth judgements, technical performance and perceived workload in laparoscopy.

PubMed

Sakata, S; Grove, P M; Hill, A; Watson, M O; Stevenson, A R L

2017-07-01

This study compared precision of depth judgements, technical performance and workload using two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) laparoscopic displays across different viewing distances. It also compared the accuracy of 3D displays with natural viewing, along with the relationship between stereoacuity and 3D laparoscopic performance. A counterbalanced within-subjects design with random assignment to testing sequences was used. The system could display 2D or 3D images with the same set-up. A Howard-Dolman apparatus assessed precision of depth judgements, and three laparoscopic tasks (peg transfer, navigation in space and suturing) assessed performance (time to completion). Participants completed tasks in all combinations of two viewing modes (2D, 3D) and two viewing distances (1 m, 3 m). Other measures administered included the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (perceived workload) and the Randot ® Stereotest (stereoacuity). Depth judgements were 6·2 times as precise at 1 m and 3·0 times as precise at 3 m using 3D versus 2D displays (P < 0·001). Participants performed all laparoscopic tasks faster in 3D at both 1 and 3 m (P < 0.001), with mean completion times up to 64 per cent shorter for 3D versus 2D displays. Workload was lower for 3D displays (up to 34 per cent) than for 2D displays at both viewing distances (P < 0·001). Greater viewing distance inhibited performance for two laparoscopic tasks, and increased perceived workload for all three (P < 0·001). Higher stereoacuity was associated with shorter completion times for the navigating in space task performed in 3D at 1 m (r = - 0·40, P = 0·001). 3D displays offer large improvements over 2D displays in precision of depth judgements, technical performance and perceived workload. © 2017 The Authors. BJS published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of BJS Society Ltd.

Longitudinal Evaluation of the Importance of Homework Assignment Completion for the Academic Performance of Middle School Students with ADHD

PubMed Central

Langberg, Joshua M.; Dvorsky, Melissa R.; Molitor, Stephen J.; Bourchtein, Elizaveta; Eddy, Laura D.; Smith, Zoe; Schultz, Brandon K.; Evans, Steven W.

2016-01-01

The primary goal of this study was to longitudinally evaluate the homework assignment completion patterns of middle school age adolescents with ADHD, their associations with academic performance, and malleable predictors of homework assignment completion. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 104 middle school students comprehensively diagnosed with ADHD and followed for 18 months. Multiple teachers for each student provided information about the percentage of homework assignments turned in at five separate timepoints and school grades were collected quarterly. Results showed that agreement between teachers with respect to students’ assignment completion was high, with an intraclass correlation of .879 at baseline. Students with ADHD were turning in an average of 12% fewer assignments each academic quarter in comparison to teacher-reported classroom averages. Regression analyses revealed a robust association between the percentage of assignments turned in at baseline and school grades 18 months later, even after controlling for baseline grades, achievement (reading and math), intelligence, family income, and race. Cross-lag analyses demonstrated that the association between assignment completion and grades was reciprocal, with assignment completion negatively impacting grades and low grades in turn being associated with decreased future homework completion. Parent ratings of homework materials management abilities at baseline significantly predicted the percentage of assignments turned in as reported by teachers 18 months later. These findings demonstrate that homework assignment completion problems are persistent across time and an important intervention target for adolescents with ADHD. PMID:26931065

Smoke your troubles away: exploring the effects of death cognitions on cannabis craving and consumption.

PubMed

Nagar, Maayan; Rabinovitz, Sharon

2015-01-01

Two studies informed by the terror management health model were conducted to examine the question of how death cognition affects cannabis craving and whether actual cannabis smoking alleviates death cognitions. The first study examined whether priming thoughts of death are associated with subjective cannabis craving among 42 frequent cannabis users randomly assigned to either a mortality salience or control task. When reminded of their death, participants craved cannabis, even though there was no change in their conscious negative mood. The second study examined the effect of cannabis smoking on death cognitions in an exploratory field setting. Fifty frequent cannabis users were randomly assigned to either mortality reminders or control task and completed death-related words accessibility measures before and after smoking cannabis. Results indicate that cannabis served as a buffer and prevented death-related thoughts from entering consciousness, thus acting as a defense mechanism against death anxiety. These findings indicate that death-related concerns may play a hitherto unsuspected role in cannabis craving and consumption. Also discussed are the implications of a terror management perspective in communication of negative health consequences of recreational cannabis smoking and in the use of cannabis for medical purposes among people with terminal illness.

Supervisory control of mobile sensor networks: math formulation, simulation, and implementation.

PubMed

Giordano, Vincenzo; Ballal, Prasanna; Lewis, Frank; Turchiano, Biagio; Zhang, Jing Bing

2006-08-01

This paper uses a novel discrete-event controller (DEC) for the coordination of cooperating heterogeneous wireless sensor networks (WSNs) containing both unattended ground sensors (UGSs) and mobile sensor robots. The DEC sequences the most suitable tasks for each agent and assigns sensor resources according to the current perception of the environment. A matrix formulation makes this DEC particularly useful for WSN, where missions change and sensor agents may be added or may fail. WSN have peculiarities that complicate their supervisory control. Therefore, this paper introduces several new tools for DEC design and operation, including methods for generating the required supervisory matrices based on mission planning, methods for modifying the matrices in the event of failed nodes, or nodes entering the network, and a novel dynamic priority assignment weighting approach for selecting the most appropriate and useful sensors for a given mission task. The resulting DEC represents a complete dynamical description of the WSN system, which allows a fast programming of deployable WSN, a computer simulation analysis, and an efficient implementation. The DEC is actually implemented on an experimental wireless-sensor-network prototyping system. Both simulation and experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness and versatility of the developed control architecture.

E-health to improve work functioning in employees with rheumatoid arthritis in rheumatology practice: a feasibility study.

PubMed

Hoving, J L; Zoer, I; van der Meer, M; van der Straaten, Y; Logtenberg-Rutten, C; Kraak-Put, S; de Vries, N; Tak, P P; Sluiter, J K; Frings-Dresen, M H W

2014-01-01

To evaluate the feasibility of an e-health intervention in rheumatology practice for employees with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who experience problems with work functioning. Twenty-three out of 90 patients with RA from a hospital rheumatology department, invited by letter, participated in a feasibility study. The 3-month internet e-health programme consisted of a self-management programme using a three-step problem-solving strategy: (step 1) analyse your work problems and opportunities; (step 3) identify solutions; and (step 3) work out a strategy (action plan). Support and personal feedback was provided by a rheumatology nurse. Patients completed assignments, received information, and actively worked on their goals. The main feasibility outcome included satisfaction with the programme. Other feasibility outcomes included usefulness, suitability, website use, and work functioning measured at baseline and/or 3 months using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and website data. In total, 95% of the participants were satisfied with the programme, and 96% thought the programme was useful for working RA patients and would recommend the programme to other working RA patients (91%). On the website, all patients at least partially completed the assignments in step 1 and 12 patients completed at least one assignment in step 3. Patients judged the website as well arranged with clear tasks. Patients worked on a range of (individual) goals, resolving work challenges using different strategies and actions. The e-health intervention is a feasible intervention for rheumatology practice justifying further effectiveness evaluation while allowing for further improvements in the selection of RA patients and shaping the intervention.

The effects of task and resource interdependence on achievement and social support: an exploratory study of Italian children.

PubMed

Bertucci, Andrea; Johnson, David W; Johnson, Roger T; Conte, Stella

2011-01-01

The relative efficacy of positive task interdependence, positive resource interdependence, and individualistic learning were compared with achievement and academic and personal social support. The authors randomly assigned to conditions 66 7th-grade Italian students with no previous experience in cooperative learning. They participated in 6 90-min instructional sessions dealing with the dangers of smoking, alcohol, and drugs. The results indicated that students assigned to the task-interdependence and resource-interdependence conditions achieved higher and perceived greater peer academic support than did students working individually. Students in the resource-interdependence condition showed a higher perception of peer personal support than students assigned to the other conditions.

Factor Structure and Predictive Validity of a Homework Motivation Measure for Use With Middle School Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

PubMed

Langberg, Joshua M; Smith, Zoe R; Dvorsky, Melissa R; Molitor, Stephen J; Bourchtein, Elizaveta; Eddy, Laura D; Eadeh, Hana-May; Oddo, Lauren E

2017-08-31

Many students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit deficits in motivation to pursue long-term goals. Students with ADHD have particular difficulty with motivation to complete homework-related tasks and often fail to complete assignments. Although these problems are common and may impact academic performance, no homework-motivation measures have been validated for use with students with ADHD. The primary goal of the present study was to evaluate the factor structure and predictive validity of a homework-motivation measure based upon the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. A sample of 285 middle school students with ADHD completed the measure, and confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the proposed factor structure and associations with parent and teacher ratings of homework performance. A 2-factor structure emerged, and model fit was excellent. Further, student-rated ability-expectancy beliefs demonstrated significant associations with parent-rated homework problems and performance and with teacher-rated homework performance and percentage of assignments turned in above and beyond ADHD symptoms. Future directions for studying the importance of motivation in students with ADHD are provided, with particular attention to the role that reward sensitivity may play in motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Relative importance index (RII) in ranking of procrastination factors among university students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aziz, Nazrina; Zain, Zakiyah; Mafuzi, Raja Muhammad Zahid Raja; Mustapa, Aini Mastura; Najib, Nur Hasibah Mohd; Lah, Nik Fatihah Nik

2016-08-01

Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something such as making a decision or starting or completing some tasks or activities. According to previous studies, students who have a strong tendency to procrastinate get low scores in their tests, resulting in poorer academic performance compared to those who do not procrastinate. This study aims to identify the procrastination factors in completing assignments among three groups of undergraduate students. The relative importance of procrastination factors was quantified by the relative importance index (RII) method prior to ranking. A multistage sampling technique was used in selecting the sample. The findings revealed that `too many works in one time' is one of the top three factors contributing to procrastination in all groups.

Longitudinal evaluation of the importance of homework assignment completion for the academic performance of middle school students with ADHD.

PubMed

Langberg, Joshua M; Dvorsky, Melissa R; Molitor, Stephen J; Bourchtein, Elizaveta; Eddy, Laura D; Smith, Zoe; Schultz, Brandon K; Evans, Steven W

2016-04-01

The primary goal of this study was to longitudinally evaluate the homework assignment completion patterns of middle school age adolescents with ADHD, their associations with academic performance, and malleable predictors of homework assignment completion. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 104 middle school students comprehensively diagnosed with ADHD and followed for 18 months. Multiple teachers for each student provided information about the percentage of homework assignments turned in at five separate time points and school grades were collected quarterly. Results showed that agreement between teachers with respect to students assignment completion was high, with an intraclass correlation of .879 at baseline. Students with ADHD were turning in an average of 12% fewer assignments each academic quarter in comparison to teacher-reported classroom averages. Regression analyses revealed a robust association between the percentage of assignments turned in at baseline and school grades 18 months later, even after controlling for baseline grades, achievement (reading and math), intelligence, family income, and race. Cross-lag analyses demonstrated that the association between assignment completion and grades was reciprocal, with assignment completion negatively impacting grades and low grades in turn being associated with decreased future homework completion. Parent ratings of homework materials management abilities at baseline significantly predicted the percentage of assignments turned in as reported by teachers 18 months later. These findings demonstrate that homework assignment completion problems are persistent across time and an important intervention target for adolescents with ADHD. Copyright © 2015 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic Retrieval of Newly Instructed Cue-Task Associations Seen in Task-Conflict Effects in the First Trial after Cue-Task Instructions.

PubMed

Meiran, Nachshon; Pereg, Maayan

2017-01-01

Novel stimulus-response associations are retrieved automatically even without prior practice. Is this true for novel cue-task associations? The experiment involved miniblocks comprising three phases and task switching. In the INSTRUCTION phase, two new stimuli (or familiar cues) were arbitrarily assigned as cues for up-down/right-left tasks performed on placeholder locations. In the UNIVALENT phase, there was no task cue since placeholder's location afforded one task but the placeholders were the stimuli that we assigned as task cues for the following BIVALENT phase (involving target locations affording both tasks). Thus, participants held the novel cue-task associations in memory while executing the UNIVALENT phase. Results show poorer performance in the first univalent trial when the placeholder was associated with the opposite task (incompatible) than when it was compatible, an effect that was numerically larger with newly instructed cues than with familiar cues. These results indicate automatic retrieval of newly instructed cue-task associations.

Performance-based workload assessment: Allocation strategy and added task sensitivity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vidulich, Michael A.

1990-01-01

The preliminary results of a research program investigating the use of added tasks to evaluate mental workload are reviewed. The focus of the first studies was a reappraisal of the traditional secondary task logic that encouraged the use of low-priority instructions for the added task. It was believed that such low-priority tasks would encourage subjects to split their available resources among the two tasks. The primary task would be assigned all the resources it needed, and any remaining reserve capacity would be assigned to the secondary task. If the model were correct, this approach was expected to combine sensitivity to primary task difficulty with unintrusiveness to primary task performance. The first studies of the current project demonstrated that a high-priority added task, although intrusive, could be more sensitive than the traditional low-priority secondary task. These results suggested that a more appropriate model of the attentional effects associated with added task performance might be based on capacity switching, rather than the traditional optimal allocation model.

Cultural Influences on Toddlers' Prosocial Behavior: How Maternal Task Assignment Relates to Helping Others

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Köster, Moritz; Cavalcante, Lilia; Vera Cruz de Carvalho, Rafael; Dôgo Resende, Briseida; Kärtner, Joscha

2016-01-01

This cross-cultural study investigates how maternal task assignment relates to toddlers' requested behavior and helping between 18 and 30 months. One hundred seven mother-child dyads were assessed in three different cultural contexts (rural Brazil, urban Germany, and urban Brazil). Brazilian mothers showed assertive scaffolding (serious and…

Memory consolidation and contextual interference effects with computer games.

PubMed

Shewokis, Patricia A

2003-10-01

Some investigators of the contextual interference effect contend that there is a direct relation between the amount of practice and the contextual interference effect based on the prediction that the improvement in learning tasks in a random practice schedule, compared to a blocked practice schedule, increases in magnitude as the amount of practice during acquisition on the tasks increases. Research using computer games in contextual interference studies has yielded a large effect (f = .50) with a random practice schedule advantage during transfer. These investigations had a total of 36 and 72 acquisition trials, respectively. The present study tested this prediction by having 72 college students, who were randomly assigned to a blocked or random practice schedule, practice 102 trials of three computer-game tasks across three days. After a 24-hr. interval, 6 retention and 5 transfer trials were performed. Dependent variables were time to complete an event in seconds and number of errors. No significant differences were found for retention and transfer. These results are discussed in terms of how the amount of practice, task-related factors, and memory consolidation mediate the contextual interference effect.

Pre-service teachers’ challenges in presenting mathematical problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desfitri, R.

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyzed how pre-service teachers prepare and assigned tasks or assignments in teaching practice situations. This study was also intended to discuss about kind of tasks or assignments they gave to students. Participants of this study were 15 selected pre-service mathematics teachers from mathematics education department who took part on microteaching class as part of teaching preparation program. Based on data obtained, it was occasionally found that there were hidden errors on questions or tasks assigned by pre-service teachers which might lead their students not to be able to reach a logical or correct answer. Although some answers might seem to be true, they were illogical or unfavourable. It is strongly recommended that pre-service teachers be more careful when posing mathematical problems so that students do not misunderstand the problems or the concepts, since both teachers and students were sometimes unaware of errors in problems being worked on.

Patient identification errors are common in a simulated setting.

PubMed

Henneman, Philip L; Fisher, Donald L; Henneman, Elizabeth A; Pham, Tuan A; Campbell, Megan M; Nathanson, Brian H

2010-06-01

We evaluate the frequency and accuracy of health care workers verifying patient identity before performing common tasks. The study included prospective, simulated patient scenarios with an eye-tracking device that showed where the health care workers looked. Simulations involved nurses administering an intravenous medication, technicians labeling a blood specimen, and clerks applying an identity band. Participants were asked to perform their assigned task on 3 simulated patients, and the third patient had a different date of birth and medical record number than the identity information on the artifact label specific to the health care workers' task. Health care workers were unaware that the focus of the study was patient identity. Sixty-one emergency health care workers participated--28 nurses, 16 technicians, and 17 emergency service associates--in 183 patient scenarios. Sixty-one percent of health care workers (37/61) caught the identity error (61% nurses, 94% technicians, 29% emergency service associates). Thirty-nine percent of health care workers (24/61) performed their assigned task on the wrong patient (39% nurses, 6% technicians, 71% emergency service associates). Eye-tracking data were available for 73% of the patient scenarios (133/183). Seventy-four percent of health care workers (74/100) failed to match the patient to the identity band (87% nurses, 49% technicians). Twenty-seven percent of health care workers (36/133) failed to match the artifact to the patient or the identity band before performing their task (33% nurses, 9% technicians, 33% emergency service associates). Fifteen percent (5/33) of health care workers who completed the steps to verify patient identity on the patient with the identification error still failed to recognize the error. Wide variation exists among health care workers verifying patient identity before performing everyday tasks. Education, process changes, and technology are needed to improve the frequency and accuracy of patient identification. Copyright (c) 2009. Published by Mosby, Inc.

Achievement Place: development of the elected manager system1

PubMed Central

Phillips, Elery L.; Phillips, Elaine A.; Wolf, Montrose M.; Fixsen, Dean L.

1973-01-01

A series of experiments was carried out to compare several administrative systems at Achievement Place, a family style behavior modification program for pre-delinquent boys. One aspect of the motivation system at Achievement Place was the token economy in which the youths could earn or lose points that could be exchanged for privileges. Several arrangements for assigning routine tasks and for providing token consequences for task performance were compared for their effectiveness in accomplishing the tasks and for their preference by the boys. The independent variables studied included: (1) individually assigned tasks versus group assigned tasks; (2) consequences for individual performance versus consequences for group performance; (3) a peer managership that could be earned by the highest bidder versus a peer managership that could be determined democratically by the peers. The results suggested that among those systems studied the system that best met the criteria of effectiveness and preference involved a democratically elected peer manager who had the authority both to give and to take away points for his peers' performances. PMID:16795439

Tasking and sharing sensing assets using controlled natural language

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preece, Alun; Pizzocaro, Diego; Braines, David; Mott, David

2012-06-01

We introduce an approach to representing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks at a relatively high level in controlled natural language. We demonstrate that this facilitates both human interpretation and machine processing of tasks. More specically, it allows the automatic assignment of sensing assets to tasks, and the informed sharing of tasks between collaborating users in a coalition environment. To enable automatic matching of sensor types to tasks, we created a machine-processable knowledge representation based on the Military Missions and Means Framework (MMF), and implemented a semantic reasoner to match task types to sensor types. We combined this mechanism with a sensor-task assignment procedure based on a well-known distributed protocol for resource allocation. In this paper, we re-formulate the MMF ontology in Controlled English (CE), a type of controlled natural language designed to be readable by a native English speaker whilst representing information in a structured, unambiguous form to facilitate machine processing. We show how CE can be used to describe both ISR tasks (for example, detection, localization, or identication of particular kinds of object) and sensing assets (for example, acoustic, visual, or seismic sensors, mounted on motes or unmanned vehicles). We show how these representations enable an automatic sensor-task assignment process. Where a group of users are cooperating in a coalition, we show how CE task summaries give users in the eld a high-level picture of ISR coverage of an area of interest. This allows them to make ecient use of sensing resources by sharing tasks.

Eigensolution of finite element problems in a completely connected parallel architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akl, Fred A.; Morel, Michael R.

1989-01-01

A parallel algorithm for the solution of the generalized eigenproblem in linear elastic finite element analysis, (K)(phi)=(M)(phi)(omega), where (K) and (M) are of order N, and (omega) is of order q is presented. The parallel algorithm is based on a completely connected parallel architecture in which each processor is allowed to communicate with all other processors. The algorithm has been successfully implemented on a tightly coupled multiple-instruction-multiple-data (MIMD) parallel processing computer, Cray X-MP. A finite element model is divided into m domains each of which is assumed to process n elements. Each domain is then assigned to a processor, or to a logical processor (task) if the number of domains exceeds the number of physical processors. The macro-tasking library routines are used in mapping each domain to a user task. Computational speed-up and efficiency are used to determine the effectiveness of the algorithm. The effect of the number of domains, the number of degrees-of-freedom located along the global fronts and the dimension of the subspace on the performance of the algorithm are investigated. For a 64-element rectangular plate, speed-ups of 1.86, 3.13, 3.18 and 3.61 are achieved on two, four, six and eight processors, respectively.

Examining the development of scientific reasoning in ninth-grade physical science students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westbrook, Susan L.; Rogers, Laura N.

This study-was designed to test the hypothesis that descriptive learning cycles are neither sufficient to stimulate students to reason at a formal operational level nor to encourage facility with the processes of scientific investigation. A 6-week long, three-investigation unit on simple machines drawn from a ninth-grade physical science curriculum was selected for the study. Students in the course were assigned to one of three instructional groups: descriptive group (DE), question design group (QD), and hypothesis testing group (HT). Each group completed identical exploration and invention activities. Each group participated in qualitatively distinct activities during the expansion phase. The DE students completed the activities outlined in the curriculum (a descriptive learning cycle). The QD group designed and conducted experiments to answer a question posed by the teacher. The HT group generated hypotheses concerning a problem, then designed and conducted experiments to test those hypotheses (a hypothetico-deductive expansion). The effects of the treatments were assessed in a pretest-posttest format using Lawson's Seven Logic-Tasks, the Test of Integrated Process Skills, and Lawson's Revised Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning. Analyses of the data indicated that the HT group exhibited a significant increase on the Test of Integrated Process Skills and on Task 1 of the Seven Logic Tasks during the 6-week period.

Transfer effects of fall training on balance performance and spatiotemporal gait parameters in healthy community-dwelling older adults: a pilot study.

PubMed

Donath, Lars; Faude, Oliver; Bridenbaugh, Stephanie A; Roth, Ralf; Soltermann, Martin; Kressig, Reto W; Zahner, Lukas

2014-07-01

This study examined transfer effects of fall training on fear of falling (Falls Efficacy Scale-International [FES-I]), balance performance, and spatiotemporal gait characteristics in older adults. Eighteen community-dwelling older adults (ages 65-85) were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group completed 12 training sessions (60 min, 6 weeks). During pre- and posttesting, we measured FES-I, balance performance (double limb, closed eyes; single limb, open eyes; double limb, open eyes with motor-interfered task), and gait parameters (e.g., velocity; cadence; stride time, stride width, and stride length; variability of stride time and stride length) under single- and motor-interfered tasks. Dual tasks were applied to appraise improvements of cognitive processing during balance and gait. FES-I (p = .33) and postural sway did not significantly change (0.36 < p < .79). Trends toward significant interaction effects were found for step width during normal walking and stride length variability during the motor dual task (p = .05, ηp 2 = .22). Fall training did not sufficiently improve fear of falling, balance, or gait performance under single- or dual-task conditions in healthy older adults.

From a concept to a word in a syntactically complete sentence: an fMRI study on spontaneous language production in an overt picture description task.

PubMed

Grande, Marion; Meffert, Elisabeth; Schoenberger, Eva; Jung, Stefanie; Frauenrath, Tobias; Huber, Walter; Hussmann, Katja; Moormann, Mareike; Heim, Stefan

2012-07-02

Spontaneous language has rarely been subjected to neuroimaging studies. This study therefore introduces a newly developed method for the analysis of linguistic phenomena observed in continuous language production during fMRI. Most neuroimaging studies investigating language have so far focussed on single word or - to a smaller extent - sentence processing, mostly due to methodological considerations. Natural language production, however, is far more than the mere combination of words to larger units. Therefore, the present study aimed at relating brain activation to linguistic phenomena like word-finding difficulties or syntactic completeness in a continuous language fMRI paradigm. A picture description task with special constraints was used to provoke hesitation phenomena and speech errors. The transcribed speech sample was segmented into events of one second and each event was assigned to one category of a complex schema especially developed for this purpose. The main results were: conceptual planning engages bilateral activation of the precuneus. Successful lexical retrieval is accompanied - particularly in comparison to unsolved word-finding difficulties - by the left middle and superior temporal gyrus. Syntactic completeness is reflected in activation of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) (area 44). In sum, the method has proven to be useful for investigating the neural correlates of lexical and syntactic phenomena in an overt picture description task. This opens up new prospects for the analysis of spontaneous language production during fMRI. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Genetic-Based Scheduling Algorithm to Minimize the Makespan of the Grid Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Entezari-Maleki, Reza; Movaghar, Ali

Task scheduling algorithms in grid environments strive to maximize the overall throughput of the grid. In order to maximize the throughput of the grid environments, the makespan of the grid tasks should be minimized. In this paper, a new task scheduling algorithm is proposed to assign tasks to the grid resources with goal of minimizing the total makespan of the tasks. The algorithm uses the genetic approach to find the suitable assignment within grid resources. The experimental results obtained from applying the proposed algorithm to schedule independent tasks within grid environments demonstrate the applicability of the algorithm in achieving schedules with comparatively lower makespan in comparison with other well-known scheduling algorithms such as, Min-min, Max-min, RASA and Sufferage algorithms.

Practice Makes Progress? Homework Assignments and Outcome in Treatment of Cocaine Dependence

PubMed Central

Carroll, Kathleen M.; Nich, Charla; Ball, Samuel A.

2008-01-01

The relationship between treatment outcome and the extent to which participants completed homework assignments was evaluated among 60 cocaine-dependent individuals assigned to cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT). Homework was assigned in 72% of all sessions and initiated by participants in 48% of the sessions in which it was assigned. Completion of homework was unrelated to participants' baseline characteristics and several indicators of treatment compliance. Participants who completed more homework assignments demonstrated significantly greater increases in the quantity and quality of their coping skills and used significantly less cocaine during treatment and through a 1-year follow-up. These data suggest that the extent to which participants are willing to complete extrasession assignments may be an important mediator of response to CBT. PMID:16173864

A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the See, Tilt, Align, and Rotate (STAR) Maneuver on Skill Acquisition for Simulated Ultrasound-Guided Interventional Procedures.

PubMed

Lam, Nicholas C K; Fishburn, Steven J; Hammer, Angie R; Petersen, Timothy R; Gerstein, Neal S; Mariano, Edward R

2015-06-01

Achieving the best view of the needle and target anatomy when performing ultrasound-guided interventional procedures requires technical skill, which novices may find difficult to learn. We hypothesized that teaching novice performers to use 4 sequential steps (see, tilt, align, and rotate [STAR] method) to identify the needle under ultrasound guidance is more efficient than training with the commonly described probe movements of align, rotate, and tilt (ART). This study compared 2 instructional methods for transducer manipulation including alignment of a probe and needle by novices during a simulated ultrasound-guided nerve block. Right-handed volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55 years who had no previous ultrasound experience were recruited and randomized to 1 of 2 groups; one group was trained to troubleshoot misalignment with the ART method, and the other was trained with the new STAR maneuver. Participants performed the task, consisting of directing a needle in plane to 3 targets in a standardized gelatin phantom 3 times. The performance assessor and data analyst were blinded to group assignment. Thirty-five participants were recruited. The STAR group was able to complete the task more quickly (P < .001) and visualized the needle in a greater proportion of the procedure time (P = .004) compared to the ART group. All STAR participants were able to complete the task, whereas 41% of ART participants abandoned the task (P = .003). Novices are able to complete a simulated ultrasound-guided nerve block more quickly and efficiently when trained with the 4-step STAR maneuver compared to the ART method. © 2015 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Assessment of construct validity of a virtual reality laparoscopy simulator.

PubMed

Rosenthal, Rachel; Gantert, Walter A; Hamel, Christian; Hahnloser, Dieter; Metzger, Juerg; Kocher, Thomas; Vogelbach, Peter; Scheidegger, Daniel; Oertli, Daniel; Clavien, Pierre-Alain

2007-08-01

The aim of this study was to assess whether virtual reality (VR) can discriminate between the skills of novices and intermediate-level laparoscopic surgical trainees (construct validity), and whether the simulator assessment correlates with an expert's evaluation of performance. Three hundred and seven (307) participants of the 19th-22nd Davos International Gastrointestinal Surgery Workshops performed the clip-and-cut task on the Xitact LS 500 VR simulator (Xitact S.A., Morges, Switzerland). According to their previous experience in laparoscopic surgery, participants were assigned to the basic course (BC) or the intermediate course (IC). Objective performance parameters recorded by the simulator were compared to the standardized assessment by the course instructors during laparoscopic pelvitrainer and conventional surgery exercises. IC participants performed significantly better on the VR simulator than BC participants for the task completion time as well as the economy of movement of the right instrument, not the left instrument. Participants with maximum scores in the pelvitrainer cholecystectomy task performed the VR trial significantly faster, compared to those who scored less. In the conventional surgery task, a significant difference between those who scored the maximum and those who scored less was found not only for task completion time, but also for economy of movement of the right instrument. VR simulation provides a valid assessment of psychomotor skills and some basic aspects of spatial skills in laparoscopic surgery. Furthermore, VR allows discrimination between trainees with different levels of experience in laparoscopic surgery establishing construct validity for the Xitact LS 500 clip-and-cut task. Virtual reality may become the gold standard to assess and monitor surgical skills in laparoscopic surgery.

Personalized Video Feedback and Repeated Task Practice Improve Laparoscopic Knot-Tying Skills: Two Controlled Trials.

PubMed

Abbott, Eduardo F; Thompson, Whitney; Pandian, T K; Zendejas, Benjamin; Farley, David R; Cook, David A

2017-11-01

Compare the effect of personalized feedback (PF) vs. task demonstration (TD), both delivered via video, on laparoscopic knot-tying skills and perceived workload; and evaluate the effect of repeated practice. General surgery interns and research fellows completed four repetitions of a simulated laparoscopic knot-tying task at one-month intervals. Midway between repetitions, participants received via e-mail either a TD video (demonstration by an expert) or a PF video (video of their own performance with voiceover from a blinded senior surgeon). Each participant received at least one video per format, with sequence randomly assigned. Outcomes included performance scores and NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) scores. To evaluate the effectiveness of repeated practice, scores from these trainees on a separate delayed retention test were compared against historical controls who did not have scheduled repetitions. Twenty-one trainees completed the randomized study. Mean change in performance scores was significantly greater for those receiving PF (difference = 23.1 of 150 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0, 46.2], P = .05). Perceived workload was also significantly reduced (difference = -3.0 of 20 [95% CI: -5.8, -0.3], P = .04). Compared with historical controls (N = 93), the 21 with scheduled repeated practice had higher scores on the laparoscopic knot-tying assessment two weeks after the final repetition (difference = 1.5 of 10 [95% CI: 0.2, 2.8], P = .02). Personalized video feedback improves trainees' procedural performance and perceived workload compared with a task demonstration video. Brief monthly practice sessions support skill acquisition and retention.

Preparing for Combat Readiness for the Fight: Physical Performance Profile of Female U.S. Marines.

PubMed

Kelly, Karen R; Jameson, Jason T

2016-03-01

Females have been restricted from serving in direct combat arms' positions for decades. One reason for the exclusion derives from the perceived physical demands of these positions. As a result, many current efforts are directed toward defining the physical demands of combat arms' positions. The purpose of this study was to develop a physical performance and body composition profile of females who could overcome the physical demands of combat tasks that rely primarily on upper body strength. This study is based on an analysis of archival data from 2 separate samples of active-duty female Marines (n = 802), who had been recruited to participate in heavy lifting tasks. These tasks included lifting a heavy machine gun (HMG) lift (cohort 1, n = 423) and Clean and Press lifts (29.5-52.3 kg) (cohort 2, n = 379). To develop the physical performance profile, data from annual physical fitness tests were collected, which included run times, ammunition can lift, 804. Seven-meter (880-yard) movement to contact, and the maneuver under fire. In cohort 1, 65 females (∼15%; n = 423 females) successfully completed HMG; in cohort 2, 33 females (∼9%; n = 379 females) successfully completed another strength task, a Clean and Press of 52.3 kg. In both samples, female Marines who were successful on these tasks also outperformed their unsuccessful counterparts on the annual physical fitness tests. In addition, larger females typically outperformed their smaller counterparts. Females seeking assignment to closed combat arms' positions would thus be well served by targeting upper body strength, while maintaining overall physical fitness.

Robotically assisted laparoscopy benefits surgical performance under stress.

PubMed

Moore, Lee J; Wilson, Mark R; Waine, Elizabeth; McGrath, John S; Masters, Rich S W; Vine, Samuel J

2015-12-01

While the benefits of robotic surgery for the patient have been relatively well established, little is known about the benefits for the surgeon. This study examined whether the advantages of robotically assisted laparoscopy (improved dexterity, a 3-dimensional view, reduction in tremors, etc.) enable the surgeon to better deal with stressful tasks. Subjective and objective (i.e. cardiovascular) responses to stress were assessed while surgeons performed on either a robotic or conventional laparoscopic system. Thirty-two surgeons were assigned to perform a surgical task on either a robotic system or a laparoscopic system, under three stress conditions. The surgeons completed self-report measures of stress before each condition. Furthermore, the surgeons' cardiovascular responses to stress were recorded prior to each condition. Finally, task performance was recorded throughout each condition. While both groups reported experiencing similar levels of stress, compared to the laparoscopic group, the robotic group displayed a more adaptive cardiovascular response to the stress conditions, reflecting a challenge state (i.e. higher blood flow and lower vascular resistance). Furthermore, despite no differences in completion time, the robotic group performed the tasks more accurately than the laparoscopic group across the stress conditions. These results highlight the benefits of using robotic technology during stressful situations. Specifically, the results show that stressful tasks can be performed more accurately with a robotic platform, and that surgeons' cardiovascular responses to stress are more favourable. Importantly, the 'challenge' cardiovascular response to stress displayed when using the robotic system has been associated with more positive long-term health outcomes in domains where stress is commonly experienced (e.g. lower cardiovascular disease risk).

Independent effects of bilingualism and socioeconomic status on language ability and executive functioning.

PubMed

Calvo, Alejandra; Bialystok, Ellen

2014-03-01

One hundred and seventy-five children who were 6-years old were assigned to one of four groups that differed in socioeconomic status (SES; working class or middle class) and language background (monolingual or bilingual). The children completed tests of nonverbal intelligence, language tests assessing receptive vocabulary and attention based on picture naming, and two tests of executive functioning. All children performed equivalently on the basic intelligence tests, but performance on the language and executive functioning tasks was influenced by both SES and bilingualism. Middle-class children outperformed working-class children on all measures, and bilingual children obtained lower scores than monolingual children on language tests but higher scores than monolingual children on the executive functioning tasks. There were no interactions with either group factors or task factors. Thus, each of SES and bilingualism contribute significantly and independently to children's development irrespective of the child's level on the other factor. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Performance feedback, self-esteem, and cardiovascular adaptation to recurring stressors.

PubMed

Brown, Eoin G; Creaven, Ann-Marie

2017-05-01

This study sought to examine the effects of performance feedback and individual differences in self-esteem on cardiovascular habituation to repeat stress exposure. Sixty-six university students (n = 39 female) completed a self-esteem measure and completed a cardiovascular stress-testing protocol involving repeated exposure to a mental arithmetic task. Cardiovascular functioning was sampled across four phases: resting baseline, initial stress exposure, a recovery period, and repeated stress exposure. Participants were randomly assigned to receive fictional positive feedback, negative feedback, or no feedback following the recovery period. Negative feedback was associated with a sensitized blood pressure response to a second exposure of the stress task. Positive feedback was associated with decreased cardiovascular and psychological responses to a second exposure. Self-esteem was also found to predict reactivity and this interacted with the type of feedback received. These findings suggest that negative performance feedback sensitizes cardiovascular reactivity to stress, whereas positive performance feedback increases both cardiovascular and psychological habituation to repeat exposure to stressors. Furthermore, an individual's self-esteem also appears to influence this process.

Use it or Lose it? Wii Brain Exercise Practice and Reading for Domain Knowledge

PubMed Central

Ackerman, Phillip L.; Kanfer, Ruth; Calderwood, Charles

2010-01-01

We investigated the training effects and transfer effects associated with two approaches to cognitive activities (so-called “brain training”) that might mitigate age-related cognitive decline. A sample of 78 adults between the ages of 50 and 71 completed 20, one-hour training sessions with the Wii Big Brain Academy software over the course of one month, and in a second month, completed 20, one-hour reading sessions with articles on four different current topics (order of assignment was counterbalanced for the participants). An extensive battery of cognitive and perceptual speed ability measures was administered before and after each month of cognitive training activities, along with a battery of domain-knowledge tests. Results indicated substantial improvements on the Wii tasks, somewhat less improvement on the domain-knowledge tests, and practice-related improvements on 6 of the 10 ability tests. However, there was no significant transfer-of-training from either the Wii practice or the reading tasks to measures of cognitive and perceptual speed abilities. Implications for these findings are discussed in terms of adult intellectual development and maintenance. PMID:20822257

Retention in service of recruits assigned to the army physical fitness test enhancement program in basic combat training.

PubMed

Knapik, Joseph J; Hauret, Keith G; Lange, Jeffery L; Jovag, Brian

2003-06-01

Recruits are assigned to the Army Physical Fitness Test Enhancement Program (APFTEP) if they are unable to pass the final Army physical fitness test at the end of basic combat training (BCT). The U.S. Army Medical Command tasked the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine to examine the retention in service of individuals completing this program. To accomplish this tasking, the following data were obtained: a list of APFTEP recruits at Fort Jackson, South Carolina between January 1999 and June 2001; a list of BCT graduates from the Army Training Requirements and Resources System; and a comparison group of non-APFTEP recruits matched 3 to 1 on the basis of age, gender, Army entry date (+/- 30 days), BCT location, and active Army status from the Army Medical Surveillance Activity. We found that the proportion of recruits who successfully completed the APFTEP and graduated from BCT (85% of men, 80% of women) was lower than documented graduation rates for all recruits (93% of men, 87% of women). Retention in service after 1 year was also lower for APFTEP recruits than for non-APFTEP recruits among both men (74% vs. 92%, p < 0.01) and women (63% vs. 84%, p < 0.01). Despite the lower BCT graduation success and retention in service for APFTEP recruits, the program does assist in retaining soldiers who would otherwise be discharged for failing the Army physical fitness test. Thus, the program may be a useful tool for limiting attrition.

High Power Distance Enhances Employees' Preference for Likable Managers: A Resource Dependency Perspective

PubMed Central

Wei, Cong; Sun, Xiaomin; Liu, Jia; Zhou, Chunfang; Xue, Gang

2017-01-01

Is a manager's likability important from an employee's perspective? Research results in this field are scant and inconsistent. The current study explored employees' response to managers' likability and the moderating effect of power distance at both the cultural and individual levels. In study 1, following the countercultural priming experimental paradigm proposed by Van den Bos et al. (2013), 121 college students from China (a high power distance culture) and 99 college students from Denmark (a low power distance culture) were randomly assigned to either a countercultural (experimental) condition or a control condition. All participants were required to complete a manager selection task using the zero-acquaintance paradigm to measure their preference for likable managers. The results confirmed the moderating role of power distance at the cultural level. Study 2 further explored the moderating effect of power distance orientation at the individual level, as well as the boundary condition of the degree of resource dependence from the employee's perspective. One hundred and three Chinese participants with work experience were randomly assigned to either the subordinate perspective (high resource dependence) or the HR department perspective (low resource dependence) condition and completed the same task as in study 1. The results suggested that high power distance-oriented participants demonstrate stronger preference for likable manager candidates than do low power distance-oriented participants. In addition, these findings hold only when employees expect a high resource dependence relation with the manager. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings and future research directions were discussed. PMID:28119654

Acquisition of Skill Proficiency Over Multiple Sessions of a Novel Rover Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dean, S. L.; DeDios,Y. E.; MacDougall, H. G.; Moore, S. T.; Wood, S. J.

2011-01-01

Following long-duration exploration transits, adaptive changes in sensorimotor function may impair the crew's ability to safely perform manual control tasks such as operating pressurized rovers. Postflight performance will also be influenced by the level of preflight skill proficiency they have attained. The purpose of this study was to characterize the acquisition of skills in a motion-based rover simulation over multiple sessions, and to investigate the effects of varying the simulation scenarios. METHODS: Twenty healthy subjects were tested in 5 sessions, with 1-3 days between sessions. Each session consisted of a serial presentation of 8 discrete tasks to be completed as quickly and accurately as possible. Each task consisted of 1) perspective-taking, using a map that defined a docking target, 2) navigation toward the target around a Martian outpost, and 3) docking a side hatch of the rover to a visually guided target. The simulator utilized a Stewart-type motion base (CKAS, Australia), single-seat cabin with triple scene projection covering 150 deg horizontal by 50 deg vertical, and joystick controller. Subjects were randomly assigned to a control group (tasks identical in the first 4 sessions) or a varied-practice group. The dependent variables for each task included accuracy toward the target and time to completion. RESULTS: The greatest improvements in time to completion occurred during the docking phase. The varied-practice group showed more improvement in perspective-taking accuracy. Perspective-taking accuracy was also affected by the relative orientation of the rover to the docking target. Skill acquisition was correlated with self-ratings of previous gaming experience. DISCUSSION: Varying task selection and difficulty will optimize the preflight acquisition of skills when performing novel operational tasks. Simulation of operational manual control will provide functionally relevant evidence regarding the impact of sensorimotor adaptation on early surface operations and what countermeasures are needed. Learning Objective: The use of a motion-based simulation to investigate decrements in the proficiency to operate pressurized rovers during early surface operations of space exploration missions, along with the acquisition of skill proficiency needed during the preflight phase of the mission.

30 CFR 48.27 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

..., drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor systems operators, ground control machine operators, AMS... practice in the assigned tasks, and the performance of work duties at times or places where production is..., while under direct and immediate supervision and production is in progress, operation of the machine or...

30 CFR 48.27 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor systems operators, ground control machine operators, AMS... practice in the assigned tasks, and the performance of work duties at times or places where production is..., while under direct and immediate supervision and production is in progress, operation of the machine or...

30 CFR 48.27 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

..., drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor systems operators, ground control machine operators, AMS... practice in the assigned tasks, and the performance of work duties at times or places where production is..., while under direct and immediate supervision and production is in progress, operation of the machine or...

30 CFR 48.27 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

..., drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor systems operators, ground control machine operators, AMS... practice in the assigned tasks, and the performance of work duties at times or places where production is..., while under direct and immediate supervision and production is in progress, operation of the machine or...

48 CFR 1552.211-74 - Work assignments.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...-reimbursement type term form contracts when work assignments are to be used. Work Assignments (APR 1984) (a) The... assignment or similar tasking document, the Contractor shall provide a conflict of interest certification... directly related to a site, the Contractor is only required to provide a conflict of interest certification...

Optimizing Mars Airplane Trajectory with the Application Navigation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frumkin, Michael; Riley, Derek

2004-01-01

Planning complex missions requires a number of programs to be executed in concert. The Application Navigation System (ANS), developed in the NAS Division, can execute many interdependent programs in a distributed environment. We show that the ANS simplifies user effort and reduces time in optimization of the trajectory of a martian airplane. We use a software package, Cart3D, to evaluate trajectories and a shortest path algorithm to determine the optimal trajectory. ANS employs the GridScape to represent the dynamic state of the available computer resources. Then, ANS uses a scheduler to dynamically assign ready task to machine resources and the GridScape for tracking available resources and forecasting completion time of running tasks. We demonstrate system capability to schedule and run the trajectory optimization application with efficiency exceeding 60% on 64 processors.

Experimentally Manipulated Somatic Information and Somatization Tendencies and their Impact on Physical Symptom Reporting and Performance in a Physically Strenuous Task

PubMed Central

CASTO, KATHLEEN; LECCI, LEN

2012-01-01

This study attempts to determine whether the presentation of an experimentally manipulated somatic experience during a physically strenuous task can influence physical performance and symptom reporting. The study also compares the relative influence of experimentally manipulated somatic information (state somatization) with stable individual differences in the tendency to amplify physical symptoms (trait somatization) on performance and symptom reporting. 194 participants completed standardized measures of somatization tendencies, state anxiety, neuroticism and conscientiousness. Participants where then given a mock physical exam, with individuals randomly assigned to receive either favorable or unfavorable somatic information. All participants then had their body mass index assessed and completed a rigorous exercise task, with quantification of performance. Physiological measures of blood pressure and pulse were also assessed before and after the exercise task. The experimentally manipulated presentation of somatic information predicted both performance and physical symptoms, even after controlling for BMI, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and state anxiety. Moreover, expected performance uniquely and significantly predicted performance above and beyond condition, anxiety, BMI, neuroticism, and conscientiousness. Somatosensory amplification tendencies also predicted symptom endorsement, but not performance. Findings suggest that both state and trait expectations with respect to somatic experiences influence symptom reporting and to a lesser extent performance, even after controlling for variables known to strongly influence each of these outcomes. Results are consistent with the cognitive-perceptual and the cognitive-appraisal models of somatic interpretation. PMID:27182375

Citicoline Treatment Improves Measures of Impulsivity and Task Performance in Chronic Marijuana Smokers: A Pilot BOLD fMRI Study

PubMed Central

Gruber, Staci A.; Sagar, Kelly A.; Dahlgren, Mary Kathryn; Gonenç, Atilla; Conn, Nina A.; Winer, Jeffrey P.; Penetar, David; Lukas, Scott E.

2015-01-01

Objective Citicoline is an endogenous nucleotide that has historically been used to treat stroke, traumatic brain injury, and cognitive dysfunction. Research has also shown that citicoline treatment is associated with improved cognitive performance in substance-abusing populations. We hypothesized that marijuana (MJ) smokers who received citicoline would demonstrate improvement in cognitive performance as well as increased neural efficiency during tasks of cognitive control relative to those who received placebo. Method The current study tested this hypothesis by examining the effects of citicoline in treatment-seeking chronic MJ smokers. In an 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 19 MJ smokers were randomly assigned via a double-blind procedure to the citicoline (8 Males, 2 Females) or placebo group (9 Males, 0 Females). All participants completed fMRI scanning at baseline and after 8 weeks of treatment during two cognitive measures of inhibitory processing, the Multi Source Interference Test (MSIT) and Stroop Color Word Test, and also completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), a self-report measure of impulsivity. Results Following the 8 week trial, MJ smokers treated with citicoline demonstrated significantly lower levels of behavioral impulsivity, improved task accuracy on both the MSIT and Stroop tasks, and exhibited significantly different patterns of brain activation relative to baseline levels and relative to those who received placebo. Conclusions Findings suggest that citicoline may facilitate the treatment of MJ use disorders by improving the cognitive skills necessary to fully engage in comprehensive treatment programs. PMID:26658924

14. Implementation, execution, and completion of projects.

PubMed

2014-05-01

Once an intervention has been selected for implementation, it becomes a project. Implementation of a project is a complex process and requires completion of a host of tasks. The implementation process has been deconstructed into its components so that it can be analysed and evaluated. A prerequisite for implementation is an operational plan. The tasks that require completion include: (1) reassessing current status and verifying the needs; (2) activating the operational plan; (3) setting-up and operating an administrative structure; (4) identifying, acquiring, and organising resources (including human resources); (5) assigning roles and responsibilities; (6) educating and training personnel (including mission-specific); (7) briefing staff; (8) preparing/readying resources for transport; (9) assuring project self-sufficiency; (10) arranging for personal necessities; (11) ensuring the safety of personnel and the security of equipment and supplies; (12) insuring personnel; (13) coordinating with other projects/actors; (14) coordinating with other BSF systems (role of the coordination and control centre); (15) communicating with community leaders; (16) initiating the use of standardised progress reports; (17) deploying personnel, equipment, and supplies; (18) initiating the intervention(s); (19) executing the intervention(s); (20) reporting start of interventions; (21) completing the project; and (22) completing and submitting a formal report. This deconstruction is essential in order to study the process and identify critical points of success and failure. It also is recognised that many interventions consist of many components (subfunctions), each of which may be considered a production process.

Participative versus assigned production standard setting in a repetitive industrial task: a strategy for improving worker productivity.

PubMed

Das, B; Shikdar, A A

1999-01-01

The participative standard with feedback condition was superior to the assigned difficult (140% of normal) standard with feedback condition in terms of worker productivity. The percentage increase in worker productivity with the participative standard and feedback condition was 46%, whereas the increase in the assigned difficult standard with feedback was 23%, compared to the control group (no standard, no feedback). Worker productivity also improved significantly as a result of assigning a normal (100%) production standard with feedback, compared to the control group, and the increase was 12%. The participative standard with feedback condition emerges as the optimum strategy for improving worker productivity in a repetitive industrial production task.

Is task-shifting a solution to the health workers' shortage in Northern Ghana?

PubMed

Okyere, Eunice; Mwanri, Lillian; Ward, Paul

2017-01-01

To explore the experiences and perceptions of health workers and implementers of task-shifting in rural health facilities in Upper East Region, Ghana. Data was collected through field interviews. A total of sixty eight (68) in-depth interviews were conducted with health workers' in primary health care facilities (health centres); Four in-depth interviews with key persons involved in staff management was conducted to understand how task-shifting is organised including its strengths and challenges. The health workers interview guide was designed with the aim of getting data on official tasks of health workers, additional tasks assigned to them, how they perceive these tasks, and the challenges associated with the practice of task-shifting. Task-shifting is a practice being used across the health facilities in the study area to help reduce the impact of insufficient health workers. Generally, health workers had a comprehensive training that supported the organisation of task-shifting. However, staff members' are sometimes engaged in tasks above their level of training and beyond their actual job descriptions. Adequate training is usually not provided before additional tasks are assigned to staff members. Whilst some health workers perceived the additional tasks they performed as an opportunity to learn new skills, others described these as stressful and overburdening. Task-shifting has the potential to contribute to addressing the insufficient health workforce, and thereby improving health delivery system where the procedures are well defined and staff members work in a coordinated and organised manner. The provision of adequate training and supervision for health workers is important in order to improve their expertise before additional tasks are assigned to them so that the quality of care would not be compromised.

Is task-shifting a solution to the health workers’ shortage in Northern Ghana?

PubMed Central

Okyere, Eunice; Mwanri, Lillian; Ward, Paul

2017-01-01

Objective To explore the experiences and perceptions of health workers and implementers of task-shifting in rural health facilities in Upper East Region, Ghana. Methods Data was collected through field interviews. A total of sixty eight (68) in-depth interviews were conducted with health workers’ in primary health care facilities (health centres); Four in-depth interviews with key persons involved in staff management was conducted to understand how task-shifting is organised including its strengths and challenges. The health workers interview guide was designed with the aim of getting data on official tasks of health workers, additional tasks assigned to them, how they perceive these tasks, and the challenges associated with the practice of task-shifting. Findings Task-shifting is a practice being used across the health facilities in the study area to help reduce the impact of insufficient health workers. Generally, health workers had a comprehensive training that supported the organisation of task-shifting. However, staff members’ are sometimes engaged in tasks above their level of training and beyond their actual job descriptions. Adequate training is usually not provided before additional tasks are assigned to staff members. Whilst some health workers perceived the additional tasks they performed as an opportunity to learn new skills, others described these as stressful and overburdening. Conclusion Task-shifting has the potential to contribute to addressing the insufficient health workforce, and thereby improving health delivery system where the procedures are well defined and staff members work in a coordinated and organised manner. The provision of adequate training and supervision for health workers is important in order to improve their expertise before additional tasks are assigned to them so that the quality of care would not be compromised. PMID:28358841

A group-based tasks allocation algorithm for the optimization of long leave opportunities in academic departments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eyono Obono, S. D.; Basak, Sujit Kumar

2011-12-01

The general formulation of the assignment problem consists in the optimal allocation of a given set of tasks to a workforce. This problem is covered by existing literature for different domains such as distributed databases, distributed systems, transportation, packets radio networks, IT outsourcing, and teaching allocation. This paper presents a new version of the assignment problem for the allocation of academic tasks to staff members in departments with long leave opportunities. It presents the description of a workload allocation scheme and its algorithm, for the allocation of an equitable number of tasks in academic departments where long leaves are necessary.

What would you do? The effect of verbal persuasion on task choice.

PubMed

Lamarche, Larkin; Gionfriddo, Alicia M; Cline, Lindsay E; Gammage, Kimberley L; Adkin, Allan L

2014-01-01

Verbal persuasion has been shown to influence psychological and behavioral outcomes. The present study had two objectives: (1) to examine the effect of verbal persuasion on task choice in a balance setting and (2) to evaluate the use of verbal persuasion as an approach to experimentally induce mismatches between perceived and actual balance. Healthy young adults (N=68) completed an 8-m tandem walk task without vision and then were randomly assigned to a feedback group (good, control, or poor), regardless of actual balance. Following the feedback, participants chose to perform the task in one of three conditions differing in level of challenge and also were required to perform the task under the same pre-feedback conditions. Balance efficacy and perceived stability were rated before and after each pre- and post-feedback task, respectively. Balance performance measures were also collected. Following the feedback, participants in the good group were more likely to choose the most challenging task while those in the poor group were more likely to choose the least challenging task. Following the feedback, all groups showed improved balance performance. However, balance efficacy and perceived stability increased for the good and control groups but balance efficacy decreased and perceived stability was unchanged for the poor group. Thus, these findings demonstrate that verbal persuasion can influence task choice and may be used as an approach to experimentally create mismatches between perceived and actual balance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Executive function deficits in team sport athletes with a history of concussion revealed by a visual-auditory dual task paradigm.

PubMed

Tapper, Anthony; Gonzalez, Dave; Roy, Eric; Niechwiej-Szwedo, Ewa

2017-02-01

The purpose of this study was to examine executive functions in team sport athletes with and without a history of concussion. Executive functions comprise many cognitive processes including, working memory, attention and multi-tasking. Past research has shown that concussions cause difficulties in vestibular-visual and vestibular-auditory dual-tasking, however, visual-auditory tasks have been examined rarely. Twenty-nine intercollegiate varsity ice hockey athletes (age = 19.13, SD = 1.56; 15 females) performed an experimental dual-task paradigm that required simultaneously processing visual and auditory information. A brief interview, event description and self-report questionnaires were used to assign participants to each group (concussion, no-concussion). Eighteen athletes had a history of concussion and 11 had no concussion history. The two tests involved visuospatial working memory (i.e., Corsi block test) and auditory tone discrimination. Participants completed both tasks individually, then simultaneously. Two outcome variables were measured, Corsi block memory span and auditory tone discrimination accuracy. No differences were shown when each task was performed alone; however, athletes with a history of concussion had a significantly worse performance on the tone discrimination task in the dual-task condition. In conclusion, long-term deficits in executive functions were associated with a prior history of concussion when cognitive resources were stressed. Evaluations of executive functions and divided attention appear to be helpful in discriminating participants with and without a history concussion.

Pathways for Improving Support for the Electronic Management and Marking of Assignments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heinrich, Eva; Milne, John; Granshaw, Bruce

2012-01-01

This article investigates the support e-learning can provide for the management and marking of assignments. The work is contextualised in the importance of assessment with assignments in tertiary education, in the theories about high quality marking of assignments, and the practical experiences of academics at tertiary institutions. The tasks that…

A design fix to supervisory control for fault-tolerant scheduling of real-time multiprocessor systems with aperiodic tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devaraj, Rajesh; Sarkar, Arnab; Biswas, Santosh

2015-11-01

In the article 'Supervisory control for fault-tolerant scheduling of real-time multiprocessor systems with aperiodic tasks', Park and Cho presented a systematic way of computing a largest fault-tolerant and schedulable language that provides information on whether the scheduler (i.e., supervisor) should accept or reject a newly arrived aperiodic task. The computation of such a language is mainly dependent on the task execution model presented in their paper. However, the task execution model is unable to capture the situation when the fault of a processor occurs even before the task has arrived. Consequently, a task execution model that does not capture this fact may possibly be assigned for execution on a faulty processor. This problem has been illustrated with an appropriate example. Then, the task execution model of Park and Cho has been modified to strengthen the requirement that none of the tasks are assigned for execution on a faulty processor.

Beyond the real world: attention debates in auditory mismatch negativity.

PubMed

Chung, Kyungmi; Park, Jin Young

2018-04-11

The aim of this study was to address the potential for the auditory mismatch negativity (aMMN) to be used in applied event-related potential (ERP) studies by determining whether the aMMN would be an attention-dependent ERP component and could be differently modulated across visual tasks or virtual reality (VR) stimuli with different visual properties and visual complexity levels. A total of 80 participants, aged 19-36 years, were assigned to either a reading-task (21 men and 19 women) or a VR-task (22 men and 18 women) group. Two visual-task groups of healthy young adults were matched in age, sex, and handedness. All participants were instructed to focus only on the given visual tasks and ignore auditory change detection. While participants in the reading-task group read text slides, those in the VR-task group viewed three 360° VR videos in a random order and rated how visually complex the given virtual environment was immediately after each VR video ended. Inconsistent with the finding of a partial significant difference in perceived visual complexity in terms of brightness of virtual environments, both visual properties of distance and brightness showed no significant differences in the modulation of aMMN amplitudes. A further analysis was carried out to compare elicited aMMN amplitudes of a typical MMN task and an applied VR task. No significant difference in the aMMN amplitudes was found across the two groups who completed visual tasks with different visual-task demands. In conclusion, the aMMN is a reliable ERP marker of preattentive cognitive processing for auditory deviance detection.

77 FR 10797 - Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee-New Task

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-23

... Committee--New Task AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of withdrawal of task assignment for the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC). SUMMARY: The FAA has withdrawn a task... is to inform the public of the FAA's decision to withdraw this task. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT...

Effects of dual-task balance training on postural performance in patients with Multiple Sclerosis: a double-blind, randomized controlled pilot trial.

PubMed

Monjezi, Saeideh; Negahban, Hossein; Tajali, Shirin; Yadollahpour, Nava; Majdinasab, Nastaran

2017-02-01

To investigate the effects of dual-task balance training on postural performance in patients with multiple sclerosis as compared with single-task balance training. Double-blind, pretest-posttest, randomized controlled pilot trial. Local Multiple Sclerosis Society. A total of 47 patients were randomly assigned to two equal groups labeled as single-task training and dual-task training groups. All patients received supervised balance training sessions, 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The patients in the single-task group performed balance activities, alone. However, patients in dual-task group practiced balance activities while simultaneously performing cognitive tasks. The 10-Meter Walk Test and Timed Up-and-Go under single-task and dual-task conditions, in addition to Activities-specific Balance Confidence, Berg Balance Scale, and Functional Gait Assessment were assessed pre-, and post intervention and also 6-weeks after the end of intervention. Only 38 patients completed the treatment plan. There was no difference in the amount of improvement seen between the two study groups. In both groups there was a significant effect of time for dual-10 Meter Walk Test (F 1, 36 =11.33, p=0.002) and dual-Timed Up-and-Go (F 1, 36 =14.27, p=0.001) but not for their single-tasks. Moreover, there was a significant effect of time for Activities-specific Balance Confidence, Berg Balance Scale, and Functional Gait Assessment ( P<0.01). This pilot study did not show more benefits from undertaking dual-task training than single-task training. A power analysis showed 71 patients per group would be needed to determine whether there was a clinically relevant difference for dual-task gait speed between the groups.

Systematically Extracting Metal- and Solvent-Related Occupational Information from Free-Text Responses to Lifetime Occupational History Questionnaires

PubMed Central

Friesen, Melissa C.; Locke, Sarah J.; Tornow, Carina; Chen, Yu-Cheng; Koh, Dong-Hee; Stewart, Patricia A.; Purdue, Mark; Colt, Joanne S.

2014-01-01

Objectives: Lifetime occupational history (OH) questionnaires often use open-ended questions to capture detailed information about study participants’ jobs. Exposure assessors use this information, along with responses to job- and industry-specific questionnaires, to assign exposure estimates on a job-by-job basis. An alternative approach is to use information from the OH responses and the job- and industry-specific questionnaires to develop programmable decision rules for assigning exposures. As a first step in this process, we developed a systematic approach to extract the free-text OH responses and convert them into standardized variables that represented exposure scenarios. Methods: Our study population comprised 2408 subjects, reporting 11991 jobs, from a case–control study of renal cell carcinoma. Each subject completed a lifetime OH questionnaire that included verbatim responses, for each job, to open-ended questions including job title, main tasks and activities (task), tools and equipment used (tools), and chemicals and materials handled (chemicals). Based on a review of the literature, we identified exposure scenarios (occupations, industries, tasks/tools/chemicals) expected to involve possible exposure to chlorinated solvents, trichloroethylene (TCE) in particular, lead, and cadmium. We then used a SAS macro to review the information reported by study participants to identify jobs associated with each exposure scenario; this was done using previously coded standardized occupation and industry classification codes, and a priori lists of associated key words and phrases related to possibly exposed tasks, tools, and chemicals. Exposure variables representing the occupation, industry, and task/tool/chemicals exposure scenarios were added to the work history records of the study respondents. Our identification of possibly TCE-exposed scenarios in the OH responses was compared to an expert’s independently assigned probability ratings to evaluate whether we missed identifying possibly exposed jobs. Results: Our process added exposure variables for 52 occupation groups, 43 industry groups, and 46 task/tool/chemical scenarios to the data set of OH responses. Across all four agents, we identified possibly exposed task/tool/chemical exposure scenarios in 44–51% of the jobs in possibly exposed occupations. Possibly exposed task/tool/chemical exposure scenarios were found in a nontrivial 9–14% of the jobs not in possibly exposed occupations, suggesting that our process identified important information that would not be captured using occupation alone. Our extraction process was sensitive: for jobs where our extraction of OH responses identified no exposure scenarios and for which the sole source of information was the OH responses, only 0.1% were assessed as possibly exposed to TCE by the expert. Conclusions: Our systematic extraction of OH information found useful information in the task/chemicals/tools responses that was relatively easy to extract and that was not available from the occupational or industry information. The extracted variables can be used as inputs in the development of decision rules, especially for jobs where no additional information, such as job- and industry-specific questionnaires, is available. PMID:24590110

Effects of Alcohol on Tests of Executive Functioning in Men and Women: A Dose Response Examination

PubMed Central

Guillot, Casey R.; Fanning, Jennifer R.; Bullock, Joshua S.; McCloskey, Michael S.; Berman, Mitchell E.

2014-01-01

Alcohol has been shown to affect performance on tasks associated with executive functioning. However, studies in this area have generally been limited to a single dose or gender or have used small sample sizes. The purpose of this study was to provide a more nuanced and systematic examination of alcohol's effects on commonly used tests of executive functioning at multiple dosages in both men and women. Research volunteers (91 women and 94 men) were randomly assigned to one of four drink conditions (alcohol doses associated with target blood alcohol concentrations of .000%, .050%, .075% and .100%). Participants then completed three tasks comprising two domains of executive functioning: two set shifting tasks, the Trail Making Test and a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, and a response inhibition task, the GoStop Impulsivity Paradigm. Impaired performance on set shifting tasks was found at the .100% and .075% dosages, but alcohol intoxication did not impair performance on the GoStop. No gender effects emerged. Thus, alcohol negatively affects set shifting at moderately high levels of intoxication in both men and women, likely due to alcohol's interference with prefrontal cortex function. Although it is well-established that alcohol negatively affects response inhibition as measured by auditory stop-signal tasks, alcohol does not appear to exert a negative effect on response inhibition as measured by the GoStop, a visual stop-signal task. PMID:20939644

An Experimental Investigation of Dextrous Robots Using EVA Tools and Interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ambrose, Robert; Culbert, Christopher; Rehnmark, Frederik

2001-01-01

This investigation of robot capabilities with extravehicular activity (EVA) equipment looks at how improvements in dexterity are enabling robots to perform tasks once thought to be beyond machines. The approach is qualitative, using the Robonaut system at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), performing task trials that offer a quick look at this system's high degree of dexterity and the demands of EVA. Specific EVA tools attempted include tether hooks, power torque tools, and rock scoops, as well as conventional tools like scissors, wire strippers, forceps, and wrenches. More complex EVA equipment was also studied, with more complete tasks that mix tools, EVA hand rails, tethers, tools boxes, PIP pins, and EVA electrical connectors. These task trials have been ongoing over an 18 month period, as the Robonaut system evolved to its current 43 degree of freedom (DOF) configuration, soon to expand to over 50. In each case, the number of teleoperators is reported, with rough numbers of attempts and their experience level, with a subjective difficulty rating assigned to each piece of EVA equipment and function. JSC' s Robonaut system was successful with all attempted EVA hardware, suggesting new options for human and robot teams working together in space.

Scheduling periodic jobs using imprecise results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chung, Jen-Yao; Liu, Jane W. S.; Lin, Kwei-Jay

1987-01-01

One approach to avoid timing faults in hard, real-time systems is to make available intermediate, imprecise results produced by real-time processes. When a result of the desired quality cannot be produced in time, an imprecise result of acceptable quality produced before the deadline can be used. The problem of scheduling periodic jobs to meet deadlines on a system that provides the necessary programming language primitives and run-time support for processes to return imprecise results is discussed. Since the scheduler may choose to terminate a task before it is completed, causing it to produce an acceptable but imprecise result, the amount of processor time assigned to any task in a valid schedule can be less than the amount of time required to complete the task. A meaningful formulation of the scheduling problem must take into account the overall quality of the results. Depending on the different types of undesirable effects caused by errors, jobs are classified as type N or type C. For type N jobs, the effects of errors in results produced in different periods are not cumulative. A reasonable performance measure is the average error over all jobs. Three heuristic algorithms that lead to feasible schedules with small average errors are described. For type C jobs, the undesirable effects of errors produced in different periods are cumulative. Schedulability criteria of type C jobs are discussed.

Minimal groups increase young children's motivation and learning on group-relevant tasks.

PubMed

Master, Allison; Walton, Gregory M

2013-01-01

Three experiments (N = 130) used a minimal group manipulation to show that just perceived membership in a social group boosts young children's motivation for and learning from group-relevant tasks. In Experiment 1, 4-year-old children assigned to a minimal "puzzles group" persisted longer on a challenging puzzle than children identified as the "puzzles child" or children in a control condition. Experiment 2 showed that this boost in motivation occurred only when the group was associated with the task. In Experiment 3, children assigned to a minimal group associated with word learning learned more words than children assigned an analogous individual identity. The studies demonstrate that fostering shared motivations may be a powerful means by which to shape young children's academic outcomes. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Using Grid Benchmarks for Dynamic Scheduling of Grid Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frumkin, Michael; Hood, Robert

2003-01-01

Navigation or dynamic scheduling of applications on computational grids can be improved through the use of an application-specific characterization of grid resources. Current grid information systems provide a description of the resources, but do not contain any application-specific information. We define a GridScape as dynamic state of the grid resources. We measure the dynamic performance of these resources using the grid benchmarks. Then we use the GridScape for automatic assignment of the tasks of a grid application to grid resources. The scalability of the system is achieved by limiting the navigation overhead to a few percent of the application resource requirements. Our task submission and assignment protocol guarantees that the navigation system does not cause grid congestion. On a synthetic data mining application we demonstrate that Gridscape-based task assignment reduces the application tunaround time.

Research project management 101: insiders' tips from Early Career Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cristini, Luisa; Pabortsava, Katsiaryna; Stichel, Torben

2016-04-01

From the very beginning of their career, it is important for Early Career Scientists (ECS) to develop project management skills to be able to organise their research efficiently. ECS are often in charge of specific tasks within their projects or for their teams. However, without specific training or tools, the successful completion of these assignments will depend entirely on the organisational skills of individual researchers. ECS are thus facing "sink-or-swim" situations, which can be either instructive or disastrous for their projects. Here we provide experience-based tips from fellow ECS that can help manage various project activities, including: 1. Communication with supervisors and peers 2. Lab management 3. Field trips (e.g., oceanographic campaigns) 4. Internships and collaborations with other institutions 5. Literature/background research 6. Conference convening These are potential "life buoys" for ECS, which will help them to carry out these tasks efficiently and successfully.

Using a Meniscus to Teach Uncertainty in Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Backman, Philip

2008-02-01

I have found that students easily understand that a measurement cannot be exact, but they often seem to lack an understanding of why it is important to know something about the magnitude of the uncertainty. This tends to promote an attitude that almost any uncertainty value will do. Such indifference may exist because once an uncertainty is determined or calculated, it remains as only a number without a concrete physical connection back to the experiment. For the activity described here—presented as a challenge—groups of students are given a container and asked to make certain measurements and to estimate the uncertainty in each of those measurements. They are then challenged to complete a particular task involving the container and a volume of water. Whether the assigned task is actually achievable, however, slowly comes into question once the magnitude of the uncertainties in the original measurements is compared to the specific requirements of the challenge.

Average speaking fundamental frequency in soprano singers with and without symptoms of vocal attrition.

PubMed

Drew, R; Sapir, S

1995-06-01

Nineteen trained soprano singers aged 18-30 years vocalized tasks designed to assess average speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) during spontaneous speaking and reading. Vocal range and perceptual characteristics while singing with low intensity and high frequency were also assessed, and subjects completed a survey of vocal habits/symptoms. Recorded signals were digitized prior to being analyzed for SFF using the Kay Computerized Speech Lab program. Subjects were assigned to a normal voice or impaired voice group based on ratings of perceptual tasks and survey results. Data analysis showed group differences in mean SFF, no differences in vocal range, higher mean SFF values for reading than speaking, and 58% ability to perceive speaking in low pitch. The role of speaking in too low pitch as causal for vocal symptoms and need for voice classification differentiation in vocal performance studies are discussed.

A Patient-Centered Approach to Informed Consent: Results from a Survey and Randomized Trial.

PubMed

Krishnamurti, Tamar; Argo, Nichole

2016-08-01

Traditional informed consent documents tend to be too lengthy and technical to facilitate proper patient engagement. Patient-centered, short informed consent content could be equally informative, while minimizing patient burden and producing greater patient engagement. This study aimed to develop and evaluate patient-centered, patient-designed paper and video informed consent formats. Two studies were conducted. In study 1, 118 self-identifying asthma patients recruited from a national, online pool completed survey tasks from their personal computers. Participants in study 1 were randomly assigned to examine sections of a standard informed consent document for an asthma trial and to select information they deemed critical to their decision making. In study 2, a sample of 83 self-identifying asthma patients completed experimental tasks in a university laboratory. Participants in study 2 were randomly assigned to a full informed consent document; a shortened, patient-designed informed consent document created from study 1; or a video with content matched to the shortened paper form. Study 1 yielded a more readable, concise version of a standard informed consent document (5 v. 17 pages). This shortened, patient-designed form closely met normative criteria for good clinical practice. In study 2, participants who viewed either the shortened paper consent or video reported greater engagement than those viewing the standard paper consent, without lowered performance on any other decision-relevant variables (i.e., comprehension, judged risk/benefit, feelings of trust). The video consent format did not cause increased enrollment. Results suggest that providing concise informed consent content, systematically developed from patients' self-reported information needs, may be more effective at engaging and informing clinical trial participants than the traditional consent approach, without detriment to trial comprehension, risk assessment, or enrollment. © The Author(s) 2016.

Do therapeutic homework assignments address areas of need for individuals with severe mental illness?

PubMed

Kelly, Peter J; Deane, Frank P

2011-04-01

The current study explores the types of homework assignments used in a recovery orientated case management approach. It also examines the relationship between the types of homework used and the clients' area of need as rated on the CANSAS. There were 129 client and mental health case manager dyads that participated in the study. Written copies of all homework assignments administered during the 12-month research period were collected (N = 1,054). The homework assignments were categorised according to the 'type' and the 'need domain addressed by the task'. The majority of these tasks were behavioural in nature. On a group level homework tended to broadly address areas of need for clients in the study. Only 2 of the 1,054 homework assignments administered directly addressed areas of Intimate Relationships or Sexual Expression. The importance of addressing Intimate Relationship and Sexual Expression within mental health case management is discussed.

Light Source Matters--Students' Explanations about the Behavior of Light When Different Light Sources Are Used in Task Assignments of Optics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kesonen, Mikko Henri Petteri; Asikainen, Mervi Anita; Hirvonen, Pekka Emil

2017-01-01

In the present article, the context-dependency of student reasoning is studied in a context of optics. We investigated introductory students' explanations about the behavior of light when different light sources, namely a small light bulb and a laser, were used in otherwise identical task assignments. The data was gathered with the aid of pretest…

An Examination of Problems and Solutions Related to the Chronic "Revolving Door" Alcohol Abuser. DHSS Planning Guideline #1, Task Assignment #1.11. Long-Term Support, Chronic Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vick, John W.; Houden, Dorothy

This report contains recommendations of a Wisconsin Task Assignment Steering Committee created to explore solutions to some significant problems facing adult chronic "revolving-detox-door" alcohol abusers (CRA's), persons with repeated admissions for detoxification services; and to examine the system that serves and funds them. This…

Reducing the Disruptive Effects of Interruptions With Noninvasive Brain Stimulation.

PubMed

Blumberg, Eric J; Foroughi, Cyrus K; Scheldrup, Melissa R; Peterson, Matthew S; Boehm-Davis, Debbie A; Parasuraman, Raja

2015-09-01

The authors determine whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can reduce resumption time when an ongoing task is interrupted. Interruptions are common and disruptive. Working memory capacity has been shown to predict resumption lag (i.e., time to successfully resume a task after interruption). Given that tDCS applied to brain areas associated with working memory can enhance performance, tDCS has the potential to improve resumption lag when a task is interrupted. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups that received anodal (active) stimulation of 2 mA tDCS to one of two target brain regions, left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), or to one of two control areas, active stimulation of the left primary motor cortex or sham stimulation of the right DLPFC, while completing a financial management task that was intermittently interrupted with math problem solving. Anodal stimulation to the right and left DLPFC significantly reduced resumption lags compared to the control conditions (sham and left motor cortex stimulation). Additionally, there was no speed-accuracy tradeoff (i.e., the improvement in resumption time was not accompanied by an increased error rate). Noninvasive brain stimulation can significantly decrease resumption lag (improve performance) after a task is interrupted. Noninvasive brain stimulation offers an easy-to-apply tool that can significantly improve interrupted task performance. © 2014, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

A modified generalized extremal optimization algorithm for the quay crane scheduling problem with interference constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Peng; Cheng, Wenming; Wang, Yi

2014-10-01

The quay crane scheduling problem (QCSP) determines the handling sequence of tasks at ship bays by a set of cranes assigned to a container vessel such that the vessel's service time is minimized. A number of heuristics or meta-heuristics have been proposed to obtain the near-optimal solutions to overcome the NP-hardness of the problem. In this article, the idea of generalized extremal optimization (GEO) is adapted to solve the QCSP with respect to various interference constraints. The resulting GEO is termed the modified GEO. A randomized searching method for neighbouring task-to-QC assignments to an incumbent task-to-QC assignment is developed in executing the modified GEO. In addition, a unidirectional search decoding scheme is employed to transform a task-to-QC assignment to an active quay crane schedule. The effectiveness of the developed GEO is tested on a suite of benchmark problems introduced by K.H. Kim and Y.M. Park in 2004 (European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 156, No. 3). Compared with other well-known existing approaches, the experiment results show that the proposed modified GEO is capable of obtaining the optimal or near-optimal solution in a reasonable time, especially for large-sized problems.

Beyond the job exposure matrix (JEM): the task exposure matrix (TEM).

PubMed

Benke, G; Sim, M; Fritschi, L; Aldred, G

2000-09-01

The job exposure matrix (JEM) has been employed to assign cumulative exposure to workers in many epidemiological studies. In these studies, where quantitative data are available, all workers with the same job title and duration are usually assigned similar cumulative exposures, expressed in mgm(-3)xyears. However, if the job is composed of multiple tasks, each with its own specific exposure profile, then assigning all workers within a job the same mean exposure can lead to misclassification of exposure. This variability of exposure within job titles is one of the major weaknesses of JEMs. A method is presented for reducing the variability in the JEM methodology, which has been called the task exposure matrix (TEM). By summing the cumulative exposures of a worker over all the tasks worked within a job title, it is possible to address the variability of exposure within the job title, and reduce possible exposure misclassification. The construction of a TEM is outlined and its application in the context of a study in the primary aluminium industry is described. The TEM was found to assign significantly different cumulative exposures to the majority of workers in the study, compared with the JEM and the degree of difference in cumulative exposure between the JEM and the TEM varied greatly between contaminants.

Example-based learning: effects of model expertise in relation to student expertise.

PubMed

Boekhout, Paul; van Gog, Tamara; van de Wiel, Margje W J; Gerards-Last, Dorien; Geraets, Jacques

2010-12-01

Worked examples are very effective for novice learners. They typically present a written-out ideal (didactical) solution for learners to study. This study used worked examples of patient history taking in physiotherapy that presented a non-didactical solution (i.e., based on actual performance). The effects of model expertise (i.e., worked example based on advanced, third-year student model or expert physiotherapist model) in relation to students' expertise (i.e., first- or second-year) were investigated. One hundred and thirty-four physiotherapy students (61 first-year and 73 second-year). Design was 2 × 2 factorial with factors 'Student Expertise' (first-year vs. second-year) and 'Model Expertise' (expert vs. advanced student). Within expertise levels, students were randomly assigned to the Expert Example or the Advanced Student Example condition. All students studied two examples (content depending on their assigned condition) and then completed a retention and test task. They rated their invested mental effort after each example and test task. Second-year students invested less mental effort in studying the examples, and in performing the retention and transfer tasks than first-year students. They also performed better on the retention test, but not on the transfer test. In contrast to our hypothesis, there was no interaction between student expertise and model expertise: all students who had studied the Expert examples performed better on the transfer test than students who had studied Advanced Student Examples. This study suggests that when worked examples are based on actual performance, rather than an ideal procedure, expert models are to be preferred over advanced student models.

Metabarcoding of marine nematodes – evaluation of reference datasets used in tree-based taxonomy assignment approach

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Abstract Background Metabarcoding is becoming a common tool used to assess and compare diversity of organisms in environmental samples. Identification of OTUs is one of the critical steps in the process and several taxonomy assignment methods were proposed to accomplish this task. This publication evaluates the quality of reference datasets, alongside with several alignment and phylogeny inference methods used in one of the taxonomy assignment methods, called tree-based approach. This approach assigns anonymous OTUs to taxonomic categories based on relative placements of OTUs and reference sequences on the cladogram and support that these placements receive. New information In tree-based taxonomy assignment approach, reliable identification of anonymous OTUs is based on their placement in monophyletic and highly supported clades together with identified reference taxa. Therefore, it requires high quality reference dataset to be used. Resolution of phylogenetic trees is strongly affected by the presence of erroneous sequences as well as alignment and phylogeny inference methods used in the process. Two preparation steps are essential for the successful application of tree-based taxonomy assignment approach. Curated collections of genetic information do include erroneous sequences. These sequences have detrimental effect on the resolution of cladograms used in tree-based approach. They must be identified and excluded from the reference dataset beforehand. Various combinations of multiple sequence alignment and phylogeny inference methods provide cladograms with different topology and bootstrap support. These combinations of methods need to be tested in order to determine the one that gives highest resolution for the particular reference dataset. Completing the above mentioned preparation steps is expected to decrease the number of unassigned OTUs and thus improve the results of the tree-based taxonomy assignment approach. PMID:27932919

Metabarcoding of marine nematodes - evaluation of reference datasets used in tree-based taxonomy assignment approach.

PubMed

Holovachov, Oleksandr

2016-01-01

Metabarcoding is becoming a common tool used to assess and compare diversity of organisms in environmental samples. Identification of OTUs is one of the critical steps in the process and several taxonomy assignment methods were proposed to accomplish this task. This publication evaluates the quality of reference datasets, alongside with several alignment and phylogeny inference methods used in one of the taxonomy assignment methods, called tree-based approach. This approach assigns anonymous OTUs to taxonomic categories based on relative placements of OTUs and reference sequences on the cladogram and support that these placements receive. In tree-based taxonomy assignment approach, reliable identification of anonymous OTUs is based on their placement in monophyletic and highly supported clades together with identified reference taxa. Therefore, it requires high quality reference dataset to be used. Resolution of phylogenetic trees is strongly affected by the presence of erroneous sequences as well as alignment and phylogeny inference methods used in the process. Two preparation steps are essential for the successful application of tree-based taxonomy assignment approach. Curated collections of genetic information do include erroneous sequences. These sequences have detrimental effect on the resolution of cladograms used in tree-based approach. They must be identified and excluded from the reference dataset beforehand.Various combinations of multiple sequence alignment and phylogeny inference methods provide cladograms with different topology and bootstrap support. These combinations of methods need to be tested in order to determine the one that gives highest resolution for the particular reference dataset.Completing the above mentioned preparation steps is expected to decrease the number of unassigned OTUs and thus improve the results of the tree-based taxonomy assignment approach.

Perceived Dentist and Dental Hygienist Task Distribution After Dental and Dental Hygiene Students' Team Intervention.

PubMed

Reinders, Jan J; Krijnen, Wim P; Stegenga, Boudewijn; van der Schans, Cees P

2017-04-01

Attitudes of dental students regarding the provision of treatment tend to be dentist-centered; however, facilitating mixed student group formation could change such perceptions. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceived scope of practice of dental and dental hygiene students and whether their perceptions of task distribution between dentists and dental hygienists would change following an educational intervention consisting of feedback, intergroup comparison, and competition between mixed-group teams. The study employed a pretest-posttest single group design. Third-year dental students and second-year dental hygiene students at a university in The Netherlands were randomly assigned to intraprofessional teams (four or five members) and received team-based performance feedback and comparison. The intervention was finalized with an award ceremony for the best intraprofessional team. Before and after the intervention, students completed a questionnaire measuring their perceived distribution of ten tasks between dentists and dental hygienists. A total of 38 dental students and 32 dental hygiene students participated in the intervention-all 70 of those eligible. Questionnaires were completed by a total 88.4% (n=61) of the participants: 34 dental (89.5%) and 27 dental hygiene students (84.4%). Dental and dental hygiene students had similar perceptions regarding teeth cleaning (prophylaxis) (p=0.372, p=0.404) and, after the intervention, preventive tasks (p=0.078). Following the intervention, dental students considered four out of ten tasks as less dentist-centered: radiograph for periodontal diagnosis (p=0.003), local anesthesia (p=0.037), teeth cleaning (p=0.037), and periodontal treatment (p=0.045). Dental hygiene students perceived one task as being less dentist-centered after the intervention: radiograph for cariologic diagnosis (p=0.041). This study found that these dental and dental hygiene students had different opinions regarding the scope of practice for dentistry and dental hygiene. The number of redistributed tasks after the intervention was especially substantial among the dental students, although the amount of change per task was minimal. Half of all tasks were perceived as less dentist-centered as a result of the intervention.

De-Coding Writing Assignments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simon, Linda

1991-01-01

Argues that understanding assignments is the first step toward successful college writing. Urges instructors to support students by helping them to decode assignments. Breaks down instructions into individual tasks including (1) writing an essay, (2) examining an issue, (3) reviewing articles and books, and (4) focusing on some texts. Defines each…

Sensor assignment to mission in AI-TECD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganger, Robert; de Mel, Geeth; Pham, Tien; Rudnicki, Ronald; Schreiber, Yonatan

2016-05-01

Sensor-mission assignment involves the allocation of sensors and other information-providing resources to missions in order to cover the information needs of the individual tasks within each mission. The importance of efficient and effective means to find appropriate resources for tasks is exacerbated in the coalition context where the operational environment is dynamic and a multitude of critically important tasks need to achieve their collective goals to meet the objectives of the coalition. The Sensor Assignment to Mission (SAM) framework—a research product of the International Technology Alliance in Network and Information Sciences (NIS-ITA) program—provided the first knowledge intensive resource selection approach for the sensor network domain so that contextual information could be used to effectively select resources for tasks in coalition environments. Recently, CUBRC, Inc. was tasked with operationalizing the SAM framework through the use of the I2WD Common Core Ontologies for the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) sponsored Actionable Intelligence Technology Enabled Capabilities Demonstration (AI-TECD). The demonstration event took place at Fort Dix, New Jersey during July 2015, and this paper discusses the integration and the successful demonstration of the SAM framework within the AI-TECD, lessons learned, and its potential impact in future operations.

Measuring homework completion in behavioral activation.

PubMed

Busch, Andrew M; Uebelacker, Lisa A; Kalibatseva, Zornitsa; Miller, Ivan W

2010-07-01

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an observer-based coding system for the characterization and completion of homework assignments during Behavioral Activation (BA). Existing measures of homework completion are generally unsophisticated, and there is no current measure of homework completion designed to capture the particularities of BA. The tested scale sought to capture the type of assignment, realm of functioning targeted, extent of completion, and assignment difficulty. Homework assignments were drawn from 12 (mean age = 48, 83% female) clients in two trials of a 10-session BA manual targeting treatment-resistant depression in primary care. The two coders demonstrated acceptable or better reliability on most codes, and unreliable codes were dropped from the proposed scale. In addition, correlations between homework completion and outcome were strong, providing some support for construct validity. Ultimately, this line of research aims to develop a user-friendly, reliable measure of BA homework completion that can be completed by a therapist during session.

Structuralized box-trainer laparoscopic training significantly improves performance in complex virtual reality laparoscopic tasks.

PubMed

Laski, Dariusz; Stefaniak, Tomasz J; Makarewicz, Wojciech; Proczko, Monika; Gruca, Zbigniew; Sledziński, Zbigniew

2012-03-01

In the era of flowering minimally invasive surgical techniques there is a need for new methods of teaching surgery and supervision of progress in skills and expertise. Virtual and physical box-trainers seem especially fit for this purpose, and allow for improvement of proficiency required in laparoscopic surgery. The study included 34 students who completed the authors' laparoscopic training on physical train-boxes. Progress was monitored by accomplishment of 3 exercises: moving pellets from one place to another, excising and clipping. Analysed parameters included time needed to complete the exercise and right and left hand movement tracks. Students were asked to do assigned tasks prior to, in the middle and after the training. The duration of the course was 28 h in total. Significant shortening of the time to perform each exercise and reduction of the left hand track were achieved. The right hand track was shortened only in exercise number 1. Exercises in the laboratory setting should be regarded as an important element of the process of skills acquisition by a young surgeon. Virtual reality laparoscopic training seems to be a new, interesting educational tool, and at the same time allows for reliable control and assessment of progress.

The effects of physiological arousal on cognitive and psychomotor performance among individuals with high and low anxiety sensitivity.

PubMed

Barnard, Kirsten E; Broman-Fulks, Joshua J; Michael, Kurt D; Webb, Rosemary M; Zawilinski, Laci L

2011-03-01

Information-processing models of anxiety posit that anxiety pathology is associated with processing biases that consume cognitive resources and may detract from one's ability to process environmental stimuli. Previous research has consistently indicated that high anxiety has a negative impact on cognitive and psychomotor performance. Anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of anxiety and anxiety-related arousal sensations, is an anxiety vulnerability factor that has been shown to play a role in the development and maintenance of panic attacks and panic disorder. However, relatively little is known regarding the potential impact of anxiety sensitivity on performance. In the present study, 105 college students who scored either high (≥ 24) or low (≤ 14) on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index were randomly assigned to complete a series of arousal-induction tasks or no activity, followed immediately by three cognitive and psychomotor performance tasks: digit span - backward, math fluency, and grooved pegboard. Results indicated that participants with high anxiety sensitivity performed comparably to individuals with low anxiety sensitivity on each task, regardless of arousal level.

Building research capacity in Botswana: a randomized trial comparing training methodologies in the Botswana ethics training initiative.

PubMed

Barchi, Francis H; Kasimatis-Singleton, Megan; Kasule, Mary; Khulumani, Pilate; Merz, Jon F

2013-02-01

Little empirical data are available on the extent to which capacity-building programs in research ethics prepare trainees to apply ethical reasoning skills to the design, conduct, or review of research. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in Botswana in 2010 to assess the effectiveness of a case-based intervention using email to augment in-person seminars. University faculty and current and prospective IRB/REC members took part in a semester-long training program in research ethics. Participants attended two 2-day seminars and were assigned at random to one of two on-line arms of the trial. Participants in both arms completed on-line international modules from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative. Between seminars, intervention-arm participants were also emailed a weekly case to analyze in response to set questions; responses and individualized faculty feedback were exchanged via email. Tests assessing ethics knowledge were administered at the start of each seminar. The post-test included an additional section in which participants were asked to identify the ethical issues highlighted in five case studies from a list of multiple-choice responses. Results were analyzed using regression and ANOVA. Of the 71 participants (36 control, 35 intervention) enrolled at the first seminar, 41 (57.7%) attended the second seminar (19 control, 22 intervention). In the intervention arm, 19 (54.3%) participants fully completed and 8 (22.9%) partially completed all six weekly cases. The mean score was higher on the post-test (30.3/40) than on the pre-test (28.0/40), and individual post- and pre-test scores were highly correlated (r = 0.65, p < 0.0001). Group assignment alone did not have an effect on test scores (p > 0.84), but intervention-arm subjects who completed all assigned cases answered an average of 3.2 more questions correctly on the post-test than others, controlling for pre-test scores (p = 0.003). Completion of the case-based intervention improved respondents' test scores, with those who completed all six email cases scoring roughly 10% better than those who failed to complete this task and those in the control arm. There was only suggestive evidence that intensive case work improved ethical issue identification, although there was limited ability to assess this outcome due to a high drop-out rate.

Building research capacity in Botswana: a randomized trial comparing training methodologies in the Botswana ethics training initiative

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Little empirical data are available on the extent to which capacity-building programs in research ethics prepare trainees to apply ethical reasoning skills to the design, conduct, or review of research. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in Botswana in 2010 to assess the effectiveness of a case-based intervention using email to augment in-person seminars. Methods University faculty and current and prospective IRB/REC members took part in a semester-long training program in research ethics. Participants attended two 2-day seminars and were assigned at random to one of two on-line arms of the trial. Participants in both arms completed on-line international modules from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative. Between seminars, intervention-arm participants were also emailed a weekly case to analyze in response to set questions; responses and individualized faculty feedback were exchanged via email. Tests assessing ethics knowledge were administered at the start of each seminar. The post-test included an additional section in which participants were asked to identify the ethical issues highlighted in five case studies from a list of multiple-choice responses. Results were analyzed using regression and ANOVA. Results Of the 71 participants (36 control, 35 intervention) enrolled at the first seminar, 41 (57.7%) attended the second seminar (19 control, 22 intervention). In the intervention arm, 19 (54.3%) participants fully completed and 8 (22.9%) partially completed all six weekly cases. The mean score was higher on the post-test (30.3/40) than on the pre-test (28.0/40), and individual post- and pre-test scores were highly correlated (r = 0.65, p < 0.0001). Group assignment alone did not have an effect on test scores (p > 0.84), but intervention-arm subjects who completed all assigned cases answered an average of 3.2 more questions correctly on the post-test than others, controlling for pre-test scores (p = 0.003). Conclusions Completion of the case-based intervention improved respondents’ test scores, with those who completed all six email cases scoring roughly 10% better than those who failed to complete this task and those in the control arm. There was only suggestive evidence that intensive case work improved ethical issue identification, although there was limited ability to assess this outcome due to a high drop-out rate. PMID:23368699

Task Analysis for Legal Assistant Program. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schrader, Marvin A.; Knight, John

The Legal Assistant Task Analysis Project was undertaken to provide data related to the importance of tasks and the frequency of tasks that are, or could be, assigned to an assistant. In order to accomplish this, a task survey form was constructed and distributed to a sample of attorneys in (1) private practice, (2) companies or corporations, and…

To Switch or Not to Switch: Role of Cognitive Control in Working Memory Training in Older Adults.

PubMed

Basak, Chandramallika; O'Connell, Margaret A

2016-01-01

It is currently not known what are the best working memory training strategies to offset the age-related declines in fluid cognitive abilities. In this randomized clinical double-blind trial, older adults were randomly assigned to one of two types of working memory training - one group was trained on a predictable memory updating task (PT) and another group was trained on a novel, unpredictable memory updating task (UT). Unpredictable memory updating, compared to predictable, requires greater demands on cognitive control (Basak and Verhaeghen, 2011a). Therefore, the current study allowed us to evaluate the role of cognitive control in working memory training. All participants were assessed on a set of near and far transfer tasks at three different testing sessions - before training, immediately after the training, and 1.5 months after completing the training. Additionally, individual learning rates for a comparison working memory task (performed by both groups) and the trained task were computed. Training on unpredictable memory updating, compared to predictable, significantly enhanced performance on a measure of episodic memory, immediately after the training. Moreover, individuals with faster learning rates showed greater gains in this episodic memory task and another new working memory task; this effect was specific to UT. We propose that the unpredictable memory updating training, compared to predictable memory updating training, may a better strategy to improve selective cognitive abilities in older adults, and future studies could further investigate the role of cognitive control in working memory training.

Effects of a Supportive Audience on a Handgrip Squeezing Task in Adults

PubMed Central

LEITZELAR, BRIANNA N.; RAZON, SELEN; TOKAC, UMIT; DIERINGER, SHANNON; BOOK, CINDY; JUDGE, LAWRENCE W.

2016-01-01

The role of social facilitation by way of audience effect in select exercise-related variables during an isometric handgrip task was assessed using a mixed design. Fifty three moderately active participants (Mage= 21.76 ± 5.27) were recruited from the Midwestern United States. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: supportive audience or control. Audience members provided positive verbal encouragement to participants in the experimental condition throughout the task performance. Participants in the control group performed the task in the absence of an audience and did not receive any verbal encouragement. Participants provided anxiety ratings pre- and post-task using the State-trait anxiety inventory for adults (STAI). Participants’ ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate (HR) were monitored and assessed at 30-second intervals. Upon task completion, sustained effort in the form of time on task was recorded in seconds. A repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) revealed that there was a time effect within groups of HR = ( F(2.64, 131.85) = 189.3, p <0.001) and within groups of RPE = (F(2.97, 139.42) = 2189.43 p <0.001). An independent sample T-test revealed significant differences in HR at 0, 30 and 60 seconds between the groups. An independent sample T-test revealed no significant differences in anxiety and RPE between the groups. These results partially support the notion of social facilitation and may have implications for research and practice. PMID:29399254

A taxonomy for homework used by mental health case managers when working with individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness.

PubMed

Kelly, Peter J; Deane, Frank P; King, Robert; Kazantzis, Nikolaos; Crowe, Trevor P

2007-12-01

A survey was completed by 122 case managers describing the types of homework assignments commonly used with individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness (SMI). Homework types were categorized using a 12-item homework description taxonomy and in relation to the 22 domains of the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN). Case managers predominately reported using behaviourally based homework tasks such as scheduling activities and the development of personal hygiene skills. Homework focused on CAN areas of need in relation to Company, Psychological Distress, Psychotic Symptoms and Daytime Activities. The applications of the taxonomy for both researchers and case managers are discussed.

Source attribution and credibility of health and appearance exercise advertisements: relationship with implicit and explicit attitudes and intentions.

PubMed

Berry, Tanya R; Shields, Chris

2014-02-01

The relationship of attributed source (commercial or nonprofit) and credibility of exercise advertisements to explicit and implicit exercise-related attitudes and intentions was examined. Male and female participants (N = 227) were randomly assigned to watch health or appearance-related advertisements and then completed an implicit attitudes task and questionnaires. Health advertisements and those attributed to a nonprofit source were rated more credible. Appearance condition participants who attributed the advertisement to a nonprofit source also rated the advertisement as more credible. Participants who rated a commercial advertisement as credible reported higher implicit instrumental attitudes. Implications for exercise promotion are discussed.

Motivating Reading Compliance: Adaptation of Monte Carlo Quizzes for Online Delivery.

PubMed

Azzarello, Jo; Ogans, Judy; Robertson, Victoria

Getting students to complete reading assignments is often a source of frustration for nurse educators. Monte Carlo Quizzes (MCQs) were adapted for online delivery in a hybrid nursing course to encourage timely completion and deep processing of readings. Students indicated that MCQs motivated them to complete the assigned readings and to read more carefully. However, there were no significant differences on scores for other course assignments between those who completed readings and those who did not.

Attainment and retention of force moderation following laparoscopic resection training with visual force feedback.

PubMed

Hernandez, Rafael; Onar-Thomas, Arzu; Travascio, Francesco; Asfour, Shihab

2017-11-01

Laparoscopic training with visual force feedback can lead to immediate improvements in force moderation. However, the long-term retention of this kind of learning and its potential decay are yet unclear. A laparoscopic resection task and force sensing apparatus were designed to assess the benefits of visual force feedback training. Twenty-two male university students with no previous experience in laparoscopy underwent relevant FLS proficiency training. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control or treatment group. Both groups trained on the task for 2 weeks as follows: initial baseline, sixteen training trials, and post-test immediately after. The treatment group had visual force feedback during training, whereas the control group did not. Participants then performed four weekly test trials to assess long-term retention of training. Outcomes recorded were maximum pulling and pushing forces, completion time, and rated task difficulty. Extreme maximum pulling force values were tapered throughout both the training and retention periods. Average maximum pushing forces were significantly lowered towards the end of training and during retention period. No significant decay of applied force learning was found during the 4-week retention period. Completion time and rated task difficulty were higher during training, but results indicate that the difference eventually fades during the retention period. Significant differences in aptitude across participants were found. Visual force feedback training improves on certain aspects of force moderation in a laparoscopic resection task. Results suggest that with enough training there is no significant decay of learning within the first month of the retention period. It is essential to account for differences in aptitude between individuals in this type of longitudinal research. This study shows how an inexpensive force measuring system can be used with an FLS Trainer System after some retrofitting. Surgical instructors can develop their own tasks and adjust force feedback levels accordingly.

Mining protein function from text using term-based support vector machines

PubMed Central

Rice, Simon B; Nenadic, Goran; Stapley, Benjamin J

2005-01-01

Background Text mining has spurred huge interest in the domain of biology. The goal of the BioCreAtIvE exercise was to evaluate the performance of current text mining systems. We participated in Task 2, which addressed assigning Gene Ontology terms to human proteins and selecting relevant evidence from full-text documents. We approached it as a modified form of the document classification task. We used a supervised machine-learning approach (based on support vector machines) to assign protein function and select passages that support the assignments. As classification features, we used a protein's co-occurring terms that were automatically extracted from documents. Results The results evaluated by curators were modest, and quite variable for different problems: in many cases we have relatively good assignment of GO terms to proteins, but the selected supporting text was typically non-relevant (precision spanning from 3% to 50%). The method appears to work best when a substantial set of relevant documents is obtained, while it works poorly on single documents and/or short passages. The initial results suggest that our approach can also mine annotations from text even when an explicit statement relating a protein to a GO term is absent. Conclusion A machine learning approach to mining protein function predictions from text can yield good performance only if sufficient training data is available, and significant amount of supporting data is used for prediction. The most promising results are for combined document retrieval and GO term assignment, which calls for the integration of methods developed in BioCreAtIvE Task 1 and Task 2. PMID:15960835

Use of Task-Value Instructional Inductions for Facilitating Engagement and Conceptual Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Marcus Lee; Sinatra, Gale M.

2013-01-01

This study explored the relationship between task values, engagement, and conceptual change. One hundred and sixty-six under graduate students were randomly assigned to one of three task value instructional inductions (utility, attainment, and control) to determine whether induced task values would result in different degrees of engagement and…

When species matches are unavailable are DNA barcodes correctly assigned to higher taxa? An assessment using sphingid moths

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background When a specimen belongs to a species not yet represented in DNA barcode reference libraries there is disagreement over the effectiveness of using sequence comparisons to assign the query accurately to a higher taxon. Library completeness and the assignment criteria used have been proposed as critical factors affecting the accuracy of such assignments but have not been thoroughly investigated. We explored the accuracy of assignments to genus, tribe and subfamily in the Sphingidae, using the almost complete global DNA barcode reference library (1095 species) available for this family. Costa Rican sphingids (118 species), a well-documented, diverse subset of the family, with each of the tribes and subfamilies represented were used as queries. We simulated libraries with different levels of completeness (10-100% of the available species), and recorded assignments (positive or ambiguous) and their accuracy (true or false) under six criteria. Results A liberal tree-based criterion assigned 83% of queries accurately to genus, 74% to tribe and 90% to subfamily, compared to a strict tree-based criterion, which assigned 75% of queries accurately to genus, 66% to tribe and 84% to subfamily, with a library containing 100% of available species (but excluding the species of the query). The greater number of true positives delivered by more relaxed criteria was negatively balanced by the occurrence of more false positives. This effect was most sharply observed with libraries of the lowest completeness where, for example at the genus level, 32% of assignments were false positives with the liberal criterion versus < 1% when using the strict. We observed little difference (< 8% using the liberal criterion) however, in the overall accuracy of the assignments between the lowest and highest levels of library completeness at the tribe and subfamily level. Conclusions Our results suggest that when using a strict tree-based criterion for higher taxon assignment with DNA barcodes, the likelihood of assigning a query a genus name incorrectly is very low, if a genus name is provided it has a high likelihood of being accurate, and if no genus match is available the query can nevertheless be assigned to a subfamily with high accuracy regardless of library completeness. DNA barcoding often correctly assigned sphingid moths to higher taxa when species matches were unavailable, suggesting that barcode reference libraries can be useful for higher taxon assignments long before they achieve complete species coverage. PMID:21806794

Loft: An Automated Mesh Generator for Stiffened Shell Aerospace Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eldred, Lloyd B.

2011-01-01

Loft is an automated mesh generation code that is designed for aerospace vehicle structures. From user input, Loft generates meshes for wings, noses, tanks, fuselage sections, thrust structures, and so on. As a mesh is generated, each element is assigned properties to mark the part of the vehicle with which it is associated. This property assignment is an extremely powerful feature that enables detailed analysis tasks, such as load application and structural sizing. This report is presented in two parts. The first part is an overview of the code and its applications. The modeling approach that was used to create the finite element meshes is described. Several applications of the code are demonstrated, including a Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT) wing-sizing study, a lunar lander stage study, a launch vehicle shroud shape study, and a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) orbiter. Part two of the report is the program user manual. The manual includes in-depth tutorials and a complete command reference.

Comparison of the development of performance skills in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia simulations with different phantom models.

PubMed

Liu, Yang; Glass, Nancy L; Glover, Chris D; Power, Robert W; Watcha, Mehernoor F

2013-12-01

Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) skills are traditionally obtained by supervised performance on patients, but practice on phantom models improves success. Currently available models are expensive or use perishable products, for example, olive-in-chicken breasts (OCB). We constructed 2 inexpensive phantom (transparent and opaque) models with readily available nonperishable products and compared the process of learning UGRA skills by novice practitioners on these models with the OCB model. Three experts first established criteria for a satisfactory completion of the simulated UGRA task in the 3 models. Thirty-six novice trainees (<20 previous UGRA experience) were randomly assigned to perform a UGRA task on 1 of 3 models-the transparent, opaque, and OCB models, where the hyperechoic target was identified, a needle was advanced to it under ultrasound guidance, fluid was injected, and images were saved. We recorded the errors during task completion, number of attempts and needle passes, and the time for target identification and needle placement until the predetermined benchmark of 3 consecutive successful UGRA simulations was accomplished. The number of errors, needle passes, and time for task completion per attempt progressively decreased in all 3 groups. However, failure to identify the target and to visualize the needle on the ultrasound image occurred more frequently with the OCB model. The time to complete simulator training was shortest with the transparent model, owing to shorter target identification times. However, trainees were less likely to agree strongly that this model was realistic for teaching UGRA skills. Training on inexpensive synthetic simulation models with no perishable products permits learning of UGRA skills by novices. The OCB model has disadvantages of containing potentially infective material, requires refrigeration, cannot be used after multiple needle punctures, and is associated with more failures during simulated UGRA. Direct visualization of the target in the transparent model allows the trainee to focus on needle insertion skills, but the opaque model may be more realistic for learning target identification skills required when UGRA is performed on real patients in the operating room.

MIST VR. A laparoscopic surgery procedures trainer and evaluator.

PubMed

Sutton, C; McCloy, R; Middlebrook, A; Chater, P; Wilson, M; Stone, R

1997-01-01

The key bimanual instrument tasks involved in laparoscopic surgery have been abstracted for use in a virtual reality surgical skills evaluator and trainer. The trainer uses two laparoscopic instruments mounted on a frame with position sensors which provide instrument movement data that is translated into interactive real time graphics on a PC (P133, 16 Mb RAM, graphics acceleration card). An accurately scaled operating volume of 10 cm3 is represented by a 3D cube on the computer screen. "Camera" position and size of target objects can be varied for different skill levels. Targets appear randomly within the operating volume according to the skill task and can be grasped and manipulated with the instruments. Accuracy and errors during the tasks and time to completion are logged. Mist VR has tutorial, training, examination, analysis and configuration modes. Six tasks have been selected and include combinations of instrument approach, target acquisition, target manipulation and placement, transfer between instruments, target contact with optional diathermy, and controlled instrument withdrawal/replacement. Tasks can be configured for varying degrees of difficulty and the configurations saved to a library for reuse. Specific task configurations can be assigned to individual students. In the examination mode the supervisor can select the tasks, repetitions and order and save to a specific file for that trainee. Progress can be assessed and there is the option for playback of the training session or examination. Data analyses permit overall, including task, and right or left hand performances to be quantified. Mist VR represents a significant advance over the subjective assessment of training performances with existing "plastic box" basic trainers.

Graduate Writing Assignments across Faculties in a Canadian University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shi, Ling; Dong, Yanning

2015-01-01

This study examines 143 graduate assignments across 12 faculties or schools in a Canadian university in order to identify types of writing tasks. Based on the descriptions provided by the instructors, we identified nine types of assignments, with scholarly essay being the most common, followed by summary and response, literature review, project,…

Students' Engagement in Collaborative Knowledge Construction in Group Assignments for Information Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sormunen, Eero; Tanni, Mikko; Heinström, Jannica

2013-01-01

Introduction: Information literacy instruction is often undertaken in schools as collaborative source-based writing assignments. his paper presents the findings of a study on collaboration in two school assignments designed for information literacy. Method: The study draws on the models of cooperative and collaborative learning and the task-based…

Textual and Discoursal Resources Used in the Essay Genre in Sociology and English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruce, Ian

2010-01-01

Research that has examined university assignment writing has varied from large-scale, inventorial surveys across disciplines to more specific, finer-grained analyses of the assignment requirements of specific disciplines. However, while such research has involved surveys of the views and expectations of faculty or the analysis of assignment tasks,…

A Conceptual Framework for Adaptive Project Management in the Department of Defense

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-30

schedule work) established a core set of principles that went unchallenged until the start of the 21st century. This belief that managing...detailed planning, task decomposition and assignment of hours at the start of a project as unnecessary, often wasted effort that sacrifices accuracy...with the illusion of precision. Work, at the task level, is best assigned by the team performing the work as close as possible to the actual start

Coalition Formation under Uncertainty

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

world robotics and demonstrate the algorithm’s scalability. This provides a framework well suited to decentralized task allocation in general collectives...impatience and acquiescence to define a robot allocation to a task in a decentralized manner. The tasks are assigned to the entire collective, and one...20] allocates tasks to robots with a first-price auction method [31]. It announces a task with defined metrics, then the robots issue bids. The task

Systematically extracting metal- and solvent-related occupational information from free-text responses to lifetime occupational history questionnaires.

PubMed

Friesen, Melissa C; Locke, Sarah J; Tornow, Carina; Chen, Yu-Cheng; Koh, Dong-Hee; Stewart, Patricia A; Purdue, Mark; Colt, Joanne S

2014-06-01

Lifetime occupational history (OH) questionnaires often use open-ended questions to capture detailed information about study participants' jobs. Exposure assessors use this information, along with responses to job- and industry-specific questionnaires, to assign exposure estimates on a job-by-job basis. An alternative approach is to use information from the OH responses and the job- and industry-specific questionnaires to develop programmable decision rules for assigning exposures. As a first step in this process, we developed a systematic approach to extract the free-text OH responses and convert them into standardized variables that represented exposure scenarios. Our study population comprised 2408 subjects, reporting 11991 jobs, from a case-control study of renal cell carcinoma. Each subject completed a lifetime OH questionnaire that included verbatim responses, for each job, to open-ended questions including job title, main tasks and activities (task), tools and equipment used (tools), and chemicals and materials handled (chemicals). Based on a review of the literature, we identified exposure scenarios (occupations, industries, tasks/tools/chemicals) expected to involve possible exposure to chlorinated solvents, trichloroethylene (TCE) in particular, lead, and cadmium. We then used a SAS macro to review the information reported by study participants to identify jobs associated with each exposure scenario; this was done using previously coded standardized occupation and industry classification codes, and a priori lists of associated key words and phrases related to possibly exposed tasks, tools, and chemicals. Exposure variables representing the occupation, industry, and task/tool/chemicals exposure scenarios were added to the work history records of the study respondents. Our identification of possibly TCE-exposed scenarios in the OH responses was compared to an expert's independently assigned probability ratings to evaluate whether we missed identifying possibly exposed jobs. Our process added exposure variables for 52 occupation groups, 43 industry groups, and 46 task/tool/chemical scenarios to the data set of OH responses. Across all four agents, we identified possibly exposed task/tool/chemical exposure scenarios in 44-51% of the jobs in possibly exposed occupations. Possibly exposed task/tool/chemical exposure scenarios were found in a nontrivial 9-14% of the jobs not in possibly exposed occupations, suggesting that our process identified important information that would not be captured using occupation alone. Our extraction process was sensitive: for jobs where our extraction of OH responses identified no exposure scenarios and for which the sole source of information was the OH responses, only 0.1% were assessed as possibly exposed to TCE by the expert. Our systematic extraction of OH information found useful information in the task/chemicals/tools responses that was relatively easy to extract and that was not available from the occupational or industry information. The extracted variables can be used as inputs in the development of decision rules, especially for jobs where no additional information, such as job- and industry-specific questionnaires, is available. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society 2014.

Impact of Threat Level, Task Instruction, and Individual Characteristics on Cold Pressor Pain and Fear among Children and Their Parents.

PubMed

Boerner, Katelynn E; Noel, Melanie; Birnie, Kathryn A; Caes, Line; Petter, Mark; Chambers, Christine T

2016-07-01

The cold pressor task (CPT) is increasingly used to induce experimental pain in children, but the specific methodology of the CPT is quite variable across pediatric studies. This study examined how subtle variations in CPT methodology (eg. provision of low- or high-threat information regarding the task; provision or omission of maximum immersion time) may influence children's and parents' perceptions of the pain experience. Forty-eight children (8 to 14 years) and their parents were randomly assigned to receive information about the CPT that varied on 2 dimensions, prior to completing the task: (i) threat level: high-threat (task described as very painful, high pain expressions depicted) or low-threat (standard CPT instructions provided, low pain expressions depicted); (ii) ceiling: informed (provided maximum immersion time) or uninformed (information about maximum immersion time omitted). Parents and children in the high-threat condition expected greater child pain, and these children reported higher perceived threat of pain and state pain catastrophizing. For children in the low-threat condition, an informed ceiling was associated with less state pain catastrophizing during the CPT. Pain intensity, tolerance, and fear during the CPT did not differ by experimental group, but were predicted by child characteristics. Findings suggest that provision of threatening information may impact anticipatory outcomes, but experienced pain was better explained by individual child variables. © 2015 World Institute of Pain.

Single-Incision Transumbilical Surgery (SITUS) versus Single-Port Laparoscopic Surgery and conventional laparoscopic surgery: a prospective randomized comparative study of performance with novices in a dry laboratory.

PubMed

Schoenthaler, Martin; Avcil, Tuba; Sevcenco, Sabina; Nagele, Udo; Hermann, Thomas E W; Kuehhas, Franklin E; Shariat, Shahrokh F; Frankenschmidt, Alexander; Wetterauer, Ulrich; Miernik, Arkadiusz

2015-01-01

To evaluate the Single-Incision Transumbilical Surgery (SITUS) technique as compared to an established laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) technique (Single-Port Laparoscopic Surgery, SPLS) and conventional laparoscopy (CLS) in a surgical simulator model. Sixty-three medical students without previous laparoscopic experience were randomly assigned to one of the three groups (SITUS, SPLS and CLS). Subjects were asked to perform five standardized tasks of increasing difficulty adopted from the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery curriculum. Statistical evaluation included task completion times and accuracy. Overall performances of all tasks (except precision cutting) were significantly faster and of higher accuracy in the CLS and SITUS groups than in the SPLS group (p = 0.004 to p < 0.001). CLS and SITUS groups alone showed no significant difference in performance times and accuracy measurements for all tasks (p = 0.048 to p = 0.989). SITUS proved to be a simple, but highly effective technique to overcome restrictions of SPLS. In a surgical simulator model, novices were able to achieve task performances comparable to CLS and did significantly better than using a port-assisted LESS technique such as SPLS. The demonstrated advantages of SITUS may be attributed to a preservation of the basic principles of conventional laparoscopy, such as the use of straight instruments and an adequate degree of triangulation.

Scheduling real-time, periodic jobs using imprecise results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Jane W. S.; Lin, Kwei-Jay; Natarajan, Swaminathan

1987-01-01

A process is called a monotone process if the accuracy of its intermediate results is non-decreasing as more time is spent to obtain the result. The result produced by a monotone process upon its normal termination is the desired result; the error in this result is zero. External events such as timeouts or crashes may cause the process to terminate prematurely. If the intermediate result produced by the process upon its premature termination is saved and made available, the application may still find the result unusable and, hence, acceptable; such a result is said to be an imprecise one. The error in an imprecise result is nonzero. The problem of scheduling periodic jobs to meet deadlines on a system that provides the necessary programming language primitives and run-time support for processes to return imprecise results is discussed. This problem differs from the traditional scheduling problems since the scheduler may choose to terminate a task before it is completed, causing it to produce an acceptable but imprecise result. Consequently, the amounts of processor time assigned to tasks in a valid schedule can be less than the amounts of time required to complete the tasks. A meaningful formulation of this problem taking into account the quality of the overall result is discussed. Three algorithms for scheduling jobs for which the effects of errors in results produced in different periods are not cumulative are described, and their relative merits are evaluated.

Predictive Cache Modeling and Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-01

metaheuristic /bin-packing algorithm to optimize task placement based on task communication characterization. Our previous work on task allocation showed...Cache Miss Minimization Technology To efficiently explore combinations and discover nearly-optimal task-assignment algorithms , we extended to our...it was possible to use our algorithmic techniques to decrease network bandwidth consumption by ~25%. In this effort, we adapted these existing

Where Good Pedagogical Ideas Come From: The Story of an EAP Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Light, Justine; Ranta, Leila

2016-01-01

Teachers using a task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach are always searching for learning tasks that have the potential to prepare learners for the real world. In this article, we describe how an authentic academic assignment for graduate students in a teaching English as a second language (TESL) course was transformed into a task-based…

An experimental study of the job demand-control model with measures of heart rate variability and salivary alpha-amylase: Evidence of increased stress responses to increased break autonomy.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Emma; Landolt, Kathleen; Hazi, Agnes; Dragano, Nico; Wright, Bradley J

2015-01-01

We assessed in an experimental design whether the stress response towards a work task was moderated by the autonomy to choose a break during the assigned time to complete the task. This setting is defined in accordance with the theoretical framework of the job-demand-control (JDC) model of work related stress. The findings from naturalistic investigations of a stress-buffering effect of autonomy (or 'buffer hypothesis') are equivocal and the experimental evidence is limited, especially with relation to physiological indices of stress. Our objective was to investigate if increased autonomy in a particular domain (break time control) was related with adaptive physiology using objective physiological markers of stress; heart rate variability (HRV) and salivary alpha amylase (sAA). We used a within-subject design and the 60 female participants were randomly assigned to an autonomy (free timing of break) and standard conditions (fixed timing of break) of a word processing task in a simulated office environment in a random order. Participants reported increased perceptions of autonomy, no difference in demand and performed worse in the task in the break-time autonomy versus the standard condition. The results revealed support for the manipulation of increased autonomy, but in the opposing direction. Increased autonomy was related with dysregulated physiological reactivity, synonymous with typical increased stress responses. Potentially, our findings may indicate that autonomy is not necessary a resource but could become an additional stressor when it adds additional complexity while the amount of work (demands) remains unchanged. Further, our findings underscore the need to collect objective physiological evidence of stress to supplement self-reported information. Self-report biases may partially explain the inconsistent findings with the buffer hypothesis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Closing the loop: from paper to protein annotation using supervised Gene Ontology classification.

PubMed

Gobeill, Julien; Pasche, Emilie; Vishnyakova, Dina; Ruch, Patrick

2014-01-01

Gene function curation of the literature with Gene Ontology (GO) concepts is one particularly time-consuming task in genomics, and the help from bioinformatics is highly requested to keep up with the flow of publications. In 2004, the first BioCreative challenge already designed a task of automatic GO concepts assignment from a full text. At this time, results were judged far from reaching the performances required by real curation workflows. In particular, supervised approaches produced the most disappointing results because of lack of training data. Ten years later, the available curation data have massively grown. In 2013, the BioCreative IV GO task revisited the automatic GO assignment task. For this issue, we investigated the power of our supervised classifier, GOCat. GOCat computes similarities between an input text and already curated instances contained in a knowledge base to infer GO concepts. The subtask A consisted in selecting GO evidence sentences for a relevant gene in a full text. For this, we designed a state-of-the-art supervised statistical approach, using a naïve Bayes classifier and the official training set, and obtained fair results. The subtask B consisted in predicting GO concepts from the previous output. For this, we applied GOCat and reached leading results, up to 65% for hierarchical recall in the top 20 outputted concepts. Contrary to previous competitions, machine learning has this time outperformed standard dictionary-based approaches. Thanks to BioCreative IV, we were able to design a complete workflow for curation: given a gene name and a full text, this system is able to select evidence sentences for curation and to deliver highly relevant GO concepts. Contrary to previous competitions, machine learning this time outperformed dictionary-based systems. Observed performances are sufficient for being used in a real semiautomatic curation workflow. GOCat is available at http://eagl.unige.ch/GOCat/. http://eagl.unige.ch/GOCat4FT/. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Three methods of delivering clinic-based training on syndromic management of sexually transmitted diseases in South Africa: a pilot study

PubMed Central

Weaver, Marcia R; Pillay, Erushka; Jed, Suzanne L; de Kadt, Julia; Galagan, Sean; Gilvydis, Jennifer; Marumo, Eva; Mawandia, Shreshth; Naidoo, Evasen; Owens, Tamara; Prongay, Vickery; O'Malley, Gabrielle

2016-01-01

Introduction The South African National Department of Health sought to improve syndromic management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Continuing medical education on STIs was delivered at primary healthcare (PHC) clinics using one of three training methods: (1) lecture, (2) computer and (3) paper-based. Clinics with training were compared with control clinics. Methods Ten PHC clinics were randomly assigned to control and 10 to each training method arm. Clinicians participated in on-site training on six modules; two per week for three weeks. Each clinic was visited by three or four unannounced standardised patient (SP) actors pre-training and post-training. Male SPs reported symptoms of male urethritis syndrome and female SPs reported symptoms of vaginal discharge syndrome. Quality of healthcare was measured by whether or not clinicians completed five tasks: HIV test, genital exam, correct medications, condoms and partner notification. Results An average of 31% of clinicians from each PHC attended each module. Quality of STI care was low. Pre-training (n=128) clinicians completed an average of 1.63 tasks. Post-training (n=114) they completed 1.73. There was no change in the number of STI tasks completed in the control arm and an 11% increase overall in the training arms relative to the control (ratio of relative risk (RRR)=1.11, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.84). Across training arms, there was a 26% increase (RRR=1.26, 95% CI 0.77 to 2.06) associated with lecture, 17% increase (RRR=1.17, 95% CI 0.59 to 2.28) with paper-based and 13% decrease (RRR=0.87, 95% CI 0.40 to 1.90) with computer arm relative to the control. Conclusions Future interventions should address increasing training attendance and computer-based training effectiveness. Trial registration number AEARCTR-0000668. PMID:26430128

Three methods of delivering clinic-based training on syndromic management of sexually transmitted diseases in South Africa: a pilot study.

PubMed

Weaver, Marcia R; Pillay, Erushka; Jed, Suzanne L; de Kadt, Julia; Galagan, Sean; Gilvydis, Jennifer; Marumo, Eva; Mawandia, Shreshth; Naidoo, Evasen; Owens, Tamara; Prongay, Vickery; O'Malley, Gabrielle

2016-03-01

The South African National Department of Health sought to improve syndromic management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Continuing medical education on STIs was delivered at primary healthcare (PHC) clinics using one of three training methods: (1) lecture, (2) computer and (3) paper-based. Clinics with training were compared with control clinics. Ten PHC clinics were randomly assigned to control and 10 to each training method arm. Clinicians participated in on-site training on six modules; two per week for three weeks. Each clinic was visited by three or four unannounced standardised patient (SP) actors pre-training and post-training. Male SPs reported symptoms of male urethritis syndrome and female SPs reported symptoms of vaginal discharge syndrome. Quality of healthcare was measured by whether or not clinicians completed five tasks: HIV test, genital exam, correct medications, condoms and partner notification. An average of 31% of clinicians from each PHC attended each module. Quality of STI care was low. Pre-training (n=128) clinicians completed an average of 1.63 tasks. Post-training (n=114) they completed 1.73. There was no change in the number of STI tasks completed in the control arm and an 11% increase overall in the training arms relative to the control (ratio of relative risk (RRR)=1.11, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.84). Across training arms, there was a 26% increase (RRR=1.26, 95% CI 0.77 to 2.06) associated with lecture, 17% increase (RRR=1.17, 95% CI 0.59 to 2.28) with paper-based and 13% decrease (RRR=0.87, 95% CI 0.40 to 1.90) with computer arm relative to the control. Future interventions should address increasing training attendance and computer-based training effectiveness. AEARCTR-0000668. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Task Assignment and Path Planning for Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Using 3D Dubins Curves †

PubMed Central

Zhang, Meiyan; Zheng, Yahong Rosa

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the task assignment and path planning problem for multiple AUVs in three dimensional (3D) underwater wireless sensor networks where nonholonomic motion constraints of underwater AUVs in 3D space are considered. The multi-target task assignment and path planning problem is modeled by the Multiple Traveling Sales Person (MTSP) problem and the Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to solve the MTSP problem with Euclidean distance as the cost function and the Tour Hop Balance (THB) or Tour Length Balance (TLB) constraints as the stop criterion. The resulting tour sequences are mapped to 2D Dubins curves in the X−Y plane, and then interpolated linearly to obtain the Z coordinates. We demonstrate that the linear interpolation fails to achieve G1 continuity in the 3D Dubins path for multiple targets. Therefore, the interpolated 3D Dubins curves are checked against the AUV dynamics constraint and the ones satisfying the constraint are accepted to finalize the 3D Dubins curve selection. Simulation results demonstrate that the integration of the 3D Dubins curve with the MTSP model is successful and effective for solving the 3D target assignment and path planning problem. PMID:28696377

Task Assignment and Path Planning for Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Using 3D Dubins Curves †.

PubMed

Cai, Wenyu; Zhang, Meiyan; Zheng, Yahong Rosa

2017-07-11

This paper investigates the task assignment and path planning problem for multiple AUVs in three dimensional (3D) underwater wireless sensor networks where nonholonomic motion constraints of underwater AUVs in 3D space are considered. The multi-target task assignment and path planning problem is modeled by the Multiple Traveling Sales Person (MTSP) problem and the Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to solve the MTSP problem with Euclidean distance as the cost function and the Tour Hop Balance (THB) or Tour Length Balance (TLB) constraints as the stop criterion. The resulting tour sequences are mapped to 2D Dubins curves in the X - Y plane, and then interpolated linearly to obtain the Z coordinates. We demonstrate that the linear interpolation fails to achieve G 1 continuity in the 3D Dubins path for multiple targets. Therefore, the interpolated 3D Dubins curves are checked against the AUV dynamics constraint and the ones satisfying the constraint are accepted to finalize the 3D Dubins curve selection. Simulation results demonstrate that the integration of the 3D Dubins curve with the MTSP model is successful and effective for solving the 3D target assignment and path planning problem.

The effects of the framing of time on delay discounting.

PubMed

DeHart, William Brady; Odum, Amy L

2015-01-01

We examined the effects of the framing of time on delay discounting. Delay discounting is the process by which delayed outcomes are devalued as a function of time. Time in a titrating delay discounting task is often framed in calendar units (e.g., as 1 week, 1 month, etc.). When time is framed as a specific date, delayed outcomes are discounted less compared to the calendar format. Other forms of framing time; however, have not been explored. All participants completed a titrating calendar unit delay-discounting task for money. Participants were also assigned to one of two delay discounting tasks: time as dates (e.g., June 1st, 2015) or time in units of days (e.g., 5000 days), using the same delay distribution as the calendar delay-discounting task. Time framed as dates resulted in less discounting compared to the calendar method, whereas time framed as days resulted in greater discounting compared to the calendar method. The hyperboloid model fit best compared to the hyperbola and exponential models. How time is framed may alter how participants attend to the delays as well as how the delayed outcome is valued. Altering how time is framed may serve to improve adherence to goals with delayed outcomes. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

In the eye of the beholder: Evaluative context modulates mind-wandering.

PubMed

Forrin, Noah D; Risko, Evan F; Smilek, Daniel

2018-04-01

We present novel evidence that mind-wandering rates during a reading task are influenced by experimental context. In Experiment 1, participants read a series of passages and we measured their frequency of mind-wandering and their subjective evaluations of passage difficulty/interest. Section length was manipulated, such that some passages were presented in short sections and others were presented in long sections. Importantly, participants were randomly assigned to complete either a within-subject version of the experiment (in which they read some short-section passages and some long-section passages) or a between-subjects design (in which they only read either short-section or long-section passages). We found that the within-subject design yielded significant effects of section length on mind-wandering and on subjective passage evaluations, whereas the between-subjects design yielded null effects. This pattern of results was replicated in Experiment 2. These results provide compelling evidence that mind-wandering rates can be influenced by the experimental design. We conclude that mind-wandering is not only driven by the objective demands of the task, but also by subjective evaluations of those task properties, which are influenced by the context in which the task is evaluated (i.e., the "evaluative context"). Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Stress and eating: the effects of ego-threat and cognitive demand on food intake in restrained and emotional eaters.

PubMed

Wallis, D J; Hetherington, M M

2004-08-01

Restrained and emotional eaters overeat in response to stress. To compare differential effects of cognitive demand and ego-threatening stressors on subsequent chocolate intake, 38 females completed a neutral (control), an ego threatening and an incongruent Stroop colour-naming task on three separate occasions. Participants were assigned to four groups based on median-split scores on the restrained and emotional eating scales of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire-high restraint/high emotional, high restraint/low emotional, low restraint/high emotional and low restraint/low emotional. Higher response latencies were observed in the incongruent task, confirming its greater cognitive (attentional) demand. Overall intake was enhanced by 23% after ego-threat and 15% after the incongruent Stroop task relative to control. Restraint was associated with greater intake after both ego-threat and the incongruent task than in the control condition. In contrast, emotional eating was associated with greater intake after only the ego-threat, relative to control. A positive association between reaction time and subsequent intake in all conditions for high restraint/low emotional eaters provided support for the limited capacity hypothesis. Enhanced intake in emotional eaters is proposed to relate to escape from self-awareness. These findings demonstrate differential effects of threat and demand on stress-related eating in restrained and emotional eaters.

Eigensolution of finite element problems in a completely connected parallel architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akl, F.; Morel, M.

1989-01-01

A parallel algorithm is presented for the solution of the generalized eigenproblem in linear elastic finite element analysis. The algorithm is based on a completely connected parallel architecture in which each processor is allowed to communicate with all other processors. The algorithm is successfully implemented on a tightly coupled MIMD parallel processor. A finite element model is divided into m domains each of which is assumed to process n elements. Each domain is then assigned to a processor or to a logical processor (task) if the number of domains exceeds the number of physical processors. The effect of the number of domains, the number of degrees-of-freedom located along the global fronts, and the dimension of the subspace on the performance of the algorithm is investigated. For a 64-element rectangular plate, speed-ups of 1.86, 3.13, 3.18, and 3.61 are achieved on two, four, six, and eight processors, respectively.

Cognitive Effects of Risperidone in Children with Autism and Irritable Behavior

PubMed Central

Aman, Michael G.; McDougle, Christopher J.; Scahill, Lawrence; Tierney, Elaine; McCracken, James T.; Arnold, L. Eugene; Vitiello, Benedetto; Ritz, Louise; Gavaletz, Allison; Cronin, Pegeen; Swiezy, Naomi; Wheeler, Courtney; Koenig, Kathleen; Ghuman, Jaswinder K.; Posey, David J.

2008-01-01

Abstract Objective The objective of this research was to explore the effects of risperidone on cognitive processes in children with autism and irritable behavior. Method Thirty-eight children, ages 5–17 years with autism and severe behavioral disturbance, were randomly assigned to risperidone (0.5 to 3.5 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks. This sample of 38 was a subset of 101 subjects who participated in the clinical trial; 63 were unable to perform the cognitive tasks. A double-blind placebo-controlled parallel groups design was used. Dependent measures included tests of sustained attention, verbal learning, hand-eye coordination, and spatial memory assessed before, during, and after the 8-week treatment. Changes in performance were compared by repeated measures ANOVA. Results Twenty-nine boys and 9 girls with autism and severe behavioral disturbance and a mental age ≥18 months completed the cognitive part of the study. No decline in performance occurred with risperidone. Performance on a cancellation task (number of correct detections) and a verbal learning task (word recognition) was better on risperidone than on placebo (without correction for multiplicity). Equivocal improvement also occurred on a spatial memory task. There were no significant differences between treatment conditions on the Purdue Pegboard (hand-eye coordination) task or the Analog Classroom Task (timed math test). Conclusion Risperidone given to children with autism at doses up to 3.5 mg for up to 8 weeks appears to have no detrimental effect on cognitive performance. PMID:18582177

The benefits of endurance exercise and Tai Chi Chuan for the task-switching aspect of executive function in older adults: an ERP study.

PubMed

Fong, Dong-Yang; Chi, Li-Kang; Li, Fuzhong; Chang, Yu-Kai

2014-01-01

This study was designed to determine the relationship between physical activity and the task-switching aspect of executive function by investigating the modulating roles of age, modality of physical activity, and type of cognitive function using behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) assessments. Sixty-four participants were assigned to one of four groups based on age and history of physical activity: older adults performing endurance exercise (OEE), older adults practicing Tai Chi Chuan (OTC), older adults with a sedentary lifestyle (OSL), and young adults (YA). Study participants completed a task-switching task under homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions while ERPs were recorded. The results revealed that YA had shortest reaction times compared with the three older adults groups, with OSL exhibiting the longest reaction time. YA also exhibited shorter P3 latency than OSL. No differences were observed in P3 amplitude between YA, OEE, and OTC; however, all three groups had significantly larger P3 amplitude compared with OSL in both task conditions. In conclusion, age and participation in physical activity influence the relationship between physical activity and task-switching, and a positive relationship was observed regardless of the modality of physical activity and type of cognitive function. Our ERP findings support the model of the scaffolding theory of aging and cognition (STAC) and suggest that regular participation in endurance exercise and Tai Chi Chuan may have equivalent beneficial effects on cognition at the behavioral and neuroelectric levels.

The benefits of endurance exercise and Tai Chi Chuan for the task-switching aspect of executive function in older adults: an ERP study

PubMed Central

Fong, Dong-Yang; Chi, Li-Kang; Li, Fuzhong; Chang, Yu-Kai

2014-01-01

This study was designed to determine the relationship between physical activity and the task-switching aspect of executive function by investigating the modulating roles of age, modality of physical activity, and type of cognitive function using behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) assessments. Sixty-four participants were assigned to one of four groups based on age and history of physical activity: older adults performing endurance exercise (OEE), older adults practicing Tai Chi Chuan (OTC), older adults with a sedentary lifestyle (OSL), and young adults (YA). Study participants completed a task-switching task under homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions while ERPs were recorded. The results revealed that YA had shortest reaction times compared with the three older adults groups, with OSL exhibiting the longest reaction time. YA also exhibited shorter P3 latency than OSL. No differences were observed in P3 amplitude between YA, OEE, and OTC; however, all three groups had significantly larger P3 amplitude compared with OSL in both task conditions. In conclusion, age and participation in physical activity influence the relationship between physical activity and task-switching, and a positive relationship was observed regardless of the modality of physical activity and type of cognitive function. Our ERP findings support the model of the scaffolding theory of aging and cognition (STAC) and suggest that regular participation in endurance exercise and Tai Chi Chuan may have equivalent beneficial effects on cognition at the behavioral and neuroelectric levels. PMID:25389403

Students Apply Research Methods to Consumer Decisions About Cognitive Enhancing Drinks

PubMed Central

Walters, Charles B.; Hill, Katherine G.; Zavilla, Anastasia R.; Erickson, Cynthia A.

2014-01-01

The goal of this class project was to provide students with a hands-on research experience that allowed autonomy, but eliminated duplication of effort and could be completed within one semester. Our resources were limited to a small supply budget and an introductory psychology subject pool. Six students from a behavioral neuroscience class tested claims made by a drink company that their product improves cognitive function. The students each chose a cognitive task for their part of the project. The tasks included the Donders Reaction Time Task, the Stroop Task, the Raven’s Progressive Matrices, a short-term memory span test, the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test and a simple measure of prefrontal EEG activity. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or control drink. The experimental group received the putative cognitive enhancing drink and the control group received a placebo drink that was very similar in color and taste. The two drinks shared no active ingredients. Results suggest that the putative cognitive enhancing drink did not improve performance on any of the tasks and decreased performance on the short-term memory task. These findings are discussed in regard to implications for consumers as well as further research into supplements and their ability to improve cognitive performance. Each student presented his/her results at a university-wide research conference. This project provided a rich experience in which students had the opportunity to carry out a research project from conception to presentation. PMID:25565916

Maximizing Completion and Comprehension of Reading Assignments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owen, Leanne R.

2017-01-01

The author presents self-report data from students in three upper-level undergraduate courses to illustrate the comparative effectiveness of different out-of-class assessment approaches in promoting completion and comprehension of reading assignments. Students reported agreeing or strongly agreeing that all three assignments motivated them to…

Toward Developing Laboratory-Based Parent-Adolescent Conflict Discussion Tasks that Consistently Elicit Adolescent Conflict-Related Stress Responses: Support from Physiology and Observed Behavior.

PubMed

Thomas, Sarah A; Wilson, Tristan; Jain, Anjali; Deros, Danielle E; Um, Miji; Hurwitz, Joanna; Jacobs, Irene; Myerberg, Lindsay; Ehrlich, Katherine B; Dunn, Emily J; Aldao, Amelia; Stadnik, Ryan; De Los Reyes, Andres

2017-12-01

Parent-adolescent conflict poses risk for youth maladjustment. One potential mechanism of this risk is that stress in the form of increased arousal during conflict interactions results in adolescents' impaired decision-making. However, eliciting consistent adolescent stress responses within laboratory-based tasks of parent-adolescent conflict (i.e., conflict discussion tasks) is hindered by task design. This limitation may stem from how conflict topics are assessed and selected for discussion. Within a sample of 47 adolescents (ages 14-17) and parents, we investigated whether a modified version of a conflict discussion task could elicit physiological (i.e., arousal) and behavioral (i.e., hostility) displays of adolescents' conflict-related stress responses. We assessed parent-adolescent conflict via structured interview to identify topics for dyads to discuss during the task. We randomly assigned dyads to complete a 5-minute task to discuss either a putatively benign topic (i.e., control condition) or a conflict topic while undergoing direct assessments of continuous arousal. Trained raters coded dyad members' hostile behavior during the task. Adolescents in the conflict condition exhibited significantly greater levels of arousal than adolescents in the control condition. We observed an interaction between discussion condition and baseline conflict. Specifically, higher baseline conflict predicted greater hostile behavior for adolescents in the conflict condition, yet we observed the inverse relation for adolescents in the control condition. Our modified laboratory discussion task successfully elicited both physiological and behavioral displays of adolescent conflict-related stress. These findings have important implications for leveraging experimental paradigms to understand causal links between parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent psychopathology, and their underlying mechanisms.

Integrating the Liberal Arts and Chemistry: A Series of General Chemistry Assignments to Develop Science Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Diane M.; Chengelis Czegan, Demetra A.

2016-01-01

This paper describes assignments that have been implemented in a General Chemistry I course to promote science literacy. This course was chosen in particular because it reaches a broad audience, which includes nonscience majors. The assignment series begins with several discussions and tasks to develop information literacy, in which students find…

Enhancing Assignment Perceptions in Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities by Including More Work: An Extension of Interspersal Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wildmon, Mark E.; Skinner, Christopher H.; Watson, T. Steuart; Garrett, L. Shan

2004-01-01

Active student responding is often required to remedy computation skill deficits in students with learning disabilities. However, these students may find computation assignments unrewarding and frustrating, and be less likely to choose to engage in assigned computation tasks. In the current study, middle school students with learning disabilities…

Development, social norms, and assignment to task

PubMed Central

Fafchamps, Marcel

2011-01-01

Economic development involves a structural transformation in the way people are allocated to tasks. There is a shift from self-provision to market exchange, facilitating specialization. There is also a shift from self-employment to wage employment in large firms and organizations, driven by innovation and increasing returns to scale. Changes in allocation mechanisms require changes in norms and attitudes. Because different labor assignment domains coexist, conflicts arise among norms that apply to different domains, possibly resulting in dysfunctional outcomes. I argue that religion, humanism, and schools have all played an important historical role in fostering the changes in social norms and attitudes that are needed to accompany structural changes in the way economies allocate workers to tasks. PMID:22198757

Reward Activates Stimulus-Specific and Task-Dependent Representations in Visual Association Cortices

PubMed Central

Muller, Timothy; Yeung, Nick; Waszak, Florian

2014-01-01

Humans reliably learn which actions lead to rewards. One prominent question is how credit is assigned to environmental stimuli that are acted upon. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have provided evidence that representations of rewarded stimuli are activated upon reward delivery, providing possible eligibility traces for credit assignment. Our study sought evidence of postreward activation in sensory cortices satisfying two conditions of instrumental learning: postreward activity should reflect the stimulus category that preceded reward (stimulus specificity), and should occur only if the stimulus was acted on to obtain reward (task dependency). Our experiment implemented two tasks in the fMRI scanner. The first was a perceptual decision-making task on degraded face and house stimuli. Stimulus specificity was evident as rewards activated the sensory cortices associated with face versus house perception more strongly after face versus house decisions, respectively, particularly in the fusiform face area. Stimulus specificity was further evident in a psychophysiological interaction analysis wherein face-sensitive areas correlated with nucleus accumbens activity after face-decision rewards, whereas house-sensitive areas correlated with nucleus accumbens activity after house-decision rewards. The second task required participants to make an instructed response. The criterion of task dependency was fulfilled as rewards after face versus house responses activated the respective association cortices to a larger degree when faces and houses were relevant to the performed task. Our study is the first to show that postreward sensory cortex activity meets these two key criteria of credit assignment, and does so independently from bottom-up perceptual processing. PMID:25411489

Comparison of different sets of instruments for laparoendoscopic single-site surgery in a surgical simulator with novices.

PubMed

Wang, Dong; Shi, Long-Qing; Wang, Jing-Min; Jiang, Xiao-Hua; Ji, Zhen-Ling

2016-04-01

Given the parallel entry of working instruments through a single incision in laparoendoscopic single-site surgery, loss of triangulation in the abdominal cavity and counteracting movements of the instruments are inevitable obstacles. Some specially designed devices have emerged to ameliorate these challenges. Twenty-four novice participants were randomized into four groups using assigned instruments, conventional straight instruments, single-curved instruments, double-curved instruments and articulating instruments, respectively, to perform two basic tasks (peg transferring and pattern cutting) 14 times in a modified simulator. A test of the tasks and a resection of the intestine segment of a rat were performed. The task scores and evaluation of intraoperative skills during the resection of the intestine segment were recorded. The instrument of modified National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) was completed. The task scores of the groups using single-curved instruments and articulating instruments were better than the other two groups on the simulator tasks, consistent with the evaluation of intraoperative skills during the resection of intestine segment. As the proficiency with the instruments increased, the task scores improved, as demonstrated by the learning curve. The workload measured by the modified NASA-TLX tool demonstrated that the groups using articulating instruments and double-curved instruments had a heavier workload in most of the categories compared with the other two groups. Single-curved and articulating instruments are more effective than conventional straight and double-curved devices, and are favourable in laparoendoscopic single-site surgery for novice learners. © 2013 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Altered attentional control strategies but spared executive functioning in chronic cannabis users.

PubMed

Nusbaum, Amy T; Whitney, Paul; Cuttler, Carrie; Spradlin, Alexander; Hinson, John M; McLaughlin, Ryan J

2017-12-01

Cannabis use has increased rapidly in recent decades. The increase in cannabis use makes it important to understand the potential influence of chronic use on attentional control and other executive functions (EFs). Because cannabis is often used to reduce stress, and because stress can constrain attentional control and EFs, the primary goal of this study was to determine the joint effect of acute stress and chronic cannabis use on specific EFs. Thirty-nine cannabis users and 40 non-users were assigned to either a stress or no stress version of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test. Participants then completed two cognitive tasks that involve EFs: (1) task switching, and (2) a novel Flexible Attentional Control Task. These two tasks provided assessments of vigilant attention, inhibitory control, top-down attentional control, and cognitive flexibility. Salivary cortisol was assessed throughout the study. Reaction time indices showed an interaction between stress and cannabis use on top-down attentional control (p=0.036, n p 2 =0.059). Follow-up tests showed that cannabis users relied less on top-down attentional control than did non-users in the no stress version. Despite not relying on top-down control, the cannabis users showed no overall performance deficits on the tasks. Chronic cannabis users performed cognitive tasks involving EFs as well as non-users while not employing cognitive control processes that are typical for such tasks. These results indicate alterations in cognitive processing in cannabis users, but such alterations do not necessarily lead to global performance deficits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Task Design and Interaction in Collaborative Writing: The Students' Story

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bremner, Stephen; Peirson-Smith, Anne; Jones, Rodney; Bhatia, Vijay

2014-01-01

This article investigates student behaviour on collaborative assignments, looking at the relationship between task type and interaction, and considers the implications for task design. Students reported on interactions in a year-long workplace-focussed group communication project, comparing these with interactions on other academy-based group…

Automated Instructional Monitors for Complex Operational Tasks. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feurzeig, Wallace

A computer-based instructional system is described which incorporates diagnosis of students difficulties in acquiring complex concepts and skills. A computer automatically generated a simulated display. It then monitored and analyzed a student's work in the performance of assigned training tasks. Two major tasks were studied. The first,…

Temporal Sequences Quantify the Contributions of Individual Fixations in Complex Perceptual Matching Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Busey, Thomas; Yu, Chen; Wyatte, Dean; Vanderkolk, John

2013-01-01

Perceptual tasks such as object matching, mammogram interpretation, mental rotation, and satellite imagery change detection often require the assignment of correspondences to fuse information across views. We apply techniques developed for machine translation to the gaze data recorded from a complex perceptual matching task modeled after…

The modality effect of ego depletion: Auditory task modality reduces ego depletion.

PubMed

Li, Qiong; Wang, Zhenhong

2016-08-01

An initial act of self-control that impairs subsequent acts of self-control is called ego depletion. The ego depletion phenomenon has been observed consistently. The modality effect refers to the effect of the presentation modality on the processing of stimuli. The modality effect was also robustly found in a large body of research. However, no study to date has examined the modality effects of ego depletion. This issue was addressed in the current study. In Experiment 1, after all participants completed a handgrip task, one group's participants completed a visual attention regulation task and the other group's participants completed an auditory attention regulation task, and then all participants again completed a handgrip task. The ego depletion phenomenon was observed in both the visual and the auditory attention regulation task. Moreover, participants who completed the visual task performed worse on the handgrip task than participants who completed the auditory task, which indicated that there was high ego depletion in the visual task condition. In Experiment 2, participants completed an initial task that either did or did not deplete self-control resources, and then they completed a second visual or auditory attention control task. The results indicated that depleted participants performed better on the auditory attention control task than the visual attention control task. These findings suggest that altering task modality may reduce ego depletion. © 2016 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

10 CFR 712.36 - Medical assessment process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... assigned duties. (b) Employers must provide a job task analysis for those individuals involved in HRP... performed if a job task analysis has not been provided. (c) The medical process by the Designated Physician...

The Combined Effects of Online Planning and Task Structure on Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency of L2 Speech

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Javad Ahmadian, Mohammad; Tavakoli, Mansoor; Vahid Dastjerdi, Hossein

2015-01-01

This study investigates the combined effects of task-based careful online planning and the storyline structure of a task on second language performance (complexity, accuracy and fluency). Sixty intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 15). Participants were asked to perform two tasks with different degrees of storyline…

The Use of Consciousness-Raising Tasks in Learning and Teaching of Subject-Verb Agreement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Idek, Sirhajwan; Fong, Lee Lai; Sidhu, Gurnam Kaur

2013-01-01

This study investigates the use of two types of Consciousness-Raising (CR) tasks in learning Subject-Verb Agreement (SVA). The sample consisted of 28 Form 2 students who were divided into two groups. Group 1 was assigned with Grammaticality Judgment (GJ) tasks and Group 2 received Sentence Production (SP) tasks for eight weeks. Learners were given…

Evaluation of a Modified User Guide for Hearing Aid Management.

PubMed

Caposecco, Andrea; Hickson, Louise; Meyer, Carly; Khan, Asaduzzaman

2016-01-01

This study investigated if a hearing aid user guide modified using best practice principles for health literacy resulted in superior ability to perform hearing aid management tasks, compared with the user guide in the original form. This research utilized a two-arm study design to compare the original manufacturer's user guide with a modified user guide for the same hearing aid--an Oticon Acto behind-the-ear aid with an open dome. The modified user guide had a lower reading grade level (4.2 versus 10.5), used a larger font size, included more graphics, and had less technical information. Eighty-nine adults ages 55 years and over were included in the study; none had experience with hearing aid use or management. Participants were randomly assigned either the modified guide (n = 47) or the original guide (n = 42). All participants were administered the Hearing Aid Management test, designed for this study, which assessed their ability to perform seven management tasks (e.g., change battery) with their assigned user guide. The regression analysis indicated that the type of user guide was significantly associated with performance on the Hearing Aid Management test, adjusting for 11 potential covariates. In addition, participants assigned the modified guide required significantly fewer prompts to perform tasks and were significantly more likely to perform four of the seven tasks without the need for prompts. The median time taken by those assigned the modified guide was also significantly shorter for three of the tasks. Other variables associated with performance on the Hearing Aid Management test were health literacy level, finger dexterity, and age. Findings indicate that the need to design hearing aid user guides in line with best practice principles of health literacy as a means of facilitating improved hearing aid management in older adults.

The importance of source and cue type in time-based everyday prospective memory.

PubMed

Oates, Joyce M; Peynircioğlu, Zehra F

2014-01-01

We examined the effects of the source of a prospective memory task (provided or generated) and the type of cue (specific or general) triggering that task in everyday settings. Participants were asked to complete both generated and experimenter-provided tasks and to send a text message when each task was completed. The cue/context for the to-be-completed tasks was either a specific time or a general deadline (time-based cue), and the cue/context for the texting task was the completion of the task itself (activity-based cue). Although generated tasks were completed more often, generated cues/contexts were no more effective than provided ones in triggering the intention. Furthermore, generated tasks were completed more often when the cue/context comprised a specific time, whereas provided tasks were completed more often when the cue/context comprised a general deadline. However, texting was unaffected by the source of the cue/context. Finally, emotion modulated the effects. Results are discussed within a process-driven framework.

Dynamics of Cooperation in a Task Completion Social Dilemma

PubMed Central

Passino, Kevin M.

2017-01-01

We study the situation where the members of a community have the choice to participate in the completion of a common task. The process of completing the task involves only costs and no benefits to the individuals that participate in this process. However, completing the task results in changes that significantly benefit the community and that exceed the participation efforts. A task completion social dilemma arises when the short-term participation costs dissipate any interest in the community members to contribute to the task completion process and therefore to obtain the benefits that result from completing the task. In this work, we model the task completion problem using a dynamical system that characterizes the participation dynamics in the community and the task completion process. We show how this model naturally allows for the incorporation of several mechanisms that facilitate the emergence of cooperation and that have been studied in previous research on social dilemmas, including communication across a network, and indirect reciprocity through relative reputation. We provide mathematical analyses and computer simulations to study the qualitative properties of the participation dynamics in the community for different scenarios. PMID:28125721

Using Self-Recording, Evaluation, and Graphing to Increase Completion of Homework Assignments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trammel, Diana Lynn; And Others

1994-01-01

Self-monitoring procedures were effective in increasing the number of daily homework assignments completed by eight secondary level students with learning disabilities. A daily listing of all assignments given by regular classroom teachers was used. Goal setting and self-graphing of data appeared to increase self-monitoring effectiveness. (DB)

Better control with less effort: The advantage of using focused-breathing strategy over focused-distraction strategy on thought suppression.

PubMed

Ju, Yu-Jeng; Lien, Yunn-Wen

2016-02-01

It has been suggested that unwanted thoughts usually intrude during mind wandering due to a shortage of mental resources. However, strategies for suppressing such thoughts have never been examined from a mind wandering perspective. Here, we compare the effectiveness of two types of attention distraction strategies that either redirect users' attention to their own breathing (focused-breathing strategy, FBS) or to a mental image (focused-distraction strategy, FDS) as related to working memory capacities. Eighty-two undergraduates were randomly assigned into a FBS or FDS group. They completed a concentration task and a thought suppression task, in which mind wandering and thought intrusions were each measured. Our results support the hypothesis that mind wandering is positively correlated to thought intrusions and shows that FBS is more effective than FDS in reducing mind wandering and thought intrusions. Moreover, in contrast to FDS, the effect of FBS is independent of users' mental resources. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Citicoline Supplementation on Motor Speed and Attention in Adolescent Males.

PubMed

McGlade, Erin; Agoston, Anna Monica; DiMuzio, Jennifer; Kizaki, Miho; Nakazaki, Eri; Kamiya, Toshikazu; Yurgelun-Todd, Deborah

2015-07-15

This study assessed the effects of citicoline, a nutraceutical, on attention, psychomotor function, and impulsivity in healthy adolescent males. Seventy-five healthy adolescent males were randomly assigned to either the citicoline group (n = 51 with 250 or 500 mg citicoline) or placebo (n = 24). Participants completed the Ruff 2&7 Selective Attention Test, Finger Tap Test, and the Computerized Performance Test, Second Edition (CPT-II) at baseline and after 28 days of supplementation. Individuals receiving citicoline exhibited improved attention (p = 0.02) and increased psychomotor speed (p = 0.03) compared with those receiving placebo. Higher weight-adjusted dose significantly predicted increased accuracy on an attention task (p = 0.01), improved signal detectability on a computerized attention task (p = 0.03), and decreased impulsivity (p = 0.01). Adolescent males receiving 28 days of Cognizin® citicoline showed improved attention and psychomotor speed and reduced impulsivity compared to adolescent males who received placebo. © 2015 SAGE Publications.

Analogy motor learning by young children: a study of rope skipping.

PubMed

Tse, Andy C Y; Fong, Shirley S M; Wong, Thomson W L; Masters, Rich

2017-03-01

Research in psychology suggests that provision of an instruction by analogy can enhance acquisition and understanding of knowledge. Limited research has been conducted to test this proposition in motor learning by children. The purpose of the present study was to examine the feasibility of analogy instructions in motor skill acquisition by children. Thirty-two children were randomly assigned to one of the two instruction protocols: analogy and explicit instruction protocols for a two-week rope skipping training. Each participant completed a pretest (Lesson 1), three practice sessions (Lesson 2-4), a posttest and a secondary task test (Lesson 5). Children in the analogy protocol displayed better rope skip performance than those in the explicit instruction protocol (p < .001). Moreover, a cognitive secondary task test indicated that children in the analogy protocol performed more effectively, whereas children in the explicit protocol displayed decrements in performance. Analogy learning may aid children to acquire complex motor skills, and have potential benefits related to reduced cognitive processing requirements.

The effect of a slack-pulling device in reducing operator physiological workload during log winching operations.

PubMed

Spinelli, Raffaele; Aalmo, Giovanna Ottaviani; Magagnotti, Natascia

2015-01-01

The authors conducted a comparative test to determine whether the introduction of a hydraulic slack puller allowed reducing the physiological workload of operators assigned to log winching tasks. The tests were conducted in northern Italy, on the mountains near Como. The study involved five volunteer subjects, considered representatives of the regional logging workforce. Physiological workload was determined by measuring the operators' heart rate upon completion of specific tasks. The slack puller improved the efficiency of downhill winching, since it allowed a single operator to pull out the cable on his own, without requiring the assistance of a colleague. However, introduction of the slack puller did not result in any reductions of operator physiological workload. The main stressor when working on a steep slope is moving up and down the slope: pulling a cable is only a secondary stressor. Any measures targeting secondary stressors are unlikely to produce dramatic reductions of operator workload.

Parallel eigenanalysis of finite element models in a completely connected architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Akl, F. A.; Morel, M. R.

1989-01-01

A parallel algorithm is presented for the solution of the generalized eigenproblem in linear elastic finite element analysis, (K)(phi) = (M)(phi)(omega), where (K) and (M) are of order N, and (omega) is order of q. The concurrent solution of the eigenproblem is based on the multifrontal/modified subspace method and is achieved in a completely connected parallel architecture in which each processor is allowed to communicate with all other processors. The algorithm was successfully implemented on a tightly coupled multiple-instruction multiple-data parallel processing machine, Cray X-MP. A finite element model is divided into m domains each of which is assumed to process n elements. Each domain is then assigned to a processor or to a logical processor (task) if the number of domains exceeds the number of physical processors. The macrotasking library routines are used in mapping each domain to a user task. Computational speed-up and efficiency are used to determine the effectiveness of the algorithm. The effect of the number of domains, the number of degrees-of-freedom located along the global fronts and the dimension of the subspace on the performance of the algorithm are investigated. A parallel finite element dynamic analysis program, p-feda, is documented and the performance of its subroutines in parallel environment is analyzed.

Estradiol Therapy After Menopause Mitigates Effects of Stress on Cortisol and Working Memory.

PubMed

Herrera, Alexandra Ycaza; Hodis, Howard N; Mack, Wendy J; Mather, Mara

2017-12-01

Postmenopausal estradiol therapy (ET) can reduce the stress response. However, it remains unclear whether such reductions can mitigate effects of stress on cognition. Investigate effects of ET on cortisol response to a physical stressor, cold pressor test (CPT), and whether ET attenuates stress effects on working memory. Women completed the CPT or control condition across two sessions and subsequently completed a sentence span task. General community: Participants were recruited from the Early vs Late Intervention Trial with Estradiol (ELITE). ELITE participants (mean age = 66, standard deviation age = 6.8) in this study did not suffer from any major chronic illness or use medications known to affect the stress response or cognition. Participants had received a median of randomized 4.7 years of estradiol (n = 21) or placebo (n = 21) treatment at time of participation in this study. Salivary cortisol and sentence span task performance. Women assigned to estradiol exhibited blunted cortisol responses to CPT compared with placebo (P = 0.017) and lesser negative effects of stress on working memory (P = 0.048). We present evidence suggesting ET may protect certain types of cognition in the presence of stress. Such estrogenic protection against stress hormone exposure may prove beneficial to both cognition and the neural circuitry that maintains and propagates cognitive faculties. Copyright © 2017 Endocrine Society

Effects of angle of model-demonstration on learning of motor skill.

PubMed

Ishikura, T; Inomata, K

1995-04-01

The purpose was to examine the effects of three different demonstrations by a model on acquisition and retention of a sequential gross movement task. The second purpose was to examine the relationship between reversal processing of visual information about skills and coding of skill information. Thirty undergraduates (15 men and 15 women) were assigned into one of three conditions, Objective condition which demonstrated the task with the model facing the subject. Looking-glass condition in which the skill was demonstrated with the model facing the subject who viewed the performance opposite the right and left directions in executing the task, and the Subjective condition in which the subject observed the model from the rear. Number of immediate recall tests required to accomplish the sequential movements completely and the sum of the performance points for reproduced movements at each delayed recall test (1 day, 7 days, and 5 mo. after the immediate recall test) were employed. Analysis indicated the Subjective condition produced a significantly greater modeling effect in immediate recall of the movements than the Looking-glass condition. Retention of the acquired skills was almost equal under the three conditions.

The mood-induced activation of implicit alcohol cognition in enhancement and coping motivated drinkers.

PubMed

Birch, Cheryl D; Stewart, Sherry H; Wiers, Reinout W; Klein, Raymond M; Maclean, Angela D; Berish, Melanie J

2008-04-01

In two experiments, we investigated whether different mood states activate specific types of implicit alcohol cognition among undergraduates classified as enhancement (EM) or coping (CM) motivated drinkers. Participants completed a Stroop task in Experiment 1 (n=81), and an Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST; [De Houwer, J. (2003). The Extrinsic Affective Simon Task. Experimental Psychology, 50, 77-85.]) in Experiment 2 (n=79) following random assignment to listen to positive or negative musical mood induction procedures (MMIP). Consistent with hypotheses, only EM, and not CM, drinkers displayed an activation of implicit attention to alcohol cues (Experiment 1) and reward-alcohol implicit associations (Experiment 2) following exposure to positive MMIP. Contrary to hypotheses for CM drinkers, none of the groups, in either experiment, showed an activation of implicit alcohol processing following exposure to negative MMIP. Confidence that positive mood activates implicit alcohol cognition among EM drinkers is increased since this result emerged across two studies involving quite different methodologies. This research has implications for experimental cognitive research and it highlights the potential utility of treatment matching according to drinking motives (e.g., EM) to improve clinical outcomes.

The Impact of Feedback Frequency on Performance in a Novel Speech Motor Learning Task.

PubMed

Lowe, Mara Steinberg; Buchwald, Adam

2017-06-22

This study investigated whether whole nonword accuracy, phoneme accuracy, and acoustic duration measures were influenced by the amount of feedback speakers without impairment received during a novel speech motor learning task. Thirty-two native English speakers completed a nonword production task across 3 time points: practice, short-term retention, and long-term retention. During practice, participants received knowledge of results feedback according to a randomly assigned schedule (100%, 50%, 20%, or 0%). Changes in nonword accuracy, phoneme accuracy, nonword duration, and initial-cluster duration were compared among feedback groups, sessions, and stimulus properties. All participants improved phoneme and whole nonword accuracy at short-term and long-term retention time points. Participants also refined productions of nonwords, as indicated by a decrease in nonword duration across sessions. The 50% group exhibited the largest reduction in duration between practice and long-term retention for nonwords with native and nonnative clusters. All speakers, regardless of feedback schedule, learned new speech motor behaviors quickly with a high degree of accuracy and refined their speech motor skills for perceptually accurate productions. Acoustic measurements may capture more subtle, subperceptual changes that may occur during speech motor learning. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5116324.

Pushed by Symptoms, Pulled by Values: Promotion Goals Increase Motivation in Therapeutic Tasks.

PubMed

Katz, Benjamin A; Catane, Sara; Yovel, Iftah

2016-03-01

While many therapies focus on the reduction of disturbing symptoms, others pursue behavior consistent with personally held values. Based on regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997), reducing symptoms is a type of prevention goal while pursuing values is a promotion goal. In the current study, 123 undergraduate students elicited a negative, self-focused emotion-laden cognition. They were then randomly assigned to construe their negative thought as either (a) an impediment to valued behaviors, (b) a cause of unpleasant symptoms, or to one of two control conditions: (c) distraction or (d) no intervention. Then, participants in all groups completed a series of repetitive therapeutic tasks that targeted their elicited negative cognitions. Results showed that participants who construed treatment in terms of valued behavior promotion spent more time on a therapeutic task than all other groups. The group in the unpleasant symptom promotion condition did not differ from either control group. The motivational advantage of value promotion was not accounted for by differences in mood. The present findings suggest that clients may be better motivated through value promotion goals, as opposed to symptom prevention goals. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Usability and Acceptance of the Librarian Infobutton Tailoring Environment: An Open Access Online Knowledge Capture, Management, and Configuration Tool for OpenInfobutton.

PubMed

Jing, Xia; Cimino, James J; Del Fiol, Guilherme

2015-11-30

The Librarian Infobutton Tailoring Environment (LITE) is a Web-based knowledge capture, management, and configuration tool with which users can build profiles used by OpenInfobutton, an open source infobutton manager, to provide electronic health record users with context-relevant links to online knowledge resources. We conducted a multipart evaluation study to explore users' attitudes and acceptance of LITE and to guide future development. The evaluation consisted of an initial online survey to all LITE users, followed by an observational study of a subset of users in which evaluators' sessions were recorded while they conducted assigned tasks. The observational study was followed by administration of a modified System Usability Scale (SUS) survey. Fourteen users responded to the survey and indicated good acceptance of LITE with feedback that was mostly positive. Six users participated in the observational study, demonstrating average task completion time of less than 6 minutes and an average SUS score of 72, which is considered good compared with other SUS scores. LITE can be used to fulfill its designated tasks quickly and successfully. Evaluators proposed suggestions for improvements in LITE functionality and user interface.

Training spatial-simultaneous working memory in individuals with Down syndrome.

PubMed

Lanfranchi, Silvia; Pulina, Francesca; Carretti, Barbara; Mammarella, Irene C

2017-05-01

Recent studies have suggested that the spatial-simultaneous component of working memory (WM), which is involved when stimuli are presented simultaneously, is selectively impaired in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). The main objective of the present study was to examine whether WM performance can be enhanced in individuals with DS by analyzing the immediate and maintenance effects of a training program. For this purpose, 61 individuals with DS were randomly assigned to three groups: one trained on simultaneous components of visuospatial WM; one serving as an active control group, that completed activities on vocabulary; and one serving as a passive control group, that only attended the pre- and post-test and follow-up assessments. The efficacy of the training was analyzed in terms of specific (spatial-simultaneous WM tasks), near transfer (spatial-sequential and verbal WM tasks), far transfer (spatial abilities, everyday competences), and maintenance effects (with a follow-up at 1 month). The results showed an overall significant effect on the WM on the group receiving the training. The benefit was generally specific, however, with some transfer to other WM tasks, but only in the immediate (post-test) assessment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laparoscopic skills training using a webcam trainer.

PubMed

Chung, Steve Y; Landsittel, Douglas; Chon, Chris H; Ng, Christopher S; Fuchs, Gerhard J

2005-01-01

Many sophisticated and expensive trainers have been developed to assist surgeons in learning basic laparoscopic skills. We developed an inexpensive trainer and evaluated its effectiveness. The webcam laparoscopic training device is composed of a webcam, cardboard box, desk lamp and home computer. This homemade trainer was evaluated against 2 commercially available systems, namely the video Pelvitrainer (Karl Storz Endoscopy, Culver City, California) and the dual mirror Simuview (Simulab Corp., Seattle, Washington). The Pelvitrainer consists of a fiberglass box, single lens optic laparoscope, fiberoptic light source, endoscopic camera and video monitor, while the Simuview trainer uses 2 offset, facing mirrors and an uncovered plastic box. A total of 42 participants without prior laparoscopic training were enrolled in the study and asked to execute 2 tasks, that is peg transfer and pattern cutting. Participants were randomly assigned to 6 groups with each group representing a different permutation of trainers to be used. The time required for participants to complete each task was recorded and differences in performance were calculated. Paired t tests, the Wilcoxon signed rank test and ANOVA were performed to analyze the statistical difference in performance times for all conditions. Statistical analyses of the 2 tasks showed no significant difference for the video and webcam trainers. However, the mirror trainer gave significantly higher outcome values for tasks 1 and 2 compared to the video (p = 0.01 and <0.01) and webcam (p = 0.04 and <0.01, respectively) methods. ANOVA indicated no overall difference for tasks 1 and 2 across the orderings (p = 0.36 and 0.99, respectively). However, by attempt 3 the time required to complete the skill tests decreased significantly for all 3 trainers (each p <0.01). Our homemade webcam system is comparable in function to the more elaborate video trainer but superior to the dual mirror trainer. For novice laparoscopists we believe that the webcam system is an inexpensive and effective laparoscopic training device. Furthermore, the webcam system also allows instant recording and review of techniques.

Students' Views of Example Generation Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breen, Sinead; O'Shea, Ann; Pfeiffer, Kirsten

2016-01-01

We report here on students' views of example generation tasks assigned to them in two first year undergraduate Calculus courses. The design and use of such tasks was undertaken as part of a project which aimed to afford students opportunities to develop their thinking skills and their conceptual understanding. In interviews with 10 students, we…

Emotional Intelligence, Personality, and Task-Induced Stress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Gerald; Emo, Amanda K.; Funke, Gregory; Zeidner, Moshe; Roberts, Richard D.; Costa, Paul T.; Schulze, Ralf

2006-01-01

Emotional intelligence (EI) may predict stress responses and coping strategies in a variety of applied settings. This study compares EI and the personality factors of the Five Factor Model (FFM) as predictors of task-induced stress responses. Participants (N = 200) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 task conditions, 3 of which were designed to be…

Interagency Task Forces: The Right Tools for the Job

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

shortcomings. This analysis discusses four organizational reform models and recommends the interagency task force ( IATF ) as the preferred structure...model.64 Still others recommend creating and deploying ad hoc IATFs for crisis operations. These interagency task forces would be task- organized to...forces assigned for planning, exercises, and mission execution.65 A 2005 article in Policy Review recommended developing IATFs as needed for specific

Singularity-robustness and task-prioritization in configuration control of redundant robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, H.; Colbaugh, R.

1990-01-01

The authors present a singularity-robust task-prioritized reformulation of the configuration control for redundant robot manipulators. This reformation suppresses large joint velocities to induce minimal errors in the task performance by modifying the task trajectories. Furthermore, the same framework provides a means for assignment of priorities between the basic task of end-effector motion and the user-defined additional task for utilizing redundancy. This allows automatic relaxation of the additional task constraints in favor of the desired end-effector motion when both cannot be achieved exactly.

An Experimental Comparison of Techniques: Cognitive Defusion, Cognitive Restructuring, and in-vivo Exposure for Social Anxiety.

PubMed

Barrera, Terri L; Szafranski, Derek D; Ratcliff, Chelsea G; Garnaat, Sarah L; Norton, Peter J

2016-03-01

One of the primary differences between Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for anxiety is the approach to managing negative thoughts. CBT focuses on challenging the accuracy of dysfunctional thoughts through cognitive restructuring exercises, whereas ACT attempts to foster acceptance of such thoughts through cognitive defusion exercises. Previous research suggests that both techniques reduce the distress associated with negative thoughts, though questions remain regarding the benefit of these techniques above and beyond exposure to feared stimuli. In the present study, we conducted a brief experimental intervention to examine the utility of cognitive defusion + in-vivo exposure, cognitive restructuring + in-vivo exposure, and in-vivo exposure alone in reducing the impact of negative thoughts in patients with social anxiety disorder. All participants completed a brief public speaking exposure and those in the cognitive conditions received training in the assigned cognitive technique. Participants returned a week later to complete a second exposure task and self-report measures. All three conditions resulted in similar decreases in discomfort related to negative thoughts. ANOVA models failed to find an interaction between change in accuracy or importance and assignment to condition in predicting decreased distress of negative thoughts. These preliminary results suggest that changes in perceived importance and accuracy of negative thoughts may not be the mechanisms by which cognitive defusion and cognitive restructuring affect distress in the short-term.

The Interactive Effects of Emotion Regulation and Alcohol Intoxication on Lab-Based Intimate Partner Aggression

PubMed Central

Watkins, Laura E.; DiLillo, David; Maldonado, Rosalita C.

2015-01-01

This study draws on Finkel and Eckhardt’s (2013) I3 framework to examine the interactive effects of two emotion regulation strategies, anger rumination (an impellance factor) and reappraisal (an inhibition factor), and alcohol intoxication (a disinhibition factor), on intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration as measured with an analogue aggression task. Participants were 69 couples recruited from a large Midwestern university (total N = 138). Participants’ trait rumination and reappraisal were measured by self-report. Participants were randomized individually to an alcohol or placebo condition, then recalled an anger event while employing one of three randomly assigned emotion regulation conditions (rumination, reappraisal, or uninstructed). Following this, participants completed an analogue aggression task involving ostensibly assigning white noise blasts to their partner. Participants in the alcohol condition displayed greater IPA than participants in the placebo condition for provoked IPA, but not unprovoked IPA. Results also revealed interactions such that for those in the alcohol and rumination group, higher trait reappraisal was related to lower unprovoked IPA. For provoked IPA, higher trait rumination was related to greater IPA among those in the alcohol and rumination condition and those in the placebo and uninstructed condition. In general, results were consistent with I3 theory, suggesting that alcohol disinhibits, rumination impels, and trait reappraisal inhibits IPA. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed in the context of current knowledge about the influence of alcohol intoxication and emotion regulation strategies on IPA perpetration. PMID:25844831

Teaching Earth System Science Using Climate Educational Modules Based on NASA and NOAA Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramirez, P. C.; LaDochy, S.; Patzert, W. C.; Willis, J. K.

2011-12-01

The Earth System Science Education Alliance (ESSEA) recently developed a set of climate related educational modules to be used by K-12 teachers. These modules incorporate recent NASA and NOAA resources in Earth Science education. In the summer of 2011, these modules were tested by in-service teachers in courses held at several college campuses. At California State University, Los Angeles, we reviewed two climate modules: The Great Ocean Conveyer Belt and Abrupt Climate Change (http://essea.strategies.org/module.php?module_id=148) and Sulfur Dioxide: Its Role in Climate Change (http://essea.strategies.org/module.php?module_id=168). For each module, 4-6 teachers formed a cohort to complete assignments and unit assessments and to evaluate the effectiveness of the module for use in their classroom. Each module presented the teachers with a task that enabled them to research and better understand the science behind the climate related topic. For The Great Ocean Conveyer Belt, teachers are tasked with evaluating the impacts of the slowing or stopping of the thermohaline circulation on climate. In the same module teachers are charged with determining the possibilities of an abrupt climate shift during this century such as happened in the past. For the Sulfur Dioxide module teachers investigated the climate implications of the occurrence of several major volcanic eruptions within a short time period, as well as the feasibility of using sulfates to geoengineer climate change. In completing module assignments, teachers must list what they already know about the topic as well as formulate questions that still need to be addressed. Teachers then model the related interactions between spheres comprising the earth system (atmosphere-lithosphere, for example) to evaluate possible environmental impacts. Finally, teachers applied their research results to create lesson plans for their students. At a time when climate change and global warming are important topics in science education, these climate modules provide valuable learning experiences and resources for K-12 teachers.

Ruminative and mindful self-focused attention in borderline personality disorder.

PubMed

Sauer, Shannon E; Baer, Ruth A

2012-10-01

The current study investigated the short-term effects of mindful and ruminative forms of self-focused attention on a behavioral measure of distress tolerance in individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) who had completed an angry mood induction. Participants included 40 individuals who met criteria for BPD and were currently involved in mental health treatment. Each completed an individual 1-hr session. Following an angry mood induction, each participant was randomly assigned to engage in ruminative or mindful self-focus for several minutes. All participants then completed the computerized Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT-C), a behavioral measure of willingness to tolerate distress in the service of goal-directed behavior. The mindfulness group persisted significantly longer than the rumination group on the distress tolerance task and reported significantly lower levels of anger following the self-focus period. Results are consistent with previous studies in suggesting that distinct forms of self-focused attention have distinct outcomes and that, for people with BPD, mindful self-observation is an adaptive alternative to rumination when feeling angry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Use of the North American guidelines for children's agricultural tasks with Hmong farm families.

PubMed

Rasmussen, R C; Schermann, M A; Shutske, J M; Olson, D K

2003-11-01

This literature review synthesizes available studies on Hmong agricultural practices, patterns of childhood growth and development of Hmong children in the context of injury prevention, and potential application or adaptation of the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (Lee and Marlenga, 1999) for Hmong children working in the U.S. Data from qualitative interviews, focus groups, case studies, and surveys were collected, categories were determined, and themes were identified. Field tools and practices, gender roles, and reasons for farming were examined, as well as physical and cognitive development of Hmong children and Hmong parenting techniques to describe factors related to farm task assignment of children. Current agricultural practices of Hmong in the U.S. can be described as generally small-scale operations that use mainly hand tools, manual labor, and local direct-marketing techniques. Specific practices include thinning, weeding, and hoeing; carrying tools, buckets, or baskets; setting plant supports; and watering. Hmong children appear to be given greater amounts of responsibility at earlier ages than North American children. Hmong parenting practices, as would be used in task assignment, are somewhat more authoritarian-based and lead to psychosocial skills that are more group-oriented than individual-oriented. Hmong children were found to be shorter than children in the U.S. of the same ages. This review suggests that the NAGCAT cannot be literally translated and disseminated to Hmong farming families as an injury prevention intervention. Further information is needed about what farm tasks Hmong children do and how Hmong parents assign those tasks to children.

Voltage scheduling for low power/energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manzak, Ali

2001-07-01

Power considerations have become an increasingly dominant factor in the design of both portable and desk-top systems. An effective way to reduce power consumption is to lower the supply voltage since voltage is quadratically related to power. This dissertation considers the problem of lowering the supply voltage at (i) the system level and at (ii) the behavioral level. At the system level, the voltage of the variable voltage processor is dynamically changed with the work load. Processors with limited sized buffers as well as those with very large buffers are considered. Given the task arrival times, deadline times, execution times, periods and switching activities, task scheduling algorithms that minimize energy or peak power are developed for the processors equipped with very large buffers. A relation between the operating voltages of the tasks for minimum energy/power is determined using the Lagrange multiplier method, and an iterative algorithm that utilizes this relation is developed. Experimental results show that the voltage assignment obtained by the proposed algorithm is very close (0.1% error) to that of the optimal energy assignment and the optimal peak power (1% error) assignment. Next, on-line and off-fine minimum energy task scheduling algorithms are developed for processors with limited sized buffers. These algorithms have polynomial time complexity and present optimal (off-line) and close-to-optimal (on-line) solutions. A procedure to calculate the minimum buffer size given information about the size of the task (maximum, minimum), execution time (best case, worst case) and deadlines is also presented. At the behavioral level, resources operating at multiple voltages are used to minimize power while maintaining the throughput. Such a scheme has the advantage of allowing modules on the critical paths to be assigned to the highest voltage levels (thus meeting the required timing constraints) while allowing modules on non-critical paths to be assigned to lower voltage levels (thus reducing the power consumption). A polynomial time resource and latency constrained scheduling algorithm is developed to distribute the available slack among the nodes such that power consumption is minimum. The algorithm is iterative and utilizes the slack based on the Lagrange multiplier method.

Self-handicapping in school physical education: The influence of the motivational climate.

PubMed

Standage, Martyn; Treasure, Darren C; Hooper, Katherine; Kuczka, Kendy

2007-03-01

Self-handicapping is an attribution-related process whereby individuals create performance impediments/excuses to protect self-worth in socially evaluative environments. Thus, the prevailing motivational climate would appear to be an important factor when attempting to understand the situational self-handicapping process within school physical education. Drawing from achievement goal theory, the study examined the effect of experimentally induced conditions (viz. task vs. ego) on situational self-handicapping. Seventy British secondary school students (36 females and 34 males; M age = 11.98; SD=0.31). Participants were randomly assigned to partake in a running endurance task in either an ego-involving (20 male students and 16 female students) or a task-involving (14 male students and 20 female students) condition. Prior to completing the experimental task, participants were given the opportunity to claim situational self-handicaps. Data for goal orientations, subjective climate perceptions, perceived ability and perceived task importance were also obtained. After determining the effectiveness of the experimental manipulation, results revealed participants in the ego-involving condition to report significantly more situational self-handicapping claims. Further, and after controlling for individual difference variables, the results of moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed subjective perceptions of an ego-involving climate to be the main positive predictor of situational self-handicapping. Although a weaker contributor to the percentage of variance explained, task orientation emerged as a negative predictor of situational self-handicapping. The findings suggest that PE teachers would be prudent to minimize ego-involving situations should they wish to reduce situational self-handicapping.

Social stressors and cardiovascular response: influence of ambivalent relationships and behavioral ambivalence.

PubMed

Holt-Lunstad, Julianne; Clark, Benjamin D

2014-09-01

The protective influence of social relationships on health is well documented; however, not all relationships are positive and negative aspects of relationships may be detrimental. Relatively less is known about the relationships characterized by both positivity and negativity (i.e., ambivalence). The goal of this study was to examine the relative influence of ambivalence in relationship quality and social behavior on cardiovascular response. 104 healthy young adults were randomly assigned to bring in either a supportive or ambivalent same-sex friend to the experiment. Participants were also randomly assigned to receive positive, negative, ambivalent or ambiguous feedback from their friend after giving a series of speeches. Cardiovascular response was obtained before, during, and after the social stressor (speech task). Results indicate a significant effect of relationship type before, during, and after the stressor task. Adjusting for baseline, heart rate reactivity and anxiety was significantly higher among those assigned to ambivalent friends relative to those assigned to supportive friends during the stressor task (ps<.05). There was also a significant effect of behavioral feedback during the speech task, such that those receiving ambivalent messages had the greatest systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactivity (p<.05); however, there was no interaction between relationship and feedback conditions. Those in the ambivalent friend condition also exhibited significantly higher SBP, DBP, and anxiety during the baseline and recovery periods (ps<.05). These findings suggest that both relationship quality and the actions of relationships may have a significant influence on health-relevant physiology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Computer-Based Assignments on Student Motivation to Complete Homework Assignments for Sixth-Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cyr, Mary Ann

2013-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the engagement of 11 middle school-aged students from a southeast Michigan public school, who were given laptop computers with twenty-four-hour-a-day Internet access in order to complete homework assignments. Specifically, this study examined the perceptions of sixth-grade students regarding the…

Improving Motivation for Academics in Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koegel, Lynn Kern; Singh, Anjileen K.; Koegel, Robert L.

2010-01-01

Many children with autism show very little interest in academic assignments and exhibit disruptive behavior when assignments are presented. Research indicates that incorporating specific motivational variables such as choice, interspersal of maintenance tasks, and natural reinforcers during intervention leads to improvements in core symptoms of…

77 FR 10798 - Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-23

... assigned to the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) concerning all weather operations. This... Weather Operations Harmonization Working Group. Over the years since assigning this task to ARAC, the... the All Weather Operations Manual for ICAO. These efforts are important to the FAA and other civil...

My Instructor Made Me Do It: Task Characteristics of Procrastination

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ackerman, David S.; Gross, Barbara L.

2005-01-01

Procrastination can have a negative effect on learning. Many previous studies have examined personality factors that contribute to procrastination. This study examines selected assignment characteristics controllable by the instructor that might influence student procrastination. Results found less procrastination on assignments that were…

Students' Task Interpretation and Conceptual Understanding in an Electronics Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivera-Reyes, Presentacion; Lawanto, Oenardi; Pate, Michael L.

2017-01-01

Task interpretation is a critical first step for students in the process of self-regulated learning, and a key determinant when they set goals in their learning and select strategies in assigned work. This paper focuses on the explicit and implicit aspects of task interpretation based on Hadwin's model. Laboratory activities improve students'…

Maintaining Vocational Skills of Individuals with Autism and Developmental Disabilities through Video Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Laarhoven, Toni; Winiarski, Lauren; Blood, Erika; Chan, Jeffrey M.

2012-01-01

A modified pre/posttest control group design was used to measure the effectiveness of video modeling on the maintenance of vocational tasks for six students with autism spectrum disorder and/or developmental disabilities. Each student was assigned two vocational tasks at their employment settings and their independence with each task was measured…

The Effect of Implementation of TBLT in Reading Comprehension Classes of Iranian EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madhkhan, Mozhgan; Mousavi, Seyed Mojtaba

2017-01-01

The present study investigates the impact of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) on Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension performance. Seventy participants were assigned randomly to the experimental and control groups. Having instructed the two groups with the same texts but different task types and activities (i.e., tasks in 4 types) during…

Decentralized Planning for Autonomous Agents Cooperating in Complex Missions

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

Consensus - based decentralized auctions for robust task allocation ," IEEE Transactions on Robotics...Robotics, vol. 24, pp. 209-222, 2006. [44] H.-L. Choi, L. Brunet, and J. P. How, " Consensus - based decentralized auctions for robust task allocation ...2003. 123 [31] L. Brunet, " Consensus - Based Auctions for Decentralized Task Assignment," Master’s thesis, Dept.

SU-E-E-02: Dashboard for Tracking Physics Resident Progress

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Becker, SJ

2014-06-01

Purpose: Design a system to easily and securely track the progress of medical physics residents through their residency. Paper sign-offs while offering a real signature are not easily updated or summarized. A resident or mentor needs to be able to quickly assess what the current assignments are, what are overdue, and whether the resident is on track to complete all the tasks in a timely fashion. An electronic version can accomplish all these goals. Methods: An electronic dashboard was created in excel to not only house the tasks and sign-off but to succinctly summarize the residents progress. The first tabmore » contains the dashboard which displays tables of the progress of the residents in each rotation, their current task, and overdue tasks. It also displays the last meetings with the residents, and timeline of important items, and a burn-down chart of the remaining tasks. This are all tied to the data and current date which auto fills the tables. The second tab contains the data. This is comprised of lists of rotations and their associated tasks along with their due dates. A signature column was also created which is password protected but allows special subset users i.e. mentors to alter without using a password. Results: The dashboard has allowed residents to better track their progress and tells them what they should be working on. It has also allowed the mentors and the program director to rapid assess their progress. Conclusion: The dashboard is successful and has been created to allow easy addition and subtraction of required tasks as the residency evolves. The next step is to create a web app version of the excel sheet with logins.« less

The effect of divided attention on novices and experts in laparoscopic task performance.

PubMed

Ghazanfar, Mudassar Ali; Cook, Malcolm; Tang, Benjie; Tait, Iain; Alijani, Afshin

2015-03-01

Attention is important for the skilful execution of surgery. The surgeon's attention during surgery is divided between surgery and outside distractions. The effect of this divided attention has not been well studied previously. We aimed to compare the effect of dividing attention of novices and experts on a laparoscopic task performance. Following ethical approval, 25 novices and 9 expert surgeons performed a standardised peg transfer task in a laboratory setup under three randomly assigned conditions: silent as control condition and two standardised auditory distracting tasks requiring response (easy and difficult) as study conditions. Human reliability assessment was used for surgical task analysis. Primary outcome measures were correct auditory responses, task time, number of surgical errors and instrument movements. Secondary outcome measures included error rate, error probability and hand specific differences. Non-parametric statistics were used for data analysis. 21109 movements and 9036 total errors were analysed. Novices had increased mean task completion time (seconds) (171 ± 44SD vs. 149 ± 34, p < 0.05), number of total movements (227 ± 27 vs. 213 ± 26, p < 0.05) and number of errors (127 ± 51 vs. 96 ± 28, p < 0.05) during difficult study conditions compared to control. The correct responses to auditory stimuli were less frequent in experts (68 %) compared to novices (80 %). There was a positive correlation between error rate and error probability in novices (r (2) = 0.533, p < 0.05) but not in experts (r (2) = 0.346, p > 0.05). Divided attention conditions in theatre environment require careful consideration during surgical training as the junior surgeons are less able to focus their attention during these conditions.

Retention of laparoscopic and robotic skills among medical students: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Orlando, Megan S; Thomaier, Lauren; Abernethy, Melinda G; Chen, Chi Chiung Grace

2017-08-01

Although simulation training beneficially contributes to traditional surgical training, there are less objective data on simulation skills retention. To investigate the retention of laparoscopic and robotic skills after simulation training. We present the second stage of a randomized single-blinded controlled trial in which 40 simulation-naïve medical students were randomly assigned to practice peg transfer tasks on either laparoscopic (N = 20, Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery, Venture Technologies Inc., Waltham, MA) or robotic (N = 20, dV-Trainer, Mimic, Seattle, WA) platforms. In the first stage, two expert surgeons evaluated participants on both tasks before (Stage 1: Baseline) and immediately after training (Stage 1: Post-training) using a modified validated global rating scale of laparoscopic and robotic operative performance. In Stage 2, participants were evaluated on both tasks 11-20 weeks after training. Of the 40 students who participated in Stage 1, 23 (11 laparoscopic and 12 robotic) underwent repeat evaluation. During Stage 2, there were no significant differences between groups in objective or subjective measures for the laparoscopic task. Laparoscopic-trained participants' performances on the laparoscopic task were improved during Stage 2 compared to baseline measured by time to task completion, but not by the modified global rating scale. During the robotic task, the robotic-trained group demonstrated superior economy of motion (p = .017), Tissue Handling (p = .020), and fewer errors (p = .018) compared to the laparoscopic-trained group. Robotic skills acquisition from baseline with no significant deterioration as measured by modified global rating scale scores was observed among robotic-trained participants during Stage 2. Robotic skills acquired through simulation appear to be better maintained than laparoscopic simulation skills. This study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02370407).

Scalable and Cost-Effective Assignment of Mobile Crowdsensing Tasks Based on Profiling Trends and Prediction: The ParticipAct Living Lab Experience

PubMed Central

Bellavista, Paolo; Corradi, Antonio; Foschini, Luca; Ianniello, Raffaele

2015-01-01

Nowadays, sensor-rich smartphones potentially enable the harvesting of huge amounts of valuable sensing data in urban environments, by opportunistically involving citizens to play the role of mobile virtual sensors to cover Smart City areas of interest. This paper proposes an in-depth study of the challenging technical issues related to the efficient assignment of Mobile Crowd Sensing (MCS) data collection tasks to volunteers in a crowdsensing campaign. In particular, the paper originally describes how to increase the effectiveness of the proposed sensing campaigns through the inclusion of several new facilities, including accurate participant selection algorithms able to profile and predict user mobility patterns, gaming techniques, and timely geo-notification. The reported results show the feasibility of exploiting profiling trends/prediction techniques from volunteers’ behavior; moreover, they quantitatively compare different MCS task assignment strategies based on large-scale and real MCS data campaigns run in the ParticipAct living lab, an ongoing MCS real-world experiment that involved more than 170 students of the University of Bologna for more than one year. PMID:26263985

The effects of soy milk and isoflavone supplements on cognitive performance in healthy, postmenopausal women.

PubMed

Fournier, L R; Ryan Borchers, T A; Robison, L M; Wiediger, M; Park, J S; Chew, B P; McGuire, M K; Sclar, D A; Skaer, T L; Beerman, K A

2007-01-01

The decline in estrogen concentrations in women after menopause can contribute to health related changes including impairments in cognition, especially memory. Because of the health concerns related to hormone replacement therapy (HRT), alternative approaches to treat menopausal symptoms, such as nutritional supplements and/or diet containing isoflavones, are of interest. This study investigated whether soy isoflavones (soy milk and supplement) could improve cognitive functioning in healthy, postmenopausal women. PARTICIPANTS, INTERVENTION AND DESIGN: A total of 79 postmenopausal women, 48-65 years of age, completed a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which they were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups: cow's milk and a placebo supplement (control); soy milk and placebo supplement (soy milk, 72 mg isoflavones/day); or cow's milk and isoflavone supplement (isoflavone supplement, 70 mg isoflavones/day). Cognitive functioning was assessed using various cognitive tasks before the intervention (baseline) and after the intervention (test). In contrast to predictions, soy isoflavones did not improve selective attention (Stroop task), visual long-term memory (pattern recognition), short-term visuospatial memory (Benton Visual Retention Test), or visuo-spatial working memory (color match task). Also, the soy milk group showed a decline in verbal working memory (Digit Ordering Task) compared to the soy supplement and control groups. Soy isoflavones consumed as a food or supplement over a 16-week period did not improve or appreciably affect cognitive functioning in healthy, postmenopausal women.

Acute effects of a glucose energy drink on behavioral control.

PubMed

Howard, Meagan A; Marczinski, Cecile A

2010-12-01

There has been a dramatic rise in the consumption of glucose energy drinks (e.g., Amp, Monster, and Red Bull) in the past decade, particularly among high school and college students. However, little laboratory research has examined the acute objective and subjective effects of energy drinks. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of a glucose energy drink (Red Bull) on cognitive functioning. Participants (N = 80) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions: 1.8 ml/kg energy drink, 3.6 ml/kg energy drink, 5.4 ml/kg energy drink, placebo beverage, or no drink. Participants completed a well-validated behavioral control task (the cued go/no-go task) and subjective measures of stimulation, sedation, and mental fatigue both before and 30 minutes following beverage administration. The results indicated that compared with the placebo and no drink conditions, the energy drink doses decreased reaction times on the behavioral control task, increased subjective ratings of stimulation and decreased ratings of mental fatigue. Greatest improvements in reaction times and subjective measures were observed with the lowest dose and improvements diminished as the dose increased. The findings suggest that energy drink consumption can improve cognitive performance on a behavioral control task, potentially explaining the dramatic rise in popularity of these controversial new beverages. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Research on air and missile defense task allocation based on extended contract net protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yunzhi; Wang, Gang

2017-10-01

Based on the background of air and missile defense distributed element corporative engagement, the interception task allocation problem of multiple weapon units with multiple targets under network condition is analyzed. Firstly, a mathematical model of task allocation is established by combat task decomposition. Secondly, the initialization assignment based on auction contract and the adjustment allocation scheme based on swap contract were introduced to the task allocation. Finally, through the simulation calculation of typical situation, the model can be used to solve the task allocation problem in complex combat environment.

Implementation of Risk Management in NASA's CEV Project- Ensuring Mission Success

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perera, Jeevan; Holsomback, Jerry D.

2005-12-01

Most project managers know that Risk Management (RM) is essential to good project management. At NASA, standards and procedures to manage risk through a tiered approach have been developed - from the global agency-wide requirements down to a program or project's implementation. The basic methodology for NASA's risk management strategy includes processes to identify, analyze, plan, track, control, communicate and document risks. The identification, characterization, mitigation plan, and mitigation responsibilities associated with specific risks are documented to help communicate, manage, and effectuate appropriate closure. This approach helps to ensure more consistent documentation and assessment and provides a means of archiving lessons learned for future identification or mitigation activities.A new risk database and management tool was developed by NASA in 2002 and since has been used successfully to communicate, document and manage a number of diverse risks for the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and several other NASA projects and programs including at the Johnson Space Center. Organizations use this database application to effectively manage and track each risk and gain insight into impacts from other organization's viewpoint to develop integrated solutions. Schedule, cost, technical and safety issues are tracked in detail through this system.Risks are tagged within the system to ensure proper review, coordination and management at the necessary management level. The database is intended as a day-to- day tool for organizations to manage their risks and elevate those issues that need coordination from above. Each risk is assigned to a managing organization and a specific risk owner who generates mitigation plans as appropriate. In essence, the risk owner is responsible for shepherding the risk through closure. The individual that identifies a new risk does not necessarily get assigned as the risk owner. Whoever is in the best position to effectuate comprehensive closure is assigned as the risk owner. Each mitigation plan includes the specific tasks that will be conducted to either decrease the likelihood of the risk occurring and/or lessen the severity of the consequences if they do occur. As each mitigation task is completed, the responsible managing organization records the completion of the task in the risk database and then re-scores the risk considering the task's results. By keeping scores updated, a managing organization's current top risks and risk posture can be readily identified including the status of any risk in the system.A number of metrics measure risk process trends from data contained in the database. This allows for trend analysis to further identify improvements to the process and assist in the management of all risks. The metrics will also scrutinize both the effectiveness and compliance of risk management requirements.The risk database is an evolving tool and will be continuously improved with capabilities requested by the NASA project community. This paper presents the basic foundations of risk management, the elements necessary for effective risk management, and the capabilities of this new risk database and how it is implemented to support NASA's risk management needs.

Dynamic Task Assignment of Autonomous Distributed AGV in an Intelligent FMS Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fauadi, Muhammad Hafidz Fazli Bin Md; Lin, Hao Wen; Murata, Tomohiro

The need of implementing distributed system is growing significantly as it is proven to be effective for organization to be flexible against a highly demanding market. Nevertheless, there are still large technical gaps need to be addressed to gain significant achievement. We propose a distributed architecture to control Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) operation based on multi-agent architecture. System architectures and agents' functions have been designed to support distributed control of AGV. Furthermore, enhanced agent communication protocol has been configured to accommodate dynamic attributes of AGV task assignment procedure. Result proved that the technique successfully provides a better solution.

Demoralization and attitudes toward residents among certified nurse assistants in relation to job stressors and work resources: cultural diversity in long term care.

PubMed

Ramirez, Mildred; Teresi, Jeanne; Holmes, Douglas

2006-01-01

Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs) (n=104) caring for a probability sample of residents in 22 New York State nursing homes were interviewed, longitudinally, regarding work demands and stressors, support and training, and job-stress outcomes. Twenty-seven percent of CNAs reported pejorative name-calling by their residents. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that (a) increase in perceived pressure to complete tasks, (b) assignment size, and (c) attendance at support groups were associated with CNAs' demoralization at follow-up. A decrease in perceived racism and increased in-services about confused residents contributed to more positive attitudes toward residents. Examination of the quality of long-term care should include consideration of cultural diversity.

Integrated Launch Operations Applications Remote Display Developer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flemming, Cedric M., II

2014-01-01

This internship provides the opportunity to support the creation and use of Firing Room Displays and Firing Room Applications that use an abstraction layer called the Application Control Language (ACL). Required training included video watching, reading assignments, face-to-face instruction and job shadowing other Firing Room software developers as they completed their daily duties. During the training period various computer and access rights needed for creating the applications were obtained. The specific ground subsystems supported are the Cryogenics Subsystems, Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) and Liquid Oxygen (LO2). The cryogenics team is given the task of finding the best way to handle these very volatile liquids that are used to fuel the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion flight vehicles safely.

Investigation of cloud/water vapor motion winds from geostationary satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

This report summarizes the research work accomplished on the NASA grant contract NAG8-892 during 1992. Research goals of this contract are the following: to complete upgrades to the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) wind system procedures for assigning heights and incorporating first guess information; to evaluate these modifications using simulated tracer fields; to add an automated quality control system to minimize the need for manual editing, while maintaining product quality; and to benchmark the upgraded algorithm in tests with NMC and/or MSFC. Work progressed on all these tasks and is detailed. This work was done in collaboration with CIMSS NOAA/NESDIS scientists working on the operational winds software, so that NASA funded research can benefit NESDIS operational algorithms.

Predictors and Outcomes of Situational Interest during a Science Learning Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tapola, Anna; Veermans, Marjaana; Niemivirta, Markku

2013-01-01

In this study we examined change in students' situational interest as a function of student and task characteristics. Fifth- and sixth-graders (n = 52) were assigned to one of two task conditions that used a different version of a science simulation. The versions differed in how concrete vs. abstract the simulation elements were.…

Success Estimations and Performance in Children as Influenced by Age, Gender, and Task.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Amelia M.; And Others

1988-01-01

Randomly assigned 80 boys and girls in grades 3 and 7 to either a football-related or a dance-related group. Performance expectancies obtained prior to engaging in a novel motor task can be affected by the way a task is presented. Boys were more affected than girls by labels of sex appropriateness. (Author/BJV)

Modeling the Psychometric Properties of Complex Performance Assessment Tasks Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis: A Multistage Model for Calibrating Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahraman, Nilufer; De Champlain, Andre; Raymond, Mark

2012-01-01

Item-level information, such as difficulty and discrimination are invaluable to the test assembly, equating, and scoring practices. Estimating these parameters within the context of large-scale performance assessments is often hindered by the use of unbalanced designs for assigning examinees to tasks and raters because such designs result in very…

Multi-Agent Task Negotiation Among UAVs to Defend Against Swarm Attacks

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

are based on economic models [39]. Auction methods of task coordination also attempt to deal with agents dealing with noisy, dynamic environments...August 2006. [34] M. Alighanbari, “ Robust and decentralized task assignment algorithms for uavs,” Ph.D. dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology...Implicit Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.4 Decentralized Algorithm B - Market- Based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.5 Decentralized

Optimal Processor Assignment for Pipeline Computations

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-10-01

the use of ratios: initially each task is assigned a procesbuor2 the remaining proceborb are distributed in proportion to the quantities f,(1), 1 < i...algorithmns. IEEE Trans. onl Parallel and Distributed Systemns, 1 (4):470-499, October 1990. [26] P. Al. Kogge. The Architeture of Pipelined Comnputers

Consequences of "Minimal" Group Affiliations in Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunham, Yarrow; Baron, Andrew Scott; Carey, Susan

2011-01-01

Three experiments (total N = 140) tested the hypothesis that 5-year-old children's membership in randomly assigned "minimal" groups would be sufficient to induce intergroup bias. Children were randomly assigned to groups and engaged in tasks involving judgments of unfamiliar in-group or out-group children. Despite an absence of information…

Foods and Nutrition. Student Modules and Instructor's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

South Carolina State Dept. of Education, Columbia. Office of Vocational Education.

These 64 performance-based instructional modules are for the home economics content area of food and nutrition. Each module is composed of an introduction for the student, a performance objective, a variety of learning activities (reading assignments, tasks, written assignments), content information, a student self-check, recommended references,…

Lesion-Site Affects Grammatical Gender Assignment in German: Perception and Production Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hofmann, Juliane; Kotz, Sonja A.; Marschhauser, Anke; von Cramon, D. Yves; Friederici, Angela D.

2007-01-01

Two experiments investigated phonological, derivational-morphological and semantic aspects of grammatical gender assignment in a perception and a production task in German aphasic patients and age-matched controls. The agreement of a gender indicating adjective (feminine, masculine or neuter) and a noun was evaluated during perception in…

Principals Make Assignments Matter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dougherty, Eleanor

2013-01-01

The inner-city high school in Washington, DC, that Guillaume Gendre joined as an assistant principal had a modest reputation for achievement but was nevertheless challenged to raise expectations for student work. In other schools, Gendre had used assignments--a specific kind of instructional task in which students are charged to think about an…

Solar Heating Systems: Student Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Joanne; And Others

This Student Manual for a Solar Heating System curriculum contains 22 units of instructional materials for students to use in a course or courses on solar heating systems (see note). For each unit (task), objectives, assignment sheets, laboratory assignments, information sheets, checkpoints (tests), and job sheets are provided. Materials are set…

The DISAM Journal of International Security Assistance Management. Volume 29, Number 3, July 2007

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-01

with Canada and Mexico, with relatively very few permanently assigned forces . You can read about a number of issues addressed by contributing authors...26 Commander Curtis Jenkins, USNR, Lockheed Martin “Taking the Communication High Ground The Case for a Joint Inter-Agency Task Force ...permanently assigned forces . The command is assigned forces whenever necessary to execute missions, as ordered by the president and secretary of

Attempted Training of Alcohol Approach and Drinking Identity Associations in US Undergraduate Drinkers: Null Results from Two Studies

PubMed Central

Lindgren, Kristen P.; Wiers, Reinout W.; Teachman, Bethany A.; Gasser, Melissa L.; Westgate, Erin C.; Cousijn, Janna; Enkema, Matthew C.; Neighbors, Clayton

2015-01-01

There is preliminary evidence that approach avoid training can shift implicit alcohol associations and improve treatment outcomes. We sought to replicate and extend those findings in US undergraduate social drinkers (Study 1) and at-risk drinkers (Study 2). Three adaptations of the approach avoid task (AAT) were tested. The first adaptation – the approach avoid training – was a replication and targeted implicit alcohol approach associations. The remaining two adaptations – the general identity and personalized identity trainings – targeted implicit drinking identity associations, which are robust predictors of hazardous drinking in US undergraduates. Study 1 included 300 undergraduate social drinkers. They were randomly assigned to real or sham training conditions for one of the three training adaptations, and completed two training sessions, spaced one week apart. Study 2 included 288 undergraduates at risk for alcohol use disorders. The same training procedures were used, but the two training sessions occurred within a single week. Results were not as expected. Across both studies, the approach avoid training yielded no evidence of training effects on implicit alcohol associations or alcohol outcomes. The general identity training also yielded no evidence of training effects on implicit alcohol associations or alcohol outcomes with one exception; individuals who completed real training demonstrated no changes in drinking refusal self-efficacy whereas individuals who completed sham training had reductions in self-efficacy. Finally, across both studies, the personalized identity training yielded no evidence of training effects on implicit alcohol associations or alcohol outcomes. Despite having relatively large samples and using a well-validated training task, study results indicated all three training adaptations were ineffective at this dose in US undergraduates. These findings are important because training studies are costly and labor-intensive. Future research may benefit from focusing on more severe populations, pairing training with other interventions, increasing training dose, and increasing gamification of training tasks. PMID:26241316

Using Technological Advances to Improve Surgery Curriculum: Experience With a Mobile Application.

PubMed

Green, Courtney A; Kim, Edward H; O'Sullivan, Patricia S; Chern, Hueylan

2018-01-31

Our previous home-video basic surgical skills curriculum required substantial faculty time and resources, and was limited by delayed feedback and technical difficulties. Consequently, we integrated that curriculum with a mobile application platform. Our purpose is to describe this application and learner satisfaction. The mobile platform incorporates a patented pedagogical design based on Ericsson's deliberate practice and Bandura's social learning theory. Instructors built step-wise skills modules. During the challenge phase, learners watched a video of surgical tasks completed by experts and uploaded a video of themselves performing the same task. In the Peer Review phase, they used a grading rubric to provide feedback. In the Recap stage, learners received individual feedback and could review their own videos. Two groups of learners, graduating medical students and matriculating surgical residents, participated in this independent learning platform, along with 2 to 4 laboratory sessions, and completed a survey about their experience. Survey responses were summarized descriptively and comments analyzed using content analysis. Fifty learners submitted videos of assigned tasks and completed peer reviews. Learners reported positive experiences specifically for the Peer Review Stage, structured home practice, ease of mobile access to submit and review videos, and ongoing immediate feedback. Over half of the learners reported spending at least 10 to 30 minute practicing skills before recording their videos and over 80% rerecorded at least 2 times before submission. Content analysis revealed learners engaged with the educational concepts designed into the platform. Learners easily used and were satisfied with a mobile-technology teaching platform that maintained the fundamental content, educational theories, and organizational structure of our previously effective surgical skills curriculum. Prior challenges were directly addressed through the mobile application's ease of use, support of deliberate practice, and improved timeliness of feedback. Copyright © 2018 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Feasibility and Impact of Doctor-Nurse Task Delegation in Preventive Child Health Care in the Netherlands, a Controlled Before-After Study.

PubMed

Benjamins, S Janine; Damen, Maurice L W; van Stel, Henk F

2015-01-01

In the Netherlands a need is felt for more flexible Child Health Care services, both efficient and tailored to needs. We set up a study on impact and feasibility of task delegation to child health care nurses performing all regular checkups on children aged 2 months to 4 years. Abnormal findings were discussed with the attending child health care doctor. This article describes impact and feasibility of this task delegation from four viewpoints: competences of nurses; percentage of children assigned to the nurse; change in abnormal findings and referrals; experiences of professionals and parents. Two experiment teams and two control teams were compared before and after starting task delegation. Nurses in the experiment teams were trained to carry out regular checkups on healthy children. Assignment to the experiment schedule was a joint decision by doctor and nurse. Nursing competences were measured by means of questionnaires. Percentage of children assigned to the nurse and screening results of eyes, heart, hips, growth and development were extracted from the electronic health record. Difference in change was compared between experiment and control teams. Mann-Whitney tests and logistic generalized estimating equations were used to test for significance. Experiences of professionals and parents were evaluated through focus group interviews, which were subjected to a qualitative analysis. Nurses in the experiment regions showed improvement in medical screening skills. No difference in change was perceived in general nursing competences. In the experiment group, 69% of all children were assigned to the nurse. There were no significant differences in change in the percentages of abnormal findings or referrals in the experiment teams compared to the control teams, except for hips. Interviews showed that both doctors and nurses thought positively of the new working method, yet made some recommendations for improvements. Parents felt well-informed and experienced an equal level of proficiency but less continuity in person. This experiment shows that task delegation from doctor to nurse in preventive child health care is feasible. It is important to pay attention to the acceptation process of professionals during implementation. More investigation is needed in order to assess effectiveness and efficacy of task delegation.

An Evaluation of the Effects of an Oven Timer Study Behavior and Concurrent Completion and Accuracy of Assignments for a First Grade Repeater: A Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riegelman, Elizabeth D.; And Others

The effects of an oven timer as an antecedent stimulus on study behavior and concurrent completion and accuracy of reading and writing assignments were investigated for an 8-year-old first grade repeater who lacked motivation. Following baseline observations during which the teacher recorded study behavior and collected assignments with no…

Effect of attentional retraining on cognition, craving, and smoking in African American smokers.

PubMed

Robinson, Cendrine D; Muench, Christine; Brede, Emily; Endrighi, Romano; Szeto, Edwin H; Sells, Joanna R; Lammers, John P; Okuyemi, Kolawole S; Waters, Andrew J

2017-08-01

African American cigarette smokers have lower rates of cessation than Whites and live in communities with a higher number of tobacco advertisements. Exposure to smoking cues may promote smoking and undermine cessation. It may be possible to reduce attention to smoking cues ("attentional bias"). In this study, we investigated the effect of attentional retraining (AR) on attentional bias and smoking in African American smokers. Nontreatment- seeking African American smokers (N = 64) were randomly assigned to an AR or control condition. Participants were given a mobile device for 2 weeks and prompted to complete up to 3 AR (or control) trainings per day. Participants completed assessments of attentional bias, craving, and smoking both in the lab and in the field. Participants in the AR and control conditions completed an average of 29.07 AR (SD = 12.48) and 30.61 control training tasks (SD = 13.07), respectively. AR reduced attentional bias assessed in the laboratory, F(1, 126) = 9.20, p = .003, and field, F(1, 374) = 6.18, p = .01. This effect generalized to new stimuli, but not to new tasks. AR did not significantly reduce craving or biological measures of smoking. Smoking assessed on the mobile device declined over days in the AR group, F(1, 26) = 10.95, p = .003, but not in the control group, F(1, 27) = 0.02, p = .89. Two weeks of AR administered on a mobile device reduced attentional bias in African American smokers and had mixed effects on smoking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Patient Preferences for Features of Health Care Delivery Systems: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

PubMed

Mühlbacher, Axel C; Bethge, Susanne; Reed, Shelby D; Schulman, Kevin A

2016-04-01

To estimate the relative importance of organizational-, procedural-, and interpersonal-level features of health care delivery systems from the patient perspective. We designed four discrete choice experiments (DCEs) to measure patient preferences for 21 health system attributes. Participants were recruited through the online patient portal of a large health system. We analyzed the DCE data using random effects logit models. DCEs were performed in which respondents were provided with descriptions of alternative scenarios and asked to indicate which scenario they prefer. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of the three possible health scenarios (current health, new lung cancer diagnosis, or diabetes) and asked to complete 15 choice tasks. Each choice task included an annual out-of-pocket cost attribute. A total of 3,900 respondents completed the survey. The out-of-pocket cost attribute was considered the most important across the four different DCEs. Following the cost attribute, trust and respect, multidisciplinary care, and shared decision making were judged as most important. The relative importance of out-of-pocket cost was consistently lower in the hypothetical context of a new lung cancer diagnosis compared with diabetes or the patient's current health. This study demonstrates the complexity of patient decision making processes regarding features of health care delivery systems. Our findings suggest the importance of these features may change as a function of an individual's medical conditions. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Reward-based spatial crowdsourcing with differential privacy preservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Ping; Zhang, Lefeng; Zhu, Tianqing

2017-11-01

In recent years, the popularity of mobile devices has transformed spatial crowdsourcing (SC) into a novel mode for performing complicated projects. Workers can perform tasks at specified locations in return for rewards offered by employers. Existing methods ensure the efficiency of their systems by submitting the workers' exact locations to a centralised server for task assignment, which can lead to privacy violations. Thus, implementing crowsourcing applications while preserving the privacy of workers' location is a key issue that needs to be tackled. We propose a reward-based SC method that achieves acceptable utility as measured by task assignment success rates, while efficiently preserving privacy. A differential privacy model ensures rigorous privacy guarantee, and Laplace noise is introduced to protect workers' exact locations. We then present a reward allocation mechanism that adjusts each piece of the reward for a task using the distribution of the workers' locations. Through experimental results, we demonstrate that this optimised-reward method is efficient for SC applications.

MSFC personnel management tasks: Recruitment and orientation of new employees

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brindley, T. A.

1980-01-01

In order to encourage highly motivated young students to learn about NASA and consider it for a career, a formal program is to be initiated whereby selected students can work on a voluntary basis at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The first task was to develop the working plan and procedures for this program, called Student Volunteer Service Program, in the writing of MSFC official guidelines, the Marshall Management Instruction (the MMI) which is a binding document that defines policy and establishes procedures and guidelines. Particular considerations written into the MMI after numerous consultations, interviews, and discussions about a satisfactory policy, include: arrangements to be made between the student, the school authorities, and concerned MSFC employees; management of the work assignments; and procedures for the student's welfare and safety. The second task was the development of a recruitment brochure for the attraction of new employees, especially scientists and engineers. The third task assigned was to develop a plan called Orientation of New Employees.

Schedule Risk Assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Greg

2003-01-01

Schedule Risk Assessment needs to determine the probability of finishing on or before a given point in time. Task in a schedule should reflect the "most likely" duration for each task. IN reality, each task is different and has a varying degree of probability of finishing within or after the duration specified. Schedule risk assessment attempt to quantify these probabilities by assigning values to each task. Bridges the gap between CPM scheduling and the project's need to know the likelihood of "when".

A Dyadic Interactive Approach to the Study of Leader Behavior

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-07-01

supervisors and workers in a bogus greeting card company performed experimental tasks involving construction of " origami " cranes. The following variables...comprised of a supervisor and three workers who, in turn, were assigned the task of producing " origami " paper cranes and were paid on a piece-rate basis...behaviors as he inter- acted with his followers. Experimental Task The experimental task involved the construction of " origami " cranes from sheets of

Use of prism adaptation in children with unilateral brain lesion: Is it feasible?

PubMed

Riquelme, Inmaculada; Henne, Camille; Flament, Benoit; Legrain, Valéry; Bleyenheuft, Yannick; Hatem, Samar M

2015-01-01

Unilateral visuospatial deficits have been observed in children with brain damage. While the effectiveness of prism adaptation for treating unilateral neglect in adult stroke patients has been demonstrated previously, the usefulness of prism adaptation in a pediatric population is still unknown. The present study aims at evaluating the feasibility of prism adaptation in children with unilateral brain lesion and comparing the validity of a game procedure designed for child-friendly paediatric intervention, with the ecological task used for prism adaptation in adult patients. Twenty-one children with unilateral brain lesion randomly were assigned to a prism group wearing prismatic glasses, or a control group wearing neutral glasses during a bimanual task intervention. All children performed two different bimanual tasks on randomly assigned consecutive days: ecological tasks or game tasks. The efficacy of prism adaptation was measured by assessing its after-effects with visual open loop pointing (visuoproprioceptive test) and subjective straight-ahead pointing (proprioceptive test). Game tasks and ecological tasks produced similar after-effects. Prismatic glasses elicited a significant shift of visuospatial coordinates which was not observed in the control group. Prism adaptation performed with game tasks seems an effective procedure to obtain after-effects in children with unilateral brain lesion. The usefulness of repetitive prism adaptation sessions as a therapeutic intervention in children with visuospatial deficits and/or neglect, should be investigated in future studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bag-of-features based medical image retrieval via multiple assignment and visual words weighting.

PubMed

Wang, Jingyan; Li, Yongping; Zhang, Ying; Wang, Chao; Xie, Honglan; Chen, Guoling; Gao, Xin

2011-11-01

Bag-of-features based approaches have become prominent for image retrieval and image classification tasks in the past decade. Such methods represent an image as a collection of local features, such as image patches and key points with scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) descriptors. To improve the bag-of-features methods, we first model the assignments of local descriptors as contribution functions, and then propose a novel multiple assignment strategy. Assuming the local features can be reconstructed by their neighboring visual words in a vocabulary, reconstruction weights can be solved by quadratic programming. The weights are then used to build contribution functions, resulting in a novel assignment method, called quadratic programming (QP) assignment. We further propose a novel visual word weighting method. The discriminative power of each visual word is analyzed by the sub-similarity function in the bin that corresponds to the visual word. Each sub-similarity function is then treated as a weak classifier. A strong classifier is learned by boosting methods that combine those weak classifiers. The weighting factors of the visual words are learned accordingly. We evaluate the proposed methods on medical image retrieval tasks. The methods are tested on three well-known data sets, i.e., the ImageCLEFmed data set, the 304 CT Set, and the basal-cell carcinoma image set. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed QP assignment outperforms the traditional nearest neighbor assignment, the multiple assignment, and the soft assignment, whereas the proposed boosting based weighting strategy outperforms the state-of-the-art weighting methods, such as the term frequency weights and the term frequency-inverse document frequency weights.

Subliminal attention bias modification training in socially anxious individuals.

PubMed

Maoz, Keren; Abend, Rany; Fox, Nathan A; Pine, Daniel S; Bar-Haim, Yair

2013-01-01

Anxious individuals demonstrate threat-related attention biases both when threat stimuli are presented within conscious awareness and when presented below awareness threshold. Nevertheless, attention bias modification (ABM) research has rarely utilized sub-awareness protocols in an attempt to modify attention patterns and reduce anxiety. Exploring the potential of subliminal ABM is of interest, as it may target attention processes related to anxiety that are distinct from those engaged by supraliminal ABM. Here we examined the effect of a subliminal ABM training protocol on levels of social anxiety and stress vulnerability. Fifty-one socially anxious students were randomly assigned to either ABM or placebo condition, and completed a pre-training assessment, four training sessions, a social stressor task, and a post-training assessment. Results indicate that the subliminal ABM used here did not induce detectable changes in threat-related attention from pre- to post-training as measured by two independent attention tasks. Furthermore, the ABM and placebo groups did not differ on either self-reported social anxiety post-training or state anxiety following stress induction. Post-hoc auxiliary analyses suggest that ABM may be associated with smaller elevations in state anxiety during the stressor task only for participants who demonstrate attention bias toward threat at baseline. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Subliminal attention bias modification training in socially anxious individuals

PubMed Central

Maoz, Keren; Abend, Rany; Fox, Nathan A.; Pine, Daniel S.; Bar-Haim, Yair

2013-01-01

Anxious individuals demonstrate threat-related attention biases both when threat stimuli are presented within conscious awareness and when presented below awareness threshold. Nevertheless, attention bias modification (ABM) research has rarely utilized sub-awareness protocols in an attempt to modify attention patterns and reduce anxiety. Exploring the potential of subliminal ABM is of interest, as it may target attention processes related to anxiety that are distinct from those engaged by supraliminal ABM. Here we examined the effect of a subliminal ABM training protocol on levels of social anxiety and stress vulnerability. Fifty-one socially anxious students were randomly assigned to either ABM or placebo condition, and completed a pre-training assessment, four training sessions, a social stressor task, and a post-training assessment. Results indicate that the subliminal ABM used here did not induce detectable changes in threat-related attention from pre- to post-training as measured by two independent attention tasks. Furthermore, the ABM and placebo groups did not differ on either self-reported social anxiety post-training or state anxiety following stress induction. Post-hoc auxiliary analyses suggest that ABM may be associated with smaller elevations in state anxiety during the stressor task only for participants who demonstrate attention bias toward threat at baseline. Implications and future research directions are discussed. PMID:23888138

An investigation into reasoning biases, mood and cognitive state, and subclinical delusional ideation.

PubMed

Medlin, Haley; Warman, Debbie

2014-12-15

Following research on reasoning and the continuum of delusional ideation, the present study attempted to investigate the impact of different experimentally-induced states (stress, paranoia, and neutral) on the jumping-to-conclusions reasoning bias in individuals with varying levels of subclinical delusional ideation (SDI). Participants (N=117) completed a measure of subclinical delusional ideation (the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory or PDI; Peters et al., 1999); and were randomly assigned to receive one of two experimental inductions (stress or paranoia), or no experimental induction; their performance on two probabilistic reasoning tasks--one easy and one challenging--was assessed. Although no differences were found between individuals with high vs. low subclinical delusional ideation in the no induction condition or following the paranoia induction, in the stress-induction condition, individuals with high levels of subclinical delusional ideation were significantly less likely to jump to conclusions on the easy reasoning task. No significant effects emerged on the more challenging task. Assessment of post-test paranoid thinking indicated our paranoia induction did not have its intended effect. Importantly, because there was no pre-test of anxiety, paranoid thinking, or reasoning to determine if they shifted after the inductions, results need to be interpreted with caution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effects of arousal reappraisal on stress responses, performance and attention.

PubMed

Sammy, Nadine; Anstiss, Paul A; Moore, Lee J; Freeman, Paul; Wilson, Mark R; Vine, Samuel J

2017-11-01

This study examined the effects of arousal reappraisal on cardiovascular responses, demand and resource evaluations, self-confidence, performance and attention under pressurized conditions. A recent study by Moore et al. [2015. Reappraising threat: How to optimize performance under pressure. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 37(3), 339-343. doi: 10.1123/jsep.2014-0186 ] suggested that arousal reappraisal is beneficial to the promotion of challenge states and leads to improvements in single-trial performance. This study aimed to further the work of Moore and colleagues (2015) by examining the effects of arousal reappraisal on cardiovascular responses, demand and resource evaluations, self-confidence, performance and attention in a multi-trial pressurized performance situation. Participants were randomly assigned to either an arousal reappraisal intervention or control condition, and completed a pressurized dart throwing task. The intervention encouraged participants to view their physiological arousal as facilitative rather than debilitative to performance. Measures of cardiovascular reactivity, demand and resource evaluations, self-confidence, task performance and attention were recorded. The reappraisal group displayed more favorable cardiovascular reactivity and reported higher resource evaluations and higher self-confidence than the control group but no task performance or attention effects were detected. These findings demonstrate the strength of arousal reappraisal in promoting adaptive stress responses, perceptions of resources and self-confidence.

Reducing depressive intrusions via a computerized cognitive bias modification of appraisals task: developing a cognitive vaccine.

PubMed

Lang, Tamara J; Moulds, Michelle L; Holmes, Emily A

2009-02-01

A feature of depression is the distressing experience of intrusive, negative memories. The maladaptive appraisals of such intrusions have been associated with symptom persistence. This study aimed to experimentally manipulate appraisals about depressive intrusions via a novel computerized cognitive bias modification (CBM) of appraisals paradigm, and to test the impact on depressive intrusion frequency for a standardized event (a depressive film). Forty-eight participants were randomly assigned to either a session of positive or negative CBM. Participants then watched a depressing film (including scenes of bereavement and bullying) and subsequently monitored the occurrence of depressive intrusions related to the film in a diary for one week. At one-week follow-up, participants completed additional measures of intrusions--the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and an intrusion provocation task. As predicted, compared to the negative condition, participants who underwent positive CBM showed a more positive appraisal bias. Further, one week later, positive CBM participants reported fewer intrusions of the film and had lower IES scores. Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to manipulate maladaptive appraisals about depressive intrusions via a computerized CBM task. Further, this effect transfers to reducing intrusive symptomatology related to a standardized event (a depressive film) over one week, suggesting novel clinical implications.

Short Vigilance Tasks are Hard Work Even If Time Flies

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-21

maintaining the data needed , and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other...actual time. Upon completion of the task, participants filled out questionnaires related to the hedonic and temporal evaluation of the task. Participants...time. Upon completion of the task, participants filled out questionnaires related to the hedonic and temporal evaluation of the task. Participants

THE EFFECTS OF SONIC ENVIRONMENT OF INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION IN LEARNING DIFFICULT AND EASY TASKS BY HIGH ACHIEVERS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MCCARTHY, EDWARD H.

THE SIXTH-GRADE STUDENTS OBTAINING THE 80 HIGHEST MEAN SCORES ON THE METROPOLITAN ACHIEVEMENT TEST FORM D WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO GROUPS OF EASY OR DIFFICULT TASKS WITHIN EACH OF FIVE DECIBEL LEVEL GROUPS. THE LEARNING TASKS WERE TAKEN FROM THE MEANINGFULNESS OF ALL POSSIBLE CVC TRIGRAMS (ARCHER, 1960). THE APPARATUS INCLUDED A TAPE RECORDING OF…

Effect of Augmented Sensorimotor Input on Learning Verbal and Nonverbal Tasks among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Latham, Susan O.; Stockman, Ida J.

2014-01-01

Thirty-four children, with autism spectrum disorders, ages 4-14 years, were matched and randomly assigned to one of two conditions for learning a novel juice-making task and producing two novel words about the event. Seventeen sighted children were manually guided to perform the task and tactually prompted during imitated productions of novel…

Academic Task Demand in the 21st-Century, High-Stakes-Accountability School: Mapping the Journey from Poor [To Fair to Good to Great] to Excellent?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szczesiul, Stacy Agee; Nehring, James; Carey, Theodore

2015-01-01

Drawing on theoretical and empirical research concerning the relationship between academic work and student learning, this article explores the following questions: What skills are required to execute the academic tasks teachers assign on a daily basis? How do teachers and administrators interpret the task demands represented in instructional…

Making Time for Nature: Visual Exposure to Natural Environments Lengthens Subjective Time Perception and Reduces Impulsivity

PubMed Central

Berry, Meredith S.; Repke, Meredith A.; Nickerson, Norma P.; Conway, Lucian G.; Odum, Amy L.; Jordan, Kerry E.

2015-01-01

Impulsivity in delay discounting is associated with maladaptive behaviors such as overeating and drug and alcohol abuse. Researchers have recently noted that delay discounting, even when measured by a brief laboratory task, may be the best predictor of human health related behaviors (e.g., exercise) currently available. Identifying techniques to decrease impulsivity in delay discounting, therefore, could help improve decision-making on a global scale. Visual exposure to natural environments is one recent approach shown to decrease impulsive decision-making in a delay discounting task, although the mechanism driving this result is currently unknown. The present experiment was thus designed to evaluate not only whether visual exposure to natural (mountains, lakes) relative to built (buildings, cities) environments resulted in less impulsivity, but also whether this exposure influenced time perception. Participants were randomly assigned to either a natural environment condition or a built environment condition. Participants viewed photographs of either natural scenes or built scenes before and during a delay discounting task in which they made choices about receiving immediate or delayed hypothetical monetary outcomes. Participants also completed an interval bisection task in which natural or built stimuli were judged as relatively longer or shorter presentation durations. Following the delay discounting and interval bisection tasks, additional measures of time perception were administered, including how many minutes participants thought had passed during the session and a scale measurement of whether time "flew" or "dragged" during the session. Participants exposed to natural as opposed to built scenes were less impulsive and also reported longer subjective session times, although no differences across groups were revealed with the interval bisection task. These results are the first to suggest that decreased impulsivity from exposure to natural as opposed to built environments may be related to lengthened time perception. PMID:26558610

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schey, Stephen; Francfort, Jim

Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, managing and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, is the lead laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s advanced vehicle testing. Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC contracted with Intertek Testing Services, North America to conduct several U.S. Department of Defense-based micro-climate studies to identify potential U.S. Department of Defense transportation systems that are strong candidates for introduction or expansion of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The study included Joint Base Lewis McChord, located in Washington State; Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, located in Washington State; and United States Marine Corp Base Camp Lejeune,more » located in North Carolina. The project was divided into four tasks for each of the three bases studied. Task 1 consisted of surveying the non-tactical fleet of vehicles to begin review of vehicle mission assignments and types of vehicles in service. In Task 2, the daily operational characteristics of the vehicles were identified to select vehicles for further monitoring and attachment of data loggers. Task 3 recorded vehicle movements in order to characterize the vehicles’ missions. Results of the data analysis and observations were provided. Individual observations of these selected vehicles provided the basis for recommendations related to PEV adoption (i.e., whether a battery electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle [collectively referred to as PEVs] can fulfill the mission requirements). It also provided the basis for recommendations related to placement of PEV charging infrastructure. In Task 4, an implementation approach was provided for near-term adoption of PEVs into the respective fleets. Each facility was provided detailed reports on each of these tasks. This paper summarizes and provides observations on the project and completes Intertek’s required actions.« less

Evaluating visual and auditory contributions to the cognitive restoration effect.

PubMed

Emfield, Adam G; Neider, Mark B

2014-01-01

It has been suggested that certain real-world environments can have a restorative effect on an individual, as expressed in changes in cognitive performance and mood. Much of this research builds on Attention Restoration Theory (ART), which suggests that environments that have certain characteristics induce cognitive restoration via variations in attentional demands. Specifically, natural environments that require little top-down processing have a positive effect on cognitive performance, while city-like environments show no effect. We characterized the cognitive restoration effect further by examining (1) whether natural visual stimuli, such as blue spaces, were more likely to provide a restorative effect over urban visual stimuli, (2) if increasing immersion with environment-related sound produces a similar or superior effect, (3) if this effect extends to other cognitive tasks, such as the functional field of view (FFOV), and (4) if we could better understand this effect by providing controls beyond previous works. We had 202 participants complete a cognitive task battery, consisting of a reverse digit span task, the attention network task, and the FFOV task prior to and immediately after a restoration period. In the restoration period, participants were assigned to one of seven conditions in which they listened to natural or urban sounds, watched images of natural or urban environments, or a combination of both. Additionally, some participants were in a control group with exposure to neither picture nor sound. While we found some indication of practice effects, there were no differential effects of restoration observed in any of our cognitive tasks, regardless of condition. We did, however, find evidence that our nature images and sounds were more relaxing than their urban counterparts. Overall, our findings suggest that acute exposure to relaxing pictorial and auditory stimulus is insufficient to induce improvements in cognitive performance.

Effects of peripheral sensory nerve stimulation plus task-oriented training on upper extremity function in patients with subacute stroke: a pilot randomized crossover trial.

PubMed

Ikuno, Koki; Kawaguchi, Saori; Kitabeppu, Shinsuke; Kitaura, Masaki; Tokuhisa, Kentaro; Morimoto, Shigeru; Matsuo, Atsushi; Shomoto, Koji

2012-11-01

To investigate the feasibility of peripheral sensory nerve stimulation combined with task-oriented training in patients with stroke during inpatient rehabilitation. A pilot randomized crossover trial. Two rehabilitation hospitals. Twenty-two patients with subacute stroke. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups and underwent two weeks of training in addition to conventional inpatient rehabilitation. The immediate group underwent peripheral sensory nerve stimulation combined with task-oriented training in the first week, followed by another week with task-oriented training alone. The delayed group underwent the same training in reverse order. Outcome measures were the level of fatigue and Wolf Motor Function Test. Patients were assessed at baseline, one and two weeks. All participants completed the study with no adverse events. There was no significant difference in level of fatigue between each treatment. From baseline to one week, the immediate group showed larger improvements than the delayed groups in the Wolf Motor Function Test (decrease in mean time (± SD) from 41.9 ± 16.2 seconds to 30.6 ± 11.4 seconds versus from 46.8 ± 19.4 seconds to 42.9 ± 14.7 seconds, respectively) but the difference did not reach significance after Bonferroni correction (P = 0.041). Within-group comparison showed significant improvements in the Wolf Motor Function Test mean time after the peripheral sensory nerve stimulation combined with task-oriented training periods in each group (P < 0.01). Peripheral sensory nerve stimulation is feasible in clinical settings and may enhance the effects of task-oriented training in patients with subacute stroke.

Delineation of Roles and Functions of Respiratory Therapy Personnel. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Association for Respiratory Therapy, Dallas, TX.

Frequently assigned tasks performed by qualified respiratory therapy personnel are delineated in the document in such a manner that proficiency examinations within the profession can be prepared from them. Four distinct proficiency levels are identified and defined. Due to the fact that proficiency examinations will be assigned for them,…

Edge-Assignment and Figure-Ground Segmentation in Short-Term Visual Matching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Driver, Jon; Baylis, Gordon

1996-01-01

Eight experiments involving 99 college students examined the role of edge-assignment in a contour matching task. Edge-matching performance was not based solely on a raw description of the edges themselves. Results suggest a pervasive tendency within the visual system to go beyond the edges toward figural shapes. (SLD)

Struggling in Suburbia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, David McKay

2012-01-01

In Denver's western suburbs, a social studies teacher thought up a novel approach to teaching her students the unsettling realities of urban homelessness. She assigned them the task of sleeping overnight in the backseat of the family car. But the assignment held a surprise in store for the teacher--one that provides a glimpse into the reality of…

Basic Visual Merchandising. Second Edition. [Student's Manual and] Answer Book/Teacher's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luter, Robert R.

This student's manual that features content needed to do tasks related to visual merchandising is intended for students in co-op training stations and entry-level, master employee, and supervisory-level employees. It contains 13 assignments. Each assignment has questions covering specific information and also features activities in which students…

Computer Assisted Assignment of Students to Schools to Achieve Desegregation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois Inst. of Tech., Chicago. Research Inst.

To help school districts with the task of assigning students to schools in order to achieve desegregation, the Illinois Institute of Technology has developed a system involving the use of planning techniques and computer technology that greatly simplifies the school district's job. The key features of the system are objectivity, minimum…

Enhancing Self-Motivation in Learning Programming Using Game-Based Simulation and Metrics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jiau, H. C.; Chen, J. C.; Ssu, Kuo-Feng

2009-01-01

Game-based assignments typically form an integral component of computer programming courses. The effectiveness of the assignments in motivating students to carry out repetitive programming tasks is somewhat limited since their outcomes are invariably limited to a simple win or loss scenario. Accordingly, this paper develops a simulation…

Protocol Analysis as a Method for Analyzing Conversational Data.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aleman, Carlos G.; Vangelisti, Anita L.

Protocol analysis, a technique that uses people's verbal reports about their cognitions as they engage in an assigned task, has been used in a number of applications to provide insight into how people mentally plan, assess, and carry out those assignments. Using a system of networked computers where actors communicate with each other over…

What's Love Got to Do with It? Rethinking Common Sense Assumptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trachman, Matthew; Bluestone, Cheryl

2005-01-01

One of the most basic tasks in introductory social science classes is to get students to reexamine their common sense assumptions concerning human behavior. This article introduces a shared assignment developed for a learning community that paired an introductory sociology and psychology class. The assignment challenges students to rethink the…

Implicit interpretation biases affect emotional vulnerability: a training study.

PubMed

Tran, Tanya B; Siemer, Matthias; Joormann, Jutta

2011-04-01

Cognitive theories of emotion propose that the interpretation of emotion-eliciting situations crucially shapes affective responses. Implicit or automatic biases in these interpretations may hinder emotion regulation and thereby increase risk for the onset and maintenance of psychological disorders. In this study, participants were randomly assigned to a positive or negative interpretation bias training using ambiguous social scenarios. After the completion of the training, a stress task was administered and changes in positive and negative affect and self-esteem were assessed. The results demonstrate that the interpretation bias training was successful in that participants exhibited a tendency to interpret novel scenarios in accordance with their training condition. Importantly, the positive training condition also had a protective effect on self-esteem. Participants in this condition did not exhibit a decrease in self-esteem after the stress task, whereas participants in the negative condition did. These results demonstrate that implicit cognitive biases can be trained and that this training affects self-esteem. Implications of these findings for research on psychopathology and emotion regulation are discussed. © 2011 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

Proposal for a lunar landing pod for SKITTER

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Herman, David; Huang, Frank; Morelli, Mark; Njaka, Chima; Pope, Michael; Rice, Michael

1987-01-01

The purpose of this project is to design a lunar landing module for the SKITTER vehicle. SKITTER is a three-legged mobile lunar transport and work platform. This lunar landing module must be able to bring SKITTER, with attached crane, from a lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon. This propulsion system is entirely self-contained and removable after touchdown. SKITTER is unmanned and must be able to touch down on the lunar surface and perform assigned tasks independently of other space or lunar vehicles. The propulsion system is designed to ensure that the vehicle will make a lunar landing within the expected velocity range. A landing gear configuration is presented to safely dissipate landing forces on lunar impact and be removed from the SKITTER structure after touchdown. The overall engineering analysis was conducted to determine an economical design to land SKITTER safely on the Moon. SKITTER will perform various tasks on the surface of the Moon. The completion of this project will determine the feasibility of landing SKITTER with the attached crane safely on the lunar surface.

Benefits of training working memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment: specific and transfer effects.

PubMed

Carretti, Barbara; Borella, Erika; Fostinelli, Silvia; Zavagnin, Michela

2013-04-01

A growing number of studies are attempting to understand how effective cognitive interventions may be for patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), particularly in relation to their memory problems. The present study aimed to explore the benefits of a working memory (WM) training program in aMCI patients. Patients (N = 20) were randomly assigned to two training programs: the experimental group practiced with a verbal WM task, while the active control group conducted educational activities on memory. Results showed that the aMCI patients completing the WM training obtained specific gains in the task trained with some transfer effects on other WM measures (visuospatial WM) and on processes involved in or related to WM, e.g. fluid intelligence (the Cattell test) and long-term memory. This was not the case for the aMCI control group, who experienced only a very limited improvement. This pilot study suggests that WM training could be a valuable method for improving cognitive performance in aMCI patients, possibly delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Aspect-object alignment with Integer Linear Programming in opinion mining.

PubMed

Zhao, Yanyan; Qin, Bing; Liu, Ting; Yang, Wei

2015-01-01

Target extraction is an important task in opinion mining. In this task, a complete target consists of an aspect and its corresponding object. However, previous work has always simply regarded the aspect as the target itself and has ignored the important "object" element. Thus, these studies have addressed incomplete targets, which are of limited use for practical applications. This paper proposes a novel and important sentiment analysis task, termed aspect-object alignment, to solve the "object neglect" problem. The objective of this task is to obtain the correct corresponding object for each aspect. We design a two-step framework for this task. We first provide an aspect-object alignment classifier that incorporates three sets of features, namely, the basic, relational, and special target features. However, the objects that are assigned to aspects in a sentence often contradict each other and possess many complicated features that are difficult to incorporate into a classifier. To resolve these conflicts, we impose two types of constraints in the second step: intra-sentence constraints and inter-sentence constraints. These constraints are encoded as linear formulations, and Integer Linear Programming (ILP) is used as an inference procedure to obtain a final global decision that is consistent with the constraints. Experiments on a corpus in the camera domain demonstrate that the three feature sets used in the aspect-object alignment classifier are effective in improving its performance. Moreover, the classifier with ILP inference performs better than the classifier without it, thereby illustrating that the two types of constraints that we impose are beneficial.

Re-examining the effects of noncontingent success on self-handicapping behaviour.

PubMed

Thompson, Ted

2004-06-01

Self-handicapping refers to the practice on the part of certain individuals to handicap their performance when poor performance is likely to reveal low ability. Noncontingent success (feedback that is inflated relative to performance) is more likely to promote self-handicapping behaviour than noncontingent failure (failure feedback based on false or misleading information). However, the reasons for the differing effects of these forms of performance feedback on self-handicapping behaviour remain obscure. The present study sought an explanation for the differing effects of these forms of performance feedback, testing the assumption that students high in self-handicapping behaviour would react more negatively following noncontingent success, reporting more unstable and external attributions, higher anxiety, and a greater propensity to claim handicaps than those low in self-handicapping behaviour. No differences were expected on any of these measures for high relative to low self-handicappers following either noncontingent failure or success. Participants were 72 undergraduate students, divided equally between high and low self-handicapping groups. High and low self-handicappers were assigned to one of three performance feedback conditions: noncontingent failure, success and noncontingent success. High and low self-handicappers were then given an opportunity to claim handicaps prior to completing measures of attributions and state anxiety. Subsequently, they completed 12 remote associate tasks, serving as an assessment of performance, and 16 unicursal tasks, assessing practice effort. Following noncontingent success, high self-handicappers reported greater anxiety, more unproductive attributions and claimed more handicaps than low self-handicappers. However no differences were evident for high and low self-handicappers following either noncontingent failure or success. High self-handicappers also performed poorly on the remote associates tasks and reduced practice effort on the unicursal tasks. These findings confirm the adverse effects of noncontingent success for high self-handicappers, while failing to provide evidence that noncontingent failure has any more adverse effects on high relative to low self-handicappers.

Making Student Online Teams Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, Joel; Kalinski, Ray

2017-01-01

Online professors typically assign teams based on time zones, performance, or alphabet, but are these the best ways to position student virtual teams for success? Personality and task complexity could provide additional direction. Personality and task complexity were used as independent variables related to the depended variable of team…

Deeper Processing for Better EFL Reading Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oded, Brenda; Walters, Joel

2001-01-01

Investigates the extent to which tasks involving processing differences in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) reading result in differences in performance on comprehension. Processing differences were created by the assignment of two tasks--writing a text summary and listing the examples in the text. (Author/VWL)

Effect of time span and task load on pilot mental workload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berg, S. L.; Sheridan, T. B.

1985-01-01

Two sets of experiments were run to examine how the mental workload of a pilot might be measured. The effects of continuous manual control activity versus discrete assigned mental tasks (including the length of time between receiving an assignment and executing it) were examined. The first experiment evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of measuring mental workload with an objective perforamance (altitude deviations) and five subjective ratings (activity level, complexity, difficulty, stress, and workload). The second set of experiments built upon the first set by increasing workload intensities and adding another performance measure: airspeed deviation. The results are discussed for both low and high experience pilots.

Quality and Business Offer Driven Selection of Web Services for Compositions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Mello, Demian Antony; Ananthanarayana, V. S.

The service composition makes use of the existing services to produce a new value added service to execute the complex business process. The service discovery finds the suitable services (candidates) for the various tasks of the composition based on the functionality. The service selection in composition assigns the best candidate for each tasks of the pre-structured composition plan based on the non-functional properties. In this paper, we propose the broker based architecture for the QoS and business offer aware Web service compositions. The broker architecture facilitates the registration of a new composite service into three different registries. The broker publishes service information into the service registry and QoS into the QoS registry. The business offers of the composite Web service are published into a separate repository called business offer (BO) registry. The broker employs the mechanism for the optimal assignment of the Web services to the individual tasks of the composition. The assignment is based on the composite service providers’s (CSP) variety of requirements defined on the QoS and business offers. The broker also computes the QoS of resulting composition and provides the useful information for the CSP to publish thier business offers.

Job satisfaction or production? How staff and leadership understand operating room efficiency: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Arakelian, E; Gunningberg, L; Larsson, J

2008-11-01

How to increase efficiency in operating departments has been widely studied. However, there is no overall definition of efficiency. Supervisors urging staff to work efficiently may meet strong reactions due to staff believing that demands for efficiency means just stress at work. Differences in how efficiency is understood may constitute an obstacle to supervisors' efforts to promote it. This study aimed to explore how staff and leadership understand operating room efficiency. Twenty-one members of staff and supervisors in an operating department in a Swedish county hospital were interviewed. The analysis was performed with a phenomenographic approach that aims to discover the variations in how a phenomenon is understood by a group of people. Six categories were found in the understanding of operation room efficiency: (A) having the right qualifications; (B) enjoying work; (C) planning and having good control and overview; (D) each professional performing the correct tasks; (E) completing a work assignment; and (F) producing as much as possible per time unit. The most significant finding was that most of the nurses and assistant nurses understood efficiency as individual knowledge and experience emphasizing the importance of the work process, whereas the supervisors and physicians understood efficiency in terms of production per time unit or completing an assignment. The concept 'operating room efficiency' is understood in different ways by leadership and staff members. Supervisors who are aware of this variation will have better prerequisites for defining the concept and for creating a common platform towards becoming efficient.

The Effect of Online Chapter Quizzes on Exam Performance in an Undergraduate Social Psychology Course

PubMed Central

Johnson, Bethany C.; Kiviniemi, Marc T.

2009-01-01

Assigned textbook readings are a common requirement in undergraduate courses, but students often do not complete reading assignments or do not do so until immediately before an exam. This may have detrimental effects on learning and course performance. Regularly scheduled quizzes on reading material may increase completion of reading assignments and therefore course performance. This study examined the effectiveness of compulsory, mastery-based, weekly reading quizzes as a means of improving exam and course performance. Completion of reading quizzes was related to both better exam and course performance. The discussion includes recommendations for the use of quizzes in undergraduate courses. PMID:20046908

The Omaha System as a Structured Instrument for Bridging Nursing Informatics With Public Health Nursing Education: A Feasibility Study.

PubMed

Eardley, Debra L; Krumwiede, Kelly A; Secginli, Selda; Garner, Linda; DeBlieck, Conni; Cosansu, Gulhan; Nahcivan, Nursen O

2018-06-01

Advancements in healthcare systems include adoption of health information technology to ensure healthcare quality. Educators are challenged to determine strategies to integrate health information technology into nursing curricula for building a nursing workforce competent with electronic health records, standardized terminology, evidence-based practice, and evaluation. Nursing informatics, a growing specialty field, comprises health information technology relative to the profession of nursing. It is essential to integrate nursing informatics across nursing curricula to effectively position competent graduates in technology-laden healthcare environments. Nurse scholars developed and evaluated a nursing informatics case study assignment used in undergraduate level public health nursing courses. The assignment included an unfolding scenario followed by electronic health record charting using standardized terminology to guide the nursing process. The assignment was delivered either online or in class. Seventy-two undergraduate students completed the assignment and a posttest. Fifty-one students completed a satisfaction survey. Results indicated that students who completed the assignment online demonstrated a higher level of content mastery than those who completed the assignment in class. Content mastery was based on posttest results, which evaluated students' electronic health record charting for the nursing assessment, evidence-based interventions, and evaluations. This innovative approach may be valuable to educators in response to the National Academy of Sciences recommendations for healthcare education reform.

Artistic Tasks Outperform Nonartistic Tasks for Stress Reduction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abbott, Kayleigh A.; Shanahan, Matthew J.; Neufeld, Richard W. J.

2013-01-01

Art making has been documented as an effective stress reduction technique. In this between-subjects experimental study, possible mechanisms of stress reduction were examined in a sample of 52 university students randomly assigned to one of four conditions generated by factorially crossing Activity Type (artistic or nonartistic) with Coping…

29 CFR 1960.46 - Agency responsibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 29 Labor 9 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Agency responsibility. 1960.46 Section 1960.46 Labor... to perform his or her assigned task because of a reasonable belief that, under the circumstances the task poses an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm coupled with a reasonable belief that there...

29 CFR 1960.46 - Agency responsibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 29 Labor 9 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Agency responsibility. 1960.46 Section 1960.46 Labor... to perform his or her assigned task because of a reasonable belief that, under the circumstances the task poses an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm coupled with a reasonable belief that there...

29 CFR 1960.46 - Agency responsibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 9 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Agency responsibility. 1960.46 Section 1960.46 Labor... to perform his or her assigned task because of a reasonable belief that, under the circumstances the task poses an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm coupled with a reasonable belief that there...

29 CFR 1960.46 - Agency responsibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 29 Labor 9 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Agency responsibility. 1960.46 Section 1960.46 Labor... to perform his or her assigned task because of a reasonable belief that, under the circumstances the task poses an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm coupled with a reasonable belief that there...

29 CFR 1960.46 - Agency responsibility.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 29 Labor 9 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Agency responsibility. 1960.46 Section 1960.46 Labor... to perform his or her assigned task because of a reasonable belief that, under the circumstances the task poses an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm coupled with a reasonable belief that there...

A comparative analysis of multiple-choice and student performance-task assessment in the high school biology classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cushing, Patrick Ryan

This study compared the performance of high school students on laboratory assessments. Thirty-four high school students who were enrolled in the second semester of a regular biology class or had completed the biology course the previous semester participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to examinations of two formats, performance-task and traditional multiple-choice, from two content areas, using a compound light microscope and diffusion. Students were directed to think-aloud as they performed the assessments. Additional verbal data were obtained during interviews following the assessment. The tape-recorded narrative data were analyzed for type and diversity of knowledge and skill categories, and percentage of in-depth processing demonstrated. While overall mean scores on the assessments were low, elicited statements provided additional insight into student cognition. Results indicated that a greater diversity of knowledge and skill categories was elicited by the two microscope assessments and by the two performance-task assessments. In addition, statements demonstrating in-depth processing were coded most frequently in narratives elicited during clinical interviews following the diffusion performance-task assessment. This study calls for individual teachers to design authentic assessment practices and apply them to daily classroom routines. Authentic assessment should be an integral part of the learning process and not merely an end result. In addition, teachers are encouraged to explicitly identify and model, through think-aloud methods, desired cognitive behaviors in the classroom.

Assessment of basic laparoscopic skills on virtual reality simulator or box trainer.

PubMed

Brinkman, Willem M; Tjiam, Irene M; Buzink, Sonja N

2013-10-01

We investigated whether the peg transfer task is interchangeable between a VR simulator and a box trainer. Our research questions: (1) Are scores of the box trainer interchangeable with the virtual equivalent of the exercise; (2) does training on the box affect performance on the VR simulator and vice versa; and (3) which system is preferred? Experienced laparoscopists and medical interns were randomly assigned to one of two groups (V or B). They performed eight repetitions of the peg transfer task (4 on each simulator system) following a crossover study design. Group B started on the box trainer and group V started on the VR simulator. Opinion of participants was evaluated by a questionnaire. A significant correlation was found between time to complete the task on the box and the VR simulator. The comparison of the performances per system showed that group B (N = 14) performed the peg transfer task on the VR simulator in significantly less time than group V (N = 14; p = 0.014). Overall, the box was preferred over the VR simulator. Although performances on the box trainer and VR simulator were correlated, they were not interchangeable. The results also imply that assessment on the VR simulator after pretraining on the box is acceptable, whereas VR simulator training alone might not suffice to pass an assessment on a box trainer. More research is needed to validate the use of the VR simulator as a FLS and PLUS assessment instrument.

Phonological loop affects children's interpretations of explicit but not ambiguous questions: Research on links between working memory and referent assignment.

PubMed

Meng, Xianwei; Murakami, Taro; Hashiya, Kazuhide

2017-01-01

Understanding the referent of other's utterance by referring the contextual information helps in smooth communication. Although this pragmatic referential process can be observed even in infants, its underlying mechanism and relative abilities remain unclear. This study aimed to comprehend the background of the referential process by investigating whether the phonological loop affected the referent assignment. A total of 76 children (43 girls) aged 3-5 years participated in a reference assignment task in which an experimenter asked them to answer explicit (e.g., "What color is this?") and ambiguous (e.g., "What about this?") questions about colorful objects. The phonological loop capacity was measured by using the forward digit span task in which children were required to repeat the numbers as an experimenter uttered them. The results showed that the scores of the forward digit span task positively predicted correct response to explicit questions and part of the ambiguous questions. That is, the phonological loop capacity did not have effects on referent assignment in response to ambiguous questions that were asked after a topic shift of the explicit questions and thus required a backward reference to the preceding explicit questions to detect the intent of the current ambiguous questions. These results suggest that although the phonological loop capacity could overtly enhance the storage of verbal information, it does not seem to directly contribute to the pragmatic referential process, which might require further social cognitive processes.

CQPSO scheduling algorithm for heterogeneous multi-core DAG task model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Wenzheng; Hu, Yue-Li; Ran, Feng

2017-07-01

Efficient task scheduling is critical to achieve high performance in a heterogeneous multi-core computing environment. The paper focuses on the heterogeneous multi-core directed acyclic graph (DAG) task model and proposes a novel task scheduling method based on an improved chaotic quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (CQPSO) algorithm. A task priority scheduling list was built. A processor with minimum cumulative earliest finish time (EFT) was acted as the object of the first task assignment. The task precedence relationships were satisfied and the total execution time of all tasks was minimized. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has the advantage of optimization abilities, simple and feasible, fast convergence, and can be applied to the task scheduling optimization for other heterogeneous and distributed environment.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Buchholz, B. A.

The project has two main goals: 1) Identify the types of adducts naphthalene (NA) forms with DNA and 2) determine whether adduct formation correlates with site selective tumor formation in defined subcompartments of the respiratory tract (respiratory and olfactory nasal epithelium and airways of mice, rats and rhesus monkeys). Five tasks are associated with the completion of the goals. Task 1: Contracting and Animal Use Approvals. IACUC and ACURO approvals are complete. The subcontract with UC Davis (UCD) was executed in December 2014. Task 2: Perform In Vitro Study for Goal 1. Rat and mouse samples exposures completed. Monkey samplesmore » need to be exposed in next quarter. Task 3: Perform In Vitro Study for Goal 2. Mouse and rat ex vivo exposures completed. Monkey samples need to be completed in the next quarter. Task 4: Sample Preparation and Analysis. Mouse and Rat Goal 2 samples completed. Monkey samples remain to be done for Goal 2. Rat samples completed for Goal 1. Mouse and Monkey samples for Goal 1 need to be completed. Task 5: Data Interpretation and Reporting. Poster will be presented at 2016 Society of Toxicology Meeting. Outline for paper on adduct formation complete and similar to poster for SOT meeting.« less

The Neurona at Home project: Simulating a large-scale cellular automata brain in a distributed computing environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acedo, L.; Villanueva-Oller, J.; Moraño, J. A.; Villanueva, R.-J.

2013-01-01

The Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) has become the standard open source solution for grid computing in the Internet. Volunteers use their computers to complete an small part of the task assigned by a dedicated server. We have developed a BOINC project called Neurona@Home whose objective is to simulate a cellular automata random network with, at least, one million neurons. We consider a cellular automata version of the integrate-and-fire model in which excitatory and inhibitory nodes can activate or deactivate neighbor nodes according to a set of probabilistic rules. Our aim is to determine the phase diagram of the model and its behaviour and to compare it with the electroencephalographic signals measured in real brains.

Computer-based coding of free-text job descriptions to efficiently identify occupations in epidemiological studies

PubMed Central

Russ, Daniel E.; Ho, Kwan-Yuet; Colt, Joanne S.; Armenti, Karla R.; Baris, Dalsu; Chow, Wong-Ho; Davis, Faith; Johnson, Alison; Purdue, Mark P.; Karagas, Margaret R.; Schwartz, Kendra; Schwenn, Molly; Silverman, Debra T.; Johnson, Calvin A.; Friesen, Melissa C.

2016-01-01

Background Mapping job titles to standardized occupation classification (SOC) codes is an important step in identifying occupational risk factors in epidemiologic studies. Because manual coding is time-consuming and has moderate reliability, we developed an algorithm called SOCcer (Standardized Occupation Coding for Computer-assisted Epidemiologic Research) to assign SOC-2010 codes based on free-text job description components. Methods Job title and task-based classifiers were developed by comparing job descriptions to multiple sources linking job and task descriptions to SOC codes. An industry-based classifier was developed based on the SOC prevalence within an industry. These classifiers were used in a logistic model trained using 14,983 jobs with expert-assigned SOC codes to obtain empirical weights for an algorithm that scored each SOC/job description. We assigned the highest scoring SOC code to each job. SOCcer was validated in two occupational data sources by comparing SOC codes obtained from SOCcer to expert assigned SOC codes and lead exposure estimates obtained by linking SOC codes to a job-exposure matrix. Results For 11,991 case-control study jobs, SOCcer-assigned codes agreed with 44.5% and 76.3% of manually assigned codes at the 6- and 2-digit level, respectively. Agreement increased with the score, providing a mechanism to identify assignments needing review. Good agreement was observed between lead estimates based on SOCcer and manual SOC assignments (kappa: 0.6–0.8). Poorer performance was observed for inspection job descriptions, which included abbreviations and worksite-specific terminology. Conclusions Although some manual coding will remain necessary, using SOCcer may improve the efficiency of incorporating occupation into large-scale epidemiologic studies. PMID:27102331

A new cue to figure-ground coding: top-bottom polarity.

PubMed

Hulleman, Johan; Humphreys, Glyn W

2004-11-01

We present evidence for a new figure-ground cue: top-bottom polarity. In an explicit reporting task, participants were more likely to interpret stimuli with a wide base and a narrow top as a figure. A similar advantage for wide-based stimuli also occurred in a visual short-term memory task, where the stimuli had ambiguous figure-ground relations. Further support comes from a figural search task. Figural search is a discrimination task in which participants are set to search for a symmetric target in a display with ambiguous figure-ground organization. We show that figural search was easier when stimuli with a top-bottom polarity were placed in an orientation where they had a wide base and a narrow top, relative to when this orientation was inverted. This polarity effect was present when participants were set to use color to parse figure from ground, and it was magnified when the participants did not have any foreknowledge of the color of the symmetric target. Taken together the results suggest that top-bottom polarity influences figure-ground assignment, with wide base stimuli being preferred as a figure. In addition, the figural search task can serve as a useful procedure to examine figure-ground assignment.

Resources–tasks imbalance: Experiences of nurses from factors influencing workload to increase

PubMed Central

Khademi, Mojgan; Mohammadi, Easa; Vanaki, Zohreh

2015-01-01

Background: While nursing workload is a worldwide challenge, less attention has been given to the determining factors. Understanding these factors is important and could help nursing managers to provide suitable working environment and to manage the adverse outcomes of nursing workload. The aim of this study was to discover nurses’ experiences of determinant factors of their workload. Materials and Methods: In this qualitative study, the participants included 15 nurses working in two hospitals in Tehran, Iran. The data were collected through 26 unstructured interviews and were analyzed using conventional content analysis. The rigor has been guaranteed with prolonged engagement, maximum variance sampling, member check, and audit trail. Results: Resource–task imbalance was the main theme of nurses’ experiences. It means that there was an imbalance between necessary elements to meet patients’ needs in comparison with expectation and responsibility. Resource–task imbalance included lack of resource, assignment without preparation, assigning non-care tasks, and patients’ and families’ needs/expectations. Conclusions: A deep and comprehensive imbalance between recourses and tasks and expectations has been perceived by the participants to be the main source of work overload. Paying more attention to resource allocation, education of quality workforce, and job description by managers is necessary. PMID:26257804

A task scheduler framework for self-powered wireless sensors.

PubMed

Nordman, Mikael M

2003-10-01

The cost and inconvenience of cabling is a factor limiting widespread use of intelligent sensors. Recent developments in short-range, low-power radio seem to provide an opening to this problem, making development of wireless sensors feasible. However, for these sensors the energy availability is a main concern. The common solution is either to use a battery or to harvest ambient energy. The benefit of harvested ambient energy is that the energy feeder can be considered as lasting a lifetime, thus it saves the user from concerns related to energy management. The problem is, however, the unpredictability and unsteady behavior of ambient energy sources. This becomes a main concern for sensors that run multiple tasks at different priorities. This paper proposes a new scheduler framework that enables the reliable assignment of task priorities and scheduling in sensors powered by ambient energy. The framework being based on environment parameters, virtual queues, and a state machine with transition conditions, dynamically manages task execution according to priorities. The framework is assessed in a test system powered by a solar panel. The results show the functionality of the framework and how task execution reliably is handled without violating the priority scheme that has been assigned to it.

User-Assisted Store Recycling for Dynamic Task Graph Schedulers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kurt, Mehmet Can; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram; Agrawal, Gagan

The emergence of the multi-core era has led to increased interest in designing effective yet practical parallel programming models. Models based on task graphs that operate on single-assignment data are attractive in several ways: they can support dynamic applications and precisely represent the available concurrency. However, they also require nuanced algorithms for scheduling and memory management for efficient execution. In this paper, we consider memory-efficient dynamic scheduling of task graphs. Specifically, we present a novel approach for dynamically recycling the memory locations assigned to data items as they are produced by tasks. We develop algorithms to identify memory-efficient store recyclingmore » functions by systematically evaluating the validity of a set of (user-provided or automatically generated) alternatives. Because recycling function can be input data-dependent, we have also developed support for continued correct execution of a task graph in the presence of a potentially incorrect store recycling function. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that our approach to automatic store recycling incurs little to no overheads, achieves memory usage comparable to the best manually derived solutions, often produces recycling functions valid across problem sizes and input parameters, and efficiently recovers from an incorrect choice of store recycling functions.« less

Usage Analysis of a Shared Care Planning System

PubMed Central

Warren, Jim; Gu, Yulong; Humphrey, Gayl

2012-01-01

We examined the content of electronically mediated communications in a trial of shared care planning (SCP) for long-term condition management. Software supports SCP by sharing patient records and care plans among members of the multidisciplinary care team (with patient access). Our analysis focuses on a three-month period with 73 enrolled patients, 149 provider-assigned tasks, 64 clinical notes and 48 care plans with 162 plan elements. Results show that content of notes entries is often related to task assignment and that nurses are the most active users. Directions for refinement of the SCP technology are indicated, including better integration of notes, tasks and care team notifications, as well as the central role of nurses for design use cases. Broader issues are raised about workforce roles and responsibilities for SCP, integrating patient-provider and provider-provider communications, and the centrality of care plans as the key entity in mediation of the care team. PMID:23304370

Attentional Focus versus Diffuse Attention: Which is Better in Toddlers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivière, James; Cordonnier, Aurore; Fouasse, Christie

2017-01-01

How toddlers' attention is distributed in the visual field during a magic trick was examined using three expectation conditions. Results showed that 2.5-year-old children assigned to the condition with major task-relevant information (i.e., a verbal cue to attend to one of the visual targets) (i) outperformed those who were assigned to the…

Student Perceptions of a Recreation Trail Assignment as a Valuable Learning Experience for Geography Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mullens, Jo Beth

2016-01-01

Charging undergraduate geography students with the task of designing a recreational trail in their local community offers an engaging experiential opportunity with potential to advance geographic learning in a real-world setting. This article presents an assignment in which students were asked to develop a recreational trail proposal for an…

Effectively Feeding Forward from One Written Assessment Task to the Next

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vardi, Iris

2013-01-01

Most studies into lecturers' written feedback focus on the types of feedback found to be effective when students have the opportunity to act on that feedback, revise their written assignment and improve the mark they receive. But often students do not have this opportunity. Typically, they receive a mark and feedback on an assignment that they…

Exploring the Contribution of Extra Credit in Marketing Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elbeck, Matt; DeLong, Deborah

2015-01-01

This study advances the literature on the incidence, attitudes and motivations to complete extra credit assignments. Behavioral feedback from 59 marketing instructors and 43 Principles of Marketing students aligned with reported incidence rates of offering and completing extra credit assignments, respectively. This was followed with open-ended…

Using Task Clarification, Graphic Feedback, And Verbal Feedback To Increase Closing-Task Completion In A Privately Owned Restaurant

PubMed Central

Weatherly, Nic L; Gravina, Nicole E

2005-01-01

An informant functional assessment was used to evaluate closing-task completion by servers and dishwashers at a restaurant. Based on the functional assessment results, an intervention consisting of task clarification, posted graphic feedback, and verbal feedback was implemented and evaluated with a multiple baseline design across two groups of employees. Results showed an increase of 15% and 38% in task completion for the two groups. PMID:15898481

Task allocation model for minimization of completion time in distributed computer systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jai-Ping; Steidley, Carl W.

1993-08-01

A task in a distributed computing system consists of a set of related modules. Each of the modules will execute on one of the processors of the system and communicate with some other modules. In addition, precedence relationships may exist among the modules. Task allocation is an essential activity in distributed-software design. This activity is of importance to all phases of the development of a distributed system. This paper establishes task completion-time models and task allocation models for minimizing task completion time. Current work in this area is either at the experimental level or without the consideration of precedence relationships among modules. The development of mathematical models for the computation of task completion time and task allocation will benefit many real-time computer applications such as radar systems, navigation systems, industrial process control systems, image processing systems, and artificial intelligence oriented systems.

Being bad in a video game can make us more morally sensitive.

PubMed

Grizzard, Matthew; Tamborini, Ron; Lewis, Robert J; Wang, Lu; Prabhu, Sujay

2014-08-01

Several researchers have demonstrated that the virtual behaviors committed in a video game can elicit feelings of guilt. Researchers have proposed that such guilt could have prosocial consequences. However, this proposition has not been supported with empirical evidence. The current study examined this issue in a 2×2 (video game play vs. real world recollection×guilt vs. control) experiment. Participants were first randomly assigned to either play a video game or complete a memory recall task. Next, participants were randomly assigned to either a guilt-inducing condition (game play as a terrorist/recall of acts that induce guilt) or a control condition (game play as a UN soldier/recall of acts that do not induce guilt). Results of the study indicate several important findings. First, the current results replicate previous research indicating that immoral virtual behaviors are capable of eliciting guilt. Second, and more importantly, the guilt elicited by game play led to intuition-specific increases in the salience of violated moral foundations. These findings indicate that committing "immoral" virtual behaviors in a video game can lead to increased moral sensitivity of the player. The potential prosocial benefits of these findings are discussed.

Delegation of clinical dietetic tasks in military and civilian hospitals: implications for practice.

PubMed

Myers, M E; Gregoire, M B; Spears, M C

1991-12-01

The purposes of our research were two-fold: to determine perceptions of the quality of task performance and to identify dietetic personnel currently performing clinical dietetic tasks in military and civilian hospitals. Questionnaires were returned from 309 dietitians and 208 dietetic support personnel at 151 military and civilian hospitals (73% response overall). For tasks completed by support personnel, no task was rated as having optimum quality, 1 was rated as highly acceptable, 6 as acceptable, 19 as somewhat unacceptable, and 4 as unacceptable. Current performance ratings indicated that 1 task was performed solely by dietitians, 21 were completed by dietitians with assistance, 6 were completed jointly by dietitians and support personnel, 2 were completed by support personnel with supervision by dietitians, and no task was completed independently by support personnel. Tasks were grouped into four categories: basic clinical dietetics (11 tasks), intermediate and in-depth clinical dietetics (12 tasks), outpatient nutrition clinic (5 tasks), and nutrition education (community) (4 tasks). Quality scores for the US Air Force (USAF) hospitals were higher for all task categories except intermediate and in-depth clinical dietetic tasks. The quality scores of support personnel were higher than those of dietitians for all task categories. The USAF performance scores indicated significantly more involvement of support personnel. Generally, the performance scores of dietitians increased with experience; the scores of support personnel decreased with experience. Correlations between quality and performance ratings for individual tasks revealed low to moderate relationships. Our results suggest that additional delegation of tasks to dietetic support personnel may be possible without negatively affecting perceptions of the quality of task outcome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Grouping puts figure-ground assignment in context by constraining propagation of edge-assignment

PubMed Central

Brooks, Joseph L.; Driver, Jon

2010-01-01

Figure-ground organization involves assignment of edges to a figural shape on one or the other side of each dividing edge. Established visual cues for edge-assignment primarily concern relatively local rather than contextual factors. Here we show that assignment for a locally-unbiased edge can be affected by assignment of a remote contextual edge that has its own locally-biased assignment. We find that such propagation of edge-assignment from the biased remote context occurs only when the biased and unbiased edges are grouped. This new principle, whereby grouping constrains propagation of figural edge-assignment, emerges from both subjective reports and from an objective short-term edge-matching task. It generalizes from moving displays involving grouping by common fate and collinearity, to static displays with grouping by similarity of edge-contrast polarity, or apparent occlusion. Our results identify a new contextual influence upon edge-assignment. They also identify a new mechanistic relation between grouping and figure-ground processes, whereby grouping between remote elements can constrain propagation of edge-assignment between those elements. PMID:20436200

FY 2012 USED FUEL DISPOSITION CAMPAIGN TRANSPORTATION TASK REPORT ON INL EFFORTS SUPPORTING THE MODERATOR EXCLUSION CONCEPT AND STANDARDIZED TRANSPORTATION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

D. K. Morton

2012-08-01

Following the defunding of the Yucca Mountain Project, it is reasonable to assume that commercial used fuel will remain in storage for a longer time period than initially assumed. Previous transportation task work in FY 2011, under the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, Used Fuel Disposition Campaign, proposed an alternative for safely transporting used fuel regardless of the structural integrity of the used fuel, baskets, poisons, or storage canisters after an extended period of storage. This alternative assures criticality safety during transportation by implementing a concept that achieves moderator exclusion (no in-leakage of moderator into the used fuelmore » cavity). By relying upon a component inside of the transportation cask that provides a watertight function, a strong argument can be made that moderator intrusion is not credible and should not be a required assumption for criticality evaluations during normal or hypothetical accident conditions of transportation. This Transportation Task report addresses the assigned FY 2012 work that supports the proposed moderator exclusion concept as well as a standardized transportation system. The two tasks assigned were to (1) promote the proposed moderator exclusion concept to both regulatory and nuclear industry audiences and (2) advance specific technical issues in order to improve American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Division 3 rules for storage and transportation containments. The common point behind both of the assigned tasks is to provide more options that can be used to resolve current issues being debated regarding the future transportation of used fuel after extended storage.« less

Viewing the workload of vigilance through the lenses of the NASA-TLX and the MRQ.

PubMed

Finomore, Victor S; Shaw, Tyler H; Warm, Joel S; Matthews, Gerald; Boles, David B

2013-12-01

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a new index of perceived mental workload, the Multiple Resource Questionnaire (MRQ), with the standard measure of workload used in the study of vigilance, the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). The NASA-TLX has been used extensively to demonstrate that vigilance tasks impose a high level of workload on observers. However, this instrument does not specify the information-processing resources needed for task performance. The MRQ offers a tool to measure the workload associated with vigilance assignments in which such resources can be identified. Two experiments were performed in which factors known to influence task demand were varied. Included were the detection of stimulus presence or absence, detecting critical signals by means of successive-type (absolute judgment) and simultaneous-type (comparative judgment) discriminations, and operating under multitask vs. single-task conditions. The MRQ paralleled the NASA-TLX in showing that vigilance tasks generally induce high levels of workload and that workload scores are greater in detecting stimulus absence than presence and in making successive as compared to simultaneous-type discriminations. Additionally, the MRQ was more effective than the NASA-TLX in reflecting higher workload in the context of multitask than in single-task conditions. The resource profiles obtained with MRQ fit well with the nature of the vigilance tasks employed, testifying to the scale's content validity. The MRQ may be a meaningful addition to the NASA-TLX for measuring the workload of vigilance assignments. By uncovering knowledge representation associated with different tasks, the MRQ may aid in designing operational vigilance displays.

Improved configuration control for redundant robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, H.; Colbaugh, R.

1990-01-01

This article presents a singularity-robust task-prioritized reformulation of the configuration control scheme for redundant robot manipulators. This reformulation suppresses large joint velocities near singularities, at the expense of small task trajectory errors. This is achieved by optimally reducing the joint velocities to induce minimal errors in the task performance by modifying the task trajectories. Furthermore, the same framework provides a means for assignment of priorities between the basic task of end-effector motion and the user-defined additional task for utilizing redundancy. This allows automatic relaxation of the additional task constraints in favor of the desired end-effector motion, when both cannot be achieved exactly. The improved configuration control scheme is illustrated for a variety of additional tasks, and extensive simulation results are presented.

Feasibility and Impact of Doctor-Nurse Task Delegation in Preventive Child Health Care in the Netherlands, a Controlled Before-After Study

PubMed Central

Benjamins, S. Janine; Damen, Maurice L. W.; van Stel, Henk F.

2015-01-01

Background In the Netherlands a need is felt for more flexible Child Health Care services, both efficient and tailored to needs. We set up a study on impact and feasibility of task delegation to child health care nurses performing all regular checkups on children aged 2 months to 4 years. Abnormal findings were discussed with the attending child health care doctor. This article describes impact and feasibility of this task delegation from four viewpoints: competences of nurses; percentage of children assigned to the nurse; change in abnormal findings and referrals; experiences of professionals and parents. Methods Two experiment teams and two control teams were compared before and after starting task delegation. Nurses in the experiment teams were trained to carry out regular checkups on healthy children. Assignment to the experiment schedule was a joint decision by doctor and nurse. Nursing competences were measured by means of questionnaires. Percentage of children assigned to the nurse and screening results of eyes, heart, hips, growth and development were extracted from the electronic health record. Difference in change was compared between experiment and control teams. Mann-Whitney tests and logistic generalized estimating equations were used to test for significance. Experiences of professionals and parents were evaluated through focus group interviews, which were subjected to a qualitative analysis. Results Nurses in the experiment regions showed improvement in medical screening skills. No difference in change was perceived in general nursing competences. In the experiment group, 69% of all children were assigned to the nurse. There were no significant differences in change in the percentages of abnormal findings or referrals in the experiment teams compared to the control teams, except for hips. Interviews showed that both doctors and nurses thought positively of the new working method, yet made some recommendations for improvements. Parents felt well-informed and experienced an equal level of proficiency but less continuity in person. Conclusion This experiment shows that task delegation from doctor to nurse in preventive child health care is feasible. It is important to pay attention to the acceptation process of professionals during implementation. More investigation is needed in order to assess effectiveness and efficacy of task delegation. PMID:26466343

R&M (Reliability and Maintainability) Program Cost Drivers.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-05-01

Specific data points used to develop the models (i.e., labor hours mid associated systems and task application characteristics) were obtained from three...study data base used to generate the CER’s em be expanded by adding project data points to the input data given in Appendix 13, adjusting the CER...FRACAS, worst-case/ thermal analyses, stress screening and R-growth. However, the studies did not assign benefits to specific task areas. c. Task

Enhancing Mental Models for Team Effectiveness

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

person teams. C3Fire, a simulation of forest firefighting, was used as the task environment. Each team was assigned to one of three learning...military, for a total of 27 two-person teams. C3Fire, a functional simulation of forest firefighting, was used as the task environment. The...processes. A more likely explanation for the non-significant findings is that the task and team learning conditions used in this study did not sufficiently

System analysis study of space platform and station accommodations for life sciences research facilities. Volume 2: Study results. Appendix E: Work breakdown structure and dictionary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiley, Lowell F.

1985-01-01

A work breakdown structure for the Space Station Life Sciences Research Facility (LSRF) is presented up to level 5. The purpose is to provide the framework for task planning and control and to serve as a basis for budgeting, task assignment, cost collection and report, and contractual performance measurement and tracking of the Full Scale Development Phase tasks.

Principles of Training in Marine Corps Task Analysis. Training Manual I. Evaluation of the Marine Corps Task Analysis Program. Technical Report No. 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuriloff, Arthur H.

This is the first in a series of five training manuals developed for use by the U.S. Marine Corps Office of Manpower Utilization (OMU) in its Task Analysis (TA) program. It is designed for trainers of OMU staff members assigned to the TA program, a research effort requiring interpersonal and research competence. Objectives of the manual are: (1)…

Self-Presentation in Task-Oriented Leadership Situations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leary, Mark R.; Schlenker, Barry R.

To examine tactical self-presentations (images persons display publicly) in task-oriented leadership situations, 128 subjects (56 male and 72 female) were assigned leadership positions in groups that did very well or very poorly. The leaders learned that either they or the group-at-large were responsible for the performance and that the other…

Sex-Role Stereotyping, a Function of Age and Education, as Measured by a Perceptual-Projective Device.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Janie L.; Frederickson, William A.

1979-01-01

The Hall Sex Role Stereotyping Test (HSRST) was used to explore male attitudes toward specified tasks which have traditionally been assigned to either males or females and to determine if men of different ages and educational backgrounds hold different views toward these tasks. (Author/EB)

How Parental Support during Homework Contributes to Helpless Behaviors among Struggling Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orkin, Melissa; May, Sidney; Wolf, Maryanne

2017-01-01

This research investigated the influence of parental practices on helpless behaviors of struggling readers during homework tasks. Parents (N = 36) of elementary students reported on their children's helpless behaviors, such as task avoidance and negative affect, during homework assignments, and on the nature and frequency of their support.…

Photomontage: A New Task to Change Speaking into Talking Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassaskhah, Jaleh; Asli, Shohreh Rahimizadeh

2015-01-01

This study introduces photomontage as a task to facilitate talking in English as a Foreign Language classrooms. Thirty-three undergraduate English major students studying at the University of Guilan were assigned to design a composite photographic image by combining images from separate photographic sources, and use it as the stimulus to initiate…

Advancing Scientific Reasoning in Upper Elementary Classrooms: Direct Instruction versus Task Structuring

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lazonder, Ard W.; Wiskerke-Drost, Sjanou

2015-01-01

Several studies found that direct instruction and task structuring can effectively promote children's ability to design unconfounded experiments. The present study examined whether the impact of these interventions extends to other scientific reasoning skills by comparing the inquiry activities of 55 fifth-graders randomly assigned to one of…

Algorithmic Coordination in Robotic Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-29

appropriate performance, robustness and scalability properties for various task allocation , surveillance, and information gathering applications is...networking, we envision designing and analyzing algorithms with appropriate performance, robustness and scalability properties for various task ...distributed algorithms for target assignments; based on the classic auction algorithms in static networks, we intend to design efficient algorithms in worst

Mars Exploratory Vehicles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canizo, Thea L.; And Others

1997-01-01

Presents an activity in which students learn about the characteristics of the planet Mars. Challenges students to design and build a model of a robotic vehicle that can travel on the surface of Mars and accomplish an assigned task that will provide information useful for future manned trips to the planet. Outlines mission task cards and progress…

Differential Effects of General Metacognition and Task-Specific Beliefs on Strategy Use and Recall.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weed, Keri; And Others

A self-paced free recall task was employed to assess the effects of motivational and metacognitive influences on active processing and recall. A total of 81 fourth-graders were randomly assigned to one of four instructional conditions: strategy instructions plus process monitoring instructions; strategy instructions only; process monitoring…

Schedule Risk Assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Greg

2003-01-01

Schedule risk assessments determine the likelihood of finishing on time. Each task in a schedule has a varying degree of probability of being finished on time. A schedule risk assessment quantifies these probabilities by assigning values to each task. This viewgraph presentation contains a flow chart for conducting a schedule risk assessment, and profiles applicable several methods of data analysis.

A Mechanism for Error Detection in Speeded Response Time Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holroyd, Clay B.; Yeung, Nick; Coles, Michael G. H.; Cohen, Jonathan D.

2005-01-01

The concept of error detection plays a central role in theories of executive control. In this article, the authors present a mechanism that can rapidly detect errors in speeded response time tasks. This error monitor assigns values to the output of cognitive processes involved in stimulus categorization and response generation and detects errors…

The Use of Specially Designed Tasks to Enhance Student Interest in the Cadaver Dissection Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Seok Hoon; Shin, Jwa-Seop; Hwang, Young-il

2012-01-01

Cadaver dissection is a key component of anatomy education. Unfortunately, students sometimes regard the process of dissection as uninteresting or stressful. To make laboratory time more interesting and to encourage discussion and collaborative learning among medical students, specially designed tasks were assigned to students throughout…

Hierarchical Learning of Tree Classifiers for Large-Scale Plant Species Identification.

PubMed

Fan, Jianping; Zhou, Ning; Peng, Jinye; Gao, Ling

2015-11-01

In this paper, a hierarchical multi-task structural learning algorithm is developed to support large-scale plant species identification, where a visual tree is constructed for organizing large numbers of plant species in a coarse-to-fine fashion and determining the inter-related learning tasks automatically. For a given parent node on the visual tree, it contains a set of sibling coarse-grained categories of plant species or sibling fine-grained plant species, and a multi-task structural learning algorithm is developed to train their inter-related classifiers jointly for enhancing their discrimination power. The inter-level relationship constraint, e.g., a plant image must first be assigned to a parent node (high-level non-leaf node) correctly if it can further be assigned to the most relevant child node (low-level non-leaf node or leaf node) on the visual tree, is formally defined and leveraged to learn more discriminative tree classifiers over the visual tree. Our experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of our hierarchical multi-task structural learning algorithm on training more discriminative tree classifiers for large-scale plant species identification.

External exercise information provides no immediate additional performance benefit to untrained individuals in time trial cycling.

PubMed

Williams, C A; Bailey, S D; Mauger, A R

2012-01-01

To determine the importance of the provision of external exercise information to the setting of the pacing strategy, in subjects unfamiliar with a cycling task. Twenty-two healthy, untrained cyclists (VO(2max), 50 ± 9 mL-(1)·kg-(1)·min-(1)) were randomly assigned to a control (CON) group or an experimental (EXP) group and two successive 4 km time trials (TT) were performed, separated by a 17 min recovery. The CON group received distance knowledge and distance feedback; the EXP group received neither, but knew that each TT was to be of the same distance. No significant difference in completion time (p>0.05) was observed between the groups for either time to complete TT one (TT1) (CON=443 ± 33 s versus EXP=471 ± 63 s) or time to complete TT two (time trial 2) (CON=461 ± 37 s versus EXP=501 ± 94 s). No significant difference in the final RPE was observed between groups. However, a significant interaction for RPE (rating of perceived exertion)×TT in the CON was observed (F7,70=5.32, p<0.05), with significantly higher RPE values in the final kilometre of TT2 (p<0.05). The lack of any performance improvement in either group, despite the differences in exercise information received, indicates both a reliance on the afferent feedback for setting a pacing strategy and slow learning effect from practice in subjects unfamiliar with the task. The modification in RPE profile observed in the CON, despite no performance improvement, suggests exercise perception based changes may pre-empt work rate based changes and thus not immediately translate to improved performance.

Overground vs. treadmill-based robotic gait training to improve seated balance in people with motor-complete spinal cord injury: a case report.

PubMed

Chisholm, Amanda E; Alamro, Raed A; Williams, Alison M M; Lam, Tania

2017-04-11

Robotic overground gait training devices, such as the Ekso, require users to actively participate in triggering steps through weight-shifting movements. It remains unknown how much the trunk muscles are activated during these movements, and if it is possible to transfer training effects to seated balance control. This study was conducted to compare the activity of postural control muscles of the trunk during overground (Ekso) vs. treadmill-based (Lokomat) robotic gait training, and evaluate changes in seated balance control in people with high-thoracic motor-complete spinal cord injury (SCI). Three individuals with motor-complete SCI from C7-T4, assumed to have no voluntary motor function below the chest, underwent robotic gait training. The participants were randomly assigned to Ekso-Lokomat-Ekso or Lokomat-Ekso-Lokomat for 10 sessions within each intervention phase for a total of 30 sessions. We evaluated static and dynamic balance control through analysis of center of pressure (COP) movements after each intervention phase. Surface electromyography was used to compare activity of the abdominal and erector spinae muscles during Ekso and Lokomat walking. We observed improved postural stability after training with Ekso compared to Lokomat during static balance tasks, indicated by reduced COP root mean square distance and ellipse area. In addition, Ekso training increased total distance of COP movements during a dynamic balance task. The trunk muscles showed increased activation during Ekso overground walking compared to Lokomat walking. Our findings suggest that the Ekso actively recruits trunk muscles through postural control mechanisms, which may lead to improved balance during sitting. Developing effective training strategies to reactivate the trunk muscles is important to facilitate independence during seated balance activity in people with SCI.

Transferability of Virtual Reality, Simulation-Based, Robotic Suturing Skills to a Live Porcine Model in Novice Surgeons: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Vargas, Maria V; Moawad, Gaby; Denny, Kathryn; Happ, Lindsey; Misa, Nana Yaa; Margulies, Samantha; Opoku-Anane, Jessica; Abi Khalil, Elias; Marfori, Cherie

To assess whether a robotic simulation curriculum for novice surgeons can improve performance of a suturing task in a live porcine model. Randomized controlled trial (Canadian Task Force classification I). Academic medical center. Thirty-five medical students without robotic surgical experience. Participants were enrolled in an online session of training modules followed by an in-person orientation. Baseline performance testing on the Mimic Technologies da Vinci Surgical Simulator (dVSS) was also performed. Participants were then randomly assigned to the completion of 4 dVSS training tasks (camera clutching 1, suture sponge 1 and 2, and tubes) versus no further training. The intervention group performed each dVSS task until proficiency or up to 10 times. A final suturing task was performed on a live porcine model, which was video recorded and blindly assessed by experienced surgeons. The primary outcomes were Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Skills (GEARS) scores and task time. The study had 90% power to detect a mean difference of 3 points on the GEARS scale, assuming a standard deviation (SD) of 2.65, and 80% power to detect a mean difference of 3 minutes, assuming an SD of 3 minutes. There were no differences in demographics and baseline skills between the 2 groups. No significant differences in task time in minutes or GEARS scores were seen for the final suturing task between the intervention and control groups, respectively (9.2 [2.65] vs 9.9 [2.07] minutes, p = .406; and 15.37 [2.51] vs 15.25 [3.38], p = .603). The 95% confidence interval for the difference in mean task times was -2.36 to .96 minutes and for mean GEARS scores -1.91 to 2.15 points. Live suturing task performance was not improved with a proficiency-based virtual reality simulation suturing curriculum compared with standard orientation to the da Vinci robotic console in a group of novice surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Undergraduates Improve upon Published Crystal Structure in Class Assignment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horowitz, Scott; Koldewey, Philipp; Bardwell, James C.

2014-01-01

Recently, 57 undergraduate students at the University of Michigan were assigned the task of solving a crystal structure, given only the electron density map of a 1.3 Å crystal structure from the electron density server, and the position of the N-terminal amino acid. To test their knowledge of amino acid chemistry, the students were not given the…

Exogenous spatial attention influences figure-ground assignment.

PubMed

Vecera, Shaun P; Flevaris, Anastasia V; Filapek, Joseph C

2004-01-01

In a hierarchical stage account of vision, figure-ground assignment is thought to be completed before the operation of focal spatial attention. Results of previous studies have supported this account by showing that unpredictive, exogenous spatial precues do not influence figure-ground assignment, although voluntary attention can influence figure-ground assignment. However, in these studies, attention was not summoned directly to a region in a figure-ground display. In three experiments, we addressed the relationship between figure-ground assignment and visuospatial attention. In Experiment 1, we replicated the finding that exogenous precues do not influence figure-ground assignment when they direct attention outside of a figure-ground stimulus. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that exogenous attention can influence figure-ground assignment if it is directed to one of the regions in a figure-ground stimulus. In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that exogenous attention can influence figure-ground assignment in displays that contain a Gestalt figure-ground cue; this result suggests that figure-ground processes are not entirely completed prior to the operation of focal spatial attention. Exogenous spatial attention acts as a cue for figure-ground assignment and can affect the outcome of figure-ground processes.

Improving Closing Task Completion in a Drugstore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fante, Rhiannon; Davis, Ora L.; Kempt, Vivian

2013-01-01

A within-subject ABAB reversal design was utilized to investigate the effects of graphic feedback and goal setting on employee closing task completion. Goal setting was contingent upon baseline performance and graphic feedback was posted weekly. It was found that goal setting and graphic feedback improved employee closing task completion.…

The Nexus between the Above-Average Effect and Cooperative Learning in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breneiser, Jennifer E.; Monetti, David M.; Adams, Katharine S.

2012-01-01

The present study examines the above-average effect (Chambers & Windschitl, 2004; Moore & Small, 2007) in assessments of task performance. Participants completed self-estimates of performance and group estimates of performance, before and after completing a task. Participants completed a task individually and in groups. Groups were…

Factors influencing the academic motivation of individual college students.

PubMed

Yoshida, Masahiro; Tanaka, Masaaki; Mizuno, Kei; Ishii, Akira; Nozaki, Kumi; Urakawa, Ayako; Cho, Yuki; Kataoka, Yosky; Watanabe, Yasuyoshi

2008-10-01

Motivation is an important psychological concept in academic learning. Subjects performed jigsaw puzzle and square puzzle sessions (as difficulty variant task) and 80%, 50%, and 20% completion sessions (as completion variant task). After square puzzle or 20% completion sessions, subjective motivation decreased. Although baseline scores on an academic motivation scale were negatively correlated with changes in subjective motivation for the square puzzle session, a positive correlation was observed for the 20% completion session. These suggest that while continual completion of facile task trials may support the motivation of college students with lower academic motivation, attempting difficult task trials may sustain that of those with higher academic motivation.

Work organisation and gender among hospital cleaners in Quebec after the merger of 'light' and 'heavy' work classifications.

PubMed

Calvet, Bénédicte; Riel, Jessica; Couture, Vanessa; Messing, Karen

2012-01-01

In Québec, Canada, cleaning tasks were once divided into 'light' or 'heavy' cleaning, assigned respectively to women and men. These categories are being merged; in principle, both genders are assigned the same tasks. Activity analysis using observations and interviews examined work activity of male and female cleaners in two hospitals. In one hospital, work activity could be compared before (time 1) and after the work reorganisation (time 2). Some gender segregation of tasks appeared to have persisted at time 2, in both hospitals. Some route assignments contained components that were difficult for all cleaners, especially women of average strength. Only about one-third of the recommendations for improvement made at time 1 had been carried out by time 2, 12 years later. In a low-status job, it may be hard to meet equality, health and efficiency goals because commitment to improving equipment and worksite design may be lacking. Current attempts to desegregate jobs should be accompanied by attention to physical job demands in order to protect employee health and access to equal employment. The study also shows the need to follow up ergonomic interventions, particularly in low-status jobs such as cleaning, where recommendations can be forgotten.

Toward a new task assignment and path evolution (TAPE) for missile defense system (MDS) using intelligent adaptive SOM with recurrent neural networks (RNNs).

PubMed

Wang, Chi-Hsu; Chen, Chun-Yao; Hung, Kun-Neng

2015-06-01

In this paper, a new adaptive self-organizing map (SOM) with recurrent neural network (RNN) controller is proposed for task assignment and path evolution of missile defense system (MDS). We address the problem of N agents (defending missiles) and D targets (incoming missiles) in MDS. A new RNN controller is designed to force an agent (or defending missile) toward a target (or incoming missile), and a monitoring controller is also designed to reduce the error between RNN controller and ideal controller. A new SOM with RNN controller is then designed to dispatch agents to their corresponding targets by minimizing total damaging cost. This is actually an important application of the multiagent system. The SOM with RNN controller is the main controller. After task assignment, the weighting factors of our new SOM with RNN controller are activated to dispatch the agents toward their corresponding targets. Using the Lyapunov constraints, the weighting factors for the proposed SOM with RNN controller are updated to guarantee the stability of the path evolution (or planning) system. Excellent simulations are obtained using this new approach for MDS, which show that our RNN has the lowest average miss distance among the several techniques.

UAVs Task and Motion Planning in the Presence of Obstacles and Prioritized Targets

PubMed Central

Gottlieb, Yoav; Shima, Tal

2015-01-01

The intertwined task assignment and motion planning problem of assigning a team of fixed-winged unmanned aerial vehicles to a set of prioritized targets in an environment with obstacles is addressed. It is assumed that the targets’ locations and initial priorities are determined using a network of unattended ground sensors used to detect potential threats at restricted zones. The targets are characterized by a time-varying level of importance, and timing constraints must be fulfilled before a vehicle is allowed to visit a specific target. It is assumed that the vehicles are carrying body-fixed sensors and, thus, are required to approach a designated target while flying straight and level. The fixed-winged aerial vehicles are modeled as Dubins vehicles, i.e., having a constant speed and a minimum turning radius constraint. The investigated integrated problem of task assignment and motion planning is posed in the form of a decision tree, and two search algorithms are proposed: an exhaustive algorithm that improves over run time and provides the minimum cost solution, encoded in the tree, and a greedy algorithm that provides a quick feasible solution. To satisfy the target’s visitation timing constraint, a path elongation motion planning algorithm amidst obstacles is provided. Using simulations, the performance of the algorithms is compared, evaluated and exemplified. PMID:26610522

The impact of social threat cues on a card sorting task with attentional-shifting demands.

PubMed

Mohlman, Jan; DeVito, Alyssa

2017-12-01

The current study investigated social anxiety and attentional control using two versions of a task designed to tap intentional shifting of attention and set switching: the standard Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST; Heaton, 1981) and a modified version that included emotionally salient pictorial stimuli, the Emotional Faces Card Sorting Test (EFCST). A Group (lower-, higher-SPS) by Condition (WCST, EFCST) by Sorting Rule (color, form, number) interaction was expected in which the higher-SPS EFCST group would have worse overall performance and make more perseverative errors than the other groups. No differences were predicted on nonperseverative errors, which are typically caused by brief attentional lapses. Participants were 80 undergraduate students who scored in the upper and lower quartile of the distribution on the Social Phobia Scale (SPS; Mattick & Clarke, 1998) were randomly assigned to complete either the WCST or EFCST. On the WCST, the higher-SPS group showed performance similar to that of the lower-SPS group. On the EFCST, the higher-SPS group evidenced more perseverative errors in the condition that depicted angry faces. Interpretations based on a non-clinical sample limit the generalisability of the conclusions. Reliability of this new measure has yet to be established. Successful completion of the WCST requires more than set-shifting processes. These results suggest that the higher-SPS group in the EFCST condition might have had trouble disengaging attention from threat-related cues, despite ongoing corrective feedback. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Assigning the NMR Spectrum of Glycidol: An Advanced Organic Chemistry Exercise

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helms, Eric; Arpaia, Nicholas; Widener, Melissa

2007-01-01

Various one- and two-dimensional NMR experiments have been found to be extremely useful for assigning the proton and carbon NMR spectra of glycidol. The technique provides extremely valuable information aiding in the complete assignment of the peaks.

The Time on Task Effect in Reading and Problem Solving Is Moderated by Task Difficulty and Skill: Insights from a Computer-Based Large-Scale Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldhammer, Frank; Naumann, Johannes; Stelter, Annette; Tóth, Krisztina; Rölke, Heiko; Klieme, Eckhard

2014-01-01

Computer-based assessment can provide new insights into behavioral processes of task completion that cannot be uncovered by paper-based instruments. Time presents a major characteristic of the task completion process. Psychologically, time on task has 2 different interpretations, suggesting opposing associations with task outcome: Spending more…

Combining of ETHOS Operating Ergonomic Platform, Three-dimensional Laparoscopic Camera, and Radius Surgical System Manipulators Improves Ergonomy in Urologic Laparoscopy: Comparison with Conventional Laparoscopy and da Vinci in a Pelvi Trainer.

PubMed

Tokas, Theodoros; Gözen, Ali Serdar; Avgeris, Margaritis; Tschada, Alexandra; Fiedler, Marcel; Klein, Jan; Rassweiler, Jens

2017-10-01

Posture, vision, and instrumentation limitations are the main predicaments of conventional laparoscopy. To combine the ETHOS surgical chair, the three-dimensional laparoscope, and the Radius Surgical System manipulators, and compare the system with conventional laparoscopy and da Vinci in terms of task completion times and discomfort. Fifteen trainees performed the three main laparoscopic suturing tasks of the Heilbronn training program (IV: simulation of dorsal venous complex suturing; V: circular suturing of tubular structure; and VI: urethrovesical anastomosis) in a pelvi trainer. The tasks were performed conventionally, utilizing the three devices, and robotically. Task completion times were recorded and the surgeon discomfort was evaluated using questionnaires. Task completion times were compared using nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test and ergonomic scores were compared using Pearson chi-square test. The use of the full laparoscopic set (ETHOS chair, three-dimensional laparoscopic camera, Radius Surgical System needle holders), resulted in a significant improvement of the completion time of the three tested tasks compared with conventional laparoscopy (p<0.001) and similar to da Vinci surgery. After completing Tasks IV, V, and VI conventionally, 12 (80%), 13 (86.7%), and 13 (86.7%) of the 15 trainees, respectively, reported heavy total discomfort. The full laparoscopic system nullified heavy discomfort for Tasks IV and V and minimized it (6.7%) for the most demanding Task VI. Especially for Task VI, all trainees gained benefit, by using the system, in terms of task completion times and discomfort. The limited trainee robotic experience and the questionnaire subjectivity could be a potential limitation. The ergonomic laparoscopic system offers significantly improved task completion times and ergonomy than conventional laparoscopy. Furthermore, it demonstrates comparable results to robotic surgery. The study was conducted in a pelvi trainer and no patients were recruited. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Concurrent Path Planning with One or More Humanoid Robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reiland, Matthew J. (Inventor); Sanders, Adam M. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

A robotic system includes a controller and one or more robots each having a plurality of robotic joints. Each of the robotic joints is independently controllable to thereby execute a cooperative work task having at least one task execution fork, leading to multiple independent subtasks. The controller coordinates motion of the robot(s) during execution of the cooperative work task. The controller groups the robotic joints into task-specific robotic subsystems, and synchronizes motion of different subsystems during execution of the various subtasks of the cooperative work task. A method for executing the cooperative work task using the robotic system includes automatically grouping the robotic joints into task-specific subsystems, and assigning subtasks of the cooperative work task to the subsystems upon reaching a task execution fork. The method further includes coordinating execution of the subtasks after reaching the task execution fork.

Phonological loop affects children’s interpretations of explicit but not ambiguous questions: Research on links between working memory and referent assignment

PubMed Central

Murakami, Taro; Hashiya, Kazuhide

2017-01-01

Understanding the referent of other’s utterance by referring the contextual information helps in smooth communication. Although this pragmatic referential process can be observed even in infants, its underlying mechanism and relative abilities remain unclear. This study aimed to comprehend the background of the referential process by investigating whether the phonological loop affected the referent assignment. A total of 76 children (43 girls) aged 3–5 years participated in a reference assignment task in which an experimenter asked them to answer explicit (e.g., “What color is this?”) and ambiguous (e.g., “What about this?”) questions about colorful objects. The phonological loop capacity was measured by using the forward digit span task in which children were required to repeat the numbers as an experimenter uttered them. The results showed that the scores of the forward digit span task positively predicted correct response to explicit questions and part of the ambiguous questions. That is, the phonological loop capacity did not have effects on referent assignment in response to ambiguous questions that were asked after a topic shift of the explicit questions and thus required a backward reference to the preceding explicit questions to detect the intent of the current ambiguous questions. These results suggest that although the phonological loop capacity could overtly enhance the storage of verbal information, it does not seem to directly contribute to the pragmatic referential process, which might require further social cognitive processes. PMID:29088282

Solving the Credit Assignment Problem With the Prefrontal Cortex

PubMed Central

Stolyarova, Alexandra

2018-01-01

In naturalistic multi-cue and multi-step learning tasks, where outcomes of behavior are delayed in time, discovering which choices are responsible for rewards can present a challenge, known as the credit assignment problem. In this review, I summarize recent work that highlighted a critical role for the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in assigning credit where it is due in tasks where only a few of the multitude of cues or choices are relevant to the final outcome of behavior. Collectively, these investigations have provided compelling support for specialized roles of the orbitofrontal (OFC), anterior cingulate (ACC), and dorsolateral prefrontal (dlPFC) cortices in contingent learning. However, recent work has similarly revealed shared contributions and emphasized rich and heterogeneous response properties of neurons in these brain regions. Such functional overlap is not surprising given the complexity of reciprocal projections spanning the PFC. In the concluding section, I overview the evidence suggesting that the OFC, ACC and dlPFC communicate extensively, sharing the information about presented options, executed decisions and received rewards, which enables them to assign credit for outcomes to choices on which they are contingent. This account suggests that lesion or inactivation/inhibition experiments targeting a localized PFC subregion will be insufficient to gain a fine-grained understanding of credit assignment during learning and instead poses refined questions for future research, shifting the focus from focal manipulations to experimental techniques targeting cortico-cortical projections. PMID:29636659

Plasticity of Decision-Making Abilities Among Maltreated Adolescents: Evidence From a Random Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Weller, Joshua A.; Leve, Leslie D.; Kim, Hyoun K.; Bhimji, Jabeene; Fisher, Philip A.

2014-01-01

Childhood maltreatment has lasting negative effects throughout the lifespan. Early intervention research has demonstrated that these effects can be remediated through skill-based, family-centered interventions. However, less is known about plasticity during adolescence, and whether interventions are effective many years after children experience maltreatment. This study investigated this question by examining adolescent girls’ ability to make advantageous decisions in the face of risk using a validated decision-making task; performance on this task has been associated with key neural regions involved in affective processing and executive functioning. Maltreated foster girls (n = 92), randomly assigned at age 11 to either an intervention designed to prevent risk-taking behaviors or services as usual (SAU), and non-maltreated age and SES-matched girls living with their biological parent(s) (n = 80), completed a decision-making task (at age 15–17) that assessed risk-taking and sensitivity to expected value, an index of advantageous decision-making. Girls in the SAU condition demonstrated the greatest decision-making difficulties, primarily for risks to avoid losses. In the SAU group, frequency of neglect was related to greater difficulties in this area. Girls in the intervention condition with less neglect performed similarly to non-maltreated peers. This research suggests that early maltreatment may impact decision-making abilities into adolescence and that enriched environments during early adolescence provide a window of plasticity that may ameliorate these negative effects. PMID:25997770

A day in the life of a pharmacovigilance case processor.

PubMed

Bhangale, Ritesh; Vaity, Sayali; Kulkarni, Niranjan

2017-01-01

Pharmacovigilance (PV) has grown significantly in India in the last couple of decades. The etymological roots for the word "pharmacovigilance" are "Pharmakon" (Greek for drug) and "Vigilare" (Latin for to keep watch). It relies on information gathered from the collection of individual case safety reports and other pharmacoepidemiological data. The PV data processing cycle starts with data collection in computerized systems followed by complete data entry which includes adverse event coding, drug coding, causality and expectedness assessment, narrative writing, quality control, and report submissions followed by data storage and maintenance. A case processor plays an important role in conducting these various tasks. The case processor should also manage drug safety information, possess updated knowledge about global drug safety regulations, summarize clinical safety data, participate in meetings, write narratives with medical input from a physician, report serious adverse events to the regulatory authorities, participate in the training of operational staff on drug safety issues, quality control work of other staff in the department, and take on any other task as assigned by the manager or medical director within the capabilities of the drug safety associate. There can be challenges while handling all these tasks at a time, hence the associate will have to maintain a balance to overcome them and keep on updating their knowledge on drug safety regulations, which in turn, would help in increasing their learning curve.

Transitive inference in humans (Homo sapiens) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) after massed training of the last two list items.

PubMed

Jensen, Greg; Alkan, Yelda; Muñoz, Fabian; Ferrera, Vincent P; Terrace, Herbert S

2017-08-01

Transitive inference (TI) is a classic learning paradigm for which the relative contributions of experienced rewards and representation-based inference have been debated vigorously, particularly regarding the notion that animals are capable of logic and reasoning. Rhesus macaque subjects and human participants performed a TI task in which, prior to learning a 7-item list (ABCDEFG), a block of trials presented exclusively the pair FG. Contrary to the expectation of associative models, the high prior rate of reward for F did not disrupt subsequent learning of the entire list. Monkeys (who each completed many sessions with novel stimuli) learned to anticipate that novel stimuli should be preferred over F. We interpret this as evidence of a task representation of TI that generalizes beyond learning about specific stimuli. Humans (who were task-naïve) showed a transitory bias to F when it was paired with novel stimuli, but very rapidly unlearned that bias. Performance with respect to the remaining stimuli was consistent with past reports of TI in both species. These results are difficult to reconcile with any account that assigns the strength of association between individual stimuli and rewards. Instead, they support sophisticated cognitive processes in both species, albeit with some species differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Pomegranate Juice Augments Memory and fMRI Activity in Middle-Aged and Older Adults with Mild Memory Complaints

PubMed Central

Bookheimer, Susan Y.; Renner, Brian A.; Ekstrom, Arne; Henning, Susanne M.; Brown, Jesse A.; Jones, Mike; Moody, Teena; Small, Gary W.

2013-01-01

Despite increasing emphasis on the potential of dietary antioxidants in preventing memory loss and on diet as a precursor of neurological health, rigorous studies investigating the cognitive effects of foods and their components are rare. Recent animal studies have reported memory and other cognitive benefits of polyphenols, found abundantly in pomegranate juice. We performed a preliminary, placebo-controlled randomized trial of pomegranate juice in older subjects with age-associated memory complaints using memory testing and functional brain activation (fMRI) as outcome measures. Thirty-two subjects (28 completers) were randomly assigned to drink 8 ounces of either pomegranate juice or a flavor-matched placebo drink for 4 weeks. Subjects received memory testing, fMRI scans during cognitive tasks, and blood draws for peripheral biomarkers before and after the intervention. Investigators and subjects were all blind to group membership. After 4 weeks, only the pomegranate group showed a significant improvement in the Buschke selective reminding test of verbal memory and a significant increase in plasma trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and urolithin A-glucuronide. Furthermore, compared to the placebo group, the pomegranate group had increased fMRI activity during verbal and visual memory tasks. While preliminary, these results suggest a role for pomegranate juice in augmenting memory function through task-related increases in functional brain activity. PMID:23970941

Is a neutral expression also a neutral stimulus? A study with functional magnetic resonance.

PubMed

Carvajal, Fernando; Rubio, Sandra; Serrano, Juan M; Ríos-Lago, Marcos; Alvarez-Linera, Juan; Pacheco, Lara; Martín, Pilar

2013-08-01

Although neutral faces do not initially convey an explicit emotional message, it has been found that individuals tend to assign them an affective content. Moreover, previous research has shown that affective judgments are mediated by the task they have to perform. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 21 healthy participants, we focus this study on the cerebral activity patterns triggered by neutral and emotional faces in two different tasks (social or gender judgments). Results obtained, using conjunction analyses, indicated that viewing both emotional and neutral faces evokes activity in several similar brain areas indicating a common neural substrate. Moreover, neutral faces specifically elicit activation of cerebellum, frontal and temporal areas, while emotional faces involve the cuneus, anterior cingulated gyrus, medial orbitofrontal cortex, posterior superior temporal gyrus, precentral/postcentral gyrus and insula. The task selected was also found to influence brain activity, in that the social task recruited frontal areas while the gender task involved the posterior cingulated, inferior parietal lobule and middle temporal gyrus to a greater extent. Specifically, in the social task viewing neutral faces was associated with longer reaction times and increased activity of left dorsolateral frontal cortex compared with viewing facial expressions of emotions. In contrast, in the same task emotional expressions distinctively activated the left amygdale. The results are discussed taking into consideration the fact that, like other facial expressions, neutral expressions are usually assigned some emotional significance. However, neutral faces evoke a greater activation of circuits probably involved in more elaborate cognitive processing.

Autonomous Guidance Strategy for Spacecraft Formations and Reconfiguration Maneuvers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahl, Theodore P.

A guidance strategy for autonomous spacecraft formation reconfiguration maneuvers is presented. The guidance strategy is presented as an algorithm that solves the linked assignment and delivery problems. The assignment problem is the task of assigning the member spacecraft of the formation to their new positions in the desired formation geometry. The guidance algorithm uses an auction process (also called an "auction algorithm''), presented in the dissertation, to solve the assignment problem. The auction uses the estimated maneuver and time of flight costs between the spacecraft and targets to create assignments which minimize a specific "expense'' function for the formation. The delivery problem is the task of delivering the spacecraft to their assigned positions, and it is addressed through one of two guidance schemes described in this work. The first is a delivery scheme based on artificial potential function (APF) guidance. APF guidance uses the relative distances between the spacecraft, targets, and any obstacles to design maneuvers based on gradients of potential fields. The second delivery scheme is based on model predictive control (MPC); this method uses a model of the system dynamics to plan a series of maneuvers designed to minimize a unique cost function. The guidance algorithm uses an analytic linearized approximation of the relative orbital dynamics, the Yamanaka-Ankersen state transition matrix, in the auction process and in both delivery methods. The proposed guidance strategy is successful, in simulations, in autonomously assigning the members of the formation to new positions and in delivering the spacecraft to these new positions safely using both delivery methods. This guidance algorithm can serve as the basis for future autonomous guidance strategies for spacecraft formation missions.

Lexical Retrieval of Nouns and Verbs in a Sentence Completion Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abel, Alyson D.; Maguire, Mandy J.; Naqvi, Fizza M.; Kim, Angela Y.

2015-01-01

This study explored noun and verb retrieval using a sentence completion task to expand upon previous findings from picture naming tasks. Participants completed sentences missing either a target noun or verb in the final position. Non-target responses were coded for substitution type, imageability and frequency. Like picture naming, nouns and verbs…

An Agent-Based Simulation for Investigating the Impact of Stereotypes on Task-Oriented Group Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maghami, Mahsa; Sukthankar, Gita

In this paper, we introduce an agent-based simulation for investigating the impact of social factors on the formation and evolution of task-oriented groups. Task-oriented groups are created explicitly to perform a task, and all members derive benefits from task completion. However, even in cases when all group members act in a way that is locally optimal for task completion, social forces that have mild effects on choice of associates can have a measurable impact on task completion performance. In this paper, we show how our simulation can be used to model the impact of stereotypes on group formation. In our simulation, stereotypes are based on observable features, learned from prior experience, and only affect an agent's link formation preferences. Even without assuming stereotypes affect the agents' willingness or ability to complete tasks, the long-term modifications that stereotypes have on the agents' social network impair the agents' ability to form groups with sufficient diversity of skills, as compared to agents who form links randomly. An interesting finding is that this effect holds even in cases where stereotype preference and skill existence are completely uncorrelated.

Report of the Peer Review Panel on the early site suitability evaluation of the Potential Repository Site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada; Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1992-01-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Yucca mountain Site Characterization Project Office (YMPO) assigned Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the Technical and Management Support Services (T&MSS) contractor to the YmPo, the task of conducting an Early Site Suitability Evaluation (ESSE) of the Yucca mountain site as a potential site for a high-level radioactive waste repository. First, the assignment called for the development of a method to evaluate a single site against the DOE General Guidelines for Recommendation of Sites for Nuclear Waste Repositories, 10 CFR Part 960. Then, using this method, an evaluation team, the ESSE Core Team, of seniormore » YMP scientists, engineers, and technical experts, evaluated new information obtained about the site since publication of the final Environmental Assessment (DOE, 1986) to determine if new suitability/unsuitability findings could be recommended. Finally, the Core Team identified further information and analyses needed to make final determinations for each of the guidelines. As part of the task, an independent peer review of the ESSE report has been conducted. Expertise was solicited that covered the entire spectrum of siting guidelines in 10 CFR Part 960 in order to provide a complete, in-depth critical review of the data evaluated and cited in the ESSE report, the methods used to evaluate the data, and the conclusions and recommendations offered by the report. Fourteen nationally recognized technical experts (Table 2) served on the Peer Review Panel. The comments from the Panel and the responses prepared by the ESSE Core Team, documented on formal Comment Response Forms, constitute the body of this document.« less

What Keeps Chinese Students Motivated in Doing Math Homework? An Empirical Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Fuyi; Xu, Jianzhong; Tan, Heping; Liang, Ningjian

2016-01-01

Background: As many students face the enduring challenge of maintaining their motivation to complete homework assignments, there is a critical need to pay close attention to homework motivation management (i.e., students' efforts to sustain or enhance their motivation in order to complete homework assignments that might be boring or difficult).…

75 FR 67696 - Meeting of the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-03

...-deployment/reintegration of women. Finally, to receive a briefing from the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military. The meeting is open to the public, subject to the availability of space. DATES... Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services --Services SME briefs on assignment and well...

The Challenge of Induction! Introducing Engineering Students to Higher Education: A Task-Oriented Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edward, Norrie; Middleton, June

2002-01-01

First-year engineering students at Robert Gordon University (Scotland) were presented with a task-oriented induction program. Students were divided into groups and assigned a facilitator, later personal tutor, to whom they could refer. Student reaction to the experience was very favorable. Effect on progression rates is yet to be determined. (AEF)

Negotiating Sequential Boundaries and Learning Opportunities: A Case from a Japanese Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mori, Junko

2004-01-01

Using the methodological framework of conversation analysis (CA) as a central tool for analysis, this study examines a peer interactive task that occurred in a Japanese as a foreign language classroom. During the short segment of interaction, the students shifted back and forth between the development of an assigned task and the management of…

30 CFR 48.7 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... to new work tasks as mobile equipment operators, drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor systems operators, roof and ground control machine operators, and those in blasting operations shall not... duties at times or places where production is not the primary objective; on (ii) Supervised operation...

30 CFR 48.7 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... to new work tasks as mobile equipment operators, drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor systems operators, roof and ground control machine operators, and those in blasting operations shall not... duties at times or places where production is not the primary objective; on (ii) Supervised operation...

30 CFR 48.7 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... to new work tasks as mobile equipment operators, drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor systems operators, roof and ground control machine operators, and those in blasting operations shall not... duties at times or places where production is not the primary objective; on (ii) Supervised operation...

30 CFR 48.7 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... to new work tasks as mobile equipment operators, drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor systems operators, roof and ground control machine operators, and those in blasting operations shall not... duties at times or places where production is not the primary objective; on (ii) Supervised operation...

Separateness Representations in a Sculpting Task: Revealing Maternal Subjective Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bat Or, Michal

2015-01-01

This study explored mothers' separateness representations via a clay sculpting task assigned to 24 mothers of preschool children aged 21 months to 4 years. Each participant created a clay sculpture of herself and her child, followed by a semi-structured interview about the sculpting experience and the meaning of the sculpture. Qualitative analyses…

The Impact of Complexity on the Expertise Reversal Effect: Experimental Evidence from Testing Accounting Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blayney, Paul; Kalyuga, Slava; Sweller, John

2016-01-01

Element interactivity is a central concept of cognitive load theory that defines the complexity of a learning task. The reduction of task complexity through a temporary segmentation or isolation of interacting elements was investigated with 104 students randomly assigned to an interacting elements group, where participants were required to deal…

Motivation and Cognition: The Impact of Ego and Task-Involvement on Levels of Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golan, Shari; Graham, Sandra

To study the effects of motivation on cognition, 55 fifth- and sixth-grade students were randomly assigned to 3 motivational treatment groups: (1) ego-involved (ability oriented); (2) task-involved (mastery oriented); and (3) control (no orientation). The ego-involvement treatment attempted to make subjects feel that their abilities on the tasks…

Coding for Language Complexity: The Interplay among Methodological Commitments, Tools, and Workflow in Writing Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geisler, Cheryl

2018-01-01

Coding, the analytic task of assigning codes to nonnumeric data, is foundational to writing research. A rich discussion of methodological pluralism has established the foundational importance of systematicity in the task of coding, but less attention has been paid to the equally important commitment to language complexity. Addressing the interplay…

Pig in the Middle? Effects of Mediating Tasks on Cognitive Processing of Text.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allison, Desmond; And Others

This study of second language learning investigated the effects of a written reading comprehension exercise and an oral discussion activity as alternative tasks mediating between a written text and learners' summaries of the text. Subjects were 80 University of Hong Kong freshmen, randomly assigned to three groups. Each group was provided a…

Ames life science telescience testbed evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haines, Richard F.; Johnson, Vicki; Vogelsong, Kristofer H.; Froloff, Walt

1989-01-01

Eight surrogate spaceflight mission specialists participated in a real-time evaluation of remote coaching using the Ames Life Science Telescience Testbed facility. This facility consisted of three remotely located nodes: (1) a prototype Space Station glovebox; (2) a ground control station; and (3) a principal investigator's (PI) work area. The major objective of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of telescience techniques and hardware to support three realistic remote coaching science procedures: plant seed germinator charging, plant sample acquisition and preservation, and remote plant observation with ground coaching. Each scenario was performed by a subject acting as flight mission specialist, interacting with a payload operations manager and a principal investigator expert. All three groups were physically isolated from each other yet linked by duplex audio and color video communication channels and networked computer workstations. Workload ratings were made by the flight and ground crewpersons immediately after completing their assigned tasks. Time to complete each scientific procedural step was recorded automatically. Two expert observers also made performance ratings and various error assessments. The results are presented and discussed.

Learning to research in first grade: Bridging the transition from narrative to expository texts and tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weise, Richard

Decades of research indicate that students at all academic grade and performance levels perform poorly with informational texts and tasks and particularly with locating assignment-relevant information in expository texts. Students have little understanding of the individual tasks required, the arc of the activity, the hierarchical structure of the information they seek, or how to reconstitute and interpret the information they extract. Poor performance begins with the introduction of textbooks and research assignments in fourth grade and continues into adulthood. However, to date, neither educators nor researchers have substantially addressed this problem. In this quasi-experimental study, we ask if first-grade children can perform essential tasks in identifying, extracting, and integrating assignment-relevant information and if instruction improves their performance. To answer this question, we conducted a 15-week, teacher-led, intervention in two first-grade classrooms in an inner-city Nashville elementary school. We created a computer learning environment (NoteTaker) to facilitate children's creation of a mental model of the research process and a narrative/expository bridge curriculum to support the children's transition from all narrative to all expository texts and tasks. We also created a new scaffolding taxonomy and a reading-to-research model to focus our research. Teachers participated in weekly professional development workshops. The results of this quasi-experimental study indicate that at-risk, first-grade children are able to (a) identify relevant information in an expository text, (b) categorize the information they identify, and (c) justify their choice of category. Children's performance in the first and last tasks significantly improved with instruction, and low-performing readers showed the greatest benefits from instruction. We find that the children's performance in categorizing information depended upon content-specific knowledge that was not taught, as well as on the process knowledge that was taught. We also find that children's narrative reading performance predicted their initial-performance for each assessment measure. We argue that first-grade children are developmentally ready to read expository texts and to learn reading-to-research tasks and that primary-school literacy instruction should not be limited to reading and writing stories.

Method and Apparatus for Performance Optimization Through Physical Perturbation of Task Elements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III (Inventor); Pope, Alan T. (Inventor); Palsson, Olafur S. (Inventor); Turner, Marsha J. (Inventor)

2016-01-01

The invention is an apparatus and method of biofeedback training for attaining a physiological state optimally consistent with the successful performance of a task, wherein the probability of successfully completing the task is made is inversely proportional to a physiological difference value, computed as the absolute value of the difference between at least one physiological signal optimally consistent with the successful performance of the task and at least one corresponding measured physiological signal of a trainee performing the task. The probability of successfully completing the task is made inversely proportional to the physiological difference value by making one or more measurable physical attributes of the environment in which the task is performed, and upon which completion of the task depends, vary in inverse proportion to the physiological difference value.

Mortality and cause-of-death reporting and analysis systems in seven Pacific Island countries.

PubMed

Carter, Karen L; Rao, Chalapati; Lopez, Alan D; Taylor, Richard

2012-06-13

Mortality statistics are essential for population health assessment. Despite limitations in data availability, Pacific Island Countries are considered to be in epidemiological transition, with non-communicable diseases increasingly contributing to premature adult mortality. To address rapidly changing health profiles, countries would require mortality statistics from routine death registration given their relatively small population sizes. This paper uses a standard analytical framework to examine death registration systems in Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. In all countries, legislation on death registration exists but does not necessarily reflect current practices. Health departments carry the bulk of responsibility for civil registration functions. Medical cause-of-death certificates are completed for at least hospital deaths in all countries. Overall, significantly more information is available than perceived or used. Use is primarily limited by poor understanding, lack of coordination, limited analytical skills, and insufficient technical resources. Across the region, both registration and statistics systems need strengthening to improve the availability, completeness, and quality of data. Close interaction between health staff and local communities provides a good foundation for further improvements in death reporting. System strengthening activities must include a focus on clear assignment of responsibility, provision of appropriate authority to perform assigned tasks, and fostering ownership of processes and data to ensure sustained improvements. These human elements need to be embedded in a culture of data sharing and use. Lessons from this multi-country exercise would be applicable in other regions afflicted with similar issues of availability and quality of vital statistics.

Pay attention to your manipulation checks! Reward impact on cardiac reactivity is moderated by task context.

PubMed

Richter, Michael

2010-05-01

Two experiments assessed the moderating impact of task context on the relationship between reward and cardiovascular response. Randomly assigned to the cells of a 2 (task context: reward vs. demand) x 2 (reward value: low vs. high) between-persons design, participants performed either a memory task with an unclear performance standard (Experiment 1) or a visual scanning task with an unfixed performance standard (Experiment 2). Before performing the task--where participants could earn either a low or a high reward--participants responded to questions about either task reward or task demand. In accordance with the theoretical predictions derived from Wright's (1996) integrative model, reactivity of pre-ejection period increased with reward value if participants had rated aspects of task reward before performing the task. If they had rated task demand, pre-ejection period did not differ as a function of reward. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Buchholz, Bruce A.

The project has two main goals: 1) Identify the types of adducts naphthalene (NA) forms with DNA and 2) determine whether adduct formation correlates with site selective tumor formation in defined subcompartments of the respiratory tract (respiratory and olfactory nasal epithelium and airways of mice, rats and rhesus monkeys). Five tasks are associated with the completion of the goals. Task 1: Contracting and Animal Use Approvals. IACUC and ACURO approvals are complete, The subcontract with UC Davis (UCD) was executed in December 2014. Task 2: Perform In Vitro Study for Goal 1. Rat samples exposed and in freezer while adductmore » standards are being made. Mouse samples need to be exposed in next quarter. Task 3: Perform In Vitro Study for Goal 2. Mouse ex vivo samples completed. Rat and monkey samples need to be completed in the next quarter. Task 4: Sample Preparation and Analysis. Mouse Goal 2 samples completed. Other samples remain to be done. Task 5: Data Interpretation and Reporting. Need rat data to write paper on adduct formation.« less

PREDICT: Privacy and Security Enhancing Dynamic Information Monitoring

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-08-03

consisting of global server-side probabilistic assignment by an untrusted server using cloaked locations, followed by feedback-loop guided local...12], consisting of global server-side probabilistic assignment by an untrusted server using cloaked locations, followed by feedback-loop guided...these methods achieve high sensing coverage with low cost using cloaked locations [3]. In follow-on work, the issue of mobility is addressed. Task

Smart Shutdown Guidebook: Considerations for a Successful Shutdown

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

multiple countries, multiple contractors) or in number of subsystems and interfaces • State of the contract (is the procuring contract officer ( PCO ...assigned tasks. • Includes the procuring, administrative, and terminating contracting officers ( PCOs , ACOs, and TCOs). 6 • Assigns full authority and...assist the PCO and TCO with their correspondence requirements with contractors and to assist higher leadership in its communication with external

Task Force on Returning Global War on Terror Heroes

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-19

assigning disability ratings used to determine fitness for military retention, level of disability for retirement, and VA disability compensation...process. DoD and VA agreed to develop a joint process of assigning disability ratings used to determine fitness for military retention, level of...charged with deciding fit /unfit status. Servicemembers obviously endeavor to reach the threshold because it results in lifelong benefits such as health

Fire behavior, fuel treatments, and fire suppression on the Hayman Fire - Part 5: Fire suppression activities

Treesearch

Charles W. McHugh; Paul Gleason

2003-01-01

The purpose of this report is to document the suppression actions taken during the Hayman Fire. The long duration of suppression activities (June 8 through July 18), and multiple incident management teams assigned to the fire, makes this a challenging task. Original records and reports produced independently by the various teams assigned to different portions of the...

Simultaneity, Sequentiality, and Speed: Organizational Messages about Multiple-Task Completion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephens, Keri K.; Cho, Jaehee K.; Ballard, Dawna I.

2012-01-01

Workplace norms for task completion increasingly value speed and the ability to accomplish multiple tasks at once. This study situates this popularized issue of multitasking within the context of chronemics scholarship by addressing related issues of simultaneity, sequentiality, and speed. Ultimately, we consider 2 multiple-task completion…

Grouping puts figure-ground assignment in context by constraining propagation of edge assignment.

PubMed

Brooks, Joseph L; Brook, Joseph L; Driver, Jon

2010-05-01

Figure-ground organization involves the assignment of edges to a figural shape on one or the other side of each dividing edge. Established visual cues for edge assignment primarily concern relatively local rather than contextual factors. In the present article, we show that an assignment for a locally unbiased edge can be affected by an assignment of a remote contextual edge that has its own locally biased assignment. We find that such propagation of edge assignment from the biased remote context occurs only when the biased and unbiased edges are grouped. This new principle, whereby grouping constrains the propagation of figural edge assignment, emerges from both subjective reports and an objective short-term edge-matching task. It generalizes from moving displays involving grouping by common fate and collinearity, to static displays with grouping by similarity of edge-contrast polarity, or apparent occlusion. Our results identify a new contextual influence on edge assignment. They also identify a new mechanistic relation between grouping and figure-ground processes, whereby grouping between remote elements can constrain the propagation of edge assignment between those elements. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from http://app.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.

Measuring Conceptual Gains and Benefits of Student Problem Designs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandell, Eric; Snyder, Rachel; Oswald, Wayne

2011-10-01

Writing assignments can be an effective way of getting students to practice higher-order learning skills in physics. One example of such an assignment is that of problem design. One version of the problem design assignment asks the student to evaluate the material from a chapter, after all instruction and other activities are complete. The student is to decide what concepts and ideas are most central, or critical in the chapter, and construct a problem that he or she feels best encompasses the major themes. Here, we use two concept surveys (FCI and EMCS) to measure conceptual gains for students completing the problem design assignment and present the preliminary results, comparing across several categories including gender, age, degree program, and class standing.

Measuring Actual eHealth Literacy Among Patients With Rheumatic Diseases: a Qualitative Analysis of Problems Encountered Using Health 1.0 and Health 2.0 Applications

PubMed Central

Drossaert, Constance HC; de Heus, Miriam; Taal, Erik; van de Laar, Mart AFJ

2013-01-01

Background The Internet offers diverse opportunities for disease management, through information websites (Health 1.0) and interactive applications such as peer support forums, online consults, and insight into electronic medical records (Health 2.0). However, various skills are required to benefit from Health 1.0 and Health 2.0 applications for one’s own health, known as eHealth literacy. Objective To study the eHealth literacy of patients with rheumatic diseases and the types of problems they encounter when using the Internet in relation to their disease. Methods In two studies, patients were asked about their current disease-related Internet use and their eHealth literacy was observed during performance tests. In study 1, 15 patients (aged 39-74) performed 6 information-retrieval tasks on the Internet (Health 1.0). In study 2, 16 patients (aged 24-72) performed 3 Health 2.0 tasks on a hospital-based online Web portal and 2 Health 2.0 tasks on interactive websites. Participants were asked to think aloud while performing the assignments, and screen activities were recorded. Types and frequency of problems were identified by 2 independent researchers and coded into categories using inductive analysis. Results Almost all patients in our studies had searched the Internet for information about rheumatic diseases in the past. Fewer patients had used Health 2.0 applications, but many were nevertheless enthusiastic about the possibilities from Health 2.0 applications after finishing the assignments. However, nearly all participants experienced difficulties, and a substantial number of participants were not able to complete all of the assignments. Encountered problems could be divided into 6 sequential categories: (1) operating the computer and Internet browser, (2) navigating and orientating on the Web, (3) utilizing search strategies, (4) evaluating relevance and reliability, (5) adding content to the Web, and (6) protecting and respecting privacy. Most severe difficulties occurred in levels 3 and 4—in formulating a search query, evaluating the source of the information, and in scanning a website for relevant information. Conclusions Many patients have insufficient skills to properly use Health 1.0 and Health 2.0. Formulating proper search strategies and evaluating the found information caused problems among the majority of patients. Concerning Health 2.0, use and awareness of these applications is low and patients should be guided in the use of them. Our findings may contribute to the awareness of patients’ eHealth literacy problems among health professionals, and stress the importance of usability guidelines in Web design. PMID:23399720

Design, engineering and evaluation of refractory liners for slagging gasifiers. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

deTineo, B J; Booth, G; Firestone, R F

1982-08-01

The contract for this program was awarded at the end of September 1978. Work was started on 1 October 1978, on Tasks A, B, and E. Task A, Conceptual Liner Designs, and Task B, Test System Design and Construction, were completed. Task C, Liner Tests, and Task D, Liner Design Evaluation, were to begin upon completion of Task B. Task E, Liner Model Development, is inactive after an initial data compilation and theoretical model development effort. It was to be activated as soon as data were available from Task D. Task F, Liner Design Handbook, was active along with Taskmore » A since the reports of both tasks were to use the same format. At this time, Tasks C, D, and F are not to be completed since funding of this project was phased out by DOE directive. The refractory text facility, which was constructed, was tested and found to perform satisfactorily. It is described in detail, including a hazard analysis which was performed. (LTN)« less

Ups and downs of using ``kitchen sink'' experiments in an introductory fluid mechanics class

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaye, Nigel

2015-11-01

Both positive and negative experiences from two semesters of using take home ``kitchen sink'' experiments in an introductory civil engineering fluid mechanics class are reported. Four different experimental assignments were given each semester to groups of four students. The students were tasked with using common household equipment to measure various properties of fluids or fluid flows. These included the density of cooking oil, the exit velocity from a garden hose, and the mass flux of air from a compressed air can. Students were given minimal guidance on how to do the measurements and each measurement had to be done in at least two different ways. The labs were used to relate their course work to everyday situations and was also used as a platform for discussing experimental uncertainty and error propagation in calculations. In general the students successfully completed each task using at least one method. Finding a second method sometimes proved problematic. The presentation will discuss the logistics of running the program and the positive and negative aspects from the instructor viewpoint. A summary of student feedback on the labs will also be presented. Links to resources for those interested in implementing such a program will be provided.

Anticipatory stress restores decision-making deficits in heavy drinkers by increasing sensitivity to losses.

PubMed

Gullo, Matthew J; Stieger, Adam A

2011-09-01

Substance abusers are characterized by hypersensitivity to reward. This leads to maladaptive decisions generally, as well as those on laboratory-based decision-making tasks, such as the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Negative affect has also been shown to disrupt the decision-making of healthy individuals, particularly decisions made under uncertainty. Neuropsychological theories of learning, including the Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH), argue this occurs by amplifying affective responses to punishment. In substance abusers, this might serve to rebalance their sensitivity to reward with punishment, and improve decision-making. Before completing the IGT, 45 heavy and 47 light drinkers were randomly assigned to a control condition, or led to believe they had to give a stressful public speech. IGT performance was analyzed with the Expectancy-Valence (EV) learning model. Working memory and IQ were also assessed. Heavy drinkers made more disadvantageous decisions than light drinkers, due to higher attention to gains (versus losses) on the IGT. Anticipatory stress increased participants' attention to losses, significantly improving heavy drinkers' decision-making. Anticipatory stress increased attention to losses, effectively restoring decision-making deficits in heavy drinkers by rebalancing their reward sensitivity with punishment sensitivity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modifying Automatic Approach Action Tendencies in Individuals with Elevated Social Anxiety Symptoms

PubMed Central

Taylor, Charles T.; Amir, Nader

2012-01-01

Research suggests that social anxiety is associated with a reduced approach orientation for positive social cues. In the current study we examined the effect of experimentally manipulating automatic approach action tendencies on the social behavior of individuals with elevated social anxiety symptoms. The experimental paradigm comprised a computerized Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) in which participants responded to pictures of faces conveying positive or neutral emotional expressions by pulling a joystick toward themselves (approach) or by moving it to the right (sideways control). Participants were randomly assigned to complete an AAT designed to increase approach tendencies for positive social cues by pulling these cues toward themselves on the majority of trials, or to a control condition in which there was no contingency between the arm movement direction and picture type. Following the manipulation, participants took part in a relationship-building task with a trained confederate. Results revealed that participants trained to approach positive stimuli displayed greater social approach behaviors during the social interaction and elicited more positive reactions from their partner compared to participants in the control group. These findings suggest that modifying automatic approach tendencies may facilitate engagement in the types of social approach behaviors that are important for relationship development. PMID:22728645

Texting while driving as impulsive choice: A behavioral economic analysis

PubMed Central

Hayashi, Yusuke; Russo, Christopher T.; Wirth, Oliver

2015-01-01

The goal of the present study was to examine the utility of a behavioral economic analysis to investigate the role of delay discounting in texting while driving. A sample of 147 college students completed a survey to assess how frequently they send and read text messages while driving. Based on this information, students were assigned to one of two groups: 19 students who frequently text while driving and 19 matched-control students who infrequently text while driving but were similar in gender, age, years of education, and years driving. The groups were compared on the extent to which they discounted, or devalued, delayed hypothetical monetary rewards using a delay-discounting task. In this task, students made repeated choices between $1000 available after a delay (ranging from 1 week to 10 years) and an equal or lesser amount of money available immediately. The results show that the students who frequently text while driving discounted delayed rewards at a greater rate than the matched control students. The study supports the conclusions that texting while driving is fundamentally an impulsive choice made by drivers, and that a behavioral economic approach may be a useful research tool for investigating the decision-making processes underlying risky behaviors. PMID:26280804

Research Participation in the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pettengill, Gordon H.

2003-01-01

This report describes the tasks that have been completed by the Principal Investigator, Gordon Pettengill, and his team during the first year of this grant. Dr. Pettengill was assisted by Dr. Peter Ford and Ms. Joan Quigley. Our main task has been to analyze the polar clouds detected by MOLA (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter) during the nominal mission of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) in 1999-2001 and to correlate the results with other data sets, in particular that from TES, the MGS thermal emission spectrometer. Starting with the Martian cloud database that we constructed prior to the start of this grant, we have examined all TES footprints that overlap MOLA clouds in time and space, correlating the thermal signature against specific categories that we assign to MOLA clouds on the basis of visual inspection. We are particularly interested in clouds in the region of "cold spots", areas of anomalously low thermal brightness temperature that have been detected in the polar winter by several instruments beginning with IRIS on Mariner 9. They are thought to indicate regions of active CO2 sublimation or snowfall, and it is hoped that MOLA measurements may tell us more about these regions.

The role of feedback contingency in perceptual category learning.

PubMed

Ashby, F Gregory; Vucovich, Lauren E

2016-11-01

Feedback is highly contingent on behavior if it eventually becomes easy to predict, and weakly contingent on behavior if it remains difficult or impossible to predict even after learning is complete. Many studies have demonstrated that humans and nonhuman animals are highly sensitive to feedback contingency, but no known studies have examined how feedback contingency affects category learning, and current theories assign little or no importance to this variable. Two experiments examined the effects of contingency degradation on rule-based and information-integration category learning. In rule-based tasks, optimal accuracy is possible with a simple explicit rule, whereas optimal accuracy in information-integration tasks requires integrating information from 2 or more incommensurable perceptual dimensions. In both experiments, participants each learned rule-based or information-integration categories under either high or low levels of feedback contingency. The exact same stimuli were used in all 4 conditions, and optimal accuracy was identical in every condition. Learning was good in both high-contingency conditions, but most participants showed little or no evidence of learning in either low-contingency condition. Possible causes of these effects, as well as their theoretical implications, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Feedback Contingency in Perceptual Category Learning

PubMed Central

Ashby, F. Gregory; Vucovich, Lauren E.

2016-01-01

Feedback is highly contingent on behavior if it eventually becomes easy to predict, and weakly contingent on behavior if it remains difficult or impossible to predict even after learning is complete. Many studies have demonstrated that humans and nonhuman animals are highly sensitive to feedback contingency, but no known studies have examined how feedback contingency affects category learning, and current theories assign little or no importance to this variable. Two experiments examined the effects of contingency degradation on rule-based and information-integration category learning. In rule-based tasks, optimal accuracy is possible with a simple explicit rule, whereas optimal accuracy in information-integration tasks requires integrating information from two or more incommensurable perceptual dimensions. In both experiments, participants each learned rule-based or information-integration categories under either high or low levels of feedback contingency. The exact same stimuli were used in all four conditions and optimal accuracy was identical in every condition. Learning was good in both high-contingency conditions, but most participants showed little or no evidence of learning in either low-contingency condition. Possible causes of these effects are discussed, as well as their theoretical implications. PMID:27149393

Muscle Feasibility for Cosmos Rhesus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edgerton, V. Reggie (Principal Investigator); Roland, Roy R.; Hodgson, John A.

1994-01-01

The following tasks were proposed for the Cosmos project: 1) Complete recordings of all preflight candidates during performance of a foot pedal motor control task while in the space capsule mock-up. 2) Complete recordings of all preflight candidates during locomotion and postural tasks. 3) Complete recordings of 24-hour spontaneous cage activity in the two flight monkeys before and after flight and of at least three control (non-flight) monkeys after the flight has been completed. 4) Complete recordings of the foot pedal and motor control tasks during flight and postflight as scheduled. 5) Complete recordings of the vertical drop test pre, during and postflight for the two flight and three control monkeys. 6) Complete recordings of locomotion and posture tests of the two flight monkeys postflight. 7) Complete recordings of locomotion and postural tests of at least three control (non-flight) monkeys during the postflight period. 8) Recalibrate buckles of the two flight and of at least three control monkeys postflight. 9) Complete analysis of the 24 hour EMG recordings of all monkeys. 10) Complete analysis of the foot pedal, locomotor and postural motor control tasks for the two flight and three control monkeys. It was proposed that efforts in the first postflight year be concentrated on the two flight animals and three postflight animals.

Naturalistic Assessment of Executive Function and Everyday Multitasking in Healthy Older Adults

PubMed Central

McAlister, Courtney; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2013-01-01

Everyday multitasking and its cognitive correlates were investigated in an older adult population using a naturalistic task, the Day Out Task. Fifty older adults and 50 younger adults prioritized, organized, initiated and completed a number of subtasks in a campus apartment to prepare for a day out (e.g., gather ingredients for a recipe, collect change for a bus ride). Participants also completed tests assessing cognitive constructs important in multitasking. Compared to younger adults, the older adults took longer to complete the everyday tasks and more poorly sequenced the subtasks. Although they initiated, completed, and interweaved a similar number of subtasks, the older adults demonstrated poorer task quality and accuracy, completing more subtasks inefficiently. For the older adults, reduced prospective memory abilities were predictive of poorer task sequencing, while executive processes and prospective memory were predictive of inefficiently completed subtasks. The findings suggest that executive dysfunction and prospective memory difficulties may contribute to the age-related decline of everyday multitasking abilities in healthy older adults. PMID:23557096

Exploring the impact of positive and negative emotions on cooperative behaviour in a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game

PubMed Central

Thompson, Sam

2013-01-01

Objective. To explore the influences of discrete positive and negative emotions on cooperation in the context of a social dilemma game. Design. Two controlled studies were undertaken. In Study 1, 69 participants were randomly assigned to an essay emotion manipulation task designed to induce either guilt, joy or no strong emotion. In Study 2, 95 participants were randomly assigned to one of the same three tasks, and the impact of emotional condition on cooperation was explored using a repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma Game. Results. Study 1 established that the manipulation task was successful in inducing the specified emotions. The analysis from Study 2 revealed no significant main effects for emotions, in contrast to previous research. However, there was a significant effect for participants’ pre-existing tendency to cooperate (social value orientation; SVO). Conclusion. Methodological explanations for the result are explored, including the possible impact of trial-and-error strategies, different cooperation games and endogenous vs exogenous emotions. PMID:24432196

Effects of orientation on Rey complex figure performance.

PubMed

Ferraro, F Richard; Grossman, Jennifer; Bren, Amy; Hoverson, Allysa

2002-10-01

An experiment was performed that examined the impact of stimulus orientation on performance on the Rey complex figure. A total of 48 undergraduates (24 men, 24 women) were randomly assigned to one of four Rey figure orientation groups (0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees ). Participants followed standard procedures for the Rey figure, initially copying it in whatever orientation group they were assigned to. Next, all participants performed a 15-20 min lexical decision experiment, used as a filler task. Finally, and unbeknownest to them, participants were asked to recall as much of the figure as they could. As expected, results revealed a main effect of Task (F = 83.92, p < .01), in which copy performance was superior to recall performance. However, the main effect for orientation was not significant, nor did orientation interact with task (Fs < .68, ps > .57). The results are important from an applied setting, especially if testing conditions are less than optimal and a fixed stimulus position is not possible (e.g., testing at the bedside).

An anatomy of industrial robots and their controls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luh, J. Y. S.

1983-02-01

The modernization of manufacturing facilities by means of automation represents an approach for increasing productivity in industry. The three existing types of automation are related to continuous process controls, the use of transfer conveyor methods, and the employment of programmable automation for the low-volume batch production of discrete parts. The industrial robots, which are defined as computer controlled mechanics manipulators, belong to the area of programmable automation. Typically, the robots perform tasks of arc welding, paint spraying, or foundary operation. One may assign a robot to perform a variety of job assignments simply by changing the appropriate computer program. The present investigation is concerned with an evaluation of the potential of the robot on the basis of its basic structure and controls. It is found that robots function well in limited areas of industry. If the range of tasks which robots can perform is to be expanded, it is necessary to provide multiple-task sensors, or special tooling, or even automatic tooling.

Exploring the impact of positive and negative emotions on cooperative behaviour in a Prisoner's Dilemma Game.

PubMed

Kjell, Oscar N E; Thompson, Sam

2013-12-19

Objective. To explore the influences of discrete positive and negative emotions on cooperation in the context of a social dilemma game. Design. Two controlled studies were undertaken. In Study 1, 69 participants were randomly assigned to an essay emotion manipulation task designed to induce either guilt, joy or no strong emotion. In Study 2, 95 participants were randomly assigned to one of the same three tasks, and the impact of emotional condition on cooperation was explored using a repeated Prisoner's Dilemma Game. Results. Study 1 established that the manipulation task was successful in inducing the specified emotions. The analysis from Study 2 revealed no significant main effects for emotions, in contrast to previous research. However, there was a significant effect for participants' pre-existing tendency to cooperate (social value orientation; SVO). Conclusion. Methodological explanations for the result are explored, including the possible impact of trial-and-error strategies, different cooperation games and endogenous vs exogenous emotions.

[Task redistribution in Dutch dental care in relation to dental hygienists' job satisfaction].

PubMed

Jerkovic, K; van Offenbeek, M A G; van der Schans, C P

2010-05-01

In research into a professional cross-section of dental hygienists, we studied the extent to which task redistribution has an influence on job satisfaction. The research among randomly chosen dental hygienists consisted of questions about organizational and personal characteristics, the set of assigned tasks, task characteristics and job satisfaction. The respondents were divided into 3 clusters which differed in the breadth of their sets of tasks. Although prevention and periodontology services remain the core tasks in dental hygienists' jobs, the degree of task redistribution differed strongly from cluster to cluster. Respondents with a considerable degree of task redistribution experienced the most task variation, but scored significantly lower on the task characteristics autonomy, feedback, task identity and task importance. This explains why redistribution does not directly correspond with a greater degree of job satisfaction. Moreover, it is precisely the dental hygienists with a broad set of tasks who are significantly less satisfied with their salary than those with a traditional set of tasks.

Cognitive flexibility: A distinct element of performance impairment due to sleep deprivation.

PubMed

Honn, K A; Hinson, J M; Whitney, P; Van Dongen, H P A

2018-03-14

In around-the-clock operations, reduced alertness due to circadian misalignment and sleep loss causes performance impairment, which can lead to catastrophic errors and accidents. There is mounting evidence that performance on different tasks is differentially affected, but the general principles underlying this differentiation are not well understood. One factor that may be particularly relevant is the degree to which tasks require executive control, that is, control over the initiation, monitoring, and termination of actions in order to achieve goals. A key aspect of this is cognitive flexibility, i.e., the deployment of cognitive control resources to adapt to changes in events. Loss of cognitive flexibility due to sleep deprivation has been attributed to "feedback blunting," meaning that feedback on behavioral outcomes has reduced salience - and that feedback is therefore less effective at driving behavior modification under changing circumstances. The cognitive mechanisms underlying feedback blunting are as yet unknown. Here we present data from an experiment that investigated the effects of sleep deprivation on performance after an unexpected reversal of stimulus-response mappings, requiring cognitive flexibility to maintain good performance. Nineteen healthy young adults completed a 4-day in-laboratory study. Subjects were randomized to either a total sleep deprivation condition (n = 11) or a control condition (n = 8). Athree-phase reversal learning decision task was administered at baseline, and again after 30.5 h of sleep deprivation, or matching well-rested control. The task was based on a go/no go task paradigm, in which stimuli were assigned to either a go (response) set or a no go (no response) set. Each phase of the task included four stimuli (two in the go set and two in the no go set). After each stimulus presentation, subjects could make a response within 750 ms or withhold their response. They were then shown feedback on the accuracy of their response. In phase 1 of the task, subjects were explicitly told which stimuli were assigned to the go and no go sets. In phases 2 and 3, new stimuli were used that were different from those used in phase 1. Subjects were not explicitly told the go/no go mappings and were instead required to use accuracy feedback to learn which stimuli were in the go and nogo sets. Phase 3 continued directly from phase 2 and retained the same stimuli as in phase 2, but there was an unannounced reversal of the stimulus-response mappings. Task results confirmed that sleep deprivation resulted in loss of cognitive flexibility through feedback blunting, and that this effect was not produced solely by (1) general performance impairment because of overwhelming sleep drive; (2) reduced working memory resources available to perform the task; (3) incomplete learning of stimulus-response mappings before the unannounced reversal; or (4) interference with stimulus identification through lapses in vigilant attention. Overall, the results suggest that sleep deprivation causes a fundamental problem with dynamic attentional control. This element of performance impairment due to sleep deprivation appears to be distinct from vigilant attention deficits, and represents a particularly significant challenge for fatigue risk management. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Dissociating word stem completion and cued recall as a function of divided attention at retrieval.

PubMed

Clarke, A J Benjamin; Butler, Laurie T

2008-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the widely held, but largely untested, view that implicit memory (repetition priming) reflects an automatic form of retrieval. Specifically, in Experiment 1 we explored whether a secondary task (syllable monitoring), performed during retrieval, would disrupt performance on explicit (cued recall) and implicit (stem completion) memory tasks equally. Surprisingly, despite substantial memory and secondary costs to cued recall when performed with a syllable-monitoring task, the same manipulation had no effect on stem completion priming or on secondary task performance. In Experiment 2 we demonstrated that even when using a particularly demanding version of the stem completion task that incurred secondary task costs, the corresponding disruption to implicit memory performance was minimal. Collectively, the results are consistent with the view that implicit memory retrieval requires little or no processing capacity and is not seemingly susceptible to the effects of dividing attention at retrieval.

Computer-based coding of free-text job descriptions to efficiently identify occupations in epidemiological studies.

PubMed

Russ, Daniel E; Ho, Kwan-Yuet; Colt, Joanne S; Armenti, Karla R; Baris, Dalsu; Chow, Wong-Ho; Davis, Faith; Johnson, Alison; Purdue, Mark P; Karagas, Margaret R; Schwartz, Kendra; Schwenn, Molly; Silverman, Debra T; Johnson, Calvin A; Friesen, Melissa C

2016-06-01

Mapping job titles to standardised occupation classification (SOC) codes is an important step in identifying occupational risk factors in epidemiological studies. Because manual coding is time-consuming and has moderate reliability, we developed an algorithm called SOCcer (Standardized Occupation Coding for Computer-assisted Epidemiologic Research) to assign SOC-2010 codes based on free-text job description components. Job title and task-based classifiers were developed by comparing job descriptions to multiple sources linking job and task descriptions to SOC codes. An industry-based classifier was developed based on the SOC prevalence within an industry. These classifiers were used in a logistic model trained using 14 983 jobs with expert-assigned SOC codes to obtain empirical weights for an algorithm that scored each SOC/job description. We assigned the highest scoring SOC code to each job. SOCcer was validated in 2 occupational data sources by comparing SOC codes obtained from SOCcer to expert assigned SOC codes and lead exposure estimates obtained by linking SOC codes to a job-exposure matrix. For 11 991 case-control study jobs, SOCcer-assigned codes agreed with 44.5% and 76.3% of manually assigned codes at the 6-digit and 2-digit level, respectively. Agreement increased with the score, providing a mechanism to identify assignments needing review. Good agreement was observed between lead estimates based on SOCcer and manual SOC assignments (κ 0.6-0.8). Poorer performance was observed for inspection job descriptions, which included abbreviations and worksite-specific terminology. Although some manual coding will remain necessary, using SOCcer may improve the efficiency of incorporating occupation into large-scale epidemiological studies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Analysis of film cooling in rocket nozzles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woodbury, Keith A.

1993-01-01

This report summarizes the findings on the NASA contract NAG8-212, Task No. 3. The overall project consists of three tasks, all of which have been successfully completed. In addition, some supporting supplemental work, not required by the contract, has been performed and is documented herein. Task 1 involved the modification of the wall functions in the code FDNS (Finite Difference Navier-Stokes) to use a Reynolds Analogy-based method. This task was completed in August, 1992. Task 2 involved the verification of the code against experimentally available data. The data chosen for comparison was from an experiment involving the injection of helium from a wall jet. Results obtained in completing this task also show the sensitivity of the FDNS code to unknown conditions at the injection slot. This task was completed in September, 1992. Task 3 required the computation of the flow of hot exhaust gases through the P&W 40K subscale nozzle. Computations were performed both with and without film coolant injection. This task was completed in July, 1993. The FDNS program tends to overpredict heat fluxes, but, with suitable modeling of backside cooling, may give reasonable wall temperature predictions. For film cooling in the P&W 40K calorimeter subscale nozzle, the average wall temperature is reduced from 1750R to about 1050R by the film cooling. The average wall heat flux is reduced by a factor of 3.

The Role of Learning Tasks on Attitude Change Using Cognitive Flexibility Hypertext Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Godshalk, Veronica M.; Harvey, Douglas M.; Moller, Leslie

2004-01-01

In this study, the authors examined the impact of task assignment on the effectiveness of a Web-based experiential exercise based on cognitive flexibility theory to enlighten learner attitudes toward the ill-structured topic of sexual harassment. In the research study, we sought to shed light on the use of a cognitive flexibility approach when…

Investigating the Washback Effects of Task-Based Instruction on the Iranian EFL Learners' Vocabulary Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamzeh, Alireza

2016-01-01

The current research was an attempt to explore the washback impact of task-based instruction (TBI) on EFL Iranian learners' vocabulary development. To this end, conducting an Oxford Placement Test (OPT), 30 out of 72 EFL Iranian learners studying in an English language institute, were randomly selected. Then, they were assigned to experimental (N…

Using Multiple Dialog Modes in a User-System Interface to Accomodate Different Levels of User Experience: An Experimental Study.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-01-01

Chapter it Research Methodology This chapter describes the methodology and the experimental design used for this research. Prior to discussing the...50 Experimental Design ............................... 50 Task/Treatm ent ................................... 55 Task Design ...Figure 3.3 Interface Experiment Elements ............... 54 Figure 3.4 Experimental Design ....................... 55 Figure 3.5 Subject Assignment

Learning New Grammatical Structures in Task-Based Language Learning: The Effects of Recasts and Prompts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van de Guchte, Marrit; Braaksma, Martine; Rijlaarsdam, Gert; Bimmel, Peter

2015-01-01

In the present study, we examine the effects of prompts and recasts on the acquisition of two new and different grammar structures in a task-based learning environment. Sixty-four 14-year-old 9th grade students (low intermediate) learning German as a foreign language were randomly assigned to three conditions: two experimental groups (one…

Minimal Groups Increase Young Children's Motivation and Learning on Group-Relevant Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Master, Allison; Walton, Gregory M.

2013-01-01

Three experiments ("N" = 130) used a minimal group manipulation to show that just perceived membership in a social group boosts young children's motivation for and learning from group-relevant tasks. In Experiment 1, 4-year-old children assigned to a minimal "puzzles group" persisted longer on a challenging puzzle than children identified as the…

Effects of Collective Efficacy, Teamwork Attitudes, and Experience on Group Project Performance: Comparisons between 2 Food Science Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McLeod, Poppy Lauretta; Orta-Ramirez, Alicia

2018-01-01

The relationship between past teamwork and task-related experiences, attitude toward teamwork, collective efficacy, and task performance among undergraduates (N = 298) assigned to group projects (N = 48) in 2 different Food Science courses was examined. The results of survey data collected at the beginning and end of the projects showed that past…

The Relationship between Passibility, Agency and Social Interaction and Its Relevance for Research and Pedagogy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirch, Susan A.; Ma, Jasmine Y.

2016-01-01

The interaction analysis presented by Kim and Roth examines nine students, their teachers, the learning task and materials in a mixed second and third grade science classroom during the school day. In the research narrative readers are introduced to two resourceful and creative groups of students as they work on a task assigned by their…

30 CFR 48.7 - Training of miners assigned to a task in which they have had no previous experience; minimum...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... to new work tasks as mobile equipment operators, drilling machine operators, haulage and conveyor... protective measures a miner can take against these hazards, and the contents of the mine's HazCom program... operation in the mine, which require new or different operating procedures. (4) Such other courses as may be...

Using a Critical Appraisal Assignment to Infuse Evidence-Based Practice into a Therapeutic Modality Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zwart, Mary Beth; Olson, Bernadette

2014-01-01

Context: It is the responsibility of athletic training educators, through curriculum and clinical experiences, to engage students towards adopting evidence-based practice (EBP) into their practice. The initial task of implementing EBP into a curriculum or course can seem like a large task for educators and students. As a way to start scaffolding…