Functional brain organization of working memory in adolescents varies in relation to family income and academic achievement.

PubMed

Finn, Amy S; Minas, Jennifer E; Leonard, Julia A; Mackey, Allyson P; Salvatore, John; Goetz, Calvin; West, Martin R; Gabrieli, Christopher F O; Gabrieli, John D E

2017-09-01

Working memory (WM) capacity reflects executive functions associated with performance on a wide range of cognitive tasks and education outcomes, including mathematics achievement, and is associated with dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortices. Here we asked if family income is associated with variation in the functional brain organization of WM capacity among adolescents, and whether that variation is associated with performance on a statewide test of academic achievement in mathematics. Participants were classified into higher-income and lower-income groups based on family income, and performed a WM task with a parametric manipulation of WM load (N-back task) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Behaviorally, the higher-income group had greater WM capacity and higher mathematics achievement scores. Neurally, the higher-income group showed greater activation as a function of WM load in bilateral prefrontal, parietal, and other regions, although the lower-income group exhibited greater activation at the lowest load. Both groups exhibited positive correlations between parietal activations and mathematics achievement scores, but only the higher-income group exhibited a positive correlation between prefrontal activations and mathematics scores. Most of these findings were maintained when higher- and lower-income groups were matched on WM task performance or nonverbal IQ. Findings indicate that the functional neural architecture of WM varies with family income and is associated with education measures of mathematics achievement. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Children's motivation in elementary physical education: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Xiang, Ping; McBride, Ron; Guan, Jianmin

2004-03-01

The present study examined relationships among variables drawn from achievement goal theory and the expectancy-value model of achievement choice as well as mean level changes of these variables over time in elementary physical education. Participants (N = 207) completed questionnaires over a 2-year period: once while in the second and fourth grades and again when they were in the third and fifth grades. Results indicated that achievement goals, expectancy-related beliefs, and subjective task values were related to one another and were predictive of children's intention for future participation in physical education. Children's subjective task values of physical education decreased over time. Children in Cohort 1 (across second to third grades) generally had stronger motivation for learning in physical education than children in Cohort 2 (across fourth to fifth grades). Findings suggest the importance of integrating achievement goal theory and the expectancy-value model of achievement choice in understanding student motivation.

The effects of instructional sets on reactions to and performance on an intelligent tutoring system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Debra Steele

1993-01-01

The effects of a contextual factor, i.e., task instructions, on performance on and reactions to an Intellegent Tutoring System (ITS) training Remote Manipulator System (RMS) tasks were examined. The results supported the first prediction that task instructions could be used to successfully induce a mastery versus an achievement orientation. Previous research suggests that a mastery orientation can result in beneficial effects on learning and performance of complex tasks. Furthermore, the results supported the second prediction that a mastery orientation would have beneficial effects on learning and performance as well as affective and cognitive reactions to the ITS tasks. Moreover, the results indicated that a mastery orientation was especially beneficial for the more complex ITS tasks and later in task practice, i.e., when a task was performed for the second time. A mastery orientation is posited to have its beneficial effects by focusing more effort and attention on task performance. Conclusions are drawn with some caution due to the small number of subjects, although the results for these subjects were consistent across multiple trials and multiple measures of performance. ITS designers are urged to consider contextual factors such as task instructions and feedback in terms of their potential to induce a mastery versus an achievement orientation.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Torque and its Relationship to Achievement and Educational Classification among Normal, Disturbed, and Learning-Disabled Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alberts, Fred L.; Edwards, Ron P.

1983-01-01

Examined the effect of the presence of torque (clockwise circlings with either hand on a visual-motor task) on academic achievement variables among normal, disturbed, and learning-disabled children (N=948). Results indicated no clear relationship between torque and the various academic variables. (LLL)

Effects of Achievement Goals on Challenge Seeking and Feedback Processing: Behavioral and fMRI Evidence

PubMed Central

Lee, Woogul; Kim, Sung-il

2014-01-01

We conducted behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research to investigate the effects of two types of achievement goals—mastery goals and performance-approach goals— on challenge seeking and feedback processing. The results of the behavioral experiment indicated that mastery goals were associated with a tendency to seek challenge, both before and after experiencing difficulty during task performance, whereas performance-approach goals were related to a tendency to avoid challenge after encountering difficulty during task performance. The fMRI experiment uncovered a significant decrease in ventral striatal activity when participants received negative feedback for any task type and both forms of achievement goals. During the processing of negative feedback for the rule-finding task, performance-approach-oriented participants showed a substantial reduction in activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the frontopolar cortex, whereas mastery-oriented participants showed little change. These results suggest that performance-approach-oriented participants are less likely to either recruit control processes in response to negative feedback or focus on task-relevant information provided alongside the negative feedback. In contrast, mastery-oriented participants are more likely to modulate aversive valuations to negative feedback and focus on the constructive elements of feedback in order to attain their task goals. We conclude that performance-approach goals lead to a reluctant stance towards difficulty, while mastery goals encourage a proactive stance. PMID:25251396

Association between basic numerical abilities and mathematics achievement.

PubMed

Sasanguie, Delphine; De Smedt, Bert; Defever, Emmy; Reynvoet, Bert

2012-06-01

Various measures have been used to investigate number processing in children, including a number comparison or a number line estimation task. The present study aimed to examine whether and to which extent these different measures of number representation are related to performance on a curriculum-based standardized mathematics achievement test in kindergarteners, first, second, and sixth graders. Children completed a number comparison task and a number line estimation task with a balanced set of symbolic (Arabic digits) and non-symbolic (dot patterns) stimuli. Associations with mathematics achievement were observed for the symbolic measures. Although the association with number line estimation was consistent over grades, the association with number comparison was much stronger in kindergarten compared to the other grades. The current data indicate that a good knowledge of the numerical meaning of Arabic digits is important for children's mathematical development and that particularly the access to the numerical meaning of symbolic digits rather than the representation of number per se is important. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

Private speech of learning disabled and normally achieving children in classroom academic and laboratory contexts.

PubMed

Berk, L E; Landau, S

1993-04-01

Learning disabled (LD) children are often targets for cognitive-behavioral interventions designed to train them in effective use of a self-directed speech. The purpose of this study was to determine if, indeed, these children display immature private speech in the naturalistic classroom setting. Comparisons were made of the private speech, motor accompaniment to task, and attention of LD and normally achieving classmates during academic seatwork. Setting effects were examined by comparing classroom data with observations during academic seatwork and puzzle solving in the laboratory. Finally, a subgroup of LD children symptomatic of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was compared with pure LD and normally achieving controls to determine if the presumed immature private speech is a function of a learning disability or externalizing behavior problems. Results indicated that LD children used more task-relevant private speech than controls, an effect that was especially pronounced for the LD/ADHD subgroup. Use of private speech was setting- and task-specific. Implications for intervention and future research methodology are discussed.

Achievement Goals in a Presentation Task: Performance Expectancy, Achievement Goals, State Anxiety, and Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanaka, Ayumi; Takehara, Takuma; Yamauchi, Hirotsugu

2006-01-01

The aims of the study were to test the linkages between achievement goals to task performance, as mediated by state anxiety arousal. Performance expectancy was also examined as antecedents of achievement goals. A presentation task in a computer practice class was used as achievement task. Fifty-three undergraduates (37 females and 16 males) were…

Overview of the Cancer Genetics and Pathway Curation tasks of BioNLP Shared Task 2013

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Since their introduction in 2009, the BioNLP Shared Task events have been instrumental in advancing the development of methods and resources for the automatic extraction of information from the biomedical literature. In this paper, we present the Cancer Genetics (CG) and Pathway Curation (PC) tasks, two event extraction tasks introduced in the BioNLP Shared Task 2013. The CG task focuses on cancer, emphasizing the extraction of physiological and pathological processes at various levels of biological organization, and the PC task targets reactions relevant to the development of biomolecular pathway models, defining its extraction targets on the basis of established pathway representations and ontologies. Results Six groups participated in the CG task and two groups in the PC task, together applying a wide range of extraction approaches including both established state-of-the-art systems and newly introduced extraction methods. The best-performing systems achieved F-scores of 55% on the CG task and 53% on the PC task, demonstrating a level of performance comparable to the best results achieved in similar previously proposed tasks. Conclusions The results indicate that existing event extraction technology can generalize to meet the novel challenges represented by the CG and PC task settings, suggesting that extraction methods are capable of supporting the construction of knowledge bases on the molecular mechanisms of cancer and the curation of biomolecular pathway models. The CG and PC tasks continue as open challenges for all interested parties, with data, tools and resources available from the shared task homepage. PMID:26202570

Children's self-assessment of performance and task-related help seeking.

PubMed

Nelson-Le Gall, S; Kratzer, L; Jones, E; DeCooke, P

1990-04-01

The present research examined the role of self-assessment of performance on children's use of help-seeking as an achievement strategy. In two experiments, third- and fifth-grade children were blocked into low and high verbal skill groups. Children performed a multitrial verbal task in which they were required to indicate their confidence in the correctness of their tentative solution and then were given the opportunity to seek help before providing a final solution on each trial. The second experiment differed from the first in that subjects were provided with a common motivation for seeking help. Subjects' confidence in the correctness of their solution was found to influence both the frequency and type of help sought. High task-related skill was associated with the discriminating use of help-seeking as an achievement strategy, especially among boys. Also, both the frequency and type of help sought varied with self-assessments for older children more than for younger children. Findings are discussed in terms of grade and sex differences in the use of internally based cues for performance evaluation. The importance of accounting for the interplay of children's age and task specific skill with achievement-related goals is stressed.

Effect of task load and task load increment on performance and workload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hancock, P. A.; Williams, G.

1993-01-01

The goal of adaptive automated task allocation is the 'seamless' transfer of work demand between human and machine. Clearly, at the present time, we are far from this objective. One of the barriers to achieving effortless human-machine symbiosis is an inadequate understanding of the way in which operators themselves seek to reallocate demand among their own personal 'resources.' The paper addresses this through an examination of workload response, which scales an individual's reaction to common levels of experienced external demand. The results indicate the primary driver of performance is the absolute level of task demand over the increment in that demand.

Observed Emotional and Behavioral Indicators of Motivation Predict School Readiness in Head Start Graduates

PubMed Central

Berhenke, Amanda; Miller, Alison L.; Brown, Eleanor; Seifer, Ronald; Dickstein, Susan

2011-01-01

Emotions and behaviors observed during challenging tasks are hypothesized to be valuable indicators of young children's motivation, the assessment of which may be particularly important for children at risk for school failure. The current study demonstrated reliability and concurrent validity of a new observational assessment of motivation in young children. Head Start graduates completed challenging puzzle and trivia tasks during their kindergarten year. Children's emotion expression and task engagement were assessed based on their observed facial and verbal expressions and behavioral cues. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that observed persistence and shame predicted teacher ratings of children's academic achievement, whereas interest, anxiety, pride, shame, and persistence predicted children's social skills and learning-related behaviors. Children's emotional and behavioral responses to challenge thus appeared to be important indicators of school success. Observation of such responses may be a useful and valid alternative to self-report measures of motivation at this age. PMID:21949599

Observed Emotional and Behavioral Indicators of Motivation Predict School Readiness in Head Start Graduates.

PubMed

Berhenke, Amanda; Miller, Alison L; Brown, Eleanor; Seifer, Ronald; Dickstein, Susan

2011-01-01

Emotions and behaviors observed during challenging tasks are hypothesized to be valuable indicators of young children's motivation, the assessment of which may be particularly important for children at risk for school failure. The current study demonstrated reliability and concurrent validity of a new observational assessment of motivation in young children. Head Start graduates completed challenging puzzle and trivia tasks during their kindergarten year. Children's emotion expression and task engagement were assessed based on their observed facial and verbal expressions and behavioral cues. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that observed persistence and shame predicted teacher ratings of children's academic achievement, whereas interest, anxiety, pride, shame, and persistence predicted children's social skills and learning-related behaviors. Children's emotional and behavioral responses to challenge thus appeared to be important indicators of school success. Observation of such responses may be a useful and valid alternative to self-report measures of motivation at this age.

Exploring individual differences in children's mathematical skills: a correlational and dimensional approach.

PubMed

Sigmundsson, H; Polman, R C J; Lorås, H

2013-08-01

Individual differences in mathematical skills are typically explained by an innate capability to solve mathematical tasks. At the behavioural level this implies a consistent level of mathematical achievement that can be captured by strong relationships between tasks, as well as by a single statistical dimension that underlies performance on all mathematical tasks. To investigate this general assumption, the present study explored interrelations and dimensions of mathematical skills. For this purpose, 68 ten-year-old children from two schools were tested using nine mathematics tasks from the Basic Knowledge in Mathematics Test. Relatively low-to-moderate correlations between the mathematics tasks indicated most tasks shared less than 25% of their variance. There were four principal components, accounting for 70% of the variance in mathematical skill across tasks and participants. The high specificity in mathematical skills was discussed in relation to the principle of task specificity of learning.

The Effects of Material and Task Variations on a Brief Cognitive Learning Strategies Training Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-08-01

EFFECTS OF MATERIAL AND TASK VARIATIONS ON A BRIEF COGNITIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES TRAINING PROGRAM Introduction As scholastic achievement scores continue to...variance of the test scores revealed no significant dif- ferences among the three treatment conditions on any of the tests. Although these results...tentative because of the group performance patterns. On the first (easier) passage, group means indicated nearly perfect scores for all three of the

Auditory word identification in dyslexic and normally achieving readers.

PubMed

Bruno, Jennifer L; Manis, Franklin R; Keating, Patricia; Sperling, Anne J; Nakamoto, Jonathan; Seidenberg, Mark S

2007-07-01

The integrity of phonological representation/processing in dyslexic children was explored with a gating task in which children listened to successively longer segments (gates) of a word. At each gate, the task was to decide what the entire word was. Responses were scored for overall accuracy as well as the children's sensitivity to coarticulation from the final consonant. As a group, dyslexic children were less able than normally achieving readers to detect coarticulation present in the vowel portion of the word, particularly on the most difficult items, namely those ending in a nasal sound. Hierarchical regression and path analyses indicated that phonological awareness mediated the relation of gating and general language ability to word and pseudoword reading ability.

Cross-domain generality of achievement motivation across sport and the classroom: the case of Spanish adolescents.

PubMed

Castillo, Isabel; Duda, Joan L; Balaguer, Isabel; Tomás, Inés

2009-01-01

Drawing from contemporary social cognitive theories of achievement motivation, the relationship of personal theories of achievement (ego and task theory) with perceived ability and reported satisfaction with school and sport was examined. The cross-domain generality of these relationships in these contexts, in the case of a representative sample of adolescents between 11 and 15 years of age (N = 967, M age = 13.5, SD = 1.80; 492 girls and 475 boys) from the Valencian Community (Spain) also was examined. According to previous research in the United States (Duda & Nicholls, 1992), the findings of this study indicate a cross-domain consistency with regard to how adolescents tend to define success and their views of how achievement activities operate across sport and the classroom. However, little cross-domain generality was found for perceptions of ability and reported satisfaction. In the sport and classroom domains, a task theory was related to greater satisfaction, while an ego theory was related to greater reported boredom and low interest in the activity.

Types and Sequences of Self-Regulated Reading of Low-Achieving Adolescents in Relation to Reading Task Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Milliano, Ilona; van Gelderen, Amos; Sleegers, Peter

2016-01-01

This study examines the relationship between types and sequences of self-regulated reading activities in task-oriented reading with quality of task achievement of 51 low-achieving adolescents (Grade 8). The study used think aloud combined with video observations to analyse the students' approach of a content-area reading task in the stages of…

Validation of a Visual-Spatial Secondary Task to Assess Automaticity in Laparoscopic Skills.

PubMed

Castillo, Richard; Alvarado, Juan; Moreno, Pablo; Billeke, Pablo; Martínez, Carlos; Varas, Julián; Jarufe, Nicolás

2017-12-26

Our objective was to assess reliability and validity of a visual-spatial secondary task (VSST) as a method to measure automaticity on a basic simulated laparoscopic skill model. In motor skill acquisition, expertise is defined by automaticity. The highest level of performance with less cognitive and attentional resources characterizes this stage, allowing experts to perform multiple tasks. Conventional validated parameters as operative time, objective assessment skills scales (OSATS), and movement economy, are insufficient to distinguish if an individual has reached the more advanced learning phases, such as automaticity. There is literature about using a VSST as an attention indicator that correlates with the automaticity level. Novices with completed and approved Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery course, and laparoscopy experts were enrolled for an experimental study and measured under dual tasks conditions. Each participant performed the test giving priority to the primary task while at the same time they responded to a VSST. The primary task consisted of 4 interrupted laparoscopic stitches (ILS) on a bench-model. The VSST was a screen that showed different patterns that the surgeon had to recognize and press a pedal while doing the stitches (PsychoPsy software, Python, MacOS). Novices were overtrained on ILS until they reach at least 100 repetitions and then were retested. Participants were video recorded and then assessed by 2 blinded evaluators who measured operative time and OSATS. These scores were considered indicators of quality for the primary task. The VSST performance was measured by the detectability index (DI), which is a ratio between correct and wrong detections. A reliable evaluation was defined as two measures of DI with less than 10% of difference, maintaining the cutoff scores for performance on the primary task (operative time <110 seg and OSATS >17 points). Novices (n = 11) achieved reliable measure of the test after 2 (2-5) repetitions on the preassessment and 3.75 (2-5) on the postassessment (p = 0.04); whereas laparoscopy experts (n = 4) did it after 3.5 (3-4) repetitions. Proficiency cutoff scores for the primary task were achieved on every measure for novices (prepost overtraining) and experts. Expert performance on VSST was DI 0.78 (0.69-0.87). Novice performance was significantly better on postassessment (DI-pre 0.48 [0.06-0.71] vs DI-post 0.78 [0.48-0.95], p = 0.003). Overtraining consisted in 140 (100-210) repetitions of ILS for all novices, made in 8 hours (3-15). By categorizing DI based on expert performance, novices with DI-post >0.65 achieved better OSATS score and less operative time than novices with DI-post<0.65 (p = 0.007 y, p = 0.089, respectively). Measuring automaticity is feasible using a VSST. This instrument is reliable and has a face, content and construct validity. A DI over 0.65 may be a cutoff point correlated with high standard performance on the primary task. This instrument measures performance on laparoscopic skills, and along with conventional indicators, would better define advance levels of expertise. More studies are required applying this VSST to achieve external validity by reproducing our results. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cue combination in a combined feature contrast detection and figure identification task.

PubMed

Meinhardt, Günter; Persike, Malte; Mesenholl, Björn; Hagemann, Cordula

2006-11-01

Target figures defined by feature contrast in spatial frequency, orientation or both cues had to be detected in Gabor random fields and their shape had to be identified in a dual task paradigm. Performance improved with increasing feature contrast and was strongly correlated among both tasks. Subjects performed significantly better with combined cues than with single cues. The improvement due to cue summation was stronger than predicted by the assumption of independent feature specific mechanisms, and increased with the performance level achieved with single cues until it was limited by ceiling effects. Further, cue summation was also strongly correlated among tasks: when there was benefit due to the additional cue in feature contrast detection, there was also benefit in figure identification. For the same performance level achieved with single cues, cue summation was generally larger in figure identification than in feature contrast detection, indicating more benefit when processes of shape and surface formation are involved. Our results suggest that cue combination improves spatial form completion and figure-ground segregation in noisy environments, and therefore leads to more stable object vision.

Motivation and Performance within a Collaborative Computer-Based Modeling Task: Relations between Students' Achievement Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, Cognitive Processing, and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sins, Patrick H. M.; van Joolingen, Wouter R.; Savelsbergh, Elwin R.; van Hout-Wolters, Bernadette

2008-01-01

Purpose of the present study was to test a conceptual model of relations among achievement goal orientation, self-efficacy, cognitive processing, and achievement of students working within a particular collaborative task context. The task involved a collaborative computer-based modeling task. In order to test the model, group measures of…

Overview of the ID, EPI and REL tasks of BioNLP Shared Task 2011.

PubMed

Pyysalo, Sampo; Ohta, Tomoko; Rak, Rafal; Sullivan, Dan; Mao, Chunhong; Wang, Chunxia; Sobral, Bruno; Tsujii, Jun'ichi; Ananiadou, Sophia

2012-06-26

We present the preparation, resources, results and analysis of three tasks of the BioNLP Shared Task 2011: the main tasks on Infectious Diseases (ID) and Epigenetics and Post-translational Modifications (EPI), and the supporting task on Entity Relations (REL). The two main tasks represent extensions of the event extraction model introduced in the BioNLP Shared Task 2009 (ST'09) to two new areas of biomedical scientific literature, each motivated by the needs of specific biocuration tasks. The ID task concerns the molecular mechanisms of infection, virulence and resistance, focusing in particular on the functions of a class of signaling systems that are ubiquitous in bacteria. The EPI task is dedicated to the extraction of statements regarding chemical modifications of DNA and proteins, with particular emphasis on changes relating to the epigenetic control of gene expression. By contrast to these two application-oriented main tasks, the REL task seeks to support extraction in general by separating challenges relating to part-of relations into a subproblem that can be addressed by independent systems. Seven groups participated in each of the two main tasks and four groups in the supporting task. The participating systems indicated advances in the capability of event extraction methods and demonstrated generalization in many aspects: from abstracts to full texts, from previously considered subdomains to new ones, and from the ST'09 extraction targets to other entities and events. The highest performance achieved in the supporting task REL, 58% F-score, is broadly comparable with levels reported for other relation extraction tasks. For the ID task, the highest-performing system achieved 56% F-score, comparable to the state-of-the-art performance at the established ST'09 task. In the EPI task, the best result was 53% F-score for the full set of extraction targets and 69% F-score for a reduced set of core extraction targets, approaching a level of performance sufficient for user-facing applications. In this study, we extend on previously reported results and perform further analyses of the outputs of the participating systems. We place specific emphasis on aspects of system performance relating to real-world applicability, considering alternate evaluation metrics and performing additional manual analysis of system outputs. We further demonstrate that the strengths of extraction systems can be combined to improve on the performance achieved by any system in isolation. The manually annotated corpora, supporting resources, and evaluation tools for all tasks are available from http://www.bionlp-st.org and the tasks continue as open challenges for all interested parties.

Overview of the ID, EPI and REL tasks of BioNLP Shared Task 2011

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

We present the preparation, resources, results and analysis of three tasks of the BioNLP Shared Task 2011: the main tasks on Infectious Diseases (ID) and Epigenetics and Post-translational Modifications (EPI), and the supporting task on Entity Relations (REL). The two main tasks represent extensions of the event extraction model introduced in the BioNLP Shared Task 2009 (ST'09) to two new areas of biomedical scientific literature, each motivated by the needs of specific biocuration tasks. The ID task concerns the molecular mechanisms of infection, virulence and resistance, focusing in particular on the functions of a class of signaling systems that are ubiquitous in bacteria. The EPI task is dedicated to the extraction of statements regarding chemical modifications of DNA and proteins, with particular emphasis on changes relating to the epigenetic control of gene expression. By contrast to these two application-oriented main tasks, the REL task seeks to support extraction in general by separating challenges relating to part-of relations into a subproblem that can be addressed by independent systems. Seven groups participated in each of the two main tasks and four groups in the supporting task. The participating systems indicated advances in the capability of event extraction methods and demonstrated generalization in many aspects: from abstracts to full texts, from previously considered subdomains to new ones, and from the ST'09 extraction targets to other entities and events. The highest performance achieved in the supporting task REL, 58% F-score, is broadly comparable with levels reported for other relation extraction tasks. For the ID task, the highest-performing system achieved 56% F-score, comparable to the state-of-the-art performance at the established ST'09 task. In the EPI task, the best result was 53% F-score for the full set of extraction targets and 69% F-score for a reduced set of core extraction targets, approaching a level of performance sufficient for user-facing applications. In this study, we extend on previously reported results and perform further analyses of the outputs of the participating systems. We place specific emphasis on aspects of system performance relating to real-world applicability, considering alternate evaluation metrics and performing additional manual analysis of system outputs. We further demonstrate that the strengths of extraction systems can be combined to improve on the performance achieved by any system in isolation. The manually annotated corpora, supporting resources, and evaluation tools for all tasks are available from http://www.bionlp-st.org and the tasks continue as open challenges for all interested parties. PMID:22759456

Task- and self-related pathways to deep learning: the mediating role of achievement goals, classroom attentiveness, and group participation.

PubMed

Lau, Shun; Liem, Arief Darmanegara; Nie, Youyan

2008-12-01

The expectancy-value and achievement goal theories are arguably the two most dominant theories of achievement motivation in the contemporary literature. However, very few studies have examined how the constructs derived from both theories are related to deep learning. Moreover, although there is evidence demonstrating the links between achievement goals and deep learning, little research has examined the mediating processes involved. The aims of this research were to: (a) investigate the role of task- and self-related beliefs (task value and self-efficacy) as well as achievement goals in predicting deep learning in mathematics and (b) examine how classroom attentiveness and group participation mediated the relations between achievement goals and deep learning. The sample comprised 1,476 Grade-9 students from 39 schools in Singapore. Students' self-efficacy, task value, achievement goals, classroom attentiveness, group participation, and deep learning in mathematics were assessed by a self-reported questionnaire administered on-line. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the hypothesized model linking these variables. Task value was predictive of task-related achievement goals whereas self-efficacy was predictive of task-approach, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Achievement goals were found to fully mediate the relations between task value and self-efficacy on the one hand, and classroom attentiveness, group participation, and deep learning on the other. Classroom attentiveness and group participation partially mediated the relations between achievement goal adoption and deep learning. The findings suggest that (a) task- and self-related pathways are two possible routes through which students could be motivated to learn and (b) like task-approach goals, performance-approach goals could lead to adaptive processes and outcomes.

Acquisition of Motor and Cognitive Skills through Repetition in Typically Developing Children

PubMed Central

Magallón, Sara; Narbona, Juan; Crespo-Eguílaz, Nerea

2016-01-01

Background Procedural memory allows acquisition, consolidation and use of motor skills and cognitive routines. Automation of procedures is achieved through repeated practice. In children, improvement in procedural skills is a consequence of natural neurobiological development and experience. Methods The aim of the present research was to make a preliminary evaluation and description of repetition-based improvement of procedures in typically developing children (TDC). Ninety TDC children aged 6–12 years were asked to perform two procedural learning tasks. In an assembly learning task, which requires predominantly motor skills, we measured the number of assembled pieces in 60 seconds. In a mirror drawing learning task, which requires more cognitive functions, we measured time spent and efficiency. Participants were tested four times for each task: three trials were consecutive and the fourth trial was performed after a 10-minute nonverbal interference task. The influence of repeated practice on performance was evaluated by means of the analysis of variance with repeated measures and the paired-sample test. Correlation coefficients and simple linear regression test were used to examine the relationship between age and performance. Results TDC achieved higher scores in both tasks through repetition. Older children fitted more pieces than younger ones in assembling learning and they were faster and more efficient at the mirror drawing learning task. Conclusions These findings indicate that three consecutive trials at a procedural task increased speed and efficiency, and that age affected basal performance in motor-cognitive procedures. PMID:27384671

Acquisition of Motor and Cognitive Skills through Repetition in Typically Developing Children.

PubMed

Magallón, Sara; Narbona, Juan; Crespo-Eguílaz, Nerea

2016-01-01

Procedural memory allows acquisition, consolidation and use of motor skills and cognitive routines. Automation of procedures is achieved through repeated practice. In children, improvement in procedural skills is a consequence of natural neurobiological development and experience. The aim of the present research was to make a preliminary evaluation and description of repetition-based improvement of procedures in typically developing children (TDC). Ninety TDC children aged 6-12 years were asked to perform two procedural learning tasks. In an assembly learning task, which requires predominantly motor skills, we measured the number of assembled pieces in 60 seconds. In a mirror drawing learning task, which requires more cognitive functions, we measured time spent and efficiency. Participants were tested four times for each task: three trials were consecutive and the fourth trial was performed after a 10-minute nonverbal interference task. The influence of repeated practice on performance was evaluated by means of the analysis of variance with repeated measures and the paired-sample test. Correlation coefficients and simple linear regression test were used to examine the relationship between age and performance. TDC achieved higher scores in both tasks through repetition. Older children fitted more pieces than younger ones in assembling learning and they were faster and more efficient at the mirror drawing learning task. These findings indicate that three consecutive trials at a procedural task increased speed and efficiency, and that age affected basal performance in motor-cognitive procedures.

Long-lasting effects of performance-contingent unconscious and conscious reward incentives during cued task-switching.

PubMed

Capa, Rémi L; Bouquet, Cédric A; Dreher, Jean-Claude; Dufour, André

2013-01-01

Motivation is often thought to interact consciously with executive control, although recent studies have indicated that motivation can also be unconscious. To date, however, the effects of unconscious motivation on high-order executive control functions have not been explored. Only a few studies using subliminal stimuli (i.e., those not related to motivation, such as an arrow to prime a response) have reported short-lived effects on high-order executive control functions. Here, building on research on unconscious motivation, in which a behavior of perseverance is induced to attain a goal, we hypothesized that subliminal motivation can have long-lasting effects on executive control processes. We investigated the impact of unconscious/conscious monetary reward incentives on evoked potentials and neural activity dynamics during cued task-switching performance. Participants performed long runs of task-switching. At the beginning of each run, a reward (50 cents or 1 cent) was displayed, either subliminally or supraliminally. Participants earned the reward contingent upon their correct responses to each trial of the run. A higher percentage of runs was achieved with higher (conscious and unconscious) than lower rewards, indicating that unconscious high rewards have long-lasting behavioral effects. Event-related potential (ERP) results indicated that unconscious and conscious rewards influenced preparatory effort in task preparation, as suggested by a greater fronto-central contingent negative variation (CNV) starting at cue-onset. However, a greater parietal P3 associated with better reaction times (RTs) was observed only under conditions of conscious high reward, suggesting a larger amount of working memory invested during task performance. Together, these results indicate that unconscious and conscious motivations are similar at early stages of task-switching preparation but differ during task performance. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predictors of early growth in academic achievement: the head-toes-knees-shoulders task

PubMed Central

McClelland, Megan M.; Cameron, Claire E.; Duncan, Robert; Bowles, Ryan P.; Acock, Alan C.; Miao, Alicia; Pratt, Megan E.

2014-01-01

Children's behavioral self-regulation and executive function (EF; including attentional or cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control) are strong predictors of academic achievement. The present study examined the psychometric properties of a measure of behavioral self-regulation called the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) by assessing construct validity, including relations to EF measures, and predictive validity to academic achievement growth between prekindergarten and kindergarten. In the fall and spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten, 208 children (51% enrolled in Head Start) were assessed on the HTKS, measures of cognitive flexibility, working memory (WM), and inhibitory control, and measures of emergent literacy, mathematics, and vocabulary. For construct validity, the HTKS was significantly related to cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control in prekindergarten and kindergarten. For predictive validity in prekindergarten, a random effects model indicated that the HTKS significantly predicted growth in mathematics, whereas a cognitive flexibility task significantly predicted growth in mathematics and vocabulary. In kindergarten, the HTKS was the only measure to significantly predict growth in all academic outcomes. An alternative conservative analytical approach, a fixed effects analysis (FEA) model, also indicated that growth in both the HTKS and measures of EF significantly predicted growth in mathematics over four time points between prekindergarten and kindergarten. Results demonstrate that the HTKS involves cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control, and is substantively implicated in early achievement, with the strongest relations found for growth in achievement during kindergarten and associations with emergent mathematics. PMID:25071619

Predicting Students' Academic Achievement: Contributions of Perceptions of Classroom Assessment Tasks and Motivated Learning Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alkharusi, Hussain

2016-01-01

Introduction: Students are daily exposed to a variety of assessment tasks in the classroom. It has long been recognized that students' perceptions of the assessment tasks may influence student academic achievement. The present study aimed at predicting academic achievement in mathematics from perceptions of the assessment tasks after controlling…

Suppression of biodynamic interference in head-tracked teleoperation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lifshitz, S.; Merhav, S. J.; Grunwald, A. J.; Tucker, G. E.; Tischler, M. B.

1991-01-01

The utility of helmet-tracked sights to provide pointing commands for teleoperation of cameras, lasers, or antennas in aircraft is degraded by the presence of uncommanded, involuntary heat motion, referred to as biodynamic interference. This interference limits the achievable precision required in pointing tasks. The noise contributions due to biodynamic interference consists of an additive component which is correlated with aircraft vibration and an uncorrelated, nonadditive component, referred to as remnant. An experimental simulation study is described which investigated the improvements achievable in pointing and tracking precision using dynamic display shifting in the helmet-mounted display. The experiment was conducted in a six degree of freedom motion base simulator with an emulated helmet-mounted display. Highly experienced pilot subjects performed precision head-pointing tasks while manually flying a visual flight-path tracking task. Four schemes using adaptive and low-pass filtering of the head motion were evaluated to determine their effects on task performance and pilot workload in the presence of whole-body vibration characteristic of helicopter flight. The results indicate that, for tracking tasks involving continuously moving targets, improvements of up to 70 percent can be achieved in percent on-target dwelling time and of up to 35 percent in rms tracking error, with the adaptive plus low-pass filter configuration. The results with the same filter configuration for the task of capturing randomly-positioned, stationary targets show an increase of up to 340 percent in the number of targets captured and an improvement of up to 24 percent in the average capture time. The adaptive plus low-pass filter combination was considered to exhibit the best overall display dynamics by each of the subjects.

Simulator training to automaticity leads to improved skill transfer compared with traditional proficiency-based training: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Stefanidis, Dimitrios; Scerbo, Mark W; Montero, Paul N; Acker, Christina E; Smith, Warren D

2012-01-01

We hypothesized that novices will perform better in the operating room after simulator training to automaticity compared with traditional proficiency based training (current standard training paradigm). Simulator-acquired skill translates to the operating room, but the skill transfer is incomplete. Secondary task metrics reflect the ability of trainees to multitask (automaticity) and may improve performance assessment on simulators and skill transfer by indicating when learning is complete. Novices (N = 30) were enrolled in an IRB-approved, blinded, randomized, controlled trial. Participants were randomized into an intervention (n = 20) and a control (n = 10) group. The intervention group practiced on the FLS suturing task until they achieved expert levels of time and errors (proficiency), were tested on a live porcine fundoplication model, continued simulator training until they achieved expert levels on a visual spatial secondary task (automaticity) and were retested on the operating room (OR) model. The control group participated only during testing sessions. Performance scores were compared within and between groups during testing sessions. : Intervention group participants achieved proficiency after 54 ± 14 and automaticity after additional 109 ± 57 repetitions. Participants achieved better scores in the OR after automaticity training [345 (range, 0-537)] compared with after proficiency-based training [220 (range, 0-452; P < 0.001]. Simulator training to automaticity takes more time but is superior to proficiency-based training, as it leads to improved skill acquisition and transfer. Secondary task metrics that reflect trainee automaticity should be implemented during simulator training to improve learning and skill transfer.

Incorporating linguistic knowledge for learning distributed word representations.

PubMed

Wang, Yan; Liu, Zhiyuan; Sun, Maosong

2015-01-01

Combined with neural language models, distributed word representations achieve significant advantages in computational linguistics and text mining. Most existing models estimate distributed word vectors from large-scale data in an unsupervised fashion, which, however, do not take rich linguistic knowledge into consideration. Linguistic knowledge can be represented as either link-based knowledge or preference-based knowledge, and we propose knowledge regularized word representation models (KRWR) to incorporate these prior knowledge for learning distributed word representations. Experiment results demonstrate that our estimated word representation achieves better performance in task of semantic relatedness ranking. This indicates that our methods can efficiently encode both prior knowledge from knowledge bases and statistical knowledge from large-scale text corpora into a unified word representation model, which will benefit many tasks in text mining.

Incorporating Linguistic Knowledge for Learning Distributed Word Representations

PubMed Central

Wang, Yan; Liu, Zhiyuan; Sun, Maosong

2015-01-01

Combined with neural language models, distributed word representations achieve significant advantages in computational linguistics and text mining. Most existing models estimate distributed word vectors from large-scale data in an unsupervised fashion, which, however, do not take rich linguistic knowledge into consideration. Linguistic knowledge can be represented as either link-based knowledge or preference-based knowledge, and we propose knowledge regularized word representation models (KRWR) to incorporate these prior knowledge for learning distributed word representations. Experiment results demonstrate that our estimated word representation achieves better performance in task of semantic relatedness ranking. This indicates that our methods can efficiently encode both prior knowledge from knowledge bases and statistical knowledge from large-scale text corpora into a unified word representation model, which will benefit many tasks in text mining. PMID:25874581

Ordinal Position and Death Concerns.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eckstein, Daniel; Tobacyk, Jerome

The relationship between birth order and how a person deals with death is investigated. Both theoretical and empirical evidence indicates that birth order influences how a person deals with life tasks. First-borns appear more achievement-oriented than their younger siblings, as exemplified by the fact that disproportionately greater numbers of…

A Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm for Multi-Sensor Task Allocation.

PubMed

Tkach, Itshak; Jevtić, Aleksandar; Nof, Shimon Y; Edan, Yael

2018-03-02

Multi-sensor systems can play an important role in monitoring tasks and detecting targets. However, real-time allocation of heterogeneous sensors to dynamic targets/tasks that are unknown a priori in their locations and priorities is a challenge. This paper presents a Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm (MDBA) that is developed to allocate stationary heterogeneous sensors to upcoming unknown tasks using a decentralized, swarm intelligence approach to minimize the task detection times. Sensors are allocated to tasks based on sensors' performance, tasks' priorities, and the distances of the sensors from the locations where the tasks are being executed. The algorithm was compared to a Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), a Bees System, and two common multi-sensor algorithms, market-based and greedy-based algorithms, which were fitted for the specific task. Simulation analyses revealed that MDBA achieved statistically significant improved performance by 7% with respect to DBA as the second-best algorithm, and by 19% with respect to Greedy algorithm, which was the worst, thus indicating its fitness to provide solutions for heterogeneous multi-sensor systems.

Classroom observation data and instruction in primary mathematics education: improving design and rigour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, Carla J.; Davis, Sandra B.

2014-06-01

The use of formal observation in primary mathematics classrooms is supported in the literature as a viable method of determining effective teaching strategies and appropriate tasks for inclusion in the early years of mathematics learning. The twofold aim of this study was to (a) investigate predictive relationships between primary mathematics classroom observational data and student achievement data, and (b) to examine the impact of providing periodic classroom observational data feedback to teachers using a Relational-Feedback-Intervention (RFI) Database Model. This observational research effort focused on an empirical examination of student engagement levels in time spent on specific learning activities observed in primary mathematics classrooms as predictors of student competency outcomes in mathematics. Data were collected from more than 2,000 primary classroom observations in 17 primary schools during 2009-2011 and from standardised end-of-year tests for mathematics achievement. Results revealed predictive relationships among several types of teaching and learning tasks with student achievement. Specifically, the use of mathematics concepts, technology and hands-on materials in primary mathematics classrooms was found to produce substantive predictors of increased student mathematics achievement. Additional findings supported the use of periodic classroom observation data reporting as a positive influence on teachers' decisions in determining instructional tasks for inclusion in primary mathematics classrooms. Study results indicate classroom observational research involving a RFI Database Model is a productive tool for improving teaching and learning in primary mathematics classrooms.

Quantitative phase microscopy using deep neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shuai; Sinha, Ayan; Lee, Justin; Barbastathis, George

2018-02-01

Deep learning has been proven to achieve ground-breaking accuracy in various tasks. In this paper, we implemented a deep neural network (DNN) to achieve phase retrieval in a wide-field microscope. Our DNN utilized the residual neural network (ResNet) architecture and was trained using the data generated by a phase SLM. The results showed that our DNN was able to reconstruct the profile of the phase target qualitatively. In the meantime, large error still existed, which indicated that our approach still need to be improved.

The Influence of Achievement Goal Orientations and Task Concreteness on Situational Interest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tapola, Anna; Jaakkola, Tomi; Niemivirta, Markku

2014-01-01

This study investigated changes in elementary school students' (n = 140) situational interest as a function of achievement goal orientation profiles and task characteristics. The authors repeatedly measured situational interest during a simulated science learning task in 2 task conditions that differed in the concreteness of the task elements. The…

A Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm for Multi-Sensor Task Allocation †

PubMed Central

Nof, Shimon Y.; Edan, Yael

2018-01-01

Multi-sensor systems can play an important role in monitoring tasks and detecting targets. However, real-time allocation of heterogeneous sensors to dynamic targets/tasks that are unknown a priori in their locations and priorities is a challenge. This paper presents a Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm (MDBA) that is developed to allocate stationary heterogeneous sensors to upcoming unknown tasks using a decentralized, swarm intelligence approach to minimize the task detection times. Sensors are allocated to tasks based on sensors’ performance, tasks’ priorities, and the distances of the sensors from the locations where the tasks are being executed. The algorithm was compared to a Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), a Bees System, and two common multi-sensor algorithms, market-based and greedy-based algorithms, which were fitted for the specific task. Simulation analyses revealed that MDBA achieved statistically significant improved performance by 7% with respect to DBA as the second-best algorithm, and by 19% with respect to Greedy algorithm, which was the worst, thus indicating its fitness to provide solutions for heterogeneous multi-sensor systems. PMID:29498683

Cooperative Language Learning: Increasing Opportunities for Learning in Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wichadee, Saovapa; Orawiwatnakul, Wiwat

2012-01-01

This paper conceptualizes cooperative language learning, group instruction which is under the learner-centered approach where the groups are formed in such a way that each member performs his or her task to achieve the goal. Previous research indicates that cooperative language learning doesn't only improve learners' language skills, but also…

Optimal Designs for Performance Assessments: The Subject Factor.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parkes, Jay

Much speculation abounds concerning how expensive performance assessments are or are going to be. Recent projections indicate that, in order to achieve an acceptably high generalizability coefficient, many additional tasks may need to be added, which will enlarge costs. Such projections are, to some degree, correct, and to some degree simplistic.…

The Effects of Written Language Awareness on First Grade Reading Achievement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Nancy E.; Blum, Irene H.

A battery of four reading readiness assessment tasks was administered to 267 first grade students to determine if the tasks predicted reading achievement as well as the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT). The four tasks, which were the best predictors in a previous study of seven readiness tasks, were the aural word boundaries task, the…

Measuring Executive Function in Early Childhood: A Case for Formative Measurement

PubMed Central

Willoughby, Michael T.; Blair, Clancy B.

2015-01-01

This study tested whether individual executive function (EF) tasks were better characterized as formative (causal) or reflective (effect) indicators of the latent construct of EF. EF data that were collected as part of the Family Life Project (FLP), a prospective longitudinal study of families who were recruited at the birth of a new child (N = 1292), when children were 3, 4, and 5 years old. Vanishing tetrad tests were used to test the relative fit of models in which EF tasks were used as either formative or reflective indicators of the latent construct of EF in the prediction of intellectual ability (at age 3), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms (at ages 3–5 years), and academic achievement (at kindergarten). Results consistently indicated that EF tasks were better represented as formative indicators of the latent construct of EF. Next, individual tasks were combined to form an overall measure of EF ability in ways generally consistent with formative (i.e., creating a composite mean score) and reflective (i.e., creating an EF factor score) measurement. The test-retest reliability and developmental trajectories of EF differed substantially, depending on which overall measure of EF ability was used. In general, the across-time stability of EF was markedly higher, perhaps implausibly high, when represented as a factor score versus composite score. Results are discussed with respect to the ways in which the statistical representation of EF tasks can exert a large impact on inferences regarding the developmental causes, course, and consequences of EF. More generally, these results exemplify how some psychological constructs may not conform to conventional measurement wisdom. PMID:26121388

[The representation of scientific publications of RAMS in WEB of science: evaluation of current indicators and prospects of their increasing].

PubMed

Starodubtsev, V I; Kuznetsov, S L; Kurakova, N G; Tsvetkova, L A

2012-01-01

The contribution scientific publications of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS) in the national publication stream, indexed by Web of Science over the past thirty years, was estimated. The indicators of publication activity that are necessary for the institutions of RAMS to achieve in short-term period the conformity with bibliometric indicators, established by Presidential Decree of May 7, 2012 (to increase the share of Russian publications in Web of Science to 2.44% in 2015) were calculated. It is shown that the current structure of global science, where publications in medicine make up for approximately one third of scientific publications in the world, set for RAMS scientists particularly difficult task: to double in three years the number of publications in Web of Sci. In the article are proposed the priorities and the necessary steps to fulfill this task.

Calculation and word problem-solving skills in primary grades - Impact of cognitive abilities and longitudinal interrelations with task-persistent behaviour.

PubMed

Jõgi, Anna-Liisa; Kikas, Eve

2016-06-01

Primary school math skills form a basis for academic success down the road. Different math skills have different antecedents and there is a reason to believe that more complex math tasks require better self-regulation. The study aimed to investigate longitudinal interrelations of calculation and problem-solving skills, and task-persistent behaviour in Grade 1 and Grade 3, and the effect of non-verbal intelligence, linguistic abilities, and executive functioning on math skills and task persistence. Participants were 864 students (52.3% boys) from 33 different schools in Estonia. Students were tested twice - at the end of Grade1 and at the end of Grade 3. Calculation and problem-solving skills, and teacher-rated task-persistent behaviour were measured at both time points. Non-verbal intelligence, linguistic abilities, and executive functioning were measured in Grade 1. Cross-lagged structural equation modelling indicated that calculation skills depend on previous math skills and linguistic abilities, while problem-solving skills require also non-verbal intelligence, executive functioning, and task persistence. Task-persistent behaviour in Grade 3 was predicted by previous problem-solving skills, linguistic abilities, and executive functioning. Gender and mother's educational level were added as covariates. The findings indicate that math skills and self-regulation are strongly related in primary grades and that solving complex tasks requires executive functioning and task persistence from children. Findings support the idea that instructional practices might benefit from supporting self-regulation in order to gain domain-specific, complex skill achievement. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Diverse task scheduling for individualized requirements in cloud manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Longfei; Zhang, Lin; Zhao, Chun; Laili, Yuanjun; Xu, Lida

2018-03-01

Cloud manufacturing (CMfg) has emerged as a new manufacturing paradigm that provides ubiquitous, on-demand manufacturing services to customers through network and CMfg platforms. In CMfg system, task scheduling as an important means of finding suitable services for specific manufacturing tasks plays a key role in enhancing the system performance. Customers' requirements in CMfg are highly individualized, which leads to diverse manufacturing tasks in terms of execution flows and users' preferences. We focus on diverse manufacturing tasks and aim to address their scheduling issue in CMfg. First of all, a mathematical model of task scheduling is built based on analysis of the scheduling process in CMfg. To solve this scheduling problem, we propose a scheduling method aiming for diverse tasks, which enables each service demander to obtain desired manufacturing services. The candidate service sets are generated according to subtask directed graphs. An improved genetic algorithm is applied to searching for optimal task scheduling solutions. The effectiveness of the scheduling method proposed is verified by a case study with individualized customers' requirements. The results indicate that the proposed task scheduling method is able to achieve better performance than some usual algorithms such as simulated annealing and pattern search.

Do tasks make a difference? Accounting for heterogeneity of performance of children with reading difficulties on tasks of executive function: findings from a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Booth, Josephine N; Boyle, James M E; Kelly, Steve W

2010-03-01

Research studies have implicated executive functions in reading difficulties (RD). But while some studies have found children with RD to be impaired on tasks of executive function other studies report unimpaired performance. A meta-analysis was carried out to determine whether these discrepant findings can be accounted for by differences in the tasks of executive function that are utilized. A total of 48 studies comparing the performance on tasks of executive function of children with RD with their typically developing peers were included in the meta-analysis, yielding 180 effect sizes. An overall effect size of 0.57 (SE .03) was obtained, indicating that children with RD have impairments on tasks of executive function. However, effect sizes varied considerably suggesting that the impairment is not uniform. Moderator analysis revealed that task modality and IQ-achievement discrepancy definitions of RD influenced the magnitude of effect; however, the age and gender of participants and the nature of the RD did not have an influence. While the children's RD were associated with executive function impairments, variation in effect size is a product of the assessment task employed, underlying task demands, and definitional criteria.

Learning compliant manipulation through kinesthetic and tactile human-robot interaction.

PubMed

Kronander, Klas; Billard, Aude

2014-01-01

Robot Learning from Demonstration (RLfD) has been identified as a key element for making robots useful in daily lives. A wide range of techniques has been proposed for deriving a task model from a set of demonstrations of the task. Most previous works use learning to model the kinematics of the task, and for autonomous execution the robot then relies on a stiff position controller. While many tasks can and have been learned this way, there are tasks in which controlling the position alone is insufficient to achieve the goals of the task. These are typically tasks that involve contact or require a specific response to physical perturbations. The question of how to adjust the compliance to suit the need of the task has not yet been fully treated in Robot Learning from Demonstration. In this paper, we address this issue and present interfaces that allow a human teacher to indicate compliance variations by physically interacting with the robot during task execution. We validate our approach in two different experiments on the 7 DoF Barrett WAM and KUKA LWR robot manipulators. Furthermore, we conduct a user study to evaluate the usability of our approach from a non-roboticists perspective.

Use of structured personality survey techniques to indicate operator response to stressful situations

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

Waller, M.A.

Under given circumstances, a person will tend to operate in one of four dominant orientations: (1) to perform tasks; (2) to achieve consensus; (3) to achieve understanding, or (4) to maintain structure. Historically, personality survey techniques, such as the Myers-Briggs type indicator, have been used to determine these tendencies. While these techniques can accurately reflect a person's orientation under normal social situations, under different sets of conditions, the same person may exhibit other tendencies, displaying a similar or entirely different orientation. While most do not exhibit extreme tendencies or changes of orientation, the shift in personality from normal to stressfulmore » conditions can be rather dramatic, depending on the individual. Structured personality survey techniques have been used to indicate operator response to stressful situations. These techniques have been extended to indicate the balance between orientations that the control room team has through the various levels of cognizance.« less

Sense of agency in continuous action: Assistance-induced performance improvement is self-attributed even with knowledge of assistance.

PubMed

Inoue, Kazuya; Takeda, Yuji; Kimura, Motohiro

2017-02-01

In a task involving continuous action to achieve a goal, the sense of agency increases with an improvement in task performance that is induced by unnoticed computer assistance. This study investigated how explicit instruction about the existence of computer assistance affects the increase of sense of agency that accompanies performance improvement. Participants performed a continuous action task in which they controlled the direction of motion of a dot to a goal by pressing keys. When instructions indicated the absence of assistance, the sense of agency increased with performance improvement induced by computer assistance, replicating previous findings. Interestingly, this increase of sense of agency was also observed even when instructions indicated the presence of assistance. These results suggest that even when a plausible cause of performance improvement other than one's own action exists, the improvement can be misattributed to one's own control of action, resulting in an increased sense of agency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Oriented regions grouping based candidate proposal for infrared pedestrian detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jiangtao; Zhang, Jingai; Li, Huaijiang

2018-04-01

Effectively and accurately locating the positions of pedestrian candidates in image is a key task for the infrared pedestrian detection system. In this work, a novel similarity measuring metric is designed. Based on the selective search scheme, the developed similarity measuring metric is utilized to yield the possible locations for pedestrian candidate. Besides this, corresponding diversification strategies are also provided according to the characteristics of the infrared thermal imaging system. Experimental results indicate that the presented scheme can achieve more efficient outputs than the traditional selective search methodology for the infrared pedestrian detection task.

Executive functions in mild cognitive impairment: emergence and breakdown of neural plasticity.

PubMed

Clément, Francis; Gauthier, Serge; Belleville, Sylvie

2013-05-01

Our goal was to test the effect of disease severity on the brain activation associated with two executive processes: manipulation and divided attention. This was achieved by administrating a manipulation task and a divided attention task using functional magnetic resonance imaging to 24 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 14 healthy controls matched for age, sex and education. The Mattis Dementia Rating Scale was used to divide persons with MCI into those with better and worse cognitive performances. Both tasks were associated with more brain activation in the MCI group with higher cognition than in healthy controls, particularly in the left frontal areas. Correlational analyses indicated that greater activation in a frontostriatal network hyperactivated by the higher-cognition group was related with better task performance, suggesting that these activations may support functional reorganization of a compensatory nature. By contrast, the lower-cognition group failed to show greater cerebral hyperactivation than controls during the divided attention task and, during the manipulation task, and showed less brain activation than controls in the left ventrolateral cortex, a region commonly hypoactivated in patients with Alzheimer's disease. These findings indicate that, during the early phase of MCI, executive functioning benefits from neural reorganization, but that a breakdown of this brain plasticity characterizes the late stages of MCI. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing Weight Training Programs with Microsoft Excel: Techtorial #2. Article #3 in a 6-Part Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mears, Derrick

2009-01-01

Developing personalized fitness programs to meet individual needs of students can be an overwhelming task for the physical educator. The National Standards for Physical Education (NASPE) indicate that students should achieve and maintain appropriate levels of physical fitness. To effectively meet standards with the growing diversity of curricular…

Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages via System of "Voice over Internet Protocol" and Language Interactions Case Study: Skype

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wahid, Wazira Ali Abdul; Ahmed, Eqbal Sulaiman; Wahid, Muntaha Ali Abdul

2015-01-01

This issue expresses a research study based on the online interactions of English teaching specially conversation through utilizing VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and cosmopolitan online theme. Data has been achieved by interviews. Simplifiers indicate how oral tasks require to be planned upon to facilitate engagement models propitious to…

Ideational apraxia in Parkinson disease.

PubMed

Qureshi, Mohammad; Williamson, John B; Heilman, Kenneth M

2011-09-01

: The objective of the study was to determine whether ideational apraxia (IA), a loss of ability to plan the sequence of actions needed to achieve a goal, is associated with Parkinson disease (PD). : The frontal lobes play an important role in planning and sequencing, and many patients with PD have frontal lobe dysfunction. : Ten right-handed patients with PD and 10 right-handed neurologically and psychiatrically healthy people participated. To assess for IA, participants were given sets of pictures that showed the steps in completing a task, but the steps were shown out of order. The participants were required to point to the pictures in the correct sequence to complete each task. The participants also performed a control task of sequencing randomly arranged printed single words to create a sentence that described an accompanying picture. : The patients with PD performed more poorly than the controls on the action-sequencing tasks (P<0.05). Errors were predominantly in sequencing rather than repetition or omission, indicating that the poor performance was not caused by perseveration. There were no group differences in the task of sequencing words to make a sentence. : These results indicate that patients with PD do have IA, an action-sequence planning deficit. Further research is needed to better understand mechanisms, ecological implications, and potential treatments.

Motivational Antecedents of Well-Being and Health Related Behaviors in Adolescents.

PubMed

Balaguer, Isabel; Duda, Joan L; Castillo, Isabel

2017-10-01

Grounded in the Achievement Goal Theory framework of motivation and optimal functioning, there were two objectives of this study: (a) to test a model hypothesizing links between personal theories of school achievement, indices of the quality of academic engagement, wellbeing, and health-related behaviors, and (b) to explore whether the hypothesized model was invariant across gender groups. A multisection questionnaire pack tapping the targeted variables was administered to 967 teenagers (475 boys and 492 girls) aged between 11 to 16 years old. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that Task theory of achievement predicted positively satisfaction in school and negatively boredom in school. An Ego theory of achievement was linked to higher levels of boredom in school. Satisfaction in school corresponded to higher life satisfaction, while boredom was negatively related. Higher life satisfaction was associated with lower tobacco, alcohol and marijuana consumption, more healthy food intake and greater levels of physical activity. The results revealed partial invariance of the model by gender. The quality of adolescents' involvement in the classroom holds important implications for adolescent's well-being and their health related behaviors. Interventions on the creation of a task-involving motivational climate in the school are proposed to promote healthy lifestyles among young people.

Parental influences on students' self-concept, task value beliefs, and achievement in science.

PubMed

Senler, Burcu; Sungur, Semra

2009-05-01

The aim of this study was twofold: firstly, to investigate the grade level (elementary and middle school) and gender effect on students' motivation in science (perceived academic science self-concept and task value) and perceived family involvement, and secondly to examine the relationship among family environment variables (fathers' educational level, mothers' educational level, and perceived family involvement), motivation, gender and science achievement in elementary and middle schools. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) showed that elementary school students have more positive science self-concept and task value beliefs compared to middle school students. Moreover, elementary school students appeared to perceive more family involvement in their schooling. Path analyses also suggested that family involvement was directly linked to elementary school students' task value and achievement. Also, in elementary school level, significant relationships were found among father educational level, science self-concept, task value and science achievement. On the other hand, in middle school level, family involvement, father educational level, and mother educational level were positively related to students' task value which is directly linked to students' science achievement. Moreover, mother educational level contributed to science achievement through its effect on self-concept.

Why I Believe I Achieve Determines Whether I Achieve

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siegle, Del; McCoach, D. Betsy; Roberts, Anne

2017-01-01

The beliefs and values students hold toward themselves, given tasks, and achievement itself can influence what tasks students seek, and whether they are able to obtain them. On the basis of previous research on underachievement and motivation, we developed the Achievement Orientation Model (AOM) to explore the issue of student achievement. The…

Are training and transfer effects of working memory updating training modulated by achievement motivation?

PubMed

Zhao, Xin; Xu, Yiwenjie; Fu, Junjun; Maes, Joseph H R

2018-04-01

Previous studies examining effects of working memory (WM) updating training revealed mixed results. One factor that might modulate training gains, and possibly also transfer of those gains to non-trained cognitive tasks, is achievement motivation. In the present Studies 1 and 2, students with either a high (HAM) or low (LAM) achievement motivation completed a 14-day visuospatial WM updating training program. In Study 2, the students also performed a set of tasks measuring other executive functions and fluid intelligence prior to and after training. In both studies, the HAM students displayed a larger training gain than the LAM students. Study 2 revealed that after training, both groups showed better performance on the near-transfer but not far-transfer tasks. Importantly, the differential training gain was not associated with better post-training performance for the HAM compared to the LAM students on any of the transfer tasks. These results are taken to support a modulatory role of achievement motivation on WM training benefits, but not on transfer of those benefits to other tasks. Possible reasons for the general improvement on the near-transfer tasks and the absence of a modulatory role of achievement motivation on transfer-task performance are discussed.

Cognitive Deficits Underlying Error Behavior on a Naturalistic Task after Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

PubMed Central

Hendry, Kathryn; Ownsworth, Tamara; Beadle, Elizabeth; Chevignard, Mathilde P.; Fleming, Jennifer; Griffin, Janelle; Shum, David H. K.

2016-01-01

People with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) often make errors on everyday tasks that compromise their safety and independence. Such errors potentially arise from the breakdown or failure of multiple cognitive processes. This study aimed to investigate cognitive deficits underlying error behavior on a home-based version of the Cooking Task (HBCT) following TBI. Participants included 45 adults (9 females, 36 males) with severe TBI aged 18–64 years (M = 37.91, SD = 13.43). Participants were administered the HBCT in their home kitchens, with audiovisual recordings taken to enable scoring of total errors and error subtypes (Omissions, Additions, Estimations, Substitutions, Commentary/Questions, Dangerous Behavior, Goal Achievement). Participants also completed a battery of neuropsychological tests, including the Trail Making Test, Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised, Digit Span, Zoo Map test, Modified Stroop Test, and Hayling Sentence Completion Test. After controlling for cooking experience, greater Omissions and Estimation errors, lack of goal achievement, and longer completion time were significantly associated with poorer attention, memory, and executive functioning. These findings indicate that errors on naturalistic tasks arise from deficits in multiple cognitive domains. Assessment of error behavior in a real life setting provides insight into individuals' functional abilities which can guide rehabilitation planning and lifestyle support. PMID:27790099

Relations of different types of numerical magnitude representations to each other and to mathematics achievement.

PubMed

Fazio, Lisa K; Bailey, Drew H; Thompson, Clarissa A; Siegler, Robert S

2014-07-01

We examined relations between symbolic and non-symbolic numerical magnitude representations, between whole number and fraction representations, and between these representations and overall mathematics achievement in fifth graders. Fraction and whole number symbolic and non-symbolic numerical magnitude understandings were measured using both magnitude comparison and number line estimation tasks. After controlling for non-mathematical cognitive proficiency, both symbolic and non-symbolic numerical magnitude understandings were uniquely related to mathematics achievement, but the relation was much stronger for symbolic numbers. A meta-analysis of 19 published studies indicated that relations between non-symbolic numerical magnitude knowledge and mathematics achievement are present but tend to be weak, especially beyond 6 years of age. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Math anxiety differentially affects WAIS-IV arithmetic performance in undergraduates.

PubMed

Buelow, Melissa T; Frakey, Laura L

2013-06-01

Previous research has shown that math anxiety can influence the math performance level; however, to date, it is unknown whether math anxiety influences performance on working memory tasks during neuropsychological evaluation. In the present study, 172 undergraduate students completed measures of math achievement (the Math Computation subtest from the Wide Range Achievement Test-IV), math anxiety (the Math Anxiety Rating Scale-Revised), general test anxiety (from the Adult Manifest Anxiety Scale-College version), and the three Working Memory Index tasks from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV Edition (WAIS-IV; Digit Span [DS], Arithmetic, Letter-Number Sequencing [LNS]). Results indicated that math anxiety predicted performance on Arithmetic, but not DS or LNS, above and beyond the effects of gender, general test anxiety, and math performance level. Our findings suggest that math anxiety can negatively influence WAIS-IV working memory subtest scores. Implications for clinical practice include the utilization of LNS in individuals expressing high math anxiety.

The Conflict between On-Task and Off-Task Actions in the Classroom and Its Consequences for Motivation and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilian, Britta; Hofer, Manfred; Fries, Stefan; Kuhnle, Claudia

2010-01-01

The relations between students' value orientations, decisions in conflicts between on-task and off-task actions in the classroom, and experiences of motivational interference following these conflicts were investigated. It was expected that well-being value orientation was positively linked and achievement value orientation was negatively linked…

Three Nontraditional Approaches to Improving the Capacity, Accessibility, and Quality of Mental Health Services: An Overview.

PubMed

Grant, Kiran L; Simmons, Magenta Bender; Davey, Christopher G

2018-05-01

To provide evidence for wider use of peer workers and other nonprofessionals, the authors examined three approaches to mental health service provision-peer support worker (PSW) programs, task shifting, and mental health first-aid and community advocacy organizations-summarizing their effectiveness, identifying similarities and differences, and highlighting opportunities for integration. Relevant articles obtained from PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar searches are discussed. Studies indicate that PSWs can achieve outcomes equal to or better than those achieved by nonpeer mental health professionals. PSWs can be particularly effective in reducing hospital admissions and inpatient days and engaging severely ill patients. When certain care tasks are given to individuals with less training than professionals (task shifting), these staff members can provide psychoeducation, engage service users in treatment, and help them achieve symptom reduction and manage risk of relapse. Mental health first-aid and community organizations can reduce stigma, increase awareness of mental health issues, and encourage help seeking. Most PSW programs have reported implementation challenges, whereas such challenges are fewer in task-shifting programs and minimal in mental health first-aid. Despite challenges in scaling and integrating these approaches into larger systems, they hold promise for improving access to and quality of care. Research is needed on how these approaches can be combined to expand a community's capacity to provide care. Because of the serious shortage of mental health providers globally and the rising prevalence of mental illness, utilizing nontraditional providers may be the only solution in both low- and high-resource settings, at least in the short term.

Working Memory Load and Reminder Effect on Event-Based Prospective Memory of High- and Low-Achieving Students in Math.

PubMed

Chen, Youzhen; Lian, Rong; Yang, Lixian; Liu, Jianrong; Meng, Yingfang

The effects of working memory (WM) demand and reminders on an event-based prospective memory (PM) task were compared between students with low and high achievement in math. WM load (1- and 2-back tasks) was manipulated as a within-subject factor and reminder (with or without reminder) as a between-subject factor. Results showed that high-achieving students outperformed low-achieving students on all PM and n-back tasks. Use of a reminder improved PM performance and thus reduced prospective interference; the performance of ongoing tasks also improved for all students. Both PM and n-back performances in low WM load were better than in high WM load. High WM load had more influence on low-achieving students than on high-achieving students. Results suggest that low-achieving students in math were weak at PM and influenced more by high WM load. Thus, it is important to train these students to set up an obvious reminder for their PM and improve their WM.

Perception of difficulty and glucose control: Effects on academic performance in youth with type I diabetes.

PubMed

Potts, Tiffany M; Nguyen, Jacqueline L; Ghai, Kanika; Li, Kathy; Perlmuter, Lawrence

2015-04-15

To investigate whether perceptions of task difficulty on neuropsychological tests predicted academic achievement after controlling for glucose levels and depression. Participants were type 1 diabetic adolescents, with a mean age = 12.5 years (23 females and 16 males), seen at a northwest suburban Chicago hospital. The sample population was free of co-morbid clinical health conditions. Subjects completed a three-part neuropsychological battery including the Digit Symbol Task, Trail Making Test, and Controlled Oral Word Association test. Following each task, individuals rated task difficulty and then completed a depression inventory. Performance on these three tests is reflective of neuropsychological status in relation to glucose control. Blood glucose levels were measured immediately prior to and after completing the neuropsychological battery using a glucose meter. HbA1c levels were obtained from medical records. Academic performance was based on self-reported grades in Math, Science, and English. Data was analyzed using multiple regression models to evaluate the associations between academic performance, perception of task difficulty, and glucose control. Perceptions of difficulty on a neuropsychological battery significantly predicted academic performance after accounting for glucose control and depression. Perceptions of difficulty on the neuropsychological tests were inversely correlated with academic performance (r = -0.48), while acute (blood glucose) and long-term glucose levels increased along with perceptions of task difficulty (r = 0.47). Additionally, higher depression scores were associated with poorer academic performance (r = -0.43). With the first regression analysis, perception of difficulty on the neuropsychological tasks contributed to 8% of the variance in academic performance after controlling for peripheral blood glucose and depression. In the second regression analysis, perception of difficulty accounted for 11% of the variance after accounting for academic performance and depression. The final regression analysis indicated that perception of difficulty increased with peripheral blood glucose, contributing to 22% of the variance. Most importantly, after controlling for perceptions of task difficulty, academic performance no longer predicted glucose levels. Finally, subjects who found the cognitive battery difficult were likely to have poor academic grades. Perceptions of difficulty on neurological tests exhibited a significant association with academic achievement, indicating that deficits in this skill may lead to academic disadvantage in diabetic patients.

Ground-based and in-flight simulator studies of low-speed handling characteristics of two supersonic cruise transport concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grantham, W. D.; Nguyen, L. T.; Deal, P. L.; Neubauer, M. J.; Smith, P. M.; Gregory, F. D.

1978-01-01

Conventional and powered lift concepts for supersonic approach and landing tasks are considered. Results indicated that the transport concepts had unacceptable low-speed handling qualities with no augmentation, and that in order to achieve satisfactory handling qualities, considerable augmentation was required. The available roll-control power was acceptable for the powered-lift concept.

The Incorporation of Hands-On Tasks in an Online Course: An Analysis of a Blended Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chandler, Thomas; Park, Yoon Soo; Levin, Karen L.; Morse, Stephen S.

2013-01-01

This article describes the design and evaluation of a blended online/face-to-face course completed by more than 6000 learners throughout the United States of America and internationally. The educational impact was monitored using a variety of evaluation strategies. The results, in terms of achieved knowledge and overall satisfaction, indicate that…

Academic self-efficacy mediates the effects of school psychological climate on academic achievement.

PubMed

Høigaard, Rune; Kovač, Velibor Bobo; Øverby, Nina Cecilie; Haugen, Tommy

2015-03-01

This study investigated the effects of proximal and distal constructs on adolescent's academic achievement through self-efficacy. Participants included 482 ninth- and tenth- grade Norwegian students who completed a questionnaire designed to assess school-goal orientations, organizational citizenship behavior, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement. The results of a bootstrapping technique used to analyze relationships between the constructs indicated that school-goal orientations and organizational citizenship predicted academic self-efficacy. Furthermore, school-goal orientation, organizational citizenship, and academic self-efficacy explained 46% of the variance in academic achievement. Mediation analyses revealed that academic self-efficacy mediated the effects of perceived task goal structure, perceived ability structure, civic virtue, and sportsmanship on adolescents' academic achievements. The results are discussed in reference to current scholarship, including theories underlying our hypothesis. Practical implications and directions for future research are suggested.

Development of compositional and contextual communicable congruence in robots by using dynamic neural network models.

PubMed

Park, Gibeom; Tani, Jun

2015-12-01

The current study presents neurorobotics experiments on acquisition of skills for "communicable congruence" with human via learning. A dynamic neural network model which is characterized by its multiple timescale dynamics property was utilized as a neuromorphic model for controlling a humanoid robot. In the experimental task, the humanoid robot was trained to generate specific sequential movement patterns as responding to various sequences of imperative gesture patterns demonstrated by the human subjects by following predefined compositional semantic rules. The experimental results showed that (1) the adopted MTRNN can achieve generalization by learning in the lower feature perception level by using a limited set of tutoring patterns, (2) the MTRNN can learn to extract compositional semantic rules with generalization in its higher level characterized by slow timescale dynamics, (3) the MTRNN can develop another type of cognitive capability for controlling the internal contextual processes as situated to on-going task sequences without being provided with cues for explicitly indicating task segmentation points. The analysis on the dynamic property developed in the MTRNN via learning indicated that the aforementioned cognitive mechanisms were achieved by self-organization of adequate functional hierarchy by utilizing the constraint of the multiple timescale property and the topological connectivity imposed on the network configuration. These results of the current research could contribute to developments of socially intelligent robots endowed with cognitive communicative competency similar to that of human. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Practice reduces task relevant variance modulation and forms nominal trajectory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osu, Rieko; Morishige, Ken-Ichi; Nakanishi, Jun; Miyamoto, Hiroyuki; Kawato, Mitsuo

2015-12-01

Humans are capable of achieving complex tasks with redundant degrees of freedom. Much attention has been paid to task relevant variance modulation as an indication of online feedback control strategies to cope with motor variability. Meanwhile, it has been discussed that the brain learns internal models of environments to realize feedforward control with nominal trajectories. Here we examined trajectory variance in both spatial and temporal domains to elucidate the relative contribution of these control schemas. We asked subjects to learn reaching movements with multiple via-points, and found that hand trajectories converged to stereotyped trajectories with the reduction of task relevant variance modulation as learning proceeded. Furthermore, variance reduction was not always associated with task constraints but was highly correlated with the velocity profile. A model assuming noise both on the nominal trajectory and motor command was able to reproduce the observed variance modulation, supporting an expression of nominal trajectories in the brain. The learning-related decrease in task-relevant modulation revealed a reduction in the influence of optimal feedback around the task constraints. After practice, the major part of computation seems to be taken over by the feedforward controller around the nominal trajectory with feedback added only when it becomes necessary.

Perceptual grouping enhances visual plasticity.

PubMed

Mastropasqua, Tommaso; Turatto, Massimo

2013-01-01

Visual perceptual learning, a manifestation of neural plasticity, refers to improvements in performance on a visual task achieved by training. Attention is known to play an important role in perceptual learning, given that the observer's discriminative ability improves only for those stimulus feature that are attended. However, the distribution of attention can be severely constrained by perceptual grouping, a process whereby the visual system organizes the initial retinal input into candidate objects. Taken together, these two pieces of evidence suggest the interesting possibility that perceptual grouping might also affect perceptual learning, either directly or via attentional mechanisms. To address this issue, we conducted two experiments. During the training phase, participants attended to the contrast of the task-relevant stimulus (oriented grating), while two similar task-irrelevant stimuli were presented in the adjacent positions. One of the two flanking stimuli was perceptually grouped with the attended stimulus as a consequence of its similar orientation (Experiment 1) or because it was part of the same perceptual object (Experiment 2). A test phase followed the training phase at each location. Compared to the task-irrelevant no-grouping stimulus, orientation discrimination improved at the attended location. Critically, a perceptual learning effect equivalent to the one observed for the attended location also emerged for the task-irrelevant grouping stimulus, indicating that perceptual grouping induced a transfer of learning to the stimulus (or feature) being perceptually grouped with the task-relevant one. Our findings indicate that no voluntary effort to direct attention to the grouping stimulus or feature is necessary to enhance visual plasticity.

Are trajectories of self-regulation abilities from ages 2-3 to 6-7 associated with academic achievement in the early school years?

PubMed

Sawyer, A C P; Chittleborough, C R; Mittinty, M N; Miller-Lewis, L R; Sawyer, M G; Sullivan, T; Lynch, J W

2015-09-01

The aim of this study was to estimate the association between two key aspects of self-regulation, 'task attentiveness' and 'emotional regulation' assessed from ages 2-3 to 6-7 years, and academic achievement when children were aged 6-7 years. Participants (n = 3410) were children in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Parents rated children's task attentiveness and emotional regulation abilities when children were aged 2-3, 4-5 and 6-7. Academic achievement was assessed using the Academic Rating Scale completed by teachers. Linear regression models were used to estimate the association between developmental trajectories (i.e. rate of change per year) of task attentiveness and emotional regulation, and academic achievement at 6-7 years. Improvements in task attentiveness between 2-3 and 6-7 years, adjusted for baseline levels of task attentiveness, child and family confounders, and children's receptive vocabulary and non-verbal reasoning skills at age 6-7 were associated with greater teacher-rated literacy [B = 0.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.04-0.06] and maths achievement (B = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.03-0.06) at 6-7 years. Improvements in emotional regulation, adjusting for baseline levels and covariates, were also associated with better teacher-rated literacy (B = 0.02, 95% CI = 0.01-0.04) but not with maths achievement (B = 0.01, 95% CI = -0.01-0.02) at 6-7 years. For literacy, improvements in task attentiveness had a stronger association with achievement at 6-7 years than improvements in emotional regulation. Our study shows that improved trajectories of task attentiveness from ages 2-3 to 6-7 years are associated with improved literacy and maths achievement during the early school years. Trajectories of improving emotional regulation showed smaller effects on academic outcomes. Results suggest that interventions that improve task attentiveness when children are aged 2-3 to 6-7 years have the potential to improve literacy and maths achievement during the early school years. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Competence with Fractions Predicts Gains in Mathematics Achievement

PubMed Central

Bailey, Drew H.; Hoard, Mary K.; Nugent, Lara; Geary, David C.

2012-01-01

Competence with fractions predicts later mathematics achievement, but the co-developmental pattern between fractions knowledge and mathematics achievement is not well understood. We assessed this co-development through examination of the cross-lagged relation between a measure of conceptual knowledge of fractions and mathematics achievement in sixth and seventh grade (n = 212). The cross-lagged effects indicated that performance on the sixth grade fractions concepts measure predicted one year gains in mathematics achievement (β = .14, p<.01), controlling for the central executive component of working memory and intelligence, but sixth grade mathematics achievement did not predict gains on the fractions concepts measure (β = .03, p>.50). In a follow-up assessment, we demonstrated that measures of fluency with computational fractions significantly predicted seventh grade mathematics achievement above and beyond the influence of fluency in computational whole number arithmetic, performance on number fluency and number line tasks, and central executive span and intelligence. Results provide empirical support for the hypothesis that competence with fractions underlies, in part, subsequent gains in mathematics achievement. PMID:22832199

The key to using a learning or skill acquisition plan.

PubMed

Nicholls, Delwyn; Sweet, Linda; Westerway, Sue Campbell; Gibbins, Annie

2014-11-01

A learning plan is a tool to guide the development of knowledge, skills and professional attitudes required for practice. A learning plan is an ideal tool for both supervisors and mentors to guide the process of teaching and learning a medical ultrasound examination. A good learning plan will state the learning goal, identify the learning activities and resources needed to achieve this goal, and highlight the outcome measures, which when achieved indicate the goal has been accomplished. A skill acquisition plan provides a framework for task acquisition and skill stratification; and is an extension of the application of the student learning plan. One unique feature of a skill acquisition plan is it requires the tutor to first undertake a task analysis. The task steps are progressively learnt in sequence, termed scaffolding. The skills to develop and use a learning or skill acquisition plan are also learnt, but are an integral component to the ultrasound tutors skill set. This paper will provide an outline of how to use and apply a learning and skill acquisition plan. We will review how these tools can be personalised to each student and skill teaching environment.

Space Storable Rocket Technology (SSRT) basic program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chazen, M. L.; Mueller, T.; Casillas, A. R.; Huang, D.

1992-01-01

The Space Storable Rocket Technology Program (SSRT) was conducted to establish a technology for a new class of high performance and long life bipropellant engines using space storable propellants. The results are described. Task 1 evaluated several characteristics for a number of fuels to determine the best space storable fuel for use with LO2. The results indicated that LO2-N2H4 is the best propellant combination and provides the maximum mission/system capability maximum payload into GEO of satellites. Task 2 developed two models, performance and thermal. The performance model indicated the performance goal of specific impulse greater than or = 340 seconds (sigma = 204) could be achieved. The thermal model was developed and anchored to hot fire test data. Task 3 consisted of design, fabrication, and testing of a 200 lbf thrust test engine operating at a chamber pressure of 200 psia using LO2-N2H4. A total of 76 hot fire tests were conducted demonstrating performance greater than 340 (sigma = 204) which is a 25 second specific impulse improvement over the existing highest performance flight apogee type engines.

Evaluation of social interaction, task management, and trust among dental hygiene students in a collaborative learning environment.

PubMed

Saylor, Catherine D; Keselyak, Nancy T; Simmer-Beck, Melanie; Tira, Daniel

2011-02-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of collaborative learning on the development of social interaction, task management, and trust in dental hygiene students. These three traits were assessed with the Teamwork Assessment Scale in two different learning environments (traditional lecture/lab and collaborative learning environment). A convenience sample of fifty-six entry-level dental hygiene students taking an introductory/preclinic course at two metropolitan area dental hygiene programs provided comparable experimental and control groups. Factor scores were computed for the three traits, and comparisons were conducted using the Ryan-Einot-Gabriel-Welsh multiple comparison procedure among specific cell comparisons generated from a two-factor repeated measures ANOVA. The results indicate that the collaborative learning environment influenced dental hygiene students positively regarding the traits of social interaction, task management, and trust. However, comparing dental hygiene students to undergraduate students overall indicates that dental hygiene students already possess somewhat higher levels of these traits. Future studies on active learning strategies should examine factors such as student achievement and explore other possible active learning methodologies.

Math-related career aspirations and choices within Eccles et al.'s expectancy-value theory of achievement-related behaviors.

PubMed

Lauermann, Fani; Tsai, Yi-Miau; Eccles, Jacquelynne S

2017-08-01

Which occupation to pursue is one of the more consequential decisions people make and represents a key developmental task. Yet the underlying developmental processes associated with either individual or group differences in occupational choices are still not well understood. This study contributes toward filling this gap, focusing in particular on the math domain. We examined two aspects of Eccles et al.'s (1983) expectancy-value theory of achievement-related behaviors: (a) the reciprocal associations between adolescents' expectancy and subjective task value beliefs and adolescents' career plans and (b) the multiplicative association between expectancies and values in predicting occupational outcomes in the math domain. Our analyses indicate that adolescents' expectancy and subjective task value beliefs about math and their math- or science-related career plans reported at the beginning and end of high school predict each other over time, with the exception of intrinsic interest in math. Furthermore, multiplicative associations between adolescents' expectancy and subjective task value beliefs about math predict math-related career attainment approximately 15 years after graduation from high school. Gender differences emerged regarding career-related beliefs and career attainment, with male students being more likely than female to both pursue and attain math-related careers. These gender differences could not be explained by differences in beliefs about math as an academic subject. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A review on sludge dewatering indices.

PubMed

To, Vu Hien Phuong; Nguyen, Tien Vinh; Vigneswaran, Saravanamuth; Ngo, Huu Hao

2016-01-01

Dewatering of sludge from sewage treatment plants is proving to be a significant challenge due to the large amounts of residual sludges generated annually. In recent years, research and development have focused on improving the dewatering process in order to reduce subsequent costs of sludge management and transport. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to establish reliable indices that reflect the efficiency of sludge dewatering. However, the evaluation of sludge dewaterability is not an easy task due to the highly complex nature of sewage sludge and variations in solid-liquid separation methods. Most traditional dewatering indices fail to predict the maximum cake solids content achievable during full-scale dewatering. This paper reviews the difficulties in assessing sludge dewatering performance, and the main techniques used to evaluate dewatering performance are compared and discussed in detail. Finally, the paper suggests a new dewatering index, namely the modified centrifugal index, which is demonstrated to be an appropriate indicator for estimating the final cake solids content as well as simulating the prototype dewatering process.

Approximate number sense, symbolic number processing, or number-space mappings: what underlies mathematics achievement?

PubMed

Sasanguie, Delphine; Göbel, Silke M; Moll, Kristina; Smets, Karolien; Reynvoet, Bert

2013-03-01

In this study, the performance of typically developing 6- to 8-year-old children on an approximate number discrimination task, a symbolic comparison task, and a symbolic and nonsymbolic number line estimation task was examined. For the first time, children's performances on these basic cognitive number processing tasks were explicitly contrasted to investigate which of them is the best predictor of their future mathematical abilities. Math achievement was measured with a timed arithmetic test and with a general curriculum-based math test to address the additional question of whether the predictive association between the basic numerical abilities and mathematics achievement is dependent on which math test is used. Results revealed that performance on both mathematics achievement tests was best predicted by how well childrencompared digits. In addition, an association between performance on the symbolic number line estimation task and math achievement scores for the general curriculum-based math test measuring a broader spectrum of skills was found. Together, these results emphasize the importance of learning experiences with symbols for later math abilities. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Children's motivation in elementary physical education: an expectancy-value model of achievement choice.

PubMed

Xiang, Ping; McBride, Ron; Guan, Jianmin; Solmon, Melinda

2003-03-01

This study examined children's motivation in elementary physical education within an expectancy-value model developed by Eccles and her colleagues. Four hundred fourteen students in second and fourth grades completed questionnaires assessing their expectancy-related beliefs, subjective task values, and intention for future participation in physical education. Results indicated that expectancy-related beliefs and subjective task values were clearly distinguishable from one another across physical education and throwing. The two constructs were related to each other positively. Children's intention for future participation in physical education was positively associated with their subjective task values and/or expectancy-related beliefs. Younger children had higher motivation for learning in physical education than older children. Gender differences emerged and the findings provided empirical evidence supporting the validity of the expectancy-value model in elementary physical education.

Examining Elementary School Teachers' Enactment of Mathematical Tasks and Questions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polly, Drew

2016-01-01

Researchers have linked teachers' use of mathematical tasks and questions to students' achievement in mathematics, and also have documented that the types of tasks and questions posed might change throughout the year in grades that include high-stakes tests of student achievement. This qualitative research study explored 3 elementary school…

Reasoning Abilities in Primary School: A Pilot Study on Poor Achievers vs. Normal Achievers in Computer Game Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dagnino, Francesca Maria; Ballauri, Margherita; Benigno, Vincenza; Caponetto, Ilaria; Pesenti, Elia

2013-01-01

This paper presents the results of preliminary research on the assessment of reasoning abilities in primary school poor achievers vs. normal achievers using computer game tasks. Subjects were evaluated by means of cognitive assessment on logical abilities and academic skills. The aim of this study is to better understand the relationship between…

From ERPs to academics.

PubMed

Hillman, Charles H; Pontifex, Matthew B; Motl, Robert W; O'Leary, Kevin C; Johnson, Christopher R; Scudder, Mark R; Raine, Lauren B; Castelli, Darla M

2012-02-15

Standardized tests have been used to forecast scholastic success of school-age children, and have been related to intelligence, working memory, and inhibition using neuropsychological tests. However, ERP correlates of standardized achievement have not been reported. Thus, the relationship between academic achievement and the P3 component was assessed in a sample of 105 children during performance on a Go/NoGo task. The Wide Range Achievement Test - 3rd edition was administered to assess aptitude in reading, spelling, and arithmetic. Regression analyses indicated an independent contribution of P3 amplitude to reading and arithmetic achievement beyond the variance accounted for by IQ and school grade. No such relationship was observed for spelling. These data suggest that the P3, which reflects attentional processes involved in stimulus evaluation and inhibitory control may be a biomarker for academic achievement during childhood. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Task Values, Achievement Goals, and Interest: An Integrative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hulleman, Chris S.; Durik, Amanda M.; Schweigert, Shaun B.; Harackiewicz, Judith M.

2008-01-01

The research presented in this article integrates 3 theoretical perspectives in the field of motivation: expectancy-value, achievement goals, and interest. The authors examined the antecedents (initial interest, achievement goals) and consequences (interest, performance) of task value judgments in 2 learning contexts: a college classroom and a…

Cultural relativity in perceiving emotion from vocalizations.

PubMed

Gendron, Maria; Roberson, Debi; van der Vyver, Jacoba Marieta; Barrett, Lisa Feldman

2014-04-01

A central question in the study of human behavior is whether certain emotions, such as anger, fear, and sadness, are recognized in nonverbal cues across cultures. We predicted and found that in a concept-free experimental task, participants from an isolated cultural context (the Himba ethnic group from northwestern Namibia) did not freely label Western vocalizations with expected emotion terms. Responses indicate that Himba participants perceived more basic affective properties of valence (positivity or negativity) and to some extent arousal (high or low activation). In a second, concept-embedded task, we manipulated whether the target and foil on a given trial matched in both valence and arousal, neither valence nor arousal, valence only, or arousal only. Himba participants achieved above-chance accuracy only when foils differed from targets in valence only. Our results indicate that the voice can reliably convey affective meaning across cultures, but that perceptions of emotion from the voice are culturally variable.

Teammate Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviors Predict Task Cohesion and Burnout: The Mediating Role of Affect.

PubMed

Al-Yaaribi, Ali; Kavussanu, Maria

2017-06-01

The manner in which teammates behave toward each other when playing sport could have important achievement-related consequences. However, this issue has received very little research attention. In this study, we investigated whether (a) prosocial and antisocial teammate behaviors predict task cohesion and burnout, and (b) positive and negative affect mediates these relationships. In total, 272 (M age  = 21.86, SD = 4.36) team-sport players completed a multisection questionnaire assessing the aforementioned variables. Structural equation modeling indicated that prosocial teammate behavior positively predicted task cohesion and negatively predicted burnout, and these relationships were mediated by positive affect. The reverse pattern of relationships was observed for antisocial teammate behavior which negatively predicted task cohesion and positively predicted burnout, and these relationships were mediated by negative affect. Our findings underscore the importance of promoting prosocial and reducing antisocial behaviors in sport and highlight the role of affect in explaining the identified relationships.

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.

Validation of a novel attentional bias modification task: the future may be in the cards.

PubMed

Notebaert, Lies; Clarke, Patrick J F; Grafton, Ben; MacLeod, Colin

2015-02-01

Attentional bias modification (ABM) is a promising therapeutic tool aimed at changing patterns of attentional selectivity associated with heightened anxiety. A number of studies have successfully implemented ABM using the modified dot-probe task. However others have not achieved the attentional change required to achieve emotional benefits, highlighting the need for new ABM methods. The current study compared the effectiveness of a newly developed ABM task against the traditional dot-probe ABM task. The new person-identity-matching (PIM) task presented participants with virtual cards, each depicting a happy and angry person. The task encourages selective attention toward or away from threat by requiring participants to make matching judgements between two cards, based either on the identities of the happy faces, or of the angry faces. Change in attentional bias achieved by both ABM tasks was measured by a dot-probe assessment task. Their impact on emotional vulnerability was assessed by measuring negative emotional reactions to a video stressor. The PIM task succeeded in modifying attentional bias, and exerting an impact on emotional reactivity, whereas this was not the case for the dot-probe task. These results are considered in relation to the potential clinical utility of the current task in comparison to traditional ABM methodologies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Knowledge of Criterion Task on Comprehension and Recall in Normally Achieving and Learning Disabled Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Bernice Y. L.; And Others

1982-01-01

A study investigated the hypothesis that poor comprehension or recall of task demands, rather than a putative lack of goal directedness, is a possible source of learning-disabled children's poor performance of experimental tasks. Clear instructions substantially facilitated performance by both normally achieving and learning disabled children of…

The Impact of Goal Achievement Orientation on Student Technology Usage in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGloin, Rory; McGillicuddy, Kara T.; Christensen, John L.

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether students with differing goal achievement orientations were more likely to engage in on-task or off-task mobile device usage, as well as whether particular devices (specifically, laptops and smartphones) have a positive or negative relationship with specific task usage. The results of this study…

Effect of Task-Centered Instructional Programs on Hypertensives' Ability to Achieve and Maintain Reduced Dietary Sodium Intake.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mann, Karen V.; Sullivan, Patricia L.

This study sought to determine the effectiveness of systematically designed instructional programs in helping adult hypertensives to achieve and maintain dietary sodium intake. Sixty-six subjects were randomly allocated to one of three groups: task-centered instruction; task-centered instruction plus goal-setting and self-monitoring; or control.…

Training demands on clerk burnout: determining whether achievement goal motivation orientations matter.

PubMed

Lin, Chia-Der; Lin, Blossom Yen-Ju

2016-08-22

In the education field, learning experiences are considered learners' properties and are viewed as a key determinant in explaining learners' learning processes, especially for training novices such as clerks with varying levels of commitment to the medical profession. This study explored whether clerks' achievement goal motivation orientations might buffer the negative well-being to a certain extent, considering their training demands during clinical training. Ninety-four clerks at a tertiary medical center were longitudinally traced during their 2-year clerkship spanning from September 2013 to April 2015. Web-based, validated, structured, self-administered questionnaires were used to evaluate the clerks' properties of achievement goal motivation orientation and personal background at the beginning of the clerkship. Regular surveys were conducted to evaluate their perceptions of training demands and burnout at each specialty rotation. Overall, 2230 responses were analyzed, and linear mixed-effects models were used to examine the repeated measures of the clerks. The results revealed that higher perceived psychological and physical demands of training were related to higher perceived burnout during the 2-year clerkship. Although both the clerks' task and ego orientations were related to reduced burnout (direct effects), only task orientation was indicated to exert a buffering effect on their perception of physical demands on burnout in the 1st year of the clerkship. Considering the negative effects of training demands (psychological and physical), we observed a limited effect of the task achievement motivation orientation of medical students; therefore, additional studies might focus on strategies to facilitate medical students in clerkships in addressing both the psychological and physical demands inherent in training workplaces to improve their learning experience and well-being.

Student Achievement and Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior: Hand Raising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, Michael Bryan; Bushell, Donald, Jr.

1987-01-01

Assessed reading achievement of five second-grade girls under two contingencies: (1) teacher contacts were made during on-task behavior; and (2) differential reinforcement of an incompatible behavior (DRI) with teacher contacts contingent on students' hand-raising behavior. Reading achievement and time on task were greater under the on-task…

Farm animal-assisted intervention: relationship between work and contact with farm animals and change in depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy among persons with clinical depression.

PubMed

Pedersen, Ingeborg; Nordaunet, Trine; Martinsen, Egil Wilhelm; Berget, Bente; Braastad, Bjarne O

2011-01-01

Fourteen adults with clinical depression participated twice a week in a 12-week farm animal-assisted intervention consisting of work and contact with dairy cattle. Each participant was video-recorded twice during the intervention, and the recordings were categorized with respect to various work tasks and animal and human contact. Levels of anxiety and depression decreased and self-efficacy increased during the intervention. Interaction with farm animals via work tasks showed a greater potential for improved mental health than via sole animal contact, but only when progress in working skills was achieved, indicating the role of coping experiences for a successful intervention.

Professional development in statistics, technology, and cognitively demanding tasks: classroom implementation and obstacles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foley, Gregory D.; Bakr Khoshaim, Heba; Alsaeed, Maha; Nihan Er, S.

2012-03-01

Attending professional development programmes can support teachers in applying new strategies for teaching mathematics and statistics. This study investigated (a) the extent to which the participants in a professional development programme subsequently used the techniques they had learned when teaching mathematics and statistics and (b) the obstacles they encountered in enacting cognitively demanding instructional tasks in their classrooms. The programme created an intellectual learning community among the participants and helped them gain confidence as teachers of statistics, and the students of participating teachers became actively engaged in deep mathematical thinking. The participants indicated, however, that time, availability of resources and students' prior achievement critically affected the implementation of cognitively demanding instructional activities.

Perceptual Grouping Enhances Visual Plasticity

PubMed Central

Mastropasqua, Tommaso; Turatto, Massimo

2013-01-01

Visual perceptual learning, a manifestation of neural plasticity, refers to improvements in performance on a visual task achieved by training. Attention is known to play an important role in perceptual learning, given that the observer's discriminative ability improves only for those stimulus feature that are attended. However, the distribution of attention can be severely constrained by perceptual grouping, a process whereby the visual system organizes the initial retinal input into candidate objects. Taken together, these two pieces of evidence suggest the interesting possibility that perceptual grouping might also affect perceptual learning, either directly or via attentional mechanisms. To address this issue, we conducted two experiments. During the training phase, participants attended to the contrast of the task-relevant stimulus (oriented grating), while two similar task-irrelevant stimuli were presented in the adjacent positions. One of the two flanking stimuli was perceptually grouped with the attended stimulus as a consequence of its similar orientation (Experiment 1) or because it was part of the same perceptual object (Experiment 2). A test phase followed the training phase at each location. Compared to the task-irrelevant no-grouping stimulus, orientation discrimination improved at the attended location. Critically, a perceptual learning effect equivalent to the one observed for the attended location also emerged for the task-irrelevant grouping stimulus, indicating that perceptual grouping induced a transfer of learning to the stimulus (or feature) being perceptually grouped with the task-relevant one. Our findings indicate that no voluntary effort to direct attention to the grouping stimulus or feature is necessary to enhance visual plasticity. PMID:23301100

A methodology to assess performance of human-robotic systems in achievement of collective tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Ayanna M.

2005-01-01

In this paper, we present a methodology to assess system performance of human-robotic systems in achievement of collective tasks such as habitat construction, geological sampling, and space exploration.

Stable same-sex friendships with higher achieving partners promote mathematical reasoning in lower achieving primary school children.

PubMed

DeLay, Dawn; Laursen, Brett; Kiuru, Noona; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Aunola, Kaisa; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2015-11-01

This study was designed to investigate friend influence over mathematical reasoning in a sample of 374 children in 187 same-sex friend dyads (184 girls in 92 friendships; 190 boys in 95 friendships). Participants completed surveys that measured mathematical reasoning in the 3rd grade (approximately 9 years old) and 1 year later in the 4th grade (approximately 10 years old). Analyses designed for dyadic data (i.e., longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model) indicated that higher achieving friends influenced the mathematical reasoning of lower achieving friends, but not the reverse. Specifically, greater initial levels of mathematical reasoning among higher achieving partners in the 3rd grade predicted greater increases in mathematical reasoning from 3rd grade to 4th grade among lower achieving partners. These effects held after controlling for peer acceptance and rejection, task avoidance, interest in mathematics, maternal support for homework, parental education, length of the friendship, and friendship group norms on mathematical reasoning. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Stable Same-Sex Friendships with Higher Achieving Partners Promote Mathematical Reasoning in Lower Achieving Primary School Children

PubMed Central

DeLay, Dawn; Laursen, Brett; Kiuru, Noona; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Aunola, Kaisa; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2015-01-01

This study is designed to investigate friend influence over mathematical reasoning in a sample of 374 children in 187 same-sex friend dyads (184 girls in 92 friendships; 190 boys in 95 friendships). Participants completed surveys that measured mathematical reasoning in the 3rd grade (approximately 9 years old) and one year later in the 4th grade (approximately 10 years old). Analyses designed for dyadic data (i.e., longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Models) indicated that higher achieving friends influenced the mathematical reasoning of lower achieving friends, but not the reverse. Specifically, greater initial levels of mathematical reasoning among higher achieving partners in the 3rd grade predicted greater increases in mathematical reasoning from 3rd grade to 4th grade among lower achieving partners. These effects held after controlling for peer acceptance and rejection, task avoidance, interest in mathematics, maternal support for homework, parental education, length of the friendship, and friendship group norms on mathematical reasoning. PMID:26402901

Exploring the Role of Theory of Mind in Moral Judgment: The Case of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PubMed

Fadda, Roberta; Parisi, Marinella; Ferretti, Luca; Saba, Gessica; Foscoliano, Maria; Salvago, Azzurra; Doneddu, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

This paper adds to the growing research on moral judgment (MJ) by considering whether theory of mind (ToM) might foster children's autonomous MJ achievement. A group of 30 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was compared in MJ and ToM with 30 typically developing (TD) children. Participants were tested for MJ with a classical Piaget's task and for ToM with a second order False Belief task. In the moral task, children were told two versions of a story: in one version the protagonist acted according to a moral intention but the action resulted in a harmful consequence; in the other version the protagonist acted according to an immoral intention, but the action resulted in a harmless consequence. Children were asked which of the two protagonists was the "naughtier." In line with previous studies, the results indicated that, while the majority of TD participants succeeded in the second order False Belief task, only few individuals with ASD showed intact perspective taking abilities. The analysis of the MJ in relation to ToM showed that children with ASD lacking ToM abilities judged guilty the protagonists of the two versions of the story in the moral task because both of them violated a moral rule or because they considered the consequences of the actions, ignoring any psychological information. These results indicate a heteronomous morality in individuals with ASD, based on the respect of learned moral rules and outcomes rather than others' subjective states.

Brain activity during bilateral rapid alternate finger tapping measured with magnetoencephalography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukuda, Hiroshi; Odagaki, Masato; Hiwaki, Osamu; Kodabashi, Atsushi; Fujimoto, Toshiro

2009-04-01

Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), brain regions involved in an alternate bimanual tapping task by index fingers triggered with spontaneous timing were investigated. The tapping mode in which both index fingers moved simultaneously was interlaced during the task. The groups of the alternate tapping (AL mode) and the simultaneous tapping (SI mode) were extracted from the successive alternating taps with a histogram of intervals between the right and left index fingers. MEG signals in each mode were averaged separately before and after the tapping initiation of the dominant index finger. The activities of the contralateral sensorimotor cortex before and after the tapping initiation in the AL mode were larger than that in the SI mode. The result indicates that the activity of the contralateral sensorimotor cortex depends on the degree of achievement in the difficult motor task such as the voluntary alternate tapping movements.

Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity, Indices of Cognitive Control, and Academic Achievement in Preadolescents.

PubMed

Pindus, Dominika M; Drollette, Eric S; Scudder, Mark R; Khan, Naiman A; Raine, Lauren B; Sherar, Lauren B; Esliger, Dale W; Kramer, Arthur F; Hillman, Charles H

2016-06-01

To assess whether preadolescents' objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with cognitive control and academic achievement, independent of aerobic fitness. A sample of 74 children (Meanage = 8.64 years, SD = .58, 46% girls) were included in the analyses. Daily MVPA (min/d) was measured over 7 days using ActiGraph wGT3X+ accelerometer. Aerobic fitness was measured using a maximal graded exercise test and expressed as maximal oxygen uptake (mL*kg(-1)*min(-1)). Inhibitory control was measured with a modified Eriksen flanker task (reaction time and accuracy), and working memory with an Operation Span Task (accuracy scores). Academic achievement (in reading, mathematics, and spelling) was expressed as standardized scores on the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement. The relationships were assessed using hierarchical regression models adjusting for aerobic fitness and other covariates. No significant associations were found between MVPA and inhibition, working memory, or academic achievement. Aerobic fitness was positively associated with inhibitory control (P = .02) and spelling (P = .04) but not with other cognitive or academic variables (all P > .05). Aerobic fitness, rather than daily MVPA, is positively associated with childhood ability to manage perceptual interference and spelling. Further research into the associations between objectively measured MVPA and cognitive and academic outcomes in children while controlling for important covariates is needed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Competence with fractions predicts gains in mathematics achievement.

PubMed

Bailey, Drew H; Hoard, Mary K; Nugent, Lara; Geary, David C

2012-11-01

Competence with fractions predicts later mathematics achievement, but the codevelopmental pattern between fractions knowledge and mathematics achievement is not well understood. We assessed this codevelopment through examination of the cross-lagged relation between a measure of conceptual knowledge of fractions and mathematics achievement in sixth and seventh grades (N=212). The cross-lagged effects indicated that performance on the sixth grade fractions concepts measure predicted 1-year gains in mathematics achievement (ß=.14, p<.01), controlling for the central executive component of working memory and intelligence, but sixth grade mathematics achievement did not predict gains on the fractions concepts measure (ß=.03, p>.50). In a follow-up assessment, we demonstrated that measures of fluency with computational fractions significantly predicted seventh grade mathematics achievement above and beyond the influence of fluency in computational whole number arithmetic, performance on number fluency and number line tasks, central executive span, and intelligence. Results provide empirical support for the hypothesis that competence with fractions underlies, in part, subsequent gains in mathematics achievement. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adolescent-perceived parent and teacher overestimation of mathematics ability: Developmental implications for students' mathematics task values.

PubMed

Gniewosz, Burkhard; Watt, Helen M G

2017-07-01

This study examines whether and how student-perceived parents' and teachers' overestimation of students' own perceived mathematical ability can explain trajectories for adolescents' mathematical task values (intrinsic and utility) controlling for measured achievement, following expectancy-value and self-determination theories. Longitudinal data come from a 3-cohort (mean ages 13.25, 12.36, and 14.41 years; Grades 7-10), 4-wave data set of 1,271 Australian secondary school students. Longitudinal structural equation models revealed positive effects of student-perceived overestimation of math ability by parents and teachers on students' intrinsic and utility math task values development. Perceived parental overestimations predicted intrinsic task value changes between all measurement occasions, whereas utility task value changes only were predicted between Grades 9 and 10. Parental influences were stronger for intrinsic than utility task values. Teacher influences were similar for both forms of task values and commenced after the curricular school transition in Grade 8. Results support the assumptions that the perceived encouragement conveyed by student-perceived mathematical ability beliefs of parents and teachers, promote positive mathematics task values development. Moreover, results point to different mechanisms underlying parents' and teachers' support. Finally, the longitudinal changes indicate transition-related increases in the effects of student-perceived overestimations and stronger effects for intrinsic than utility values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The interrelationship of the thorax and pelvis under varying task constraints.

PubMed

Delphinus, Elias M; Sayers, Mark Gregory Leigh

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationship between the thorax and pelvis during coupled movement patterns. Fifty-seven participants were assessed using an infrared motion analysis system to track trunk movement during maximal pelvis and thorax rotations over four trunk inclinations and two pelvic constraint conditions. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance investigated the effects of forward trunk inclination and pelvic constraint on thorax and pelvic rotation. Forward trunk inclination from neutral to 45° resulted in a 46% (p < 0.001) decrease in axial pelvic rotation and a 15% (p < 0.001) decrease in axial thorax rotation with an unconstrained pelvis. A constrained pelvis resulted in a 15% (p < 0.001) decrease in axial thorax rotation. An externally constrained pelvis allowed the thorax to achieve an average of 18° (SD = 2°) greater rotational range of motion across all angles. This study reinforced the importance of allowing the pelvis to rotate during whole body axial rotation tasks. Results indicated that maximum axial trunk rotation is best achieved in a neutral posture, when the pelvis is allowed to contribute and flexion at the hips should be minimised. For example, if a recumbent task requires rotation of the torso, then the chair seat should be allowed to swivel.

Does task shifting yield cost savings and improve efficiency for health systems? A systematic review of evidence from low-income and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Seidman, Gabriel; Atun, Rifat

2017-04-13

Task shifting has become an increasingly popular way to increase access to health services, especially in low-resource settings. Research has demonstrated that task shifting, including the use of community health workers (CHWs) to deliver care, can improve population health. This systematic review investigates whether task shifting in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) results in efficiency improvements by achieving cost savings. Using the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, we searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and the Health Economic Evaluation Database on March 22, 2016. We included any original peer-review articles that demonstrated cost impact of a task shifting program in an LMIC. We identified 794 articles, of which 34 were included in our study. We found that substantial evidence exists for achieving cost savings and efficiency improvements from task shifting activities related to tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, and additional evidence exists for the potential to achieve cost savings from activities related to malaria, NCDs, NTDs, childhood illness, and other disease areas, especially at the primary health care and community levels. Task shifting presents a viable option for health system cost savings in LMICs. Going forward, program planners should carefully consider whether task shifting can improve population health and health systems efficiency in their countries, and researchers should investigate whether task shifting can also achieve cost savings for activities related to emerging global health priorities and health systems strengthening activities such as supply chain management or monitoring and evaluation.

Impaired math achievement in patients with acute vestibular neuritis.

PubMed

Moser, Ivan; Vibert, Dominique; Caversaccio, Marco D; Mast, Fred W

2017-12-01

Broad cognitive difficulties have been reported in patients with peripheral vestibular deficit, especially in the domain of spatial cognition. Processing and manipulating numbers relies on the ability to use the inherent spatial features of numbers. It is thus conceivable that patients with acute peripheral vestibular deficit show impaired numerical cognition. Using the number Stroop task and a short math achievement test, we tested 20 patients with acute vestibular neuritis and 20 healthy, age-matched controls. On the one hand, patients showed normal congruency and distance effects in the number Stroop task, which is indicative of normal number magnitude processing. On the other hand, patients scored lower than healthy controls in the math achievement test. We provide evidence that the lower performance cannot be explained by either differences in prior math knowledge (i.e., education) or slower processing speed. Our results suggest that peripheral vestibular deficit negatively affects numerical cognition in terms of the efficient manipulation of numbers. We discuss the role of executive functions in math performance and argue that previously reported executive deficits in patients with peripheral vestibular deficit provide a plausible explanation for the lower math achievement scores. In light of the handicapping effects of impaired numerical cognition in daily living, it is crucial to further investigate the mechanisms that cause mathematical deficits in acute PVD and eventually develop adequate means for cognitive interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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…

Relationships among constructivist learning environment perceptions, motivational beliefs, self-regulation and science achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kingir, Sevgi; Tas, Yasemin; Gok, Gulsum; Sungur Vural, Semra

2013-11-01

Background. There are attempts to integrate learning environment research with motivation and self-regulation research that considers social context influences an individual's motivation, self-regulation and, in turn, academic performance. Purpose. This study explored the relationships among constructivist learning environment perception variables (personal relevance, uncertainty, shared control, critical voice, student negotiation), motivational beliefs (self-efficacy, intrinsic interest, goal orientation), self-regulation, and science achievement. Sample. The sample for this study comprised 802 Grade 8 students from 14 public middle schools in a district of Ankara in Turkey. Design and methods. Students were administered 4 instruments: Constructivist Learning Environment Survey, Goal Achievement Questionnaire, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and Science Achievement Test. LISREL 8.7 program with SIMPLIS programming language was used to test the conceptual model. Providing appropriate fit indices for the proposed model, the standardized path coefficients for direct effects were examined. Results. At least one dimension of the constructivist learning environment was associated with students' intrinsic interest, goal orientation, self-efficacy, self-regulation, and science achievement. Self-efficacy emerged as the strongest predictor of both mastery and performance avoidance goals rather than the approach goals. Intrinsic value was found to be significantly linked to science achievement through its effect on self-regulation. The relationships between self-efficacy and self-regulation and between goal orientation and science achievement were not significant. Conclusion. In a classroom environment supporting student autonomy and control, students tend to develop higher interest in tasks, use more self-regulatory strategies, and demonstrate higher academic performance. Science teachers are highly recommended to consider these findings when designing their lessons. For the creation of such a learning environment, teachers can design open-ended inquiry activities in which students have opportunities to take responsibility, reflect on their views, and accomplish challenging tasks.

A new approach to global control of redundant manipulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, Homayoun

1989-01-01

A new and simple approach to configuration control of redundant manipulators is presented. In this approach, the redundancy is utilized to control the manipulator configuration directly in task space, where the task will be performed. A number of kinematic functions are defined to reflect the desirable configuration that will be achieved for a given end-effector position. The user-defined kinematic functions and the end-effector Cartesian coordinates are combined to form a set of task-related configuration variables as generalized coordinates for the manipulator. An adaptive scheme is then utilized to globally control the configuration variables so as to achieve tracking of some desired reference trajectories. This accomplishes the basic task of desired end-effector motion, while utilizing the redundancy to achieve any additional task through the desired time variation of the kinematic functions. The control law is simple and computationally very fast, and does not require the complex manipulator dynamic model.

Effects-based strategy development through center of gravity and target system analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Christopher M.; Prendergast, Michael; Pioch, Nicholas; Jones, Eric K.; Graham, Stephen

2003-09-01

This paper describes an approach to effects-based planning in which a strategic-theater-level mission is refined into operational-level and ultimately tactical-level tasks and desired effects, informed by models of the expected enemy response at each level of abstraction. We describe a strategy development system that implements this approach and supports human-in-the-loop development of an effects-based plan. This system consists of plan authoring tools tightly integrated with a suite of center of gravity (COG) and target system analysis tools. A human planner employs the plan authoring tools to develop a hierarchy of tasks and desired effects. Upon invocation, the target system analysis tools use reduced-order models of enemy centers of gravity to select appropriate target set options for the achievement of desired effects, together with associated indicators for each option. The COG analysis tools also provide explicit models of the causal mechanisms linking tasks and desired effects to one another, and suggest appropriate observable indicators to guide ISR planning, execution monitoring, and campaign assessment. We are currently implementing the system described here as part of the AFRL-sponsored Effects Based Operations program.

Component processes in voluntary task switching.

PubMed

Demanet, Jelle; Liefooghe, Baptist

2014-05-01

The present study investigated the involvement of bottom-up and top-down control in task-switching situations in which tasks are selected on a voluntary basis. We tested for indices of both types of control in the reduction in switch cost that is observed when more time is available before executing a task. Participants had to indicate their task choice overtly prior to the actual task execution, and two time intervals were manipulated: the interval between the task-execution response of the previous trial and task-indication response of the current trial and the interval between task-indication response and task-execution response of a particular trial. In Experiment 1, the length of these intervals was manipulated orthogonally, and indices for top-down and bottom-up control were observed. Concerned with the validity of these results, Experiments 2-3 additionally discouraged participants from preparing the upcoming task before their task-indication response. Indices for bottom-up control remained, but not for top-down control. The characteristics of top-down and bottom-up control in voluntary task switching and task switching in general are discussed.

Relation between Approximate Number System Acuity and Mathematical Achievement: The Influence of Fluency

PubMed Central

Wang, Li; Sun, Yuhua; Zhou, Xinlin

2016-01-01

Previous studies have observed inconsistent relations between the acuity of the Approximate Number System (ANS) and mathematical achievement. In this paper, we hypothesize that the relation between ANS acuity and mathematical achievement is influenced by fluency; that is, the mathematical achievement test covering a greater expanse of mathematical fluency may better reflect the relation between ANS acuity and mathematics skills. We explored three types of mathematical achievement tests utilized in this study: Subtraction, graded, and semester-final examination. The subtraction test was designed to measure the mathematical fluency. The graded test was more fluency-based than the semester-final examination, but both involved the same mathematical knowledge from the class curriculum. A total of 219 fifth graders from primary schools were asked to perform all three tests, then given a numerosity comparison task, a visual form perception task (figure matching), and a series of other tasks to assess general cognitive processes (mental rotation, non-verbal matrix reasoning, and choice reaction time). The findings were consistent with our expectations. The relation between ANS acuity and mathematical achievement was particularly clearly reflected in the participants’ performance on the visual form perception task, which supports the domain-general explanations for the underlying mechanisms of the relation between ANS acuity and math achievement. PMID:28066291

Disentangling fine motor skills' relations to academic achievement: the relative contributions of visual-spatial integration and visual-motor coordination.

PubMed

Carlson, Abby G; Rowe, Ellen; Curby, Timothy W

2013-01-01

Recent research has established a connection between children's fine motor skills and their academic performance. Previous research has focused on fine motor skills measured prior to elementary school, while the present sample included children ages 5-18 years old, making it possible to examine whether this link remains relevant throughout childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, the majority of research linking fine motor skills and academic achievement has not determined which specific components of fine motor skill are driving this relation. The few studies that have looked at associations of separate fine motor tasks with achievement suggest that copying tasks that tap visual-spatial integration skills are most closely related to achievement. The present study examined two separate elements of fine motor skills--visual-motor coordination and visual-spatial integration--and their associations with various measures of academic achievement. Visual-motor coordination was measured using tracing tasks, while visual-spatial integration was measured using copy-a-figure tasks. After controlling for gender, socioeconomic status, IQ, and visual-motor coordination, and visual-spatial integration explained significant variance in children's math and written expression achievement. Knowing that visual-spatial integration skills are associated with these two achievement domains suggests potential avenues for targeted math and writing interventions for children of all ages.

Task-level control for autonomous robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simmons, Reid

1994-01-01

Task-level control refers to the integration and coordination of planning, perception, and real-time control to achieve given high-level goals. Autonomous mobile robots need task-level control to effectively achieve complex tasks in uncertain, dynamic environments. This paper describes the Task Control Architecture (TCA), an implemented system that provides commonly needed constructs for task-level control. Facilities provided by TCA include distributed communication, task decomposition and sequencing, resource management, monitoring and exception handling. TCA supports a design methodology in which robot systems are developed incrementally, starting first with deliberative plans that work in nominal situations, and then layering them with reactive behaviors that monitor plan execution and handle exceptions. To further support this approach, design and analysis tools are under development to provide ways of graphically viewing the system and validating its behavior.

Comparing observer models and feature selection methods for a task-based statistical assessment of digital breast tomsynthesis in reconstruction space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Subok; Zhang, George Z.; Zeng, Rongping; Myers, Kyle J.

2014-03-01

A task-based assessment of image quality1 for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) can be done in either the projected or reconstructed data space. As the choice of observer models and feature selection methods can vary depending on the type of task and data statistics, we previously investigated the performance of two channelized- Hotelling observer models in conjunction with 2D Laguerre-Gauss (LG) and two implementations of partial least squares (PLS) channels along with that of the Hotelling observer in binary detection tasks involving DBT projections.2, 3 The difference in these observers lies in how the spatial correlation in DBT angular projections is incorporated in the observer's strategy to perform the given task. In the current work, we extend our method to the reconstructed data space of DBT. We investigate how various model observers including the aforementioned compare for performing the binary detection of a spherical signal embedded in structured breast phantoms with the use of DBT slices reconstructed via filtered back projection. We explore how well the model observers incorporate the spatial correlation between different numbers of reconstructed DBT slices while varying the number of projections. For this, relatively small and large scan angles (24° and 96°) are used for comparison. Our results indicate that 1) given a particular scan angle, the number of projections needed to achieve the best performance for each observer is similar across all observer/channel combinations, i.e., Np = 25 for scan angle 96° and Np = 13 for scan angle 24°, and 2) given these sufficient numbers of projections, the number of slices for each observer to achieve the best performance differs depending on the channel/observer types, which is more pronounced in the narrow scan angle case.

Which Feedback Is More Effective for Pursuing Multiple Goals of Differing Importance? The Interaction Effects of Goal Importance and Performance Feedback Type on Self-Regulation and Task Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Hyunjoo

2016-01-01

This study examined how performance feedback type (progress vs. distance) affects Korean college students' self-regulation and task achievement according to relative goal importance in the pursuit of multiple goals. For this study, 146 students participated in a computerised task. The results showed the interaction effects of goal importance and…

Semantic Verbal Fluency in Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder: Relationship with Chronological Age and IQ

PubMed Central

Pastor-Cerezuela, Gemma; Fernández-Andrés, Maria-Inmaculada; Feo-Álvarez, Mireia; González-Sala, Francisco

2016-01-01

We administered a semantic verbal fluency (SVF) task to two groups of children (age range from 5 to 8): 47 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD Group) and 53 with typical development (Comparison Group), matched on gender, chronological age, and non-verbal IQ. Four specific indexes were calculated from the SVF task, reflecting the different underlying cognitive strategies used: clustering (component of generativity and lexical-semantic access), and switching (executive component, cognitive flexibility). First, we compared the performance of the two groups on the different SVF task indicators, with the ASD group scoring lower than the Comparison Group, although the difference was greater on switching than on clustering. Second, we analyzed the relationships between the different SVF measures and chronological age, verbal IQ and non-verbal IQ. While in the Comparison Group chronological age was the main predictor of performance on the SVF task, in the ASD Group verbal IQ was the best predictor. In the children with ASD, therefore, greater linguistic competence would be associated with better performance on the SVF task, which should be taken into account in speech therapies designed to achieve improvements in linguistic generativity and cognitive flexibility. PMID:27379002

The Impact of Motivation and Task Difficulty on Resource Engagement: Differential Influences on Cardiovascular Responses of Young and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Smith, Brian T.; Hess, Thomas M.

2018-01-01

This study examined whether the level of cognitive engagement older adults were willing to invest is disproportionately influenced by the personal implications of the task, as suggested by Selective Engagement Theory. We experimentally altered the personal implications of the task by manipulating participants accountability for their performance. Young (N = 50) and older (N = 50) adults performed a memory-search task of moderate difficulty but within the capabilities of both age groups. Both physiological (systolic blood pressure responsivity; SBP-R) and subjective (NASA-TLX) measures of cognitive effort were assessed across all difficulty levels. The results replicated findings from previous research that indicated older adults must exert more effort than younger adults to achieve the same level of objective performance. Most importantly, our results showed that older adults were especially sensitive to our accountability manipulation, with the difference in SBP-R between accountability conditions being greater for older than for young adults. Finally, we found that there was little relation between subjective measures of workload and our physiological measures of task engagement. Together, the results of this study provide continued support for the Selective Engagement Theory. PMID:29670932

Numerical landmarks are useful--except when they're not.

PubMed

Siegler, Robert S; Thompson, Clarissa A

2014-04-01

Placing landmarks on number lines, such as marking each tenth on a 0-1 line with a hatch mark and the corresponding decimal, has been recommended as a useful tool for improving children's number sense. Four experiments indicated that some landmarks do have beneficial effects, others have harmful effects, and yet others have no effects on representations of common fractions (N/M). The effects of the landmarks were seen not only on the number line task where they appeared but also on a subsequent magnitude comparison task and on correlations with mathematics achievement tests. Landmarks appeared to exert their effects through the encodings and strategies that they promoted. Theoretical and educational implications are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cross-validating a bidimensional mathematics anxiety scale.

PubMed

Haiyan Bai

2011-03-01

The psychometric properties of a 14-item bidimensional Mathematics Anxiety Scale-Revised (MAS-R) were empirically cross-validated with two independent samples consisting of 647 secondary school students. An exploratory factor analysis on the scale yielded strong construct validity with a clear two-factor structure. The results from a confirmatory factor analysis indicated an excellent model-fit (χ(2) = 98.32, df = 62; normed fit index = .92, comparative fit index = .97; root mean square error of approximation = .04). The internal consistency (.85), test-retest reliability (.71), interfactor correlation (.26, p < .001), and positive discrimination power indicated that MAS-R is a psychometrically reliable and valid instrument for measuring mathematics anxiety. Math anxiety, as measured by MAS-R, correlated negatively with student achievement scores (r = -.38), suggesting that MAS-R may be a useful tool for classroom teachers and other educational personnel tasked with identifying students at risk of reduced math achievement because of anxiety.

Primary display latency criteria based on flying qualities and performance data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Funk, John D., Jr.; Beck, Corin P.; Johns, John B.

1993-01-01

With a pilots' increasing use of visual cue augmentation, much requiring extensive pre-processing, there is a need to establish criteria for new avionics/display design. The timeliness and synchronization of the augmented cues is vital to ensure the performance quality required for precision mission task elements (MTEs) where augmented cues are the primary source of information to the pilot. Processing delays incurred while transforming sensor-supplied flight information into visual cues are unavoidable. Relationships between maximum control system delays and associated flying qualities levels are documented in MIL-F-83300 and MIL-F-8785. While cues representing aircraft status may be just as vital to the pilot as prompt control response for operations in instrument meteorological conditions, presently, there are no specification requirements on avionics system latency. To produce data relating avionics system latency to degradations in flying qualities, the Navy conducted two simulation investigations. During the investigations, flying qualities and performance data were recorded as simulated avionics system latency was varied. Correlated results of the investigation indicates that there is a detrimental impact of latency on flying qualities. Analysis of these results and consideration of key factors influencing their application indicate that: (1) Task performance degrades and pilot workload increases as latency is increased. Inconsistency in task performance increases as latency increases. (2) Latency reduces the probability of achieving Level 1 handling qualities with avionics system latency as low as 70 ms. (3) The data suggest that the achievement of desired performance will be ensured only at display latency values below 120 ms. (4) These data also suggest that avoidance of inadequate performance will be ensured only at display latency values below 150 ms.

The Development and Evaluation of an Achievement Test for Measuring the Efficacy of Task-Based Writing Activities to Enhance Iranian EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nejad, Ferdows Mohsen; Khosravian, Fereshteh

2014-01-01

The present study examined the reliability of an achievement test to measure the efficacy of task-based writing activities to improve Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension at the intermediate level in a private language institute in Ilam, Iran, namely Alefba language institute. To achieve the goal, the techniques for evaluating reliability…

Keep it simple - A case study of model development in the context of the Dynamic Stocks and Flows (DSF) task

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halbrügge, Marc

2010-12-01

This paper describes the creation of a cognitive model submitted to the ‘Dynamic Stocks and Flows’ (DSF) modeling challenge. This challenge aims at comparing computational cognitive models for human behavior during an open ended control task. Participants in the modeling competition were provided with a simulation environment and training data for benchmarking their models while the actual specification of the competition task was withheld. To meet this challenge, the cognitive model described here was designed and optimized for generalizability. Only two simple assumptions about human problem solving were used to explain the empirical findings of the training data. In-depth analysis of the data set prior to the development of the model led to the dismissal of correlations or other parametric statistics as goodness-of-fit indicators. A new statistical measurement based on rank orders and sequence matching techniques is being proposed instead. This measurement, when being applied to the human sample, also identifies clusters of subjects that use different strategies for the task. The acceptability of the fits achieved by the model is verified using permutation tests.

Strategic predictors of performance in a divided attention task

PubMed Central

Faragó, Kinga Bettina; Lőrincz, András

2018-01-01

In this study we investigate the strategies of subjects in a complex divided attention task. We conducted a series of experiments with ten participants and evaluated their performance. After an extensive analysis, we identified four strategic measures that justify the achievement of the participants, by highlighting the individual differences and predicting performance in a regression analysis using generalized estimating equations. Selecting the more urgent task and user action between multiple simultaneous possibilities form two of the strategic decisions, respectively. The third one refers to choosing a response within the same task when the opportunity is present. The fourth and most important measure of strategy involves thinking ahead and executing an action before a situation would become critical. This latter one has the effect of reducing later cognitive load or timing constraints and it is shown to explain almost as much variance in performance as the other three, more straightforward predictors together. In addition to determining these strategic predictors, we also show how manipulating task difficulty induces a shift in strategy, thus impairing human performance in the rehearsed task. The results of this study indicate that considerable differences in the divided attention ability of normal subjects can be identified early and with simple measurements. The importance of describing and analyzing strategies is also emphasized, which can substantially influence performance in complex tasks and may serve training needs. PMID:29621292

Strategic predictors of performance in a divided attention task.

PubMed

Rill, Róbert Adrian; Faragó, Kinga Bettina; Lőrincz, András

2018-01-01

In this study we investigate the strategies of subjects in a complex divided attention task. We conducted a series of experiments with ten participants and evaluated their performance. After an extensive analysis, we identified four strategic measures that justify the achievement of the participants, by highlighting the individual differences and predicting performance in a regression analysis using generalized estimating equations. Selecting the more urgent task and user action between multiple simultaneous possibilities form two of the strategic decisions, respectively. The third one refers to choosing a response within the same task when the opportunity is present. The fourth and most important measure of strategy involves thinking ahead and executing an action before a situation would become critical. This latter one has the effect of reducing later cognitive load or timing constraints and it is shown to explain almost as much variance in performance as the other three, more straightforward predictors together. In addition to determining these strategic predictors, we also show how manipulating task difficulty induces a shift in strategy, thus impairing human performance in the rehearsed task. The results of this study indicate that considerable differences in the divided attention ability of normal subjects can be identified early and with simple measurements. The importance of describing and analyzing strategies is also emphasized, which can substantially influence performance in complex tasks and may serve training needs.

Development of smart bridge bearings system : a feasibility study : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-12-01

The goal of this project has been achieved through three tasks. The main goal of Task I has been : to identify appropriate sensors that have potential for bridge bearings applications. This has been : achieved through the following subtasks and has b...

Closing Achievement Gaps: Roles and Tasks of Elementary School Counselors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trusty, Jerry; Mellin, Elizabeth A.; Herbert, James T.

2008-01-01

Achievement gaps among racial-ethnic and socioeconomic status groups are an enduring, pervasive, and multifaceted phenomenon. Therefore, efforts aimed at understanding and addressing these gaps must be developmentally and environmentally broad, involving numerous school counselor roles and tasks, including leadership, advocacy, collaboration, and…

Individual differences and workload effects on strategy adoption in a dynamic task.

PubMed

Moon, Jungaa; Betts, Shawn; Anderson, John R

2013-09-01

The current study investigated the effects of individual differences and workload on strategy adaptivity in a complex, dynamic task called the Space Fortress game (Donchin, 1989). Participants learned to use a strategy of flying a ship in circles around the fortress in a standard game environment. Once they mastered the strategy, they were assigned to different workload conditions and transferred to a nonstandard environment in which a strong wind was introduced that made it more difficult to achieve a circular orbit. About half of the participants continued with their prior circular strategy while the rest adopted a novel strategy that achieved comparable performance with less effort. With this novel strategy, rather than trying to complete orbits they flew into the wind and then allowed the wind to blow them back to achieve a pendulum-like path. Participants without a working-memory load were more likely to adopt the new strategy. Participants were also more likely to adopt the new strategy if their pattern of behavior exposed them more often to the potential of drifting with the wind. The results indicate that spontaneous changes in strategy occur when people are exposed to the potential of a new strategy and have the cognitive resources to understand its potential. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spelling across Tasks and Levels of Language in a Transparent Orthography

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

The paper reports the results of two studies on the spelling performance of 1st graders in a transparent writing system. The spelling performance of Italian children was assessed to determine the cross-task relationship between spelling to dictation and spontaneous spelling at the single word level (Study 1) and at the text level (Study 2), respectively. In study 1, 132 Italian children’s spelling performance was assessed in 1st grade through two standardized tasks, i.e., word dictation, and spontaneous word spelling. In study 2, spelling performance of 81 Italian children was assessed in 1st grade through two tasks, i.e., text dictation, and spontaneous text spelling. In Study 1, spelling words and pseudo-words to dictation was found to be more difficult than spontaneous spelling of words. This effect was verified for all children (including low achievers and spelling impaired). The moderate correlation found between spelling to dictation and spontaneous spelling indicated that the two tasks are supported by partially different spelling processes and confirmed suggestions for including both types of spelling assessments in the school. In Study 2, children's spelling performances were not dependent across the two tasks (i.e., spelling a text under dictation or spontaneously). The two tasks shared the level of difficulty but performance in one task was not predictive of performance in the second task. Strong individual differences between children were found at the text level as a function of task. Similar to Study 1, the moderate correlation between spelling text to dictation and spontaneous spelling confirmed the usefulness of adopting both spelling assessments at school. PMID:27658189

Spelling across Tasks and Levels of Language in a Transparent Orthography.

PubMed

Bigozzi, Lucia; Tarchi, Christian; Pinto, Giuliana

The paper reports the results of two studies on the spelling performance of 1st graders in a transparent writing system. The spelling performance of Italian children was assessed to determine the cross-task relationship between spelling to dictation and spontaneous spelling at the single word level (Study 1) and at the text level (Study 2), respectively. In study 1, 132 Italian children's spelling performance was assessed in 1st grade through two standardized tasks, i.e., word dictation, and spontaneous word spelling. In study 2, spelling performance of 81 Italian children was assessed in 1st grade through two tasks, i.e., text dictation, and spontaneous text spelling. In Study 1, spelling words and pseudo-words to dictation was found to be more difficult than spontaneous spelling of words. This effect was verified for all children (including low achievers and spelling impaired). The moderate correlation found between spelling to dictation and spontaneous spelling indicated that the two tasks are supported by partially different spelling processes and confirmed suggestions for including both types of spelling assessments in the school. In Study 2, children's spelling performances were not dependent across the two tasks (i.e., spelling a text under dictation or spontaneously). The two tasks shared the level of difficulty but performance in one task was not predictive of performance in the second task. Strong individual differences between children were found at the text level as a function of task. Similar to Study 1, the moderate correlation between spelling text to dictation and spontaneous spelling confirmed the usefulness of adopting both spelling assessments at school.

Allowing Brief Delays in Responding Improves Event-Based Prospective Memory for Young Adults Living with HIV Disease

PubMed Central

Loft, Shayne; Doyle, Katie L.; Naar-King, Sylvie; Outlaw, Angulique Y.; Nichols, Sharon L.; Weber, Erica; Blackstone, Kaitlin; Woods, Steven Paul

2014-01-01

Event-based prospective memory (PM) tasks require individuals to remember to perform an action when they encounter a specific cue in the environment, and have clear relevance for daily functioning for individuals with HIV. In many everyday tasks, the individual must not only maintain the intent to perform the PM task, but the PM task response also competes with the alternative and more habitual task response. The current study examined whether event-based PM can be improved by slowing down the pace of the task environment. Fifty-seven young adults living with HIV performed an ongoing lexical decision task while simultaneously performing a PM task of monitoring for a specific word (which was focal to the ongoing task of making lexical decisions) or syllable contained in a word (which was nonfocal). Participants were instructed to refrain from making task responses until after a tone was presented, which occurred at varying onsets (0–1600ms) after each stimulus appeared. Improvements in focal and non-focal PM accuracy were observed with response delays of 600ms. Furthermore, the difference in PM accuracy between the low demand focal PM task and the resource demanding non-focal PM task was reduced by half across increasingly longer delays, falling from 31% at 0ms delay to only 14% at 1600ms delay. The degree of ongoing task response slowing for the PM conditions, relative to a control condition that did not have a PM task and made lexical decisions only, also decreased with increased delay. Overall, the evidence indicates that delaying the task responses of younger HIV-infected adults increased the probability that the PM relevant features of task stimuli were adequately assessed prior to the ongoing task response, and by implication that younger HIV infected adults can more adequately achieve PM goals when the pace of the task environment is slowed down. PMID:25116075

Assessment practices of professionals serving students who are deaf or hard of hearing: an initial investigation.

PubMed

Luckner, John L; Bowen, Sandy

2006-01-01

Assessment currently plays a critical role in American schools and society, in tasks ranging from ranking schools' effectiveness, to determining individual placement, to planning instruction. The purpose of the study was to gather data about the formal and informal assessment instruments and processes used by professionals in deaf education. Respondents indicated that statewide annual assessments are the most frequently used measures, followed by the Stanford Achievement Test series and the Woodcock-Johnson III Test of Achievement. Commonly used assessment instruments and procedures for each academic area are reported in rank order. Issues about current practices are raised, and suggestions for additional research related to assessment practices in deaf education are provided.

Exploring the Role of Theory of Mind in Moral Judgment: The Case of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

PubMed Central

Fadda, Roberta; Parisi, Marinella; Ferretti, Luca; Saba, Gessica; Foscoliano, Maria; Salvago, Azzurra; Doneddu, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

This paper adds to the growing research on moral judgment (MJ) by considering whether theory of mind (ToM) might foster children’s autonomous MJ achievement. A group of 30 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was compared in MJ and ToM with 30 typically developing (TD) children. Participants were tested for MJ with a classical Piaget’s task and for ToM with a second order False Belief task. In the moral task, children were told two versions of a story: in one version the protagonist acted according to a moral intention but the action resulted in a harmful consequence; in the other version the protagonist acted according to an immoral intention, but the action resulted in a harmless consequence. Children were asked which of the two protagonists was the “naughtier.” In line with previous studies, the results indicated that, while the majority of TD participants succeeded in the second order False Belief task, only few individuals with ASD showed intact perspective taking abilities. The analysis of the MJ in relation to ToM showed that children with ASD lacking ToM abilities judged guilty the protagonists of the two versions of the story in the moral task because both of them violated a moral rule or because they considered the consequences of the actions, ignoring any psychological information. These results indicate a heteronomous morality in individuals with ASD, based on the respect of learned moral rules and outcomes rather than others’ subjective states. PMID:27148131

Exploring the motivation jungle: predicting performance on a novel task by investigating constructs from different motivation perspectives in tandem.

PubMed

Van Nuland, Hanneke J C; Dusseldorp, Elise; Martens, Rob L; Boekaerts, Monique

2010-08-01

Different theoretical viewpoints on motivation make it hard to decide which model has the best potential to provide valid predictions on classroom performance. This study was designed to explore motivation constructs derived from different motivation perspectives that predict performance on a novel task best. Motivation constructs from self-determination theory, self-regulation theory, and achievement goal theory were investigated in tandem. Performance was measured by systematicity (i.e. how systematically students worked on a problem-solving task) and test score (i.e. score on a multiple-choice test). Hierarchical regression analyses on data from 259 secondary school students showed a quadratic relation between a performance avoidance orientation and both performance outcomes, indicating that extreme high and low performance avoidance resulted in the lowest performance. Furthermore, two three-way interaction effects were found. Intrinsic motivation seemed to play a key role in test score and systematicity performance, provided that effort regulation and metacognitive skills were both high. Results indicate that intrinsic motivation in itself is not enough to attain a good performance. Instead, a moderate score on performance avoidance, together with the ability to remain motivated and effectively regulate and control task behavior, is needed to attain a good performance. High time management skills also contributed to higher test score and systematicity performance and a low performance approach orientation contributed to higher systematicity performance. We concluded that self-regulatory skills should be trained in order to have intrinsically motivated students perform well on novel tasks in the classroom.

Measuring preschool learning engagement in the laboratory.

PubMed

Halliday, Simone E; Calkins, Susan D; Leerkes, Esther M

2018-03-01

Learning engagement is a critical factor for academic achievement and successful school transitioning. However, current methods of assessing learning engagement in young children are limited to teacher report or classroom observation, which may limit the types of research questions one could assess about this construct. The current study investigated the validity of a novel assessment designed to measure behavioral learning engagement among young children in a standardized laboratory setting and examined how learning engagement in the laboratory relates to future classroom adjustment. Preschool-aged children (N = 278) participated in a learning-based Tangrams task and Story sequencing task and were observed based on seven behavioral indicators of engagement. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the construct validity for a behavioral engagement factor composed of six of the original behavioral indicators: attention to instructions, on-task behavior, enthusiasm/energy, persistence, monitoring progress/strategy use, and negative affect. Concurrent validity for this behavioral engagement factor was established through its associations with parent-reported mastery motivation and pre-academic skills in math and literacy measured in the laboratory, and predictive validity was demonstrated through its associations with teacher-reported classroom learning behaviors and performance in math and reading in kindergarten. These associations were found when behavioral engagement was observed during both the nonverbal task and the verbal story sequencing tasks and persisted even after controlling for child minority status, gender, and maternal education. Learning engagement in preschool appears to be successfully measurable in a laboratory setting. This finding has implications for future research on the mechanisms that support successful academic development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multi-segmental postural coordination in professional ballet dancers.

PubMed

Kiefer, Adam W; Riley, Michael A; Shockley, Kevin; Sitton, Candace A; Hewett, Timothy E; Cummins-Sebree, Sarah; Haas, Jacqui G

2011-05-01

Ballet dancers have heightened balance skills, but previous studies that compared dancers to non-dancers have not quantified patterns of multi-joint postural coordination. This study utilized a visual tracking task that required professional ballet dancers and untrained control participants to sway with the fore-aft motion of a target while standing on one leg, at target frequencies of 0.2 and 0.6Hz. The mean and variability of relative phase between the ankle and hip, and measures from cross-recurrence quantification analysis (i.e., percent cross-recurrence, percent cross-determinism, and cross-maxline), indexed the coordination patterns and their stability. Dancers exhibited less variable ankle-hip coordination and a less deterministic ankle-hip coupling, compared to controls. The results indicate that ballet dancers have increased coordination stability, potentially achieved through enhanced neuromuscular control and/or perceptual sensitivity, and indicate proficiency at optimizing the constraints that enable dancers to perform complex balance tasks. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

How to improve essential skills in introductory physics through brief, spaced, online practice.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heckler, Andrew; Mikula, Brendon

2017-01-01

We developed and implemented a set of online ``essential skills'' tasks to help students achieve and retain a core level of mastery and fluency in basic skills necessary for their coursework. The task design is based on our research on student understanding and difficulties as well as three well-established cognitive principles: 1) spaced practice, to promote retention, 2) interleaved practice, to promote the ability to recognize when the learned skill is needed, and 3) mastery practice mastery practice, to promote a base level of performance. We report on training on a variety of skills with vector math. Students spent a relatively small amount of time, 10-20 minutes in practice each week, answering relevant questions online until a mastery level was achieved. Results indicate significant and often dramatic gains, often with average gains of over one standard deviation. Notably, these large gains are retained at least several months after the final practice session, including for less-prepared students. Funding for this research was provided by the Center for Emergent Materials: an NSF MRSEC under Award Number DMR-1420451.

Gender differences in patterns of spatial ability, environmental cognition, and math and English achievement in late adolescence.

PubMed

Pearson, J L; Ferguson, L R

1989-01-01

Relationships were explored among three measures of spatial ability--the Embedded Figures Test (EFT), the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), and the Differential Aptitude Spatial Relations subtest (DAT)--an environmental cognition task (MAP), American College Testing (ACT) math and English achievement, and gender in a sample of 282 undergraduates. Variance attributable to gender among the spatial tasks ranged from 0.5% in the EFT to 12% in the MRT. Gender accounted for only 1% of the variance in the MAP task. Gender differences were noted in regression analyses; women's math and English achievement scores were both predictive of spatial ability, while for men, only math achievement was predictive of spatial ability. The results were interpreted as substantiating sex role socialization theory of cognitive abilities.

Autonomous and Controlling Reasons Underlying Achievement Goals during Task Engagement: Their Relation to Intrinsic Motivation and Cheating

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozdemir Oz, Ayse; Lane, Jennie F.; Michou, Aikaterini

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relation of autonomous and controlling reasons underlying an endorsed achievement goal to intrinsic motivation and cheating. The endorsement of the achievement goal was ensured by involving 212 (M(subscript age) = 19.24, SD = 0.97) freshman students in a spatial task and asking them to report their most…

Adaptable, high recall, event extraction system with minimal configuration.

PubMed

Miwa, Makoto; Ananiadou, Sophia

2015-01-01

Biomedical event extraction has been a major focus of biomedical natural language processing (BioNLP) research since the first BioNLP shared task was held in 2009. Accordingly, a large number of event extraction systems have been developed. Most such systems, however, have been developed for specific tasks and/or incorporated task specific settings, making their application to new corpora and tasks problematic without modification of the systems themselves. There is thus a need for event extraction systems that can achieve high levels of accuracy when applied to corpora in new domains, without the need for exhaustive tuning or modification, whilst retaining competitive levels of performance. We have enhanced our state-of-the-art event extraction system, EventMine, to alleviate the need for task-specific tuning. Task-specific details are specified in a configuration file, while extensive task-specific parameter tuning is avoided through the integration of a weighting method, a covariate shift method, and their combination. The task-specific configuration and weighting method have been employed within the context of two different sub-tasks of BioNLP shared task 2013, i.e. Cancer Genetics (CG) and Pathway Curation (PC), removing the need to modify the system specifically for each task. With minimal task specific configuration and tuning, EventMine achieved the 1st place in the PC task, and 2nd in the CG, achieving the highest recall for both tasks. The system has been further enhanced following the shared task by incorporating the covariate shift method and entity generalisations based on the task definitions, leading to further performance improvements. We have shown that it is possible to apply a state-of-the-art event extraction system to new tasks with high levels of performance, without having to modify the system internally. Both covariate shift and weighting methods are useful in facilitating the production of high recall systems. These methods and their combination can adapt a model to the target data with no deep tuning and little manual configuration.

Can Achievement Goals be Primed in Competitive Tasks?

PubMed Central

Greenlees, Iain; Figgins, Sean; Kearney, Philip

2014-01-01

This study examined whether achievement goal priming effects would be observed within an overtly competitive setting. Male soccer players (N = 66) volunteered to participate in a soccer penalty-kick taking competition during which they took 20 penalty-kicks on 2 occasions. Following a pretest, participants were allocated to 1 of 5 priming conditions. Immediately prior to the posttest, participants in the priming conditions were asked to complete what was presented as an ostensibly unrelated task that took the form of either a computer task (subliminal priming) or wordsearch task (supraliminal priming). Results revealed that priming had no significant influence on performance. PMID:25031692

Discrepancies between implicit and explicit motivation and unhealthy eating behavior.

PubMed

Job, Veronika; Oertig, Daniela; Brandstätter, Veronika; Allemand, Mathias

2010-08-01

Many people change their eating behavior as a consequence of stress. One source of stress is intrapersonal psychological conflict as caused by discrepancies between implicit and explicit motives. In the present research, we examined whether eating behavior is related to this form of stress. Study 1 (N=53), a quasi-experimental study in the lab, showed that the interaction between the implicit achievement motive disposition and explicit commitment toward an achievement task significantly predicts the number of snacks consumed in a consecutive taste test. In cross-sectional Study 2 (N=100), with a sample of middle-aged women, overall motive discrepancy was significantly related to diverse indices of unsettled eating. Regression analyses revealed interaction effects specifically for power and achievement motivation and not for affiliation. Emotional distress further partially mediated the relationship between the overall motive discrepancy and eating behavior.

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

The moderating effect of self-efficacy on normal-weight, overweight, and obese children's math achievement: a longitudinal analysis.

PubMed

Kranjac, Ashley Wendell

2015-03-01

Increased body weight is associated with decreased cognitive function in school-aged children. The role of self-efficacy in shaping the connection between children's educational achievement and obesity-related comorbidities has not been examined to date. Evidence of the predictive ability of self-efficacy in children is demonstrated in cognitive tasks, including math achievement scores. This study examined the relationship between self-efficacy and math achievement in normal weight, overweight, and obese children. I hypothesized that overweight and obese children with higher self-efficacy will be less affected in math achievement than otherwise comparable children with lower self-efficacy. I tested this prediction with multilevel growth modeling techniques using the ECLS-K 1998-1999 survey data, a nationally representative sample of children. Increased self-efficacy moderates the link between body weight and children's math achievement by buffering the risks that increased weight status poses to children's cognitive function. My findings indicate that self-efficacy moderates math outcomes in overweight, but not obese, children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 61371 - All-Hazard Position Task Books for Type 3 Incident Management Teams

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-04

...-Hazard Position Task Books for Type 3 Incident Management Teams AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management... Books for Type 3 Incident Management Teams were developed to assist personnel achieve qualifications in... Management Teams were developed to assist personnel achieve qualifications in the All-Hazard ICS positions...

Motor imagery training promotes motor learning in adolescents with cerebral palsy: comparison between left and right hemiparesis.

PubMed

Cabral-Sequeira, Audrey Sartori; Coelho, Daniel Boari; Teixeira, Luis Augusto

2016-06-01

This experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of pure motor imagery training (MIT) and its combination with physical practice on learning an aiming task with the more affected arm in adolescents suffering from cerebral palsy. Effect of MIT was evaluated as a function of side of hemiparesis. The experiment was accomplished by 11- to 16-year-old participants (M = 13.58 years), who suffered left (n = 16) or right (n = 15) mild hemiparesis. They were exposed to pure MIT (day 1) followed by physical practice (day 2) on an aiming task demanding movement accuracy and speed. Posttraining movement kinematics of the group receiving MIT were compared with movement kinematics of the control group after receiving recreational activities (day 1) and physical practice (day 2). Kinematic analysis showed that MIT led to decreased movement time and straighter hand displacements to the target. Performance achievements from MIT were increased with further physical practice, leading to enhanced effects on motor learning. Retention evaluation indicated that performance improvement from pure MIT and its combination with physical practice were stable over time. Performance achievements were equivalent between adolescents with either right or left hemiparesis, suggesting similar capacity between these groups to achieve performance improvement from pure imagery training and from its association with physical practice. Our results suggest that motor imagery training is a procedure potentially useful to increase motor learning achievements in individuals suffering from cerebral palsy.

Flipping Radiology Education Right Side Up.

PubMed

O'Connor, Erin E; Fried, Jessica; McNulty, Nancy; Shah, Pallav; Hogg, Jeffery P; Lewis, Petra; Zeffiro, Thomas; Agarwal, Vikas; Reddy, Sravanthi

2016-07-01

In flipped learning, medical students independently learn facts and concepts outside the classroom, and then participate in interactive classes to learn to apply these facts. Although there are recent calls for medical education reform using flipped learning, little has been published on its effectiveness. Our study compares the effects of flipped learning to traditional didactic instruction on students' academic achievement, task value, and achievement emotions. At three institutions, we alternated flipped learning with traditional didactic lectures during radiology clerkships, with 175 medical students completing a pretest on general diagnostic imaging knowledge to assess baseline cohort comparability. Following instruction, posttests and survey examinations of task value and achievement emotions were administered. Linear mixed effects analysis was used to examine the relationship between test scores and instruction type. Survey responses were modeled using ordinal category logistic regression. Instructor surveys were also collected. There were no baseline differences in test scores. Mean posttest minus pretest scores were 10.5% higher in the flipped learning group than in the didactic instruction group (P = 0.013). Assessment of task value and achievement emotions showed greater task value, increased enjoyment, and decreased boredom with flipped learning (all P < 0.01). All instructors preferred the flipped learning condition. Flipped learning was associated with increased academic achievement, greater task value, and more positive achievement emotions when compared to traditional didactic instruction. Further investigation of flipped learning methods in radiology education is needed to determine whether flipped learning improves long-term retention of knowledge, academic success, and patient care. Copyright © 2016 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Examination of the perceived agility and balance during a reactive agility task.

PubMed

Stirling, Leia; Eke, Chika; Cain, Stephen M

2018-01-01

In vehicle dynamics, it is commonly understood that there is an inverse relationship between stability and maneuverability. However, animal studies have found that stability and maneuverability can coincide. In this study, we examine humans running a reactive agility obstacle and consider the relationship between observational perceived agility and balance, as well as the relationship between quantified surrogates of agility and balance. Recreational athletes (n = 18) completed the agility task while wearing inertial measurement units (IMUs) on their body. The task was also video-recorded. An observational study was completed by a separate group of adults (n = 33) that were asked to view the videos and score each athlete on a Likert scale for balance and for agility. The data from the body-worn IMUs were used to estimate quantified surrogate measures for agility and balance, and to assess if the relationship between the quantified agility and balance was in the same direction as the perceived relationship from the Likert scale responses. Results indicate that athletes that were given a higher Likert agility score were also given a higher balance score (rs = 0.75,p < 0.001). Quantitative surrogates of agility and balance also showed this same relationship. Additional insights on technique for this reactive agility task were informed by the quantitative surrogates. We observed the importance of stepping technique in achieving the faster completion times. The fast performing athletes spent a greater proportion of the task in double support and lower overall time in single support indicating increased periods of static stability. The fast performing athletes did not have a higher body speed, but performed the task with a more efficient technique, using foot placement to enable heading changes, and thus may have had a more efficient path. Similar to animal studies, people use technique to enable agile strategies while also enabling increased balance across the task.

Solving Multiple Isolated, Interleaved, and Blended Tasks through Modular Neuroevolution.

PubMed

Schrum, Jacob; Miikkulainen, Risto

2016-01-01

Many challenging sequential decision-making problems require agents to master multiple tasks. For instance, game agents may need to gather resources, attack opponents, and defend against attacks. Learning algorithms can thus benefit from having separate policies for these tasks, and from knowing when each one is appropriate. How well this approach works depends on how tightly coupled the tasks are. Three cases are identified: Isolated tasks have distinct semantics and do not interact, interleaved tasks have distinct semantics but do interact, and blended tasks have regions where semantics from multiple tasks overlap. Learning across multiple tasks is studied in this article with Modular Multiobjective NEAT, a neuroevolution framework applied to three variants of the challenging Ms. Pac-Man video game. In the standard blended version of the game, a surprising, highly effective machine-discovered task division surpasses human-specified divisions, achieving the best scores to date in this game. In isolated and interleaved versions of the game, human-specified task divisions are also successful, though the best scores are surprisingly still achieved by machine discovery. Modular neuroevolution is thus shown to be capable of finding useful, unexpected task divisions better than those apparent to a human designer.

The use of Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion (CSII): parental and professional perceptions of self-care mastery and autonomy in children and adolescents.

PubMed

Weissberg-Benchell, Jill; Goodman, Shirley S; Antisdel Lomaglio, Jeanne; Zebracki, Kathy

2007-01-01

To describe parent-perceived mastery of Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion (CSII) specific skills and level of autonomy for these tasks among youth with type 1 diabetes. One hundred and sixty-three parents of youth using CSII and 142 diabetes clinicians participated. Parents reported their child's mastery and autonomy of CSII-specific skills. Clinicians indicated the age at which 50% of their patients mastered these skills. Parents report CSII skill mastery between 10.9 and 12.8 years. Very few achieved skill mastery on all CSII-related tasks. Parent- and clinician-expectations for age of skill acquisition were consistent with one another. Parents shared CSII task responsibility with their children even after their children have attained skill mastery. The recent emphasis on maintaining parental involvement in diabetes care seems to have been translated into clinical practice. Parents remain involved in their child's CSII care even after they believe their child has mastered these skills.

Construction of a Urologic Robotic Surgery Training Curriculum: How Many Simulator Sessions Are Required for Residents to Achieve Proficiency?

PubMed

Wiener, Scott; Haddock, Peter; Shichman, Steven; Dorin, Ryan

2015-11-01

To define the time needed by urology residents to attain proficiency in computer-aided robotic surgery to aid in the refinement of a robotic surgery simulation curriculum. We undertook a retrospective review of robotic skills training data acquired during January 2012 to December 2014 from junior (postgraduate year [PGY] 2-3) and senior (PGY4-5) urology residents using the da Vinci Skills Simulator. We determined the number of training sessions attended and the level of proficiency achieved by junior and senior residents in attempting 11 basic or 6 advanced tasks, respectively. Junior residents successfully completed 9.9 ± 1.8 tasks, with 62.5% completing all 11 basic tasks. The maximal cumulative success rate of junior residents completing basic tasks was 89.8%, which was achieved within 7.0 ± 1.5 hours of training. Of senior residents, 75% successfully completed all six advanced tasks. Senior residents attended 6.3 ± 3.5 hours of training during which 5.1 ± 1.6 tasks were completed. The maximal cumulative success rate of senior residents completing advanced tasks was 85.4%. When designing and implementing an effective robotic surgical training curriculum, an allocation of 10 hours of training may be optimal to allow junior and senior residents to achieve an acceptable level of surgical proficiency in basic and advanced robotic surgical skills, respectively. These data help guide the design and scheduling of a residents training curriculum within the time constraints of a resident's workload.

Sensory dominance and multisensory integration as screening tools in aging.

PubMed

Murray, Micah M; Eardley, Alison F; Edginton, Trudi; Oyekan, Rebecca; Smyth, Emily; Matusz, Pawel J

2018-06-11

Multisensory information typically confers neural and behavioural advantages over unisensory information. We used a simple audio-visual detection task to compare healthy young (HY), healthy older (HO) and mild-cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals. Neuropsychological tests assessed individuals' learning and memory impairments. First, we provide much-needed clarification regarding the presence of enhanced multisensory benefits in both healthily and abnormally aging individuals. The pattern of sensory dominance shifted with healthy and abnormal aging to favour a propensity of auditory-dominant behaviour (i.e., detecting sounds faster than flashes). Notably, multisensory benefits were larger only in healthy older than younger individuals who were also visually-dominant. Second, we demonstrate that the multisensory detection task offers benefits as a time- and resource-economic MCI screening tool. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that MCI diagnosis could be reliably achieved based on the combination of indices of multisensory integration together with indices of sensory dominance. Our findings showcase the importance of sensory profiles in determining multisensory benefits in healthy and abnormal aging. Crucially, our findings open an exciting possibility for multisensory detection tasks to be used as a cost-effective screening tool. These findings clarify relationships between multisensory and memory functions in aging, while offering new avenues for improved dementia diagnostics.

Learning stochastic reward distributions in a speeded pointing task.

PubMed

Seydell, Anna; McCann, Brian C; Trommershäuser, Julia; Knill, David C

2008-04-23

Recent studies have shown that humans effectively take into account task variance caused by intrinsic motor noise when planning fast hand movements. However, previous evidence suggests that humans have greater difficulty accounting for arbitrary forms of stochasticity in their environment, both in economic decision making and sensorimotor tasks. We hypothesized that humans can learn to optimize movement strategies when environmental randomness can be experienced and thus implicitly learned over several trials, especially if it mimics the kinds of randomness for which subjects might have generative models. We tested the hypothesis using a task in which subjects had to rapidly point at a target region partly covered by three stochastic penalty regions introduced as "defenders." At movement completion, each defender jumped to a new position drawn randomly from fixed probability distributions. Subjects earned points when they hit the target, unblocked by a defender, and lost points otherwise. Results indicate that after approximately 600 trials, subjects approached optimal behavior. We further tested whether subjects simply learned a set of stimulus-contingent motor plans or the statistics of defenders' movements by training subjects with one penalty distribution and then testing them on a new penalty distribution. Subjects immediately changed their strategy to achieve the same average reward as subjects who had trained with the second penalty distribution. These results indicate that subjects learned the parameters of the defenders' jump distributions and used this knowledge to optimally plan their hand movements under conditions involving stochastic rewards and penalties.

Hippocampus NMDA receptors selectively mediate latent extinction of place learning.

PubMed

Goodman, Jarid; Gabriele, Amanda; Packard, Mark G

2016-09-01

Extinction of maze learning may be achieved with or without the animal performing the previously acquired response. In typical "response extinction," animals are given the opportunity to make the previously acquired approach response toward the goal location of the maze without reinforcement. In "latent extinction," animals are not given the opportunity to make the previously acquired response and instead are confined to the previous goal location without reinforcement. Previous evidence indicates that the effectiveness of these protocols may depend on the type of memory being extinguished. Thus, one aim of the present study was to further examine the effectiveness of response and latent extinction protocols across dorsolateral striatum (DLS)-dependent response learning and hippocampus-dependent place learning tasks. In addition, previous neural inactivation experiments indicate a selective role for the hippocampus in latent extinction, but have not investigated the precise neurotransmitter mechanisms involved. Thus, the present study also examined whether latent extinction of place learning might depend on NMDA receptor activity in the hippocampus. In experiment 1, adult male Long-Evans rats were trained in a response learning task in a water plus-maze, in which animals were reinforced to make a consistent body-turn response to reach an invisible escape platform. Results indicated that response extinction, but not latent extinction, was effective at extinguishing memory in the response learning task. In experiment 2, rats were trained in a place learning task, in which animals were reinforced to approach a consistent spatial location containing the hidden escape platform. In experiment 2, animals also received intra-hippocampal infusions of the NMDA receptor antagonist 2-amino-5-phosphopentanoic acid (AP5; 5.0 or 7.5 ug/0.5 µg) or saline vehicle immediately before response or latent extinction training. Results indicated that both extinction protocols were effective at extinguishing memory in the place learning task. In addition, intra-hippocampal AP5 (7.5 µg) impaired latent extinction, but not response extinction, suggesting that hippocampal NMDA receptors are selectively involved in latent extinction. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Integration of domain and resource-based reasoning for real-time control in dynamic environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morgan, Keith; Whitebread, Kenneth R.; Kendus, Michael; Cromarty, Andrew S.

1993-01-01

A real-time software controller that successfully integrates domain-based and resource-based control reasoning to perform task execution in a dynamically changing environment is described. The design of the controller is based on the concept of partitioning the process to be controlled into a set of tasks, each of which achieves some process goal. It is assumed that, in general, there are multiple ways (tasks) to achieve a goal. The controller dynamically determines current goals and their current criticality, choosing and scheduling tasks to achieve those goals in the time available. It incorporates rule-based goal reasoning, a TMS-based criticality propagation mechanism, and a real-time scheduler. The controller has been used to build a knowledge-based situation assessment system that formed a major component of a real-time, distributed, cooperative problem solving system built under DARPA contract. It is also being employed in other applications now in progress.

Robotics in neurosurgery: which tools for what?

PubMed

Benabid, A L; Hoffmann, D; Seigneuret, E; Chabardes, S

2006-01-01

Robots are the tools for taking advantage of the skills of computers in achieving complicated tasks. This has been made possible owing to the "numerical image explosion" which allowed us to easily obtain spatial coordinates, three dimensional reconstruction, multimodality imaging including digital subtraction angiography (DSA), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magneto encephalography (MEG), with high resolution in space, time, and tissue density. Neurosurgical robots currently available at the operating level are being described. Future evolutions, indications and ethical aspects are examined.

Goal Orientations of General Chemistry Students via the Achievement Goal Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Scott E.

2018-01-01

The Achievement Goal Framework describes students' goal orientations as: task-based, focusing on the successful completion of the task; self-based, evaluating performance relative to one's own past performance; or other-based, evaluating performance relative to the performance of others. Goal orientations have been used to explain student success…

The Immediate Impacts of Preschool Attendance on Turkish Children's Mathematics Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aslan, Durmus; Aktas Arnas, Yasare

2015-01-01

This study was conducted to investigate the immediate impacts of preschool attendance on Turkish children's mathematics achievement. The participants were 200 children who attended or did not attend preschool. The number and operation task and the geometric shapes sorting task were used as the data collection tools. The children who attended…

Resting-state connectivity predicts visuo-motor skill learning.

PubMed

Manuel, Aurélie L; Guggisberg, Adrian G; Thézé, Raphaël; Turri, Francesco; Schnider, Armin

2018-08-01

Spontaneous brain activity at rest is highly organized even when the brain is not explicitly engaged in a task. Functional connectivity (FC) in the alpha frequency band (α, 8-12 Hz) during rest is associated with improved performance on various cognitive and motor tasks. In this study we explored how FC is associated with visuo-motor skill learning and offline consolidation. We tested two hypotheses by which resting-state FC might achieve its impact on behavior: preparing the brain for an upcoming task or consolidating training gains. Twenty-four healthy participants were assigned to one of two groups: The experimental group (n = 12) performed a computerized mirror-drawing task. The control group (n = 12) performed a similar task but with concordant cursor direction. High-density 156-channel resting-state EEG was recorded before and after learning. Subjects were tested for offline consolidation 24h later. The Experimental group improved during training and showed offline consolidation. Increased α-FC between the left superior parietal cortex and the rest of the brain before training and decreased α-FC in the same region after training predicted learning. Resting-state FC following training did not predict offline consolidation and none of these effects were present in controls. These findings indicate that resting-state alpha-band FC is primarily implicated in providing optimal neural resources for upcoming tasks. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relationship between Attitude towards Technical Education and Academic Achievement in Mathematics and Science of the First and Second Year High School Students, Caritas Don Bosco School, SY 2002-2003

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magno, Carlo

2003-01-01

Background: This study made use of the "Model of Academic Choice" by Meece et al. (1982). It is a general model of academic choice, expectation and value of attitude leading to achievement. The model links achievement with constructs of expectation of success on a task and the subjective value of the task influencing the attitude of…

Vernier perceptual learning transfers to completely untrained retinal locations after double training: A “piggybacking” effect

PubMed Central

Wang, Rui; Zhang, Jun-Yun; Klein, Stanley A.; Levi, Dennis M.; Yu, Cong

2014-01-01

Perceptual learning, a process in which training improves visual discrimination, is often specific to the trained retinal location, and this location specificity is frequently regarded as an indication of neural plasticity in the retinotopic visual cortex. However, our previous studies have shown that “double training” enables location-specific perceptual learning, such as Vernier learning, to completely transfer to a new location where an irrelevant task is practiced. Here we show that Vernier learning can be actuated by less location-specific orientation or motion-direction learning to transfer to completely untrained retinal locations. This “piggybacking” effect occurs even if both tasks are trained at the same retinal location. However, piggybacking does not occur when the Vernier task is paired with a more location-specific contrast-discrimination task. This previously unknown complexity challenges the current understanding of perceptual learning and its specificity/transfer. Orientation and motion-direction learning, but not contrast and Vernier learning, appears to activate a global process that allows learning transfer to untrained locations. Moreover, when paired with orientation or motion-direction learning, Vernier learning may be “piggybacked” by the activated global process to transfer to other untrained retinal locations. How this task-specific global activation process is achieved is as yet unknown. PMID:25398974

Within and between Individual Variability of Exposure to Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorder Risk Factors.

PubMed

Zare, Mohsen; Sagot, Jean-Claude; Roquelaure, Yves

2018-05-17

Industrial companies indicate a tendency to eliminate variations in operator strategies, particularly following implementation of the lean principle. Companies believe when the operators perform the same prescribed tasks, they have to execute them in the same manner (completing the same gestures and being exposed to the same risk factors). They attempt to achieve better product quality by standardizing and reducing operational leeway. However, operators adjust and modify ways of performing tasks to balance between their abilities and the requirements of the job. This study aims to investigate the variability of exposure to physical risk factors within and between operators when executing the same prescribed tasks. The Ergonomic Standard method was used to evaluate two workstations. Seven operators were observed thirty times between repeated cycle times at those workstations. The results revealed the variability of exposure to risk factors between and within operators in the repeated execution of the same tasks. Individual characteristics and operators' strategies might generate the variability of exposure to risk factors that may be an opportunity to reduce the risks of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WR-MSDs). However, sometimes operators' strategies may cause overexposure to risk factors; operators most often adopt such strategies to undertake their tasks while reducing the workload.

Working Memory and Reasoning Benefit from Different Modes of Large-scale Brain Dynamics in Healthy Older Adults.

PubMed

Lebedev, Alexander V; Nilsson, Jonna; Lövdén, Martin

2018-07-01

Researchers have proposed that solving complex reasoning problems, a key indicator of fluid intelligence, involves the same cognitive processes as solving working memory tasks. This proposal is supported by an overlap of the functional brain activations associated with the two types of tasks and by high correlations between interindividual differences in performance. We replicated these findings in 53 older participants but also showed that solving reasoning and working memory problems benefits from different configurations of the functional connectome and that this dissimilarity increases with a higher difficulty load. Specifically, superior performance in a typical working memory paradigm ( n-back) was associated with upregulation of modularity (increased between-network segregation), whereas performance in the reasoning task was associated with effective downregulation of modularity. We also showed that working memory training promotes task-invariant increases in modularity. Because superior reasoning performance is associated with downregulation of modular dynamics, training may thus have fostered an inefficient way of solving the reasoning tasks. This could help explain why working memory training does little to promote complex reasoning performance. The study concludes that complex reasoning abilities cannot be reduced to working memory and suggests the need to reconsider the feasibility of using working memory training interventions to attempt to achieve effects that transfer to broader cognition.

Acquisition and production of skilled behavior in dynamic decision-making tasks. Semiannual Status Report M.S. Thesis - Georgia Inst. of Tech., Nov. 1992

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirlik, Alex; Kossack, Merrick Frank

1993-01-01

This status report consists of a thesis entitled 'Ecological Task Analysis: A Method for Display Enhancements.' Previous use of various analysis processes for the purpose of display interface design or enhancement has run the risk of failing to improve user performance due to the analysis resulting in only a sequencial listing of user tasks. Adopting an ecological approach to performing the task analysis, however, may result in the necessary modeling of an unpredictable and variable task domain required to improve user performance. Kirlik has proposed an Ecological Task Analysis framework which is designed for this purpose. It is the purpose of this research to measure this framework's effectiveness at enhancing display interfaces in order to improve user performance. Following the proposed framework, an ecological task analysis of experienced users of a complex and dynamic laboratory task, Star Cruiser, was performed. Based on this analysis, display enhancements were proposed and implemented. An experiment was then conducted to compare this new version of Star Cruiser to the original. By measuring user performance at different tasks, it was determined that during early sessions, use of the enhanced display contributed to better user performance compared to that achieved using the original display. Furthermore, the results indicate that the enhancements proposed as a result of the ecological task analysis affected user performance differently depending on whether they are enhancements which aid in the selection of a possible action or in the performance of an action. Generalizations of these findings to larger, more complex systems were avoided since the analysis was only performed on this one particular system.

The Impact of Time Management on Students’ Academic Achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razali, S. N. A. M.; Rusiman, M. S.; Gan, W. S.; Arbin, N.

2018-04-01

Time management is very important and it may actually affect individual’s overall performance and achievements. Students nowadays always commented that they do not have enough time to complete all the tasks assigned to them. In addition, a university environment’s flexibility and freedom can derail students who have not mastered time management skills. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the time management and academic achievement of the students. The factor analysis result showed three main factors associated with time management which can be classified as time planning, time attitudes and time wasting. The result also indicated that gender and races of students show no significant differences in time management behaviours. While year of study and faculty of students reveal the significant differences in the time management behaviours. Meanwhile, all the time management behaviours are significantly positively related to academic achievement of students although the relationship is weak. Time planning is the most significant correlated predictor.

Science Teacher Leaders: Exploring Practices and Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stinson, John Kevin

It has become standard practice for teachers to step into the role of "teacher leaders" and perform a variety of curriculum, instruction and assessment tasks for schools and school districts. The literature regarding these Ohio K-12 teacher leaders, who may perform these tasks in addition to or in lieu of regular teaching assignments, rarely includes a disciplinary focus. In this exploratory, descriptive study the results of a web-based survey containing both closed and open-ended items were used in an inquiry into teacher leaders working with the discipline of science. Data from Ohio teachers responding to the survey were used first to create a standard profile for science teacher leaders. Descriptive statistics and correlations were then performed on quantitative survey data to explore science teacher leader tasks and factors that influence task performance. Analysis of data included descriptions of sense of purpose for their role held by these science teacher leaders. Results indicate that science teacher leaders appear to embrace their role as advocates for science and have great potential for implementing science education reform as well as other science-related school initiatives. Aligning performance, administrative oversight, impact on student achievement and teacher training concerning tasks science teacher leaders are expected to perform would enhance this potential. However, science teacher leaders face challenges to realizing that potential due to ambiguity of their leadership role, the breadth of tasks they tend to perform and lack of alignment between task and outcomes.

Mind the gap: Increased inter-letter spacing as a means of improving reading performance.

PubMed

Dotan, Shahar; Katzir, Tami

2018-06-05

Theeffects of text display, specificallywithin-word spacing, on children's reading at different developmental levels has barely been investigated.This study explored the influence of manipulating inter-letter spacing on reading performance (accuracy and rate) of beginner Hebrew readers compared with older readers and of low-achieving readers compared with age-matched high-achieving readers.A computer-based isolated word reading task was performed by 132 first and third graders. Words were displayed under two spacing conditions: standard spacing (100%) and increased spacing (150%). Words were balanced for length and frequency across conditions. Results indicated that increased spacing contributed to reading accuracy without affecting reading rate. Interestingly, all first graders benefitted fromthe spaced condition. Thiseffect was found only in long words but not in short words. Among third graders, only low-achieving readers gained in accuracy fromthespaced condition. Thetheoretical and clinical effects ofthefindings are discussed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Use of task-shifting to rapidly scale-up HIV treatment services: experiences from Lusaka, Zambia

PubMed Central

Morris, Mary B; Chapula, Bushimbwa Tambatamba; Chi, Benjamin H; Mwango, Albert; Chi, Harmony F; Mwanza, Joyce; Manda, Handson; Bolton, Carolyn; Pankratz, Debra S; Stringer, Jeffrey SA; Reid, Stewart E

2009-01-01

The World Health Organization advocates task-shifting, the process of delegating clinical care functions from more specialized to less specialized health workers, as a strategy to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. However, there is a dearth of literature describing task shifting in sub-Saharan Africa, where services for antiretroviral therapy (ART) have scaled up rapidly in the face of generalized human resource crises. As part of ART services expansion in Lusaka, Zambia, we implemented a comprehensive task-shifting program among existing health providers and community-based workers. Training begins with didactic sessions targeting specialized skill sets. This is followed by an intensive period of practical mentorship, where providers are paired with trainers before working independently. We provide on-going quality assessment using key indicators of clinical care quality at each site. Program performance is reviewed with clinic-based staff quarterly. When problems are identified, clinic staff members design and implement specific interventions to address targeted areas. From 2005 to 2007, we trained 516 health providers in adult HIV treatment; 270 in pediatric HIV treatment; 341 in adherence counseling; 91 in a specialty nurse "triage" course, and 93 in an intensive clinical mentorship program. On-going quality assessment demonstrated improvement across clinical care quality indicators, despite rapidly growing patient volumes. Our task-shifting strategy was designed to address current health care worker needs and to sustain ART scale-up activities. While this approach has been successful, long-term solutions to the human resource crisis are also urgently needed to expand the number of providers and to slow staff migration out of the region. PMID:19134202

The creative brain in the figural domain: Distinct patterns of EEG alpha power during idea generation and idea elaboration.

PubMed

Rominger, Christian; Papousek, Ilona; Perchtold, Corinna M; Weber, Bernhard; Weiss, Elisabeth M; Fink, Andreas

2018-02-13

This study investigated EEG activity in the upper alpha band during the well-known Picture Completion Task of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), a widely used creative ideation task in the figural domain. The application of a sophisticated computerized version of the TTCT facilitating the online assessment and digitalizing of participant's drawings allowed to separate two central stages of the creative ideation process (i.e., idea generation and idea elaboration). During idea generation, the participants' task was to generate an initial draft of an original and creative completion of the presented abstract lines and figures of the TTCT. During idea elaboration, the participants were required to mentally improve the originality of the initially generated idea/draft. Creative ideation in this figural task was generally associated with comparatively strong desynchronization of upper alpha power over parietal and occipital sites, indicating high visual/figural processing demands. Interestingly, the stage of idea elaboration was accompanied by a relative increase of upper alpha power at parietal and occipital sites compared to the stage of idea generation, indicating heightened top-down processing demands. Furthermore, task performance was associated with relative increases of upper alpha power at frontal sites and relative decreases at centro-temporal sites from the stage of idea generation to idea elaboration. This association suggests the importance of increased inhibitory control over stimulus-based bottom-up information and motor imagery in order to achieve more creative outputs. Taken together these findings add to the relevant literature in that they a) extend research on the relationship between EEG alpha activity and creativity to the figural domain, and b) support a multistage view of creative ideation, involving cognitive control and mental imagery as important components of creativity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptable, high recall, event extraction system with minimal configuration

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background Biomedical event extraction has been a major focus of biomedical natural language processing (BioNLP) research since the first BioNLP shared task was held in 2009. Accordingly, a large number of event extraction systems have been developed. Most such systems, however, have been developed for specific tasks and/or incorporated task specific settings, making their application to new corpora and tasks problematic without modification of the systems themselves. There is thus a need for event extraction systems that can achieve high levels of accuracy when applied to corpora in new domains, without the need for exhaustive tuning or modification, whilst retaining competitive levels of performance. Results We have enhanced our state-of-the-art event extraction system, EventMine, to alleviate the need for task-specific tuning. Task-specific details are specified in a configuration file, while extensive task-specific parameter tuning is avoided through the integration of a weighting method, a covariate shift method, and their combination. The task-specific configuration and weighting method have been employed within the context of two different sub-tasks of BioNLP shared task 2013, i.e. Cancer Genetics (CG) and Pathway Curation (PC), removing the need to modify the system specifically for each task. With minimal task specific configuration and tuning, EventMine achieved the 1st place in the PC task, and 2nd in the CG, achieving the highest recall for both tasks. The system has been further enhanced following the shared task by incorporating the covariate shift method and entity generalisations based on the task definitions, leading to further performance improvements. Conclusions We have shown that it is possible to apply a state-of-the-art event extraction system to new tasks with high levels of performance, without having to modify the system internally. Both covariate shift and weighting methods are useful in facilitating the production of high recall systems. These methods and their combination can adapt a model to the target data with no deep tuning and little manual configuration. PMID:26201408

Piagetian object permanence and its development in Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius).

PubMed

Zucca, Paolo; Milos, Nadia; Vallortigara, Giorgio

2007-04-01

Object permanence in Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) was investigated using a complete version of the Uzgiris and Hunt scale 1. Nine hand-raised jays were studied, divided into two groups according to their different developmental stages (experiment 1, older jays: 2-3 months old, n = 4; experiment 2, younger jays: 15 days old, n = 5). In the first experiment, we investigated whether older jays could achieve piagetian stage 6 of object permanence. Tasks were administered in a fixed sequence (1-15) according to the protocols used in other avian species. The aim of the second experiment was to check whether testing very young jays before their development of "neophobia" could influence the achievement times of piagetian stages. Furthermore, in this experiment tasks were administered randomly to investigate whether the jays' achievement of stage 6 follows a fixed sequence related to the development of specific cognitive abilities. All jays tested in experiments 1 and 2 fully achieved piagetian stage 6 and no "A not B" errors were observed. Performance on visible displacement tasks was better than performance on invisible ones. The results of experiment 2 show that "neophobia" affected the response of jays in terms of achievement times; the older jays in experiment 1 took longer to pass all the tasks when compared with the younger, less neophobic, jays in experiment 2. With regard to the achieving order, jays followed a fixed sequence of acquisition in experiment 2, even if tasks were administered randomly, with the exception of one subject. The results of these experiments support the idea that piagetian stages of cognitive development exist in avian species and that they progress through relatively fixed sequences.

Predicting academic self-handicapping in different age groups: the role of personal achievement goals and social goals.

PubMed

Leondari, Angeliki; Gonida, Eleftheria

2007-09-01

Academic self-handicapping refers to the use of impediments to successful performance on academic tasks. Previous studies have shown that it is related to personal achievement goals. A performance goal orientation is a positive predictor of self-handicapping, whereas a task goal orientation is unrelated to self-handicapping. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between academic self-handicapping, goal orientations (task, performance-approach, performance-avoidance), social goals, future consequences and achievement in mathematics. An additional aim was to investigate grade-level and gender differences in relation to academic self-handicapping. Participants were 702 upper elementary, junior and senior high school students with approximately equal numbers of girls and boys. There were no grade-level or gender differences as regards the use of self-handicapping. The correlations among the variables revealed that, when the whole sample was considered, self-handicapping was positively related to performance goal orientations and pleasing significant others and negatively to achievement in mathematics. The results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that, in upper elementary and junior high schools, the association between achievement in mathematics and self-handicapping was mediated by performance-avoidance goals. In senior high school, only task goal orientation was a negative predictor of self-handicapping.

Creative motivation: creative achievement predicts cardiac autonomic markers of effort during divergent thinking.

PubMed

Silvia, Paul J; Beaty, Roger E; Nusbaum, Emily C; Eddington, Kari M; Kwapil, Thomas R

2014-10-01

Executive approaches to creativity emphasize that generating creative ideas can be hard and requires mental effort. Few studies, however, have examined effort-related physiological activity during creativity tasks. Using motivational intensity theory as a framework, we examined predictors of effort-related cardiac activity during a creative challenge. A sample of 111 adults completed a divergent thinking task. Sympathetic (PEP and RZ) and parasympathetic (RSA and RMSSD) outcomes were assessed using impedance cardiography. As predicted, people with high creative achievement (measured with the Creative Achievement Questionnaire) showed significantly greater increases in sympathetic activity from baseline to task, reflecting higher effort. People with more creative achievements generated ideas that were significantly more creative, and creative performance correlated marginally with PEP and RZ. The results support the view that creative thought can be a mental challenge. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Task-switching costs promote the evolution of division of labor and shifts in individuality

PubMed Central

Goldsby, Heather J.; Dornhaus, Anna; Kerr, Benjamin; Ofria, Charles

2012-01-01

From microbes to humans, the success of many organisms is achieved by dividing tasks among specialized group members. The evolution of such division of labor strategies is an important aspect of the major transitions in evolution. As such, identifying specific evolutionary pressures that give rise to group-level division of labor has become a topic of major interest among biologists. To overcome the challenges associated with studying this topic in natural systems, we use actively evolving populations of digital organisms, which provide a unique perspective on the de novo evolution of division of labor in an open-ended system. We provide experimental results that address a fundamental question regarding these selective pressures: Does the ability to improve group efficiency through the reduction of task-switching costs promote the evolution of division of labor? Our results demonstrate that as task-switching costs rise, groups increasingly evolve division of labor strategies. We analyze the mechanisms by which organisms coordinate their roles and discover strategies with striking biological parallels, including communication, spatial patterning, and task-partitioning behaviors. In many cases, under high task-switching costs, individuals cease to be able to perform tasks in isolation, instead requiring the context of other group members. The simultaneous loss of functionality at a lower level and emergence of new functionality at a higher level indicates that task-switching costs may drive both the evolution of division of labor and also the loss of lower-level autonomy, which are both key components of major transitions in evolution. PMID:22872867

Robotic technologies of the Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) including fault tolerance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chladek, John T.; Craver, William M.

1994-01-01

The original FTS concept for Space Station Freedom (SSF) was to provide telerobotic assistance to enhance crew activity and safety and to reduce crew EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) activity. The first flight of the FTS manipulator systems would demonstrate several candidate tasks and would verify manipulator performance parameters. These first flight tasks included unlocking a SSF Truss Joint, mating/demating a fluid coupling, contact following of a contour board, demonstrating peg-in-hole assembly, and grasping and moving a mass. Future tasks foreseen for the FTS system included ORU (Orbit Replaceable Unit) change-out, Hubble Space Telescope Servicing, Gamma Ray Observatory refueling, and several in-situ SSF servicing and maintenance tasks. Operation of the FTS was planned to evolve from teleoperation to fully autonomous execution of many tasks. This wide range of mission tasks combined with the desire to evolve toward fully autonomy forced several requirements which may seen extremely demanding to the telerobotics community. The FTS requirements appear to have been created to accommodate the open-ended evolution plan such that operational evolution would not be impeded by function limitations. A recommendation arising from the FTS program to remedy the possible impacts from such ambitious requirements is to analyze candidate robotic tasks. Based on these task analyses, operational impacts against development impacts were weighed prior to requirements definition. Many of the FTS requirements discussed in the following sections greatly influenced the development cost and schedule of the FTS manipulator. The FTS manipulator has been assembled at Martin Marietta and is currently in testing. Successful component tests indicate a manipulator which achieves unprecedented performance specifications.

A Time Lag Analysis of Temporal Relations between Motivation, Academic Achievement, and Two Cognitive Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greene, Monica R.; Pasnak, Robert; Romero, Sandy L.

2009-01-01

Research Findings: The present study employed a time lag design to assess temporal relationships between motivation, academic achievement, and cognitive development. Eighty-one children from 2 preschool programs were measured twice, with an 11-week time lag, on 2 measures of motivation (marble drop task, bean bag toss task), 2 measures of…

Staying with the Text: The Contribution of Gender, Achievement Orientations, and Interest to Students' Performance on a Literacy Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Jedda; Tisher, Ruth; Ainley, Mary; Kennedy, Gregor

2008-01-01

This study addresses concerns about boys' underperformance on literacy tasks compared to girls, by investigating male and females students' responses to narrative texts. Participants were 142 Grade 9 and 10 students. Achievement orientations, including goals, self-efficacy, and self-handicapping, were measured and approach and avoidance factors…

Science Motivation across Asian Countries: Links among Future-Oriented Motivation, Self-Efficacy, Task Values, and Achievement Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Yuwen

2015-01-01

The relationships among future-oriented motivation, self-efficacy, task values of science, and achievement outcomes were investigated among 15-year-olds across four Asian nations who participated in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The factor structure of…

College Students' Achievement and Understanding of Experimental and Theoretical Probability: The Role of Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Papaieronymou, Irini

2012-01-01

This study examined the role of particular tasks implemented through two instructional methods on college students' "achievement" and understanding of probability. A mixed methods design that utilized a pre-test and post-test was used. This included treatment and control groups, each comprised of students in three sections of an…

Horizontal visual search in a large field by patients with unilateral spatial neglect.

PubMed

Nakatani, Ken; Notoya, Masako; Sunahara, Nobuyuki; Takahashi, Shusuke; Inoue, Katsumi

2013-06-01

In this study, we investigated the horizontal visual search ability and pattern of horizontal visual search in a large space performed by patients with unilateral spatial neglect (USN). Subjects included nine patients with right hemisphere damage caused by cerebrovascular disease showing left USN, nine patients with right hemisphere damage but no USN, and six healthy individuals with no history of brain damage who were age-matched to the groups with brain right hemisphere damage. The number of visual search tasks accomplished was recorded in the first experiment. Neck rotation angle was continuously measured during the task and quantitative data of the measurements were collected. There was a strong correlation between the number of visual search tasks accomplished and the total Behavioral Inattention Test Conventional Subtest (BITC) score in subjects with right hemisphere damage. In both USN and control groups, the head position during the visual search task showed a balanced bell-shaped distribution from the central point on the field to the left and right sides. Our results indicate that compensatory strategies, including cervical rotation, may improve visual search capability and achieve balance on the neglected side. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolution of Self-Organized Task Specialization in Robot Swarms

PubMed Central

Ferrante, Eliseo; Turgut, Ali Emre; Duéñez-Guzmán, Edgar; Dorigo, Marco; Wenseleers, Tom

2015-01-01

Division of labor is ubiquitous in biological systems, as evidenced by various forms of complex task specialization observed in both animal societies and multicellular organisms. Although clearly adaptive, the way in which division of labor first evolved remains enigmatic, as it requires the simultaneous co-occurrence of several complex traits to achieve the required degree of coordination. Recently, evolutionary swarm robotics has emerged as an excellent test bed to study the evolution of coordinated group-level behavior. Here we use this framework for the first time to study the evolutionary origin of behavioral task specialization among groups of identical robots. The scenario we study involves an advanced form of division of labor, common in insect societies and known as “task partitioning”, whereby two sets of tasks have to be carried out in sequence by different individuals. Our results show that task partitioning is favored whenever the environment has features that, when exploited, reduce switching costs and increase the net efficiency of the group, and that an optimal mix of task specialists is achieved most readily when the behavioral repertoires aimed at carrying out the different subtasks are available as pre-adapted building blocks. Nevertheless, we also show for the first time that self-organized task specialization could be evolved entirely from scratch, starting only from basic, low-level behavioral primitives, using a nature-inspired evolutionary method known as Grammatical Evolution. Remarkably, division of labor was achieved merely by selecting on overall group performance, and without providing any prior information on how the global object retrieval task was best divided into smaller subtasks. We discuss the potential of our method for engineering adaptively behaving robot swarms and interpret our results in relation to the likely path that nature took to evolve complex sociality and task specialization. PMID:26247819

Evolution of Self-Organized Task Specialization in Robot Swarms.

PubMed

Ferrante, Eliseo; Turgut, Ali Emre; Duéñez-Guzmán, Edgar; Dorigo, Marco; Wenseleers, Tom

2015-08-01

Division of labor is ubiquitous in biological systems, as evidenced by various forms of complex task specialization observed in both animal societies and multicellular organisms. Although clearly adaptive, the way in which division of labor first evolved remains enigmatic, as it requires the simultaneous co-occurrence of several complex traits to achieve the required degree of coordination. Recently, evolutionary swarm robotics has emerged as an excellent test bed to study the evolution of coordinated group-level behavior. Here we use this framework for the first time to study the evolutionary origin of behavioral task specialization among groups of identical robots. The scenario we study involves an advanced form of division of labor, common in insect societies and known as "task partitioning", whereby two sets of tasks have to be carried out in sequence by different individuals. Our results show that task partitioning is favored whenever the environment has features that, when exploited, reduce switching costs and increase the net efficiency of the group, and that an optimal mix of task specialists is achieved most readily when the behavioral repertoires aimed at carrying out the different subtasks are available as pre-adapted building blocks. Nevertheless, we also show for the first time that self-organized task specialization could be evolved entirely from scratch, starting only from basic, low-level behavioral primitives, using a nature-inspired evolutionary method known as Grammatical Evolution. Remarkably, division of labor was achieved merely by selecting on overall group performance, and without providing any prior information on how the global object retrieval task was best divided into smaller subtasks. We discuss the potential of our method for engineering adaptively behaving robot swarms and interpret our results in relation to the likely path that nature took to evolve complex sociality and task specialization.

Facial Emotion Recognition Performance Differentiates Between Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia and Major Depressive Disorder.

PubMed

Chiu, Isabelle; Piguet, Olivier; Diehl-Schmid, Janine; Riedl, Lina; Beck, Johannes; Leyhe, Thomas; Holsboer-Trachsler, Edith; Kressig, Reto W; Berres, Manfred; Monsch, Andreas U; Sollberger, Marc

Misdiagnosis of early behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) with major depressive disorder (MDD) is not uncommon due to overlapping symptoms. The aim of this study was to improve the discrimination between these disorders using a novel facial emotion perception task. In this prospective cohort study (July 2013-March 2016), we compared 25 patients meeting Rascovsky diagnostic criteria for bvFTD, 20 patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for MDD, 21 patients meeting McKhann diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease dementia, and 31 healthy participants on a novel emotion intensity rating task comprising morphed low-intensity facial stimuli. Participants were asked to rate the intensity of morphed faces on the congruent basic emotion (eg, rating on sadness when sad face is shown) and on the 5 incongruent basic emotions (eg, rating on each of the other basic emotions when sad face is shown). While bvFTD patients underrated congruent emotions (P < .01), they also overrated incongruent emotions (P < .001), resulting in confusion of facial emotions. In contrast, MDD patients overrated congruent negative facial emotions (P < .001), but not incongruent facial emotions. Accordingly, ratings of congruent and incongruent emotions highly discriminated between bvFTD and MDD patients, ranging from area under the curve (AUC) = 93% to AUC = 98%. Further, an almost complete discrimination (AUC = 99%) was achieved by contrasting the 2 rating types. In contrast, Alzheimer's disease dementia patients perceived emotions similarly to healthy participants, indicating no impact of cognitive impairment on rating scores. Our congruent and incongruent facial emotion intensity rating task allows a detailed assessment of facial emotion perception in patient populations. By using this simple task, we achieved an almost complete discrimination between bvFTD and MDD, potentially helping improve the diagnostic certainty in early bvFTD. © Copyright 2018 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Defining a roadmap for harmonizing quality indicators in Laboratory Medicine: a consensus statement on behalf of the IFCC Working Group "Laboratory Error and Patient Safety" and EFLM Task and Finish Group "Performance specifications for the extra-analytical phases".

PubMed

Sciacovelli, Laura; Panteghini, Mauro; Lippi, Giuseppe; Sumarac, Zorica; Cadamuro, Janne; Galoro, César Alex De Olivera; Pino Castro, Isabel Garcia Del; Shcolnik, Wilson; Plebani, Mario

2017-08-28

The improving quality of laboratory testing requires a deep understanding of the many vulnerable steps involved in the total examination process (TEP), along with the identification of a hierarchy of risks and challenges that need to be addressed. From this perspective, the Working Group "Laboratory Errors and Patient Safety" (WG-LEPS) of International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) is focusing its activity on implementation of an efficient tool for obtaining meaningful information on the risk of errors developing throughout the TEP, and for establishing reliable information about error frequencies and their distribution. More recently, the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) has created the Task and Finish Group "Performance specifications for the extra-analytical phases" (TFG-PSEP) for defining performance specifications for extra-analytical phases. Both the IFCC and EFLM groups are working to provide laboratories with a system to evaluate their performances and recognize the critical aspects where improvement actions are needed. A Consensus Conference was organized in Padova, Italy, in 2016 in order to bring together all the experts and interested parties to achieve a consensus for effective harmonization of quality indicators (QIs). A general agreement was achieved and the main outcomes have been the release of a new version of model of quality indicators (MQI), the approval of a criterion for establishing performance specifications and the definition of the type of information that should be provided within the report to the clinical laboratories participating to the QIs project.

Children’s Sleep and Academic Achievement: The Moderating Role of Effortful Control

PubMed Central

Diaz, Anjolii; Berger, Rebecca; Valiente, Carlos; Eisenberg, Nancy; VanSchyndel, Sarah; Tao, Chun; Spinrad, Tracy L.; Doane, Leah D.; Thompson, Marilyn S.; Silva, Kassondra M.; Southworth, Jody

2016-01-01

Poor sleep is thought to interfere with children’s learning and academic achievement (AA). However, existing research and theory indicate there are factors that may mitigate the academic risk associated with poor sleep. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of children’s effortful control (EC) on the relation between sleep and AA in young children. One hundred and three 4.5- to 7-year-olds (M = 5.98 years, SD = 0.61) wore a wrist-based actigraph for five continuous weekday nights. Teachers and coders reported on children’s EC. EC was also assessed with a computer-based task at school. Additionally, we obtained a standardized measure of children’s AA. There was a positive main effect of sleep efficiency to AA. Several relations between sleep and AA were moderated by EC and examination of the simple slopes indicated that the negative relation between sleep and AA was only significant at low levels of EC. PMID:28255190

Verbal and action-based measures of kindergartners' SFON and their associations with number-related utterances during picture book reading.

PubMed

Rathé, Sanne; Torbeyns, Joke; De Smedt, Bert; Hannula-Sormunen, Minna M; Verschaffel, Lieven

2017-11-20

Young children's spontaneous focusing on numerosity (SFON) as measured by experimental tasks is related to their mathematics achievement. This association is hypothetically explained by children's self-initiated practice in number recognition during everyday activities. As such, experimentally measured SFON should be associated with SFON exhibited during everyday activities and play. However, prior studies investigating this assumed association provided inconsistent findings. We aimed to address this issue by investigating the association between kindergartners' SFON as measured by two different experimental tasks and the frequency of their number-related utterances during a typical picture book reading activity. Participants were 65 4- to 6-year-olds in kindergarten (before the start of formal education). Kindergartners individually participated in two sessions. First, they completed an action-based SFON Imitation task and a verbal SFON Picture task, with a short visuo-motor task in between. Next, children were invited to spontaneously comment on the pictures of a picture book during a typical picture book reading activity. Results revealed a positive association between children's SFON as measured by the Picture task and the frequency of their number-related utterances during typical picture book reading, but no such association for the Imitation task. Our findings indicate that children with higher SFON as measured by a verbal experimental task also tend to focus more frequently on number during verbal everyday activities, such as picture book reading. In view of the divergent associations between our SFON measures under study with everyday number activities, the current data suggest that SFON may not be a unitary construct and/or might be task-dependent. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Functional Activation during the Rapid Visual Information Processing Task in a Middle Aged Cohort: An fMRI Study.

PubMed

Neale, Chris; Johnston, Patrick; Hughes, Matthew; Scholey, Andrew

2015-01-01

The Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP) task, a serial discrimination task where task performance believed to reflect sustained attention capabilities, is widely used in behavioural research and increasingly in neuroimaging studies. To date, functional neuroimaging research into the RVIP has been undertaken using block analyses, reflecting the sustained processing involved in the task, but not necessarily the transient processes associated with individual trial performance. Furthermore, this research has been limited to young cohorts. This study assessed the behavioural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) outcomes of the RVIP task using both block and event-related analyses in a healthy middle aged cohort (mean age = 53.56 years, n = 16). The results show that the version of the RVIP used here is sensitive to changes in attentional demand processes with participants achieving a 43% accuracy hit rate in the experimental task compared with 96% accuracy in the control task. As shown by previous research, the block analysis revealed an increase in activation in a network of frontal, parietal, occipital and cerebellar regions. The event related analysis showed a similar network of activation, seemingly omitting regions involved in the processing of the task (as shown in the block analysis), such as occipital areas and the thalamus, providing an indication of a network of regions involved in correct trial performance. Frontal (superior and inferior frontal gryi), parietal (precuenus, inferior parietal lobe) and cerebellar regions were shown to be active in both the block and event-related analyses, suggesting their importance in sustained attention/vigilance. These networks and the differences between them are discussed in detail, as well as implications for future research in middle aged cohorts.

Causal uncertainty, claimed and behavioural self-handicapping.

PubMed

Thompson, Ted; Hepburn, Jonathan

2003-06-01

Causal uncertainty beliefs involve doubts about the causes of events, and arise as a consequence of non-contingent evaluative feedback: feedback that leaves the individual uncertain about the causes of his or her achievement outcomes. Individuals high in causal uncertainty are frequently unable to confidently attribute their achievement outcomes, experience anxiety in achievement situations and as a consequence are likely to engage in self-handicapping behaviour. Accordingly, we sought to establish links between trait causal uncertainty, claimed and behavioural self-handicapping. Participants were N=72 undergraduate students divided equally between high and low causally uncertain groups. We used a 2 (causal uncertainty status: high, low) x 3 (performance feedback condition: success, non-contingent success, non-contingent failure) between-subjects factorial design to examine the effects of causal uncertainty on achievement behaviour. Following performance feedback, participants completed 20 single-solution anagrams and 12 remote associate tasks serving as performance measures, and 16 unicursal tasks to assess practice effort. Participants also completed measures of claimed handicaps, state anxiety and attributions. Relative to low causally uncertain participants, high causally uncertain participants claimed more handicaps prior to performance on the anagrams and remote associates, reported higher anxiety, attributed their failure to internal, stable factors, and reduced practice effort on the unicursal tasks, evident in fewer unicursal tasks solved. These findings confirm links between trait causal uncertainty and claimed and behavioural self-handicapping, highlighting the need for educators to facilitate means by which students can achieve surety in the manner in which they attribute the causes of their achievement outcomes.

Estimating cognitive workload using wavelet entropy-based features during an arithmetic task.

PubMed

Zarjam, Pega; Epps, Julien; Chen, Fang; Lovell, Nigel H

2013-12-01

Electroencephalography (EEG) has shown promise as an indicator of cognitive workload; however, precise workload estimation is an ongoing research challenge. In this investigation, seven levels of workload were induced using an arithmetic task, and the entropy of wavelet coefficients extracted from EEG signals is shown to distinguish all seven levels. For a subject-independent multi-channel classification scheme, the entropy features achieved high accuracy, up to 98% for channels from the frontal lobes, in the delta frequency band. This suggests that a smaller number of EEG channels in only one frequency band can be deployed for an effective EEG-based workload classification system. Together with analysis based on phase locking between channels, these results consistently suggest increased synchronization of neural responses for higher load levels. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bridging Grafts and Transient Nerve Growth Factor Infusions Promote Long-Term Central Nervous System Neuronal Rescue and Partial Functional Recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuszynski, Mark H.; Gage, Fred H.

1995-05-01

Grafts of favorable axonal growth substrates were combined with transient nerve growth factor (NGF) infusions to promote morphological and functional recovery in the adult rat brain after lesions of the septohippocampal projection. Long-term septal cholinergic neuronal rescue and partial hippocampal reinnervation were achieved, resulting in partial functional recovery on a simple task assessing habituation but not on a more complex task assessing spatial reference memory. Control animals that received transient NGF infusions without axonal-growth-promoting grafts lacked behavioral recovery but also showed long-term septal neuronal rescue. These findings indicate that (i) partial recovery from central nervous system injury can be induced by both preventing host neuronal loss and promoting host axonal regrowth and (ii) long-term neuronal loss can be prevented with transient NGF infusions.

Impacts of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution on air quality in Europe.

PubMed

Bull, Keith; Johansson, Matti; Krzyzanowski, Michal

2008-01-01

The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution has been one of the main ways of protecting the environment in Europe from air pollution. This convention has successfully bridged different political systems even through times of political change, and is a prime example of what can be achieved through intergovernmental cooperation. Through creating an effective framework for controlling and reducing the damage to human health and the environment from transboundary air pollution, this convention has proved successful. This article considers the development of the convention and its work on adverse air pollution effects, in particular on activities related to quantifying effects on human health as carried out by the convention's joint (with WHO) Task Force on the Health Effects of Air Pollution (Task Force on Health), and concludes with some indications of the convention's future priorities.

Automatic detection of erythemato-squamous diseases using k-means clustering.

PubMed

Ubeyli, Elif Derya; Doğdu, Erdoğan

2010-04-01

A new approach based on the implementation of k-means clustering is presented for automated detection of erythemato-squamous diseases. The purpose of clustering techniques is to find a structure for the given data by finding similarities between data according to data characteristics. The studied domain contained records of patients with known diagnosis. The k-means clustering algorithm's task was to classify the data points, in this case the patients with attribute data, to one of the five clusters. The algorithm was used to detect the five erythemato-squamous diseases when 33 features defining five disease indications were used. The purpose is to determine an optimum classification scheme for this problem. The present research demonstrated that the features well represent the erythemato-squamous diseases and the k-means clustering algorithm's task achieved high classification accuracies for only five erythemato-squamous diseases.

Lunar Surface Operations. Part 1; Post-Touchdown Lunar Surface and System Checkouts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Interbartolo, Michael

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the first part of the post-touchdown lunar surface and system checkout tasks. A stay/no stay decision for the lunar lander was made based on the questions: "Is the Lunar Module (LM) stable on the lunar surface?"; "Are there any time critical systems failures or trends indicating impending loss of capability to ascent and achieve a safe lunar orbit?"; and "Is there loss of capability in critical LM systems?" The sequence of these decisions is given as a time after touchdown on the surface of the moon. After the decision to stay is made the next task is to checkout status of the lunar module. While the status of the lunar module is checking out certain conditions, the Command Service Module was also engaged in certain checkout activities.

The Effects of Peer-Like and Expert-Like Pedagogical Agents on Learners' Agent Perceptions, Task-Related Attitudes, and Learning Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liew, Tze Wei; Tan, Su-Mae; Jayothisa, Chandrika

2013-01-01

The present study examined the impact of peer-like and expert-like agent stereotypes, as operationalized by agent's image and voice, on learners' agent perceptions, task-related attitudes, and learning achievement. 56 university freshmen (23 males and 33 females) interacted with either the peer-like agent (female college student) or the…

Predicting Academic Self-Handicapping in Different Age Groups: The Role of Personal Achievement Goals and Social Goals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leondari, Angeliki; Gonida, Eleftheria

2007-01-01

Background: Academic self-handicapping refers to the use of impediments to successful performance on academic tasks. Previous studies have shown that it is related to personal achievement goals. A performance goal orientation is a positive predictor of self-handicapping, whereas a task goal orientation is unrelated to self-handicapping. Aims: The…

Intelligence of Mexican American Children: A Field Study Comparing Neo-Piagetian and Traditional Capacity and Achievement Measures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Avila, Edward A.; Havassy, Barbara

Approximately 1,225 Mexican American and Anglo American children in grades 1-6 (ages 6-14) from California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas were tested using school achievement and IQ standardized tests and four Piagetian-derived measures (Cartoon Conservation Scales, Water Level Task, Figural Intersection Test, and Serial Task). The field study's…

Unpacking High and Low Efficacy Teachers' Task Analysis and Competence Assessment in Teaching Low-Achieving Students in Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Li-Yi; Jen-Yi, Li; Tan, Liang-See; Tan, Irene; Lim, Xue-Fang; Wu, Bing Sheng

2016-01-01

This study adopted a pragmatic qualitative research design to unpack high and low efficacy teachers' task analysis and competence assessment in the context of teaching low-achieving students. Nine secondary school English and Science teachers were recruited and interviewed. Results of thematic analysis show that helping students perform well in…

Educational late effects in long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia.

PubMed

Peckham, V C; Meadows, A T; Bartel, N; Marrero, O

1988-01-01

Records of levels of school achievement in long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia were obtained for 23 children who had received 2,400-rad cranial irradiation and intrathecal methotrexate and standard chemotherapeutic agents 8 to 10 years previously. The children had been evaluated with standardized tests of intelligence at the time of diagnosis and periodically thereafter. Declines in IQ and cognitive dysfunctions have been previously described. School placements, educational histories, attendance records, learning strengths and weaknesses, social/emotional adjustments, and grade level achievements in reading and mathematics as measured by standardized achievement tests are reported here. Children achieved less than the expected levels in both reading and mathematics given both pretreatment and most recent IQ scores. Neither sex nor initial IQ were related to achievement scores. Children experienced difficulty with attention/concentration, memory, sequencing, and comprehension when performing school tasks. Individual children showed different degrees of dysfunction, but results of this study suggest that there are patterns of specific learning disabilities rather than global retardation. A small number of children achieved greater than expected levels, indicating that individualized instruction, tutoring, and parental support may reduce some learning deficits. Early educational intervention is recommended for similarly treated patients.

The influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on strategic, behavioral, and electrophysiological indices of arithmetic cognition in preadolescent children

PubMed Central

Moore, R. Davis; Drollette, Eric S.; Scudder, Mark R.; Bharij, Aashiv; Hillman, Charles H.

2014-01-01

The current study investigated the influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on arithmetic cognition in forty 9–10 year old children. Measures included a standardized mathematics achievement test to assess conceptual and computational knowledge, self-reported strategy selection, and an experimental arithmetic verification task (including small and large addition problems), which afforded the measurement of event-related brain potentials (ERPs). No differences in math achievement were observed as a function of fitness level, but all children performed better on math concepts relative to math computation. Higher fit children reported using retrieval more often to solve large arithmetic problems, relative to lower fit children. During the arithmetic verification task, higher fit children exhibited superior performance for large problems, as evidenced by greater d' scores, while all children exhibited decreased accuracy and longer reaction time for large relative to small problems, and incorrect relative to correct solutions. On the electrophysiological level, modulations of early (P1, N170) and late ERP components (P3, N400) were observed as a function of problem size and solution correctness. Higher fit children exhibited selective modulations for N170, P3, and N400 amplitude relative to lower fit children, suggesting that fitness influences symbolic encoding, attentional resource allocation and semantic processing during arithmetic tasks. The current study contributes to the fitness-cognition literature by demonstrating that the benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness extend to arithmetic cognition, which has important implications for the educational environment and the context of learning. PMID:24829556

Exceptional visuospatial imagery in schizophrenia; implications for madness and creativity

PubMed Central

Benson, Taylor L.; Park, Sohee

2013-01-01

Biographical and historical accounts suggest a link between scientific creativity and schizophrenia. Longitudinal studies of gifted children indicate that visuospatial imagery plays a pivotal role in exceptional achievements in science and mathematics. We asked whether visuospatial imagery is enhanced in individuals with schizophrenia (SZ). We compared SZ and matched healthy controls (HC) on five visuospatial tasks tapping parietal and frontoparietal functions. Two aspects of visuospatial transformation, spatial location and mental imagery manipulation were examined with Paper Folding Test (PFT) and jigsaw puzzle task (JPT), respectively. Visuospatial intelligence was assessed with Ravens Progressive Matrices, which is associated with frontoparietal network activity. Hemispatial inattention implicating parietal function was assessed with line bisection (LB) task. Mediated by prefrontal cortex, spatial delayed response task (DRT) was used to index working memory maintenance, which was impaired in SZ compared to HC. In contrast, SZ showed intact visuospatial intelligence and transformation of location. Further, SZ performed significantly better than HC on JPT indicating enhanced mental imagery manipulation. Spatial working memory (SWM) maintenance and mental imagery manipulation were strongly associated in HC but dissociated in SZ. Thus, we observed enhanced mental imagery manipulation in SZ but the dissociation of mental imagery from working memory suggests a disrupted frontoparietal network. Finally, while HC showed the expected leftward pseudoneglect, SZ showed increased rightward LB bias implicating left hemispatial inattention and impaired right parietal control of spatial attention. The current results chart a unique profile of impaired, spared and enhanced parietal-mediated visuospatial functions implicating parietal abnormalities as a biobehavioral marker for SZ. We discuss these results in relation to creative cognition. PMID:24273503

Approximate Number Sense, Symbolic Number Processing, or Number-Space Mappings: What Underlies Mathematics Achievement?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sasanguie, Delphine; Gobel, Silke M.; Moll, Kristina; Smets, Karolien; Reynvoet, Bert

2013-01-01

In this study, the performance of typically developing 6- to 8-year-old children on an approximate number discrimination task, a symbolic comparison task, and a symbolic and nonsymbolic number line estimation task was examined. For the first time, children's performances on these basic cognitive number processing tasks were explicitly contrasted…

Self-determination and goal orientation in track and field.

PubMed

Chin, Ngien-Siong; Khoo, Selina; Low, Wah-Yun

2012-06-01

This study investigated gender, age group and locality differences in adolescent athletes' self-determination motivation and goal orientations in track and field. It also examined the relationship between the self-determination theory and achievement goal theory. A total of 632 (349 boys, 283 girls) adolescent athletes (aged 13-18 years) completed the Sports Motivation Scale and Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire. Results indicated significant differences between gender on intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation (t(630) = 4.10, p < 0.05) and ego orientation (t(630) = 2.48, p < 0.05). Male students reported higher intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation and ego orientation. A significant difference was found between age groups on task orientation (t(630) = 1.94, p < 0.05) and locality on ego orientation (t(630) = 1.94, p < 0.05). Older athletes showed significantly higher task orientation. Rural athletes had higher ego orientation whereas urban athletes have higher intrinsic motivation. Task orientation was related to intrinsic motivation (r = 0.55, p < 0.01), extrinsic motivation (r = 0.55, p < 0.01), but weakly related to amotivation (r = 0.10, p < 0.01). Ego orientation was related to intrinsic motivation (r = 0.30, p < 0.01), extrinsic motivation (r = 0.36, p < 0.01) and amotivaion (r = 0.36, p < 0.01). Task orientation was related to ego orientation (r = 0.29, p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation accounted for 30.5% of the variances in task orientation.

[Ecological assessment of executive functions in a patient with acquired brain injury].

PubMed

Chevignard, M; Taillefer, C; Picq, C; Pradat-Diehl, P

2008-03-01

Dysexecutive syndrome is one of the most frequent sequel of severe traumatic brain injury. It causes severe disabilities and it is incompletely assessed by the classical "paper and pencil" neuropsychological tests. We developed an ecological assessment conducted in a naturalistic situation, consisting of a cooking task, and we described a classification of errors. This assessment is very sensitive, even to a mild dysexecutive syndrome. To describe the disabilities in activities of daily living of a traumatic brain-injured patient and to demonstrate the sensitivity of an ill-structured ecological assessment. We report a single case study illustrating how the ecological assessment by the cooking task helped better understand and characterize the patient's disabilities. The patient presented severe disabilities in daily life activities, which were well described by his family. His cognitive disorders were mild in the cognitive tests, even those supposed to be more ecological, such as the Six Elements Task or script generation. He exhibited very severe disorders in the cooking task, with a very high number of errors. Moreover, duration of the cooking task was very long; he did not achieve the goal and exhibited dangerous behaviour. The cooking task involves abilities to deal with multitasking, which particularly involve executive functions. The most severe disorders were observed during the patient's interaction with the environment while conducting a complex goal-directed action plan, indicating control disorders. This type of naturalistic assessment provides very useful information to help patients organise their familial, social or professional reintegration.

Self-Determination and Goal Orientation in Track and Field

PubMed Central

Chin, Ngien-Siong; Khoo, Selina; Low, Wah-Yun

2012-01-01

This study investigated gender, age group and locality differences in adolescent athletes’ self-determination motivation and goal orientations in track and field. It also examined the relationship between the self-determination theory and achievement goal theory. A total of 632 (349 boys, 283 girls) adolescent athletes (aged 13–18 years) completed the Sports Motivation Scale and Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire. Results indicated significant differences between gender on intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation (t(630) = 4.10, p < 0.05) and ego orientation (t(630) = 2.48, p < 0.05). Male students reported higher intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation and ego orientation. A significant difference was found between age groups on task orientation (t(630) = 1.94, p < 0.05) and locality on ego orientation (t(630) = 1.94, p < 0.05). Older athletes showed significantly higher task orientation. Rural athletes had higher ego orientation whereas urban athletes have higher intrinsic motivation. Task orientation was related to intrinsic motivation (r = 0.55, p < 0.01), extrinsic motivation (r = 0.55, p < 0.01), but weakly related to amotivation (r = 0.10, p < 0.01). Ego orientation was related to intrinsic motivation (r = 0.30, p < 0.01), extrinsic motivation (r = 0.36, p < 0.01) and amotivaion (r = 0.36, p < 0.01). Task orientation was related to ego orientation (r = 0.29, p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and amotivation accounted for 30.5% of the variances in task orientation. PMID:23486244

Automated concept-level information extraction to reduce the need for custom software and rules development.

PubMed

D'Avolio, Leonard W; Nguyen, Thien M; Goryachev, Sergey; Fiore, Louis D

2011-01-01

Despite at least 40 years of promising empirical performance, very few clinical natural language processing (NLP) or information extraction systems currently contribute to medical science or care. The authors address this gap by reducing the need for custom software and rules development with a graphical user interface-driven, highly generalizable approach to concept-level retrieval. A 'learn by example' approach combines features derived from open-source NLP pipelines with open-source machine learning classifiers to automatically and iteratively evaluate top-performing configurations. The Fourth i2b2/VA Shared Task Challenge's concept extraction task provided the data sets and metrics used to evaluate performance. Top F-measure scores for each of the tasks were medical problems (0.83), treatments (0.82), and tests (0.83). Recall lagged precision in all experiments. Precision was near or above 0.90 in all tasks. Discussion With no customization for the tasks and less than 5 min of end-user time to configure and launch each experiment, the average F-measure was 0.83, one point behind the mean F-measure of the 22 entrants in the competition. Strong precision scores indicate the potential of applying the approach for more specific clinical information extraction tasks. There was not one best configuration, supporting an iterative approach to model creation. Acceptable levels of performance can be achieved using fully automated and generalizable approaches to concept-level information extraction. The described implementation and related documentation is available for download.

A Feasibility Study for Perioperative Ventricular Tachycardia Prognosis and Detection and Noise Detection Using a Neural Network and Predictive Linear Operators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moebes, T. A.

1994-01-01

To locate the accessory pathway(s) in preexicitation syndromes, epicardial and endocardial ventricular mapping is performed during anterograde ventricular activation via accessory pathway(s) from data originally received in signal form. As the number of channels increases, it is pertinent that more automated detection of coherent/incoherent signals is achieved as well as the prediction and prognosis of ventricular tachywardia (VT). Today's computers and computer program algorithms are not good in simple perceptual tasks such as recognizing a pattern or identifying a sound. This discrepancy, among other things, has been a major motivating factor in developing brain-based, massively parallel computing architectures. Neural net paradigms have proven to be effective at pattern recognition tasks. In signal processing, the picking of coherent/incoherent signals represents a pattern recognition task for computer systems. The picking of signals representing the onset ot VT also represents such a computer task. We attacked this problem by defining four signal attributes for each potential first maximal arrival peak and one signal attribute over the entire signal as input to a back propagation neural network. One attribute was the predicted amplitude value after the maximum amplitude over a data window. Then, by using a set of known (user selected) coherent/incoherent signals, and signals representing the onset of VT, we trained the back propagation network to recognize coherent/incoherent signals, and signals indicating the onset of VT. Since our output scheme involves a true or false decision, and since the output unit computes values between 0 and 1, we used a Fuzzy Arithmetic approach to classify data as coherent/incoherent signals. Furthermore, a Mean-Square Error Analysis was used to determine system stability. The neural net based picking coherent/incoherent signal system achieved high accuracy on picking coherent/incoherent signals on different patients. The system also achieved a high accuracy of picking signals which represent the onset of VT, that is, VT immediately followed these signals. A special binary representation of the input and output data allowed the neural network to train very rapidly as compared to another standard decimal or normalized representations of the data.

Managing Multiple Tasks in Complex, Dynamic Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freed, Michael; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

Sketchy planners are designed to achieve goals in realistically complex, time-pressured, and uncertain task environments. However, the ability to manage multiple, potentially interacting tasks in such environments requires extensions to the functionality these systems typically provide. This paper identifies a number of factors affecting how interacting tasks should be prioritized, interrupted, and resumed, and then describes a sketchy planner called APEX that takes account of these factors when managing multiple tasks.

Long-term effects of controllability or the lack of it on coping abilities and stress resilience in the rat.

PubMed

Lucas, Morgan; Ilin, Yana; Anunu, Rachel; Kehat, Orli; Xu, Lin; Desmedt, Aline; Richter-Levin, Gal

2014-09-01

Findings suggest that stress-induced impaired learning and coping abilities may be attributed more to the psychological nature of the stressor, rather than its physical properties. It has been proposed that establishing controllability over stressors can ameliorate some of its effects on cognition and behavior. Gaining controllability was suggested to be associated with the development of stress resilience. Based on repeated exposure to the two-way shuttle avoidance task, we previously developed and validated a behavioral task that leads to a strict dissociation between gaining controllability (to the level that the associated fear is significantly reduced) and a fearful state of uncontrollability. Employing this protocol, we investigated here the impact of gaining or failing to gain emotional controllability on indices of anxiety and depression and on subsequent abilities to cope with positively or negatively reinforcing learning experiences. In agreement with previous studies, rats exposed to the uncontrollable protocol demonstrated high concentration of sera corticosterone, increased immobility, reduced duration of struggling in the forced swim test and impaired ability to acquire subsequent learning tasks. Achieving emotional controllability resulted in resilience to stress as was indicated by longer duration of struggling in the forced swim test, and enhanced learning abilities. Our prolonged training protocol, with the demonstrated ability of rats to gain emotional controllability, is proposed as a useful tool to study the neurobiological mechanisms of stress resilience.

HAL/S programmer's guide. [for space shuttle program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newbold, P. M.; Hotz, R. L.

1974-01-01

This programming language was developed for the flight software of the NASA space shuttle program. HAL/S is intended to satisfy virtually all of the flight software requirements of the space shuttle. To achieve this, HAL/s incorporates a wide range of features, including applications-oriented data types and organizations, real time control mechanisms, and constructs for systems programming tasks. As the name indicates, HAL/S is a dialect of the original HAL language previously developed. Changes have been incorporated to simplify syntax, curb excessive generality, or facilitate flight code emission.

The Effect of Task-Based Language Teaching on Motivation and Grammatical Achievement of EFL Junior High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

NamazianDost, Islam; Bohloulzadeh, Ghassem; Pazhakh, Abdolreza

2017-01-01

This research sought to investigate the effect of the effect of task-based language teaching on motivation and grammatical achievement of EFL junior high school students of Ahvaz. To fulfill the objectives of the study a Homogeneity test (Oxford Quick Placement Test) was administered among 100 students at the junior high school and finally 80…

The Effects of a Modified Mastery Learning Strategy on Achievement, Attitudes, and On-Task Behavior of High School Chemistry Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dillashaw, F. Gerald; Okey, James R.

This study explored the effects of a modified mastery learning strategy as well as locus of control and aptitude on achievement, attitudes, and on-task behavior of high school chemistry students (N=156). Mastery learning in this study was modified to limit diagnosis and remediation to two cycles. Three treatment groups were included: (1) contrast…

78 FR 34313 - Funding Opportunity Title: Risk Management Education Partnerships Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-07

... Involvement H. Description of Agreement Award--Awardee Tasks I. Other Tasks Section III--Eligibility..., ornamental nursery, Christmas trees, turf grass sod, aquaculture (including ornamental fish), and industrial.... H. Description of Agreement Award--Awardee Tasks In conducting activities to achieve the purpose and...

Haptic subjective vertical shows context dependence: task and vision play a role during dynamic tilt stimulation.

PubMed

Wright, William Geoffrey; Glasauer, Stefan

2003-10-01

Perceiving one's vertical is an integral part of efficiently functioning in an environment physically polarized along that dimension. How one determines the direction of gravity is not a task left only to inertial sensors, such as the vestibular organs, rather as numerous studies have shown, this task is influenced visually and somatosensorily. In addition, there is evidence that higher order cognitive effects such as expectancies and context are critical in perception of the vertical. One's ability to integrate these various inputs during normal activity is not generally questioned, one's doubts being satisfied by observing a waiter navigating a crowded restaurant with a tray balanced on one hand, neither tripping or dropping an entree. But how these various sources are integrated is still debated. Most research focuses on subjective vertical perception used visual matching/alignment tasks, verbal reports, or saccadic eye movements as a dependent measure. Although a motor task involving a joystick or indicator to be aligned with gravity without visual feedback is used much less frequently, there is good evidence that individuals easily orient limbs to an external gravity-aligned coordinate axis while being statically tilted. By exposure to a dynamic situation, the central nervous system should be no more challenged by the task of determining the subjective vertical than during static conditions, because our spatial orientation systems were likely selected for just that. In addition, the sensitive calibration between visual and other sensory input also must have been key to its selection. This sensory interaction can be tested by changing the relation between the various sources. With the advent of virtual reality technology, a complex and "natural" visual stimulus is achievable and is easily manipulable. How one tests perception of verticality is also a pertinent question when researching spatial orientation systems. The system's performance may be better indicated by a task of higher relevance to its normal function. In other words, the dependent measure can be made more or less relevant to real-world tasks. With an experimental design that attempts to mimic natural conditions, the current study focuses on two main topics. First, how does manipulation of the visual inputs during passive roll-tilt affect one's sense of body orientation? And second, how does changing the task used to measure subjective vertical affect one's performance?

Time-lapse microscopy using smartphone with augmented reality markers.

PubMed

Baek, Dongyoub; Cho, Sungmin; Yun, Kyungwon; Youn, Keehong; Bang, Hyunwoo

2014-04-01

A prototype system that replaces the conventional time-lapse imaging in microscopic inspection for use with smartphones is presented. Existing time-lapse imaging requires a video data feed between a microscope and a computer that varies depending on the type of image grabber. Even with proper hardware setups, a series of tedious and repetitive tasks is still required to relocate to the region-of-interest (ROI) of the specimens. In order to simplify the system and improve the efficiency of time-lapse imaging tasks, a smartphone-based platform utilizing microscopic augmented reality (μ-AR) markers is proposed. To evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed system, a user test was designed and performed, measuring the elapse time for a trial of the task starting from the execution of the application software to the completion of restoring and imaging of an ROI saved in advance. The results of the user test showed that the average elapse time was 65.3 ± 15.2 s with 6.86 ± 3.61 μm of position error and 0.08 ± 0.40 degrees of angle error. This indicates that the time-lapse imaging task was accomplished rapidly with a high level of accuracy. Thus, simplification of both the system and the task was achieved via our proposed system. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Selecting Tasks for Evaluating Human Performance as a Function of Gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Norcross, J. R.; Gernhardt, M. L.

2010-01-01

A challenge in understanding human performance as a function of gravity is determining which tasks to research. Initial studies began with treadmill walking, which was easy to quantify and control. However, with the development of pressurized rovers, it is less important to optimize human performance for ambulation as rovers will likely perform gross translation for them. Future crews are likely to spend much of their extravehicular activity (EVA) performing geology, construction and maintenance type tasks, for which it is difficult to measure steady-state-workloads. To evaluate human performance in reduced gravity, we have collected metabolic, biomechanical and subjective data for different tasks at varied gravity levels. Methods: Ten subjects completed 5 different tasks including weight transfer, shoveling, treadmill walking, treadmill running and treadmill incline walking. All tasks were performed shirt-sleeved at 1-g, 3/8-g and 1/6-g. Off-loaded conditions were achieved via the Active Response Gravity Offload System. Treadmill tasks were performed for 3 minutes with reported oxygen consumption (VO2) averaged over the last 2 minutes. Shoveling was performed for 3 minutes with metabolic cost reported as ml O2 consumed per kg material shoveled. Weight transfer reports metabolic cost as liters O2 consumed to complete the task. Statistical analysis was performed via repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Statistically significant metabolic differences were noted between all 3 gravity levels for treadmill running and incline walking. For the other 3 tasks, there were significant differences between 1-g and each reduced gravity, but not between 1/6-g and 3/8-g. For weight transfer, significant differences were seen between gravities in both trial-average VO2 and time-to-completion with noted differences in strategy for task completion. Conclusion: To determine if gravity has a metabolic effect on human performance, this research may indicate that tasks should be selected that require the subject to work vertically against the force of gravity.

Task allocation in a distributed computing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seward, Walter D.

1987-01-01

A conceptual framework is examined for task allocation in distributed systems. Application and computing system parameters critical to task allocation decision processes are discussed. Task allocation techniques are addressed which focus on achieving a balance in the load distribution among the system's processors. Equalization of computing load among the processing elements is the goal. Examples of system performance are presented for specific applications. Both static and dynamic allocation of tasks are considered and system performance is evaluated using different task allocation methodologies.

Task Values and Ability Beliefs as Predictors of High School Literacy Choices: A Developmental Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durik, Amanda M.; Vida, Mina; Eccles, Jacquelynne S.

2005-01-01

This study examines how competence beliefs and task values predict high school achievement choices related to literacy. Students' task beliefs (self-concept of ability, intrinsic value, and importance) about reading in the 4th grade and English in the 10th grade were tracked over time. Task beliefs, school performance, and gender were used to…

There-apy: The Use of Task, Imagery, and Symbolism To Connect the Inner and Outer Worlds.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eisenstein-Naveh, A. Rosa

2001-01-01

Presents a model of therapy called there-apy, which weaves together the use of task, symbolism, and imagery into an ongoing process. Concrete tasks take on symbolic meaning, and symbolism gets actualized through achieving concrete tasks. There-apy connects the individual's outside and inside worlds and often involves the partner or family in the…

Does Successful Attainment of Developmental Tasks Lead to Happiness and Success in Later Developmental Tasks? A Test of Havighurst's (1948) Theses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seiffge-Krenke, Inge; Gelhaar, Tim

2008-01-01

This study tested Havighurst's (1948) contention that successful attainment of age-specific developmental tasks leads to happiness and success in achieving subsequent tasks. A longitudinal study on 146 participants was carried out to investigate the links between developmental progression in adolescence and young adulthood and happiness, which was…

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.

A modular telerobotic task execution system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Backes, Paul G.; Tso, Kam S.; Hayati, Samad; Lee, Thomas S.

1990-01-01

A telerobot task execution system is proposed to provide a general parametrizable task execution capability. The system includes communication with the calling system, e.g., a task planning system, and single- and dual-arm sensor-based task execution with monitoring and reflexing. A specific task is described by specifying the parameters to various available task execution modules including trajectory generation, compliance control, teleoperation, monitoring, and sensor fusion. Reflex action is achieved by finding the corresponding reflex action in a reflex table when an execution event has been detected with a monitor.

Assessing the Psychometric Properties of the Achievement Goals Questionnaire across Task Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muis, Krista R.; Winne, Philip H.

2012-01-01

A program of research is necessary to examine the psychometric properties of instruments designed to measure individuals' achievement goal orientations. Recently, research on achievement goal orientation has examined the stability of achievement goals to assess how context might influence individuals' achievement goals. Accordingly, studies are…

Sixth-Grade Students' Engagement in Academic Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsons, Seth A.; Malloy, Jacquelynn A.; Parsons, Allison Ward; Peters-Burton, Erin E.; Burrowbridge, Sarah Cohen

2018-01-01

Student engagement is important for teachers and researchers because it is associated with student achievement. Guided by self-determination theory, this year-long case study used observations and interviews to examine six students' behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement in integrated literacy and social studies tasks. Task differences…

Relationship among achievement goal orientations and multidimensional situational motivation in physical education.

PubMed

Standage, Martyn; Treasure, Darren C

2002-03-01

Contemporary research suggests that task and ego achievement goal orientations affect students' intrinsic motivation in physical education. This research has assessed intrinsic motivation as a unidimensional contruct, however, which is inconsistent with the more contemporary postulates of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991) which states that intrinsic motivation is only one type of motivation. To date, research has not addressed whether different types of motivation at the situational level are influenced by the proneness to adopt task or ego involvement. To examine the relationship between achievement goal orientations and multidimensional situational motivation in PE. Middle school children (182 male, 136 female; M age = 13.2 years). Responded to questionnaires assessing their dispositional goal orientation (POSQ; Roberts, Treasure, & Balague, 1998) and situational motivation (SIMS; Guay, Vallerand, & Blanchard, 2000) in PE. Task orientation was found to be positively associated with more self-determined types of situational motivation. Ego orientation was weakly related to less self-determined motivation. An extreme group split was conducted to create four goal groups and goal profile analyses conducted. A significant MANOVA was followed by univariate analyses, post hoc comparisons, and calculated effect sizes, which revealed that groups high in task orientation reported more motivationally adaptive responses than groups low in task orientation. The results suggest that a high level of task orientation singularly or in combination with ego orientation fosters self-determined situational motivation in the context of PE.

Gender Differences in Academic Achievement: Is Writing an Exception to the Gender Similarities Hypothesis?

PubMed

Reynolds, Matthew R; Scheiber, Caroline; Hajovsky, Daniel B; Schwartz, Bryanna; Kaufman, Alan S

2015-01-01

The gender similarities hypothesis by J. S. Hyde ( 2005 ), based on large-scale reviews of studies, concludes that boys and girls are more alike than different on most psychological variables, including academic skills such as reading and math (J. S. Hyde, 2005 ). Writing is an academic skill that may be an exception. The authors investigated gender differences in academic achievement using a large, nationally stratified sample of children and adolescents ranging from ages 7-19 years (N = 2,027). Achievement data were from the conormed sample for the Kaufman intelligence and achievement tests. Multiple-indicator, multiple-cause, and multigroup mean and covariance structure models were used to test for mean differences. Girls had higher latent reading ability and higher scores on a test of math computation, but the effect sizes were consistent with the gender similarities hypothesis. Conversely, girls scored higher on spelling and written expression, with effect sizes inconsistent with the gender similarities hypothesis. The findings remained the same after controlling for cognitive ability. Girls outperform boys on tasks of writing.

Working Memory Load and Reminder Effect on Event-Based Prospective Memory of High- and Low-Achieving Students in Math

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Youzhen; Lian, Rong; Yang, Lixian; Liu, Jianrong; Meng, Yingfang

2017-01-01

The effects of working memory (WM) demand and reminders on an event-based prospective memory (PM) task were compared between students with low and high achievement in math. WM load (1- and 2-back tasks) was manipulated as a within-subject factor and reminder (with or without reminder) as a between-subject factor. Results showed that high-achieving…

Verbal and nonverbal behavior of ability-grouped dyads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, M. Gail; Carter, Glenda

In this study we describe the social interactions of ability-grouped dyads as they constructed knowledge of balance concepts to elucidate the relationship between interactions and conceptual growth. The verbal and nonverbal behaviors of 30 fifth-grade students were recorded as they completed three activities related to balance. These student interactions were examined within a framework of social cognition. For each dyad, characteristics of ability-grouped dyads were identified. Results revealed that high-achieving students effectively used prior experiences, maintained focus on the learning task, and were able to manipulate the equipment effectively to construct knowledge. Low-achieving students exhibited off-task behavior, lacked a metacognitive framework for organizing the learning tasks, centered on irrelevant features of the equipment, and were unable to use language effectively to mediate learning. Within low-high student dyads, high-achieving students typically modeled thinking processes and strategies for manipulating equipment. In addition, they focused the low-achieving students on the components of the tasks while verbally monitoring their progress, thus enabling low students to identify the critical features necessary for concept construction. These results highlighted the differences that students have in the use of language and tools. Low students' inefficient use of tools has implications for the ways science teachers structure lessons and group students for laboratory work.Received: 8 March 1993; Revised: 6 January 1994;

Children’s Mapping between Non-Symbolic and Symbolic Numerical Magnitudes and Its Association with Timed and Untimed Tests of Mathematics Achievement

PubMed Central

Brankaer, Carmen; Ghesquière, Pol; De Smedt, Bert

2014-01-01

The ability to map between non-symbolic numerical magnitudes and Arabic numerals has been put forward as a key factor in children’s mathematical development. This mapping ability has been mainly examined indirectly by looking at children’s performance on a symbolic magnitude comparison task. The present study investigated mapping in a more direct way by using a task in which children had to choose which of two choice quantities (Arabic digits or dot arrays) matched the target quantity (dot array or Arabic digit), thereby focusing on small quantities ranging from 1 to 9. We aimed to determine the development of mapping over time and its relation to mathematics achievement. Participants were 36 first graders (M = 6 years 8 months) and 46 third graders (M = 8 years 8 months) who all completed mapping tasks, symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude comparison tasks and standardized timed and untimed tests of mathematics achievement. Findings revealed that children are able to map between non-symbolic and symbolic representations and that this mapping ability develops over time. Moreover, we found that children’s mapping ability is related to timed and untimed measures of mathematics achievement, over and above the variance accounted for by their numerical magnitude comparison skills. PMID:24699664

Symbiosis of executive and selective attention in working memory

PubMed Central

Vandierendonck, André

2014-01-01

The notion of working memory (WM) was introduced to account for the usage of short-term memory resources by other cognitive tasks such as reasoning, mental arithmetic, language comprehension, and many others. This collaboration between memory and other cognitive tasks can only be achieved by a dedicated WM system that controls task coordination. To that end, WM models include executive control. Nevertheless, other attention control systems may be involved in coordination of memory and cognitive tasks calling on memory resources. The present paper briefly reviews the evidence concerning the role of selective attention in WM activities. A model is proposed in which selective attention control is directly linked to the executive control part of the WM system. The model assumes that apart from storage of declarative information, the system also includes an executive WM module that represents the current task set. Control processes are automatically triggered when particular conditions in these modules are met. As each task set represents the parameter settings and the actions needed to achieve the task goal, it will depend on the specific settings and actions whether selective attention control will have to be shared among the active tasks. Only when such sharing is required, task performance will be affected by the capacity limits of the control system involved. PMID:25152723

Symbiosis of executive and selective attention in working memory.

PubMed

Vandierendonck, André

2014-01-01

The notion of working memory (WM) was introduced to account for the usage of short-term memory resources by other cognitive tasks such as reasoning, mental arithmetic, language comprehension, and many others. This collaboration between memory and other cognitive tasks can only be achieved by a dedicated WM system that controls task coordination. To that end, WM models include executive control. Nevertheless, other attention control systems may be involved in coordination of memory and cognitive tasks calling on memory resources. The present paper briefly reviews the evidence concerning the role of selective attention in WM activities. A model is proposed in which selective attention control is directly linked to the executive control part of the WM system. The model assumes that apart from storage of declarative information, the system also includes an executive WM module that represents the current task set. Control processes are automatically triggered when particular conditions in these modules are met. As each task set represents the parameter settings and the actions needed to achieve the task goal, it will depend on the specific settings and actions whether selective attention control will have to be shared among the active tasks. Only when such sharing is required, task performance will be affected by the capacity limits of the control system involved.

A knowledge-based potential with an accurate description of local interactions improves discrimination between native and near-native protein conformations.

PubMed

Ferrada, Evandro; Vergara, Ismael A; Melo, Francisco

2007-01-01

The correct discrimination between native and near-native protein conformations is essential for achieving accurate computer-based protein structure prediction. However, this has proven to be a difficult task, since currently available physical energy functions, empirical potentials and statistical scoring functions are still limited in achieving this goal consistently. In this work, we assess and compare the ability of different full atom knowledge-based potentials to discriminate between native protein structures and near-native protein conformations generated by comparative modeling. Using a benchmark of 152 near-native protein models and their corresponding native structures that encompass several different folds, we demonstrate that the incorporation of close non-bonded pairwise atom terms improves the discriminating power of the empirical potentials. Since the direct and unbiased derivation of close non-bonded terms from current experimental data is not possible, we obtained and used those terms from the corresponding pseudo-energy functions of a non-local knowledge-based potential. It is shown that this methodology significantly improves the discrimination between native and near-native protein conformations, suggesting that a proper description of close non-bonded terms is important to achieve a more complete and accurate description of native protein conformations. Some external knowledge-based energy functions that are widely used in model assessment performed poorly, indicating that the benchmark of models and the specific discrimination task tested in this work constitutes a difficult challenge.

Peer relationships in adolescent competitive soccer: associations to perceived motivational climate, achievement goals and perfectionism.

PubMed

Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Miller, Blake W

2005-09-01

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the perceived motivational climate, achievement goals, perfectionism and indices of peer relationships in a sample of young male and female Norwegian soccer players. The sample consisted of 1719 experienced soccer players (1231 males, 488 females) aged 12-19 years (mean = 14.9 years) participating in the Norway Cup international youth soccer competition. The players responded to a questionnaire measuring perceived peer acceptance and quality of friendship in soccer, perceived motivational climate, achievement goals and perfectionism in soccer. Canonical correlation analyses revealed that young female players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly mastery oriented, and who were moderately task oriented and scored negatively on maladaptive perfectionism, reported better relations with their peers in soccer. Constructive peer relations were evident in that they scored positively on companionship with their best friend in soccer; they perceived this friend as being loyal and allowing of free discussion, and they reported being socially accepted by their peers in soccer. Mirroring these findings, young male players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly performance oriented, who had a moderately negative score on task orientation but a quite strong positive score on maladaptive perfectionism, reported negative relationships with peers in terms of these aspects. They also reported being in conflict with their best soccer friend. The findings suggest that the qualities of motivation have a systematic relationship with peer acceptance and the quality of friendship in male and female youth soccer.

A Pattern of Perseveration in Cocaine Addiction May Reveal Neurocognitive Processes Implicit in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

PubMed Central

Woicik, Patricia A.; Urban, Catherine; Alia-Klein, Nelly; Henry, Ashley; Maloney, Thomas; Telang, Frank; Wang, Gene-Jack; Volkow, Nora D.; Goldstein, Rita Z.

2011-01-01

The ability to adapt behavior in a changing environment is necessary for humans to achieve their goals and can be measured in the lab with tests of rule-based switching. Disease models, such as cocaine addiction, have revealed that alterations in dopamine interfere with adaptive set switching, culminating in perseveration. We explore perseverative behavior in individuals with cocaine use disorders (CUD) and healthy controls (CON) during performance of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) (N = 107 in each group). By examining perseverative errors within each of the 6 blocks of the WCST, we uniquely test two forms of set switching that are differentiated by either the presence (extradimensional set shifting (EDS) – first 3 blocks) or absence (task-set switching – last 3 blocks) of contingency learning. We also explore relationships between perseveration and select cognitive and drug use factors including verbal learning and memory, trait inhibitory control, motivational state, and urine status for cocaine (in CUD). Results indicate greater impairment for CUD than CON on the WCST, even in higher performing CUD who completed all 6 blocks of the WCST. Block by block analysis conducted on completers’ scores indicate a tendency for greater perseveration in CUD than CON but only during the first task-set switch; no such deficits were observed during EDS. This task-set switching impairment was modestly associated with two indices of immediate recall (r = −.32, −.29) and urine status for cocaine [t (134) = 2.3, p <.03]. By distinguishing these two forms of switching on the WCST, the current study reveals a neurocognitive context (i.e. initial stage of task-set switching) implicit in the WCST that possibly relies upon intact dopaminergic function, but that is impaired in CUD, as associated with worse recall and possibly withdrawal from cocaine. Future studies should investigate whether dopaminergically innervated pathways alone, or in combination with other monoamines, underlie this implicit neurocognitive processes in the WCST. PMID:21392517

Effects of Control-Response Characteristics on the Capability of Helicopter for Use as a Gun Platform

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pegg, Robert J.; Connor, Andrew B.

1960-01-01

An investigation with a variable-stability helicopter was undertaken to ascertain the steadiness and ability to "hold on" to the target of a helicopter employed as a gun platform. Simulated tasks were per formed under differing flight conditions with the control-response characteristics of the helicopter varied for each task. The simulated gun-platform mission included: Variations of headings with respect to wind, constant altitude and "swing around" to a wind heading of 0 deg, and increases in altitude while performing a swing around to a wind heading of 0 deg. The results showed that increases in control power and damping increased pilot ability to hold on to the target with fewer yawing oscillations and in a shorter time. The results also indicated that wind direction must be considered in accuracy assessment. Greatest accuracy throughout these tests was achieved by aiming upwind.

Are some gestalt principles deployed more readily than others during early development? The case of lightness versus form similarity.

PubMed

Quinn, Paul C; Bhatt, Ramesh S

2006-10-01

Four experiments investigated how readily infants achieve perceptual organization by lightness and form similarity. Infants were (a) familiarized with elements that could be organized into rows or columns on the basis of lightness or form similarity and tested with vertical versus horizontal bars depicting the familiar versus novel organization or (b) familiarized with bars and tested with elements. For lightness similarity, generalization occurred in both tasks; however, for form similarity, generalization occurred only in the elements --> bars task. The findings indicate that lightness similarity is more readily deployed than form similarity and are discussed in the context of (a) whether the difference reflects speed of application or experience-based learning, (b) evidence from visual agnosic patients and the time course of application of the principles in healthy adults, and (c) development of dorsal and ventral visual processing streams. Copyright 2006 APA.

Hawaii energy strategy project 2: Fossil energy review. Task 2: Fossil energy in Hawaii

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

Breazeale, K.; Yamaguchi, N.D.; Keeville, H.

1993-12-01

In Task 2, the authors establish a baseline for evaluating energy use in Hawaii, and examine key energy and economic indicators. They provide a detailed look at fossil energy imports by type, current and possible sources of oil, gas and coal, quality considerations, and processing/transformation. They present time series data on petroleum product consumption by end-use sector, though they caution the reader that the data is imperfect. They discuss fuel substitutability to identify those end-use categories that are most easily switched to other fuels. They then define and analyze sequential scenarios of fuel substitution in Hawaii and their impacts onmore » patterns of demand. They also discuss energy security--what it means to Hawaii, what it means to neighboring economies, whether it is possible to achieve energy security. 95 figs., 48 tabs.« less

Tracking Immanent Language Learning Behavior Over Time in Task-Based Classroom Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kunitz, Silvia; Marian, Klara Skogmyr

2017-01-01

In this study, the authors explore how classroom tasks that are commonly used in task-based language teaching (TBLT) are achieved as observable aspects of "local educational order" (Hester & Francis, 2000) through observable and immanently social classroom behaviors. They focus specifically on students' language learning behaviors,…

The Ultimate Developmental Task in Adolescent Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abrahamson, Richard F.

The significance of adolescent literature has been judged on the basis of the developmental tasks encountered by the main character. One writer has identified eight developmental tasks that teenagers must undertake as they move toward adulthood: discovering one's sex role in our culture, developing relationships with peers, achieving an easy…

Neural Control of a Tracking Task via Attention-Gated Reinforcement Learning for Brain-Machine Interfaces.

PubMed

Wang, Yiwen; Wang, Fang; Xu, Kai; Zhang, Qiaosheng; Zhang, Shaomin; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

2015-05-01

Reinforcement learning (RL)-based brain machine interfaces (BMIs) enable the user to learn from the environment through interactions to complete the task without desired signals, which is promising for clinical applications. Previous studies exploited Q-learning techniques to discriminate neural states into simple directional actions providing the trial initial timing. However, the movements in BMI applications can be quite complicated, and the action timing explicitly shows the intention when to move. The rich actions and the corresponding neural states form a large state-action space, imposing generalization difficulty on Q-learning. In this paper, we propose to adopt attention-gated reinforcement learning (AGREL) as a new learning scheme for BMIs to adaptively decode high-dimensional neural activities into seven distinct movements (directional moves, holdings and resting) due to the efficient weight-updating. We apply AGREL on neural data recorded from M1 of a monkey to directly predict a seven-action set in a time sequence to reconstruct the trajectory of a center-out task. Compared to Q-learning techniques, AGREL could improve the target acquisition rate to 90.16% in average with faster convergence and more stability to follow neural activity over multiple days, indicating the potential to achieve better online decoding performance for more complicated BMI tasks.

Prospective memory in preschool children: influences of agency, incentive, and underlying cognitive mechanisms.

PubMed

Causey, Kayla B; Bjorklund, David F

2014-11-01

Prospective memory (PM) is remembering to perform an action in the future and is crucial to achieving goal-directed activities in everyday life. Doing so requires that an intention is encoded, retained during a delay interval, and retrieved at the appropriate time of execution. We examined PM ability in preschool children by manipulating factors related to agency and incentive. We further explored how metacognition, executive functioning, and theory of mind-factors known to account for individual differences in PM-influenced performance on these PM tasks. A sample of 31 preschool children were asked to carry out a delayed intention or to remind an adult to carry out an intention that was of high or low incentive to the children. Findings indicated that individual differences in theory of mind were related to individual differences in preschoolers' performance on low-incentive PM tasks, independent of executive functioning contributions, whereas individual differences in executive functioning were related to performance on the high-incentive tasks. These findings suggest that changes in theory of mind and executive functioning are important to consider in models of PM and that different PM tasks (e.g., high vs. low incentive) may involve different cognitive requirements for young children. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Part-task vs. whole-task training on a supervisory control task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Battiste, Vernol

1987-01-01

The efficacy of a part-task training for the psychomotor portion of a supervisory control simulation was compared to that of the whole-task training, using six subjects in each group, who were asked to perform a task as quickly as possible. Part-task training was provided with the cursor-control device prior to transition to the whole-task. The analysis of both the training and experimental trials demonstrated a significant performance advantage for the part-task group: the tasks were performed better and at higher speed. Although the subjects finally achieved the same level of performance in terms of score, the part-task method was preferable for economic reasons, since simple pretraining systems are significantly less expensive than the whole-task training systems.

Deformation-Aware Log-Linear Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gass, Tobias; Deselaers, Thomas; Ney, Hermann

In this paper, we present a novel deformation-aware discriminative model for handwritten digit recognition. Unlike previous approaches our model directly considers image deformations and allows discriminative training of all parameters, including those accounting for non-linear transformations of the image. This is achieved by extending a log-linear framework to incorporate a latent deformation variable. The resulting model has an order of magnitude less parameters than competing approaches to handling image deformations. We tune and evaluate our approach on the USPS task and show its generalization capabilities by applying the tuned model to the MNIST task. We gain interesting insights and achieve highly competitive results on both tasks.

Perceiving the Causes of Success and Failure in Achievement; Sex, Race, and Motivational Comparisons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Saundra Rice; Mednick, Martha Tamara Shuch

1975-01-01

Men high and low in resultant achievement motivation related luck to outcome. High-achievement women related luck, ability, and effort to outcome, whereas low-achievement-motivated women attributed outcome to task difficulty. Implications of these findings for the understanding of sex and race differences in achievement are discussed. (Author)

Spatial cognition and science achievement: The contribution of intrinsic and extrinsic spatial skills from 7 to 11 years.

PubMed

Hodgkiss, Alex; Gilligan, Katie A; Tolmie, Andrew K; Thomas, Michael S C; Farran, Emily K

2018-01-22

Prior longitudinal and correlational research with adults and adolescents indicates that spatial ability is a predictor of science learning and achievement. However, there is little research to date with primary-school aged children that addresses this relationship. Understanding this association has the potential to inform curriculum design and support the development of early interventions. This study examined the relationship between primary-school children's spatial skills and their science achievement. Children aged 7-11 years (N = 123) completed a battery of five spatial tasks, based on a model of spatial ability in which skills fall along two dimensions: intrinsic-extrinsic; static-dynamic. Participants also completed a curriculum-based science assessment. Controlling for verbal ability and age, mental folding (intrinsic-dynamic spatial ability), and spatial scaling (extrinsic-static spatial ability) each emerged as unique predictors of overall science scores, with mental folding a stronger predictor than spatial scaling. These spatial skills combined accounted for 8% of the variance in science scores. When considered by scientific discipline, mental folding uniquely predicted both physics and biology scores, and spatial scaling accounted for additional variance in biology and variance in chemistry scores. The children's embedded figures task (intrinsic-static spatial ability) only accounted for variance in chemistry scores. The patterns of association were consistent across the age range. Spatial skills, particularly mental folding, spatial scaling, and disembedding, are predictive of 7- to 11-year-olds' science achievement. These skills make a similar contribution to performance for each age group. © 2018 The Authors. British Journal of Education Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

Experiences of nurse case managers within a central discharge planning role of collaboration between physicians, patients and other healthcare professionals: A sociocultural qualitative study.

PubMed

Thoma, Jorun E; Waite, Marion A

2018-03-01

To gain knowledge of nurse case managers' experiences within the German acute care context of collaboration with patients and physicians in a discharge planning role; further to learn about patients' assignment to the management of the nurse case managers; and explicitly to explore critical incidences of interactions between nurse case managers, patients and healthcare practitioner in discharge planning to understand the factor that contributes to effective collaboration. The defined role of nurse case managers in many contexts is a patient-centred responsibility for a central task of discharge management of patients with complex physical and social needs. Some studies have indicated that the general impact of the role reduces readmission rates. Given the necessity to work interprofessionally to achieve a safe discharge, little is known about how nurse case managers achieve this collaboratively. A qualitative case study within a German teaching hospital of nurse case managers (N = 8). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews prompted by a critical incident technique and rigorously analysed through the lenses of sociocultural theory. Consistent object being worked upon was a safe and effective discharge from hospital with a focus on patient advocacy. Significant themes were a self-value or recognition by others of professional expertise, reciprocal value on the capabilities of others thorough relational expertise and negotiation with patients and an identification of case trajectories. More continuity of nurse case managers' care and management, clarity of role and transparency to peers, physicians and other professionals would be beneficial in ensuring appropriate referral of complex patients to nurse case managers responsibility. Clearer role description and benefit realisation of the nurse case managers could be achieved by interventions that are interprofessional and focus on the tasks that matter from a collaborative perspective. This could lead to refinement of available indicators and policy developments. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Motivational climate, goal orientation, perceived sport ability, and enjoyment within Finnish junior ice hockey players.

PubMed

Jaakkola, T; Ntoumanis, N; Liukkonen, J

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the relations among situational motivational climate, dispositional approach and avoidance achievement goals, perceived sport ability, and enjoyment in Finnish male junior ice hockey players. The sample comprised 265 junior B-level male players with a mean age of 17.03 years (SD = 0.63). Players filled questionnaires tapping their perceptions of coach motivational climate, achievement goals, perceived sport ability, and enjoyment. For the statistical analysis, players were divided into high and low perceived sport ability groups. Multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed an indirect path from task-involving motivational climate via task-approach goal to enjoyment. Additionally, SEM demonstrated four other direct associations, which existed in both perceived ability groups: from ego-involving motivational climate to ego-approach and ego-avoidance goals; from ego-approach goal to ego-avoidance goal; and from task-avoidance goal to ego-avoidance goal. Additionally, in the high perceived sport ability group, there was an association from task-involving motivational climate to enjoyment. The results of this study reveal that motivational climate emphasizing effort, personal development and improvement, and achievement goal mastering tasks are significant elements of enjoyment in junior ice hockey. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Executive functioning in preschool children: performance on A-not-B and other delayed response format tasks.

PubMed

Espy, K A; Kaufmann, P M; McDiarmid, M D; Glisky, M L

1999-11-01

The A-not-B (AB) task has been hypothesized to measure executive/frontal lobe function; however, the developmental and measurement characteristics of this task have not been investigated. Performances on AB and comparison tasks adapted from developmental and neuroscience literature was examined in 117 preschool children (ages 23-66 months). Age significantly predicted performance on AB, Delayed Alternation, Spatial Reversal, Color Reversal, and Self-Control tasks. A four-factor analytic model best fit task performance data. AB task indices loaded on two factors with measures from the Self-Control and Delayed Alternation tasks, respectively. AB indices did not load with those from the reversal tasks despite similarities in task administration and presumed cognitive demand (working memory). These results indicate that AB is sensitive to individual differences in age-related performance in preschool children and suggest that AB performance is related to both working memory and inhibition processes in this age range.

Use of EEG workload indices for diagnostic monitoring of vigilance decrement.

PubMed

Kamzanova, Altyngul T; Kustubayeva, Almira M; Matthews, Gerald

2014-09-01

A study was run to test which of five electroencephalographic (EEG) indices was most diagnostic of loss of vigilance at two levels of workload. EEG indices of alertness include conventional spectral power measures as well as indices combining measures from multiple frequency bands, such as the Task Load Index (TLI) and the Engagement Index (El). However, it is unclear which indices are optimal for early detection of loss of vigilance. Ninety-two participants were assigned to one of two experimental conditions, cued (lower workload) and uncued (higher workload), and then performed a 40-min visual vigilance task. Performance on this task is believed to be limited by attentional resource availability. EEG was recorded continuously. Performance, subjective state, and workload were also assessed. The task showed a vigilance decrement in performance; cuing improved performance and reduced subjective workload. Lower-frequency alpha (8 to 10.9 Hz) and TLI were most sensitive to the task parameters. The magnitude of temporal change was larger for lower-frequency alpha. Surprisingly, higher TLI was associated with superior performance. Frontal theta and El were influenced by task workload only in the final period of work. Correlational data also suggested that the indices are distinct from one another. Lower-frequency alpha appears to be the optimal index for monitoring vigilance on the task used here, but further work is needed to test how diagnosticity of EEG indices varies with task demands. Lower-frequency alpha may be used to diagnose loss of operator alertness on tasks requiring vigilance.

Individual Differences in Inhibitory Control, Not Non-Verbal Number Acuity, Correlate with Mathematics Achievement

PubMed Central

Gilmore, Camilla; Attridge, Nina; Clayton, Sarah; Cragg, Lucy; Johnson, Samantha; Marlow, Neil; Simms, Victoria; Inglis, Matthew

2013-01-01

Given the well-documented failings in mathematics education in many Western societies, there has been an increased interest in understanding the cognitive underpinnings of mathematical achievement. Recent research has proposed the existence of an Approximate Number System (ANS) which allows individuals to represent and manipulate non-verbal numerical information. Evidence has shown that performance on a measure of the ANS (a dot comparison task) is related to mathematics achievement, which has led researchers to suggest that the ANS plays a critical role in mathematics learning. Here we show that, rather than being driven by the nature of underlying numerical representations, this relationship may in fact be an artefact of the inhibitory control demands of some trials of the dot comparison task. This suggests that recent work basing mathematics assessments and interventions around dot comparison tasks may be inappropriate. PMID:23785521

QoS for Real Time Applications over Next Generation Data Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivancic, William; Atiquzzaman, Mohammed; Bai, Haowei; Su, Hongjun; Chitri, Jyotsna; Ahamed, Faruque

2001-01-01

Viewgraphs on Qualtity of Service (QOS) for real time applications over next generation data networks are presented. The progress to date include: Task 1: QoS in Integrated Services over DiffServ networks (UD); Task 2: Interconnecting ATN with the next generation Internet (UD); Task 3: QoS in DiffServ over ATM (UD); Task 4: Improving Explicit Congestion Notification with the Mark-Front Strategy (OSU); Task 5: Multiplexing VBR over VBR (OSU); and Task 6: Achieving QoS for TCP traffic in Satellite Networks with Differentiated Services (OSU).

A Multi-Label Classification Approach for Coding Cancer Information Service Chat Transcripts

PubMed Central

Rios, Anthony; Vanderpool, Robin; Shaw, Pam

2017-01-01

National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Cancer Information Service (CIS) offers online instant messaging based information service called LiveHelp to patients, family members, friends, and other cancer information consumers. A cancer information specialist (IS) ‘chats’ with a consumer and provides information on a variety of topics including clinical trials. After a LiveHelp chat session is finished, the IS codes about 20 different elements of metadata about the session in electronic contact record forms (ECRF), which are to be later used for quality control and reporting. Besides straightforward elements like age and gender, more specific elements to be coded include the purpose of contact, the subjects of interaction, and the different responses provided to the consumer, the latter two often taking on multiple values. As such, ECRF coding is a time consuming task and automating this process could help ISs to focus more on their primary goal of helping consumers with valuable cancer related information. As a first attempt in this task, we explored multi-label and multi-class text classification approaches to code the purpose, subjects of interaction, and the responses provided based on the chat transcripts. With a sample dataset of about 673 transcripts, we achieved example-based F-scores of 0.67 (for subjects) and 0.58 (responses). We also achieved label-based micro F-scores of 0.65 (for subjects), 0.62 (for responses), and 0.61 (for purpose). To our knowledge this is the first attempt in automatic coding of Live-Help transcripts and our initial results on the smaller corpus indicate promising future directions in this task. PMID:28736775

A machine learning approach to identify functional biomarkers in human prefrontal cortex for individuals with traumatic brain injury using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Karamzadeh, Nader; Amyot, Franck; Kenney, Kimbra; Anderson, Afrouz; Chowdhry, Fatima; Dashtestani, Hadis; Wassermann, Eric M; Chernomordik, Victor; Boccara, Claude; Wegman, Edward; Diaz-Arrastia, Ramon; Gandjbakhche, Amir H

2016-11-01

We have explored the potential prefrontal hemodynamic biomarkers to characterize subjects with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by employing the multivariate machine learning approach and introducing a novel task-related hemodynamic response detection followed by a heuristic search for optimum set of hemodynamic features. To achieve this goal, the hemodynamic response from a group of 31 healthy controls and 30 chronic TBI subjects were recorded as they performed a complexity task. To determine the optimum hemodynamic features, we considered 11 features and their combinations in characterizing TBI subjects. We investigated the significance of the features by utilizing a machine learning classification algorithm to score all the possible combinations of features according to their predictive power. The identified optimum feature elements resulted in classification accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 85%, 85%, and 84%, respectively. Classification improvement was achieved for TBI subject classification through feature combination. It signified the major advantage of the multivariate analysis over the commonly used univariate analysis suggesting that the features that are individually irrelevant in characterizing the data may become relevant when used in combination. We also conducted a spatio-temporal classification to identify regions within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) that contribute in distinguishing between TBI and healthy subjects. As expected, Brodmann areas (BA) 10 within the PFC were isolated as the region that healthy subjects (unlike subjects with TBI), showed major hemodynamic activity in response to the High Complexity task. Overall, our results indicate that identified temporal and spatio-temporal features from PFC's hemodynamic activity are promising biomarkers in classifying subjects with TBI.

Estimating mental fatigue based on electroencephalogram and heart rate variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chong; Yu, Xiaolin

2010-01-01

The effects of long term mental arithmetic task on psychology are investigated by subjective self-reporting measures and action performance test. Based on electroencephalogram (EEG) and heart rate variability (HRV), the impacts of prolonged cognitive activity on central nervous system and autonomic nervous system are observed and analyzed. Wavelet packet parameters of EEG and power spectral indices of HRV are combined to estimate the change of mental fatigue. Then wavelet packet parameters of EEG which change significantly are extracted as the features of brain activity in different mental fatigue state, support vector machine (SVM) algorithm is applied to differentiate two mental fatigue states. The experimental results show that long term mental arithmetic task induces the mental fatigue. The wavelet packet parameters of EEG and power spectral indices of HRV are strongly correlated with mental fatigue. The predominant activity of autonomic nervous system of subjects turns to the sympathetic activity from parasympathetic activity after the task. Moreover, the slow waves of EEG increase, the fast waves of EEG and the degree of disorder of brain decrease compared with the pre-task. The SVM algorithm can effectively differentiate two mental fatigue states, which achieves the maximum classification accuracy (91%). The SVM algorithm could be a promising tool for the evaluation of mental fatigue. Fatigue, especially mental fatigue, is a common phenomenon in modern life, is a persistent occupational hazard for professional. Mental fatigue is usually accompanied with a sense of weariness, reduced alertness, and reduced mental performance, which would lead the accidents in life, decrease productivity in workplace and harm the health. Therefore, the evaluation of mental fatigue is important for the occupational risk protection, productivity, and occupational health.

Shielding cognition from nociception with working memory.

PubMed

Legrain, Valéry; Crombez, Geert; Plaghki, Léon; Mouraux, André

2013-01-01

Because pain often signals the occurrence of potential tissue damage, nociceptive stimuli have the capacity to capture attention and interfere with ongoing cognitive activities. Working memory is known to guide the orientation of attention by maintaining goal priorities active during the achievement of a task. This study investigated whether the cortical processing of nociceptive stimuli and their ability to capture attention are under the control of working memory. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants performed primary tasks on visual targets that required or did not require rehearsal in working memory (1-back vs 0-back conditions). The visual targets were shortly preceded by task-irrelevant tactile stimuli. Occasionally, in order to distract the participants, the tactile stimuli were replaced by novel nociceptive stimuli. In the 0-back conditions, task performance was disrupted by the occurrence of the nociceptive distracters, as reflected by the increased reaction times in trials with novel nociceptive distracters as compared to trials with standard tactile distracters. In the 1-back conditions, such a difference disappeared suggesting that attentional capture and task disruption induced by nociceptive distracters were suppressed by working memory, regardless of task demands. Most importantly, in the conditions involving working memory, the magnitude of nociceptive ERPs, including ERP components at early latency, were significantly reduced. This indicates that working memory is able to modulate the cortical processing of nociceptive input already at its earliest stages, and could explain why working memory reduces consequently ability of nociceptive stimuli to capture attention and disrupt performance of the primary task. It is concluded that protecting cognitive processing against pain interference is best guaranteed by keeping out of working memory pain-related information. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Functional Task Test (FTT): An Interdisciplinary Testing Protocol to Investigate the Factors Underlying Changes in Astronaut Functional Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bloomberg, J. J.; Lawrence, E. L.; Arzeno, N. M.; Buxton, R. E.; Feiveson, A. H.; Kofman, I. S.; Lee, S. M. C.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Platts. S. H.;

Does physiotherapy based on the Bobath concept, in conjunction with a task practice, achieve greater improvement in walking ability in people with stroke compared to physiotherapy focused on structured task practice alone?: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Brock, Kim; Haase, Gerlinde; Rothacher, Gerhard; Cotton, Susan

2011-10-01

To compare the short-term effects of two physiotherapy approaches for improving ability to walk in different environments following stroke: (i) interventions based on the Bobath concept, in conjunction with task practice, compared to (ii) structured task practice alone. Randomized controlled trial. Two rehabilitation centres Participants: Twenty-six participants between four and 20 weeks post-stroke, able to walk with supervision indoors. Both groups received six one-hour physiotherapy sessions over a two-week period. One group received physiotherapy based on the Bobath concept, including one hour of structured task practice. The other group received six hours of structured task practice. The primary outcome was an adapted six-minute walk test, incorporating a step, ramp and uneven surface. Secondary measures were gait velocity and the Berg Balance Scale. Measures were assessed before and after the intervention period. Following the intervention, there was no significant difference in improvement between the two groups for the adapted six-minute walk test (89.9 (standard deviation (SD) 73.1) m Bobath versus 41 (40.7) m task practice, P = 0.07). However, walking velocity showed significantly greater increases in the Bobath group (26.2 (SD 17.2) m/min versus 9.9 (SD = 12.9) m/min, P = 0.01). No significant differences between groups were recorded for the Berg Balance Scale (P = 0.2). This pilot study indicates short-term benefit for using interventions based on the Bobath concept for improving walking velocity in people with stroke. A sample size of 32 participants per group is required for a definitive study.

TASK FORCE REPORT ON ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MORRIS, ROBERT

THE TASK FORCE ON ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION HAS BEEN CHARGED TO RECOMMEND THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS FOR ASSESSING AND EVALUATING THE SHORT-TERM ACTIVITIES AND THE LONG-TERM ACHIEVEMENTS OF ACTION FOR BOSTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. THE GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE TASK FORCE ARE--THE ANALYSIS OF DATA RELEVANT FOR EVALUATING DAY-BY-DAY DECISION-MAKING,…

Perceptions of Challenging Tasks and Achievement by New Zealand Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linsell, Chris; Holmes, Marilyn; Sullivan, Peter

2016-01-01

This paper examines the learning by students who were participating in a project designed to promote persistence while working on mathematical tasks. We examined their learning of mathematics concepts and learning about the processes of engaging in mathematical tasks. There were substantial increases in students' knowledge of angles and also…

Mathematically Rich, Investigative Tasks for Teaching Algebra

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Day, Lorraine

2015-01-01

A challenge for teachers is to incorporate the Standards for Mathematical Practice (CCSSI 2010) throughout their teaching of mathematics so that the Common Core Standards do not revert back to a purely content-driven curriculum. One way to achieve this is through the use of mathematically rich, investigative tasks. These tasks encourage students…

Markov Task Network: A Framework for Service Composition under Uncertainty in Cyber-Physical Systems.

PubMed

Mohammed, Abdul-Wahid; Xu, Yang; Hu, Haixiao; Agyemang, Brighter

2016-09-21

In novel collaborative systems, cooperative entities collaborate services to achieve local and global objectives. With the growing pervasiveness of cyber-physical systems, however, such collaboration is hampered by differences in the operations of the cyber and physical objects, and the need for the dynamic formation of collaborative functionality given high-level system goals has become practical. In this paper, we propose a cross-layer automation and management model for cyber-physical systems. This models the dynamic formation of collaborative services pursuing laid-down system goals as an ontology-oriented hierarchical task network. Ontological intelligence provides the semantic technology of this model, and through semantic reasoning, primitive tasks can be dynamically composed from high-level system goals. In dealing with uncertainty, we further propose a novel bridge between hierarchical task networks and Markov logic networks, called the Markov task network. This leverages the efficient inference algorithms of Markov logic networks to reduce both computational and inferential loads in task decomposition. From the results of our experiments, high-precision service composition under uncertainty can be achieved using this approach.

Intrapartum fetal heart rate classification from trajectory in Sparse SVM feature space.

PubMed

Spilka, J; Frecon, J; Leonarduzzi, R; Pustelnik, N; Abry, P; Doret, M

2015-01-01

Intrapartum fetal heart rate (FHR) constitutes a prominent source of information for the assessment of fetal reactions to stress events during delivery. Yet, early detection of fetal acidosis remains a challenging signal processing task. The originality of the present contribution are three-fold: multiscale representations and wavelet leader based multifractal analysis are used to quantify FHR variability ; Supervised classification is achieved by means of Sparse-SVM that aim jointly to achieve optimal detection performance and to select relevant features in a multivariate setting ; Trajectories in the feature space accounting for the evolution along time of features while labor progresses are involved in the construction of indices quantifying fetal health. The classification performance permitted by this combination of tools are quantified on a intrapartum FHR large database (≃ 1250 subjects) collected at a French academic public hospital.

Acoustic cue integration in speech intonation recognition with cochlear implants.

PubMed

Peng, Shu-Chen; Chatterjee, Monita; Lu, Nelson

2012-06-01

The present article reports on the perceptual weighting of prosodic cues in question-statement identification by adult cochlear implant (CI) listeners. Acoustic analyses of normal-hearing (NH) listeners' production of sentences spoken as questions or statements confirmed that in English the last bisyllabic word in a sentence carries the dominant cues (F0, duration, and intensity patterns) for the contrast. Furthermore, these analyses showed that the F0 contour is the primary cue for the question-statement contrast, with intensity and duration changes conveying important but less reliable information. On the basis of these acoustic findings, the authors examined adult CI listeners' performance in two question-statement identification tasks. In Task 1, 13 CI listeners' question-statement identification accuracy was measured using naturally uttered sentences matched for their syntactic structures. In Task 2, the same listeners' perceptual cue weighting in question-statement identification was assessed using resynthesized single-word stimuli, within which fundamental frequency (F0), intensity, and duration properties were systematically manipulated. Both tasks were also conducted with four NH listeners with full-spectrum and noise-band-vocoded stimuli. Perceptual cue weighting was assessed by comparing the estimated coefficients in logistic models fitted to the data. Of the 13 CI listeners, 7 achieved high performance levels in Task 1. The results of Task 2 indicated that multiple sources of acoustic cues for question-statement identification were utilized to different extents depending on the listening conditions (e.g., full spectrum vs. spectrally degraded) or the listeners' hearing and amplification status (e.g., CI vs. NH).

Age-related differences in postural adjustments in connection with different tasks involving weight transfer while standing.

PubMed

Jonsson, Erika; Henriksson, Marketta; Hirschfeld, Helga

2007-10-01

Weight transfer designed to change the area of the supportive base during the performance of three different motor tasks (one-leg stance, tandem stance and gait initiation) was examined both in healthy, physically active elderly people and younger adults. The former two tasks are balance tests used clinically. Our hypothesis was that the elderly subjects would demonstrate age-related changes in their postural adjustments that could be detected by analysis of the ground reaction forces. While 24 healthy elderly adults (65-77 years of age) and 26 younger adults (24-40 years of age) performed these three tasks, the ground reaction forces were recorded from two force plates. Prior to the onset of all three tasks, the elderly placed significantly more weight on the leg that was to provide support (the stance leg), than did the younger individuals. The analyses revealed two distinct phases of weight transfer, i.e., an initial thrust and a subsequent unloading phase. The elderly individuals exhibited a significantly longer unloading phase, as well as a higher frequency of peaks of vertical and lateral forces during this phase. Moreover, the maximal force rate during this phase was achieved at an earlier time point by the elderly. However, both groups generated forces of similar magnitudes and force rates. In conclusion, our findings indicate the presence of age-related differences in the temporal phasing of the ground reaction forces in all three of these tasks involving weight transfer, whereas the magnitude and rates of change of these forces are independent of age.

Task- and age-dependent effects of visual stimulus properties on children's explicit numerosity judgments.

PubMed

Defever, Emmy; Reynvoet, Bert; Gebuis, Titia

2013-10-01

Researchers investigating numerosity processing manipulate the visual stimulus properties (e.g., surface). This is done to control for the confound between numerosity and its visual properties and should allow the examination of pure number processes. Nevertheless, several studies have shown that, despite different visual controls, visual cues remained to exert their influence on numerosity judgments. This study, therefore, investigated whether the impact of the visual stimulus manipulations on numerosity judgments is dependent on the task at hand (comparison task vs. same-different task) and whether this impact changes throughout development. In addition, we examined whether the influence of visual stimulus manipulations on numerosity judgments plays a role in the relation between performance on numerosity tasks and mathematics achievement. Our findings confirmed that the visual stimulus manipulations affect numerosity judgments; more important, we found that these influences changed with increasing age and differed between the comparison and the same-different tasks. Consequently, direct comparisons between numerosity studies using different tasks and age groups are difficult. No meaningful relationship between the performance on the comparison and same-different tasks and mathematics achievement was found in typically developing children, nor did we find consistent differences between children with and without mathematical learning disability (MLD). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perception and the temporal properties of speech

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordon, Peter C.

1991-11-01

Four experiments addressing the role of attention in phonetic perception are reported. The first experiment shows that the relative importance of two cues to the voicing distinction changes when subjects must perform an arithmetic distractor task at the same time as identifying a speech stimulus. The voice onset time cue loses phonetic significance when subjects are distracted, while the F0 onset frequency cue does not. The second experiment shows a similar pattern for two cues to the distinction between the vowels /i/ (as in 'beat') and /I/ (as in 'bit'). Together these experiments indicate that careful attention to speech perception is necessary for strong acoustic cues to achieve their full phonetic impact, while weaker acoustic cues achieve their full phonetic impact without close attention. Experiment 3 shows that this pattern is obtained when the distractor task places little demand on verbal short term memory. Experiment 4 provides a large data set for testing formal models of the role of attention in speech perception. Attention is shown to influence the signal to noise ratio in phonetic encoding. This principle is instantiated in a network model in which the role of attention is to reduce noise in the phonetic encoding of acoustic cues. Implications of this work for understanding speech perception and general theories of the role of attention in perception are discussed.

The natural number bias and its role in rational number understanding in children with dyscalculia. Delay or deficit?

PubMed

Van Hoof, Jo; Verschaffel, Lieven; Ghesquière, Pol; Van Dooren, Wim

2017-12-01

Previous research indicated that in several cases learners' errors on rational number tasks can be attributed to learners' tendency to (wrongly) apply natural number properties. There exists a large body of literature both on learners' struggle with understanding the rational number system and on the role of the natural number bias in this struggle. However, little is known about this phenomenon in learners with dyscalculia. We investigated the rational number understanding of learners with dyscalculia and compared it with the rational number understanding of learners without dyscalculia. Three groups of learners were included: sixth graders with dyscalculia, a chronological age match group, and an ability match group. The results showed that the rational number understanding of learners with dyscalculia is significantly lower than that of typically developing peers, but not significantly different from younger learners, even after statistically controlling for mathematics achievement. Next to a delay in their mathematics achievement, learners with dyscalculia seem to have an extra delay in their rational number understanding, compared with peers. This is especially the case in those rational number tasks where one has to inhibit natural number knowledge to come to the right answer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of production and teamwork practices in construction safety: a cognitive model and an empirical case study.

PubMed

Mitropoulos, Panagiotis Takis; Cupido, Gerardo

2009-01-01

In construction, the challenge for researchers and practitioners is to develop work systems (production processes and teams) that can achieve high productivity and high safety at the same time. However, construction accident causation models ignore the role of work practices and teamwork. This study investigates the mechanisms by which production and teamwork practices affect the likelihood of accidents. The paper synthesizes a new model for construction safety based on the cognitive perspective (Fuller's Task-Demand-Capability Interface model, 2005) and then presents an exploratory case study. The case study investigates and compares the work practices of two residential framing crews: a 'High Reliability Crew' (HRC)--that is, a crew with exceptional productivity and safety over several years, and an average performing crew from the same company. The model explains how the production and teamwork practices generate the work situations that workers face (the task demands) and affect the workers ability to cope (capabilities). The case study indicates that the work practices of the HRC directly influence the task demands and match them with the applied capabilities. These practices were guided by the 'principle' of avoiding errors and rework and included work planning and preparation, work distribution, managing the production pressures, and quality and behavior monitoring. The Task Demand-Capability model links construction research to a cognitive model of accident causation and provides a new way to conceptualize safety as an emergent property of the production practices and teamwork processes. The empirical evidence indicates that the crews' work practices and team processes strongly affect the task demands, the applied capabilities, and the match between demands and capabilities. The proposed model and the exploratory case study will guide further discovery of work practices and teamwork processes that can increase both productivity and safety in construction operations. Such understanding will enable training of construction foremen and crews in these practices to systematically develop high reliability crews.

Perceiving and acting upon spaces in a VR rugby task: expertise effects in affordance detection and task achievement.

PubMed

Correia, Vanda; Araújo, Duarte; Cummins, Alan; Craig, Cathy M

2012-06-01

This study used a virtual, simulated 3 vs. 3 rugby task to investigate whether gaps opening in particular running channels promote different actions by the ball carrier player and whether an effect of rugby expertise is verified. We manipulated emergent gaps in three different locations: Gap 1 in the participant's own running channel, Gap 2 in the first receiver's running channel, and Gap 3 in the second receiver's running channel. Recreational, intermediate, professional, and nonrugby players performed the task. They could (i) run with the ball, (ii) make a short pass, or (iii) make a long pass. All actions were digitally recorded. Results revealed that the emergence of gaps in the defensive line with respect to the participant's own position significantly influenced action selection. Namely, "run" was most often the action performed in Gap 1, "short pass" in Gap 2, and "long pass" in Gap 3 trials. Furthermore, a strong positive relationship between expertise and task achievement was found.

Academic Self-Handicapping and Achievement Goals: A Further Examination.

PubMed

Midgley, Carol; Urdan, Tim

2001-01-01

This study extends previous research on the relations among students' personal achievement goals, perceptions of the classroom goal structure, and reports of the use of self-handicapping strategies. Surveys, specific to the math domain, were given to 484 7th-grade students in nine middle schools. Personal performance-avoid goals positively predicted handicapping, whereas personal performance-approach goals did not. Personal task goals negatively predicted handicapping. Perceptions of a performance goal structure positively predicted handicapping, and perceptions of a task goal structure negatively predicted handicapping, independent of personal goals. Median splits used to examine multiple goal profiles revealed that students high in performance-avoid goals used handicapping more than did those low in performance-avoid goals regardless of the level of task goals. Students low in performance-avoid goals and high in task goals handicapped less than those low in both goals. Level of performance-approach goals had little effect on the relation between task goals and handicapping. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Gaze Behavior in a Natural Environment with a Task-Relevant Distractor: How the Presence of a Goalkeeper Distracts the Penalty Taker

PubMed Central

Kurz, Johannes; Hegele, Mathias; Munzert, Jörn

2018-01-01

Gaze behavior in natural scenes has been shown to be influenced not only by top–down factors such as task demands and action goals but also by bottom–up factors such as stimulus salience and scene context. Whereas gaze behavior in the context of static pictures emphasizes spatial accuracy, gazing in natural scenes seems to rely more on where to direct the gaze involving both anticipative components and an evaluation of ongoing actions. Not much is known about gaze behavior in far-aiming tasks in which multiple task-relevant targets and distractors compete for the allocation of visual attention via gaze. In the present study, we examined gaze behavior in the far-aiming task of taking a soccer penalty. This task contains a proximal target, the ball; a distal target, an empty location within the goal; and a salient distractor, the goalkeeper. Our aim was to investigate where participants direct their gaze in a natural environment with multiple potential fixation targets that differ in task relevance and salience. Results showed that the early phase of the run-up seems to be driven by both the salience of the stimulus setting and the need to perform a spatial calibration of the environment. The late run-up, in contrast, seems to be controlled by attentional demands of the task with penalty takers having habitualized a visual routine that is not disrupted by external influences (e.g., the goalkeeper). In addition, when trying to shoot a ball as accurately as possible, penalty takers directed their gaze toward the ball in order to achieve optimal foot-ball contact. These results indicate that whether gaze is driven by salience of the stimulus setting or by attentional demands depends on the phase of the actual task. PMID:29434560

Functional evaluation of out-of-the-box text-mining tools for data-mining tasks

PubMed Central

Jung, Kenneth; LePendu, Paea; Iyer, Srinivasan; Bauer-Mehren, Anna; Percha, Bethany; Shah, Nigam H

2015-01-01

Objective The trade-off between the speed and simplicity of dictionary-based term recognition and the richer linguistic information provided by more advanced natural language processing (NLP) is an area of active discussion in clinical informatics. In this paper, we quantify this trade-off among text processing systems that make different trade-offs between speed and linguistic understanding. We tested both types of systems in three clinical research tasks: phase IV safety profiling of a drug, learning adverse drug–drug interactions, and learning used-to-treat relationships between drugs and indications. Materials We first benchmarked the accuracy of the NCBO Annotator and REVEAL in a manually annotated, publically available dataset from the 2008 i2b2 Obesity Challenge. We then applied the NCBO Annotator and REVEAL to 9 million clinical notes from the Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment (STRIDE) and used the resulting data for three research tasks. Results There is no significant difference between using the NCBO Annotator and REVEAL in the results of the three research tasks when using large datasets. In one subtask, REVEAL achieved higher sensitivity with smaller datasets. Conclusions For a variety of tasks, employing simple term recognition methods instead of advanced NLP methods results in little or no impact on accuracy when using large datasets. Simpler dictionary-based methods have the advantage of scaling well to very large datasets. Promoting the use of simple, dictionary-based methods for population level analyses can advance adoption of NLP in practice. PMID:25336595

Chronic postnatal ornithine administration to rats provokes learning deficit in the open field task.

PubMed

Viegas, Carolina Maso; Busanello, Estela Natacha Brandt; Tonin, Anelise Miotti; Grings, Mateus; Moura, Alana Pimentel; Ritter, Luciana; Zanatta, Angela; Knebel, Lisiane Aurélio; Lobato, Vannessa Araujo; Pettenuzzo, Letícia Ferreira; Vargas, Carmen Regla; Leipnitz, Guilhian; Wajner, Moacir

2012-12-01

Hyperornithinemia is the biochemical hallmark of hyperornithinemia-hyperammonemia-homocitrullinuria (HHH) syndrome, an inherited metabolic disease clinically characterized by mental retardation whose pathogenesis is still poorly known. In the present work, we produced a chemical animal model of hyperornithinemia induced by a subcutaneous injection of saline-buffered Orn (2-5 μmol/g body weight) to rats. High brain Orn concentrations were achieved, indicating that Orn is permeable to the blood brain barrier. We then investigated the effect of early chronic postnatal administration of Orn on physical development and on the performance of adult rats in the open field, the Morris water maze and in the step down inhibitory avoidance tasks. Chronic Orn treatment had no effect on the appearance of coat, eye opening or upper incisor eruption, nor on the free-fall righting reflex and on the adult rat performance in the Morris water maze and in the inhibitory avoidance tasks, suggesting that physical development, aversive and spatial localization were not changed by Orn. However, Orn-treated rats did not habituate to the open field apparatus, implying a deficit of learning/memory. Motor activity was the same for Orn- and saline- injected animals. We also verified that Orn subcutaneous injections provoked lipid peroxidation in the brain, as determined by a significant increase of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances levels. Our results indicate that chronic early postnatal hyperornithinemia may impair the central nervous system, causing minor disabilities which result in specific learning deficiencies.

Evaluation of control and display configurations for helicopter shipboard operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paulk, C. H., Jr.; Donley, S. T.; Hollis, M. K.

1983-01-01

A simulation evaluation of several approach and landing flight-control configurations and of two out-of-the-cockpit display devices (a head-up display and a helmet-mounted display) was performed for the task of landing a helicopter on a destroyer in adverse weather. The results indicated that the ship airwake turbulence was the most significant environmental variable affecting hover performance. In addition, to achieve adequate landing performance, attitude-command control compensation was required for the pilot regardless of the display used. For improved performance with reduced pilot effort, a velocity-command, position-hold control system was desired.

Task allocation among multiple intelligent robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gasser, L.; Bekey, G.

1987-01-01

Researchers describe the design of a decentralized mechanism for allocating assembly tasks in a multiple robot assembly workstation. Currently, the approach focuses on distributed allocation to explore its feasibility and its potential for adaptability to changing circumstances, rather than for optimizing throughput. Individual greedy robots make their own local allocation decisions using both dynamic allocation policies which propagate through a network of allocation goals, and local static and dynamic constraints describing which robots are elibible for which assembly tasks. Global coherence is achieved by proper weighting of allocation pressures propagating through the assembly plan. Deadlock avoidance and synchronization is achieved using periodic reassessments of local allocation decisions, ageing of allocation goals, and short-term allocation locks on goals.

Report of the Governor's Blue Ribbon Transportation Task Force

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-12-01

Governor Ray appointed the Blue Ribbon Transportation Task Force to provide guidance concerning specific steps that can be taken to: achieve maximum efficiency in the utilization of transportation resources; preserve essential transportation services...

Goal orientation profile differences on perceived motivational climate, perceived peer relationships, and motivation-related responses of youth athletes.

PubMed

Smith, Alan L; Balaguer, Isabel; Duda, Joan L

2006-12-01

The aims of this study were twofold: (a) to determine if dispositional achievement goal orientation profiles that are reported in the literature would be observed in a sample of youth athletes, and (b) to examine potential achievement goal orientation profile differences on perceptions of the motivational climate, perceptions of peer relationships, and motivation-related responses. Male soccer players (n=223) aged 9-12 years (mean=10.9, s=0.6) completed a multi-section questionnaire containing assessments of dispositional goal (task, ego) orientations, the perceived task- and ego-involving features of the motivational climate, perceived peer acceptance and friendship quality (positive friendship quality, conflict), perceived ability, soccer enjoyment, and satisfaction with one's performance and the team. Four profiles were observed that closely matched those observed by Hodge and Petlichkoff (2000), though in the present study a lower proportion of participants exhibited achievement goal profiles consisting of relatively high ego orientation. Achievement goal profile differences were found for all variables except positive friendship quality, with a general trend for those reporting relatively lower task goal orientation to exhibit less adaptive responses. Overall, the findings support achievement goal frameworks (e.g. Nicholls, 1989) and suggest that further examination of dispositional achievement goals may afford a deeper understanding of social relationships and motivational processes in youth sport.

Gaining control: changing relations between executive control and processing speed and their relevance for mathematics achievement over course of the preschool period

PubMed Central

Clark, Caron A. C.; Nelson, Jennifer Mize; Garza, John; Sheffield, Tiffany D.; Wiebe, Sandra A.; Espy, Kimberly Andrews

2014-01-01

Early executive control (EC) predicts a range of academic outcomes and shows particularly strong associations with children's mathematics achievement. Nonetheless, a major challenge for EC research lies in distinguishing EC from related cognitive constructs that also are linked to achievement outcomes. Developmental cascade models suggest that children's information processing speed is a driving mechanism in cognitive development that supports gains in working memory, inhibitory control and associated cognitive abilities. Accordingly, individual differences in early executive task performance and their relation to mathematics may reflect, at least in part, underlying variation in children's processing speed. The aims of this study were to: (1) examine the degree of overlap between EC and processing speed at different preschool age points; and (2) determine whether EC uniquely predicts children's mathematics achievement after accounting for individual differences in processing speed. As part of a longitudinal, cohort-sequential study, 388 children (50% boys; 44% from low income households) completed the same battery of EC tasks at ages 3, 3.75, 4.5, and 5.25 years. Several of the tasks incorporated baseline speeded naming conditions with minimal EC demands. Multidimensional latent models were used to isolate the variance in executive task performance that did not overlap with baseline processing speed, covarying for child language proficiency. Models for separate age points showed that, while EC did not form a coherent latent factor independent of processing speed at age 3 years, it did emerge as a distinct factor by age 5.25. Although EC at age 3 showed no distinct relation with mathematics achievement independent of processing speed, EC at ages 3.75, 4.5, and 5.25 showed independent, prospective links with mathematics achievement. Findings suggest that EC and processing speed are tightly intertwined in early childhood. As EC becomes progressively decoupled from processing speed with age, it begins to take on unique, discriminative importance for children's mathematics achievement. PMID:24596563

Gender, BMI, Values, and Learning in Physical Education: A Study on Chinese Middle Schoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ding, Haiyong; Sun, Haichun; Chen, Ang

2011-01-01

Students' different perceptions of task values influence their learning experience and achievement in physical education. Framed using the subjective task value construct, this study was conducted to determine the extent to which male and female Chinese middle schoolers with different body sizes differed in their perception of the task values. A…

Task Goal Attributes, n Achievement, and Supervisory Performance. Technical Report No. 30.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steers, Richard M.

A review of the research literature on goal-setting in organizational settings reveals that goal-setting on an individual job results in better task performance. However, the processes behind their effectiveness is unclear. For example, how are various job attributes of task goals related to performance, and how do various individual differences…

Attainment of Developmental Tasks by Adolescents with Visual Impairments and Sighted Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pfeiffer, Jens P.; Pinquart, Martin

2011-01-01

This study compared the achievement of developmental tasks by 158 adolescents with visual impairments to that of 158 sighted adolescents. The groups did not differ in the fulfillment of 9 of 11 tasks. However, those with visual impairments were less successful in peer-group integration and forming intimate relationships. (Contains 4 tables.)

Interaction between Task Values and Self-Efficacy on Maladaptive Achievement Strategy Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Jeesoo; Bong, Mimi; Kim, Sung-il

2014-01-01

We tested the interaction between task value and self-efficacy on defensive pessimism, academic cheating, procrastination and self-handicapping among 574 Korean 11th graders in the context of English as a foreign language. We hypothesised that perceiving high value in tasks or domains for which self-efficacy was low would pose a threat to…

Visuospatial Working Memory in Intuitive Geometry, and in Academic Achievement in Geometry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giofre, David; Mammarella, Irene C.; Ronconi, Lucia; Cornoldi, Cesare

2013-01-01

A study was conducted on the involvement of visuospatial working memory (VSWM) in intuitive geometry and in school performance in geometry at secondary school. A total of 166 pupils were administered: (1) six VSWM tasks, comprising simple storage and complex span tasks; and (2) the intuitive geometry task devised by Dehaene, Izard, Pica, and…

A Framework for Determining the Authenticity of Assessment Tasks: Applied to an Example in Law

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Kelley

2011-01-01

Authentic assessment tasks enhance engagement, retention and the aspirations of students. This paper explores the discipline-generic features of authentic assessment, which reflect what students need to achieve in the real world. Some assessment tasks are more authentic than others and this paper designs a proposed framework supported by the…

The Developmental Dynamics of Task-Avoidant Behavior and Math Performance in Kindergarten and Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirvonen, Riikka; Tolvanen, Asko; Aunola, Kaisa; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2012-01-01

Besides cognitive factors, children's learning at school may be influenced by more dynamic phenomena, such as motivation and achievement-related task-avoidant behavior. The present study examined the developmental dynamics of task-avoidant behavior and math performance from kindergarten to Grade 4. A total of 225 children were tested for their…

Specificity of cognitive structure in depression and social phobia: a comparison of interpersonal and achievement content.

PubMed

Dozois, David J A; Frewen, Paul A

2006-02-01

The comorbidity between the mood and anxiety is extensive and it is probable that individuals with these disorders share a number of cognitive characteristics. However, comorbidity rates with depression are not uniform among the various anxiety disorders. This study examined the common and distinguishing features of self-schematic structure in major depressive disorder and social anxiety compared to other anxiety disorders in general and to no psychiatric disturbance. Participants completed the Psychological Distance Scaling Task, which provided an index of the cognitive organization of positively and negatively valenced interpersonal and achievement self-referent content. The depression and social phobia groups were statistically equivalent on all indices of cognitive organization, and showed greater interconnectedness among interpersonal negative content than both control groups, and less interconnectedness among both positive interpersonal and achievement content than did nonpsychiatric controls. Psychiatric groups were equivalent on negative achievement content but showed greater interconnectedness than controls. This study had a modest sample size and the findings are constrained to females. Negative interpersonal content is more densely interconnected in individuals with social phobia and depression compared with both other anxiety disorder and nonpsychiatric controls. In addition, both social phobia and depression were associated with less interconnected positive content. These findings are indicative of similarities in the way self-schematic content may be organized in individuals with depression and social phobia. Theoretical explanations of these results and future research directions are discussed.

The Four-Day School Week: An Examination of Long-Term Student Achievement at the Middle and Secondary Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fagergren, Peter J.

2003-01-01

Academic achievement under a four-day school week is compared to the traditional five-day school week. Test scores from the CAT [California Achievement Test], ITBS [Iowa Test of Basic Skills], TASK [Stanford Test of Academic Skills], SAT [Stanford Achievement Test], TAP [Tests of Academic Proficiency], and MAT [Metropolitan Achievement Test] were…

The Effect of Information Analysis Automation Display Content on Human Judgment Performance in Noisy Environments.

PubMed

Bass, Ellen J; Baumgart, Leigh A; Shepley, Kathryn Klein

2013-03-01

Displaying both the strategy that information analysis automation employs to makes its judgments and variability in the task environment may improve human judgment performance, especially in cases where this variability impacts the judgment performance of the information analysis automation. This work investigated the contribution of providing either information analysis automation strategy information, task environment information, or both, on human judgment performance in a domain where noisy sensor data are used by both the human and the information analysis automation to make judgments. In a simplified air traffic conflict prediction experiment, 32 participants made probability of horizontal conflict judgments under different display content conditions. After being exposed to the information analysis automation, judgment achievement significantly improved for all participants as compared to judgments without any of the automation's information. Participants provided with additional display content pertaining to cue variability in the task environment had significantly higher aided judgment achievement compared to those provided with only the automation's judgment of a probability of conflict. When designing information analysis automation for environments where the automation's judgment achievement is impacted by noisy environmental data, it may be beneficial to show additional task environment information to the human judge in order to improve judgment performance.

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.

Impacts of a participatory approach to developing national level sustainable development indicators in Finland.

PubMed

Rosenström, Ulla; Kyllönen, Simo

2007-08-01

The paper explores the role of a participatory approach in the outcome of the Finnish sustainable development indicator (SDI) exercise in 1998-2002. The process is analysed through three main objectives: to achieve stronger democracy, better quality of the end product and a more effective process. The analysis is further structured by a set of criteria needed for successful participation and differentiation of types of participants. The criteria comprise three main aspects: fairness, competence and social learning. In addition to the normally mentioned stakeholders (e.g. citizens and interest groups) participants also include experts and civil servants. Using the set of criteria above the participatory approach of the Finnish SDI process is then evaluated, and in the light of this evaluation the paper also discusses the specifications needed as evaluation criteria for national level policy programme processes like developing the SDIs. The results are based on documentation of the indicator task force meetings, written comments and a study of the putative end-users conducted after the publication of the indicators. The results show that the intense and broad participation of experts and civil servants increased the competence of the outcome and led to greater efficiency in working methods. However, this led to technocratic participation, absence of democratic participation and absence of social learning. Thus the ultimate goal of SDIs to contribute to achieving sustainability was not reached.

Know thyself: misperceptions of actual performance undermine achievement motivation, future performance, and subjective well-being.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Hoon; Chiu, Chi-Yue; Zou, Zhimin

2010-09-01

Contrary to the popular assumption that self-enhancement improves task motivation and future performance, the authors propose that both inflated and deflated self-assessments of performance are linked to an increased likelihood of practicing self-handicapping and having relatively poor performance in future tasks. Consistent with this proposal, we found that irrespective of the level of actual performance, compared with accurate self-assessment, both inflated and deflated self-assessments of task performance are associated with a greater tendency to (a) practice self-handicapping (Study 1: prefer to work under distraction; Study 2: withhold preparatory effort), (b) perform relatively poorly in a subsequent task (Study 3), (c) have relatively low academic achievement (Study 4), and (d) report a relatively low level of subjective well-being (Study 5). The authors discuss these results in terms of their educational implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

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

Nakicenovic, Nebojsa; Kammen, Daniel; Jewell, Jessica

The UN Secretary General established the Sustainable Energy for All initiative in order to guide and support efforts to achieve universal access to modern energy, rapidly increase energy efficiency, and expand the use of renewable energies. Task forces were formed involving prominent energy leaders and experts from business, government, academia and civil society worldwide. The goal of the Task Forces is to inform the implementation of the initiative by identifying challenges and opportunities for achieving its objectives. This report contains the findings of Task Force Two which is dedicated energy efficiency and renewable energy objectives. The report shows that doublingmore » the rate of energy efficiency improvements and doubling the share of energy from renewable sources by 2030 is challenging but feasible if sufficient actions are implemented. Strong and well-informed government policies as well as extensive private investment should focus on the high impact areas identified by the task force.« less

Lie construction affects information storage under high memory load condition.

PubMed

Liu, Yuqiu; Wang, Chunjie; Jiang, Haibo; He, Hongjian; Chen, Feiyan

2017-01-01

Previous studies indicate that lying consumes cognitive resources, especially working memory (WM) resources. Considering the dual functions that WM might play in lying: holding the truth-related information and turning the truth into lies, the present study examined the relationship between the information storage and processing in the lie construction. To achieve that goal, a deception task based on the old/new recognition paradigm was designed, which could manipulate two levels of WM load (low-load task using 4 items and high-load task using 6 items) during the deception process. The analyses based on the amplitude of the contralateral delay activity (CDA), a proved index of the number of representations being held in WM, showed that the CDA amplitude was lower in the deception process than that in the truth telling process under the high-load condition. In contrast, under the low-load condition, no CDA difference was found between the deception and truth telling processes. Therefore, we deduced that the lie construction and information storage compete for WM resources; when the available WM resources cannot meet this cognitive demand, the WM resources occupied by the information storage would be consumed by the lie construction.

The specificity of learned parallelism in dual-memory retrieval.

PubMed

Strobach, Tilo; Schubert, Torsten; Pashler, Harold; Rickard, Timothy

2014-05-01

Retrieval of two responses from one visually presented cue occurs sequentially at the outset of dual-retrieval practice. Exclusively for subjects who adopt a mode of grouping (i.e., synchronizing) their response execution, however, reaction times after dual-retrieval practice indicate a shift to learned retrieval parallelism (e.g., Nino & Rickard, in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 29, 373-388, 2003). In the present study, we investigated how this learned parallelism is achieved and why it appears to occur only for subjects who group their responses. Two main accounts were considered: a task-level versus a cue-level account. The task-level account assumes that learned retrieval parallelism occurs at the level of the task as a whole and is not limited to practiced cues. Grouping response execution may thus promote a general shift to parallel retrieval following practice. The cue-level account states that learned retrieval parallelism is specific to practiced cues. This type of parallelism may result from cue-specific response chunking that occurs uniquely as a consequence of grouped response execution. The results of two experiments favored the second account and were best interpreted in terms of a structural bottleneck model.

Response inhibition, preattentive processing, and sex difference in young children: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Liu, Tongran; Xiao, Tong; Shi, Jiannong

2013-02-13

Response inhibition and preattentive processing are two important cognitive abilities for child development, and the current study adopted both behavioral and electrophysiological protocols to examine whether young children's response inhibition correlated with their preattentive processing. A Go/Nogo task was used to explore young children's response inhibition performances and an Oddball task with event-related potential recordings was used to measure their preattentive processing. The behavioral results showed that girls committed significantly fewer commission error rates, which showed that girls had stronger inhibition control abilities than boys. Girls also achieved higher d' scores in the Go/Nogo task, which indicated that they were more sensitive to the stimulus signals than boys. Although the electrophysiological results of preattentive processing did not show any sex differences, the correlation patterns between children's response inhibition and preattentive processing were different between these two groups: the neural response speed of preattentive processing (mismatch negativity peak latency) negatively correlated with girls' commission error rates and positively correlated with boys' correct hit rates. The current findings supported that the preattentive processing correlated with human inhibition control performances, and further showed that girls' better inhibition responses might be because of the influence of their preattentive processing.

Lie construction affects information storage under high memory load condition

PubMed Central

Liu, Yuqiu; Wang, Chunjie; Jiang, Haibo; He, Hongjian; Chen, Feiyan

2017-01-01

Previous studies indicate that lying consumes cognitive resources, especially working memory (WM) resources. Considering the dual functions that WM might play in lying: holding the truth-related information and turning the truth into lies, the present study examined the relationship between the information storage and processing in the lie construction. To achieve that goal, a deception task based on the old/new recognition paradigm was designed, which could manipulate two levels of WM load (low-load task using 4 items and high-load task using 6 items) during the deception process. The analyses based on the amplitude of the contralateral delay activity (CDA), a proved index of the number of representations being held in WM, showed that the CDA amplitude was lower in the deception process than that in the truth telling process under the high-load condition. In contrast, under the low-load condition, no CDA difference was found between the deception and truth telling processes. Therefore, we deduced that the lie construction and information storage compete for WM resources; when the available WM resources cannot meet this cognitive demand, the WM resources occupied by the information storage would be consumed by the lie construction. PMID:28727794

Resolving disease management problems in European-American and Latino couples with type 2 diabetes: the effects of ethnicity and patient gender.

PubMed

Fisher, L; Gudmundsdottir, M; Gilliss, C; Skaff, M; Mullan, J; Kanter, R; Chesla, C

2000-01-01

The management of type 2 diabetes requires major life style changes. How patients and family members resolve disagreements about disease management affects how well the disease is managed over time. Our goal was to identify differences in how couples resolved disagreements about diabetes management based on ethnicity and patient gender. We recruited 65 Latino and 110 European-American (EA) couples in which one spouse had type 2 diabetes. Couples participated in a 10-minute videotaped, revealed differences interaction task that was evaluated with 7 reliable observer ratings: warm-engagement, hostility, avoidance, amount of conflict resolution, off-task behavior, patient dominance, and dialogue. A series of 2 x 2, Ethnicity x Sex ANOVAs indicated significant effects for Ethnicity and for the Ethnicity x Sex interaction, but not for Sex. Latino couples were rated as significantly more emotionally close, less avoidant, less hostile toward each other, and had less dominant patients than EA couples; however, Latino couples achieved significantly less problem resolution and were more frequently off-task than EA couples. These findings were qualified by patient gender. The findings highlight important differences

The Determination of Relevant Goals and Criteria Used to Select an Automated Patient Care Information System

PubMed Central

Chocholik, Joan K.; Bouchard, Susan E.; Tan, Joseph K. H.; Ostrow, David N.

1999-01-01

Objectives: To determine the relevant weighted goals and criteria for use in the selection of an automated patient care information system (PCIS) using a modified Delphi technique to achieve consensus. Design: A three-phase, six-round modified Delphi process was implemented by a ten-member PCIS selection task force. The first phase consisted of an exploratory round. It was followed by the second phase, of two rounds, to determine the selection goals and finally the third phase, of three rounds, to finalize the selection criteria. Results: Consensus on the goals and criteria for selecting a PCIS was measured during the Delphi process by reviewing the mean and standard deviation of the previous round's responses. After the study was completed, the results were analyzed using a limits-of-agreement indicator that showed strong agreement of each individual's responses between each of the goal determination rounds. Further analysis for variability in the group's response showed a significant movement to consensus after the first goal-determination iteration, with consensus reached on all goals by the end of the second iteration. Conclusion: The results indicated that the relevant weighted goals and criteria used to make the final decision for an automated PCIS were developed as a result of strong agreement among members of the PCIS selection task force. It is therefore recognized that the use of the Delphi process was beneficial in achieving consensus among clinical and nonclinical members in a relatively short time while avoiding a decision based on political biases and the “groupthink” of traditional committee meetings. The results suggest that improvements could be made in lessening the number of rounds by having information available through side conversations, by having other statistical indicators besides the mean and standard deviation available between rounds, and by having a content expert address questions between rounds. PMID:10332655

Costs of task allocation with local feedback: Effects of colony size and extra workers in social insects and other multi-agent systems.

PubMed

Radeva, Tsvetomira; Dornhaus, Anna; Lynch, Nancy; Nagpal, Radhika; Su, Hsin-Hao

2017-12-01

Adaptive collective systems are common in biology and beyond. Typically, such systems require a task allocation algorithm: a mechanism or rule-set by which individuals select particular roles. Here we study the performance of such task allocation mechanisms measured in terms of the time for individuals to allocate to tasks. We ask: (1) Is task allocation fundamentally difficult, and thus costly? (2) Does the performance of task allocation mechanisms depend on the number of individuals? And (3) what other parameters may affect their efficiency? We use techniques from distributed computing theory to develop a model of a social insect colony, where workers have to be allocated to a set of tasks; however, our model is generalizable to other systems. We show, first, that the ability of workers to quickly assess demand for work in tasks they are not currently engaged in crucially affects whether task allocation is quickly achieved or not. This indicates that in social insect tasks such as thermoregulation, where temperature may provide a global and near instantaneous stimulus to measure the need for cooling, for example, it should be easy to match the number of workers to the need for work. In other tasks, such as nest repair, it may be impossible for workers not directly at the work site to know that this task needs more workers. We argue that this affects whether task allocation mechanisms are under strong selection. Second, we show that colony size does not affect task allocation performance under our assumptions. This implies that when effects of colony size are found, they are not inherent in the process of task allocation itself, but due to processes not modeled here, such as higher variation in task demand for smaller colonies, benefits of specialized workers, or constant overhead costs. Third, we show that the ratio of the number of available workers to the workload crucially affects performance. Thus, workers in excess of those needed to complete all tasks improve task allocation performance. This provides a potential explanation for the phenomenon that social insect colonies commonly contain inactive workers: these may be a 'surplus' set of workers that improves colony function by speeding up optimal allocation of workers to tasks. Overall our study shows how limitations at the individual level can affect group level outcomes, and suggests new hypotheses that can be explored empirically.

Costs of task allocation with local feedback: Effects of colony size and extra workers in social insects and other multi-agent systems

PubMed Central

Dornhaus, Anna; Su, Hsin-Hao

2017-01-01

Adaptive collective systems are common in biology and beyond. Typically, such systems require a task allocation algorithm: a mechanism or rule-set by which individuals select particular roles. Here we study the performance of such task allocation mechanisms measured in terms of the time for individuals to allocate to tasks. We ask: (1) Is task allocation fundamentally difficult, and thus costly? (2) Does the performance of task allocation mechanisms depend on the number of individuals? And (3) what other parameters may affect their efficiency? We use techniques from distributed computing theory to develop a model of a social insect colony, where workers have to be allocated to a set of tasks; however, our model is generalizable to other systems. We show, first, that the ability of workers to quickly assess demand for work in tasks they are not currently engaged in crucially affects whether task allocation is quickly achieved or not. This indicates that in social insect tasks such as thermoregulation, where temperature may provide a global and near instantaneous stimulus to measure the need for cooling, for example, it should be easy to match the number of workers to the need for work. In other tasks, such as nest repair, it may be impossible for workers not directly at the work site to know that this task needs more workers. We argue that this affects whether task allocation mechanisms are under strong selection. Second, we show that colony size does not affect task allocation performance under our assumptions. This implies that when effects of colony size are found, they are not inherent in the process of task allocation itself, but due to processes not modeled here, such as higher variation in task demand for smaller colonies, benefits of specialized workers, or constant overhead costs. Third, we show that the ratio of the number of available workers to the workload crucially affects performance. Thus, workers in excess of those needed to complete all tasks improve task allocation performance. This provides a potential explanation for the phenomenon that social insect colonies commonly contain inactive workers: these may be a ‘surplus’ set of workers that improves colony function by speeding up optimal allocation of workers to tasks. Overall our study shows how limitations at the individual level can affect group level outcomes, and suggests new hypotheses that can be explored empirically. PMID:29240763

Tai Chi practitioners have better postural control and selective attention in stepping down with and without a concurrent auditory response task.

PubMed

Lu, Xi; Siu, Ka-Chun; Fu, Siu N; Hui-Chan, Christina W Y; Tsang, William W N

2013-08-01

To compare the performance of older experienced Tai Chi practitioners and healthy controls in dual-task versus single-task paradigms, namely stepping down with and without performing an auditory response task, a cross-sectional study was conducted in the Center for East-meets-West in Rehabilitation Sciences at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. Twenty-eight Tai Chi practitioners (73.6 ± 4.2 years) and 30 healthy control subjects (72.4 ± 6.1 years) were recruited. Participants were asked to step down from a 19-cm-high platform and maintain a single-leg stance for 10 s with and without a concurrent cognitive task. The cognitive task was an auditory Stroop test in which the participants were required to respond to different tones of voices regardless of their word meanings. Postural stability after stepping down under single- and dual-task paradigms, in terms of excursion of the subject's center of pressure (COP) and cognitive performance, was measured for comparison between the two groups. Our findings demonstrated significant between-group differences in more outcome measures during dual-task than single-task performance. Thus, the auditory Stroop test showed that Tai Chi practitioners achieved not only significantly less error rate in single-task, but also significantly faster reaction time in dual-task, when compared with healthy controls similar in age and other relevant demographics. Similarly, the stepping-down task showed that Tai Chi practitioners not only displayed significantly less COP sway area in single-task, but also significantly less COP sway path than healthy controls in dual-task. These results showed that Tai Chi practitioners achieved better postural stability after stepping down as well as better performance in auditory response task than healthy controls. The improved performance that was magnified by dual motor-cognitive task performance may point to the benefits of Tai Chi being a mind-and-body exercise.

Cortical activity predicts good variation in human motor output.

PubMed

Babikian, Sarine; Kanso, Eva; Kutch, Jason J

2017-04-01

Human movement patterns have been shown to be particularly variable if many combinations of activity in different muscles all achieve the same task goal (i.e., are goal-equivalent). The nervous system appears to automatically vary its output among goal-equivalent combinations of muscle activity to minimize muscle fatigue or distribute tissue loading, but the neural mechanism of this "good" variation is unknown. Here we use a bimanual finger task, electroencephalography (EEG), and machine learning to determine if cortical signals can predict goal-equivalent variation in finger force output. 18 healthy participants applied left and right index finger forces to repeatedly perform a task that involved matching a total (sum of right and left) finger force. As in previous studies, we observed significantly more variability in goal-equivalent muscle activity across task repetitions compared to variability in muscle activity that would not achieve the goal: participants achieved the task in some repetitions with more right finger force and less left finger force (right > left) and in other repetitions with less right finger force and more left finger force (left > right). We found that EEG signals from the 500 milliseconds (ms) prior to each task repetition could make a significant prediction of which repetitions would have right > left and which would have left > right. We also found that cortical maps of sites contributing to the prediction contain both motor and pre-motor representation in the appropriate hemisphere. Thus, goal-equivalent variation in motor output may be implemented at a cortical level.

Decontamination systems information and research programs. Quarterly report, July 1--August 31, 1996

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

NONE

1997-07-01

The US contains numerous hazardous waste sites. Many sites are on private land near operating units of various companies. An effort is being made to determine the conditions under which such sites can be remediated voluntarily. The objective of the project will be to first assess the interest and willingness of industry in the Kanawha River Valley, WV to participate in discussions that would lead toward voluntary cleanup activities. The second will be to implement the activities agreed upon by the interested parties. The project will first involve individual discussions with the industrial, government, and other organized groups in themore » area. These discussions will help determine the feasibility of organizing voluntary efforts. If the discussions indicate that conditions may be favorable for developing individual or group voluntary cleanup projects, a working group will be convened to establish the environmental goals of the project as well as the technical approach for achieving those goals. The projects for the 1996 WVU Cooperative Agreement are categorized into three task focus areas: Task 1.0 Contaminant Plume Containment and Remediation, Task 2.0 Cross Cutting Innovative Technologies, and Task 3.0 Small Business Support Program. Summaries of the accomplishments for the subtasks reporting under these categories during the third quarter, 1 July 96 through 30 September 96, are presented.« less

Gait Adaptability Training Improves Both Postural Stability and Dual-Tasking Ability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brady, Rachel A.; Batson, Crystal D.; Peters, Brian T.; Ploutz-Snyder, Robert J.; Mulavara, Ajitkumar P.; Bloomberg, Jacob J.

2010-01-01

After spaceflight, the process of readapting to Earth's gravity commonly presents crewmembers with a variety of locomotor challenges. Our recent work has shown that the ability to adapt to a novel discordant sensorimotor environment can be increased through preflight training, so one focus of our laboratory has been the development of a gait training countermeasure to expedite the return of normal locomotor function after spaceflight. We used a training system comprising a treadmill mounted on a motion base facing a virtual visual scene that provided a variety of sensory challenges. As part of their participation in a larger retention study, 10 healthy adults completed 3 training sessions during which they walked on a treadmill at 1.1 m/s while receiving discordant support-surface and visual manipulations. After a single training session, subjects stride frequencies improved, and after 2 training sessions their auditory reaction times improved, where improvement was indicated by a return toward baseline values. Interestingly, improvements in reaction time came after stride frequency improvements plateaued. This finding suggests that postural stability was given a higher priority than a competing cognitive task. Further, it demonstrates that improvement in both postural stability and dual-tasking can be achieved with multiple training exposures. We conclude that, with training, individuals become more proficient at walking in discordant sensorimotor conditions and are able to devote more attention to competing tasks.

3x2 Classroom Goal Structures, Motivational Regulations, Self-Concept, and Affectivity in Secondary School.

PubMed

Méndez-Giménez, Antonio; Cecchini-Estrada, José-Antonio; Fernández-Río, Javier; Prieto Saborit, José Antonio; Méndez-Alonso, David

2017-09-20

The main objective was to analyze relationships and predictive patterns between 3x2 classroom goal structures (CGS), and motivational regulations, dimensions of self-concept, and affectivity in the context of secondary education. A sample of 1,347 secondary school students (56.6% young men, 43.4% young women) from 10 different provinces of Spain agreed to participate (M age = 13.43, SD = 1.05). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated the self-approach CGS was the most adaptive within the spectrum of self-determination, followed by the task-approach CGS. The other-approach CGS had an ambivalent influence on motivation. Task-approach and self-approach CGS predicted academic self-concept (p < .01; p < .001, respectively; R 2 = .134), and both along with other-approach CGS (negatively) predicted family self-concept (p < .05; p < .001; p < .01, respectively; R 2 = .064). Physical self-concept was predicted by the task-approach and other-approach CGS's (p < .05; p < .001, respectively; R 2 = .078). Finally, positive affect was predicted by all three approach-oriented CGS's (p < .001; R 2 = .137), whereas negative affect was predicted by other-approach (positively) and self-approach (negatively) CGS (p < .001; p < .05, respectively; R 2 = .028). These results expand the 3x2 achievement goal framework to include environmental factors, and reiterate that teachers should focus on raising levels of self- and task-based goals for students in their classes.

Communications System Architecture Development for Air Traffic Management and Aviation Weather Information Dissemination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gallagher, Seana; Olson, Matt; Blythe, Doug; Heletz, Jacob; Hamilton, Griff; Kolb, Bill; Homans, Al; Zemrowski, Ken; Decker, Steve; Tegge, Cindy

2000-01-01

This document is the NASA AATT Task Order 24 Final Report. NASA Research Task Order 24 calls for the development of eleven distinct task reports. Each task was a necessary exercise in the development of comprehensive communications systems architecture (CSA) for air traffic management and aviation weather information dissemination for 2015, the definition of the interim architecture for 2007, and the transition plan to achieve the desired End State. The eleven tasks are summarized along with the associated Task Order reference. The output of each task was an individual task report. The task reports that make up the main body of this document include Task 5, Task 6, Task 7, Task 8, Task 10, and Task 11. The other tasks provide the supporting detail used in the development of the architecture. These reports are included in the appendices. The detailed user needs, functional communications requirements and engineering requirements associated with Tasks 1, 2, and 3 have been put into a relational database and are provided electronically.

Muscular and Aerobic Fitness, Working Memory, and Academic Achievement in Children.

PubMed

Kao, Shih-Chun; Westfall, Daniel R; Parks, Andrew C; Pontifex, Matthew B; Hillman, Charles H

2017-03-01

This study investigated the relationship between aerobic and muscular fitness with working memory and academic achievement in preadolescent children. Seventy-nine 9- to 11-yr-old children completed an aerobic fitness assessment using a graded exercise test; a muscular fitness assessment consisting of upper body, lower body, and core exercises; a serial n-back task to assess working memory; and an academic achievement test of mathematics and reading. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that after controlling for demographic variables (age, sex, grade, IQ, socioeconomic status), aerobic fitness was associated with greater response accuracy and d' in the 2-back condition and increased mathematic performance in algebraic functions. Muscular fitness was associated with increased response accuracy and d', and longer reaction time in the 2-back condition. Further, the associations of muscular fitness with response accuracy and d' in the 2-back condition were independent of aerobic fitness. The current findings suggest the differential relationships between the aerobic and the muscular aspects of physical fitness with working memory and academic achievement. With the majority of research focusing on childhood health benefits of aerobic fitness, this study suggests the importance of muscular fitness to cognitive health during preadolescence.

Trading a Problem-solving Task

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsubara, Shigeo

This paper focuses on a task allocation problem, especially cases where the task is to find a solution in a search problem or a constraint satisfaction problem. If the search problem is hard to solve, a contractor may fail to find a solution. Here, the more computational resources such as the CPU time the contractor invests in solving the search problem, the more a solution is likely to be found. This brings about a new problem that a contractee has to find an appropriate level of the quality in a task achievement as well as to find an efficient allocation of a task among contractors. For example, if the contractee asks the contractor to find a solution with certainty, the payment from the contractee to the contractor may exceed the contractee's benefit from obtaining a solution, which discourages the contractee from trading a task. However, solving this problem is difficult because the contractee cannot ascertain the contractor's problem-solving ability such as the amount of available resources and knowledge (e.g. algorithms, heuristics) or monitor what amount of resources are actually invested in solving the allocated task. To solve this problem, we propose a task allocation mechanism that is able to choose an appropriate level of the quality in a task achievement and prove that this mechanism guarantees that each contractor reveals its true information. Moreover, we show that our mechanism can increase the contractee's utility compared with a simple auction mechanism by using computer simulation.

Assessment of the nursing skill mix in Mozambique using a task analysis methodology

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The density of the nursing and maternal child health nursing workforce in Mozambique (0.32/1000) is well below the WHO minimum standard of 1 nurse per 1000. Two levels of education were being offered for both nurses and maternal child health nurses, in programmes ranging from 18 to 30 months in length. The health care workforce in Mozambique also includes Medical Technicians and Medical Agents, who are also educated at either basic or mid-level. The Ministry of Health determined the need to document the tasks that each of the six cadres was performing within various health facilities to identify gaps, and duplications, in order to identify strategies for streamlining workforce production, while retaining highest educational and competency standards. The methodology of task analysis (TA) was used to achieve this objective. This article provides information about the TA methodology, and selected outcomes of the very broad study. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive task analysis survey was conducted over a 15 month period (2008–2009). A stratified sample of 1295 individuals was recruited from every type of health facility in all of Mozambique’s 10 provinces and in Maputo City. Respondents indicated how frequently they performed any of 233 patient care tasks. Data analysis focused on identifying areas where identical tasks were performed by the various cadres. Analyses addressed frequency of performance, grouped by level of educational preparation, within various types of health facilities. Results Task sharing ranged from 74% to 88% between basic and general nurse cadres and from 54% to 88% between maternal and child health nurse cadres, within various health facility types. Conversely, there was distinction between scope of practice for nursing and maternal/child health nursing cadres. Conclusion The educational pathways to general nursing and maternal/child health nursing careers were consolidated into one 24 month programme for each career. The scopes of practice were affirmed based on task analysis survey data. PMID:24460789

Predicting Mathematics Achievement by Motivation and Self-Efficacy across Gender and Achievement Levels

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sartawi, AbdelAziz; Alsawaie, Othman N.; Dodeen, Hamzeh; Tibi, Sana; Alghazo, Iman M.

2012-01-01

This study investigated the extent to which self-efficacy and motivation served as a predictor for mathematics achievement of fifth grade students in United Arab Emirates (UAE) across gender and achievement levels. Self-efficacy was measured by two scales, which differed in levels of specificity--Category Specific and Task Specific. Motivation was…

The Impact of Formative Assessment on Students in a High Achieving Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toungette, William Thomas

2012-01-01

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind mandate, school systems clamored to ensure that all students showed academic growth. For schools with a high-achieving population, this could be a daunting task. This analysis examined the impact formative assessment had on student achievement in a high-achieving, middle school by measuring three…

Effects of Partner's Ability on the Achievement and Conceptual Organization of High-Achieving Fifth-Grade Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carter, Glenda; Jones, M. Gail; Rua, Melissa

2003-01-01

Investigates high-achieving fifth-grade students' achievement gains and conceptual reorganization on convection. Features an instructional sequence of three dyadic inquiry investigations related to convection currents as well as pre- and post-assessment consisting of a multiple-choice test, a card sorting task, construction of a concept map, and…

Spacecraft Multiple Array Communication System Performance Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hwu, Shian U.; Desilva, Kanishka; Sham, Catherine C.

2010-01-01

The Communication Systems Simulation Laboratory (CSSL) at the NASA Johnson Space Center is tasked to perform spacecraft and ground network communication system simulations, design validation, and performance verification. The CSSL has developed simulation tools that model spacecraft communication systems and the space and ground environment in which the tools operate. In this paper, a spacecraft communication system with multiple arrays is simulated. Multiple array combined technique is used to increase the radio frequency coverage and data rate performance. The technique is to achieve phase coherence among the phased arrays to combine the signals at the targeting receiver constructively. There are many technical challenges in spacecraft integration with a high transmit power communication system. The array combining technique can improve the communication system data rate and coverage performances without increasing the system transmit power requirements. Example simulation results indicate significant performance improvement can be achieved with phase coherence implementation.

Clustering microcalcifications techniques in digital mammograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Díaz, Claudia. C.; Bosco, Paolo; Cerello, Piergiorgio

2008-11-01

Breast cancer has become a serious public health problem around the world. However, this pathology can be treated if it is detected in early stages. This task is achieved by a radiologist, who should read a large amount of mammograms per day, either for a screening or diagnostic purpose in mammography. However human factors could affect the diagnosis. Computer Aided Detection is an automatic system, which can help to specialists in the detection of possible signs of malignancy in mammograms. Microcalcifications play an important role in early detection, so we focused on their study. The two mammographic features that indicate the microcalcifications could be probably malignant are small size and clustered distribution. We worked with density techniques for automatic clustering, and we applied them on a mammography CAD prototype developed at INFN-Turin, Italy. An improvement of performance is achieved analyzing images from a Perugia-Assisi Hospital, in Italy.

Automating the generation of lexical patterns for processing free text in clinical documents.

PubMed

Meng, Frank; Morioka, Craig

2015-09-01

Many tasks in natural language processing utilize lexical pattern-matching techniques, including information extraction (IE), negation identification, and syntactic parsing. However, it is generally difficult to derive patterns that achieve acceptable levels of recall while also remaining highly precise. We present a multiple sequence alignment (MSA)-based technique that automatically generates patterns, thereby leveraging language usage to determine the context of words that influence a given target. MSAs capture the commonalities among word sequences and are able to reveal areas of linguistic stability and variation. In this way, MSAs provide a systemic approach to generating lexical patterns that are generalizable, which will both increase recall levels and maintain high levels of precision. The MSA-generated patterns exhibited consistent F1-, F.5-, and F2- scores compared to two baseline techniques for IE across four different tasks. Both baseline techniques performed well for some tasks and less well for others, but MSA was found to consistently perform at a high level for all four tasks. The performance of MSA on the four extraction tasks indicates the method's versatility. The results show that the MSA-based patterns are able to handle the extraction of individual data elements as well as relations between two concepts without the need for large amounts of manual intervention. We presented an MSA-based framework for generating lexical patterns that showed consistently high levels of both performance and recall over four different extraction tasks when compared to baseline methods. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The importance of exercise self-efficacy for clinical outcomes in pulmonary rehabilitation.

PubMed

Selzler, Anne-Marie; Rodgers, Wendy M; Berry, Tanya R; Stickland, Michael K

2016-11-01

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) improves functional exercise capacity and health status in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), although these outcomes are often not maintained following PR. Self-efficacy is a precursor to outcomes achievement, yet few studies have examined the importance of self-efficacy to outcome improvement during PR, or how it develops over time. Further, the contribution of exercise-specific self-efficacy to outcomes in PR is unknown. The aims of this study were to determine (a) whether baseline exercise self-efficacy predicts PR attendance and change in functional exercise capacity and health status over PR, and (b) if exercise self-efficacy changes with PR. Fifty-eight out of 64 patients with COPD completed PR and assessments of exercise self-efficacy (task, coping, scheduling), the 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) at the beginning and end of PR. Analyses were conducted to predict attendance, and change in 6MWT and SGRQ, while controlling for baseline demographic and clinical indicators. Change in 6MWT, SGRQ, and self-efficacy with PR was also examined. Clinically significant increases in the 6MWT and SGRQ were achieved with PR. Stronger task self-efficacy predicted better attendance, while stronger coping self-efficacy predicted greater 6MWT improvement. No variables predicted SGRQ change. Scheduling self-efficacy significantly improved with PR, whereas task and coping self-efficacy did not. Baseline exercise self-efficacy appears to be a determinant of rehabilitation attendance and functional exercise improvement with PR. Clinicians should evaluate and target exercise self-efficacy to maximize adherence and health outcome improvement with PR. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Democratic population decisions result in robust policy-gradient learning: a parametric study with GPU simulations.

PubMed

Richmond, Paul; Buesing, Lars; Giugliano, Michele; Vasilaki, Eleni

2011-05-04

High performance computing on the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is an emerging field driven by the promise of high computational power at a low cost. However, GPU programming is a non-trivial task and moreover architectural limitations raise the question of whether investing effort in this direction may be worthwhile. In this work, we use GPU programming to simulate a two-layer network of Integrate-and-Fire neurons with varying degrees of recurrent connectivity and investigate its ability to learn a simplified navigation task using a policy-gradient learning rule stemming from Reinforcement Learning. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we want to support the use of GPUs in the field of Computational Neuroscience. Second, using GPU computing power, we investigate the conditions under which the said architecture and learning rule demonstrate best performance. Our work indicates that networks featuring strong Mexican-Hat-shaped recurrent connections in the top layer, where decision making is governed by the formation of a stable activity bump in the neural population (a "non-democratic" mechanism), achieve mediocre learning results at best. In absence of recurrent connections, where all neurons "vote" independently ("democratic") for a decision via population vector readout, the task is generally learned better and more robustly. Our study would have been extremely difficult on a desktop computer without the use of GPU programming. We present the routines developed for this purpose and show that a speed improvement of 5x up to 42x is provided versus optimised Python code. The higher speed is achieved when we exploit the parallelism of the GPU in the search of learning parameters. This suggests that efficient GPU programming can significantly reduce the time needed for simulating networks of spiking neurons, particularly when multiple parameter configurations are investigated.

Extracting Drug-Drug Interactions with Word and Character-Level Recurrent Neural Networks

PubMed Central

Kavuluru, Ramakanth; Rios, Anthony; Tran, Tung

2017-01-01

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are known to be responsible for nearly a third of all adverse drug reactions. Hence several current efforts focus on extracting signal from EMRs to prioritize DDIs that need further exploration. To this end, being able to extract explicit mentions of DDIs in free text narratives is an important task. In this paper, we explore recurrent neural network (RNN) architectures to detect and classify DDIs from unstructured text using the DDIExtraction dataset from the SemEval 2013 (task 9) shared task. Our methods are in line with those used in other recent deep learning efforts for relation extraction including DDI extraction. However, to our knowledge, we are the first to investigate the potential of character-level RNNs (Char-RNNs) for DDI extraction (and relation extraction in general). Furthermore, we explore a simple but effective model bootstrapping method to (a). build model averaging ensembles, (b). derive confidence intervals around mean micro-F scores (MMF), and (c). assess the average behavior of our methods. Without any rule based filtering of negative examples, a popular heuristic used by most earlier efforts, we achieve an MMF of 69.13. By adding simple replicable heuristics to filter negative instances we are able to achieve an MMF of 70.38. Furthermore, our best ensembles produce micro F-scores of 70.81 (without filtering) and 72.13 (with filtering), which are superior to metrics reported in published results. Although Char-RNNs turnout to be inferior to regular word based RNN models in overall comparisons, we find that ensembling models from both architectures results in nontrivial gains over simply using either alone, indicating that they complement each other. PMID:29034375

The economic production of alcohol fuels from coal-derived synthesis gas

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

Kugler, E.L.; Dadyburjor, D.B.; Yang, R.Y.K.

1995-12-31

The objectives of this project are to discover, (1) study and evaluate novel heterogeneous catalytic systems for the production of oxygenated fuel enhancers from synthesis gas. Specifically, alternative methods of preparing catalysts are to be investigated, and novel catalysts, including sulfur-tolerant ones, are to be pursued. (Task 1); (2) explore, analytically and on the bench scale, novel reactor and process concepts for use in converting syngas to liquid fuel products. (Task 1); (3) simulate by computer the most energy efficient and economically efficient process for converting coal to energy, with primary focus on converting syngas to fuel alcohols. (Task 2);more » (4) develop on the bench scale the best holistic combination of chemistry, catalyst, reactor and total process configuration integrated with the overall coal conversion process to achieve economic optimization for the conversion of syngas to liquid products within the framework of achieving the maximum cost effective transformation of coal to energy equivalents. (Tasks 1 and 2); and (5) evaluate the combustion, emission and performance characteristics of fuel alcohols and blends of alcohols with petroleum-based fuels. (Task 2)« less

EU-US standards harmonization task group report : overview of harmonization task groups 1&3.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-08-01

By their nature, ITS products and services are most effective when integrated within a metropolitan area. Achieving this integration of systems, however, requires the cooperation and coordination of many jurisdictions and agencies that are responsibl...

[The Polish Task Force position statement on safety of biologic treatment with monoclonal antibodies and soluble receptors].

PubMed

Jahnz-Rozyk, Karina; Wiesik-Szewczyk, Ewa

2014-07-01

The introduction of biologic therapies for treatment in many fields of medicine such as rheumatology oncology, dermatology, hematology and allergology, became one of the most important achievements of the modem medicine. The first biological therapeutics have already reached patent expiration date and corresponding biosimilars were approved by EMA (European Medicine Agency) and FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Many more biosimilar products are currently under review for marketing authorization around the world. The approval of products similar, but not identical to already known innovative biologics, due to complexity of structure and manufacturing technology, stirs a lot of discussions regarding safety concerns related to differences in posttranslational processing and in immunogenicity between reference and biosimilar products, and relevance of these differences to the clinical practice. Critical issues involve extrapolation to different clinical indication, automatic substitution and switching. Despite EMA recommendation and advocacy for biosimilars, it is beyond this regulatory authority to establish definitive regulation for each EU member, which it is expected to be country related. The aim of the study was an attempt to define the stance regarding particular aspects of biological treatment conducted in Poland is undertaken. The Task Force of 13 experts involved in various aspects of biologic therapies in Poland was established. A modified Delphi voting was performed to achieve consensus regarding the most important aspects of biologic treatment in Poland, with particular concern of biosimilars. Ten final statements were discussed and voted upon. The statements cover general aspects of biosimilars including expected cost-benefit ratios, extrapolation of clinical indications, interchange switching, patient information and requirement of patient consent. The state of post marketing pharmacovigilance of biologics (innovative ones as well as biosimilars) was also discussed. The Task Force agreed that introduction of biosimilars is an important achievement in the biological therapies, with potential for reduction of treatment cost and increased treatment availability. Experts also agree that the safety of biological treatment should be monitored more carefully in Poland. Other discussed issues sparked more questions. There is no consensus among experts as to the automatic interchangeability of biosimilar and their innovative biopharmaceuticals. However, the switching might be acceptable in clinical practice on the case by case basis. There is an unmet need in Poland to create registry collecting data sufficient for assessment of safety and efficacy of both biosimilars and reference products in accordance with the experience and principles introduced in the European countries.

A task control architecture for autonomous robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simmons, Reid; Mitchell, Tom

1990-01-01

An architecture is presented for controlling robots that have multiple tasks, operate in dynamic domains, and require a fair degree of autonomy. The architecture is built on several layers of functionality, including a distributed communication layer, a behavior layer for querying sensors, expanding goals, and executing commands, and a task level for managing the temporal aspects of planning and achieving goals, coordinating tasks, allocating resources, monitoring, and recovering from errors. Application to a legged planetary rover and an indoor mobile manipulator is described.

BioNLP Shared Task--The Bacteria Track.

PubMed

Bossy, Robert; Jourde, Julien; Manine, Alain-Pierre; Veber, Philippe; Alphonse, Erick; van de Guchte, Maarten; Bessières, Philippe; Nédellec, Claire

2012-06-26

We present the BioNLP 2011 Shared Task Bacteria Track, the first Information Extraction challenge entirely dedicated to bacteria. It includes three tasks that cover different levels of biological knowledge. The Bacteria Gene Renaming supporting task is aimed at extracting gene renaming and gene name synonymy in PubMed abstracts. The Bacteria Gene Interaction is a gene/protein interaction extraction task from individual sentences. The interactions have been categorized into ten different sub-types, thus giving a detailed account of genetic regulations at the molecular level. Finally, the Bacteria Biotopes task focuses on the localization and environment of bacteria mentioned in textbook articles. We describe the process of creation for the three corpora, including document acquisition and manual annotation, as well as the metrics used to evaluate the participants' submissions. Three teams submitted to the Bacteria Gene Renaming task; the best team achieved an F-score of 87%. For the Bacteria Gene Interaction task, the only participant's score had reached a global F-score of 77%, although the system efficiency varies significantly from one sub-type to another. Three teams submitted to the Bacteria Biotopes task with very different approaches; the best team achieved an F-score of 45%. However, the detailed study of the participating systems efficiency reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each participating system. The three tasks of the Bacteria Track offer participants a chance to address a wide range of issues in Information Extraction, including entity recognition, semantic typing and coreference resolution. We found common trends in the most efficient systems: the systematic use of syntactic dependencies and machine learning. Nevertheless, the originality of the Bacteria Biotopes task encouraged the use of interesting novel methods and techniques, such as term compositionality, scopes wider than the sentence.

Conflict in medical teams: opportunity or danger?

PubMed

Greer, Lindred L; Saygi, Ozum; Aaldering, Hillie; de Dreu, Carsten K W

2012-10-01

  Intragroup conflicts often occur when people are called upon to collaborate in the accomplishment of a task. For example, when surgeons and nurses work together during an operation, conflicts may emerge because of differences in functional understanding. Whether these conflicts are beneficial or detrimental to team outcomes has been the source of much debate. From one perspective, a conflict that stems from differences in members' functional understanding may enhance team members' understanding and performance of the task at hand. By contrast, such a conflict may cause hostility, emotionality and distraction from actual task accomplishment.   This study reviews findings on the relationships between intragroup conflict and team outcomes, discusses potential conflict resolution strategies for intragroup conflicts and explores how these link to the field of medical education.   Three primary types of conflict have been distinguished, involving, respectively, task-, process- and relationship-associated conflict. Both process conflict, or conflict about the logistics of task accomplishment, and relationship conflict, or conflict about interpersonal incompatibilities, have been shown to detract from effective team functioning. Task conflict, or conflict about the content of the task itself, is also generally negative for team functioning, but under certain conditions its negative effects may be minimised. For example, when teams can clearly separate task issues from relationship issues, task conflicts are less destructive for team outcomes. However, achieving such a separation in practice, and thereby realising the benefits of task conflict, is quite difficult to achieve.   Intragroup conflicts pose a challenge to effective team functioning. In the education of medical professionals, effective training in conflict management skills and their application to specific team conflict dynamics, such as with reference to how to resolve task as opposed to relationship conflict, is critical. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

A Comparison of Piagetian Conservation Concepts with Reading Achievement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caballero, Jane Alexis

This study involved a comparison of first and second grade students' performance on the Piagetian Task Administration Instrument (PTAI), the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT), and the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) with actual reading achievement measured by placement on the Indiviudally Paced Instruction (IPI) Tracking Card in Reading, which was…

Fourth Graders' Motivation in an Elementary Physical Education Running Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xiang, Ping; McBride, Ron E.; Bruene, April

2004-01-01

In this study we examined students' motivation in an elementary physical education running program using achievement goal theory and an expectancy-value model of achievement choice as theoretical frameworks. Fourth graders (N = 119) completed questionnaires assessing their achievement goals, expectancy-related beliefs, subjective task values, and…

Academic Procrastination in Linking Motivation and Achievement-Related Behaviours: A Perspective of Expectancy-Value Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Fan; Fan, Weihua

2017-01-01

The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationships among college students' achievement motivation (subjective task value and academic self-efficacy), academic procrastination (delay and missing deadlines) and achievement-related behaviours (effort and persistence). More specifically, the study investigated the mediating role…

The Development of Model for Measuring Railway Wheels Manufacturing Readiness Level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inrawan Wiratmadja, Iwan; Mufid, Anas

2016-02-01

In an effort to grow the railway wheel industry in Indonesia and reduce the dependence on imports, Metal Industries Development Center (MIDC) makes the implementation of the railway wheel manufacturing technology in Indonesia. MIDC is an institution based on research and development having a task to research the production of railway wheels prototype and acts as a supervisor to the industry in Indonesia, for implementing the railway wheel manufacturing technology. The process of implementing manufacturing technology requires a lot of resources. Therefore it is necessary to measure the manufacturing readiness process. Measurement of railway wheels manufacturing readiness was in this study done using the manufacturing readiness level (MRL) model from the United States Department of Defense. MRL consists of 10 manufacturing readiness levels described by 90 criteria and 184 sub-criteria. To get a manufacturing readiness measurement instrument that is good and accurate, the development process involved experts through expert judgment method and validated with a content validity ratio (CVR). Measurement instrument developed in this study consist of 448 indicators. The measurement results show that MIDC's railway wheels manufacturing readiness is at the level 4. This shows that there is a gap between the current level of manufacturing readiness owned by MIDC and manufacturing readiness levels required to achieve the program objectives, which is level 5. To achieve the program objectives at level 5, a number of actions were required to be done by MIDC. Indicators that must be improved to be able to achieve level 5 are indicators related to the cost and financing, process capability and control, quality management, workers, and manufacturing management criteria.

ERP indices of persisting and current inhibitory control: a study of saccadic task switching.

PubMed

Mueller, S C; Swainson, R; Jackson, G M

2009-03-01

Previous studies have found that inhibition of a biologically dominant prepotent response tendency is required during the execution of a less familiar, non-prepotent response. However, the lasting impact of this inhibition and the cognitive mechanisms to flexibly switch between prepotent and non-prepotent responses are poorly understood. We examined the neurophysiological (ERP) correlates of switching between prosaccade and antisaccade responses in 22 healthy volunteers. The behavioural data showed significant switch costs in terms of response latency for the prosaccade task only. These costs occurred exclusively in trials when preparation for the switch was limited to 300 ms, suggesting that inhibition of the prepotent prosaccade task either passively dissipated or was actively overcome during the longer 1000 ms preparation interval. In the neurophysiological data, a late frontal negativity (LFN) was visible during preparation for a switch to the prosaccade task that was absent when switching to the antisaccade task, which may reflect the overcoming of persisting inhibition. During task implementation both saccade types were associated with a late parietal positivity (LPP) for switch relative to repetition trials, possibly indicating attentional reorienting to the switched-to task, and visible only with short preparation intervals. When the prosaccade and antisaccade task were contrasted directly during task implementation, the antisaccade task exhibited increased stimulus-locked N2 and decreased P3 amplitudes indicative of active inhibition. The present findings indicate that neurophysiological markers of persisting and current inhibition can be revealed using a prosaccade/antisaccade-switching task.

Stereoscopic display technologies, interaction paradigms, and rendering approaches for neurosurgical visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooperstock, Jeremy R.; Wang, Guangyu

2009-02-01

We conducted a comparative study of different stereoscopic display modalities (head-mounted display, polarized projection, and multiview lenticular display) to evaluate their efficacy in supporting manipulation and understanding of 3D content, specifically, in the context of neurosurgical visualization. Our study was intended to quantify the differences in resulting task performance between these choices of display technology. The experimental configuration involved a segmented brain vasculature and a simulated tumor. Subjects were asked to manipulate the vasculature and a pen-like virtual probe in order to define a vessel-free path from cortical surface to the targeted tumor. Because of the anatomical complexity, defining such a path can be a challenging task. To evaluate the system, we quantified performance differences under three different stereoscopic viewing conditions. Our results indicate that, on average, participants achieved best performance using polarized projection, and worst with the multiview lenticular display. These quantitative measurements were further reinforced by the subjects' responses to our post-test questionnaire regarding personal preferences.

Open Globe Injury Patient Identification in Warfare Clinical Notes1

PubMed Central

Apostolova, Emilia; White, Helen A.; Morris, Patty A.; Eliason, David A.; Velez, Tom

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to utilize the Defense and Veterans Eye Injury and Vision Registry clinical data derived from DoD and VA medical systems which include documentation of care while in combat, and develop methods for comprehensive and reliable Open Globe Injury (OGI) patient identification. In particular, we focus on the use of free-form clinical notes, since structured data, such as diagnoses or procedure codes, as found in early post-trauma clinical records, may not be a comprehensive and reliable indicator of OGIs. The challenges of the task include low incidence rate (few positive examples), idiosyncratic military ophthalmology vocabulary, extreme brevity of notes, specialized abbreviations, typos and misspellings. We modeled the problem as a text classification task and utilized a combination of supervised learning (SVMs) and word embeddings learnt in a unsupervised manner, achieving a precision of 92.50% and a recall of89.83%o. The described techniques are applicable to patient cohort identification with limited training data and low incidence rate. PMID:29854104

Uniform task level definitions for robotic system performance comparisons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Price, Charles; Tesar, Delbert

1989-01-01

A series of ten task levels of increasing difficulty was compiled for use in comparative performance evaluations of available and future robotics technology. Each level has a breakdown of ten additional levels of difficulty to provide a layering of 100 levels. It is assumed that each level of task performance must be achieved by the system before it can be appropriately considered for the next level.

Joint Terminal Attack Controllers Sensors and Lasers Modernization

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

and Evaluation Activity MCSC Marine Corps Systems Command MCT Marine Corps Task MCTL Marine Corps Task List MEMS MicroElectroMechanical Systems...functional relationship of the key performance requirements was associated to Marine Corps Tasks ( MCT ), Critical Operational Issues (COIs...to an accomplishment of mission objectives and achievement of desired results [5]. All COIs are linked to a MCT , which are provided within the

Annual Report of the National Science Foundation on Contract NSF-C414 Task III July 1966 through June 1967.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Chemical Society, Columbus, OH. Chemical Abstracts Service.

This Annual Report describes in detail the work performed during the first year of Task III of Contract NSF-C414 and the present status of Task III work. The programs and achievements described constitute the first significant efforts to develop a user-oriented, cooperative program between major secondary scientific and technical information…

Functional evaluation of out-of-the-box text-mining tools for data-mining tasks.

PubMed

Jung, Kenneth; LePendu, Paea; Iyer, Srinivasan; Bauer-Mehren, Anna; Percha, Bethany; Shah, Nigam H

2015-01-01

The trade-off between the speed and simplicity of dictionary-based term recognition and the richer linguistic information provided by more advanced natural language processing (NLP) is an area of active discussion in clinical informatics. In this paper, we quantify this trade-off among text processing systems that make different trade-offs between speed and linguistic understanding. We tested both types of systems in three clinical research tasks: phase IV safety profiling of a drug, learning adverse drug-drug interactions, and learning used-to-treat relationships between drugs and indications. We first benchmarked the accuracy of the NCBO Annotator and REVEAL in a manually annotated, publically available dataset from the 2008 i2b2 Obesity Challenge. We then applied the NCBO Annotator and REVEAL to 9 million clinical notes from the Stanford Translational Research Integrated Database Environment (STRIDE) and used the resulting data for three research tasks. There is no significant difference between using the NCBO Annotator and REVEAL in the results of the three research tasks when using large datasets. In one subtask, REVEAL achieved higher sensitivity with smaller datasets. For a variety of tasks, employing simple term recognition methods instead of advanced NLP methods results in little or no impact on accuracy when using large datasets. Simpler dictionary-based methods have the advantage of scaling well to very large datasets. Promoting the use of simple, dictionary-based methods for population level analyses can advance adoption of NLP in practice. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.

The self in conflict: actors and agency in the mediated sequential Simon task.

PubMed

Spapé, Michiel M; Ahmed, Imtiaj; Jacucci, Giulio; Ravaja, Niklas

2015-01-01

Executive control refers to the ability to withstand interference in order to achieve task goals. The effect of conflict adaptation describes that after experiencing interference, subsequent conflict effects are weaker. However, changes in the source of conflict have been found to disrupt conflict adaptation. Previous studies indicated that this specificity is determined by the degree to which one source causes episodic retrieval of a previous source. A virtual reality version of the Simon task was employed to investigate whether changes in a visual representation of the self would similarly affect conflict adaptation. Participants engaged in a mediated Simon task via 3D "avatar" models that either mirrored the participants' movements, or were presented statically. A retrieval cue was implemented as the identity of the avatar: switching it from a male to a female avatar was expected to disrupt the conflict adaptation effect (CAE). The results show that only in static conditions did the CAE depend on the avatar identity, while in dynamic conditions, changes did not cause disruption. We also explored the effect of conflict and adaptation on the degree of movement made with the task-irrelevant hand and replicated the reaction time pattern. The findings add to earlier studies of source-specific conflict adaptation by showing that a visual representation of the self in action can provide a cue that determines episodic retrieval. Furthermore, the novel paradigm is made openly available to the scientific community and is described in its significance for studies of social cognition, cognitive psychology, and human-computer interaction.

Identification of canonical neural events during continuous gameplay of an 8-bit style video game.

PubMed

Cavanagh, James F; Castellanos, Joel

2016-06-01

Cognitive neuroscience suffers from a unique and pervasive problem of generalizability. Since neural findings are often interpreted in the context of a specific manipulation during a carefully controlled task, it is hard to transfer knowledge from one task to another. In this report we address problems of generalizability with two methodological advancements. First, we aimed to transcend status quo experimental procedures with a continuous, engaging task environment. To this end, we created a novel 8-bit style continuous space shooter video game that elicits a multitude of goal-oriented events, such as crashing into a wall or blowing up an enemy with a missile. Second, we aimed to objectively define the psychological significance of these events. To achieve this aim, we used pattern classification of EEG data to derive predictive weights from carefully controlled pre-game exemplar events (oddball target detection and gambling wins and losses) and transferred those weights to EEG activities during video game events. All major goal-oriented events (crashes into the wall, crashes into an enemy, missile hit on an enemy) had a significant between-task transfer bias towards oddball target weights in the time range of the canonical P3, indicating the presence of similar salience detection processes. Missile hits on an enemy were specifically identified as gambling wins, confirming the hypothesis that this goal-oriented event was appetitive. These findings suggest that it is possible to identify the contribution of canonical neural activities during otherwise ambiguous and uncontrolled task performance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Explanations for Success and Failure by Low and Average School Achievers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bond, Lynne A.; Johnson, Jeannette L.

Low and average school achievers in grades 1 and 2 and grades 4 and 5 made attributions for successes and failures on school related and unrelated tasks. Students in the low achievement group were participants of the Title I program, and tested a year below their age-mates on reading and math achievement. Students were given two booklets of four…

An Optimal Scheduling Algorithm with a Competitive Factor for Real-Time Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-07-29

real - time systems in which the value of a task is proportional to its computation time. The system obtains the value of a given task if the task completes by its deadline. Otherwise, the system obtains no value for the task. When such a system is underloaded (i.e. there exists a schedule for which all tasks meet their deadlines), Dertouzos [6] showed that the earliest deadline first algorithm will achieve 100% of the possible value. We consider the case of a possibly overloaded system and present an algorithm which: 1. behaves like the earliest deadline first

[Effects of long term mental arithmetic on physiological parameters, subjective indices and task performances].

PubMed

Yamada, Shimpei; Miyake, Shinji

2007-03-01

This study examined the effects of long term mental arithmetic on physiological parameters, subjective indices and task performances to investigate the psychophysiological changes induced by mental tasks. Fifteen male university students performed six successive trials of a ten-minute mental arithmetic task. They took a five-minute resting period before and after the tasks. CFF (Critical Flicker Fusion frequency) and subjective fatigue scores using a visual analog scale, POMS (Profiles of Mood States) and SFF (Subjective Feelings of Fatigue) were obtained after each task and resting period. The voices of participants who were instructed to speak five Japanese vowels ('a', 'i', 'u', 'e', 'o') were recorded after each block to investigate a chaotic property of vocal signals that is reported to be changed by fatigue. Subjective workload ratings were also obtained by the NASA-TLX (National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index) after the task. Physiological signals of ECG (Electrocardiogram), PTG (Photoelectric Plethysmogram), SCL (Skin Conductance Level), TBV (Tissue Blood Volume) and Respiration were recorded for all experimental blocks. The number of answers, correct rates and average levels of task difficulty for each ten-minute task were used as task performance indices. In this experiment, the task performance did not decrease, whereas subjective fatigue increased. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system was suggested by physiological parameters.

Radiation dose reduction in computed tomography: techniques and future perspective

PubMed Central

Yu, Lifeng; Liu, Xin; Leng, Shuai; Kofler, James M; Ramirez-Giraldo, Juan C; Qu, Mingliang; Christner, Jodie; Fletcher, Joel G; McCollough, Cynthia H

2011-01-01

Despite universal consensus that computed tomography (CT) overwhelmingly benefits patients when used for appropriate indications, concerns have been raised regarding the potential risk of cancer induction from CT due to the exponentially increased use of CT in medicine. Keeping radiation dose as low as reasonably achievable, consistent with the diagnostic task, remains the most important strategy for decreasing this potential risk. This article summarizes the general technical strategies that are commonly used for radiation dose management in CT. Dose-management strategies for pediatric CT, cardiac CT, dual-energy CT, CT perfusion and interventional CT are specifically discussed, and future perspectives on CT dose reduction are presented. PMID:22308169

Number sense in the transition from natural to rational numbers.

PubMed

Van Hoof, Jo; Verschaffel, Lieven; Van Dooren, Wim

2017-03-01

Rational numbers are of critical importance both in mathematics and in other fields of science. However, they form a stumbling block for learners. One widely known source of the difficulty learners have with rational numbers is the natural number bias, that is the tendency to (inappropriately) apply natural number properties in rational number tasks. Still, it has been shown that a good understanding of natural numbers is highly predictive for mathematics achievement in general, and for performance on rational number tasks in particular. In this study, we further investigated the relation between learners' natural and rational number knowledge, specifically in cases where a natural number bias may lead to errors. Participants were 140 sixth graders from six different primary schools. Participants completed a symbolic and a non-symbolic natural number comparison task, a number line estimation task, and a rational number sense test. Learners' natural number knowledge was found to be a good predictor of their rational number knowledge. However, after first controlling for learners' general mathematics achievement, their natural number knowledge only predicted the subaspect of operations with rational numbers. The results of this study suggest that the relation between learners' natural and rational number knowledge can largely be explained by their relation with learners' general mathematics achievement. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

The Effect of Information Analysis Automation Display Content on Human Judgment Performance in Noisy Environments

PubMed Central

Bass, Ellen J.; Baumgart, Leigh A.; Shepley, Kathryn Klein

2014-01-01

Displaying both the strategy that information analysis automation employs to makes its judgments and variability in the task environment may improve human judgment performance, especially in cases where this variability impacts the judgment performance of the information analysis automation. This work investigated the contribution of providing either information analysis automation strategy information, task environment information, or both, on human judgment performance in a domain where noisy sensor data are used by both the human and the information analysis automation to make judgments. In a simplified air traffic conflict prediction experiment, 32 participants made probability of horizontal conflict judgments under different display content conditions. After being exposed to the information analysis automation, judgment achievement significantly improved for all participants as compared to judgments without any of the automation's information. Participants provided with additional display content pertaining to cue variability in the task environment had significantly higher aided judgment achievement compared to those provided with only the automation's judgment of a probability of conflict. When designing information analysis automation for environments where the automation's judgment achievement is impacted by noisy environmental data, it may be beneficial to show additional task environment information to the human judge in order to improve judgment performance. PMID:24847184

Low-back electromyography (EMG) data-driven load classification for dynamic lifting tasks.

PubMed

Totah, Deema; Ojeda, Lauro; Johnson, Daniel D; Gates, Deanna; Mower Provost, Emily; Barton, Kira

2018-01-01

Numerous devices have been designed to support the back during lifting tasks. To improve the utility of such devices, this research explores the use of preparatory muscle activity to classify muscle loading and initiate appropriate device activation. The goal of this study was to determine the earliest time window that enabled accurate load classification during a dynamic lifting task. Nine subjects performed thirty symmetrical lifts, split evenly across three weight conditions (no-weight, 10-lbs and 24-lbs), while low-back muscle activity data was collected. Seven descriptive statistics features were extracted from 100 ms windows of data. A multinomial logistic regression (MLR) classifier was trained and tested, employing leave-one subject out cross-validation, to classify lifted load values. Dimensionality reduction was achieved through feature cross-correlation analysis and greedy feedforward selection. The time of full load support by the subject was defined as load-onset. Regions of highest average classification accuracy started at 200 ms before until 200 ms after load-onset with average accuracies ranging from 80% (±10%) to 81% (±7%). The average recall for each class ranged from 69-92%. These inter-subject classification results indicate that preparatory muscle activity can be leveraged to identify the intent to lift a weight up to 100 ms prior to load-onset. The high accuracies shown indicate the potential to utilize intent classification for assistive device applications. Active assistive devices, e.g. exoskeletons, could prevent back injury by off-loading low-back muscles. Early intent classification allows more time for actuators to respond and integrate seamlessly with the user.

A study of the utilization of ERTS-1 data from the Wabash River Basin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Landgrebe, D. A. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Nine projects are defined, five ERTS data applications experiments and four supporting technology tasks. The most significant applications results were achieved in the soil association mapping, earth surface feature identification, and urban land use mapping efforts. Four soil association boundaries were accurately delineated from ERTS-1 imagery. A data bank has been developed to test surface feature classifications obtained from ERTS-1 data. Preliminary forest cover classifications indicated that the number of acres estimated tended to be greater than actually existed by 25%. Urban land use analysis of ERTS-1 data indicated highly accurate classification could be obtained for many urban catagories. The wooded residential category tended to be misclassified as woods or agricultural land. Further statistical analysis revealed that these classes could be separated using sample variance.

What basic number processing measures in kindergarten explain unique variability in first-grade arithmetic proficiency?

PubMed

Bartelet, Dimona; Vaessen, Anniek; Blomert, Leo; Ansari, Daniel

2014-01-01

Relations between children's mathematics achievement and their basic number processing skills have been reported in both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Yet, some key questions are currently unresolved, including which kindergarten skills uniquely predict children's arithmetic fluency during the first year of formal schooling and the degree to which predictors are contingent on children's level of arithmetic proficiency. The current study assessed kindergarteners' non-symbolic and symbolic number processing efficiency. In addition, the contribution of children's underlying magnitude representations to differences in arithmetic achievement was assessed. Subsequently, in January of Grade 1, their arithmetic proficiency was assessed. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that children's efficiency to compare digits, count, and estimate numerosities uniquely predicted arithmetic differences above and beyond the non-numerical factors included. Moreover, quantile regression analysis indicated that symbolic number processing efficiency was consistently a significant predictor of arithmetic achievement scores regardless of children's level of arithmetic proficiency, whereas their non-symbolic number processing efficiency was not. Finally, none of the task-specific effects indexing children's representational precision was significantly associated with arithmetic fluency. The implications of the results are 2-fold. First, the findings indicate that children's efficiency to process symbols is important for the development of their arithmetic fluency in Grade 1 above and beyond the influence of non-numerical factors. Second, the impact of children's non-symbolic number processing skills does not depend on their arithmetic achievement level given that they are selected from a nonclinical population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Two-Photon Functional Imaging of the Auditory Cortex in Behaving Mice: From Neural Networks to Single Spines.

PubMed

Li, Ruijie; Wang, Meng; Yao, Jiwei; Liang, Shanshan; Liao, Xiang; Yang, Mengke; Zhang, Jianxiong; Yan, Junan; Jia, Hongbo; Chen, Xiaowei; Li, Xingyi

2018-01-01

In vivo two-photon Ca 2+ imaging is a powerful tool for recording neuronal activities during perceptual tasks and has been increasingly applied to behaving animals for acute or chronic experiments. However, the auditory cortex is not easily accessible to imaging because of the abundant temporal muscles, arteries around the ears and their lateral locations. Here, we report a protocol for two-photon Ca 2+ imaging in the auditory cortex of head-fixed behaving mice. By using a custom-made head fixation apparatus and a head-rotated fixation procedure, we achieved two-photon imaging and in combination with targeted cell-attached recordings of auditory cortical neurons in behaving mice. Using synthetic Ca 2+ indicators, we recorded the Ca 2+ transients at multiple scales, including neuronal populations, single neurons, dendrites and single spines, in auditory cortex during behavior. Furthermore, using genetically encoded Ca 2+ indicators (GECIs), we monitored the neuronal dynamics over days throughout the process of associative learning. Therefore, we achieved two-photon functional imaging at multiple scales in auditory cortex of behaving mice, which extends the tool box for investigating the neural basis of audition-related behaviors.

Identifying Corresponding Patches in SAR and Optical Images With a Pseudo-Siamese CNN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, Lloyd H.; Schmitt, Michael; Mou, Lichao; Wang, Yuanyuan; Zhu, Xiao Xiang

2018-05-01

In this letter, we propose a pseudo-siamese convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture that enables to solve the task of identifying corresponding patches in very-high-resolution (VHR) optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing imagery. Using eight convolutional layers each in two parallel network streams, a fully connected layer for the fusion of the features learned in each stream, and a loss function based on binary cross-entropy, we achieve a one-hot indication if two patches correspond or not. The network is trained and tested on an automatically generated dataset that is based on a deterministic alignment of SAR and optical imagery via previously reconstructed and subsequently co-registered 3D point clouds. The satellite images, from which the patches comprising our dataset are extracted, show a complex urban scene containing many elevated objects (i.e. buildings), thus providing one of the most difficult experimental environments. The achieved results show that the network is able to predict corresponding patches with high accuracy, thus indicating great potential for further development towards a generalized multi-sensor key-point matching procedure. Index Terms-synthetic aperture radar (SAR), optical imagery, data fusion, deep learning, convolutional neural networks (CNN), image matching, deep matching

Two-Photon Functional Imaging of the Auditory Cortex in Behaving Mice: From Neural Networks to Single Spines

PubMed Central

Li, Ruijie; Wang, Meng; Yao, Jiwei; Liang, Shanshan; Liao, Xiang; Yang, Mengke; Zhang, Jianxiong; Yan, Junan; Jia, Hongbo; Chen, Xiaowei; Li, Xingyi

2018-01-01

In vivo two-photon Ca2+ imaging is a powerful tool for recording neuronal activities during perceptual tasks and has been increasingly applied to behaving animals for acute or chronic experiments. However, the auditory cortex is not easily accessible to imaging because of the abundant temporal muscles, arteries around the ears and their lateral locations. Here, we report a protocol for two-photon Ca2+ imaging in the auditory cortex of head-fixed behaving mice. By using a custom-made head fixation apparatus and a head-rotated fixation procedure, we achieved two-photon imaging and in combination with targeted cell-attached recordings of auditory cortical neurons in behaving mice. Using synthetic Ca2+ indicators, we recorded the Ca2+ transients at multiple scales, including neuronal populations, single neurons, dendrites and single spines, in auditory cortex during behavior. Furthermore, using genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators (GECIs), we monitored the neuronal dynamics over days throughout the process of associative learning. Therefore, we achieved two-photon functional imaging at multiple scales in auditory cortex of behaving mice, which extends the tool box for investigating the neural basis of audition-related behaviors. PMID:29740289

The Impact of an Ego Depletion Manipulation on Performance-Based and Self-Report Assessment Measures.

PubMed

Charek, Daniel B; Meyer, Gregory J; Mihura, Joni L

2016-10-01

We investigated the impact of ego depletion on selected Rorschach cognitive processing variables and self-reported affect states. Research indicates acts of effortful self-regulation transiently deplete a finite pool of cognitive resources, impairing performance on subsequent tasks requiring self-regulation. We predicted that relative to controls, ego-depleted participants' Rorschach protocols would have more spontaneous reactivity to color, less cognitive sophistication, and more frequent logical lapses in visualization, whereas self-reports would reflect greater fatigue and less attentiveness. The hypotheses were partially supported; despite a surprising absence of self-reported differences, ego-depleted participants had Rorschach protocols with lower scores on two variables indicative of sophisticated combinatory thinking, as well as higher levels of color receptivity; they also had lower scores on a composite variable computed across all hypothesized markers of complexity. In addition, self-reported achievement striving moderated the effect of the experimental manipulation on color receptivity, and in the Depletion condition it was associated with greater attentiveness to the tasks, more color reactivity, and less global synthetic processing. Results are discussed with an emphasis on the response process, methodological limitations and strengths, implications for calculating refined Rorschach scores, and the value of using multiple methods in research and experimental paradigms to validate assessment measures. © The Author(s) 2015.

Differences in neural activation between preterm and full term born adolescents on a sentence comprehension task: implications for educational accommodations.

PubMed

Barde, Laura H F; Yeatman, Jason D; Lee, Eliana S; Glover, Gary; Feldman, Heidi M

2012-02-15

Adolescent survivors of preterm birth experience persistent functional problems that negatively impact academic outcomes, even when standardized measures of cognition and language suggest normal ability. In this fMRI study, we compared the neural activation supporting auditory sentence comprehension in two groups of adolescents (ages 9-16 years); sentences varied in length and syntactic difficulty. Preterms (n=18, mean gestational age 28.8 weeks) and full terms (n=14) had scores on verbal IQ, receptive vocabulary, and receptive language tests that were within or above normal limits and similar between groups. In early and late phases of the trial, we found interactions by group and length; in the late phase, we also found a group by syntactic difficulty interaction. Post hoc tests revealed that preterms demonstrated significant activation in the left and right middle frontal gyri as syntactic difficulty increased. ANCOVA showed that the interactions could not be attributed to differences in age, receptive language skill, or reaction time. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that preterm birth modulates brain-behavior relations in sentence comprehension as task demands increase. We suggest preterms' differences in neural processing may indicate a need for educational accommodations, even when formal test scores indicate normal academic achievement. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationship between achievement goal orientations and the perceived purposes of playing rugby union for professional and amateur players.

PubMed

Treasure, D C; Carpenter, P J; Power, K T

2000-08-01

The recent professionalization of rugby union makes it an excellent achievement context in which to examine the relationship between achievement goal orientations and the perceived purposes of sport as a function of competitive standard. During the 1996-97 season, 73 professional and 106 amateur rugby players in England completed a series of questionnaires assessing their achievement goal orientations, beliefs about the purposes of rugby and demographic information. The results of a canonical correlation analysis revealed a conceptually coherent relationship between achievement goal orientations and purposes of rugby. Specifically, a high ego/moderate task orientation was positively related to fitness, aggression and financial remuneration as significant purposes of rugby. Professional players scored higher on those purposes of rugby related to aggression, financial remuneration and fitness, but lower on sportspersonship than amateur players. Professional players also reported higher task and ego goal orientations than amateur players. The findings are discussed in terms of the differences in lifestyle and motivation of professional and amateur rugby union players.

Eighth Grade Algebra Course Placement and Student Motivation for Mathematics

PubMed Central

Simzar, Rahila M.; Domina, Thurston; Tran, Cathy

2016-01-01

This study uses student panel data to examine the association between Algebra placement and student motivation for mathematics. Changes in achievement goals, expectancy, and task value for students in eighth grade Algebra are compared with those of peers placed in lower-level mathematics courses (N = 3,306). In our sample, students placed in Algebra reported an increase in performance-avoidance goals as well as decreases in academic self-efficacy and task value. These relations were attenuated for students who had high mathematics achievement prior to Algebra placement. Whereas all students reported an overall decline in performance-approach goals over the course of eighth grade, previously high-achieving students reported an increase in these goals. Lastly, previously high-achieving students reported an increase in mastery goals. These findings suggest that while previously high-achieving students may benefit motivationally from eighth grade Algebra placement, placing previously average- and low-performing students in Algebra can potentially undermine their motivation for mathematics. PMID:26942210

Achievement goals affect metacognitive judgments

PubMed Central

Ikeda, Kenji; Yue, Carole L.; Murayama, Kou; Castel, Alan D.

2017-01-01

The present study examined the effect of achievement goals on metacognitive judgments, such as judgments of learning (JOLs) and metacomprehension judgments, and actual recall performance. We conducted five experiments manipulating the instruction of achievement goals. In each experiment, participants were instructed to adopt mastery-approach goals (i.e., develop their own mental ability through a memory task) or performance-approach goals (i.e., demonstrate their strong memory ability through getting a high score on a memory task). The results of Experiments 1 and 2 showed that JOLs of word pairs in the performance-approach goal condition tended to be higher than those in the mastery-approach goal condition. In contrast, cued recall performance did not differ between the two goal conditions. Experiment 3 also demonstrated that metacomprehension judgments of text passages were higher in the performance-approach goal condition than in the mastery-approach goals condition, whereas test performance did not differ between conditions. These findings suggest that achievement motivation affects metacognitive judgments during learning, even when achievement motivation does not influence actual performance. PMID:28983496

Eighth Grade Algebra Course Placement and Student Motivation for Mathematics.

PubMed

Simzar, Rahila M; Domina, Thurston; Tran, Cathy

2016-01-01

This study uses student panel data to examine the association between Algebra placement and student motivation for mathematics. Changes in achievement goals, expectancy, and task value for students in eighth grade Algebra are compared with those of peers placed in lower-level mathematics courses (N = 3,306). In our sample, students placed in Algebra reported an increase in performance-avoidance goals as well as decreases in academic self-efficacy and task value. These relations were attenuated for students who had high mathematics achievement prior to Algebra placement. Whereas all students reported an overall decline in performance-approach goals over the course of eighth grade, previously high-achieving students reported an increase in these goals. Lastly, previously high-achieving students reported an increase in mastery goals. These findings suggest that while previously high-achieving students may benefit motivationally from eighth grade Algebra placement, placing previously average- and low-performing students in Algebra can potentially undermine their motivation for mathematics.

Planning and task management in Parkinson's disease: differential emphasis in dual-task performance.

PubMed

Bialystok, Ellen; Craik, Fergus I M; Stefurak, Taresa

2008-03-01

Seventeen patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease completed a complex computer-based task that involved planning and management while also performing an attention-demanding secondary task. The tasks were performed concurrently, but it was necessary to switch from one to the other. Performance was compared to a group of healthy age-matched control participants and a group of young participants. Parkinson's patients performed better than the age-matched controls on almost all measures and as well as the young controls in many cases. However, the Parkinson's patients achieved this by paying relatively less attention to the secondary task and focusing attention more on the primary task. Thus, Parkinson's patients can apparently improve their performance on some aspects of a multidimensional task by simplifying task demands. This benefit may occur as a consequence of their inflexible exaggerated attention to some aspects of a complex task to the relative neglect of other aspects.

The Influence of Language Anxiety on English Reading and Writing Tasks among Native Hebrew Speakers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argaman, Osnat; Abu-Rabia, Salim

2002-01-01

Examined the influence of language anxiety as measured by a questionnaire on achievements in English writing and reading comprehension tasks. Subjects were native speakers of Hebrew, aged 12-13 years, learning English as a second language.(Author/VWL)

Toward a Model-Based Predictive Controller Design in Brain–Computer Interfaces

PubMed Central

Kamrunnahar, M.; Dias, N. S.; Schiff, S. J.

2013-01-01

A first step in designing a robust and optimal model-based predictive controller (MPC) for brain–computer interface (BCI) applications is presented in this article. An MPC has the potential to achieve improved BCI performance compared to the performance achieved by current ad hoc, nonmodel-based filter applications. The parameters in designing the controller were extracted as model-based features from motor imagery task-related human scalp electroencephalography. Although the parameters can be generated from any model-linear or non-linear, we here adopted a simple autoregressive model that has well-established applications in BCI task discriminations. It was shown that the parameters generated for the controller design can as well be used for motor imagery task discriminations with performance (with 8–23% task discrimination errors) comparable to the discrimination performance of the commonly used features such as frequency specific band powers and the AR model parameters directly used. An optimal MPC has significant implications for high performance BCI applications. PMID:21267657

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going": Motivation towards closure and effort investment in the performance of cognitive tasks.

PubMed

Sankaran, Sindhuja; Szumowska, Ewa; Kossowska, Małgorzata

2017-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that the need for closure (NFC), which refers to an individual's aversion toward uncertainty and the desire to quickly reduce it, leads to reluctance to invest effort in judgments and decision making. However, we argue that NFC may lead to either an increase or a decrease in effort depending on the availability of easy vs. difficult means to achieve closure and perceived importance of the task goal. We found that when closure could be achieved via both less and more demanding means, NFC was associated with decreased effort unless the task was perceived as important (Study 1). However, when attaining closure was possible via demanding means only, NFC was associated with increased effort, regardless of the task importance (Study 2). Moreover, NFC was related to choosing a more instrumental strategy for the goal of closure, even if this strategy required effort (Study 3). The results are discussed in the light of cognitive energetics theory.

Toward a model-based predictive controller design in brain-computer interfaces.

PubMed

Kamrunnahar, M; Dias, N S; Schiff, S J

2011-05-01

A first step in designing a robust and optimal model-based predictive controller (MPC) for brain-computer interface (BCI) applications is presented in this article. An MPC has the potential to achieve improved BCI performance compared to the performance achieved by current ad hoc, nonmodel-based filter applications. The parameters in designing the controller were extracted as model-based features from motor imagery task-related human scalp electroencephalography. Although the parameters can be generated from any model-linear or non-linear, we here adopted a simple autoregressive model that has well-established applications in BCI task discriminations. It was shown that the parameters generated for the controller design can as well be used for motor imagery task discriminations with performance (with 8-23% task discrimination errors) comparable to the discrimination performance of the commonly used features such as frequency specific band powers and the AR model parameters directly used. An optimal MPC has significant implications for high performance BCI applications.

Implicit motives, explicit traits, and task and contextual performance at work.

PubMed

Lang, Jonas W B; Zettler, Ingo; Ewen, Christian; Hülsheger, Ute R

2012-11-01

Personality psychologists have long argued that explicit traits (as measured by questionnaires) channel the expression of implicit motives (as measured by coding imaginative verbal behavior) such that both interact in the prediction of relevant life outcome variables. In the present research, we apply these ideas in the context of industrial and organizational psychology and propose that 2 explicit traits work as channels for the expression of 3 core implicit motives in task and contextual job performance (extraversion for implicit affiliation and implicit power; explicit achievement for implicit achievement). As a test of these theoretical ideas, we report a study in which employees (N = 241) filled out a questionnaire booklet and worked on an improved modern implicit motive measure, the operant motive test. Their supervisors rated their task and contextual performance. Results support 4 of the 6 theoretical predictions and show that interactions between implicit motives and explicit traits increase the explained criterion variance in both task and contextual performance. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

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…

Strategy-Based Technical Instruction: Development and Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-01

scripts dependant on target tasks and the outcomes desired, and to the use of node-link knowledge maps as communications props. In addition, we have...information "on the job" - communicate with others in the task environment; - monitor, diagnose, and correct problems associated with critical tasks... communicated . Technical Training Goals The individual in a technical training scenario is expected to achieve a wide variety of goals. These goals can

Comparing Dichotomous and Trichotomous Approaches to Achievement Goal Theory: An Example Using Motivational Regulations as Outcome Variables

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barkoukis, Vassilis; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Nikitaras, Nikitas

2007-01-01

Background: It is commonly assumed that there is conceptual equivalence between the task and ego achievement goals proposed by Nicholl's (1989) dichotomous achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1989), and the mastery and performance approach goals advanced by Elliot's (1997) trichotomous hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement…

Effects of Homework Motivation and Worry Anxiety on Homework Achievement in Mathematics and English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hong, Eunsook; Mason, Elsa; Peng, Yun; Lee, Nancy

2015-01-01

Direct and mediating effects of homework worry anxiety on homework effort and homework achievement and the differences in the structural relations among homework motivation constructs and homework achievement across mathematics and English homework were examined in 268 tenth graders in China. Homework motivation included task value, homework…

Closing Achievement Gaps: Lessons from the Last 15 Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Joseph

2009-01-01

At first glance, closing the achievement gap seems fairly straightforward. It is a difficult task to accomplish, but it does not seem an especially complex one to conceptualize. How educators look at achievement gaps will determine their success in reducing them. When designing interventions, the author suggests that educators need to remember the…

Autonomic Regulation on the Stroop Predicts Reading Achievement in School Age Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becker, Derek R.; Carrere, Sybil; Siler, Chelsea; Jones, Stephanie; Bowie, Bonnie; Cooke, Cheryl

2012-01-01

In this study we examined high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV, a parasympathetic index) both at rest and during challenge, to assess if variations in cardiovascular activity measured during a Stroop task could be used to predict reading achievement in typically developing children. Reading achievement was examined using the Peabody…

Adolescents' Expectancies for Success and Achievement Task Values during the Middle and High School Years.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wigfield, Allan; Tonks, Stephen

This chapter discusses the development of achievement motivation during adolescence from the perspective of expectancy-value theory, and explains how adolescents' expectancies for success and achievement values change during adolescence, particularly during educational transitions such as that from elementary to middle school and from middle to…

Cost Perception and the Expectancy-Value Model of Achievement Motivation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Patricia N.

The expectancy-value model of achievement motivation, first described by J. Atkinson (1957) and refined by J. Eccles and her colleagues (1983, 1992, 1994) predicts achievement motivation based on expectancy for success and perceived task value. Cost has been explored very little. To explore the possibility that cost is different from expectancy…

On the Value of Estimating Human Arm Stiffness during Virtual Teleoperation with Robotic Manipulators

PubMed Central

Buzzi, Jacopo; Ferrigno, Giancarlo; Jansma, Joost M.; De Momi, Elena

2017-01-01

Teleoperated robotic systems are widely spreading in multiple different fields, from hazardous environments exploration to surgery. In teleoperation, users directly manipulate a master device to achieve task execution at the slave robot side; this interaction is fundamental to guarantee both system stability and task execution performance. In this work, we propose a non-disruptive method to study the arm endpoint stiffness. We evaluate how users exploit the kinetic redundancy of the arm to achieve stability and precision during the execution of different tasks with different master devices. Four users were asked to perform two planar trajectories following virtual tasks using both a serial and a parallel link master device. Users' arm kinematics and muscular activation were acquired and combined with a user-specific musculoskeletal model to estimate the joint stiffness. Using the arm kinematic Jacobian, the arm end-point stiffness was derived. The proposed non-disruptive method is capable of estimating the arm endpoint stiffness during the execution of virtual teleoperated tasks. The obtained results are in accordance with the existing literature in human motor control and show, throughout the tested trajectory, a modulation of the arm endpoint stiffness that is affected by task characteristics and hand speed and acceleration. PMID:29018319

Matching achievement contexts with implicit theories to maximize motivation after failure: a congruence model.

PubMed

El-Alayli, Amani

2006-12-01

Previous research has shown that matching person variables with achievement contexts can produce the best motivational outcomes. The current study examines whether this is also true when matching entity and incremental beliefs with the appropriate motivational climate. Participants were led to believe that a personal attribute was fixed (entity belief) or malleable (incremental belief). After thinking that they failed a test that assessed the attribute, participants performed a second (related) task in a context that facilitated the pursuit of either performance or learning goals. Participants were expected to exhibit greater effort on the second task in the congruent conditions (entity belief plus performance goal climate and incremental belief plus learning goal climate) than in the incongruent conditions. These results were obtained, but only for participants who either valued competence on the attribute or had high achievement motivation. Results are discussed in terms of developing strategies for optimizing motivation in achievement settings.

Parenting styles and adolescents' achievement strategies.

PubMed

Aunola, K; Stattin, H; Nurmi, J E

2000-04-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the extent to which adolescents' achievement strategies are associated with the parenting styles they experience in their families. Three hundred and fifty-four 14-year-old adolescents completed a Strategy and Attribution Questionnaire and a family parenting style inventory. Analogous questionnaires were also completed by the adolescents' parents. Based on adolescents' report of the parenting styles, four types of families were identified: those with Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, and Neglectful parenting styles. The results further showed that adolescents from authoritative families applied most adaptive achievement strategies characterized by low levels of failure expectations, task-irrelevant behaviour and passivity, and the use of self-enhancing attributions. Adolescents from neglectful families, in turn, applied maladaptive strategies characterized by high levels of task-irrelevant behaviour, passivity and a lack of self-enhancing attributions. The results provide a basis for understanding some of the processes by which parenting styles may influence adolescents' academic achievement and performance.

A generalizable NLP framework for fast development of pattern-based biomedical relation extraction systems.

PubMed

Peng, Yifan; Torii, Manabu; Wu, Cathy H; Vijay-Shanker, K

2014-08-23

Text mining is increasingly used in the biomedical domain because of its ability to automatically gather information from large amount of scientific articles. One important task in biomedical text mining is relation extraction, which aims to identify designated relations among biological entities reported in literature. A relation extraction system achieving high performance is expensive to develop because of the substantial time and effort required for its design and implementation. Here, we report a novel framework to facilitate the development of a pattern-based biomedical relation extraction system. It has several unique design features: (1) leveraging syntactic variations possible in a language and automatically generating extraction patterns in a systematic manner, (2) applying sentence simplification to improve the coverage of extraction patterns, and (3) identifying referential relations between a syntactic argument of a predicate and the actual target expected in the relation extraction task. A relation extraction system derived using the proposed framework achieved overall F-scores of 72.66% for the Simple events and 55.57% for the Binding events on the BioNLP-ST 2011 GE test set, comparing favorably with the top performing systems that participated in the BioNLP-ST 2011 GE task. We obtained similar results on the BioNLP-ST 2013 GE test set (80.07% and 60.58%, respectively). We conducted additional experiments on the training and development sets to provide a more detailed analysis of the system and its individual modules. This analysis indicates that without increasing the number of patterns, simplification and referential relation linking play a key role in the effective extraction of biomedical relations. In this paper, we present a novel framework for fast development of relation extraction systems. The framework requires only a list of triggers as input, and does not need information from an annotated corpus. Thus, we reduce the involvement of domain experts, who would otherwise have to provide manual annotations and help with the design of hand crafted patterns. We demonstrate how our framework is used to develop a system which achieves state-of-the-art performance on a public benchmark corpus.

Efficiency in Rule- vs. Plan-Based Movements Is Modulated by Action-Mode.

PubMed

Scheib, Jean P P; Stoll, Sarah; Thürmer, J Lukas; Randerath, Jennifer

2018-01-01

The rule/plan motor cognition (RPMC) paradigm elicits visually indistinguishable motor outputs, resulting from either plan- or rule-based action-selection, using a combination of essentially interchangeable stimuli. Previous implementations of the RPMC paradigm have used pantomimed movements to compare plan- vs. rule-based action-selection. In the present work we attempt to determine the generalizability of previous RPMC findings to real object interaction by use of a grasp-to-rotate task. In the plan task, participants had to use prospective planning to achieve a comfortable post-handle rotation hand posture. The rule task used implementation intentions (if-then rules) leading to the same comfortable end-state. In Experiment A, we compare RPMC performance of 16 healthy participants in pantomime and real object conditions of the experiment, within-subjects. Higher processing efficiency of rule- vs. plan-based action-selection was supported by diffusion model analysis. Results show a significant response-time increase in the pantomime condition compared to the real object condition and a greater response-time advantage of rule-based vs. plan-based actions in the pantomime compared to the real object condition. In Experiment B, 24 healthy participants performed the real object RPMC task in a task switching vs. a blocked condition. Results indicate that plan-based action-selection leads to longer response-times and less efficient information processing than rule-based action-selection in line with previous RPMC findings derived from the pantomime action-mode. Particularly in the task switching mode, responses were faster in the rule compared to the plan task suggesting a modulating influence of cognitive load. Overall, results suggest an advantage of rule-based action-selection over plan-based action-selection; whereby differential mechanisms appear to be involved depending on the action-mode. We propose that cognitive load is a factor that modulates the advantageous effect of implementation intentions in motor cognition on different levels as illustrated by the varying speed advantages and the variation in diffusion parameters per action-mode or condition, respectively.

Academic Achievement and Physical Activity: A Meta-analysis.

PubMed

Álvarez-Bueno, Celia; Pesce, Caterina; Cavero-Redondo, Iván; Sánchez-López, Mairena; Garrido-Miguel, Miriam; Martínez-Vizcaíno, Vicente

2017-12-01

The effect of physical activity (PA) on different areas of academic achievement and classroom behaviors and how different characteristics of PA interventions could modify the effect remain unclear. The objective was twofold: (1) to assess the effect of PA interventions on academic achievement and classroom behaviors in childhood and (2) to determine the characteristics of individuals and PA programs that enhance academic performance. We identified studies from the database inception to October 16, 2016. We selected intervention studies aimed at examining the effect of exercise on academic achievement and classroom behaviors at developmental age. Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled effect size for all primary outcomes (language- and mathematics-related skills, reading, composite score, and time in on-task behavior). Positive values represent a direct relationship between PA programs and academic achievement scores or on-task behaviors. A total of 26 studies (10 205 children, aged from 4 to 13) were included. Pooled effect size (95% confidence interval) estimates were as follows: (1) 0.16 (-0.06 to 0.37) for language-related skills; (2) 0.21 (0.09 to 0.33) for mathematics-related skills; (3) 0.13 (0.02 to 0.24) for reading; (4) 0.26 (0.07 to 0.45) for composite scores; and (5) 0.77 (0.22 to 1.32) for time in on-task behaviors. Limitations included the variety of tools used to measure academic achievement and the limited number of studies that reported the effect of after-school PA interventions. PA, especially physical education, improves classroom behaviors and benefits several aspects of academic achievement, especially mathematics-related skills, reading, and composite scores in youth. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The effects of moderate fatigue on dynamic balance control and attentional demands.

PubMed

Simoneau, Martin; Bégin, François; Teasdale, Normand

2006-09-28

During daily activities, the active control of balance often is a task per se (for example, when standing in a moving bus). Other constraints like fatigue can add to the complexity of this balance task. In the present experiment, we examined how moderate fatigue induced by fast walking on a treadmill challenged dynamic balance control. We also examined if the attentional demands for performing the balance task varied with fatigue. Subjects (n = 10) performed simultaneously a dynamic balance control task and a probe reaction time task (RT) (serving as an indicator of attentional demands) before and after three periods of moderate fatigue (fast walking on a treadmill). For the balance control task, the real-time displacement of the centre of pressure (CP) was provided on a monitor placed in front of the subject, at eye level. Subjects were asked to keep their CP within a target (moving box) moving upward and downward on the monitor. The tracking performance was measured (time spent outside the moving box) and the CP behavior analyzed (mean CP speed and mean frequency of the CP velocity). Moderate fatigue led to an immediate decrement of the performance on the balance control task; increase of the percentage of time spent outside the box and increase of the mean CP speed. Across the three fatigue periods, subjects improved their tracking performance and reduced their mean CP speed. This was achieved by increasing their frequency of actions; mean frequency of the CP velocity were higher for the fatigue periods than for the no fatigue periods. Fatigue also induced an increase in the attentional demands suggesting that more cognitive resources had to be allocated to the balance task with than without fatigue. Fatigue induced by fast walking had an initial negative impact on the control of balance. Nonetheless, subjects were able to compensate the effect of the moderate fatigue by increasing the frequency of actions. This adaptation, however, required that a greater proportion of the cognitive resources be allocated to the active control of the balance task.

Determining Reliability of a Dual-Task Functional Mobility Protocol for Individuals With Lower Extremity Amputation.

PubMed

Hunter, Susan W; Frengopoulos, Courtney; Holmes, Jeff; Viana, Ricardo; Payne, Michael W

2018-04-01

To determine the relative and absolute reliability of a dual-task functional mobility assessment. Cross-sectional study. Academic rehabilitation hospital. Individuals (N=60) with lower extremity amputation attending an outpatient amputee clinic (mean age, 58.21±12.59y; 18, 80% male) who were stratified into 3 groups: (1) transtibial amputation of vascular etiology (n=20); (2) transtibial amputation of nonvascular etiology (n=20); and (3) transfemoral or bilateral amputation of any etiology (n=20). Not applicable. Time to complete the L Test measured functional mobility under single- and dual-task conditions. The addition of a cognitive task (serial subtractions by 3's) created dual-task conditions. Single-task performance on the cognitive task was also reported. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) measured relative reliability; SEM and minimal detectable change with a 95% confidence interval (MDC 95 ) measured absolute reliability. Bland-Altman plots measured agreement between assessments. Relative reliability results were excellent for all 3 groups. Values for the dual-task L Test for those with transtibial amputation of vascular etiology (n=20; mean age, 60.36±7.84y; 19, 90% men) were ICC=.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], .94-.99), SEM=1.36 seconds, and MDC 95 =3.76 seconds; for those with transtibial amputation of nonvascular etiology (n=20; mean age, 55.85±14.08y; 17, 85% men), values were ICC=.93 (95% CI, .80-.98), SEM=1.34 seconds, and MDC 95 =3.71 seconds; and for those with transfemoral or bilateral amputation (n=20; mean age, 58.21±14.88y; 13, 65% men), values were ICC=.998 (95% CI, .996-.999), SEM=1.03 seconds, and MDC 95 =2.85 seconds. Bland-Altman plots indicated that assessments did not vary systematically for each group. This dual-task assessment protocol achieved approved levels of relative reliability values for the 3 groups tested. This protocol may be used clinically or in research settings to assess the interaction between cognition and functional mobility in the population with lower extremity amputation. Copyright © 2018 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pilot-model analysis and simulation study of effect of control task desired control response

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, J. J.; Gera, J.; Jaudon, J. B.

1978-01-01

A pilot model analysis was performed that relates pilot control compensation, pilot aircraft system response, and aircraft response characteristics for longitudinal control. The results show that a higher aircraft short period frequency is required to achieve superior pilot aircraft system response in an altitude control task than is required in an attitude control task. These results were confirmed by a simulation study of target tracking. It was concluded that the pilot model analysis provides a theoretical basis for determining the effect of control task on pilot opinions.

Development of a Self-Observation Mastery Intervention Programme for Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Kevin; Kingston, Kieran

2008-01-01

Background: Two goal perspectives predominate in achievement settings such as physical education (PE), namely task involvement, focused on self-referenced effort and improvement, and ego involvement, focused on normative ability comparisons. A task (mastery) involving motivational climate is associated with adaptive motivational responses, whereas…

Tense and Agreement in German Agrammatism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wenzlaff, Michaela; Clahsen, Harald

2004-01-01

This study presents results from sentence-completion and grammaticality-judgment tasks with 7 German-speaking agrammatic aphasics and 7 age-matched control subjects examining tense and subject-verb agreement marking. For both experimental tasks, we found that the aphasics achieved high correctness scores for agreement, while tense marking was…

Variables associated with achievement in higher education: A systematic review of meta-analyses.

PubMed

Schneider, Michael; Preckel, Franzis

2017-06-01

The last 2 decades witnessed a surge in empirical studies on the variables associated with achievement in higher education. A number of meta-analyses synthesized these findings. In our systematic literature review, we included 38 meta-analyses investigating 105 correlates of achievement, based on 3,330 effect sizes from almost 2 million students. We provide a list of the 105 variables, ordered by the effect size, and summary statistics for central research topics. The results highlight the close relation between social interaction in courses and achievement. Achievement is also strongly associated with the stimulation of meaningful learning by presenting information in a clear way, relating it to the students, and using conceptually demanding learning tasks. Instruction and communication technology has comparably weak effect sizes, which did not increase over time. Strong moderator effects are found for almost all instructional methods, indicating that how a method is implemented in detail strongly affects achievement. Teachers with high-achieving students invest time and effort in designing the microstructure of their courses, establish clear learning goals, and employ feedback practices. This emphasizes the importance of teacher training in higher education. Students with high achievement are characterized by high self-efficacy, high prior achievement and intelligence, conscientiousness, and the goal-directed use of learning strategies. Barring the paucity of controlled experiments and the lack of meta-analyses on recent educational innovations, the variables associated with achievement in higher education are generally well investigated and well understood. By using these findings, teachers, university administrators, and policymakers can increase the effectivity of higher education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Measurement of functional task difficulty during motor learning: What level of difficulty corresponds to the optimal challenge point?

PubMed

Akizuki, Kazunori; Ohashi, Yukari

2015-10-01

The relationship between task difficulty and learning benefit was examined, as was the measurability of task difficulty. Participants were required to learn a postural control task on an unstable surface at one of four different task difficulty levels. Results from the retention test showed an inverted-U relationship between task difficulty during acquisition and motor learning. The second-highest level of task difficulty was the most effective for motor learning, while learning was delayed at the most and least difficult levels. Additionally, the results indicate that salivary α-amylase and the performance dimension of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) are useful indices of task difficulty. Our findings suggested that instructors may be able to adjust task difficulty based on salivary α-amylase and the performance dimension of the NASA-TLX to enhance learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia responses to cognitive tasks: effects of task factors and RSA indices.

PubMed

Overbeek, Thérèse J M; van Boxtel, Anton; Westerink, Joyce H D M

2014-05-01

Many studies show that respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) decreases while performing cognitive tasks. However, there is uncertainty about the role of contaminating factors such as physical activity and stress-inducing task variables. Different methods to quantify RSA may also contribute to variable results. In 83 healthy subjects, we studied RSA responses to a working memory task requiring varying levels of cognitive control and a perceptual attention task not requiring strong cognitive control. RSA responses were quantified in the time and frequency domain and were additionally corrected for differences in mean interbeat interval and respiration rate, resulting in eight different RSA indices. The two tasks were clearly differentiated by heart rate and facial EMG reference measures. Cognitive control induced inhibition of RSA whereas perceptual attention generally did not. However, the results show several differences between different RSA indices, emphasizing the importance of methodological variables. Age and sex did not influence the results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-heuristic dynamic task allocation using genetic algorithms in a heterogeneous distributed system

PubMed Central

Page, Andrew J.; Keane, Thomas M.; Naughton, Thomas J.

2010-01-01

We present a multi-heuristic evolutionary task allocation algorithm to dynamically map tasks to processors in a heterogeneous distributed system. It utilizes a genetic algorithm, combined with eight common heuristics, in an effort to minimize the total execution time. It operates on batches of unmapped tasks and can preemptively remap tasks to processors. The algorithm has been implemented on a Java distributed system and evaluated with a set of six problems from the areas of bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, computer science and cryptography. Experiments using up to 150 heterogeneous processors show that the algorithm achieves better efficiency than other state-of-the-art heuristic algorithms. PMID:20862190

Sleep restriction in rats leads to changes in operant behaviour indicative of reduced prefrontal cortex function.

PubMed

Kamphuis, Jeanine; Baichel, Swetlana; Lancel, Marike; de Boer, Sietse F; Koolhaas, Jaap M; Meerlo, Peter

2017-02-01

Sleep deprivation has profound effects on cognitive performance, and some of these effects may be mediated by impaired prefrontal cortex function. In search of an animal model to investigate this relationship we studied the influence of restricted sleep on operant conditioning in rats, particularly the performance in a differential reinforcement of low rate responding (DRL) task, which is highly dependent upon an intact prefrontal cortex. Animals were trained to withhold a lever press until an imposed delay of 30 s after the last press had passed in order to achieve a food reward. Once the animals had mastered the task, they were sleep-restricted for 7 days with 20 h of sleep deprivation per day. At the end of each daily sleep deprivation session, performance on the DRL task was assessed. The results show that sleep-restricted animals were less able to time their responses correctly, started pressing the lever more randomly and showed signs of behavioural disinhibition, the latter possibly reflecting enhanced impulsivity. Our data support the hypothesis that a sleep debt has disruptive consequences for the functioning of the prefrontal cortex. This model offers possibilities for future studies investigating the underlying biochemical and molecular mechanisms of this relationship. © 2016 European Sleep Research Society.

Neural changes associated to procedural learning and automatization process in Developmental Coordination Disorder and/or Developmental Dyslexia.

PubMed

Biotteau, Maëlle; Péran, Patrice; Vayssière, Nathalie; Tallet, Jessica; Albaret, Jean-Michel; Chaix, Yves

2017-03-01

Recent theories hypothesize that procedural learning may support the frequent overlap between neurodevelopmental disorders. The neural circuitry supporting procedural learning includes, among others, cortico-cerebellar and cortico-striatal loops. Alteration of these loops may account for the frequent comorbidity between Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and Developmental Dyslexia (DD). The aim of our study was to investigate cerebral changes due to the learning and automatization of a sequence learning task in children with DD, or DCD, or both disorders. fMRI on 48 children (aged 8-12) with DD, DCD or DD + DCD was used to explore their brain activity during procedural tasks, performed either after two weeks of training or in the early stage of learning. Firstly, our results indicate that all children were able to perform the task with the same level of automaticity, but recruit different brain processes to achieve the same performance. Secondly, our fMRI results do not appear to confirm Nicolson and Fawcett's model. The neural correlates recruited for procedural learning by the DD and the comorbid groups are very close, while the DCD group presents distinct characteristics. This provide a promising direction on the neural mechanisms associated with procedural learning in neurodevelopmental disorders and for understanding comorbidity. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Fatigue modulates dopamine availability and promotes flexible choice reversals during decision making.

PubMed

Iodice, Pierpaolo; Ferrante, Claudio; Brunetti, Luigi; Cabib, Simona; Protasi, Feliciano; Walton, Mark E; Pezzulo, Giovanni

2017-04-03

During decisions, animals balance goal achievement and effort management. Despite physical exercise and fatigue significantly affecting the levels of effort that an animal exerts to obtain a reward, their role in effort-based choice and the underlying neurochemistry are incompletely known. In particular, it is unclear whether fatigue influences decision (cost-benefit) strategies flexibly or only post-decision action execution and learning. To answer this question, we trained mice on a T-maze task in which they chose between a high-cost, high-reward arm (HR), which included a barrier, and a low-cost, low-reward arm (LR), with no barrier. The animals were parametrically fatigued immediately before the behavioural tasks by running on a treadmill. We report a sharp choice reversal, from the HR to LR arm, at 80% of their peak workload (PW), which was temporary and specific, as the mice returned to choose the HC when the animals were successively tested at 60% PW or in a two-barrier task. These rapid reversals are signatures of flexible choice. We also observed increased subcortical dopamine levels in fatigued mice: a marker of individual bias to use model-based control in humans. Our results indicate that fatigue levels can be incorporated in flexible cost-benefits computations that improve foraging efficiency.

The narcoleptic cognitive pupillary response.

PubMed

O'Neill, W D; Trick, K P

2001-09-01

It has been reported that narcoleptics exhibit deficits in short-term memory, list recall, and stimulus frequency estimation compared with control subjects. It is also well-known that pupil dilation during cognitive tasks is a measure of subject attention state. Here we present results from six narcoleptics and six controls, a total of 360 experimental records in which pupillograms were made during cognitive tests, which indicate that narcoleptics begin pupillary dilations at a smaller diameter, begin dilating earlier poststimulus, attain higher pupillary diameter velocities, yet achieve the same equilibrium dilation diameter as controls. These findings are derived from statistical tests performed on the parameters of a nonlinear regression model of pupillary cognitive dilation as a function of time. In our experiments, the standard 1-s interdigit time between cognitive stimuli was increased to 2.3 s, which yielded pupillographic time records showing that the process of short-term memory overload sets in gradually at about four memory digits for controls and three memory digits for narcoleptics. We suggest our results can be partially explained by a narcoleptic stimulus-encoding deficit, which limits the time available for subjects to rehearse cognitive tasks. However, we also report the unexpected finding that the inferred encoding deficit is a transient one in that repeated tasks at the same memory load elicit a near normal naroleptic pupillary dilation.

Does language guide event perception? Evidence from eye movements

PubMed Central

Papafragou, Anna; Hulbert, Justin; Trueswell, John

2008-01-01

Languages differ in how they encode motion. When describing bounded motion, English speakers typically use verbs that convey information about manner (e.g., slide, skip, walk) rather than path (e.g., approach, ascend), whereas Greek speakers do the opposite. We investigated whether this strong cross-language difference influences how people allocate attention during motion perception. We compared eye movements from Greek and English speakers as they viewed motion events while (a) preparing verbal descriptions, or (b) memorizing the events. During the verbal description task, speakers’ eyes rapidly focused on the event components typically encoded in their native language, generating significant cross-language differences even during the first second of motion onset. However, when freely inspecting ongoing events, as in the memorization task, people allocated attention similarly regardless of the language they speak. Differences between language groups arose only after the motion stopped, such that participants spontaneously studied those aspects of the scene that their language does not routinely encode in verbs. These findings offer a novel perspective on the relation between language and perceptual/cognitive processes. They indicate that attention allocation during event perception is not affected by the perceiver’s native language; effects of language arise only when linguistic forms are recruited to achieve the task, such as when committing facts to memory. PMID:18395705

The effect of adult-acquired hippocampal damage on memory retrieval: an fMRI study.

PubMed

Maguire, Eleanor A; Frith, Christopher D; Rudge, Peter; Cipolotti, Lisa

2005-08-01

Bilateral hippocampal pathology typically results in significant memory problems. Despite apparently similar structural damage, patients with such lesions can differ in the pattern of impairment and preservation of memory functions. Previously, an fMRI study of a developmental amnesic patient whose anoxic hippocampal damage was incurred perinatally revealed his residual hippocampal tissue to be active during memory retrieval. This hippocampal activity was apparent during the retrieval of personal and general facts relative to a control task. In this study, we used a similar fMRI paradigm to investigate whether residual hippocampal activation was present also in patient VC with adult-acquired anoxic hippocampal pathology. VC's performance and reaction times on the experimental personal and general fact tasks were comparable to age-matched control subjects. However, in contrast to the elderly control sample and the previous developmental amnesic patient, his residual hippocampal tissue did not show activation changes during the experimental tasks. This finding indicates that patient VC's successful retrieval of personal and general facts was achieved without a significant hippocampal contribution. It further suggests that the hippocampal activation observed in the elderly controls and previous developmental amnesic patient was not necessary for successful task performance. The reason for this difference in hippocampal responsivity between VC and the developmental amnesic patient remains to be determined. We speculate that it may relate to the age at which hippocampal damage occurred reflecting plasticity within the developing brain, or to cognitive differences between VC, the developmental amnesic patient, and the control subjects.

Writing abilities in intellectual disabilities: a comparison between Down and Williams syndrome.

PubMed

Varuzza, Cristiana; De Rose, Paola; Vicari, Stefano; Menghini, Deny

2015-02-01

Writing is a complex task that requires the integration of multiple cognitive, linguistic, and motor abilities. Until now, only a few studies investigated writing abilities in individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID). The aim of the present exploratory study was to provide knowledge on the organization of writing in two populations with ID, Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS), trying to disentangle different components of the process. A battery tapping diverse writing demands as low-level transcription skills as well as high-level writing skills was proposed to 13 individuals with WS, 12 individuals with DS and 11 mental-age-matched typically developing (TD) children. Results showed that the two groups with genetic syndromes did not differ from TD in writing a list of objects placed in bedroom, in the number of errors in the text composition, in a text copying task and in kind of errors made. However, in a word dictation task, individuals with DS made more errors than individuals with WS and TD children. In a pseudoword dictation task, both individuals with DS and WS showed more errors than TD children. Our results showed good abilities in individuals with ID in different aspects of writing, involving not only low-level transcription skills but also high-level composition skills. Contrary to the pessimistic view, considering individuals with ID vulnerable for failure, our results indicate that the presence of ID does not prevent the achievement of writing skills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Probabilistic Reversal Learning in Schizophrenia: Stability of Deficits and Potential Causal Mechanisms.

PubMed

Reddy, Lena Felice; Waltz, James A; Green, Michael F; Wynn, Jonathan K; Horan, William P

2016-07-01

Although individuals with schizophrenia show impaired feedback-driven learning on probabilistic reversal learning (PRL) tasks, the specific factors that contribute to these deficits remain unknown. Recent work has suggested several potential causes including neurocognitive impairments, clinical symptoms, and specific types of feedback-related errors. To examine this issue, we administered a PRL task to 126 stable schizophrenia outpatients and 72 matched controls, and patients were retested 4 weeks later. The task involved an initial probabilistic discrimination learning phase and subsequent reversal phases in which subjects had to adjust their responses to sudden shifts in the reinforcement contingencies. Patients showed poorer performance than controls for both the initial discrimination and reversal learning phases of the task, and performance overall showed good test-retest reliability among patients. A subgroup analysis of patients (n = 64) and controls (n = 49) with good initial discrimination learning revealed no between-group differences in reversal learning, indicating that the patients who were able to achieve all of the initial probabilistic discriminations were not impaired in reversal learning. Regarding potential contributors to impaired discrimination learning, several factors were associated with poor PRL, including higher levels of neurocognitive impairment, poor learning from both positive and negative feedback, and higher levels of indiscriminate response shifting. The results suggest that poor PRL performance in schizophrenia can be the product of multiple mechanisms. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Goal orientation and well-being in college athletes: The importance of athletic social connectedness.

PubMed

Wayment, Heidi A; Walters, Andrew Schrack

2017-11-01

The present study examined the ability of an interpersonal construct called athletic connectedness to mediate the relationship between task and ego goal orientations and well-being. We operationalised athletic social connectedness as a sense of social belonging and sense of connection with teammates. We hypothesised that athletic social connectedness would be positively associated with task goals, negatively associated with ego goals, and would at least partially mediate the relationship between achievement goals and well-being. We administered questionnaires to female (N = 106; mean age = 20.47, SD = 1.12) and male (N = 100; mean age = 20.95, SD = 1.21) NCAA Division III college athletes. We tested our hypothesised model using structural equation modelling, which included testing a measurement model that specified four latent variables and then comparing the estimates generated by our hypothesised model with our data. We also tested three alternative models and found our hypothesised model to fit best. As predicted, there were significant indirect effects of task and ego motivation on well-being through athletic connectedness, demonstrating formal evidence of mediation. The r 2 coefficient indicated that the model explained 30% of the variance in well-being, a moderate effect size (Cohen, 1988). Discussion focuses on the importance of considering interpersonal constructs as a way to improve our understanding of relationship between task and ego goal orientations to well-being in athletes.

Note on hand use in the manipulation of joysticks by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hopkins, William D.; Washburn, David A.; Rumbaugh, Duane M.

1989-01-01

MacNeilage et al. (1987) have proposed that nonhuman primate handedness may be contingent on the specific task requirements, with visual-spatial tasks yielding left-hand preferences and fine-motor tasks producing right-hand preferences. This study reports hand preferences in the manipulation of joysticks by 2 rhesus monkeys and 3 chimpanzees. Reach data were also collected for comparison with preference data for manipulation of the joystick. The data indicated that all 5 subjects demonstrated significant right-hand preferences in manipulating the joystick. In contrast, no significant hand preferences were found for the reach data. Reaction-time data also indicated that the right hand could perform a perceptual-motor task better than the left hand in all 5 subjects. Overall, the data indicate that reach tasks may not be sensitive enough measures to produce reliable hand preferences, whereas tasks that assess fine-motor control produce significant hand preferences.

Effects of Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematical Metacognition on Word Problem Solving in Children with and without Mathematical Learning Difficulties.

PubMed

Lai, Yinghui; Zhu, Xiaoshuang; Chen, Yinghe; Li, Yanjun

2015-01-01

Mathematics is one of the most objective, logical, and practical academic disciplines. Yet, in addition to cognitive skills, mathematical problem solving also involves affective factors. In the current study, we first investigated effects of mathematics anxiety (MA) and mathematical metacognition on word problem solving (WPS). We tested 224 children (116 boys, M = 10.15 years old, SD = 0.56) with the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children, the Chinese Revised-edition Questionnaire of Pupil's Metacognitive Ability in Mathematics, and WPS tasks. The results indicated that mathematical metacognition mediated the effect of MA on WPS after controlling for IQ. Second, we divided the children into four mathematics achievement groups including high achieving (HA), typical achieving (TA), low achieving (LA), and mathematical learning difficulty (MLD). Because mathematical metacognition and MA predicted mathematics achievement, we compared group differences in metacognition and MA with IQ partialled out. The results showed that children with MLD scored lower in self-image and higher in learning mathematics anxiety (LMA) than the TA and HA children, but not in mathematical evaluation anxiety (MEA). MLD children's LMA was also higher than that of their LA counterparts. These results provide insight into factors that may mediate poor WPS performance which emerges under pressure in mathematics. These results also suggest that the anxiety during learning mathematics should be taken into account in mathematical learning difficulty interventions.

Effects of Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematical Metacognition on Word Problem Solving in Children with and without Mathematical Learning Difficulties

PubMed Central

Lai, Yinghui; Zhu, Xiaoshuang; Chen, Yinghe; Li, Yanjun

2015-01-01

Mathematics is one of the most objective, logical, and practical academic disciplines. Yet, in addition to cognitive skills, mathematical problem solving also involves affective factors. In the current study, we first investigated effects of mathematics anxiety (MA) and mathematical metacognition on word problem solving (WPS). We tested 224 children (116 boys, M = 10.15 years old, SD = 0.56) with the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children, the Chinese Revised-edition Questionnaire of Pupil’s Metacognitive Ability in Mathematics, and WPS tasks. The results indicated that mathematical metacognition mediated the effect of MA on WPS after controlling for IQ. Second, we divided the children into four mathematics achievement groups including high achieving (HA), typical achieving (TA), low achieving (LA), and mathematical learning difficulty (MLD). Because mathematical metacognition and MA predicted mathematics achievement, we compared group differences in metacognition and MA with IQ partialled out. The results showed that children with MLD scored lower in self-image and higher in learning mathematics anxiety (LMA) than the TA and HA children, but not in mathematical evaluation anxiety (MEA). MLD children’s LMA was also higher than that of their LA counterparts. These results provide insight into factors that may mediate poor WPS performance which emerges under pressure in mathematics. These results also suggest that the anxiety during learning mathematics should be taken into account in mathematical learning difficulty interventions. PMID:26090806

Development of Computerized Monitoring of Education Plans.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greene, J. Weldon; And Others

The District of Columbia Public Schools initiated a multiyear planning process in 1983. Among other activities, the process calls for the computerized monitoring of the critical tasks of each of the district's major offices. These tasks, defined by the offices, are designed to facilitate the achievement of specific objectives designated in the…

Developmental Differences in Motor Task Integration: A Test of Pascual-Leone's Theory of Constructive Operators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Todor, John I.

1979-01-01

Assesses the ability of Pascual-Leone's Theory of Constructive Operators to predict the minimum age or maturational level at which integration of a motor task could be achieved. Subjects were 114 elementary school children ranging in age from 5 to 12. (Author/MP)

Gender and Prior Science Achievement Affect Categorization on a Procedural Learning Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hong, Jon-Chao; Lu, Chow-Chin; Wang, Jen-Lian; Liao, Shin; Wu, Ming-Ray; Hwang, Ming-Yueh; Lin, Pei-Hsin

2013-01-01

Categorization is one of the main mental processes by which perception and conception develop. Nevertheless, categorization receives little attention with the development of critical thinking in Taiwan elementary schools. Thus, the present study investigates the effect that individual differences have on performing categorization tasks.…

Governor's Educational Summit Task Force Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michigan Governor's Office, Lansing.

This booklet contains a series of potential educational goals for Michigan in 1985, prepared by a task force appointed by the governor. The selection of these goals was guided by three major considerations: programs likely to achieve progress within a year, projects directly affecting the classroom level, and goals with statewide effects. These…

Adolescent-Perceived Parent and Teacher Overestimation of Mathematics Ability: Developmental Implications for Students' Mathematics Task Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gniewosz, Burkhard; Watt, Helen M. G.

2017-01-01

This study examines whether and how student-perceived parents' and teachers' overestimation of students' own perceived mathematical ability can explain trajectories for adolescents' mathematical task values (intrinsic and utility) controlling for measured achievement, following expectancy-value and self-determination theories. Longitudinal data…

Mathematical Tasks as a Framework for Reflection: From Research To Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Mary Kay; Smith, Margaret Schwan

1998-01-01

Describes the Quantitative Understanding: Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning (QUASAR) national reform project aimed at studying and fostering the development and implementation of enhanced mathematics instructional programs. It is a framework for reflection based on mathematical tasks used during classroom instruction and the ways in…

Multiple Systems for Cognitive Control: Evidence from a Hybrid Prime-Simon Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schlaghecken, Friederike; Refaat, Malik; Maylor, Elizabeth A.

2011-01-01

Cognitive control resolves conflicts between appropriate and inappropriate response tendencies. Is this achieved by a unitary all-purpose conflict control system, or do independent subsystems deal with different aspects of conflicting information? In a fully factorial hybrid prime-Simon task, participants responded to the identity of targets…

Relations among Epistemological Beliefs, Academic Achievement, and Task Performance in Secondary School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lodewyk, Ken R.

2007-01-01

Students with differing profiles of epistemological beliefs--their beliefs about personal epistemology, intelligence, and learning--vary in thinking, reasoning, motivation, and use of strategies while working on academic tasks, each of which affect learning. This study examined students' epistemological beliefs according to gender, school…

Gender, Self-Efficacy and Achievement among South African Technology Teacher Trainees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mackay, James; Parkinson, Jean

2010-01-01

This article considers the relationship between gender and self-efficacy in teacher trainees engaged in an electricity-related design and construction task. Quantitative data (examination scores, task assessment, and questionnaire) and qualitative data (interviews and written student reflections) were collected. There is a gender bias in student…

Cooperative Learning: Review of Research and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillies, Robyn M.

2016-01-01

Cooperative learning is widely recognized as a pedagogical practice that promotes socialization and learning among students from pre-school through to tertiary level and across different subject domains. It involves students working together to achieve common goals or complete group tasks--goals and tasks that they would be unable to complete by…

Professional Competences of Teachers for Fostering Creativity and Supporting High-Achieving Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoth, Jessica; Kaiser, Gabriele; Busse, Andreas; Döhrmann, Martina; König, Johannes; Blömeke, Sigrid

2017-01-01

This paper addresses an important task teachers face in class: the identification and support of creative and high-achieving students. In particular, we examine whether primary teachers (1) have acquired professional knowledge during teacher education that is necessary to foster creativity and to teach high-achieving students, and whether they (2)…

Ethnicity and Individual Differences in Achievement Goals in Kindergarten Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Billings, Barbara L.

This study examined the effect of ethnicity on individual differences in achievement goals in a replication of the paradigm used by P. Smiley and C. Dweck (1994) to explore individual differences in achievement goals held by young children. The emphasis was on learning goals, which focus effort on mastering new tasks, and performance goals, which…

Parent-Child Interaction Processes Related to Scholastic Achievement in Urban Elementary Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portes, Pedro R.; And Others

In an attempt to identify parent-child interaction patterns that might differentiate bright from below-average elementary students, 16 high achievers and 16 low achievers were paired with their mothers and then videotaped whilst engaged in 3 sets of task situations, which involved copying of Block Design models and categorization of words and…

The 3 × 2 Achievement Goal Questionnaire for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mascret, Nicolas; Elliot, Andrew J.; Cury, François

2017-01-01

Within the past decade, the achievement goal approach has begun to be used to study teacher achievement motivation. In recent research with students, a 3 × 2 model of achievement goals has been proffered that separates mastery-based goals in terms of a task/self distinction. The purpose of the present study was to extend this 3 × 2 model to…

Design, fabricate, and provide engineering support for radiosotope thermoelectric generators for NASA'S CRHF and CASSINI missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

The technical progress achieved during the period 11 January through 31 March 1991 on Contract DE-AC03-91SF18852.000 Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators and ancillary activities is described. The system contract consists of the following tasks: (1) Spacecraft Integration and Liaison; (2) Engineering Support; (3) Safety; (4) Qualify Unicouple Fabrication; (5) ETG Fabrication, Assembly and Test; (6) GSE; (7) RTG Shipping and Launch Support; (8) Designs, Reviews, and Mission Applications; (9) Project Management, Quality Assurance and Reliability; and (10) CAGO Acquisition (Capital Funds). The progress achieved is broken down into these tasks.

Eye Movement Indices in the Study of Depressive Disorder

PubMed Central

LI, Yu; XU, Yangyang; XIA, Mengqing; ZHANG, Tianhong; WANG, Junjie; LIU, Xu; HE, Yongguang; WANG, Jijun

2016-01-01

Background Impaired cognition is one of the most common core symptoms of depressive disorder. Eye movement testing mainly reflects patients’ cognitive functions, such as cognition, memory, attention, recognition, and recall. This type of testing has great potential to improve theories related to cognitive functioning in depressive episodes as well as potential in its clinical application. Aims This study investigated whether eye movement indices of patients with unmedicated depressive disorder were abnormal or not, as well as the relationship between these indices and mental symptoms. Methods Sixty patients with depressive disorder and sixty healthy controls (who were matched by gender, age and years of education) were recruited, and completed eye movement tests including three tasks: fixation task, saccade task and free-view task. The EyeLink desktop eye tracking system was employed to collect eye movement information, and analyze the eye movement indices of the three tasks between the two groups. Results (1) In the fixation task, compared to healthy controls, patients with depressive disorder showed more fixations, shorter fixation durations, more saccades and longer saccadic lengths; (2) In the saccade task, patients with depressive disorder showed longer anti-saccade latencies and smaller anti-saccade peak velocities; (3) In the free-view task, patients with depressive disorder showed fewer saccades and longer mean fixation durations; (4) Correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the pro-saccade amplitude and anxiety symptoms, and a positive correlation between the anti-saccade latency and anxiety symptoms. The depression symptoms were negatively correlated with fixation times, saccades, and saccadic paths respectively in the free-view task; while the mean fixation duration and depression symptoms showed a positive correlation. Conclusion Compared to healthy controls, patients with depressive disorder showed significantly abnormal eye movement indices. In addition patients’ anxiety and depression symptoms and eye movement indices were correlated. The pathological meaning of these phenomena deserve further exploration. PMID:28638208

Eye Movement Indices in the Study of Depressive Disorder.

PubMed

Li, Yu; Xu, Yangyang; Xia, Mengqing; Zhang, Tianhong; Wang, Junjie; Liu, Xu; He, Yongguang; Wang, Jijun

2016-12-25

Impaired cognition is one of the most common core symptoms of depressive disorder. Eye movement testing mainly reflects patients' cognitive functions, such as cognition, memory, attention, recognition, and recall. This type of testing has great potential to improve theories related to cognitive functioning in depressive episodes as well as potential in its clinical application. This study investigated whether eye movement indices of patients with unmedicated depressive disorder were abnormal or not, as well as the relationship between these indices and mental symptoms. Sixty patients with depressive disorder and sixty healthy controls (who were matched by gender, age and years of education) were recruited, and completed eye movement tests including three tasks: fixation task, saccade task and free-view task. The EyeLink desktop eye tracking system was employed to collect eye movement information, and analyze the eye movement indices of the three tasks between the two groups. (1) In the fixation task, compared to healthy controls, patients with depressive disorder showed more fixations, shorter fixation durations, more saccades and longer saccadic lengths; (2) In the saccade task, patients with depressive disorder showed longer anti-saccade latencies and smaller anti-saccade peak velocities; (3) In the free-view task, patients with depressive disorder showed fewer saccades and longer mean fixation durations; (4) Correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the pro-saccade amplitude and anxiety symptoms, and a positive correlation between the anti-saccade latency and anxiety symptoms. The depression symptoms were negatively correlated with fixation times, saccades, and saccadic paths respectively in the free-view task; while the mean fixation duration and depression symptoms showed a positive correlation. Compared to healthy controls, patients with depressive disorder showed significantly abnormal eye movement indices. In addition patients' anxiety and depression symptoms and eye movement indices were correlated. The pathological meaning of these phenomena deserve further exploration.

Task relevance of emotional information affects anxiety-linked attention bias in visual search.

PubMed

Dodd, Helen F; Vogt, Julia; Turkileri, Nilgun; Notebaert, Lies

2017-01-01

Task relevance affects emotional attention in healthy individuals. Here, we investigate whether the association between anxiety and attention bias is affected by the task relevance of emotion during an attention task. Participants completed two visual search tasks. In the emotion-irrelevant task, participants were asked to indicate whether a discrepant face in a crowd of neutral, middle-aged faces was old or young. Irrelevant to the task, target faces displayed angry, happy, or neutral expressions. In the emotion-relevant task, participants were asked to indicate whether a discrepant face in a crowd of middle-aged neutral faces was happy or angry (target faces also varied in age). Trait anxiety was not associated with attention in the emotion-relevant task. However, in the emotion-irrelevant task, trait anxiety was associated with a bias for angry over happy faces. These findings demonstrate that the task relevance of emotional information affects conclusions about the presence of an anxiety-linked attention bias. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermal-mechanical fatigue behavior of nickel-base superalloys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pelloux, R. M.; Marchand, N.

1986-01-01

The main achievements of a 36-month research program are presented. The main objective was to gain more insight into the problem of crack growth under thermal mechanical fatigue (TMF) conditions. This program was conducted at M.I.T. for the period of September 1982 to September 1985. The program was arranged into five technical tasks. Under Task I, the literature of TMF data was reviewed. The goal was to identify the crack propagation conditions in aircraft engines (hot section) and to assess the validity of conventional fracture mechanics parameters to address TMF crack growth. The second task defined the test facilities, test specimen and the testing conditions needed to establish the effectiveness of data correlation parameters identified in Task I. Three materials (Inconel X-750, Hastelloy-X, and B-1900) were chosen for the program. Task II was accomplished in collaboration with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft engineers. Under Task III, a computerized testing system to measure the TMF behavior (LCF and CG behaviors) of various alloys systems was built. The software used to run isothermal and TMF tests was also developed. Built around a conventional servohydraulic machine, the system is capable of push-pull tests under stress or strain and temperature controlled conditions in the temperature range of 25C to 1050C. A crack propagation test program was defined and conducted under Task IV. The test variables included strain range, strain rate (frequency) and temperature. Task V correlated and generalized the Task IV data for isothermal and variable temperature conditions so that several crack propagation parameters could be compared and evaluated. The structural damage (mode of cracking and dislocation substructure) under TMF cycling was identified and contrasted with the isothermal damage to achieve a sound fundamental mechanistic understanding of TMF.

Check-off logs for routine equipment maintenance.

PubMed

Brewster, M A; Carver, P H; Randolph, B

1995-12-01

The regulatory requirement for appropriate routine instrument maintenance documentation is approached by laboratories in numerous ways. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) may refer to maintenance listed in instrument manuals, may indicate "periodic" performance of an action, or may indicate specific tasks to be performed at certain frequencies. The Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) task of assuring the performance of these indicated maintenance tasks can be extremely laborious if these records are merged with other analysis records. Further, the lack of written maintenance schedules often leads to omission of infrequently performed tasks. We recommend creation of routine maintenance check-off logs for instruments with tasks grouped by frequency of expected performance. Usage of such logs should result in better laboratory compliance with SOPs and the compliance can be readily monitored by QAU or by regulatory agencies.

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.

The Relation of Birth Order, Social Class, and Need Achievement to Independent Judgement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhine, W. Ray

1974-01-01

This article reports an investigation in which the brith order, social class, and level of achievement arousal are the variables considered when fifth and sixth-grade girls make independent judgements in performing a set task. (JH)

Positive academic emotions moderate the relationship between self-regulation and academic achievement.

PubMed

Villavicencio, Felicidad T; Bernardo, Allan B I

2013-06-01

Research has shown how academic emotions are related to achievement and to cognitive/motivational variables that promote achievement. Mediated models have been proposed to account for the relationships among academic emotions, cognitive/motivational variables, and achievement, and research has supported such mediated models, particularly with negative emotions. The study tested the hypotheses: (1) self-regulation and the positive academic emotions of enjoyment and pride are positive predictors of achievement; and (2) enjoyment and pride both moderate the relationship between self-regulation and achievement. Participants were 1,345 students enrolled in various trigonometry classes in one university. Participants answered the Academic Emotions Questionnaire-Math (Pekrun, Goetz, & Frenzel, 2005) and a self-regulation scale (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991) halfway through their trigonometry class. The students' final grades in the course were regressed to self-regulation, positive emotions, and the interaction terms to test the moderation effects. Enjoyment and pride were both positive predictors of grades; more importantly, both moderated the relationship between self-regulation and grades. For students who report higher levels of both positive emotions, self-regulation was positively associated with grades. However, for those who report lower levels of pride, self-regulation was not related to grades; and, for those who reported lower levels of enjoyment, self-regulation was negatively related to grades. The results are discussed in terms of how positive emotions indicate positive appraisals of task/outcome value, and thus enhance the positive links between cognitive/motivational variables and learning. ©2012 The British Psychological Society.

Presenting the Students’ Academic Achievement Causal Model based on Goal Orientation

PubMed Central

NASIRI, EBRAHIM; POUR-SAFAR, ALI; TAHERI, MAHDOKHT; SEDIGHI PASHAKY, ABDULLAH; ASADI LOUYEH, ATAOLLAH

2017-01-01

Introduction: Several factors play a role in academic achievement, individual's excellence and capability to do actions and tasks that the learner is in charge of in learning areas. The main goal of this study was to present academic achievement causal model based on the dimensions of goal orientation and learning approaches among the students of Medical Science and Dentistry courses in Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Methods: This study is based on a cross-sectional model. The participants included 175 first and second students of the Medical and Dentistry schools in Guilan University of Medical Sciences selected by random cluster sampling [121 persons (69%) Medical Basic Science students and 54 (30.9%) Dentistry students]. The measurement tool included the Goal Orientation Scale of Bouffard and Study Process Questionnaire of Biggs) and the students’ Grade Point Average. The study data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equations modeling. SPSS 14 and Amos were used to analyze the data. Results: The results indicated a significant relationship between goal orientation and learning strategies (P<0.05). In addition, the results revealed that a significant relationship exists between learning strategies[Deep Learning (r=0.37, P<0.05), Surface Learning (r=-0.21,P<0.05)], and academic achievement.The suggested model of research is fitted to the data of the research. Conclusion: Results showed that the students' academic achievement model fits with experimental data, so it can be used in learning principles which lead to students’ achievement in learning. PMID:28979914

Method and apparatus for configuration control of redundant robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, Homayoun (Inventor)

1991-01-01

A method and apparatus to control a robot or manipulator configuration over the entire motion based on augmentation of the manipulator forward kinematics is disclosed. A set of kinematic functions is defined in Cartesian or joint space to reflect the desirable configuration that will be achieved in addition to the specified end-effector motion. The user-defined kinematic functions and the end-effector Cartesian coordinates are combined to form a set of task-related configuration variables as generalized coordinates for the manipulator. A task-based adaptive scheme is then utilized to directly control the configuration variables so as to achieve tracking of some desired reference trajectories throughout the robot motion. This accomplishes the basic task of desired end-effector motion, while utilizing the redundancy to achieve any additional task through the desired time variation of the kinematic functions. The present invention can also be used for optimization of any kinematic objective function, or for satisfaction of a set of kinematic inequality constraints, as in an obstacle avoidance problem. In contrast to pseudoinverse-based methods, the configuration control scheme ensures cyclic motion of the manipulator, which is an essential requirement for repetitive operations. The control law is simple and computationally very fast, and does not require either the complex manipulator dynamic model or the complicated inverse kinematic transformation. The configuration control scheme can alternatively be implemented in joint space.

Different Levels of Food Restriction Reveal Genotype-Specific Differences in Learning a Visual Discrimination Task

PubMed Central

Makowiecki, Kalina; Hammond, Geoff; Rodger, Jennifer

2012-01-01

In behavioural experiments, motivation to learn can be achieved using food rewards as positive reinforcement in food-restricted animals. Previous studies reduce animal weights to 80–90% of free-feeding body weight as the criterion for food restriction. However, effects of different degrees of food restriction on task performance have not been assessed. We compared learning task performance in mice food-restricted to 80 or 90% body weight (BW). We used adult wildtype (WT; C57Bl/6j) and knockout (ephrin-A2−/−) mice, previously shown to have a reverse learning deficit. Mice were trained in a two-choice visual discrimination task with food reward as positive reinforcement. When mice reached criterion for one visual stimulus (80% correct in three consecutive 10 trial sets) they began the reverse learning phase, where the rewarded stimulus was switched to the previously incorrect stimulus. For the initial learning and reverse phase of the task, mice at 90%BW took almost twice as many trials to reach criterion as mice at 80%BW. Furthermore, WT 80 and 90%BW groups significantly differed in percentage correct responses and learning strategy in the reverse learning phase, whereas no differences between weight restriction groups were observed in ephrin-A2−/− mice. Most importantly, genotype-specific differences in reverse learning strategy were only detected in the 80%BW groups. Our results indicate that increased food restriction not only results in better performance and a shorter training period, but may also be necessary for revealing behavioural differences between experimental groups. This has important ethical and animal welfare implications when deciding extent of diet restriction in behavioural studies. PMID:23144936

Different levels of food restriction reveal genotype-specific differences in learning a visual discrimination task.

PubMed

Makowiecki, Kalina; Hammond, Geoff; Rodger, Jennifer

2012-01-01

In behavioural experiments, motivation to learn can be achieved using food rewards as positive reinforcement in food-restricted animals. Previous studies reduce animal weights to 80-90% of free-feeding body weight as the criterion for food restriction. However, effects of different degrees of food restriction on task performance have not been assessed. We compared learning task performance in mice food-restricted to 80 or 90% body weight (BW). We used adult wildtype (WT; C57Bl/6j) and knockout (ephrin-A2⁻/⁻) mice, previously shown to have a reverse learning deficit. Mice were trained in a two-choice visual discrimination task with food reward as positive reinforcement. When mice reached criterion for one visual stimulus (80% correct in three consecutive 10 trial sets) they began the reverse learning phase, where the rewarded stimulus was switched to the previously incorrect stimulus. For the initial learning and reverse phase of the task, mice at 90%BW took almost twice as many trials to reach criterion as mice at 80%BW. Furthermore, WT 80 and 90%BW groups significantly differed in percentage correct responses and learning strategy in the reverse learning phase, whereas no differences between weight restriction groups were observed in ephrin-A2⁻/⁻ mice. Most importantly, genotype-specific differences in reverse learning strategy were only detected in the 80%BW groups. Our results indicate that increased food restriction not only results in better performance and a shorter training period, but may also be necessary for revealing behavioural differences between experimental groups. This has important ethical and animal welfare implications when deciding extent of diet restriction in behavioural studies.

Investigating the effects of a sensorimotor rhythm-based BCI training on the cortical activity elicited by mental imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toppi, J.; Risetti, M.; Quitadamo, L. R.; Petti, M.; Bianchi, L.; Salinari, S.; Babiloni, F.; Cincotti, F.; Mattia, D.; Astolfi, L.

2014-06-01

Objective. It is well known that to acquire sensorimotor (SMR)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) control requires a training period before users can achieve their best possible performances. Nevertheless, the effect of this training procedure on the cortical activity related to the mental imagery ability still requires investigation to be fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to gain insights into the effects of SMR-based BCI training on the cortical spectral activity associated with the performance of different mental imagery tasks. Approach. Linear cortical estimation and statistical brain mapping techniques were applied on high-density EEG data acquired from 18 healthy participants performing three different mental imagery tasks. Subjects were divided in two groups, one of BCI trained subjects, according to their previous exposure (at least six months before this study) to motor imagery-based BCI training, and one of subjects who were naive to any BCI paradigms. Main results. Cortical activation maps obtained for trained and naive subjects indicated different spectral and spatial activity patterns in response to the mental imagery tasks. Long-term effects of the previous SMR-based BCI training were observed on the motor cortical spectral activity specific to the BCI trained motor imagery task (simple hand movements) and partially generalized to more complex motor imagery task (playing tennis). Differently, mental imagery with spatial attention and memory content could elicit recognizable cortical spectral activity even in subjects completely naive to (BCI) training. Significance. The present findings contribute to our understanding of BCI technology usage and might be of relevance in those clinical conditions when training to master a BCI application is challenging or even not possible.

Age-Related Differences in Dynamic Interactions Among Default Mode, Frontoparietal Control, and Dorsal Attention Networks during Resting-State and Interference Resolution.

PubMed

Avelar-Pereira, Bárbara; Bäckman, Lars; Wåhlin, Anders; Nyberg, Lars; Salami, Alireza

2017-01-01

Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) can identify large-scale brain networks, including the default mode (DMN), frontoparietal control (FPN) and dorsal attention (DAN) networks. Interactions among these networks are critical for supporting complex cognitive functions, yet the way in which they are modulated across states is not well understood. Moreover, it remains unclear whether these interactions are similarly affected in aging regardless of cognitive state. In this study, we investigated age-related differences in functional interactions among the DMN, FPN and DAN during rest and the Multi-Source Interference task (MSIT). Networks were identified using independent component analysis (ICA), and functional connectivity was measured during rest and task. We found that the FPN was more coupled with the DMN during rest and with the DAN during the MSIT. The degree of FPN-DMN connectivity was lower in older compared to younger adults, whereas no age-related differences were observed in FPN-DAN connectivity in either state. This suggests that dynamic interactions of the FPN are stable across cognitive states. The DMN and DAN were anti correlated and age-sensitive during the MSIT only, indicating variation in a task-dependent manner. Increased levels of anticorrelation from rest to task also predicted successful interference resolution. Additional analyses revealed that the degree of DMN-DAN anticorrelation during the MSIT was associated to resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) within the DMN. This suggests that reduced DMN neural activity during rest underlies an impaired ability to achieve higher levels of anticorrelation during a task. Taken together, our results suggest that only parts of age-related differences in connectivity are uncovered at rest and thus, should be studied in the functional connectome across multiple states for a more comprehensive picture.

The Association between Parenting Behavior and Executive Functioning in Children and Young Adolescents

PubMed Central

Sosic-Vasic, Zrinka; Kröner, Julia; Schneider, Sibylle; Vasic, Nenad; Spitzer, Manfred; Streb, Judith

2017-01-01

Executive functioning (EF) is associated with various aspects of school achievement and cognitive development in children and adolescents. There has been substantial research investigating associations between EF and other factors in young children, such as support processes and parenting, but less research has been conducted about external factors relating to EF in older children and adolescents. Therefore, the present study investigates one possible factor that could correlate with EF in school-age children and adolescents: parenting behavior. The cross-sectional study design gathered data from 169 children in primary schools, middle-schools, and Gymnasien, and their corresponding parents. All children underwent a standardized task to measure EF, the computer-based Erikson Flanker task, which evaluates EF as a function of error rates and response time. A self-report questionnaire was used to assess parenting behavior. Multilevel analysis was implemented to test the effects of parenting behavior on EF in school-age children. The results show significant associations between various parenting behaviors and children's EF: High scores on parental involvement or parental responsibility are associated with low error rates on the Erikson Flanker task, whereas high parental scores on inconsistent discipline are associated with high error rates. These correlations between parenting behavior and EF remained significant despite controlling for child age, maternal education, family income, and baseline performance (i.e., congruent trials on the Erikson Flanker task). No associations were found between parental behavior and reaction time on the Erikson Flanker task. These results indicate the important association between parenting behaviors and EF skills in school-age children, and foster the necessity to inform parents about ways in which they can optimally support their children's cognitive development. PMID:28424644

Investigating the effects of a sensorimotor rhythm-based BCI training on the cortical activity elicited by mental imagery.

PubMed

Toppi, J; Risetti, M; Quitadamo, L R; Petti, M; Bianchi, L; Salinari, S; Babiloni, F; Cincotti, F; Mattia, D; Astolfi, L

2014-06-01

It is well known that to acquire sensorimotor (SMR)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) control requires a training period before users can achieve their best possible performances. Nevertheless, the effect of this training procedure on the cortical activity related to the mental imagery ability still requires investigation to be fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to gain insights into the effects of SMR-based BCI training on the cortical spectral activity associated with the performance of different mental imagery tasks. Linear cortical estimation and statistical brain mapping techniques were applied on high-density EEG data acquired from 18 healthy participants performing three different mental imagery tasks. Subjects were divided in two groups, one of BCI trained subjects, according to their previous exposure (at least six months before this study) to motor imagery-based BCI training, and one of subjects who were naive to any BCI paradigms. Cortical activation maps obtained for trained and naive subjects indicated different spectral and spatial activity patterns in response to the mental imagery tasks. Long-term effects of the previous SMR-based BCI training were observed on the motor cortical spectral activity specific to the BCI trained motor imagery task (simple hand movements) and partially generalized to more complex motor imagery task (playing tennis). Differently, mental imagery with spatial attention and memory content could elicit recognizable cortical spectral activity even in subjects completely naive to (BCI) training. The present findings contribute to our understanding of BCI technology usage and might be of relevance in those clinical conditions when training to master a BCI application is challenging or even not possible.

Age-Related Differences in Dynamic Interactions Among Default Mode, Frontoparietal Control, and Dorsal Attention Networks during Resting-State and Interference Resolution

PubMed Central

Avelar-Pereira, Bárbara; Bäckman, Lars; Wåhlin, Anders; Nyberg, Lars; Salami, Alireza

2017-01-01

Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) can identify large-scale brain networks, including the default mode (DMN), frontoparietal control (FPN) and dorsal attention (DAN) networks. Interactions among these networks are critical for supporting complex cognitive functions, yet the way in which they are modulated across states is not well understood. Moreover, it remains unclear whether these interactions are similarly affected in aging regardless of cognitive state. In this study, we investigated age-related differences in functional interactions among the DMN, FPN and DAN during rest and the Multi-Source Interference task (MSIT). Networks were identified using independent component analysis (ICA), and functional connectivity was measured during rest and task. We found that the FPN was more coupled with the DMN during rest and with the DAN during the MSIT. The degree of FPN-DMN connectivity was lower in older compared to younger adults, whereas no age-related differences were observed in FPN-DAN connectivity in either state. This suggests that dynamic interactions of the FPN are stable across cognitive states. The DMN and DAN were anti correlated and age-sensitive during the MSIT only, indicating variation in a task-dependent manner. Increased levels of anticorrelation from rest to task also predicted successful interference resolution. Additional analyses revealed that the degree of DMN-DAN anticorrelation during the MSIT was associated to resting cerebral blood flow (CBF) within the DMN. This suggests that reduced DMN neural activity during rest underlies an impaired ability to achieve higher levels of anticorrelation during a task. Taken together, our results suggest that only parts of age-related differences in connectivity are uncovered at rest and thus, should be studied in the functional connectome across multiple states for a more comprehensive picture. PMID:28588476

Cancer Screening Test Use - United States, 2015.

PubMed

White, Arica; Thompson, Trevor D; White, Mary C; Sabatino, Susan A; de Moor, Janet; Doria-Rose, Paul V; Geiger, Ann M; Richardson, Lisa C

2017-03-03

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) includes objectives to increase screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer (1) as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).* Progress toward meeting these objectives is monitored by measuring cancer screening test use against national targets using data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (1). Analysis of 2015 NHIS data indicated that screening test use remains substantially below HP2020 targets for selected cancer screening tests. Although colorectal cancer screening test use increased from 2000 to 2015, no improvements in test use were observed for breast and cervical cancer screening. Disparities exist in screening test use by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and health care access indicators. Increased measures to implement evidence-based interventions and conduct targeted outreach are needed if the HP2020 targets for cancer screening are to be achieved and the disparities in screening test use are to be reduced.

A longitudinal examination of coach and peer motivational climates in youth sport: implications for moral attitudes, well-being, and behavioral investment.

PubMed

Ntoumanis, Nikos; Taylor, Ian M; Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie

2012-01-01

Embedded in achievement goal theory (Ames, 1992; Meece, Anderman, & Anderman, 2006), this study examined how perceptions of coach and peer motivational climate in youth sport predicted moral attitudes, emotional well-being, and indices of behavioral investment in a sample of British adolescents competing in regional leagues. We adopted a longitudinal perspective, taking measures at the middle and the end of a sport season, as well as at the beginning of the following season. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that perceptions of task-involving peer and coach climates were predictive of more adaptive outcomes than were perceptions of ego-involving peer and coach climates. Predictive effects differed as a function of time and outcome variable under investigation. The results indicate the importance of considering peer influence in addition to coach influence when examining motivational climate in youth sport.

"Rekindle and Recapture the Love": Establishing System-Wide Indicators of Progress in Community Engagement and Economic Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Janke, Emily M.

2014-01-01

In May 2012, University of North Carolina (UNC) President Tom Ross simultaneously commissioned two task forces to develop indicators that all UNC campuses could use to measure "progress in community engagement and economic development." The charge to the Community Engagement Task Force and the Economic Development Task Force was to…

Bridging the Gap: Individual Growth and Development Indicators--The Which One Doesn't Belong Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rodriguez, Megan I.; Wackerle-Hollman, Alisha K.

2015-01-01

The Individual Growth and Development Indicator (IGDI): Which One Doesn't Belong (WODB) task is an early comprehension screening assessment designed for use in pre-Kindergarten multi-tiered systems of support. This article summarizes the purpose, procedures, and evidence base currently available in the literature to support the WODB task. Example…

An evaluation of the production effects of video self-modeling.

PubMed

O'Handley, Roderick D; Allen, Keith D

2017-12-01

A multiple baseline across tasks design was used to evaluate the production effects of video self-modeling on three activities of daily living tasks of an adult male with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability. Results indicated large increases in task accuracy after the production of a self-modeling video for each task, but before the video was viewed by the participant. Results also indicated small increases when the participant was directed to view the same video self-models before being prompted to complete each task. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lucid Dreaming and Ventromedial versus Dorsolateral Prefrontal Task Performance

PubMed Central

Neider, Michelle; Pace-Schott, Edward F.; Forselius, Erica; Pittman, Brian; Morgan, Peter T.

2010-01-01

Activity in the prefrontal cortex may distinguish the meta-awareness experienced during lucid dreams from its absence in normal dreams. To examine a possible relationship between dream lucidity and prefrontal task performance, we carried out a prospective study in 28 high school students. Participants performed the Wisconsin Card Sort and Iowa Gambling tasks, then for one week kept dream journals and reported sleep quality and lucidity-related dream characteristics. Participants who exhibited a greater degree of lucidity performed significantly better on the task that engages the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (the Iowa Gambling Task), but degree of lucidity achieved did not distinguish performance on the task that engages the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (the Wisconsin Card Sort Task), nor did it distinguish self-reported sleep quality or baseline characteristics. The association between performance on the Iowa Gambling Task and lucidity suggests a connection between lucid dreaming and ventromedial prefrontal function. PMID:20829072

Simulation Of Research And Development Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miles, Ralph F.

1987-01-01

Measures of preference for alternative project plans calculated. Simulation of Research and Development Projects (SIMRAND) program aids in optimal allocation of research and development resources needed to achieve project goals. Models system subsets or project tasks as various network paths to final goal. Each path described in terms of such task variables as cost per hour, cost per unit, and availability of resources. Uncertainty incorporated by treating task variables as probabilistic random variables. Written in Microsoft FORTRAN 77.

Persistence: A Key Factor in Human Performance at Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blair, Daniel V.; Price, Donna J.

1998-01-01

Reviews the construct of persistence as it relates to achievement motivation at work. Topics include foundational concepts of persistence; achievement motivation theory; a human motivation model; goal-setting theory; self-efficacy theory; expectancy theory; task assignments; confidence; and perceived value. (LRW)

Verbal problem solving in high functioning autistic individuals.

PubMed

Minshew, N J; Siegel, D J; Goldstein, G; Weldy, S

1994-01-01

The verbal problem-solving and abstract reasoning ability of 25 high-functioning autistic individuals ages 11 to 41 was compared with normal controls individually matched on age, gender, race, IQ, and educational level. The Twenty Questions Procedure was administered using a grid of 42 common objects. Time to complete the task, number of correct solutions, and number and type of questions asked were analyzed. Results indicated that controls were more often successful in achieving solutions, and in formulating constraint seeking questions that conceptually grouped, ordered, and sorted the objects. In contrast, the autistics relied primarily on guessing. Findings are consistent with prior studies reporting a core deficit in autism involving abstract reasoning ability.

Longitudinal flying qualities criteria for single-pilot instrument flight operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stengel, R. F.; Bar-Gill, A.

1983-01-01

Modern estimation and control theory, flight testing, and statistical analysis were used to deduce flying qualities criteria for General Aviation Single Pilot Instrument Flight Rule (SPIFR) operations. The principal concern is that unsatisfactory aircraft dynamic response combined with high navigation/communication workload can produce problems of safety and efficiency. To alleviate these problems. The relative importance of these factors must be determined. This objective was achieved by flying SPIFR tasks with different aircraft dynamic configurations and assessing the effects of such variations under these conditions. The experimental results yielded quantitative indicators of pilot's performance and workload, and for each of them, multivariate regression was applied to evaluate several candidate flying qualities criteria.

A novel key-frame extraction approach for both video summary and video index.

PubMed

Lei, Shaoshuai; Xie, Gang; Yan, Gaowei

2014-01-01

Existing key-frame extraction methods are basically video summary oriented; yet the index task of key-frames is ignored. This paper presents a novel key-frame extraction approach which can be available for both video summary and video index. First a dynamic distance separability algorithm is advanced to divide a shot into subshots based on semantic structure, and then appropriate key-frames are extracted in each subshot by SVD decomposition. Finally, three evaluation indicators are proposed to evaluate the performance of the new approach. Experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves good semantic structure for semantics-based video index and meanwhile produces video summary consistent with human perception.

Assuring reliability program effectiveness.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ball, L. W.

1973-01-01

An attempt is made to provide simple identification and description of techniques that have proved to be most useful either in developing a new product or in improving reliability of an established product. The first reliability task is obtaining and organizing parts failure rate data. Other tasks are parts screening, tabulation of general failure rates, preventive maintenance, prediction of new product reliability, and statistical demonstration of achieved reliability. Five principal tasks for improving reliability involve the physics of failure research, derating of internal stresses, control of external stresses, functional redundancy, and failure effects control. A final task is the training and motivation of reliability specialist engineers.

Low-back electromyography (EMG) data-driven load classification for dynamic lifting tasks

PubMed Central

Ojeda, Lauro; Johnson, Daniel D.; Gates, Deanna; Mower Provost, Emily; Barton, Kira

2018-01-01

Objective Numerous devices have been designed to support the back during lifting tasks. To improve the utility of such devices, this research explores the use of preparatory muscle activity to classify muscle loading and initiate appropriate device activation. The goal of this study was to determine the earliest time window that enabled accurate load classification during a dynamic lifting task. Methods Nine subjects performed thirty symmetrical lifts, split evenly across three weight conditions (no-weight, 10-lbs and 24-lbs), while low-back muscle activity data was collected. Seven descriptive statistics features were extracted from 100 ms windows of data. A multinomial logistic regression (MLR) classifier was trained and tested, employing leave-one subject out cross-validation, to classify lifted load values. Dimensionality reduction was achieved through feature cross-correlation analysis and greedy feedforward selection. The time of full load support by the subject was defined as load-onset. Results Regions of highest average classification accuracy started at 200 ms before until 200 ms after load-onset with average accuracies ranging from 80% (±10%) to 81% (±7%). The average recall for each class ranged from 69–92%. Conclusion These inter-subject classification results indicate that preparatory muscle activity can be leveraged to identify the intent to lift a weight up to 100 ms prior to load-onset. The high accuracies shown indicate the potential to utilize intent classification for assistive device applications. Significance Active assistive devices, e.g. exoskeletons, could prevent back injury by off-loading low-back muscles. Early intent classification allows more time for actuators to respond and integrate seamlessly with the user. PMID:29447252

Do individual differences in Iowa Gambling Task performance predict adaptive decision making for risky gains and losses?

PubMed

Weller, Joshua A; Levin, Irwin P; Bechara, Antoine

2010-02-01

We relate performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a widely used, but complex, neuropsychological task of executive function in which mixed outcomes (gains and losses) are experienced together, to performance on a relatively simpler descriptive task, the Cups task, which isolates adaptive decision making for achieving gains and avoiding losses. We found that poor IGT performance was associated with suboptimal decision making on Cups, especially for risky losses, suggesting that losses are weighted more than gains in the IGT. These findings were significant beyond several notable gender differences in which men outperformed women. Implications for the neuropsychological study of risk are discussed.

Mathematical difficulties in nonverbal learning disability or co-morbid dyscalculia and dyslexia.

PubMed

Mammarella, Irene C; Bomba, Monica; Caviola, Sara; Broggi, Fiorenza; Neri, Francesca; Lucangeli, Daniela; Nacinovich, Renata

2013-01-01

The main goal of the present study was to shed further light on the weaknesses of children with different profiles of mathematical difficulties, testing children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD), co-morbid dyscalculia and dyslexia (D&D), or typical development (TD). Sixteen children with NLD, 15 with D&D, and 16 with TD completed tasks derived from Butterworth (2003 ) and divided into: a capacity subscale (i.e., a number-dots comparison task, a number comparison task, and a dots comparison task); and an achievement subscale (i.e., mental calculations and arithmetical fact retrieval). Children with NLD were impaired in the dots comparison task, children with D&D in the mental calculation and arithmetical facts.

Effects of transdermally administered nicotine on aspects of attention, task load, and mood in women and men.

PubMed

Trimmel, Michael; Wittberger, Susanne

2004-07-01

This double-blind placebo-controlled study was conducted to determine nicotine effects on diverse types of attentional performance, task load, and mood considering sex effects as suggested by animal studies. Twelve smokers, 12 deprived smokers and 12 nonsmokers (6 females, 6 males in each group) were investigated. Participants were treated either by 5 mg/16 h nicotine patches (Nicorette) or placebo. Effects of treatment were examined by a computerized attention-test battery; mood was assessed by the Berliner-Alltagssprachliches-Stimmungs-Inventar and task load by the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Results showed that nicotine significantly increased the number of hits and decreased reaction time (RT) in the vigilance task. In the selective attention task combined with irrelevant speech as background noise, nicotine enhanced rate of hits. Although it was indicated that nicotine leads to a generally higher accuracy in attention tasks, response time of visual search was prolonged, contradicting a universal facilitation by nicotine. Participants experienced mental demand and temporal demand lower and rated alertness higher when in the nicotine condition. These effects were independent of smoking status, indicating "true" nicotine effects. Females took significant advantage of nicotine in the vigilance task, reaching the performance level of males, accompanied by a higher rated alertness. Results indicate task- and sex-dependent nicotine effects.

Reading and School Achievement--Cognitive and Affective Influences; Selected Readings from the 8th Annual Spring Reading Conference at Rutgers University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kling, Martin, Ed.

This conference report contains the following papers: "Ability versus Knowledge in Testing Educational Achievement" and "Knowledge vs. Ability in Achievement Testing," by Robert L. Ebel; "A Four-Domain Taxonomy for Classifying Educational Tasks and Objectives," by Bruce W. Tuckman; "On the Social Psychology of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Further…

Task- and Self-Related Pathways to Deep Learning: The Mediating Role of Achievement Goals, Classroom Attentiveness, and Group Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lau, Shun; Liem, Arief Darmanegara; Nie, Youyan

2008-01-01

Background: The expectancy-value and achievement goal theories are arguably the two most dominant theories of achievement motivation in the contemporary literature. However, very few studies have examined how the constructs derived from both theories are related to deep learning. Moreover, although there is evidence demonstrating the links between…

The Impact of Criteria-Referenced Formative Assessment on Fifth-Grade Students' Theater Arts Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Fei; Andrade, Heidi

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of criteria-referenced formative assessment (CRFA) on students' achievement in theater arts. The role of type of task in differentiating the treatment-achievement relationship was explored. The analytical sample included 520 fifth-grade students from 13 schools in New York City. Schools were…

Achievement Motivation and Gender as Determinants of Attributions for Success and Failure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bar-Tal, Daniel; Frieze, Irene Hanson

Research designed to analyze the effect of achievement motivation and gender as determinants of attributions for success and failure is described. One-hundred and twenty male and female subjects, divided according to levels of achievement motivation, were asked to do an anagram task at which they were made to succeed or fail. Ratings of ability,…

Motivation and academic achievement in medical students.

PubMed

Yousefy, Alireza; Ghassemi, Gholamreza; Firouznia, Samaneh

2012-01-01

Despite their ascribed intellectual ability and achieved academic pursuits, medical students' academic achievement is influenced by motivation. This study is an endeavor to examine the role of motivation in the academic achievement of medical students. In this cross-sectional correlational study, out of the total 422 medical students, from 4th to final year during the academic year 2007-2008, at School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 344 participated in completion of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM), comprising 43 items and measuring eight aspects of motivation. The gold standard for academic achievement was their average academic marks at pre-clinical and clinical levels. Data were computer analyzed by running a couple of descriptive and analytical tests including Pearson Correlation and Student's t-student. Higher motivation scores in areas of competition, effort, social concern, and task were accompanied by higher average marks at pre-clinical as well as clinical levels. However, the latter ones showed greater motivation for social power as compared to the former group. Task and competition motivation for boys was higher than for girls. In view of our observations, students' academic achievement requires coordination and interaction between different aspects of motivation.

Risky Decision Making Assessed With the Gambling Task in Adults with HIV

PubMed Central

Hardy, David J.; Hinkin, Charles H.; Castellon, Steven A.; Levine, Andrew J.; Lam, Mona N.

2010-01-01

Decision making was assessed using a laboratory gambling task in 67 adults with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV+) and in 19 HIV-seronegative (HIV−) control participants. Neurocognitive test performance across several domains was also analyzed to examine potential cognitive mechanisms of gambling task performance. As predicted, the HIV+ group performed worse on the gambling task, indicating greater risky decision making. Specifically, the HIV+ group selected more cards from the “risky” or disadvantageous deck that included relatively large payoffs but infrequent large penalties. The control group also selected such risky cards but quickly learned to avoid them. Exploratory analyses also indicated that in the HIV+ group, but not in the control group, gambling task performance was correlated with Stroop Interference performance and long delay free recall on the California Verbal Learning Test, suggesting the role of inhibitory processes and verbal memory in the poorer gambling task performance in HIV. These findings indicate the usefulness of the gambling task as a laboratory tool to examine risky decision making and cognition in the HIV population. PMID:16719628

Testing the Limits of Optimizing Dual-Task Performance in Younger and Older Adults

PubMed Central

Strobach, Tilo; Frensch, Peter; Müller, Herrmann Josef; Schubert, Torsten

2012-01-01

Impaired dual-task performance in younger and older adults can be improved with practice. Optimal conditions even allow for a (near) elimination of this impairment in younger adults. However, it is unknown whether such (near) elimination is the limit of performance improvements in older adults. The present study tests this limit in older adults under conditions of (a) a high amount of dual-task training and (b) training with simplified component tasks in dual-task situations. The data showed that a high amount of dual-task training in older adults provided no evidence for an improvement of dual-task performance to the optimal dual-task performance level achieved by younger adults. However, training with simplified component tasks in dual-task situations exclusively in older adults provided a similar level of optimal dual-task performance in both age groups. Therefore through applying a testing the limits approach, we demonstrated that older adults improved dual-task performance to the same level as younger adults at the end of training under very specific conditions. PMID:22408613

State of the Art Student Support Services in an IEP Learning Center

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanson, Jessica; Maxwell, Jeffrey; Mulder, Monika

2015-01-01

Intensive English language programs (IEPs) at American universities have the task of recruiting, retaining, and preparing international students for mainstream classes. In order to achieve these tasks, many programs have explored using supplemental instruction (SI) in the form of learning centers (LCs) to support their students. In this study, we…

Relationships between Continuous Performance Task Scores and Other Cognitive Measures: Causality or Commonality?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aylward, Glen P.; Gordon, Michael; Verhulst, Steven J.

1997-01-01

Relationships among continuous performance test (CPT), IQ, achievement, and memory/learning scores were explored for 1,280 children about 9 years old. Associations among the CPT measures and various cognitive/academic tasks suggest that all require attention and inhibition. The importance of assessing attention and disinhibition in psychological…

Benefits of a Tangible Interface for Collaborative Learning and Interaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Bertrand; Jermann, Patrick; Zufferey, Guillaume; Dillenbourg, Pierre

2011-01-01

We investigated the role that tangibility plays in a problem-solving task by observing logistic apprentices using either a multitouch or a tangible interface. Results showed that tangibility helped them perform the task better and achieve a higher learning gain. In addition, groups using the tangible interface collaborated better, explored more…

See Me through My Eyes: Adolescent-Parent Agreement in Personality Predicts Later Self-Esteem Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luan, Ziyan; Poorthuis, Astrid M. G.; Hutteman, Roos; Asendorpf, Jens B.; Denissen, Jaap J. A.; van Aken, Marcel A. G.

2018-01-01

Achieving a clear view of one's personality is a challenging but crucial developmental task during adolescence, which has enduring influences. This task might be harder if significant others see individuals differently from how the adolescents see themselves. Supporting this, the looking-glass-self theory suggests that significant others…

The Effects of Microcomputers on Children's Attention to Reading Tasks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zuk, Dorie; Danner, Fred

A study investigated the effects of microcomputers on children's attention to reading tasks and the relationship between previous reading achievement and grade level on such attentional behavior. Fifty-five third and fifth graders read two stories each, one presented on a microcomputer and one presented in print. Television cartoons and rock music…

Examining the Developmental Dynamics between Achievement Strategies and Different Literacy Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Georgiou, George K.; Manolitsis, George; Zhang, Xiao; Parrila, Rauno; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2013-01-01

We examined the developmental dynamics between task-avoidant behavior and different literacy outcomes, and possible precursors of task-avoidant behavior. Seventy Greek children were followed from Grade 4 until Grade 6 and were assessed every year on reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension. The teachers assessed the children's…

Culturally Familiar Tasks on Reading Performance and Self-Efficacy of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelley, Heather M.; Siwatu, Kamau Oginga; Tost, Jeremy R.; Martinez, James

2015-01-01

Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of constructivism and social cognitive theory, this study examined utilising culturally responsive pedagogy through a Latino themed reading task with the intention of increasing reading achievement and reading self-efficacy beliefs for culturally and linguistically diverse students. The research was conducted…

How Do Academically Successful Pasifika Students Perceive Task Value?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tait, Kirstin; Horsley, Jenny; Tait, Carolyn

2016-01-01

Pasifika students are a minority group in New Zealand education who are at risk of underachievement. This article examines how five high achieving Pasifika students reported the factors that contribute to the task value of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) Scholarship. It uses expectancy value theory to consider motivation through…

Towards Universal Primary Education: Investments, Incentives, and Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birdsall, Nancy; Levine, Ruth; Ibrahim, Amina

2005-01-01

The UN Millennium Project Task Force on Education and Gender Equality, an expert advisory group commissioned by the UN Secretary-General, was asked to examine how dramatic improvements in education can be achieved in the developing world. The task force investigated the problems of low enrolment, early drop-out and poor learning outcomes that so…

Visual Recognition Memory, Paired-Associate Learning, and Reading Achievement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Roger H.; Samuels, S. Jay

The relationship between visual recognition memory and performance on a paired-associate task for good and poor readers was investigated. Subjects were three groups of 21, 21, and 22 children each, with mean IQ's of 98.2, 108.1, and 118.0, respectively. Three experimental tasks, individually administered to each subject, measured visual…

Achieving Educational Excellence by Increasing Access to Knowledge: Discussion Document. Report of the Task Force on Education Network Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Education Goals Panel, Washington, DC.

Internetworked communications restructures relationships among educators, learners, and knowledge and information, and promises a systemic acceleration of the pace of educational change. In this report, the Task Force on Education Network Technology identifies the following rationales for deployment and utilization of such communications: to…

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle value proposition study. Phase 1, task 2, select value proposition/business model for further study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-04-01

The objective of Task 2 is to identify the combination of value propositions that is : believed to be achievable by 2030 and collectively hold promise for a sustainable : PHEV market by 2030. This deliverable outlines what the project team (with inpu...

Model curriculum outline for Alternatively Fueled Vehicle (AFV) automotive technician training in light and medium duty CNG and LPG

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

NONE

This model curriculum outline was developed using a turbo-DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) process which utilizes practicing experts to undertake a comprehensive job and task analysis. The job and task analysis serves to establish current baseline data accurately and to improve both the process and the product of the job through constant and continuous improvement of training. The DACUM process is based on the following assumptions: (1) Expert workers are the best source for task analysis. (2) Any occupation can be described effectively in terms of tasks. (3) All tasks imply knowledge, skills, and attitudes/values. A DACUM panel, comprised of sixmore » experienced and knowledgeable technicians who are presently working in the field, was given an orientation to the DACUM process. The panel then identified, verified, and sequenced all the necessary job duty areas and tasks. The broad duty categories were rated according to relative importance and assigned percentage ratings in priority order. The panel then rated every task for each of the duties on a scale of 1 to 3. A rating of 3 indicates an {open_quotes}essential{close_quotes} task, a rating of 2 indicates an {open_quotes}important{close_quotes} task, and a rating of 1 indicates a {open_quotes}desirable{close_quotes} task.« less

Order management empowering entrepreneurial partnerships in the context of new technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tămăşilă, M.; Proştean, G.; Diaconescu, A.

2018-01-01

The expansiveness of latest generation technologies triggers manufacturers from different industry sectors more complex situations in order management with various loyal customers and occasional customers. More specifically, orders variations in logistics chain make it difficult to achieve entrepreneurial partnerships in the context of new technologies integrated into automotive and wind industry processes, which hinders getting major investments. Within this framework, the research team investigates the bottlenecks in the supply chain and indicates some rules and methods to solve the desynchronizations and fluctuations caused by the constraints of cutting-edge technologies. The paper aims to solve order management problems based on both an algorithm and an implementation in SAP. Also, in the paper, a conceptual model is created for the user whose basic task is the management of the entrepreneurial orders. Solutions identified based on the algorithm offers an order management plan by optimally adjusting inventories to deal with any kind of orders, thus achieving a profitable entrepreneurial approach between the two partners.

The Effect of Neurocognitive Function on Math Computation in Pediatric ADHD: Moderating Influences of Anxious Perfectionism and Gender.

PubMed

Sturm, Alexandra; Rozenman, Michelle; Piacentini, John C; McGough, James J; Loo, Sandra K; McCracken, James T

2018-03-20

Predictors of math achievement in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not well-known. To address this gap in the literature, we examined individual differences in neurocognitive functioning domains on math computation in a cross-sectional sample of youth with ADHD. Gender and anxiety symptoms were explored as potential moderators. The sample consisted of 281 youth (aged 8-15 years) diagnosed with ADHD. Neurocognitive tasks assessed auditory-verbal working memory, visuospatial working memory, and processing speed. Auditory-verbal working memory speed significantly predicted math computation. A three-way interaction revealed that at low levels of anxious perfectionism, slower processing speed predicted poorer math computation for boys compared to girls. These findings indicate the uniquely predictive values of auditory-verbal working memory and processing speed on math computation, and their differential moderation. These findings provide preliminary support that gender and anxious perfectionism may influence the relationship between neurocognitive functioning and academic achievement.

Possible selves in patients with right- versus left-onset Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Harris, Erica; McNamara, Patrick; Durso, Raymon

2017-03-01

Possible selves can be used to self-regulate and guide behavior towards what is desired to be achieved or avoided in life. Previous work suggests laterality effects exist within the brain regarding approach and avoidance systems to achieve self-regulation. A modified version of the possible selves task was administered to 45 patients with PD (22 right-onset and 23 left-onset) and 25 community dwelling control subjects (CS). Only 11.1% of patients exhibited balance among their hoped-for and feared possible selves versus 28% of CS. More right-onset patients used a promotion strategy whereas more left-onset patients used a prevention strategy. Patients with left-onset PD thought more about their feared selves, exhibiting reduced goal-directed behavior. Findings among the left-onset group indicate relative dependence of self-regulation on right-sided avoidance brain systems. This may point to an inability to move away from negative outcomes and to work towards rewarding outcomes, which could affect psychological health.

Helicopter flight investigation to determine the effects of a closed-circuit TV on performance of a precision sling-load handling task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dicarlo, D. J.; Kelley, H. L.; Spivey, D. L.

1974-01-01

Helicopter sling-load operations have been limited during hover and low-speed flight by the degree of precision achieved by the pilot/helicopter/sling-load combination. Previous attempts to improve precision have included stabilization of the load and helicopter and the addition of a pilot station directly facing the load. In these tests, use of a closed-circuit TV as a display that would permit sling-load delivery and placement by the forward-facing pilot was evaluated using a CH-54B helicopter. In all, three test cases were documented, which included the following: (1) forward-facing pilot using the TV display, (2) forward-facing pilot using verbal commands from a load-facing observer, and (3) aft-facing pilot using direct visual cues. The results indicate that a comparable level of performance was achieved for each test case; however, an increase in pilot workload was noted when the TV system was used.

Short progressive muscle relaxation or motor coordination training does not increase performance in a brain-computer interface based on sensorimotor rhythms (SMR).

PubMed

Botrel, L; Acqualagna, L; Blankertz, B; Kübler, A

2017-11-01

Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) allow for controlling devices through modulation of sensorimotor rhythms (SMR), yet a profound number of users is unable to achieve sufficient accuracy. Here, we investigated if visuo-motor coordination (VMC) training or Jacobsen's progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) prior to BCI use would increase later performance compared to a control group who performed a reading task (CG). Running the study in two different BCI-labs, we achieved a joint sample size of N=154 naïve participants. No significant effect of either intervention (VMC, PMR, control) was found on resulting BCI performance. Relaxation level and visuo-motor performance were associated with later BCI performance in one BCI-lab but not in the other. These mixed results do not indicate a strong potential of VMC or PMR for boosting performance. Yet further research with different training parameters or experimental designs is needed to complete the picture. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

LBP based detection of intestinal motility in WCE images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo, Giovanni; Granata, Eliana

2011-03-01

In this research study, a system to support medical analysis of intestinal contractions by processing WCE images is presented. Small intestine contractions are among the motility patterns which reveal many gastrointestinal disorders, such as functional dyspepsia, paralytic ileus, irritable bowel syndrome, bacterial overgrowth. The images have been obtained using the Wireless Capsule Endoscopy (WCE) technique, a patented, video colorimaging disposable capsule. Manual annotation of contractions is an elaborating task, since the recording device of the capsule stores about 50,000 images and contractions might represent only the 1% of the whole video. In this paper we propose the use of Local Binary Pattern (LBP) combined with the powerful textons statistics to find the frames of the video related to contractions. We achieve a sensitivity of about 80% and a specificity of about 99%. The achieved high detection accuracy of the proposed system has provided thus an indication that such intelligent schemes could be used as a supplementary diagnostic tool in endoscopy.

Delay and death-thought accessibility: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Steinman, Christopher T; Updegraff, John A

2015-12-01

The dual-process component of Terror Management Theory (TMT) proposes that different types of threats lead to increases in death-thought accessibility (DTA) after different delay intervals. Experimental studies of terror management threats' effect on DTA were collected and coded for their use of explicitly death-related (vs. not explicitly death-related) threats, and for their use of delay and task-switching during the delay. Results reveal that studies using death-related threats achieved larger DTA effect-sizes when they included more task-switching or a longer delay between the threat and the DTA measurement. In contrast, studies using threats that were not explicitly death-related achieved smaller DTA effect-sizes when they included more task-switching between the threat and the DTA measurement. These findings provide partial support for the dual-process component's predictions regarding delay and DTA. Limitations and future directions are discussed. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Thermal management for high power space platform systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gualdoni, R. A.

1980-01-01

With future spacecraft power requirements expected to be in the order of 100 to 250 kilowatts and orbital lifetimes in the order of five to ten years, new approaches and concepts will be required that can efficiently and cost effectively provide the required heat rejection and temperature control capabilities. A plan was established to develop the commensurate technologies necessary for the thermal management of a high power space platform representative of future requirements and to achieve technology readiness by 1987. The approach taken in developing the program was to view the thermal requirements of the spacecraft as a spacecraft system rather than each as an isolated thermal problem. The program plan proposes 45 technology tasks required to achieve technology readiness. Of this total, 24 tasks were subsequently identified as being pacing technology tasks and were recommended for initiation in FY 1980 and FY 1981.

Math achievement is important, but task values are critical, too: examining the intellectual and motivational factors leading to gender disparities in STEM careers.

PubMed

Wang, Ming-Te; Degol, Jessica; Ye, Feifei

2015-01-01

Although young women now obtain higher course grades in math than boys and are just as likely to be enrolled in advanced math courses in high school, females continue to be underrepresented in some Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations. This study drew on expectancy-value theory to assess (1) which intellectual and motivational factors in high school predict gender differences in career choices and (2) whether students' motivational beliefs mediated the pathway of gender on STEM career via math achievement by using a national longitudinal sample in the United States. We found that math achievement in 12th grade mediated the association between gender and attainment of a STEM career by the early to mid-thirties. However, math achievement was not the only factor distinguishing gender differences in STEM occupations. Even though math achievement explained career differences between men and women, math task value partially explained the gender differences in STEM career attainment that were attributed to math achievement. The identification of potential factors of women's underrepresentation in STEM will enhance our ability to design intervention programs that are optimally tailored to female needs to impact STEM achievement and occupational choices.

Math achievement is important, but task values are critical, too: examining the intellectual and motivational factors leading to gender disparities in STEM careers

PubMed Central

Wang, Ming-Te; Degol, Jessica; Ye, Feifei

2015-01-01

Although young women now obtain higher course grades in math than boys and are just as likely to be enrolled in advanced math courses in high school, females continue to be underrepresented in some Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations. This study drew on expectancy-value theory to assess (1) which intellectual and motivational factors in high school predict gender differences in career choices and (2) whether students’ motivational beliefs mediated the pathway of gender on STEM career via math achievement by using a national longitudinal sample in the United States. We found that math achievement in 12th grade mediated the association between gender and attainment of a STEM career by the early to mid-thirties. However, math achievement was not the only factor distinguishing gender differences in STEM occupations. Even though math achievement explained career differences between men and women, math task value partially explained the gender differences in STEM career attainment that were attributed to math achievement. The identification of potential factors of women’s underrepresentation in STEM will enhance our ability to design intervention programs that are optimally tailored to female needs to impact STEM achievement and occupational choices. PMID:25741292

Using Pupil Diameter Changes for Measuring Mental Workload under Mental Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batmaz, Ihsan; Ozturk, Mustafa

In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the mental workload by using a practical way which based on measuring pupil diameter changes that occurs under mental processing. To determine the mental effort required for each task, the video record of subjects` eyes are taken while they are performed different tasks and pupils were measured from the records. A group of university student, one female 9 males participated to the experiment. Additionally, NASA-TLX questionnaire is applied for the related mental tasks. For verification of results obtained from both indices, the correlation coefficient is calculated task base. The results show that there is weak and negative correlation between the indices on task base except 3rd task. By investigating pupil diameter measurements data too, it is founded that pupil dilates under mental workload during performing related tasks. For all tasks, pupil diameters of response periods increased according to reference baseline period.

The influence of deliberate practice on musical achievement: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Platz, Friedrich; Kopiez, Reinhard; Lehmann, Andreas C; Wolf, Anna

2014-01-01

Deliberate practice (DP) is a task-specific structured training activity that plays a key role in understanding skill acquisition and explaining individual differences in expert performance. Relevant activities that qualify as DP have to be identified in every domain. For example, for training in classical music, solitary practice is a typical training activity during skill acquisition. To date, no meta-analysis on the quantifiable effect size of deliberate practice on attained performance in music has been conducted. Yet the identification of a quantifiable effect size could be relevant for the current discussion on the role of various factors on individual difference in musical achievement. Furthermore, a research synthesis might enable new computational approaches to musical development. Here we present the first meta-analysis on the role of deliberate practice in the domain of musical performance. A final sample size of 13 studies (total N = 788) was carefully extracted to satisfy the following criteria: reported durations of task-specific accumulated practice as predictor variables and objectively assessed musical achievement as the target variable. We identified an aggregated effect size of r c = 0.61; 95% CI [0.54, 0.67] for the relationship between task-relevant practice (which by definition includes DP) and musical achievement. Our results corroborate the central role of long-term (deliberate) practice for explaining expert performance in music.

A neural network-based exploratory learning and motor planning system for co-robots

PubMed Central

Galbraith, Byron V.; Guenther, Frank H.; Versace, Massimiliano

2015-01-01

Collaborative robots, or co-robots, are semi-autonomous robotic agents designed to work alongside humans in shared workspaces. To be effective, co-robots require the ability to respond and adapt to dynamic scenarios encountered in natural environments. One way to achieve this is through exploratory learning, or “learning by doing,” an unsupervised method in which co-robots are able to build an internal model for motor planning and coordination based on real-time sensory inputs. In this paper, we present an adaptive neural network-based system for co-robot control that employs exploratory learning to achieve the coordinated motor planning needed to navigate toward, reach for, and grasp distant objects. To validate this system we used the 11-degrees-of-freedom RoPro Calliope mobile robot. Through motor babbling of its wheels and arm, the Calliope learned how to relate visual and proprioceptive information to achieve hand-eye-body coordination. By continually evaluating sensory inputs and externally provided goal directives, the Calliope was then able to autonomously select the appropriate wheel and joint velocities needed to perform its assigned task, such as following a moving target or retrieving an indicated object. PMID:26257640

[A review of the genomic and gene cloning studies in trees].

PubMed

Yin, Tong-Ming

2010-07-01

Supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) of U.S., the first tree genome, black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), has been completely sequenced and publicly release. This is the milestone that indicates the beginning of post-genome era for forest trees. Identification and cloning genes underlying important traits are one of the main tasks for the post-genome-era tree genomic studies. Recently, great achievements have been made in cloning genes coordinating important domestication traits in some crops, such as rice, tomato, maize and so on. Molecular breeding has been applied in the practical breeding programs for many crops. By contrast, molecular studies in trees are lagging behind. Trees possess some characteristics that make them as difficult organisms for studying on locating and cloning of genes. With the advances in techniques, given also the fast growth of tree genomic resources, great achievements are desirable in cloning unknown genes from trees, which will facilitate tree improvement programs by means of molecular breeding. In this paper, the author reviewed the progress in tree genomic and gene cloning studies, and prospected the future achievements in order to provide a useful reference for researchers working in this area.

A neural network-based exploratory learning and motor planning system for co-robots.

PubMed

Galbraith, Byron V; Guenther, Frank H; Versace, Massimiliano

2015-01-01

Collaborative robots, or co-robots, are semi-autonomous robotic agents designed to work alongside humans in shared workspaces. To be effective, co-robots require the ability to respond and adapt to dynamic scenarios encountered in natural environments. One way to achieve this is through exploratory learning, or "learning by doing," an unsupervised method in which co-robots are able to build an internal model for motor planning and coordination based on real-time sensory inputs. In this paper, we present an adaptive neural network-based system for co-robot control that employs exploratory learning to achieve the coordinated motor planning needed to navigate toward, reach for, and grasp distant objects. To validate this system we used the 11-degrees-of-freedom RoPro Calliope mobile robot. Through motor babbling of its wheels and arm, the Calliope learned how to relate visual and proprioceptive information to achieve hand-eye-body coordination. By continually evaluating sensory inputs and externally provided goal directives, the Calliope was then able to autonomously select the appropriate wheel and joint velocities needed to perform its assigned task, such as following a moving target or retrieving an indicated object.