Who multi-tasks and why? Multi-tasking ability, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking.

PubMed

Sanbonmatsu, David M; Strayer, David L; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M

2013-01-01

The present study examined the relationship between personality and individual differences in multi-tasking ability. Participants enrolled at the University of Utah completed measures of multi-tasking activity, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. In addition, they performed the Operation Span in order to assess their executive control and actual multi-tasking ability. The findings indicate that the persons who are most capable of multi-tasking effectively are not the persons who are most likely to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously. To the contrary, multi-tasking activity as measured by the Media Multitasking Inventory and self-reported cell phone usage while driving were negatively correlated with actual multi-tasking ability. Multi-tasking was positively correlated with participants' perceived ability to multi-task ability which was found to be significantly inflated. Participants with a strong approach orientation and a weak avoidance orientation--high levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking--reported greater multi-tasking behavior. Finally, the findings suggest that people often engage in multi-tasking because they are less able to block out distractions and focus on a singular task. Participants with less executive control--low scorers on the Operation Span task and persons high in impulsivity--tended to report higher levels of multi-tasking activity.

Task and Participant Scheduling of Trading Platforms in Vehicular Participatory Sensing Networks

PubMed Central

Shi, Heyuan; Song, Xiaoyu; Gu, Ming; Sun, Jiaguang

2016-01-01

The vehicular participatory sensing network (VPSN) is now becoming more and more prevalent, and additionally has shown its great potential in various applications. A general VPSN consists of many tasks from task, publishers, trading platforms and a crowd of participants. Some literature treats publishers and the trading platform as a whole, which is impractical since they are two independent economic entities with respective purposes. For a trading platform in markets, its purpose is to maximize the profit by selecting tasks and recruiting participants who satisfy the requirements of accepted tasks, rather than to improve the quality of each task. This scheduling problem for a trading platform consists of two parts: which tasks should be selected and which participants to be recruited? In this paper, we investigate the scheduling problem in vehicular participatory sensing with the predictable mobility of each vehicle. A genetic-based trading scheduling algorithm (GTSA) is proposed to solve the scheduling problem. Experiments with a realistic dataset of taxi trajectories demonstrate that GTSA algorithm is efficient for trading platforms to gain considerable profit in VPSN. PMID:27916807

Task and Participant Scheduling of Trading Platforms in Vehicular Participatory Sensing Networks.

PubMed

Shi, Heyuan; Song, Xiaoyu; Gu, Ming; Sun, Jiaguang

2016-11-28

The vehicular participatory sensing network (VPSN) is now becoming more and more prevalent, and additionally has shown its great potential in various applications. A general VPSN consists of many tasks from task, publishers, trading platforms and a crowd of participants. Some literature treats publishers and the trading platform as a whole, which is impractical since they are two independent economic entities with respective purposes. For a trading platform in markets, its purpose is to maximize the profit by selecting tasks and recruiting participants who satisfy the requirements of accepted tasks, rather than to improve the quality of each task. This scheduling problem for a trading platform consists of two parts: which tasks should be selected and which participants to be recruited? In this paper, we investigate the scheduling problem in vehicular participatory sensing with the predictable mobility of each vehicle. A genetic-based trading scheduling algorithm (GTSA) is proposed to solve the scheduling problem. Experiments with a realistic dataset of taxi trajectories demonstrate that GTSA algorithm is efficient for trading platforms to gain considerable profit in VPSN.

Performance of Healthy Participants on the Iowa Gambling Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steingroever, Helen; Wetzels, Ruud; Horstmann, Annette; Neumann, Jane; Wagenmakers, Eric-Jan

2013-01-01

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994) is often used to assess decision-making deficits in clinical populations. The interpretation of the results hinges on 3 key assumptions: (a) healthy participants learn to prefer the good options over the bad options; (b) healthy participants show homogeneous choice behavior;…

Using Task Clarification, Graphic Feedback, and Verbal Feedback to Increase Closing-Task Completion in a Privately Owned Restaurant.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austin, John; Weatherly, Nic L.; Gravina, Nicole E.

2005-01-01

An informant functional assessment was used to evaluate closing-task completion by servers and dishwashers at a restaurant. Based on the functional assessment results, an intervention consisting of task clarification, posted graphic feedback, and verbal feedback was implemented and evaluated with a multiple baseline design across two groups of…

Single-task and dual-task tandem gait test performance after concussion.

PubMed

Howell, David R; Osternig, Louis R; Chou, Li-Shan

2017-07-01

To compare single-task and dual-task tandem gait test performance between athletes after concussion with controls on observer-timed, spatio-temporal, and center-of-mass (COM) balance control measurements. Ten participants (19.0±5.5years) were prospectively identified and completed a tandem gait test protocol within 72h of concussion and again 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, and 2 months post-injury. Seven uninjured controls (20.0±4.5years) completed the same protocol in similar time increments. Tandem gait test trials were performed with (dual-task) and without (single-task) concurrently performing a cognitive test as whole-body motion analysis was performed. Outcome variables included test completion time, average tandem gait velocity, cadence, and whole-body COM frontal plane displacement. Concussion participants took significantly longer to complete the dual-task tandem gait test than controls throughout the first 2 weeks post-injury (mean time=16.4 [95% CI: 13.4-19.4] vs. 10.1 [95% CI: 6.4-13.7] seconds; p=0.03). Single-task tandem gait times were significantly lower 72h post-injury (p=0.04). Dual-task cadence was significantly lower for concussion participants than controls (89.5 [95% CI: 68.6-110.4] vs. 127.0 [95% CI: 97.4-156.6] steps/minute; p=0.04). Moderately-high to high correlations between tandem gait test time and whole-body COM medial-lateral displacement were detected at each time point during dual-task gait (r s =0.70-0.93; p=0.03-0.001). Adding a cognitive task during the tandem gait test resulted in longer detectable deficits post-concussion compared to the traditional single-task tandem gait test. As a clinical tool to assess dynamic motor function, tandem gait may assist with return to sport decisions after concussion. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Decision making in healthy participants on the Iowa Gambling Task: new insights from an operant approach.

PubMed

Bull, Peter N; Tippett, Lynette J; Addis, Donna Rose

2015-01-01

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has contributed greatly to the study of affective decision making. However, researchers have observed high inter-study and inter-individual variability in IGT performance in healthy participants, and many are classified as impaired using standard criteria. Additionally, while decision-making deficits are often attributed to atypical sensitivity to reward and/or punishment, the IGT lacks an integrated sensitivity measure. Adopting an operant perspective, two experiments were conducted to explore these issues. In Experiment 1, 50 healthy participants completed a 200-trial version of the IGT which otherwise closely emulated Bechara et al.'s (1999) original computer task. Group data for Trials 1-100 closely replicated Bechara et al.'s original findings of high net scores and preferences for advantageous decks, suggesting that implementations that depart significantly from Bechara's standard IGT contribute to inter-study variability. During Trials 101-200, mean net scores improved significantly and the percentage of participants meeting the "impaired" criterion was halved. An operant-style stability criterion applied to individual data revealed this was likely related to individual differences in learning rate. Experiment 2 used a novel operant card task-the Auckland Card Task (ACT)-to derive quantitative estimates of sensitivity using the generalized matching law. Relative to individuals who mastered the IGT, persistent poor performers on the IGT exhibited significantly lower sensitivity to magnitudes (but not frequencies) of rewards and punishers on the ACT. Overall, our findings demonstrate the utility of operant-style analysis of IGT data and the potential of applying operant concurrent-schedule procedures to the study of human decision making.

Why Do Students Choose Not to Follow All Instructions When Completing Assessment Tasks?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleet, Wendy

2013-01-01

As academics we often assume that allocating marks to a task will influence student decision-making when it comes to completing that task. Marks are used by lecturers to indicate the relative importance of each of the criteria used for marking the assessment task and we expect the student to respond to the marks' allocation. This Postcard suggests…

Tasks completed by nursing members of a teaching hospital Medical Emergency Team.

PubMed

Topple, Michelle; Ryan, Brooke; Baldwin, Ian; McKay, Richard; Blythe, Damien; Rogan, John; Radford, Sam; Jones, Daryl

2016-02-01

To assess tasks completed by intensive care medical emergency team nurses. Prospective observational study. Australian teaching hospital. Nursing-related technical and non-technical tasks and level of self-reported confidence and competence. Amongst 400 calls, triggers and nursing tasks were captured in 93.5% and 77.3% of cases, respectively. The median patient age was 73 years. The four most common triggers were hypotension (22.0%), tachycardia (21.1%), low SpO2 (17.4%), and altered conscious state (10.1%). Non-technical skills included investigation review (33.7%), history acquisition (18.4%), contribution to the management plan (40.5%) and explanation to bedside nurses (78.3%), doctors (13.6%), allied health (3.9%) or patient/relative (39.5%). Technical tasks included examining the circulation (32%), conscious state (29.4%), and chest (26.5%). Additional tasks included adjusting oxygen (23.9%), humidification (8.4%), non-invasive ventilation (6.5%), performing an ECG (22%), and administrating fluid as a bolus (17.5%) or maintenance (16, 5.2%), or medication as a statim dose (16.8%) or infusion (5.2%). Self-reported competence and confidence appeared to be high overall amongst our MET nurses. Our findings provide important information on the tasks completed by Medical Emergency Team nurses and will guide future training. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Participant Withdrawal as a Function of Hedonic Value of Task and Time of Semester

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellone, John A.; Navarick, Douglas J.; Mendoza, Raquel

2012-01-01

Undergraduates participating in experiments late in the semester generally perform more poorly on demanding tasks and withdraw more often than those participating early. To investigate effects of task aversiveness, some participants were instructed to choose brief cartoon reinforcement with a long time-out while others were instructed to choose…

What Do We Really Know about Cognitive Inhibition? Task Demands and Inhibitory Effects across a Range of Memory and Behavioural Tasks.

PubMed

Noreen, Saima; MacLeod, Malcolm D

2015-01-01

Our study explores inhibitory control across a range of widely recognised memory and behavioural tasks. Eighty-seven never-depressed participants completed a series of tasks designed to measure inhibitory control in memory and behaviour. Specifically, a variant of the selective retrieval-practice and the Think/No-Think tasks were employed as measures of memory inhibition. The Stroop-Colour Naming and the Go/No-Go tasks were used as measures of behavioural inhibition. Participants completed all 4 tasks. Task presentation order was counterbalanced across 3 separate testing sessions for each participant. Standard inhibitory forgetting effects emerged on both memory tasks but the extent of forgetting across these tasks was not correlated. Furthermore, there was no relationship between memory inhibition tasks and either of the main behavioural inhibition measures. At a time when cognitive inhibition continues to gain acceptance as an explanatory mechanism, our study raises fundamental questions about what we actually know about inhibition and how it is affected by the processing demands of particular inhibitory tasks.

The Effect of Prior Task Success on Older Adults' Memory Performance: Examining the Influence of Different Types of Task Success.

PubMed

Geraci, Lisa; Hughes, Matthew L; Miller, Tyler M; De Forrest, Ross L

2016-01-01

Negative aging stereotypes can lead older adults to perform poorly on memory tests. Yet, memory performance can be improved if older adults have a single successful experience on a cognitive test prior to participating in a memory experiment (Geraci & Miller, 2013, Psychology and Aging, 28, 340-345). The current study examined the effects of different types of prior task experience on subsequent memory performance. Before participating in a verbal free recall experiment, older adults in Experiment 1 successfully completed either a verbal or a visual cognitive task or no task. In Experiment 2, they successfully completed either a motor task or no task before participating in the free recall experiment. Results from Experiment 1 showed that relative to control (no prior task), participants who had prior success, either on a verbal or a visual task, had better subsequent recall performance. Experiment 2 showed that prior success on a motor task, however, did not lead to a later memory advantage relative to control. These findings demonstrate that older adults' memory can be improved by a successful prior task experience so long as that experience is in a cognitive domain.

Reverse Discourse Completion Task as an Assessment Tool for Intercultural Competence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kanik, Mehmet

2013-01-01

This paper proposes a prototypic assessment tool for intercultural communicative competence. Because traditional discourse completion tasks (DCTs) focus on illocutionary competence rather than sociolinguistic competence, a modified version of a DCT was created to target sociolinguistic competence. The modified DCT employs speech acts as prompts…

Portable electronic assistive technology to improve vocational task completion in young adults with an intellectual disability.

PubMed

Collins, James C; Collet-Klingenberg, Lana

2017-01-01

This article summarizes a review of empirical literature from 2000 to 2015 that involved the use of specific portable technology to support persons with an intellectual disability in completing work-related tasks. Nineteen studies were identified for review, with an emphasis on the identification of (a) the characteristics of participants and settings, (b) the types of portable technology and prompting formats used, (c) the research designs utilized, (d) the independent and dependent variables, (e) the measures of reliability and validity, and (f) the overall effectiveness of the interventions. The authors provide an interpretation of the findings as well as the implications of the results and recommended areas for future research.

What Do We Really Know about Cognitive Inhibition? Task Demands and Inhibitory Effects across a Range of Memory and Behavioural Tasks

PubMed Central

Noreen, Saima; MacLeod, Malcolm D.

2015-01-01

Our study explores inhibitory control across a range of widely recognised memory and behavioural tasks. Eighty-seven never-depressed participants completed a series of tasks designed to measure inhibitory control in memory and behaviour. Specifically, a variant of the selective retrieval-practice and the Think/No-Think tasks were employed as measures of memory inhibition. The Stroop-Colour Naming and the Go/No-Go tasks were used as measures of behavioural inhibition. Participants completed all 4 tasks. Task presentation order was counterbalanced across 3 separate testing sessions for each participant. Standard inhibitory forgetting effects emerged on both memory tasks but the extent of forgetting across these tasks was not correlated. Furthermore, there was no relationship between memory inhibition tasks and either of the main behavioural inhibition measures. At a time when cognitive inhibition continues to gain acceptance as an explanatory mechanism, our study raises fundamental questions about what we actually know about inhibition and how it is affected by the processing demands of particular inhibitory tasks. PMID:26270470

Why Do Deaf Participants Have a Lower Performance than Hearing Participants in a Visual Rhyming Task: A Phonological Hypothesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aparicio, Mario; Demont, Elisabeth; Metz-Lutz, Marie-Noëlle; Leybaert, J.; Alegria, Jesús

2014-01-01

During a visual rhyming task, deaf participants traditionally perform more poorly than hearing participants in making rhyme judgements for written words in which the rhyme and the spelling pattern are incongruent (e.g. "hair/bear"). It has been suggested that deaf participants' low accuracy results from their tendency to rely on…

Decision making in healthy participants on the Iowa Gambling Task: new insights from an operant approach

PubMed Central

Bull, Peter N.; Tippett, Lynette J.; Addis, Donna Rose

2015-01-01

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has contributed greatly to the study of affective decision making. However, researchers have observed high inter-study and inter-individual variability in IGT performance in healthy participants, and many are classified as impaired using standard criteria. Additionally, while decision-making deficits are often attributed to atypical sensitivity to reward and/or punishment, the IGT lacks an integrated sensitivity measure. Adopting an operant perspective, two experiments were conducted to explore these issues. In Experiment 1, 50 healthy participants completed a 200-trial version of the IGT which otherwise closely emulated Bechara et al.'s (1999) original computer task. Group data for Trials 1–100 closely replicated Bechara et al.'s original findings of high net scores and preferences for advantageous decks, suggesting that implementations that depart significantly from Bechara's standard IGT contribute to inter-study variability. During Trials 101–200, mean net scores improved significantly and the percentage of participants meeting the “impaired” criterion was halved. An operant-style stability criterion applied to individual data revealed this was likely related to individual differences in learning rate. Experiment 2 used a novel operant card task—the Auckland Card Task (ACT)—to derive quantitative estimates of sensitivity using the generalized matching law. Relative to individuals who mastered the IGT, persistent poor performers on the IGT exhibited significantly lower sensitivity to magnitudes (but not frequencies) of rewards and punishers on the ACT. Overall, our findings demonstrate the utility of operant-style analysis of IGT data and the potential of applying operant concurrent-schedule procedures to the study of human decision making. PMID:25904884

An Attempt to Raise Japanese EFL Learners' Pragmatic Awareness Using Online Discourse Completion Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanaka, Hiroya; Oki, Nanaho

2015-01-01

This practical paper discusses the effect of explicit instruction to raise Japanese EFL learners' pragmatic awareness using online discourse completion tasks. The five-part tasks developed by the authors use American TV drama scenes depicting particular speech acts and include explicit instruction in these speech acts. 46 Japanese EFL college…

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.

Brain Potentials Measured During a Go/NoGo Task Predict Completion of Substance Abuse Treatment

PubMed Central

Steele, Vaughn R.; Fink, Brandi C.; Maurer, J. Michael; Arbabshirani, Mohammad R.; Wilber, Charles H.; Jaffe, Adam J.; Sidz, Anna; Pearlson, Godfrey D.; Calhoun, Vince D.; Clark, Vincent P.; Kiehl, Kent A.

2014-01-01

Background US nationwide estimates indicate 50–80% of prisoners have a history of substance abuse or dependence. Tailoring substance abuse treatment to specific needs of incarcerated individuals could improve effectiveness of treating substance dependence and preventing drug abuse relapse. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that pre-treatment neural measures of a Go/NoGo task would predict which individuals would or would not complete a 12-week cognitive behavioral substance abuse treatment program. Methods Adult incarcerated participants (N=89; Females=55) who volunteered for substance abuse treatment performed a response inhibition (Go/NoGo) task while event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded. Stimulus- and response-locked ERPs were compared between individuals who completed (N=68; Females=45) and discontinued (N=21; Females=10) treatment. Results As predicted, stimulus-locked P2, response-locked error-related negativity (ERN/Ne), and response-locked error positivity (Pe), measured with windowed time-domain and principal component analysis, differed between groups. Using logistic regression and support-vector machine (i.e., pattern classifiers) models, P2 and Pe predicted treatment completion above and beyond other measures (i.e., N2, P300, ERN/Ne, age, sex, IQ, impulsivity, and self-reported depression, anxiety, motivation for change, and years of drug abuse). Conclusions We conclude individuals who discontinue treatment exhibited deficiencies in sensory gating, as indexed by smaller P2, error-monitoring, as indexed by smaller ERN/Ne, and adjusting response strategy post-error, as indexed by larger Pe. However, the combination of P2 and Pe reliably predicted 83.33% of individuals who discontinued treatment. These results may help in the development of individualized therapies, which could lead to more favorable, long-term outcomes. PMID:24238783

Cognitive Fatigue Influences Time-On-Task during Bodyweight Resistance Training Exercise

PubMed Central

Head, James R.; Tenan, Matthew S.; Tweedell, Andrew J.; Price, Thomas F.; LaFiandra, Michael E.; Helton, William S.

2016-01-01

Prior investigations have shown measurable performance impairments on continuous physical performance tasks when preceded by a cognitively fatiguing task. However, the effect of cognitive fatigue on bodyweight resistance training exercise task performance is unknown. In the current investigation 18 amateur athletes completed a full body exercise task preceded by either a cognitive fatiguing or control intervention. In a randomized repeated measure design, each participant completed the same exercise task preceded by a 52 min cognitively fatiguing intervention (vigilance) or control intervention (video). Data collection sessions were separated by 1 week. Participants rated the fatigue intervention with a significantly higher workload compared to the control intervention (p < 0.001). Additionally, participants self-reported significantly greater energetic arousal for cognitively fatiguing task (p = 0.02). Cognitive fatigue did not significantly impact number of repetitions completed during the exercise task (p = 0.77); however, when cognitively fatigued, participants had decreased percent time-on-task (57%) relative to the no fatigue condition (60%; p = 0.04). RPE significantly changed over time (p < 0.001), but failed to show significant differences between the cognitive fatigue intervention and control intervention (p > 0.05). There was no statistical difference for heart rate or metabolic expenditure as a function of fatigue intervention during exercise. Cognitively fatigued athletes have decreased time-on-task in bodyweight resistance training exercise tasks. PMID:27635122

Beads task vs. box task: The specificity of the jumping to conclusions bias.

PubMed

Balzan, Ryan P; Ephraums, Rachel; Delfabbro, Paul; Andreou, Christina

2017-09-01

Previous research involving the probabilistic reasoning 'beads task' has consistently demonstrated a jumping-to-conclusions (JTC) bias, where individuals with delusions make decisions based on limited evidence. However, recent studies have suggested that miscomprehension may be confounding the beads task. The current study aimed to test the conventional beads task against a conceptually simpler probabilistic reasoning "box task" METHODS: One hundred non-clinical participants completed both the beads task and the box task, and the Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI) to assess for delusion-proneness. The number of 'draws to decision' was assessed for both tasks. Additionally, the total amount of on-screen evidence was manipulated for the box task, and two new box task measures were assessed (i.e., 'proportion of evidence requested' and 'deviation from optimal solution'). Despite being conceptually similar, the two tasks did not correlate, and participants requested significantly less information on the beads task relative to the box task. High-delusion-prone participants did not demonstrate hastier decisions on either task; in fact, for box task, this group was observed to be significantly more conservative than low-delusion-prone group. Neither task was incentivized; results need replication with a clinical sample. Participants, and particularly those identified as high-delusion-prone, displayed a more conservative style of responding on the novel box task, relative to the beads task. The two tasks, whilst conceptually similar, appear to be tapping different cognitive processes. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to the JTC bias and the theoretical mechanisms thought to underlie it. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of audience participation and task relevance on change detection during a card trick.

PubMed

Smith, Tim J

2015-01-01

Magicians utilize many techniques for misdirecting audience attention away from the secret sleight of a trick. One technique is to ask an audience member to participate in a trick either physically by asking them to choose a card or cognitively by having them keep track of a card. While such audience participation is an established part of most magic the cognitive mechanisms by which it operates are unknown. Failure to detect changes to objects while passively viewing magic tricks has been shown to be conditional on the changing feature being irrelevant to the current task. How change blindness operates during interactive tasks is unclear but preliminary evidence suggests that relevance of the changing feature may also play a role (Triesch et al., 2003). The present study created a simple on-line card trick inspired by Triesch et al.'s (2003) that allowed playing cards to be instantaneously replaced without distraction or occlusion as participants were either actively sorting the cards (Doing condition) or watching another person perform the task (Watching conditions). Participants were given one of three sets of instructions. The relevance of the card color to the task increased across the three instructions. During half of the trials a card changed color (but retained its number) as it was moving to the stack. Participants were instructed to immediately report such changes. Analysis of the probability of reporting a change revealed that actively performing the sorting task led to more missed changes than passively watching the same task but only when the changing feature was irrelevant to the sorting task. If the feature was relevant during either the pick-up or put-down action change detection was as good as during the watching block. These results confirm the ability of audience participation to create subtle dynamics of attention and perception during a magic trick and hide otherwise striking changes at the center of attention.

The role of audience participation and task relevance on change detection during a card trick

PubMed Central

Smith, Tim J.

2015-01-01

Magicians utilize many techniques for misdirecting audience attention away from the secret sleight of a trick. One technique is to ask an audience member to participate in a trick either physically by asking them to choose a card or cognitively by having them keep track of a card. While such audience participation is an established part of most magic the cognitive mechanisms by which it operates are unknown. Failure to detect changes to objects while passively viewing magic tricks has been shown to be conditional on the changing feature being irrelevant to the current task. How change blindness operates during interactive tasks is unclear but preliminary evidence suggests that relevance of the changing feature may also play a role (Triesch et al., 2003). The present study created a simple on-line card trick inspired by Triesch et al.’s (2003) that allowed playing cards to be instantaneously replaced without distraction or occlusion as participants were either actively sorting the cards (Doing condition) or watching another person perform the task (Watching conditions). Participants were given one of three sets of instructions. The relevance of the card color to the task increased across the three instructions. During half of the trials a card changed color (but retained its number) as it was moving to the stack. Participants were instructed to immediately report such changes. Analysis of the probability of reporting a change revealed that actively performing the sorting task led to more missed changes than passively watching the same task but only when the changing feature was irrelevant to the sorting task. If the feature was relevant during either the pick-up or put-down action change detection was as good as during the watching block. These results confirm the ability of audience participation to create subtle dynamics of attention and perception during a magic trick and hide otherwise striking changes at the center of attention. PMID:25698986

Can research participants comment authoritatively on the validity of their self-reports of mind wandering and task engagement?

PubMed

Seli, Paul; Jonker, Tanya R; Cheyne, James Allan; Cortes, Kassandra; Smilek, Daniel

2015-06-01

The study of mind wandering rests upon the assumption that people are able to consistently and accurately introspect and report on these sorts of mental experiences. Although there is some initial evidence that people can indeed accurately report on the subjective experience of mind wandering, to date, no work has directly examined people's degree of confidence in their self-reports of mind wandering and the effects that confidence has on the accuracy of such reports. In the present study, participants completed a sustained-attention task during which they intermittently provided assessments of task engagement (i.e., whether they were focused on the task or mind wandering), as well as reports of confidence in the accuracy of their assessments. This study yielded 3 key findings: We found substantial between- and within-subject variability in both (a) reported mind wandering and (b) confidence in mind-wandering reports, and, most critically, (c) we found that the relation of reported mind wandering and task performance varied as a function of confidence. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of the literature on mind wandering. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Cue Utilization and Cognitive Load in Novel Task Performance

PubMed Central

Brouwers, Sue; Wiggins, Mark W.; Helton, William; O’Hare, David; Griffin, Barbara

2016-01-01

This study was designed to examine whether differences in cue utilization were associated with differences in performance during a novel, simulated rail control task, and whether these differences reflected a reduction in cognitive load. Two experiments were conducted, the first of which involved the completion of a 20-min rail control simulation that required participants to re-route trains that periodically required a diversion. Participants with a greater level of cue utilization recorded a consistently greater response latency, consistent with a strategy that maintained accuracy, but reduced the demands on cognitive resources. In the second experiment, participants completed the rail task, during which a concurrent, secondary task was introduced. The results revealed an interaction, whereby participants with lesser levels of cue utilization recorded an increase in response latency that exceeded the response latency recorded for participants with greater levels of cue utilization. The relative consistency of response latencies for participants with greater levels of cue utilization, across all blocks, despite the imposition of a secondary task, suggested that those participants with greater levels of cue utilization had adopted a strategy that was effectively minimizing the impact of additional sources of cognitive load on their performance. PMID:27064669

Job Tasks and the Participation of Low-Skilled Employees in Employer-Provided Continuing Training in Germany

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohr, Sabine; Troltsch, Klaus; Gerhards, Christian

2016-01-01

This study analyses the participation of low-skilled employees in employer-provided training and examines the mechanisms that encourage the training participation of low-skilled employees. Building on theoretical considerations of human capital theory and the task-based approach, we seek to show that job tasks play an important role in explaining…

Forced Aerobic Exercise Preceding Task Practice Improves Motor Recovery Poststroke.

PubMed

Linder, Susan M; Rosenfeldt, Anson B; Dey, Tanujit; Alberts, Jay L

To understand how two types of aerobic exercise affect upper-extremity motor recovery post-stroke. Our aims were to (1) evaluate the feasibility of having people who had a stroke complete an aerobic exercise intervention and (2) determine whether forced or voluntary exercise differentially facilitates upper-extremity recovery when paired with task practice. Seventeen participants with chronic stroke completed twenty-four 90-min sessions over 8 wk. Aerobic exercise was immediately followed by task practice. Participants were randomized to forced or voluntary aerobic exercise groups or to task practice only. Improvement on the Fugl-Meyer Assessment exceeded the minimal clinically important difference: 12.3, 4.8, and 4.4 for the forced exercise, voluntary exercise, and repetitive task practice-only groups, respectively. Only the forced exercise group exhibited a statistically significant improvement. People with chronic stroke can safely complete intensive aerobic exercise. Forced aerobic exercise may be optimal in facilitating motor recovery associated with task practice. Copyright © 2017 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Redintegration, task difficulty, and immediate serial recall tasks.

PubMed

Ritchie, Gabrielle; Tolan, Georgina Anne; Tehan, Gerald

2015-03-01

While current theoretical models remain somewhat inconclusive in their explanation of short-term memory (STM), many theories suggest at least a contribution of long-term memory (LTM) to the short-term system. A number of researchers refer to this process as redintegration (e.g., Schweickert, 1993). Under short-term recall conditions, the current study investigated the effects of redintegration and task difficulty in order to extend research conducted by Neale and Tehan (2007). Thirty participants in Experiment 1 and 26 participants in Experiment 2 completed a serial recall task in which retention interval, presentation rate, and articulatory suppression were used to modify task difficulty. Redintegration was examined by manipulating the characteristics of the to-be-remembered items; lexicality in Experiment 1 and wordlikeness in Experiment 2. Responses were scored based on correct-in-position recall, item scoring, and order accuracy scoring. In line with the Neale and Tehan results, as the difficulty of the task increased so did the effects of redintegration. This was evident in that the advantage for words in Experiment 1 and wordlikeness in Experiment 2 decreased as task difficulty increased. This relationship was observed for item but not order memory, and findings were discussed in relation to the theory of redintegration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Dual-task performance involving hand dexterity and cognitive tasks and daily functioning in people with schizophrenia: a pilot study.

PubMed

Lin, Keh-chung; Wu, Yi-fang; Chen, I-chen; Tsai, Pei-luen; Wu, Ching-yi; Chen, Chia-ling

2015-01-01

This study investigated separate and concurrent performance on cognitive and hand dexterity tasks and the relationship to daily functioning in 16 people with schizophrenia and 16 healthy control participants. Participants performed the Purdue Pegboard Test and the Serial Seven Subtraction Test under single- and dual-task conditions and completed two daily functioning evaluations. The hand dexterity of all participants declined in the dual-task condition, but the discrepancy between single-task and dual-task hand dexterity was greater in the schizophrenia group than in the control group (p<.03, d>.70, for all). The extent of discrepancy in hand dexterity was negatively correlated with daily functioning in the schizophrenia group (rs=-.3 to -.5, ps=.04-.26). Ability to perform dual tasks may be an indicator of daily functioning in people with schizophrenia. Use of dual-task training may be considered as a therapeutic activity with these clients. Copyright © 2015 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

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

Evidence of weak conscious experiences in the exclusion task

PubMed Central

Sandberg, Kristian; Del Pin, Simon H.; Bibby, Bo M.; Overgaard, Morten

2014-01-01

Exclusion tasks have been proposed as objective measures of unconscious perception as they do not depend upon subjective ratings. In exclusion tasks, participants have to complete a task without using a previously presented prime. Use of the prime is taken as evidence for unconscious processing in the absence of awareness, yet it may also simply indicate that participants have weak experiences but fail to realize that these affect the response or fail to counter the effect on the response. Here, we tested this claim by allowing participants to rate their experience of a masked prime on the perceptual awareness scale (PAS) after the exclusion task. Results showed that the prime was used almost as often when participants reported having seen a “weak glimpse” of the prime as when they claimed to have “no experience” of the prime, thus suggesting participants frequently have weak (possibly contentless) experiences of the stimulus when failing to exclude. This indicates that the criteria for report of awareness is lower (i.e., more liberal) than that for exclusion and that failure to exclude should not be taken as evidence of complete absence of awareness. PMID:25295024

Instructional Cues Modify Performance on the Iowa Gambling Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balodis, Iris M.; MacDonald, Tara K.; Olmstead, Mary C.

2006-01-01

The current study investigated whether acute alcohol intoxication produces impaired decision-making on tasks assessing ventromedial prefrontal (VMF) cortex functioning and impulsive responding. Participants completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a decision-making test targeting the VMF, and the Newman Perseveration Task (NT), a measure of…

Taking a Stand: The Effects of Standing Desks on Task Performance and Engagement

PubMed Central

Tomiyama, A. Janet; Ward, Andrew

2017-01-01

Time spent sitting is associated with negative health outcomes, motivating some individuals to adopt standing desk workstations. This study represents the first investigation of the effects of standing desk use on reading comprehension and creativity. In a counterbalanced, within-subjects design, 96 participants completed reading comprehension and creativity tasks while both sitting and standing. Participants self-reported their mood during the tasks and also responded to measures of expended effort and task difficulty. In addition, participants indicated whether they expected that they would perform better on work-relevant tasks while sitting or standing. Despite participants’ beliefs that they would perform worse on most tasks while standing, body position did not affect reading comprehension or creativity performance, nor did it affect perceptions of effort or difficulty. Mood was also unaffected by position, with a few exceptions: Participants exhibited greater task engagement (i.e., interest, enthusiasm, and alertness) and less comfort while standing rather than sitting. In sum, performance and psychological experience as related to task completion were nearly entirely uninfluenced by acute (~30-min) standing desk use. PMID:28825655

Time crawls when you're not having fun: feeling entitled makes dull tasks drag on.

PubMed

O'Brien, Edward H; Anastasio, Phyllis A; Bushman, Brad J

2011-10-01

All people have to complete dull tasks, but individuals who feel entitled may be more inclined to perceive them as a waste of their "precious" time, resulting in the perception that time drags. This hypothesis was confirmed in three studies. In Study 1, participants with higher trait entitlement (controlling for related variables) thought dull tasks took longer to complete; no link was found for fun tasks. In Study 2, participants exposed to entitled messages thought taking a dull survey was a greater waste of time and took longer to complete. In Study 3, participants subliminally exposed to entitled words thought dull tasks were less interesting, thought they took longer to complete, and walked away faster when leaving the laboratory. Like most resources, time is a resource valued more by entitled individuals. A time-entitlement link provides novel insight into mechanisms underlying self-focus and prosocial dynamics.

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

PubMed Central

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

2015-01-01

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

Filling the gaps: A speeded word fragment completion megastudy.

PubMed

Heyman, Tom; Van Akeren, Liselotte; Hutchison, Keith A; Storms, Gert

2016-12-01

In the speeded word fragment completion task, participants have to complete fragments such as tom_to as quickly and accurately as possible. Previous work has shown that this paradigm can successfully capture subtle priming effects (Heyman, De Deyne, Hutchison, & Storms Behavior Research Methods, 47, 580-606, 2015). In addition, it has several advantages over the widely used lexical decision task. That is, the speeded word fragment completion task is more efficient, more engaging, and easier. Given its potential, we conducted a study to gather speeded word fragment completion norms. The goal of this megastudy was twofold. On the one hand, it provides a rich database of over 8,000 stimuli, which can, for instance, be used in future research to equate stimuli on baseline response times. On the other hand, the aim was to gain insight into the underlying processes of the speeded word fragment completion task. To this end, item-level regression and mixed-effects analyses were performed on the response latencies using 23 predictor variables. Since all items were selected from the Dutch Lexicon Project (Keuleers, Diependaele, & Brysbaert Frontiers in Psychology, 1, 174, 2010), we ran the same analyses on lexical decision latencies to compare the two tasks. Overall, the results revealed many similarities, but also some remarkable differences, which are discussed. We propose that both tasks are complementary when examining visual word recognition. The article ends with a discussion of potential process models of the speeded word fragment completion task.

A comparison of general and specific instructions to promote task engagement and completion by a young man with Asperger syndrome.

PubMed

Bouxsein, Kelly J; Tiger, Jeffrey H; Fisher, Wayne W

2008-01-01

Previous research has suggested that the topography of instructions (general vs. specific) may influence the likelihood that young children comply with instructions. The purpose of the current study was to compare the rates of task completion of a young man diagnosed with Asperger syndrome when provided with general and specific instructions pertaining to the task. The results showed that specific instructions occasioned higher levels of task completion, even when no differential reinforcement contingencies were in place.

Assessment of planning abilities in individuals with mild cognitive impairment using an open-ended problem-solving task.

PubMed

Sanders, Chad; Low, Christina; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2014-01-01

There is currently limited research evaluating planning abilities, a core subcomponent of executive functioning, in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In the present study, we utilized the "Amap Task," an open-ended problem-solving task, to separately evaluate the formulation and execution components of planning ability in individuals with MCI. Thirty-seven cognitively healthy older adults and 37 individuals with MCI used a map layout of a university apartment to develop and write out a strategy (formulation stage) to successfully complete a list of tasks (e.g., retrieve and fill a water pitcher before placing it in the refrigerator). Subsequently, participants carried out the tasks in the apartment with the aid of their formulated plan (execution stage). MCI participants performed more poorly than older adult (OA) controls during both the formulation and execution stages on measures of task accuracy and task efficiency. However, both groups were able to adjust and improve task accuracy and efficiency from formulation to task execution. Finally, MCI participants took significantly longer to complete the task and adhered less to their formulated plans during task completion. Using an open-ended problem-solving task, the findings revealed that individuals with MCI experienced difficulties with both the formulation and execution components of planning. Like controls, participants with MCI were able to successfully modify their plan online, improving their performance from task formulation to task execution.

Family Structure, Parent-Child Communication, and Adolescent Participation in Family Consumer Tasks and Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lachance, Marie J.; Legault, Frederic; Bujold, Neree

2000-01-01

A study of adolescents from single-mother (n=171) and two-parent (n=1,029) families showed that the former were more involved in family consumer tasks and decisions. The conceptual parenting style was associated with higher adolescent participation. The social style had greater impact on participation in single-parent families. (Contains 88…

Task difficulty moderates the revelation effect.

PubMed

Aßfalg, André; Currie, Devon; Bernstein, Daniel M

2017-05-01

Tasks that precede a recognition probe induce a more liberal response criterion than do probes without tasks-the "revelation effect." For example, participants are more likely to claim that a stimulus is familiar directly after solving an anagram, relative to a condition without an anagram. Revelation effect hypotheses disagree whether hard preceding tasks should produce a larger revelation effect than easy preceding tasks. Although some studies have shown that hard tasks increase the revelation effect as compared to easy tasks, these studies suffered from a confound of task difficulty and task presence. Conversely, other studies have shown that the revelation effect is independent of task difficulty. In the present study, we used new task difficulty manipulations to test whether hard tasks produce larger revelation effects than easy tasks. Participants (N = 464) completed hard or easy preceding tasks, including anagrams (Exps. 1 and 2) and the typing of specific arrow key sequences (Exps. 3-6). With sample sizes typical of revelation effect experiments, the effect sizes of task difficulty on the revelation effect varied considerably across experiments. Despite this variability, a consistent data pattern emerged: Hard tasks produced larger revelation effects than easy tasks. Although the present study falsifies certain revelation effect hypotheses, the general vagueness of revelation effect hypotheses remains.

The analysis of probability task completion; Taxonomy of probabilistic thinking-based across gender in elementary school students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sari, Dwi Ivayana; Budayasa, I. Ketut; Juniati, Dwi

2017-08-01

Formulation of mathematical learning goals now is not only oriented on cognitive product, but also leads to cognitive process, which is probabilistic thinking. Probabilistic thinking is needed by students to make a decision. Elementary school students are required to develop probabilistic thinking as foundation to learn probability at higher level. A framework of probabilistic thinking of students had been developed by using SOLO taxonomy, which consists of prestructural probabilistic thinking, unistructural probabilistic thinking, multistructural probabilistic thinking and relational probabilistic thinking. This study aimed to analyze of probability task completion based on taxonomy of probabilistic thinking. The subjects were two students of fifth grade; boy and girl. Subjects were selected by giving test of mathematical ability and then based on high math ability. Subjects were given probability tasks consisting of sample space, probability of an event and probability comparison. The data analysis consisted of categorization, reduction, interpretation and conclusion. Credibility of data used time triangulation. The results was level of boy's probabilistic thinking in completing probability tasks indicated multistructural probabilistic thinking, while level of girl's probabilistic thinking in completing probability tasks indicated unistructural probabilistic thinking. The results indicated that level of boy's probabilistic thinking was higher than level of girl's probabilistic thinking. The results could contribute to curriculum developer in developing probability learning goals for elementary school students. Indeed, teachers could teach probability with regarding gender difference.

The reliability of a VISION COACH task as a measure of psychomotor skills.

PubMed

Xi, Yubin; Rosopa, Patrick J; Mossey, Mary; Crisler, Matthew C; Drouin, Nathalie; Kopera, Kevin; Brooks, Johnell O

2014-10-01

The VISION COACH™ interactive light board is designed to test and enhance participants' psychomotor skills. The primary goal of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability of the Full Field 120 VISION COACH task. One hundred eleven male and 131 female adult participants completed six trials where they responded to 120 randomly distributed lights displayed on the VISION COACH interactive light board. The mean time required for a participant to complete a trial was 101 seconds. Intraclass correlation coefficients, ranging from 0.962 to 0.987 suggest the VISION COACH Full Field 120 task was a reliable task. Cohen's d's of adjacent pairs of trials suggest learning effects did not negatively affect reliability after the third trial.

Influence of input device, work surface angle, and task on spine kinematics.

PubMed

Riddell, Maureen F; Gallagher, Kaitlin M; McKinnon, Colin D; Callaghan, Jack P

2016-01-01

With the increase of tablet usage in both office and industrial workplaces, it is critical to investigate the influence of tablet usage on spine posture and movement. To quantify spine kinematics while participants interacted with a tablet or desktop computer. Fourteen participants volunteered for this study. Marker clusters were fixed onto body regions to analyze cervical and lumbar spine posture and sampled at 32 Hz (Optotrak Certus, NDI, Waterloo, Canada). Participants sat for one hour in total. Cervical and lumbar median angles and range of motion (10th to 90th % ile angles) were extracted from amplitude probability distribution functions performed on the angle data. Using a sloped desk surface at 15°, compared to a flat desk, influenced cervical flexion (p = 0.0228). Completing the form fill task resulted in the highest degree of cervical flexion (p = 0.0008) compared to the other tasks completed with cervical angles between 6.1°-8.5° higher than emailing and reading respectively. An interaction between device and task (p = 0.0061) was found for relative lumbar median spine angles. Increased lumbar flexion was recorded when using a computer versus a tablet to complete various tasks. Task influenced both cervical and lumbar spine posture with the highest cervical flexion occurring while completing a simulated data entry task. A work surface slope of 15° decreased cervical spine flexion compared to a horizontal work surface slope.

Cognitive Styles, Demographic Attributes, Task Performance and Affective Experiences: An Empirical Investigation into Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Core Users

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tong, Rong

As a primary digital library portal for astrophysics researchers, SAO/NASA ADS (Astrophysics Data System) 2.0 interface features several visualization tools such as Author Network and Metrics. This research study involves 20 ADS long term users who participated in a usability and eye tracking research session. Participants first completed a cognitive test, and then performed five tasks in ADS 2.0 where they explored its multiple visualization tools. Results show that over half of the participants were Imagers and half of the participants were Analytic. Cognitive styles were found to have significant impacts on several efficiency-based measures. Analytic-oriented participants were observed to spent shorter time on web pages and apps, made fewer web page changes than less-Analytic-driving participants in performing common tasks, whereas AI (Analytic-Imagery) participants also completed their five tasks faster than non-AI participants. Meanwhile, self-identified Imagery participants were found to be more efficient in their task completion through multiple measures including total time on task, number of mouse clicks, and number of query revisions made. Imagery scores were negatively associated with frequency of confusion and the observed counts of being surprised. Compared to those who did not claimed to be a visual person, self-identified Imagery participants were observed to have significantly less frequency in frustration and hesitation during their task performance. Both demographic variables and past user experiences were found to correlate with task performance; query revision also correlated with multiple time-based measurements. Considered as an indicator of efficiency, query revisions were found to correlate negatively with the rate of complete with ease, and positively with several time-based efficiency measures, rate of complete with some difficulty, and the frequency of frustration. These results provide rich insights into the cognitive styles of ADS' core

The Question Shapes the Answer: The Neural Correlates of Task Differences Reveal Dynamic Semantic Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hargreaves, Ian S.; White, Michelle; Pexman, Penny M.; Pittman, Dan; Goodyear, Brad G.

2012-01-01

Task effects in semantic processing were investigated by contrasting the neural activation associated with two semantic categorization tasks (SCT) using event-related fMRI. The two SCTs involved different decision categories: "is it an animal?" vs. "is it a concrete thing?" Participants completed both tasks and, across participants, the same core…

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.

Direct real-time neural evidence for task-set inertia.

PubMed

Evans, Lisa H; Herron, Jane E; Wilding, Edward L

2015-03-01

One influential explanation for the costs incurred when switching between tasks is that they reflect interference arising from completing the previous task-known as task-set inertia. We report a novel approach for assessing task-set inertia in a memory experiment using event-related potentials (ERPs). After a study phase, participants completed a test block in which they switched between a memory task (retrieving information from the study phase) and a perceptual task. These tasks alternated every two trials. An ERP index of the retrieval of study information was evident in the memory task. It was also present on the first trial of the perceptual task but was markedly attenuated on the second. Moreover, this task-irrelevant ERP activity was positively correlated with a behavioral cost associated with switching between tasks. This real-time measure of neural activity thus provides direct evidence of task-set inertia, its duration, and the functional role it plays in switch costs. © The Author(s) 2015.

Multisensory perceptual learning is dependent upon task difficulty.

PubMed

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

2016-11-01

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

Oral Discourse Generated through Peer Interaction While Completing Communicative Tasks in an EFL Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tulung, Golda J.

2013-01-01

Drawing on qualitative observation data from a case study of an EFL classroom for pre-medical students in an Indonesian university, this article examines the oral discourse generated through peer interaction while completing two types of communicative tasks in terms of how much language was generated, including the amount of the L2 generated and…

Effects of age and auditory and visual dual tasks on closed-road driving performance.

PubMed

Chaparro, Alex; Wood, Joanne M; Carberry, Trent

2005-08-01

This study investigated how driving performance of young and old participants is affected by visual and auditory secondary tasks on a closed driving course. Twenty-eight participants comprising two age groups (younger, mean age = 27.3 years; older, mean age = 69.2 years) drove around a 5.1-km closed-road circuit under both single and dual task conditions. Measures of driving performance included detection and identification of road signs, detection and avoidance of large low-contrast road hazards, gap judgment, lane keeping, and time to complete the course. The dual task required participants to verbally report the sums of pairs of single-digit numbers presented through either a computer speaker (auditorily) or a dashboard-mounted monitor (visually) while driving. Participants also completed a vision and cognitive screening battery, including LogMAR visual acuity, Pelli-Robson letter contrast sensitivity, the Trails test, and the Digit Symbol Substitution (DSS) test. Drivers reported significantly fewer signs, hit more road hazards, misjudged more gaps, and increased their time to complete the course under the dual task (visual and auditory) conditions compared with the single task condition. The older participants also reported significantly fewer road signs and drove significantly more slowly than the younger participants, and this was exacerbated for the visual dual task condition. The results of the regression analysis revealed that cognitive aging (measured by the DSS and Trails test) rather than chronologic age was a better predictor of the declines seen in driving performance under dual task conditions. An overall z score was calculated, which took into account both driving and the secondary task (summing) performance under the two dual task conditions. Performance was significantly worse for the auditory dual task compared with the visual dual task, and the older participants performed significantly worse than the young subjects. These findings demonstrate

A set for relational reasoning: Facilitation of algebraic modeling by a fraction task.

PubMed

DeWolf, Melissa; Bassok, Miriam; Holyoak, Keith J

2016-12-01

Recent work has identified correlations between early mastery of fractions and later math achievement, especially in algebra. However, causal connections between aspects of reasoning with fractions and improved algebra performance have yet to be established. The current study investigated whether relational reasoning with fractions facilitates subsequent algebraic reasoning using both pre-algebra students and adult college students. Participants were first given either a relational reasoning fractions task or a fraction algebra procedures control task. Then, all participants solved word problems and constructed algebraic equations in either multiplication or division format. The word problems and the equation construction tasks involved simple multiplicative comparison statements such as "There are 4 times as many students as teachers in a classroom." Performance on the algebraic equation construction task was enhanced for participants who had previously completed the relational fractions task compared with those who completed the fraction algebra procedures task. This finding suggests that relational reasoning with fractions can establish a relational set that promotes students' tendency to model relations using algebraic expressions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving older adults' memory performance using prior task success.

PubMed

Geraci, Lisa; Miller, Tyler M

2013-06-01

Holding negative aging stereotypes can lead older adults to perform poorly on memory tests. We attempted to improve older adults' memory performance by giving them task experience that would counter their negative performance expectations. Before participating in a memory experiment, younger and older adults were given a cognitive task that they could either successfully complete, not successfully complete, or they were given no prior task. For older adults, recall was significantly higher and self-reported anxiety was significantly lower for the prior task success group relative to the other groups. There was no effect of prior task experience on younger adults' memory performance. Results suggest that older adults' memory can be improved with a single successful prior task experience. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Circadian Effects on Simple Components of Complex Task Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clegg, Benjamin A.; Wickens, Christopher D.; Vieane, Alex Z.; Gutzwiller, Robert S.; Sebok, Angelia L.

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to advance understanding and prediction of the impact of circadian rhythm on aspects of complex task performance during unexpected automation failures, and subsequent fault management. Participants trained on two tasks: a process control simulation, featuring automated support; and a multi-tasking platform. Participants then completed one task in a very early morning (circadian night) session, and the other during a late afternoon (circadian day) session. Small effects of time of day were seen on simple components of task performance, but impacts on more demanding components, such as those that occur following an automation failure, were muted relative to previous studies where circadian rhythm was compounded with sleep deprivation and fatigue. Circadian low participants engaged in compensatory strategies, rather than passively monitoring the automation. The findings and implications are discussed in the context of a model that includes the effects of sleep and fatigue factors.

Complete unconscious control: Using (in)action primes to demonstrate completely unconscious activation of inhibitory control mechanisms

PubMed Central

Hepler, Justin; Albarracin, Dolores

2018-01-01

Although robust evidence indicates that action initiation can occur unconsciously and unintentionally, the literature on action inhibition suggests that inhibition requires both conscious thought and intentionality. In prior research demonstrating automatic inhibition in response to unconsciously processed stimuli, the unconscious stimuli had previously been consciously associated with an inhibitory response within the context of the experiment, and participants had consciously formed a goal to activate inhibition processes when presented with the stimuli (because task instructions required participants to engage in inhibition when the stimuli occurred). Therefore, prior work suggests that some amount of conscious thought and intentionality are required for inhibitory control. In the present research, we recorded event-related potentials during two go/no-go experiments in which participants were subliminally primed with general action/inaction concepts that had never been consciously associated with task-specific responses. We provide the first demonstration that inhibitory control processes can be modulated completely unconsciously and unintentionally. PMID:23747649

Barriers to Participation in Parenting Programs: The Relationship between Parenting Stress, Perceived Barriers, and Program Completion.

PubMed

Rostad, Whitney L; Moreland, Angela D; Valle, Linda Anne; Chaffin, Mark J

2018-04-01

Families experiencing child maltreatment or risk factors for child maltreatment often receive referrals to interventions focused on changing parenting practices. Compliance with specific parenting programs can be challenging as many of the stressors that place families at-risk may also interfere with program participation. Because families may receive limited benefit from programs they do not fully receive, it is critical to understand the relationship between parenting stress and barriers to program completion. We used structural equation modeling to examine the relationship among parenting stress, perceived barriers to program participation, and program completion in two datasets involving low-income parents. Data were collected at two time points from a sample of parents involved with child welfare services and a sample of parents considered at-risk of future involvement (total study n = 803). Direct paths from parenting stress at time 1 to barriers to participation and parenting stress at time 2, and from parenting stress at time 2 to program completion were significant. Interestingly, increased barriers to participation were related to increased parenting stress at time 2, and greater parenting stress was related to increased program completion. Results suggest that with increasing levels of parenting stress, parents have an increased likelihood of completing the program. Assessing and addressing the influence of perceived barriers and parenting stress on program participation may decrease the likelihood of treatment attrition.

Sustained attention failures are primarily due to sustained cognitive load not task monotony.

PubMed

Head, James; Helton, William S

2014-11-01

We conducted two studies using a modified sustained attention to response task (SART) to investigate the developmental process of SART performance and the role of cognitive load on performance when the speed-accuracy trade-off is controlled experimentally. In study 1, 23 participants completed the modified SART (target stimuli location was not predictable) and a subjective thought content questionnaire 4 times over the span of 4 weeks. As predicted, the influence of speed-accuracy trade-off was significantly mitigated on the modified SART by having target stimuli occur in unpredictable locations. In study 2, 21 of the 23 participants completed an abridged version of the modified SART with a verbal free-recall memory task. Participants performed significantly worse when completing the verbal memory task and SART concurrently. Overall, the results support a resource theory perspective with concern to errors being a result of limited mental resources and not simply mindlessness per se. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Using a Personal Digital Assistant to Increase Completion of Novel Tasks and Independent Transitioning by Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mechling, Linda C.; Savidge, Erin J.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of a Personal Digital Assistant with multiple prompt levels to increase completion of novel task boxes and transitioning within and between tasks. The study used a multiple probe design across three sets of task boxes replicated with three students with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.…

Rightward biases in free-viewing visual bisection tasks: implications for leftward responses biases on similar tasks.

PubMed

Elias, Lorin J; Robinson, Brent; Saucier, Deborah M

2005-12-01

Neurologically normal individuals exhibit strong leftward response biases during free-viewing perceptual judgments of brightness, quantity, and size. When participants view two mirror-reversed objects and they are forced to choose which object appears darker, more numerous, or larger, the stimulus with the relevant feature on the left side is chosen 60-75% of the time. This effect could be influenced by inaccurate judgments of the true centre-point of the objects being compared. In order to test this possibility, 10 participants completed three visual bisection tasks on stimuli known to elicit strong leftward response biases. Participants were monitored using a remote eye-tracking device and instructed to stare at the subjective midpoint of objects presented on a computer screen. Although it was predicted that bisection errors would deviate to the left of centre (as is the case in the line bisection literature), the opposite effect was found. Significant rightward bisection errors were evident on two of the three tasks, and the leftward biases seen during forced-choice tasks could be the result of misjudgments to the right of centre on these same tasks.

Analysis of Participant Reactivity in Dyads Performing a Videotaped Conflict-Management Task.

PubMed

Semeniuk, Yulia Y; Riesch, Susan K

2011-01-01

Videotaping is used frequently in nursing research. A threat to the validity of videotaping is participant reactivity, that is, being recorded by a camera may influence the behavior of interest. This paper's purpose is to report how youth ages 10 to 14 years old and their parent viewed participation in a videotaped conflict-management task. Five dyads, who were part of a randomized clinical trial testing an intervention to promote parent-child communication, participated in a structured interview. All parents were mothers. Youth were eighth graders. Three were boys and two were girls. Findings indicated that (a) dyads felt that the videotaped interaction had a progression of feeling unnatural in the beginning to feeling natural toward the end, (b) dyads found it relatively easy to choose a topic of discussion, and (c) dyads felt that the discussions were meaningful. Based on these data, recommendations for researchers to reduce participant reactivity are provided.

Analysis of Participant Reactivity in Dyads Performing a Videotaped Conflict-Management Task

PubMed Central

Semeniuk, Yulia Y.; Riesch, Susan K.

2011-01-01

Videotaping is used frequently in nursing research. A threat to the validity of videotaping is participant reactivity, that is, being recorded by a camera may influence the behavior of interest. This paper's purpose is to report how youth ages 10 to 14 years old and their parent viewed participation in a videotaped conflict-management task. Five dyads, who were part of a randomized clinical trial testing an intervention to promote parent-child communication, participated in a structured interview. All parents were mothers. Youth were eighth graders. Three were boys and two were girls. Findings indicated that (a) dyads felt that the videotaped interaction had a progression of feeling unnatural in the beginning to feeling natural toward the end, (b) dyads found it relatively easy to choose a topic of discussion, and (c) dyads felt that the discussions were meaningful. Based on these data, recommendations for researchers to reduce participant reactivity are provided. PMID:21738877

Psychological Attributes of Unwillingness to Communicate and Task-Based Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fukuta, Junya

2017-01-01

This study explored the longitudinal changes of Japanese EFL learners' psychological attributes of unwillingness to speak English in a task-based classroom. Thirty-three university students participated in this study. They engaged in a communicative task once a week for two semesters. They completed a questionnaire examining the psychological…

Overview of the interactive task in BioCreative V

PubMed Central

Wang, Qinghua; S. Abdul, Shabbir; Almeida, Lara; Ananiadou, Sophia; Balderas-Martínez, Yalbi I.; Batista-Navarro, Riza; Campos, David; Chilton, Lucy; Chou, Hui-Jou; Contreras, Gabriela; Cooper, Laurel; Dai, Hong-Jie; Ferrell, Barbra; Fluck, Juliane; Gama-Castro, Socorro; George, Nancy; Gkoutos, Georgios; Irin, Afroza K.; Jensen, Lars J.; Jimenez, Silvia; Jue, Toni R.; Keseler, Ingrid; Madan, Sumit; Matos, Sérgio; McQuilton, Peter; Milacic, Marija; Mort, Matthew; Natarajan, Jeyakumar; Pafilis, Evangelos; Pereira, Emiliano; Rao, Shruti; Rinaldi, Fabio; Rothfels, Karen; Salgado, David; Silva, Raquel M.; Singh, Onkar; Stefancsik, Raymund; Su, Chu-Hsien; Subramani, Suresh; Tadepally, Hamsa D.; Tsaprouni, Loukia; Vasilevsky, Nicole; Wang, Xiaodong; Chatr-Aryamontri, Andrew; Laulederkind, Stanley J. F.; Matis-Mitchell, Sherri; McEntyre, Johanna; Orchard, Sandra; Pundir, Sangya; Rodriguez-Esteban, Raul; Van Auken, Kimberly; Lu, Zhiyong; Schaeffer, Mary; Wu, Cathy H.; Hirschman, Lynette; Arighi, Cecilia N.

2016-01-01

Fully automated text mining (TM) systems promote efficient literature searching, retrieval, and review but are not sufficient to produce ready-to-consume curated documents. These systems are not meant to replace biocurators, but instead to assist them in one or more literature curation steps. To do so, the user interface is an important aspect that needs to be considered for tool adoption. The BioCreative Interactive task (IAT) is a track designed for exploring user-system interactions, promoting development of useful TM tools, and providing a communication channel between the biocuration and the TM communities. In BioCreative V, the IAT track followed a format similar to previous interactive tracks, where the utility and usability of TM tools, as well as the generation of use cases, have been the focal points. The proposed curation tasks are user-centric and formally evaluated by biocurators. In BioCreative V IAT, seven TM systems and 43 biocurators participated. Two levels of user participation were offered to broaden curator involvement and obtain more feedback on usability aspects. The full level participation involved training on the system, curation of a set of documents with and without TM assistance, tracking of time-on-task, and completion of a user survey. The partial level participation was designed to focus on usability aspects of the interface and not the performance per se. In this case, biocurators navigated the system by performing pre-designed tasks and then were asked whether they were able to achieve the task and the level of difficulty in completing the task. In this manuscript, we describe the development of the interactive task, from planning to execution and discuss major findings for the systems tested. Database URL: http://www.biocreative.org PMID:27589961

Overview of the interactive task in BioCreative V.

PubMed

Wang, Qinghua; S Abdul, Shabbir; Almeida, Lara; Ananiadou, Sophia; Balderas-Martínez, Yalbi I; Batista-Navarro, Riza; Campos, David; Chilton, Lucy; Chou, Hui-Jou; Contreras, Gabriela; Cooper, Laurel; Dai, Hong-Jie; Ferrell, Barbra; Fluck, Juliane; Gama-Castro, Socorro; George, Nancy; Gkoutos, Georgios; Irin, Afroza K; Jensen, Lars J; Jimenez, Silvia; Jue, Toni R; Keseler, Ingrid; Madan, Sumit; Matos, Sérgio; McQuilton, Peter; Milacic, Marija; Mort, Matthew; Natarajan, Jeyakumar; Pafilis, Evangelos; Pereira, Emiliano; Rao, Shruti; Rinaldi, Fabio; Rothfels, Karen; Salgado, David; Silva, Raquel M; Singh, Onkar; Stefancsik, Raymund; Su, Chu-Hsien; Subramani, Suresh; Tadepally, Hamsa D; Tsaprouni, Loukia; Vasilevsky, Nicole; Wang, Xiaodong; Chatr-Aryamontri, Andrew; Laulederkind, Stanley J F; Matis-Mitchell, Sherri; McEntyre, Johanna; Orchard, Sandra; Pundir, Sangya; Rodriguez-Esteban, Raul; Van Auken, Kimberly; Lu, Zhiyong; Schaeffer, Mary; Wu, Cathy H; Hirschman, Lynette; Arighi, Cecilia N

2016-01-01

Fully automated text mining (TM) systems promote efficient literature searching, retrieval, and review but are not sufficient to produce ready-to-consume curated documents. These systems are not meant to replace biocurators, but instead to assist them in one or more literature curation steps. To do so, the user interface is an important aspect that needs to be considered for tool adoption. The BioCreative Interactive task (IAT) is a track designed for exploring user-system interactions, promoting development of useful TM tools, and providing a communication channel between the biocuration and the TM communities. In BioCreative V, the IAT track followed a format similar to previous interactive tracks, where the utility and usability of TM tools, as well as the generation of use cases, have been the focal points. The proposed curation tasks are user-centric and formally evaluated by biocurators. In BioCreative V IAT, seven TM systems and 43 biocurators participated. Two levels of user participation were offered to broaden curator involvement and obtain more feedback on usability aspects. The full level participation involved training on the system, curation of a set of documents with and without TM assistance, tracking of time-on-task, and completion of a user survey. The partial level participation was designed to focus on usability aspects of the interface and not the performance per se In this case, biocurators navigated the system by performing pre-designed tasks and then were asked whether they were able to achieve the task and the level of difficulty in completing the task. In this manuscript, we describe the development of the interactive task, from planning to execution and discuss major findings for the systems tested.Database URL: http://www.biocreative.org. Published by Oxford University Press 2016. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Overview of the interactive task in BioCreative V

DOE PAGES

Wang, Qinghua; Abdul, Shabbir S.; Almeida, Lara; ...

2016-09-01

Fully automated text mining (TM) systems promote efficient literature searching, retrieval, and review but are not sufficient to produce ready-to-consume curated documents. These systems are not meant to replace biocurators, but instead to assist them in one or more literature curation steps. To do so, the user interface is an important aspect that needs to be considered for tool adoption. The BioCreative Interactive task (IAT) is a track designed for exploring user-system interactions, promoting development of useful TM tools, and providing a communication channel between the biocuration and the TM communities. In BioCreative V, the IAT track followed a formatmore » similar to previous interactive tracks, where the utility and usability of TM tools, as well as the generation of use cases, have been the focal points. The proposed curation tasks are user-centric and formally evaluated by biocurators. In BioCreative V IAT, seven TM systems and 43 biocurators participated. Two levels of user participation were offered to broaden curator involvement and obtain more feedback on usability aspects. The full level participation involved training on the system, curation of a set of documents with and without TM assistance, tracking of time-on-task, and completion of a user survey. Here, the partial level participation was designed to focus on usability aspects of the interface and not the performance per se. In this case, biocurators navigated the system by performing pre-designed tasks and then were asked whether they were able to achieve the task and the level of difficulty in completing the task. In this manuscript, we describe the development of the interactive task, from planning to execution and discuss major findings for the systems tested.« less

Scripts and information units in future planning: Interactions between a past and a future planning task.

PubMed

Cordonnier, Aline; Barnier, Amanda J; Sutton, John

2016-01-01

Research on future thinking has emphasized how episodic details from memories are combined to create future thoughts, but has not yet examined the role of semantic scripts. In this study, participants recalled how they planned a past camping trip in Australia (past planning task) and imagined how they would plan a future camping trip (future planning task), set either in a familiar (Australia) or an unfamiliar (Antarctica) context. Transcripts were segmented into information units that were coded according to semantic category (e.g., where, when, transport, material, actions). Results revealed a strong interaction between tasks and their presentation order. Starting with the past planning task constrained the future planning task when the context was familiar. Participants generated no new information when the future camping trip was set in Australia and completed second (after the past planning task). Conversely, starting with the future planning task facilitated the past planning task. Participants recalled more information units of their past plan when the past planning task was completed second (after the future planning task). These results shed new light on the role of scripts in past and future thinking and on how past and future thinking processes interact.

The Effect of Hierarchical Task Representations on Task Selection in Voluntary Task Switching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weaver, Starla M.; Arrington, Catherine M.

2013-01-01

The current study explored the potential for hierarchical representations to influence action selection during voluntary task switching. Participants switched between 4 individual task elements. In Experiment 1, participants were encouraged to represent the task elements as grouped within a hierarchy based on experimental manipulations of varying…

The effects of bedtime writing on difficulty falling asleep: A polysomnographic study comparing to-do lists and completed activity lists.

PubMed

Scullin, Michael K; Krueger, Madison L; Ballard, Hannah K; Pruett, Natalya; Bliwise, Donald L

2018-01-01

Bedtime worry, including worrying about incomplete future tasks, is a significant contributor to difficulty falling asleep. Previous research showed that writing about one's worries can help individuals fall asleep. We investigated whether the temporal focus of bedtime writing-writing a to-do list versus journaling about completed activities-affected sleep onset latency. Fifty-seven healthy young adults (18-30) completed a writing assignment for 5 min prior to overnight polysomnography recording in a controlled sleep laboratory. They were randomly assigned to write about tasks that they needed to remember to complete the next few days (to-do list) or about tasks they had completed the previous few days (completed list). Participants in the to-do list condition fell asleep significantly faster than those in the completed-list condition. The more specifically participants wrote their to-do list, the faster they subsequently fell asleep, whereas the opposite trend was observed when participants wrote about completed activities. Therefore, to facilitate falling asleep, individuals may derive benefit from writing a very specific to-do list for 5 min at bedtime rather than journaling about completed activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

TWIICE - A lightweight lower-limb exoskeleton for complete paraplegics.

PubMed

Vouga, Tristan; Baud, Romain; Fasola, Jemina; Bouri, Mohamed; Bleuler, Hannes

2017-07-01

This paper introduces TWIICE, a lower-limb exoskeleton that enables people suffering from complete paraplegia to stand up and walk again. TWIICE provides complete mobilization of the lower-limbs, which is a first step toward enabling the user to regain independence in activities of the daily living. The tasks it can perform include level and inclined walking (up to 20° slope), stairs ascent and descent, sitting on a seat, and standing up. Participation in the world's first Cybathlon (Zurich, 2016) demonstrated good performance at these demanding tasks. In this paper, we describe the implementation details of the device and comment on preliminary results from a single user case study.

Knowledge of Previous Tasks: Task Similarity Influences Bias in Task Duration Predictions

PubMed Central

Thomas, Kevin E.; König, Cornelius J.

2018-01-01

Bias in predictions of task duration has been attributed to misremembering previous task duration and using previous task duration as a basis for predictions. This research sought to further examine how previous task information affects prediction bias by manipulating task similarity and assessing the role of previous task duration feedback. Task similarity was examined through participants performing two tasks 1 week apart that were the same or different. Duration feedback was provided to all participants (Experiment 1), its recall was manipulated (Experiment 2), and its provision was manipulated (Experiment 3). In all experiments, task similarity influenced bias on the second task, with predictions being less biased when the first task was the same task. However, duration feedback did not influence bias. The findings highlight the pivotal role of knowledge about previous tasks in task duration prediction and are discussed in relation to the theoretical accounts of task duration prediction bias. PMID:29881362

The disruptive effects of pain on multitasking in a virtual errands task.

PubMed

Moore, David J; Law, Anna S

2017-07-01

Pain is known to have a disruptive effect on cognitive performance, but prior studies have used highly constrained laboratory tasks that lack ecological validity. In everyday life people are required to complete more complex sets of tasks, prioritising task completion and recalling lists of tasks which need to be completed, and these tasks continue to be attempted during episodes or states of pain. The present study therefore examined the impact of thermal induced pain on a simulated errand task. Fifty-five healthy adults (36 female) performed the Edinburgh Virtual Errands Task (EVET) either during a painful thermal sensation or with no concurrent pain. Participants also completed the Experience of Cognitive Intrusion of Pain (ECIP) questionnaire to measure their self-reported cognitive impact of pain in general life. Participants who completed the EVET task in pain and who self-reported high intrusion of pain made significantly more errors than those who reported lower intrusion on the ECIP. Findings here support the growing literature that suggests that pain has a significant impact on cognitive performance. Furthermore, these findings support the developing literature suggesting that this relationship is complex when considering real world cognition, and that self-report on the ECIP relates well to performance on a task designed to reflect the complexities of everyday living. If extrapolated to chronic pain populations, these data suggest that pain during complex multitasking performance may have a significant impact on the number of errors made. For people highly vulnerable to cognitive intrusion by pain, this may result in errors such as selecting the wrong location or item to perform tasks, or forgetting to perform these tasks at the correct time. If these findings are shown to extend to chronic pain populations then occupational support to manage complex task performance, using for example diaries/electronic reminders, may help to improve everyday abilities

Dissociating Stimulus-Set and Response-Set in the Context of Task-Set Switching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kieffaber, Paul D.; Kruschke, John K.; Cho, Raymond Y.; Walker, Philip M.; Hetrick, William P.

2013-01-01

The primary aim of the present research was to determine how "stimulus-set" and "response-set" components of task-set contribute to switch costs and conflict processing. Three experiments are described wherein participants completed an explicitly cued task-switching procedure. Experiment 1 established that task switches requiring a reconfiguration…

Distractions, distractions: does instant messaging affect college students' performance on a concurrent reading comprehension task?

PubMed

Fox, Annie Beth; Rosen, Jonathan; Crawford, Mary

2009-02-01

Instant messaging (IM) has become one of the most popular forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and is especially prevalent on college campuses. Previous research suggests that IM users often multitask while conversing online. To date, no one has yet examined the cognitive effect of concurrent IM use. Participants in the present study (N = 69) completed a reading comprehension task uninterrupted or while concurrently holding an IM conversation. Participants who IMed while performing the reading task took significantly longer to complete the task, indicating that concurrent IM use negatively affects efficiency. Concurrent IM use did not affect reading comprehension scores. Additional analyses revealed that the more time participants reported spending on IM, the lower their reading comprehension scores. Finally, we found that the more time participants reported spending on IM, the lower their self-reported GPA. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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.

A "spoon full of sugar" helps the medicine go down: How a participant friendly version of a psychophysics task significantly improves task engagement, performance and data quality in a typical adult sample.

PubMed

Smith, Marie L; Cesana, M Letizia; Farran, Emily K; Karmiloff-Smith, Annette; Ewing, Louise

2018-06-01

Few would argue that the unique insights brought by studying the typical and atypical development of psychological processes are essential to building a comprehensive understanding of the brain. Often, however, the associated challenges of working with non-standard adult populations results in the more complex psychophysical paradigms being rejected as too complex. Recently we created a child- (and clinical group) friendly implementation of one such technique - the reverse-correlation Bubbles approach - and noted an associated performance boost in adult participants. Here, we compare the administration of three different versions of this participant-friendly task in the same adult participants to empirically confirm that introducing elements in the experiment with the sole purpose of improving the participant experience, not only boosts the participant's engagement and motivation for the task but results in a significantly improved objective task performance and stronger statistical results.

Performing Complex Tasks by Users With Upper-Extremity Disabilities Using a 6-DOF Robotic Arm: A Study.

PubMed

Al-Halimi, Reem K; Moussa, Medhat

2017-06-01

In this paper, we report on the results of a study that was conducted to examine how users suffering from severe upper-extremity disabilities can control a 6 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) robotics arm to complete complex activities of daily living. The focus of the study is not on assessing the robot arm but on examining the human-robot interaction patterns. Three participants were recruited. Each participant was asked to perform three tasks: eating three pieces of pre-cut bread from a plate, drinking three sips of soup from a bowl, and opening a right-handed door with lever handle. Each of these tasks was repeated three times. The arm was mounted on the participant's wheelchair, and the participants were free to move the arm as they wish to complete these tasks. Each task consisted of a sequence of modes where a mode is defined as arm movement in one DOF. Results show that participants used a total of 938 mode movements with an average of 75.5 (std 10.2) modes for the eating task, 70 (std 8.8) modes for the soup task, and 18.7 (std 4.5) modes for the door opening task. Tasks were then segmented into smaller subtasks. It was found that there are patterns of usage per participant and per subtask. These patterns can potentially allow a robot to learn from user's demonstration what is the task being executed and by whom and respond accordingly to reduce user effort.

Optimal Modality Selection for Cooperative Human-Robot Task Completion.

PubMed

Jacob, Mithun George; Wachs, Juan P

2016-12-01

Human-robot cooperation in complex environments must be fast, accurate, and resilient. This requires efficient communication channels where robots need to assimilate information using a plethora of verbal and nonverbal modalities such as hand gestures, speech, and gaze. However, even though hybrid human-robot communication frameworks and multimodal communication have been studied, a systematic methodology for designing multimodal interfaces does not exist. This paper addresses the gap by proposing a novel methodology to generate multimodal lexicons which maximizes multiple performance metrics over a wide range of communication modalities (i.e., lexicons). The metrics are obtained through a mixture of simulation and real-world experiments. The methodology is tested in a surgical setting where a robot cooperates with a surgeon to complete a mock abdominal incision and closure task by delivering surgical instruments. Experimental results show that predicted optimal lexicons significantly outperform predicted suboptimal lexicons (p <; 0.05) in all metrics validating the predictability of the methodology. The methodology is validated in two scenarios (with and without modeling the risk of a human-robot collision) and the differences in the lexicons are analyzed.

Continuous Video Modeling to Prompt Completion of Multi-Component Tasks by Adults with Moderate Intellectual Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mechling, Linda C.; Ayres, Kevin M.; Purrazzella, Kaitlin; Purrazzella, Kimberly

2014-01-01

This investigation examined the ability of four adults with moderate intellectual disability to complete multi-component tasks using continuous video modeling. Continuous video modeling, which is a newly researched application of video modeling, presents video in a "looping" format which automatically repeats playing of the video while…

Startle reveals an absence of advance motor programming in a Go/No-go task.

PubMed

Carlsen, Anthony N; Chua, Romeo; Dakin, Chris J; Sanderson, David J; Inglis, J Timothy; Franks, Ian M

2008-03-21

Presenting a startling stimulus in a simple reaction time (RT) task, can involuntarily trigger the pre-programmed response. However, this effect is not seen when the response is programmed following the imperative stimulus (IS) providing evidence that a startle can only trigger pre-programmed responses. In a "Go/No-go" (GNG) RT task the response may be programmed in advance of the IS because there exists only a single predetermined response. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine if startle could elicit a response in a GNG task. Participants completed a wrist extension task in response to a visual stimulus. A startling acoustic stimulus (124dB) was presented in both Go and No-go trials with Go probability manipulated between groups. The inclusion of a startle did not significantly speed RT and led to more response errors. This result is similar to that observed in a startled choice RT task, indicating that in a GNG task participants waited until the IS complete motor programming.

Feedback is the breakfast of champions: the significance of self-controlled formal feedback for autonomous task engagement.

PubMed

Meng, Liang; Yang, Zijing

2018-01-03

With the aim of examining the positive effect of the formal feedback mechanism itself beyond its informational aspect, we engaged participants in the stopwatch task and recorded their electroencephalogram throughout the experiment. This task requires a button press to stop the watch within a given time interval, the completion of which is simultaneously accompanied by adequate information on task performance. In the self-controlled feedback mode, participants could freely choose whether to request formal feedback after completing the task. In another mode, additional feedback was not provided. The 'non-choice' cue was found to elicit a more negative cue-elicited feedback negativity compared with 'choice', suggesting that the opportunity to solicit formal feedback was perceived as more desirable. In addition, a more enhanced stimulus-preceding negativity was observed prior to the task initiation cue in the self-controlled feedback condition, indicating that participants paid more sustained anticipatory attention during task preparation. Taken together, these electrophysiological results suggested an inherent reward within the formal feedback mechanism itself and the significance of self-controlled formal feedback for autonomous task engagement.

A novel perceptual discrimination training task: Reducing fear overgeneralization in the context of fear learning.

PubMed

Ginat-Frolich, Rivkah; Klein, Zohar; Katz, Omer; Shechner, Tomer

2017-06-01

Generalization is an adaptive learning mechanism, but it can be maladaptive when it occurs in excess. A novel perceptual discrimination training task was therefore designed to moderate fear overgeneralization. We hypothesized that improvement in basic perceptual discrimination would translate into lower fear overgeneralization in affective cues. Seventy adults completed a fear-conditioning task prior to being allocated into training or placebo groups. Predesignated geometric shape pairs were constructed for the training task. A target shape from each pair was presented. Thereafter, participants in the training group were shown both shapes and asked to identify the image that differed from the target. Placebo task participants only indicated the location of each shape on the screen. All participants then viewed new geometric pairs and indicated whether they were identical or different. Finally, participants completed a fear generalization test consisting of perceptual morphs ranging from the CS + to the CS-. Fear-conditioning was observed through physiological and behavioural measures. Furthermore, the training group performed better than the placebo group on the assessment task and exhibited decreased fear generalization in response to threat/safety cues. The findings offer evidence for the effectiveness of the novel discrimination training task, setting the stage for future research with clinical populations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Task frequency influences stimulus-driven effects on task selection during voluntary task switching.

PubMed

Arrington, Catherine M; Reiman, Kaitlin M

2015-08-01

Task selection during voluntary task switching involves both top-down (goal-directed) and bottom-up (stimulus-driven) mechanisms. The factors that shift the balance between these two mechanisms are not well characterized. In the present research, we studied the role that task frequency plays in determining the extent of stimulus-driven task selection. In two experiments, we used the basic paradigm adapted from Arrington (Memory & Cognition, 38, 991-997, 2008), in which the effect of stimulus availability serves as a marker of stimulus-driven task selection. A number and letter appeared on each trial with varying stimulus onset asynchronies, and participants performed either a consonant/vowel or an even/odd judgment. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed as to the relative frequency with which each task was to be performed (i.e., 50/50, 60/40, or 75/25) and were further instructed to make their transitions between tasks unpredictable. In Experiment 2, participants were given no instructions about how to select tasks, resulting in naturally occurring variation in task frequency. With both instructed (Exp. 1) and naturally occurring (Exp. 2) relative task frequencies, the less frequently performed task showed a greater effect of stimulus availability on task selection, suggestive of a larger influence of stimulus-driven mechanisms during task performance for the less frequent task. When goal-directed mechanisms of task choice are engaged less frequently, the relative influence of the stimulus environment increases.

Virtual street-crossing performance in persons with multiple sclerosis: Feasibility and task performance characteristics.

PubMed

Stratton, M E; Pilutti, L A; Crowell, J A; Kaczmarski, H; Motl, R W

2017-01-02

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease that commonly results in physical and cognitive dysfunction. Accordingly, MS might impact the ability to safely cross the street. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of a simulated street-crossing task in persons with MS and to determine differences in street-crossing performance between persons with MS and non-MS controls. 26 participants with MS (median Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score = 3.5) and 19 controls completed 40 trials of a virtual street-crossing task. There were 2 crossing conditions (i.e., no distraction and phone conversation), and participants performed 20 trials per condition. Participants were instructed that the goal of the task was to cross the street successfully (i.e., without being hit be a vehicle). The primary outcome was task feasibility, assessed as completion and adverse events. Secondary outcomes were measures of street-crossing performance. Overall, the simulated street-crossing task was feasible (i.e., 90% completion, no adverse events) in participants with MS. Participants with MS waited longer and were less attentive to traffic before entering the street compared with controls (all P < .05). Participants with MS also took longer to cross the street and were closer to oncoming vehicles when exiting the street compared to controls (all P < .05). When distracted, all participants took longer to initiate crossing, took longer to cross the street, and made more head turns while crossing (all P < .05). There were no significant group by condition interaction effects (all P > .05). A virtual street-crossing task is feasible for studying street-crossing behavior in persons with mild MS and most individuals with moderate MS. Virtual street-crossing performance is impaired in persons with MS compared to controls; however, persons with MS do not appear to be more vulnerable to a distracting condition. The virtual reality environment presents a safe and useful

Evaluating low-resolution tomography neurofeedback by single dissociation of mental grotation task from stop signal task performance.

PubMed

Getter, Nir; Kaplan, Zeev; Todder, Doron

2015-10-01

Electroencephalography source localization neurofeedback, i.e Standardized low-resolution tomography (sLORETA) neurofeedback are non-invasive method for altering region specific brain activity. This is an improvement over traditional neurofeedback which were based on recordings from a single scalp-electrode. We proposed three criteria clusters as a methodological framework to evaluate electroencephalography source localization neurofeedback and present relevant data. Our objective was to evaluate standardized low resolution EEG tomography neurofeedback by examining how training one neuroanatomical area effects the mental rotation task (which is related to the activity of bilateral Parietal regions) and the stop-signal test (which is related to frontal structures). Twelve healthy participants were enrolled in a single session sLORETA neurofeedback protocol. The participants completed both the mental rotation task and the stop-signal test before and after one sLORETA neurofeedback session. During sLORETA neurofeedback sessions participants watched one sitcom episode while the picture quality co-varied with activity in the superior parietal lobule. Participants were rewarded for increasing activity in this region only. Results showed a significant reaction time decrease and an increase in accuracy after sLORETA neurofeedback on the mental rotation task but not after stop signal task. Together with behavioral changes a significant activity increase was found at the left parietal brain after sLORETA neurofeedback compared with baseline. We concluded that activity increase in the parietal region had a specific effect on the mental rotation task. Tasks unrelated to parietal brain activity were unaffected. Therefore, sLORETA neurofeedback could be used as a research, or clinical tool for cognitive disorders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Learning Disability as Related to Infrequent Punishment and Limited Participation in Delay of Reinforcement Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, L. R.

1975-01-01

This study, by comparing for learning disabled and control children parental frequency rating of physical punishment and of completion of tasks, hypothesized that parental indulgence is associated with learning disorders. Referral children with learning problems (N=18), were rated significantly lower on both measures that students referred for…

Task Speed and Accuracy Decrease When Multitasking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Lin; Cockerham, Deborah; Chang, Zhengsi; Natividad, Gloria

2016-01-01

As new technologies increase the opportunities for multitasking, the need to understand human capacities for multitasking continues to grow stronger. Is multitasking helping us to be more efficient? This study investigated the multitasking abilities of 168 participants, ages 6-72, by measuring their task accuracy and completion time when they…

Task-Oriented Training with Computer Games for People with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Hand Osteoarthritis: A Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Srikesavan, Cynthia Swarnalatha; Shay, Barbara; Szturm, Tony

2016-09-13

To examine the feasibility of a clinical trial on a novel, home-based task-oriented training with conventional hand exercises in people with rheumatoid arthritis or hand osteoarthritis. To explore the experiences of participants who completed their respective home exercise programmes. Thirty volunteer participants aged between 30 and 60 years and diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis or hand osteoarthritis were proposed for a single-center, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial ( ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT01635582). Participants received task-oriented training with interactive computer games and objects of daily life or finger mobility and strengthening exercises. Both programmes were home based and were done four sessions per week with 20 minutes each session for 6 weeks. Major feasibility outcomes were number of volunteers screened, randomized, and retained; completion of blinded assessments, exercise training, and home exercise sessions; equipment and data management; and clinical outcomes of hand function. Reaching the recruitment target in 18 months and achieving exercise compliance >80% were set as success criteria. Concurrent with the trial, focus group interviews explored experiences of those participants who completed their respective programmes. After trial initiation, revisions in inclusion criteria were required to promote recruitment. A total of 17 participants were randomized and 15 were retained. Completion of assessments, exercise training, and home exercise sessions; equipment and data collection and management demonstrated excellent feasibility. Both groups improved in hand function outcomes and exercise compliance was above 85%. Participants perceived both programmes as appropriate and acceptable. Participants who completed task-oriented training also agreed that playing different computer games was enjoyable, engaging, and motivating. Findings demonstrate initial evidence on recruitment, feasibility of trial procedures, and acceptability of

EEG Frequency Changes Prior to Making Errors in an Easy Stroop Task

PubMed Central

Atchley, Rachel; Klee, Daniel; Oken, Barry

2017-01-01

Background: Mind-wandering is a form of off-task attention that has been associated with negative affect and rumination. The goal of this study was to assess potential electroencephalographic markers of task-unrelated thought, or mind-wandering state, as related to error rates during a specialized cognitive task. We used EEG to record frontal frequency band activity while participants completed a Stroop task that was modified to induce boredom, task-unrelated thought, and therefore mind-wandering. Methods: A convenience sample of 27 older adults (50–80 years) completed a computerized Stroop matching task. Half of the Stroop trials were congruent (word/color match), and the other half were incongruent (mismatched). Behavioral data and EEG recordings were assessed. EEG analysis focused on the 1-s epochs prior to stimulus presentation in order to compare trials followed by correct versus incorrect responses. Results: Participants made errors on 9% of incongruent trials. There were no errors on congruent trials. There was a decrease in alpha and theta band activity during the epochs followed by error responses. Conclusion: Although replication of these results is necessary, these findings suggest that potential mind-wandering, as evidenced by errors, can be characterized by a decrease in alpha and theta activity compared to on-task, accurate performance periods. PMID:29163101

Feasibility of High-Repetition, Task-Specific Training for Individuals With Upper-Extremity Paresis

PubMed Central

Waddell, Kimberly J.; Birkenmeier, Rebecca L.; Moore, Jennifer L.; Hornby, T. George

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE. We investigated the feasibility of delivering an individualized, progressive, high-repetition upper-extremity (UE) task-specific training protocol for people with stroke in the inpatient rehabilitation setting. METHOD. Fifteen patients with UE paresis participated in this study. Task-specific UE training was scheduled for 60 min/day, 4 days/wk, during occupational therapy for the duration of a participant’s inpatient stay. During each session, participants were challenged to complete ≥300 repetitions of various tasks. RESULTS. Participants averaged 289 repetitions/session, spending 47 of 60 min in active training. Participants improved on impairment and activity level outcome measures. CONCLUSION. People with stroke in an inpatient setting can achieve hundreds of repetitions of task-specific training in 1-hr sessions. As expected, all participants improved on functional outcome measures. Future studies are needed to determine whether this high-repetition training program results in better outcomes than current UE interventions. PMID:25005508

Complete 3D kinematics of upper extremity functional tasks.

PubMed

van Andel, Carolien J; Wolterbeek, Nienke; Doorenbosch, Caroline A M; Veeger, DirkJan H E J; Harlaar, Jaap

2008-01-01

Upper extremity (UX) movement analysis by means of 3D kinematics has the potential to become an important clinical evaluation method. However, no standardized protocol for clinical application has yet been developed, that includes the whole upper limb. Standardization problems include the lack of a single representative function, the wide range of motion of joints and the complexity of the anatomical structures. A useful protocol would focus on the functional status of the arm and particularly the orientation of the hand. The aim of this work was to develop a standardized measurement method for unconstrained movement analysis of the UX that includes hand orientation, for a set of functional tasks for the UX and obtain normative values. Ten healthy subjects performed four representative activities of daily living (ADL). In addition, six standard active range of motion (ROM) tasks were executed. Joint angles of the wrist, elbow, shoulder and scapula were analyzed throughout each ADL task and minimum/maximum angles were determined from the ROM tasks. Characteristic trajectories were found for the ADL tasks, standard deviations were generally small and ROM results were consistent with the literature. The results of this study could form the normative basis for the development of a 'UX analysis report' equivalent to the 'gait analysis report' and would allow for future comparisons with pediatric and/or pathologic movement patterns.

Performance of Healthy Braced Participants During Aerobic and Anaerobic Capacity Tasks

PubMed Central

Rishiraj, Neetu; Taunton, Jack E.; Niven, Brian; Lloyd-Smith, Robert; Regan, William; Woollard, Robert

2011-01-01

Context: Knee braces were introduced in sports approximately 30 years ago. However, the effects of a functional knee brace (FKB) on aerobic and anaerobic performance after fatigue are unknown. Objective: To investigate whether FKB use in noninjured participants hindered performance during aerobic (Léger beep test) and anaerobic (repeated high-intensity shuttle test [RHIST]) tasks. Design: Crossover study. Setting: Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty-seven healthy male provincial and national basketball and field hockey athletes (age = 19.4 ± 3.0 years, range, 17–26 years; height = 182.6 ± 6.8 cm, range, 168–196 cm; mass = 80.0 ± 9.1 kg, range, 66–108 kg). Interventions : Each participant was provided a custom-fitted FKB and performed 5 nonbraced (NBR) testing sessions over 3 days, followed by 5 braced (BR) testing sessions over 3 days, for a total of 17.5 hours of testing per condition. During each testing session, participants performed 1 trial of the Léger beep test and 1 trial of the RHIST in each condition. Main Outcome Measure(s): Predicted maximal oxygen consumption (V˙o2max) and time performance measures were recorded for each NBR and BR trial. Results: Initial performance levels were lower for BR than NBR for both the Léger beep test (BR = 44.3 mL/kg/min, NBR = 47.3 mL/kg/min; F1,26 = 8.726; P = .007) and the RHIST (BR = 16.5 seconds, NBR = 16.2 seconds; F1,26 = 13.98, P = .001). However, with continued FKB use, the aerobic performance measure remained higher for only the first 2 BR testing sessions (NBR = 46.9 mL/kg/min, BR = 42.4 mL/kg/min; F3.0,79.8 = 4.95, P = .003). For the anaerobic test, no performance difference was noted between the testing conditions (NBR = 16.2 seconds, BR = 16.4 seconds; P = .7), whereas fatigue levels were lower during BR testing sessions (NBR = 33%, BR = 31%). After 14.0 hours of FKB use, performance levels were almost equal between the testing conditions (NBR = 47.6 mL/kg/min, BR = 46.1 m

Do Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders Compensate in Naturalistic Prospective Memory Tasks?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altgassen, Mareike; Koban, Nancy; Kliegel, Matthias

2012-01-01

The present study is the first to directly compare event- and time-based prospective memory in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) using a contextual task mirroring real life demands of prospective memory. Twenty-five individuals with ASD and 25 age- and ability-matched controls completed the Dresden Breakfast task which required participants to…

Cogito ergo video: Task-relevant information is involuntarily boosted into awareness.

PubMed

Gayet, Surya; Brascamp, Jan W; Van der Stigchel, Stefan; Paffen, Chris L E

2015-01-01

Only part of the visual information that impinges on our retinae reaches visual awareness. In a series of three experiments, we investigated how the task relevance of incoming visual information affects its access to visual awareness. On each trial, participants were instructed to memorize one of two presented hues, drawn from different color categories (e.g., red and green), for later recall. During the retention interval, participants were presented with a differently colored grating in each eye such as to elicit binocular rivalry. A grating matched either the task-relevant (memorized) color category or the task-irrelevant (nonmemorized) color category. We found that the rivalrous stimulus that matched the task-relevant color category tended to dominate awareness over the rivalrous stimulus that matched the task-irrelevant color category. This effect of task relevance persisted when participants reported the orientation of the rivalrous stimuli, even though in this case color information was completely irrelevant for the task of reporting perceptual dominance during rivalry. When participants memorized the shape of a colored stimulus, however, its color category did not affect predominance of rivalrous stimuli during retention. Taken together, these results indicate that the selection of task-relevant information is under volitional control but that visual input that matches this information is boosted into awareness irrespective of whether this is useful for the observer.

Numerical bias in bounded and unbounded number line tasks.

PubMed

Cohen, Dale J; Blanc-Goldhammer, Daryn

2011-04-01

The number line task is often used to assess children's and adults' underlying representations of integers. Traditional bounded number line tasks, however, have limitations that can lead to misinterpretation. Here we present a new task, an unbounded number line task, that overcomes these limitations. In Experiment 1, we show that adults use a biased proportion estimation strategy to complete the traditional bounded number line task. In Experiment 2, we show that adults use a dead-reckoning integer estimation strategy in our unbounded number line task. Participants revealed a positively accelerating numerical bias in both tasks, but showed scalar variance only in the unbounded number line task. We conclude that the unbounded number line task is a more pure measure of integer representation than the bounded number line task, and using these results, we present a preliminary description of adults' underlying representation of integers.

The Failure of Deactivating Intentions: Aftereffects of Completed Intentions in the Repeated Prospective Memory Cue Paradigm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walser, Moritz; Fischer, Rico; Goschke, Thomas

2012-01-01

We used a newly developed experimental paradigm to investigate aftereffects of completed intentions on subsequent performance that required the maintenance and execution of new intentions. Participants performed an ongoing number categorization task and an additional prospective memory (PM) task, which required them to respond to PM cues that…

Verifiable Task Assignment and Scheduling Controller

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-01

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

Relationship between participants' level of education and engagement in their completion of the Understanding Dementia Massive Open Online Course.

PubMed

Goldberg, Lynette R; Bell, Erica; King, Carolyn; O'Mara, Ciaran; McInerney, Fran; Robinson, Andrew; Vickers, James

2015-03-26

The completion rates for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) generally are low (5-10%) and have been reported to favour participants with higher (typically tertiary-level) education. Despite these factors, the flexible learning offered by a MOOC has the potential to provide an accessible educational environment for a broad spectrum of participants. In this regard, the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre has developed a MOOC on dementia that is evidence-based and intended to address this emerging major global public health issue by providing educational resources to a broad range of caregivers, people with dementia, and health care professionals. The Understanding Dementia MOOC was designed specifically to appeal to, and support, adult learners with a limited educational background. The nine-week course was presented in three units. Participants passed a quiz at the end of each unit to continue through the course. A series of discussion boards facilitated peer-to-peer interactions. A separate "Ask an Expert" discussion board also was established for each unit where participants posted questions and faculty with expertise in the area responded. Almost 10,000 people from 65 countries registered; 4,409 registrants engaged in the discussion boards, and 3,624 (38%) completed the course. Participants' level of education ranged from postgraduate study to a primary (elementary) school education. Participants without a university education (vocational certificate and below) were as likely as those with a university education to complete the course (χ(2) = 2.35, df = 6, p = 0.88) and to engage in the online discussions (F[6, 3799] = 0.85, p = 0.54). Further, participants who completed the MOOC engaged in significantly more discussion board posts than participants who did not complete the course (t = 39.60, df = 4407, p <0.001). The high completion rate and level of engagement of participants across a broad spectrum of levels of

People with chronic low back pain have poorer balance than controls in challenging tasks.

PubMed

da Silva, Rubens A; Vieira, Edgar R; Fernandes, Karen B P; Andraus, Rodrigo A; Oliveira, Marcio R; Sturion, Leandro A; Calderon, Mariane G

2018-06-01

To compare the balance of individuals with and without chronic low back pain during five tasks. The participants were 20 volunteers, 10 with and 10 without nonspecific chronic low back pain, mean age 34 years, 50% females. The participants completed the following balance tasks on a force platform in random order: (1) two-legged stance with eyes open, (2) two-legged stance with eyes closed, (3) semi-tandem with eyes open, (4) semi-tandem with eyes closed and (5) one-legged stance with eyes open. The participants completed three 60-s trials of tasks 1-4, and three 30-s trials of task 5 with 30-s rests between trials. The center of pressure area, velocity and frequency in the antero-posterior and medio-lateral directions were computed during each task, and compared between groups and tasks. Participants with chronic low back pain presented significantly larger center of pressure area and higher velocity than the healthy controls (p < 0.001). There were significant differences among tasks for all center of pressure variables (p < 0.001). Semi-tandem (tasks 3 and 4) and one-leg stance (task 5) were more sensitive to identify balance impairments in the chronic low back pain group than two-legged stance tasks 1 and 2 (effect size >1.37 vs. effect size <0.64). There were no significant interactions between groups and tasks. Individuals with chronic low back pain presented poorer postural control using center of pressure measurements than the healthy controls, mainly during more challenging balance tasks such as semi-tandem and one-legged stance conditions. Implications for Rehabilitation People with chronic low back had poorer balance than those without it. Balance tasks need to be sensitive to capture impairments. Balance assessments during semi-tandem and one-legged stance were the most sensitive tasks to determine postural control deficit in people with chronic low back. Balance assessment should be included during rehabilitation programs for individuals with

Transfer of training between distinct motor tasks after stroke: Implications for task- specific approaches to upper extremity neurorehabilitation

PubMed Central

Schaefer, Sydney Y.; Patterson, Chavelle B.; Lang, Catherine E.

2013-01-01

Background Although task-specific training is emerging as a viable approach for recovering motor function after stroke, there is little evidence for whether the effects of such training transfer to other functional motor tasks not directly practiced in therapy. Objective The purpose of the current study was to test whether training on one motor task would transfer to untrained tasks that were either spatiotemporally similar or different in individuals with chronic hemiparesis post-stroke. Methods Eleven participants with chronic mild-to-moderate hemiparesis following stroke completed five days of supervised massed practice of a feeding task with their affected side. Performance on the feeding task, along with two other untrained functional upper extremity motor tasks (sorting, dressing) was assessed before and after training. Results Performance of all three tasks improved significantly after training exclusively on one motor task. The amount of improvement in the untrained tasks was comparable, and was not dependent on the degree of similarity to the trained task. Conclusions Because the number and type of tasks that can be practiced are often limited within standard stroke rehabilitation, results from this study will be useful for designing task-specific training plans to maximize therapy benefits. PMID:23549521

Transfer of training between distinct motor tasks after stroke: implications for task-specific approaches to upper-extremity neurorehabilitation.

PubMed

Schaefer, Sydney Y; Patterson, Chavelle B; Lang, Catherine E

2013-09-01

Although task-specific training is emerging as a viable approach for recovering motor function after stroke, there is little evidence for whether the effects of such training transfer to other functional motor tasks not directly practiced in therapy. The purpose of the current study was to test whether training on one motor task in individuals with chronic hemiparesis poststroke would transfer to untrained tasks that were either spatiotemporally similar or different. In all, 11 participants with chronic mild to moderate hemiparesis following stroke completed 5 days of supervised massed practice of a feeding task with their affected side. Performance on the feeding task, along with 2 other untrained functional upper-extremity motor tasks (sorting, dressing) was assessed before and after training. Performance of all 3 tasks improved significantly after training exclusively on 1 motor task. The amount of improvement in the untrained tasks was comparable and was not dependent on the degree of similarity to the trained task. Because the number and type of tasks that can be practiced are often limited within standard stroke rehabilitation, results from this study will be useful for designing task-specific training plans to maximize therapy benefits.

Age-Related Effects of Study Time Allocation on Memory Performance in a Verbal and a Spatial Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krueger, Lacy E.

2012-01-01

Past studies have suggested that study time allocation partially mediates age relations on memory performance in a verbal task. To identify whether this applied to a different material modality, participants ages 20-87 completed a spatial task in addition to a traditional verbal task. In both the verbal and the spatial task, increased age was…

Transferring control demands across incidental learning tasks – stronger sequence usage in serial reaction task after shortcut option in letter string checking

PubMed Central

Gaschler, Robert; Marewski, Julian N.; Wenke, Dorit; Frensch, Peter A.

2014-01-01

After incidentally learning about a hidden regularity, participants can either continue to solve the task as instructed or, alternatively, apply a shortcut. Past research suggests that the amount of conflict implied by adopting a shortcut seems to bias the decision for vs. against continuing instruction-coherent task processing. We explored whether this decision might transfer from one incidental learning task to the next. Theories that conceptualize strategy change in incidental learning as a learning-plus-decision phenomenon suggest that high demands to adhere to instruction-coherent task processing in Task 1 will impede shortcut usage in Task 2, whereas low control demands will foster it. We sequentially applied two established incidental learning tasks differing in stimuli, responses and hidden regularity (the alphabet verification task followed by the serial reaction task, SRT). While some participants experienced a complete redundancy in the task material of the alphabet verification task (low demands to adhere to instructions), for others the redundancy was only partial. Thus, shortcut application would have led to errors (high demands to follow instructions). The low control demand condition showed the strongest usage of the fixed and repeating sequence of responses in the SRT. The transfer results are in line with the learning-plus-decision view of strategy change in incidental learning, rather than with resource theories of self-control. PMID:25506336

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

PubMed

Lynch, Colleen; LaGasse, A Blythe

2016-01-01

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

Task Prioritization in Dual-Tasking: Instructions versus Preferences

PubMed Central

Jansen, Reinier J.; van Egmond, René; de Ridder, Huib

2016-01-01

The role of task prioritization in performance tradeoffs during multi-tasking has received widespread attention. However, little is known on whether people have preferences regarding tasks, and if so, whether these preferences conflict with priority instructions. Three experiments were conducted with a high-speed driving game and an auditory memory task. In Experiment 1, participants did not receive priority instructions. Participants performed different sequences of single-task and dual-task conditions. Task performance was evaluated according to participants’ retrospective accounts on preferences. These preferences were reformulated as priority instructions in Experiments 2 and 3. The results showed that people differ in their preferences regarding task prioritization in an experimental setting, which can be overruled by priority instructions, but only after increased dual-task exposure. Additional measures of mental effort showed that performance tradeoffs had an impact on mental effort. The interpretation of these findings was used to explore an extension of Threaded Cognition Theory with Hockey’s Compensatory Control Model. PMID:27391779

Task rotation in an underground coal mine: A pilot study.

PubMed

Jones, Olivia F; James, Carole L

2018-01-01

Task rotation is used to decrease the risk of workplace injuries and improve work satisfaction. To investigate the feasibility, benefits and challenges of implementing a task rotation schedule within an underground coalmine in NSW, Australia. A mixed method case control pilot study with the development and implementation of a task rotation schedule for 6 months with two work crews. A questionnaire including The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, The Need for Recovery after Work Scale, and The Australian WHOQOL- BREF Australian Edition was used to survey workers at baseline, 3 and 6 months. A focus group was completed with the intervention crew and management at the completion of the study. In total, twenty-seven participants completed the survey. Significant improvements in the psychological and environmental domains of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire were found in the intervention crew. Musculoskeletal pain was highest in the elbow, lower back and knee, and fatigue scores improved, across both groups. The intervention crew felt 'mentally fresher', 'didn't do the same task twice in a row', and 'had more task variety which made the shift go quickly'. Task rotation was positively regarded, with psychological benefits identified. Three rotations during a 9-hour shift were feasible and practical in this environment.

Blind Insight: Metacognitive Discrimination Despite Chance Task Performance

PubMed Central

Dienes, Zoltan; Barrett, Adam B.; Bor, Daniel; Seth, Anil K.

2014-01-01

Blindsight and other examples of unconscious knowledge and perception demonstrate dissociations between judgment accuracy and metacognition: Studies reveal that participants’ judgment accuracy can be above chance while their confidence ratings fail to discriminate right from wrong answers. Here, we demonstrated the opposite dissociation: a reliable relationship between confidence and judgment accuracy (demonstrating metacognition) despite judgment accuracy being no better than chance. We evaluated the judgments of 450 participants who completed an AGL task. For each trial, participants decided whether a stimulus conformed to a given set of rules and rated their confidence in that judgment. We identified participants who performed at chance on the discrimination task, utilizing a subset of their responses, and then assessed the accuracy and the confidence-accuracy relationship of their remaining responses. Analyses revealed above-chance metacognition among participants who did not exhibit decision accuracy. This important new phenomenon, which we term blind insight, poses critical challenges to prevailing models of metacognition grounded in signal detection theory. PMID:25384551

Naturalistic Assessment of Everyday Functioning in Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Day Out Task

PubMed Central

Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen; McAlister, Courtney; Weakley, Alyssa

2012-01-01

Objective The Day Out Task (DOT), a naturalistic task that requires multitasking in a real-world setting, was used to examine everyday functioning in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Method Thirty-eight participants with MCI and 38 cognitively healthy older adult controls prioritized, organized, initiated and completed a number of subtasks in a campus apartment to prepare for a day out (e.g., determine and gather change for bus, bring a magazine). Participants also completed tests assessing cognitive constructs important in multitasking (i.e., retrospective memory, prospective memory, planning). Results Compared to controls, the MCI group required more time to complete the DOT and demonstrated poorer task accuracy, performing more subtasks incompletely and inaccurately. Despite poorer DOT task accuracy, the MCI and control groups approached completion of the DOT in a similar manner. For the MCI group, retrospective memory was a unique predictor of the number of subtasks left incomplete and inaccurate, while prospective memory was a unique predictor of DOT sequencing. The DOT measures, but not the cognitive tests, were predictive of knowledgeable informant report of everyday functioning. Conclusions These findings suggest that difficulty remembering and keeping track of multiple goals and subgoals may contribute to the poorer performance of individuals with MCI in complex everyday situations. PMID:22846035

Strategic Adaptation to Task Characteristics, Incentives, and Individual Differences in Dual-Tasking

PubMed Central

Janssen, Christian P.; Brumby, Duncan P.

2015-01-01

We investigate how good people are at multitasking by comparing behavior to a prediction of the optimal strategy for dividing attention between two concurrent tasks. In our experiment, 24 participants had to interleave entering digits on a keyboard with controlling a randomly moving cursor with a joystick. The difficulty of the tracking task was systematically varied as a within-subjects factor. Participants were also exposed to different explicit reward functions that varied the relative importance of the tracking task relative to the typing task (between-subjects). Results demonstrate that these changes in task characteristics and monetary incentives, together with individual differences in typing ability, influenced how participants choose to interleave tasks. This change in strategy then affected their performance on each task. A computational cognitive model was used to predict performance for a wide set of alternative strategies for how participants might have possibly interleaved tasks. This allowed for predictions of optimal performance to be derived, given the constraints placed on performance by the task and cognition. A comparison of human behavior with the predicted optimal strategy shows that participants behaved near optimally. Our findings have implications for the design and evaluation of technology for multitasking situations, as consideration should be given to the characteristics of the task, but also to how different users might use technology depending on their individual characteristics and their priorities. PMID:26161851

Inhibition in task switching: The reliability of the n - 2 repetition cost.

PubMed

Kowalczyk, Agnieszka W; Grange, James A

2017-12-01

The n - 2 repetition cost seen in task switching is the effect of slower response times performing a recently completed task (e.g. an ABA sequence) compared to performing a task that was not recently completed (e.g. a CBA sequence). This cost is thought to reflect cognitive inhibition of task representations and as such, the n - 2 repetition cost has begun to be used as an assessment of individual differences in inhibitory control; however, the reliability of this measure has not been investigated in a systematic manner. The current study addressed this important issue. Seventy-two participants performed three task switching paradigms; participants were also assessed on rumination traits and processing speed-measures of individual differences potentially modulating the n - 2 repetition cost. We found significant n - 2 repetition costs for each paradigm. However, split-half reliability tests revealed that this cost was not reliable at the individual-difference level. Neither rumination tendencies nor processing speed predicted this cost. We conclude that the n - 2 repetition cost is not reliable as a measure of individual differences in inhibitory control.

The relationship between dual-task and cognitive performance among elderly participants who exercise regularly

PubMed Central

Lima, Luciana C. A.; Ansai, Juliana H.; Andrade, Larissa P.; Takahashi, Anielle C. M.

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: The dual-task performance is associated with the functionality of the elderly and it becomes more complex with age. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between the Timed Up and Go dual task (TUG-DT) and cognitive tests among elderly participants who exercise regularly. METHOD: This study examined 98 non-institutionalized people over 60 years old who exercised regularly. Participants were assessed using the TUG-DT (i.e. doing the TUG while listing the days of the week in reverse order), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). The motor (i.e. time and number of steps) and cognitive (i.e. number of correct words) data were collected from TUG-DT . We used a significance level of α=0.05 and SPSS 17.0 for all data analyses. RESULTS: This current elderly sample featured a predominance of women (69.4%) who were highly educated (median=10 years of education) compared to Brazilian population and mostly non-fallers (86.7%). The volunteers showed a good performance on the TUG-DT and the other cognitive tests, except the MoCA, with scores below the cutoff of 26 points. Significant and weak correlations were observed between the TUG-DT (time) and the visuo-spatial/executive domain of the MoCA and the MMSE. The cognitive component of the TUG-DT showed strong correlations between the total MoCA performance score and its visuo-spatial/executive domain. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the TUG-DT to assess cognition is promising; however, the use of more challenging cognitive tasks should be considered when the study population has a high level of education. PMID:25993629

Cognitive pitfall! Videogame players are not immune to dual-task costs.

PubMed

Donohue, Sarah E; James, Brittany; Eslick, Andrea N; Mitroff, Stephen R

2012-07-01

With modern technological advances, we often find ourselves dividing our attention between multiple tasks. While this may seem a productive way to live, our attentional capacity is limited, and this yields costs in one or more of the many tasks that we try to do. Some people believe that they are immune to the costs of multitasking and commonly engage in potentially dangerous behavior, such as driving while talking on the phone. But are some groups of individuals indeed immune to dual-task costs? This study examines whether avid action videogame players, who have been shown to have heightened attentional capacities, are particularly adept multitaskers. Participants completed three visually demanding experimental paradigms (a driving videogame, a multiple-object-tracking task, and a visual search), with and without answering unrelated questions via a speakerphone (i.e., with and without a dual-task component). All of the participants, videogame players and nonvideogame players alike, performed worse while engaging in the additional dual task for all three paradigms. This suggests that extensive videogame experience may not offer immunity from dual-task costs.

The effects of experimental pain and induced optimism on working memory task performance.

PubMed

Boselie, Jantine J L M; Vancleef, Linda M G; Peters, Madelon L

2016-07-01

Pain can interrupt and deteriorate executive task performance. We have previously shown that experimentally induced optimism can diminish the deteriorating effect of cold pressor pain on a subsequent working memory task (i.e., operation span task). In two successive experiments we sought further evidence for the protective role of optimism on pain-induced working memory impairments. We used another working memory task (i.e., 2-back task) that was performed either after or during pain induction. Study 1 employed a 2 (optimism vs. no-optimism)×2 (pain vs. no-pain)×2 (pre-score vs. post-score) mixed factorial design. In half of the participants optimism was induced by the Best Possible Self (BPS) manipulation, which required them to write and visualize about a life in the future where everything turned out for the best. In the control condition, participants wrote and visualized a typical day in their life (TD). Next, participants completed either the cold pressor task (CPT) or a warm water control task (WWCT). Before (baseline) and after the CPT or WWCT participants working memory performance was measured with the 2-back task. The 2-back task measures the ability to monitor and update working memory representation by asking participants to indicate whether the current stimulus corresponds to the stimulus that was presented 2 stimuli ago. Study 2 had a 2 (optimism vs. no-optimism)×2 (pain vs. no-pain) mixed factorial design. After receiving the BPS or control manipulation, participants completed the 2-back task twice: once with painful heat stimulation, and once without any stimulation (counter-balanced order). Continuous heat stimulation was used with temperatures oscillating around 1°C above and 1°C below the individual pain threshold. In study 1, the results did not show an effect of cold pressor pain on subsequent 2-back task performance. Results of study 2 indicated that heat pain impaired concurrent 2-back task performance. However, no evidence was found

Is semantic priming (ir)rational? Insights from the speeded word fragment completion task.

PubMed

Heyman, Tom; Hutchison, Keith A; Storms, Gert

2016-10-01

Semantic priming, the phenomenon that a target is recognized faster if it is preceded by a semantically related prime, is a well-established effect. However, the mechanisms producing semantic priming are subject of debate. Several theories assume that the underlying processes are controllable and tuned to prime utility. In contrast, purely automatic processes, like automatic spreading activation, should be independent of the prime's usefulness. The present study sought to disentangle both accounts by creating a situation where prime processing is actually detrimental. Specifically, participants were asked to quickly complete word fragments with either the letter a or e (e.g., sh_ve to be completed as shave). Critical fragments were preceded by a prime that was either related (e.g., push) or unrelated (write) to a prohibited completion of the target (e.g., shove). In 2 experiments, we found a significant inhibitory priming effect, which is inconsistent with purely "rational" explanations of semantic priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Transformational leadership and task cohesion in sport: the mediating role of inside sacrifice.

PubMed

Cronin, Lorcan Donal; Arthur, Calum Alexander; Hardy, James; Callow, Nichola

2015-02-01

In this cross-sectional study, we examined a mediational model whereby transformational leadership is related to task cohesion via sacrifice. Participants were 381 American (Mage = 19.87 years, SD = 1.41) Division I university athletes (188 males, 193 females) who competed in a variety of sports. Participants completed measures of coach transformational leadership, personal and teammate inside sacrifice, and task cohesion. After conducting multilevel mediation analysis, we found that both personal and teammate inside sacrifice significantly mediated the relationships between transformational leadership behaviors and task cohesion. However, there were differential patterns of these relationships for male and female athletes. Interpretation of the results highlights that coaches should endeavor to display transformational leadership behaviors as they are related to personal and teammate inside sacrifices and task cohesion.

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

Task Integration Facilitates Multitasking.

PubMed

de Oliveira, Rita F; Raab, Markus; Hegele, Mathias; Schorer, Jörg

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate multi-task integration in a continuous tracking task. We were particularly interested in how manipulating task structure in a dual-task situation affects learning of a constant segment embedded in a pursuit-tracking task. Importantly, we examined if dual-task effects could be attributed to task integration by varying the structural similarity and difficulty of the primary and secondary tasks. In Experiment 1 participants performed a pursuit tracking task while counting high-pitched tones and ignoring low-pitched tones. The tones were either presented randomly or structurally 250 ms before each tracking turn. Experiment 2 increased the motor load of the secondary tasks by asking participants to tap their feet to the tones. Experiment 3 further increased motor load of the primary task by increasing its speed and having participants tracking with their non-dominant hand. The results show that dual-task interference can be moderated by secondary task conditions that match the structure of the primary task. Therefore our results support proposals of task integration in continuous tracking paradigms. We conclude that multi-tasking is not always detrimental for motor learning but can be facilitated through task-integration.

Mirror Therapy and Task-Oriented Training for People With a Paretic Upper Extremity.

PubMed

Bondoc, Salvador; Booth, Julie; Budde, Grace; Caruso, Katelyn; DeSousa, Michelle; Earl, Brittany; Hammerton, Kaitlynn; Humphreys, Jill

This study investigates the effect of mirror therapy and task-oriented training on the paretic upper extremity function and occupational performance of people with stroke. This study used a repeated-measures, case-series design in which 4 participants completed a 4-wk intervention consisting of mirror therapy and task-specific training. The intervention was conducted 2×/wk in the clinic and 4×/wk at home. All participants displayed clinically meaningful improvements in self-identified goals at the end of the intervention and at follow-up. Three participants showed clinically meaningful changes in motor function. Although only 1 participant improved in his reported amount of use, all participants showed clinically meaningful improvements in perceived movement quality at varying points of assessment. Mirror therapy, when used as priming for task-oriented training, can produce clinical improvements in upper extremity function and occupational performance in people with hemiparesis. Copyright © 2018 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Pediatric functional magnetic resonance neuroimaging: tactics for encouraging task compliance.

PubMed

Schlund, Michael W; Cataldo, Michael F; Siegle, Greg J; Ladouceur, Cecile D; Silk, Jennifer S; Forbes, Erika E; McFarland, Ashley; Iyengar, Satish; Dahl, Ronald E; Ryan, Neal D

2011-05-06

Neuroimaging technology has afforded advances in our understanding of normal and pathological brain function and development in children and adolescents. However, noncompliance involving the inability to remain in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to complete tasks is one common and significant problem. Task noncompliance is an especially significant problem in pediatric functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research because increases in noncompliance produces a greater risk that a study sample will not be representative of the study population. In this preliminary investigation, we describe the development and application of an approach for increasing the number of fMRI tasks children complete during neuroimaging. Twenty-eight healthy children ages 9-13 years participated. Generalization of the approach was examined in additional fMRI and event-related potential investigations with children at risk for depression, children with anxiety and children with depression (N=120). Essential features of the approach include a preference assessment for identifying multiple individualized rewards, increasing reinforcement rates during imaging by pairing tasks with chosen rewards and presenting a visual 'road map' listing tasks, rewards and current progress. Our results showing a higher percentage of fMRI task completion by healthy children provides proof of concept data for the recommended tactics. Additional support was provided by results showing our approach generalized to several additional fMRI and event-related potential investigations and clinical populations. We proposed that some forms of task noncompliance may emerge from less than optimal reward protocols. While our findings may not directly support the effectiveness of the multiple reward compliance protocol, increased attention to how rewards are selected and delivered may aid cooperation with completing fMRI tasks. The proposed approach contributes to the pediatric neuroimaging literature by

Clinical Reasoning Tasks and Resident Physicians: What Do They Reason About?

PubMed

McBee, Elexis; Ratcliffe, Temple; Goldszmidt, Mark; Schuwirth, Lambert; Picho, Katherine; Artino, Anthony R; Masel, Jennifer; Durning, Steven J

2016-07-01

A framework of clinical reasoning tasks thought to occur in a clinical encounter was recently developed. It proposes that diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning comprise 24 tasks. The authors of this current study used this framework to investigate what internal medicine residents reason about when they approach straightforward clinical cases. Participants viewed three video-recorded clinical encounters portraying common diagnoses. After each video, participants completed a post encounter form and think-aloud protocol. Two authors analyzed transcripts from the think-aloud protocols using a constant comparative approach. They conducted iterative coding of the utterances, classifying each according to the framework of clinical reasoning tasks. They evaluated the type, number, and sequence of tasks the residents used. Ten residents participated in the study in 2013-2014. Across all three cases, the residents employed 14 clinical reasoning tasks. Nearly all coded tasks were associated with framing the encounter or diagnosis. The order in which residents used specific tasks varied. The average number of tasks used per case was as follows: Case 1, 4.4 (range 1-10); Case 2, 4.6 (range 1-6); and Case 3, 4.7 (range 1-7). The residents used some tasks repeatedly; the average number of task utterances was 11.6, 13.2, and 14.7 for, respectively, Case 1, 2, and 3. Results suggest that the use of clinical reasoning tasks occurs in a varied, not sequential, process. The authors provide suggestions for strengthening the framework to more fully encompass the spectrum of reasoning tasks that occur in residents' clinical encounters.

Relationship between Adolescent Risk Preferences on a Laboratory Task and Behavioral Measures of Risk-taking

PubMed Central

Rao, Uma; Sidhartha, Tanuj; Harker, Karen R.; Bidesi, Anup S.; Chen, Li-Ann; Ernst, Monique

2010-01-01

Purpose The goal of the study was to assess individual differences in risk-taking behavior among adolescents in the laboratory. A second aim was to evaluate whether the laboratory-based risk-taking behavior is associated with other behavioral and psychological measures associated with risk-taking behavior. Methods Eighty-two adolescents with no personal history of psychiatric disorder completed a computerized decision-making task, the Wheel of Fortune (WOF). By offering choices between clearly defined probabilities and real monetary outcomes, this task assesses risk preferences when participants are confronted with potential rewards and losses. The participants also completed a variety of behavioral and psychological measures associated with risk-taking behavior. Results Performance on the task varied based on the probability and anticipated outcomes. In the winning sub-task, participants selected low probability-high magnitude reward (high-risk choice) less frequently than high probability-low magnitude reward (low-risk choice). In the losing sub-task, participants selected low probability-high magnitude loss more often than high probability-low magnitude loss. On average, the selection of probabilistic rewards was optimal and similar to performance in adults. There were, however, individual differences in performance, and one-third of the adolescents made high-risk choice more frequently than low-risk choice while selecting a reward. After controlling for sociodemographic and psychological variables, high-risk choice on the winning task predicted “real-world” risk-taking behavior and substance-related problems. Conclusions These findings highlight individual differences in risk-taking behavior. Preliminary data on face validity of the WOF task suggest that it might be a valuable laboratory tool for studying behavioral and neurobiological processes associated with risk-taking behavior in adolescents. PMID:21257113

Verbal memory and verbal fluency tasks used for language localization and lateralization during magnetoencephalography.

PubMed

Pirmoradi, Mona; Jemel, Boutheina; Gallagher, Anne; Tremblay, Julie; D'Hondt, Fabien; Nguyen, Dang Khoa; Béland, Renée; Lassonde, Maryse

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop a presurgical magnetoencephalography (MEG) protocol to localize and lateralize expressive and receptive language function as well as verbal memory in patients with epilepsy. Two simple language tasks and a different analytical procedure were developed. Ten healthy participants and 13 epileptic patients completed two language tasks during MEG recording: a verbal memory task and a verbal fluency task. As a first step, principal component analyses (PCA) were performed on source data from the group of healthy participants to identify spatiotemporal factors that were relevant to these paradigms. Averaged source data were used to localize areas activated during each task and a laterality index (LI) was computed on an individual basis for both groups, healthy participants and patients, using sensor data. PCA revealed activation in the left temporal lobe (300 ms) during the verbal memory task, and from the frontal lobe (210 ms) to the temporal lobe (500 ms) during the verbal fluency task in healthy participants. Averaged source data showed activity in the left hemisphere (250-750 ms), in Wernicke's area, for all participants. Left hemisphere dominance was demonstrated better using the verbal memory task than the verbal fluency task (F1,19=4.41, p=0.049). Cohen's kappa statistic revealed 93% agreement (k=0.67, p=0.002) between LIs obtained from MEG sensor data and fMRI, the IAT, electrical cortical stimulation or handedness with the verbal memory task for all participants. At 74%, agreement results for the verbal fluency task did not reach statistical significance. Analysis procedures yielded interesting findings with both tasks and localized language-related activation. However, based on source localization and laterality indices, the verbal memory task yielded better results in the context of the presurgical evaluation of epileptic patients. The verbal fluency task did not add any further information to the verbal memory task as

A Human-Autonomy Teaming Approach for a Flight-Following Task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brandt, Summer L.; Russell, Ricky; Lachter, Joel; Shively, Robert

2017-01-01

Managing aircraft is becoming more complex with increasingly sophisticated automation responsible for more flight tasks. With this increased complexity, it is becoming more difficult for operators to understand what the automation is doing and why. Human involvement with increasingly autonomous systems must adjust to allow for a more dynamic relationship involving cooperation and teamwork. As part of an ongoing project to develop a framework for human-autonomy teaming (HAT) in aviation, a part-task study was conducted to demonstrate, evaluate and refine proposed critical aspects of HAT. These features were built into an automated recommender system on a ground station available from previous studies. Participants performed a flight-following task once with the original ground station (i.e., No HAT condition) and once with the HAT features enabled (i.e., HAT condition). Behavioral and subjective measures were collected; subjective measures are presented here. Overall, participants preferred the ground station with HAT features enabled compared to the station without the HAT features. Participants reported that the HAT displays and automation were preferred for keeping up with operationally important issues. Additionally, participants reported that the HAT displays and automation provided enough situation awareness to complete the task and reduced workload relative to the No HAT baseline.

Social motivation in prospective memory: higher importance ratings and reported performance rates for social tasks.

PubMed

Penningroth, Suzanna L; Scott, Walter D; Freuen, Margaret

2011-03-01

Few studies have addressed social motivation in prospective memory (PM). In a pilot study and two main studies, we examined whether social PM tasks possess a motivational advantage over nonsocial PM tasks. In the pilot study and Study 1, participants listed their real-life important and less important PM tasks. Independent raters categorized the PM tasks as social or nonsocial. Results from both studies showed a higher proportion of tasks rated as social when important tasks were requested than when less important tasks were requested. In Study 1, participants also reported whether they had remembered to perform each PM task. Reported performance rates were higher for tasks rated as social than for those rated as nonsocial. Finally, in Study 2, participants rated the importance of two hypothetical PM tasks, one social and one nonsocial. The social PM task was rated higher in importance. Overall, these findings suggest that social PM tasks are viewed as more important than nonsocial PM tasks and they are more likely to be performed. We propose that consideration of the social relevance of PM will lead to a more complete and ecologically valid theoretical description of PM performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

A Content Analysis of Choral Students' Participation Perceptions: Implications for Lifelong Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rohwer, Debbie; Rohwer, Mark

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe students' perceptions of their high school choral experience. The participants in the study were 57 choral musicians attending a north Texas high school. Each participant was asked to complete a broad writing task: to write a letter to the incoming varsity choir members in order to help the musicians to…

Are gamers better crossers? An examination of action video game experience and dual task effects in a simulated street crossing task.

PubMed

Gaspar, John G; Neider, Mark B; Crowell, James A; Lutz, Aubrey; Kaczmarski, Henry; Kramer, Arthur F

2014-05-01

A high-fidelity street crossing simulator was used to test the hypothesis that experienced action video game players are less vulnerable than non-gamers to dual task costs in complex tasks. Previous research has shown that action video game players outperform nonplayers on many single task measures of perception and attention. It is unclear, however, whether action video game players outperform nonplayers in complex, divided attention tasks. Experienced action video game players and nongamers completed a street crossing task in a high-fidelity simulator. Participants walked on a manual treadmill to cross the street. During some crossings, a cognitively demanding working memory task was added. Dividing attention resulted in more collisions and increased decision making time. Of importance, these dual task costs were equivalent for the action video game players and the nongamers. These results suggest that action video game players are equally susceptible to the costs of dividing attention in a complex task. Perceptual and attentional benefits associated with action video game experience may not translate to performance benefits in complex, real-world tasks.

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

PubMed Central

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

2016-01-01

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

Comparison of the Effects of Continuous Video Modeling, Video Prompting, and Video Modeling on Task Completion by Young Adults with Moderate Intellectual Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mechling, Linda C.; Ayres, Kevin M.; Bryant, Kathryn J.; Foster, Ashley L.

2014-01-01

This study compared the effects of three procedures (video prompting: VP, video modeling: VM, and continuous video modeling: CVM) on task completion by three high school students with moderate intellectual disability. The comparison was made across three sets of fundamentally different tasks (putting away household items in clusters of two items;…

Embedded interruptions and task complexity influence schema-related cognitive load progression in an abstract learning task.

PubMed

Wirzberger, Maria; Esmaeili Bijarsari, Shirin; Rey, Günter Daniel

2017-09-01

Cognitive processes related to schema acquisition comprise an essential source of demands in learning situations. Since the related amount of cognitive load is supposed to change over time, plausible temporal models of load progression based on different theoretical backgrounds are inspected in this study. A total of 116 student participants completed a basal symbol sequence learning task, which provided insights into underlying cognitive dynamics. Two levels of task complexity were determined by the amount of elements within the symbol sequence. In addition, interruptions due to an embedded secondary task occurred at five predefined stages over the task. Within the resulting 2x5-factorial mixed between-within design, the continuous monitoring of efficiency in learning performance enabled assumptions on relevant resource investment. From the obtained results, a nonlinear change of learning efficiency over time seems most plausible in terms of cognitive load progression. Moreover, different effects of the induced interruptions show up in conditions of task complexity, which indicate the activation of distinct cognitive mechanisms related to structural aspects of the task. Findings are discussed in the light of evidence from research on memory and information processing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Utah's Post-Secondary Participation and Completion Patterns. Issue Brief, No. 2017-2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ma, David; Hartley, Julie

2017-01-01

In 2016, the Utah State Board of Regents adopted a 10-year strategic plan, including two specific goals related to students' participation in and completion of higher education: first, that 75% of Utah's 12th graders would enroll in post-secondary education within five years of high school graduation by the year 2025; and, second, that degree…

Priming performance-related concerns induces task-related mind-wandering.

PubMed

Jordano, Megan L; Touron, Dayna R

2017-10-01

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that priming of performance-related concerns would (1) increase the frequency of task-related mind-wandering (i.e., task-related interference; TRI) and (2) decrease task performance. In each experiment, sixty female participants completed an operation span task (OSPAN) containing thought content probes. The task was framed as a math task for those in a condition primed for math-related stereotype threat and as a memory task for those in a control condition. In both studies, women whose performance-related concerns were primed via stereotype threat reported more TRI than women in the control. The second experiment used a more challenging OSPAN task and stereotype primed women also had lower math accuracy than controls. These results support the "control failures×current concerns" framework of mind-wandering, which posits that the degree to which the environmental context triggers personal concerns influences both mind-wandering frequency and content. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Background Music and Background Noise on the Task Performance of Introverts and Extraverts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cassidy, Gianna; MacDonald, Raymond A. R.

2007-01-01

The study investigated the effects of music with high arousal potential and negative affect (HA), music with low arousal potential and positive affect (LA), and everyday noise, on the cognitive task performance of introverts and extraverts. Forty participants completed five cognitive tasks: immediate recall, free recall, numerical and delayed…

Cognitive and Physical Fatigue Tasks Enhance Pain, Cognitive Fatigue and Physical Fatigue in People with Fibromyalgia

PubMed Central

Dailey, Dana L; Keffala, Valerie J; Sluka, Kathleen A

2014-01-01

Objective Fibromyalgia is a condition characterized by chronic widespread muscle pain and fatigue. The primary objective of this study was to determine if pain, perceived cognitive fatigue, and perceived physical fatigue were enhanced in participants with fibromyalgia compared to healthy controls during a cognitive fatigue task, a physical fatigue task and a dual fatigue task. Methods Twenty four people with fibromyalgia and 33 healthy controls completed pain, fatigue and function measures. A cognitive fatigue task (Controlled Oral Word Association Test) and physical fatigue task (Valpar peg test) were done individually and combined for a dual fatigue task. Resting pain, perceived cognitive fatigue and perceived physical fatigue were assessed during each task using visual analogue scales. Function was assessed with shoulder range of motion and grip. Results People with fibromyalgia had significantly higher increases in pain, cognitive fatigue and physical fatigue when compared to healthy controls after completion of a cognitive fatigue task, a physical fatigue task, or a dual fatigue task (p<0.01). People with fibromyalgia performed equivalently on measures of physical performance and cognitive performance on the physical and cognitive fatigue tasks, respectively. Conclusions These data show that people with fibromyalgia show larger increases in pain, perceived cognitive fatigue and perceived physical fatigue to both cognitive and physical fatigue tasks compared to healthy controls. The increases in pain and fatigue during cognitive and physical fatigue tasks could influence subject participation in daily activities and rehabilitation. PMID:25074583

A Human-Autonomy Teaming Approach for a Flight-Following Task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brandt, Summer L.; Lachter, Joel; Russell, Ricky; Shively, R. Jay

2017-01-01

Human involvement with increasingly autonomous systems must adjust to allow for a more dynamic relationship involving cooperation and teamwork. As part of an ongoing project to develop a framework for human autonomy teaming (HAT) in aviation, a study was conducted to evaluate proposed tenets of HAT. Participants performed a flight-following task at a ground station both with and without HAT features enabled. Overall, participants preferred the ground station with HAT features enabled over the station without the HAT features. Participants reported that the HAT displays and automation were preferred for keeping up with operationally important issues. Additionally, participants reported that the HAT displays and automation provided enough situation awareness to complete the task, reduced the necessary workload and were efficient. Overall, there was general agreement that HAT features supported teaming with the automation. These results will be used to refine and expand our proposed framework for human-autonomy teaming.

THE EFFECT OF FEEDBACK ON THE ACCURACY OF CHECKLIST COMPLETION DURING INSTRUMENT FLIGHT TRAINING

PubMed Central

Rantz, William G; Dickinson, Alyce M; Sinclair, Gilbert A; Van Houten, Ron

2009-01-01

This study examined whether pilots completed airplane checklists more accurately when they receive postflight graphic and verbal feedback. Participants were 8 college students who are pilots with an instrument rating. The task consisted of flying a designated flight pattern using a personal computer aviation training device (PCATD). The dependent variables were the number of checklist items completed correctly. A multiple baseline design across pairs of participants with withdrawal of treatment was employed in this study. During baseline, participants were given postflight technical feedback. During intervention, participants were given postflight graphic feedback on checklist use and praise for improvements along with technical feedback. The intervention produced near perfect checklist performance, which was maintained following a return to the baseline conditions. PMID:20190914

Prospective memory in young and older adults: the effects of task importance and ongoing task load.

PubMed

Smith, Rebekah E; Hunt, R Reed

2014-01-01

Remembering to perform an action in the future, called prospective memory, often shows age-related differences in favor of young adults when tested in the laboratory. Recently Smith, Horn, and Bayen (2012; Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 19, 495) embedded a PM task in an ongoing color-matching task and manipulated the difficulty of the ongoing task by varying the number of colors on each trial of the task. Smith et al. found that age-related differences in PM performance (lower PM performance for older adults relative to young adults) persisted even when older adults could perform the ongoing task as well or better than the young adults. The current study investigates a possible explanation for the pattern of results reported by Smith et al. by including a manipulation of task emphasis: for half of the participants the prospective memory task was emphasize, while for the other half the ongoing color-matching task was emphasized. Older adults performed a 4-color version of the ongoing color-matching task, while young adults completed either the 4-color or a more difficult 6-color version of the ongoing task. Older adults failed to perform as well as the young adults on the prospective memory task regardless of task emphasis, even when older adults were performing as well or better than the young adults on the ongoing color-matching task. The current results indicate that the lack of an effect of ongoing task load on prospective memory task performance is not due to a perception that one or the other task is more important than the other.

Driving Task: How Older Drivers' On-Road Driving Performance Relates to Abilities, Perceptions, and Restrictions.

PubMed

Koppel, Sjaan; Charlton, Judith L; Langford, Jim; Di Stefano, Marilyn; MacDonald, Wendy; Vlahodimitrakou, Zafiroula; Mazer, Barbara L; Gelinas, Isabelle; Vrkljan, Brenda; Eliasz, Kinga; Myers, Anita; Tuokko, Holly A; Marshall, Shawn C

2016-06-01

This study examined a cohort of 227 older drivers and investigated the relationship between performance on the electronic Driver Observation Schedule (eDOS) driving task and: (1) driver characteristics; (2) functional abilities; (3) perceptions of driving comfort and abilities; and (4) self-reported driving restrictions. Participants (male: 70%; age: M = 81.53 years, SD = 3.37 years) completed a series of functional ability measures and scales on perceived driving comfort, abilities, and driving restrictions from the Year 2 Candrive/Ozcandrive assessment protocol, along with an eDOS driving task. Observations of participants' driving behaviours during the driving task were recorded for intersection negotiation, lane-changing, merging, low-speed maneuvers, and maneuver-free driving. eDOS driving task scores were high (M = 94.74; SD = 5.70) and significantly related to participants' perceived driving abilities, reported frequency of driving in challenging situations, and number of driving restrictions. Future analyses will explore potential changes in driving task scores over time.

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

PubMed

Das, B; Shikdar, A A

1999-01-01

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

You Need to Know: There Is a Causal Relationship between Structural Knowledge and Control Performance in Complex Problem Solving Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goode, Natassia; Beckmann, Jens F.

2010-01-01

This study investigates the relationships between structural knowledge, control performance and fluid intelligence in a complex problem solving (CPS) task. 75 participants received either complete, partial or no information regarding the underlying structure of a complex problem solving task, and controlled the task to reach specific goals.…

Effect of tDCS on task relevant and irrelevant perceptual learning of complex objects.

PubMed

Van Meel, Chayenne; Daniels, Nicky; de Beeck, Hans Op; Baeck, Annelies

2016-01-01

During perceptual learning the visual representations in the brain are altered, but these changes' causal role has not yet been fully characterized. We used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to investigate the role of higher visual regions in lateral occipital cortex (LO) in perceptual learning with complex objects. We also investigated whether object learning is dependent on the relevance of the objects for the learning task. Participants were trained in two tasks: object recognition using a backward masking paradigm and an orientation judgment task. During both tasks, an object with a red line on top of it were presented in each trial. The crucial difference between both tasks was the relevance of the object: the object was relevant for the object recognition task, but not for the orientation judgment task. During training, half of the participants received anodal tDCS stimulation targeted at the lateral occipital cortex (LO). Afterwards, participants were tested on how well they recognized the trained objects, the irrelevant objects presented during the orientation judgment task and a set of completely new objects. Participants stimulated with tDCS during training showed larger improvements of performance compared to participants in the sham condition. No learning effect was found for the objects presented during the orientation judgment task. To conclude, this study suggests a causal role of LO in relevant object learning, but given the rather low spatial resolution of tDCS, more research on the specificity of this effect is needed. Further, mere exposure is not sufficient to train object recognition in our paradigm.

The stability of working memory: do previous tasks influence complex span?

PubMed

Healey, M Karl; Hasher, Lynn; Danilova, Elena

2011-11-01

Schmeichel (2007) reported that performing an initial task before completing a working memory span task can lower span scores and suggested that the effect was due to depleted cognitive resources. We showed that the detrimental effect of prior tasks depends on a match between the stimuli used in the span task and the preceding task. A task requiring participants to ignore words reduced performance on a subsequent word-based verbal span task but not on an arrow-based spatial span task. Ignoring arrows had the opposite pattern of effects: reducing performance on the spatial span task but not on the word-based span task. Finally, we showed that antisaccade, a nonverbal task that taxes domain-general processes implicated in working memory, did not influence subsequent performance of either a verbal or a spatial span task. Together these results suggest that while span is sensitive to prior tasks, that sensitivity does not stem from depleted resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

The application of subjective job task analysis techniques in physically demanding occupations: evidence for the presence of self-serving bias.

PubMed

Lee-Bates, Benjamin; Billing, Daniel C; Caputi, Peter; Carstairs, Greg L; Linnane, Denise; Middleton, Kane

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to determine if perceptions of physically demanding job tasks are biased by employee demographics and employment profile characteristics including: age, sex, experience, length of tenure, rank and if they completed or supervised a task. Surveys were administered to 427 Royal Australian Navy personnel who characterised 33 tasks in terms of physical effort, importance, frequency, duration and vertical/horizontal distance travelled. Results showed no evidence of bias resulting from participant characteristics, however participants who were actively involved in both task participation and supervision rated these tasks as more important than those involved only in the supervision of that task. This may indicate self-serving bias in which participants that are more actively involved in a task had an inflated perception of that task's importance. These results have important implications for the conduct of job task analyses, especially the use of subjective methodologies in the development of scientifically defensible physical employment standards. Practitioner Summary: To examine the presence of systematic bias in subjective job task analysis methodologies, a survey was conducted on a sample of Royal Australian Navy personnel. The relationship between job task descriptions and participant's demographic and job profile characteristics revealed the presence of self-serving bias affecting perceptions of task importance.

Walking and talking: an investigation of cognitive-motor dual tasking in multiple sclerosis.

PubMed

Hamilton, F; Rochester, L; Paul, L; Rafferty, D; O'Leary, C P; Evans, J J

2009-10-01

Deficits in motor functioning, including walking, and in cognitive functions, including attention, are known to be prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS), though little attention has been paid to how impairments in these areas of functioning interact. This study investigated the effects of performing a concurrent cognitive task when walking in people with MS. Level of task demand was manipulated to investigate whether this affected level of dual-task decrement. Eighteen participants with MS and 18 healthy controls took part. Participants completed walking and cognitive tasks under single- and dual-task conditions. Compared to healthy controls, MS participants showed greater decrements in performance under dual-task conditions in cognitive task performance, walking speed and swing time variability. In the MS group, the degree of decrement under dual-task conditions was related to levels of fatigue, a measure of general cognitive functioning and self-reported everyday cognitive errors, but not to measures of disease severity or duration. Difficulty with walking and talking in MS may be a result of a divided attention deficit or of overloading of the working memory system, and further investigation is needed. We suggest that difficulty with walking and talking in MS may lead to practical problems in everyday life, including potentially increasing the risk of falls. Clinical tools to assess cognitive-motor dual-tasking ability are needed.

Task complexity, student perceptions of vocabulary learning in EFL, and task performance.

PubMed

Wu, Xiaoli; Lowyck, Joost; Sercu, Lies; Elen, Jan

2013-03-01

The study deepened our understanding of how students' self-efficacy beliefs contribute to the context of teaching English as a foreign language in the framework of cognitive mediational paradigm at a fine-tuned task-specific level. The aim was to examine the relationship among task complexity, self-efficacy beliefs, domain-related prior knowledge, learning strategy use, and task performance as they were applied to English vocabulary learning from reading tasks. Participants were 120 second-year university students (mean age 21) from a Chinese university. This experiment had two conditions (simple/complex). A vocabulary level test was first conducted to measure participants' prior knowledge of English vocabulary. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of the learning tasks. Participants were administered task booklets together with the self-efficacy scales, measures of learning strategy use, and post-tests. Data obtained were submitted to multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and path analysis. Results from the MANOVA model showed a significant effect of vocabulary level on self-efficacy beliefs, learning strategy use, and task performance. Task complexity showed no significant effect; however, an interaction effect between vocabulary level and task complexity emerged. Results from the path analysis showed self-efficacy beliefs had an indirect effect on performance. Our results highlighted the mediating role of self-efficacy beliefs and learning strategy use. Our findings indicate that students' prior knowledge plays a crucial role on both self-efficacy beliefs and task performance, and the predictive power of self-efficacy on task performance may lie in its association with learning strategy use. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

Effects of Differential Reinforcement of Short Latencies on Response Latency, Task Completion, and Accuracy of an Adolescent with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donohue, Melanie M.; Casey, Laura Baylot; Bicard, David F.; Bicard, Sara E.

2012-01-01

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are faced with many challenging behaviors that could impede their learning. One commonly reported problem behavior is noncompliance, which is often defined as a delay in response (latency), decrease in rate of responding (fluency), or failure to complete a task. This failure to comply in an appropriate…

Improving communication when seeking informed consent: a randomised controlled study of a computer-based method for providing information to prospective clinical trial participants.

PubMed

Karunaratne, Asuntha S; Korenman, Stanley G; Thomas, Samantha L; Myles, Paul S; Komesaroff, Paul A

2010-04-05

To assess the efficacy, with respect to participant understanding of information, of a computer-based approach to communication about complex, technical issues that commonly arise when seeking informed consent for clinical research trials. An open, randomised controlled study of 60 patients with diabetes mellitus, aged 27-70 years, recruited between August 2006 and October 2007 from the Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology at the Alfred Hospital and Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne. Participants were asked to read information about a mock study via a computer-based presentation (n = 30) or a conventional paper-based information statement (n = 30). The computer-based presentation contained visual aids, including diagrams, video, hyperlinks and quiz pages. Understanding of information as assessed by quantitative and qualitative means. Assessment scores used to measure level of understanding were significantly higher in the group that completed the computer-based task than the group that completed the paper-based task (82% v 73%; P = 0.005). More participants in the group that completed the computer-based task expressed interest in taking part in the mock study (23 v 17 participants; P = 0.01). Most participants from both groups preferred the idea of a computer-based presentation to the paper-based statement (21 in the computer-based task group, 18 in the paper-based task group). A computer-based method of providing information may help overcome existing deficiencies in communication about clinical research, and may reduce costs and improve efficiency in recruiting participants for clinical trials.

Task-dependent and task-independent neurovascular responses to syntactic processing⋆

PubMed Central

Caplan, David; Chen, Evan; Waters, Gloria

2008-01-01

The neural basis for syntactic processing was studied using event-related fMRI to determine the locations of BOLD signal increases in the contrast of syntactically complex sentences with center-embedded, object-extracted relative clauses and syntactically simple sentences with right-branching, subject-extracted relative clauses in a group of 15 participants in three tasks. In a sentence verification task, participants saw a target sentence in one of these two syntactic forms, followed by a probe in a simple active form, and determined whether the probe expressed a proposition in the target. In a plausibility judgment task, participants determined whether a sentence in one of these two syntactic forms was plausible or implausible. Finally, in a non-word detection task, participants determined whether a sentence in one of these two syntactic forms contained only real words or a non-word. BOLD signal associated with the syntactic contrast increased in the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus in non-word detection and in a widespread set of areas in the other two tasks. We conclude that the BOLD activity in the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus reflects syntactic processing independent of concurrent cognitive operations and the more widespread areas of activation reflect the use of strategies and the use of the products of syntactic processing to accomplish tasks. PMID:18387556

Exploring the Relationship between Teachers' Participation in Modified Lesson Study Cycles and Their Implementation of High-Level Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eskelson, Samuel L.

2013-01-01

This study explored the relationship between mathematics teachers' participation in professional development and subsequent changes in their instructional practices. This professional development aimed to help teachers to implement high-level tasks through the use of the "five practices": anticipating, monitoring, selecting, and…

Detecting Stress Patterns Is Related to Children's Performance on Reading Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutierrez-Palma, Nicolas; Raya-Garcia, Manuel; Palma-Reyes, Alfonso

2009-01-01

This paper investigates the relationship between the ability to detect changes in prosody and reading performance in Spanish. Participants were children aged 6-8 years who completed tasks involving reading words, reading pseudowords, stressing pseudowords, and reproducing pseudoword stress patterns. Results showed that the capacity to reproduce…

The relationship between emotional intelligence and task-switching in temporal lobe epilepsy.

PubMed

Gul, Amara; Hussain, Imtiaz

2016-01-01

To examine the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in task-switching performance of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). An experimental research design conducted at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan, Mayo and Services Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan from March 2013 to October 2014. Twenty-five patients with TLE and 25 healthy individuals from local community participated in the study. Participants completed measures of intelligence, EI, depression, anxiety, stress, and task-switching experiment. Patients and controls showed an average intelligence quotient, and normal levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. In contrast to controls, patients showed lower EI and impaired task-switching abilities. This result can be seen in the context of disintegrated white matter and cerebral connectivity in patients with TLE. Emotional intelligence was found to be a significant predictor of task-switching performance. Emotional intelligence is a potential marker of higher order cognitive functioning in patients with TLE.

Self-regulated learning processes of medical students during an academic learning task.

PubMed

Gandomkar, Roghayeh; Mirzazadeh, Azim; Jalili, Mohammad; Yazdani, Kamran; Fata, Ladan; Sandars, John

2016-10-01

This study was designed to identify the self-regulated learning (SRL) processes of medical students during a biomedical science learning task and to examine the associations of the SRL processes with previous performance in biomedical science examinations and subsequent performance on a learning task. A sample of 76 Year 1 medical students were recruited based on their performance in biomedical science examinations and stratified into previous high and low performers. Participants were asked to complete a biomedical science learning task. Participants' SRL processes were assessed before (self-efficacy, goal setting and strategic planning), during (metacognitive monitoring) and after (causal attributions and adaptive inferences) their completion of the task using an SRL microanalytic interview. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the means and frequencies of SRL processes. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations of SRL processes with previous examination performance and the learning task performance. Most participants (from 88.2% to 43.4%) reported task-specific processes for SRL measures. Students who exhibited higher self-efficacy (odds ratio [OR] 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.09-1.90) and reported task-specific processes for metacognitive monitoring (OR 6.61, 95% CI 1.68-25.93) and causal attributions (OR 6.75, 95% CI 2.05-22.25) measures were more likely to be high previous performers. Multiple analysis revealed that similar SRL measures were associated with previous performance. The use of task-specific processes for causal attributions (OR 23.00, 95% CI 4.57-115.76) and adaptive inferences (OR 27.00, 95% CI 3.39-214.95) measures were associated with being a high learning task performer. In multiple analysis, only the causal attributions measure was associated with high learning task performance. Self-efficacy, metacognitive monitoring and causal attributions measures were associated

Methods for Conducting Cognitive Task Analysis for a Decision Making Task.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) improves traditional task analysis procedures by analyzing the thought processes of performers while they complete a...for using these methods to conduct a CTA for domains which involve critical decision making tasks in naturalistic settings. The cognitive task analysis methods

Task variation versus task repetition for people with profound developmental disabilities: an assessment of preferences.

PubMed

Lancioni, G E; O'Reilly, M F; Campodonico, F; Mantini, M

1998-01-01

An assessment of preferences between task variation and task repetition with four adults with profound developmental disabilities was implemented. After participants were exposed to both task variation and task repetition conditions, they were allowed to choose between them. Results showed that all participants had strong preferences; three preferred task variation and one task repetition. Aspects of the assessment and use of assessment data for planning daily work conditions were discussed.

Assessment Training Effects on Student Assessment Skills and Task Performance in a Technology-Facilitated Peer Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Xiongyi; Li, Lan

2014-01-01

This study examines the impact of an assessment training module on student assessment skills and task performance in a technology-facilitated peer assessment. Seventy-eight undergraduate students participated in the study. The participants completed an assessment training exercise, prior to engaging in peer-assessment activities. During the…

The effect of pain on task switching: pain reduces accuracy and increases reaction times across multiple switching paradigms.

PubMed

Attridge, Nina; Keogh, Edmund; Eccleston, Christopher

2016-10-01

Pain disrupts attention, which may have negative consequences for daily life for people with acute or chronic pain. It has been suggested that switching between tasks may leave us particularly susceptible to pain-related attentional disruption, because we need to disengage our attention from one task before shifting it onto another. Switching tasks typically elicit lower accuracies and/or longer reaction times when participants switch to a new task compared with repeating the same task, and pain may exacerbate this effect. We present 3 studies to test this hypothesis. In study 1, participants completed 2 versions of an alternating runs switching task under pain-free and thermal pain-induction conditions. Pain did not affect performance on either task. In studies 2 and 3, we examined 7 versions of the switching task using large general population samples, experiencing a variety of naturally occurring pain conditions, recruited and tested on the internet. On all tasks, participants with pain had longer reaction times on both switch and repeat trials compared with participants without pain, but pain did not increase switch costs. In studies 2 and 3, we also investigated the effects of type of pain, duration of pain, and analgesics on task performance. We conclude that pain has a small dampening effect on performance overall on switching tasks. This suggests that pain interrupts attention even when participants are engaged in a trial, not only when attention has been disengaged for shifting to a new task set.

Pediatric functional magnetic resonance neuroimaging: tactics for encouraging task compliance

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Neuroimaging technology has afforded advances in our understanding of normal and pathological brain function and development in children and adolescents. However, noncompliance involving the inability to remain in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner to complete tasks is one common and significant problem. Task noncompliance is an especially significant problem in pediatric functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research because increases in noncompliance produces a greater risk that a study sample will not be representative of the study population. Method In this preliminary investigation, we describe the development and application of an approach for increasing the number of fMRI tasks children complete during neuroimaging. Twenty-eight healthy children ages 9-13 years participated. Generalization of the approach was examined in additional fMRI and event-related potential investigations with children at risk for depression, children with anxiety and children with depression (N = 120). Essential features of the approach include a preference assessment for identifying multiple individualized rewards, increasing reinforcement rates during imaging by pairing tasks with chosen rewards and presenting a visual 'road map' listing tasks, rewards and current progress. Results Our results showing a higher percentage of fMRI task completion by healthy children provides proof of concept data for the recommended tactics. Additional support was provided by results showing our approach generalized to several additional fMRI and event-related potential investigations and clinical populations. Discussion We proposed that some forms of task noncompliance may emerge from less than optimal reward protocols. While our findings may not directly support the effectiveness of the multiple reward compliance protocol, increased attention to how rewards are selected and delivered may aid cooperation with completing fMRI tasks Conclusion The proposed approach

Emotional task management: neural correlates of switching between affective and non-affective task-sets

PubMed Central

Reeck, Crystal

2015-01-01

Although task-switching has been investigated extensively, its interaction with emotionally salient task content remains unclear. Prioritized processing of affective stimulus content may enhance accessibility of affective task-sets and generate increased interference when switching between affective and non-affective task-sets. Previous research has demonstrated that more dominant task-sets experience greater switch costs, as they necessitate active inhibition during performance of less entrenched tasks. Extending this logic to the affective domain, the present experiment examined (a) whether affective task-sets are more dominant than non-affective ones, and (b) what neural mechanisms regulate affective task-sets, so that weaker, non-affective task-sets can be executed. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants categorized face stimuli according to either their gender (non-affective task) or their emotional expression (affective task). Behavioral results were consistent with the affective task dominance hypothesis: participants were slower to switch to the affective task, and cross-task interference was strongest when participants tried to switch from the affective to the non-affective task. These behavioral costs of controlling the affective task-set were mirrored in the activation of a right-lateralized frontostriatal network previously implicated in task-set updating and response inhibition. Connectivity between amygdala and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was especially pronounced during cross-task interference from affective features. PMID:25552571

The Effect of Feedback on the Accuracy of Checklist Completion during Instrument Flight Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rantz, William G.; Dickinson, Alyce M.; Sinclair, Gilbert A.; Van Houten, Ron

2009-01-01

This study examined whether pilots completed airplane checklists more accurately when they receive postflight graphic and verbal feedback. Participants were 8 college students who are pilots with an instrument rating. The task consisted of flying a designated flight pattern using a personal computer aviation training device (PCATD). The dependent…

The effects of contingency contracts and performance feedback on completing data entries to self-monitor community participation of people with physical disabilities: An ecological momentary study.

PubMed

Gonda-Kotani, Chiaki; White, Glen W

2017-01-01

This article examines the use of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to analyze the effect of contingent contracts and performance feedback in completing data entries to self-monitor community participation of people with mobility-related disabilities. Two participants with mobility-related disabilities were assigned to self-monitor their community participation activities using a personal digital assistant (PDA), which had been preprogrammed to signal four times a day throughout the entire study. At each prompt, participants were asked to complete a brief survey on a PDA. Participants received the monetary rewards based on their PDA completion rate. All participants maintained more than 95% completion and received the full monetary reward available.

Validating a visual version of the metronome response task.

PubMed

Laflamme, Patrick; Seli, Paul; Smilek, Daniel

2018-02-12

The metronome response task (MRT)-a sustained-attention task that requires participants to produce a response in synchrony with an audible metronome-was recently developed to index response variability in the context of studies on mind wandering. In the present studies, we report on the development and validation of a visual version of the MRT (the visual metronome response task; vMRT), which uses the rhythmic presentation of visual, rather than auditory, stimuli. Participants completed the vMRT (Studies 1 and 2) and the original (auditory-based) MRT (Study 2) while also responding to intermittent thought probes asking them to report the depth of their mind wandering. The results showed that (1) individual differences in response variability during the vMRT are highly reliable; (2) prior to thought probes, response variability increases with increasing depth of mind wandering; (3) response variability is highly consistent between the vMRT and the original MRT; and (4) both response variability and depth of mind wandering increase with increasing time on task. Our results indicate that the original MRT findings are consistent across the visual and auditory modalities, and that the response variability measured in both tasks indexes a non-modality-specific tendency toward behavioral variability. The vMRT will be useful in the place of the MRT in experimental contexts in which researchers' designs require a visual-based primary task.

Characterizing "fibrofog": Subjective appraisal, objective performance, and task-related brain activity during a working memory task.

PubMed

Walitt, Brian; Čeko, Marta; Khatiwada, Manish; Gracely, John L; Rayhan, Rakib; VanMeter, John W; Gracely, Richard H

2016-01-01

The subjective experience of cognitive dysfunction ("fibrofog") is common in fibromyalgia. This study investigated the relation between subjective appraisal of cognitive function, objective cognitive task performance, and brain activity during a cognitive task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Sixteen fibromyalgia patients and 13 healthy pain-free controls completed a battery of questionnaires, including the Multiple Ability Self-Report Questionnaire (MASQ), a measure of self-perceived cognitive difficulties. Participants were evaluated for working memory performance using a modified N-back working memory task while undergoing Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) fMRI measurements. Fibromyalgia patients and controls did not differ in working memory performance. Subjective appraisal of cognitive function was associated with better performance (accuracy) on the working memory task in healthy controls but not in fibromyalgia patients. In fibromyalgia patients, increased perceived cognitive difficulty was positively correlated with the severity of their symptoms. BOLD response during the working memory task did not differ between the groups. BOLD response correlated with task accuracy in control subjects but not in fibromyalgia patients. Increased subjective cognitive impairment correlated with decreased BOLD response in both groups but in different anatomic regions. In conclusion, "fibrofog" appears to be better characterized by subjective rather than objective impairment. Neurologic correlates of this subjective experience of impairment might be separate from those involved in the performance of cognitive tasks.

TxDOT administration research : tasks completed in FY2009.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-01-01

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Project 0-6581-TI, TxDOT Administration : Research, encompasses multiple tasks that explore and support administrative aspects of : transportation research. : The project term began in October 2008 and has b...

Initial Development of an E-cigarette Purchase Task: A Mixed Methods Study

PubMed Central

Cassidy, Rachel N.; Tidey, Jennifer W.; Colby, Suzanne M.; Long, Victoria; Higgins, Stephen T.

2017-01-01

Objectives Behavioral economic purchase tasks, which estimate demand for drugs, have been successfully developed for cigarettes and are widely used. However, a validated purchase task does not yet exist for e-cigarettes. The aim of this project was to identify the relevant units for an e-cigarette purchase task (E-CPT). Methods Focus groups (N=28 participants in 7 groups, 2-7 participants per group) consisting of current e-cigarette users were conducted. Participants discussed their daily use patterns, completed a preliminary E-CPT which asked how many puffs of their e-cigarette they would consume per day at escalating prices, and discussed the extent to which the task accurately reflected their real-world behavior. Groups were recorded and transcribed; analysis focused on statements related to daily consumption and the E-CPT. Results Participants were unlikely to quantify their daily use in terms of puffs, and perceptions about the appropriate unit for an E-CPT varied across device type. Users of first-generation devices (eg, cigalikes) reported that the relevant unit was the individual device/cartridge; however, participants who purchased nicotine liquid for their device emphasized that e-liquid volume in milliliters would better reflect their use. Conclusions Multiple versions of the E-CPT may be necessary to provide valid measures of e-cigarette demand. PMID:28824938

Tactile memory of deaf-blind adults on four tasks.

PubMed

Arnold, Paul; Heiron, Karen

2002-02-01

The performance of ten deaf-blind and ten sighted-hearing participants on four tactile memory tasks was investigated. Recognition and recall memory tasks and a matching pairs game were used. It was hypothesized that deaf-blind participants would be superior on each task. Performance was measured in terms of the time taken, and the number of items correctly recalled. In Experiments 1 and 2, which measured recognition memory in terms of the time taken to remember target items, the hypothesis was supported, but not by the length of time taken to recognize the target items, or for the number of target items correctly identified. The hypothesis was supported by Experiment 3, which measured recall memory, with regard to time taken to complete some of the tasks but not for the number of correctly recalled positions. Experiment 4, which used the matching pairs game, supported the hypothesis in terms of both time taken and the number of moves required. It is concluded that the deaf-blind people's tactile encoding is more efficient than that of sighted-hearing people, and that it is probable that their storage and retrieval are normal.

Task motivation influences alpha suppression following errors.

PubMed

Compton, Rebecca J; Bissey, Bryn; Worby-Selim, Sharoda

2014-07-01

The goal of the present research is to examine the influence of motivation on a novel error-related neural marker, error-related alpha suppression (ERAS). Participants completed an attentionally demanding flanker task under conditions that emphasized either speed or accuracy or under conditions that manipulated the monetary value of errors. Conditions in which errors had greater motivational value produced greater ERAS, that is, greater alpha suppression following errors compared to correct trials. A second study found that a manipulation of task difficulty did not affect ERAS. Together, the results confirm that ERAS is both a robust phenomenon and one that is sensitive to motivational factors. Copyright © 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

A Comparison of General and Specific Instructions to Promote Task Engagement and Completion by a Young Man with Asperger Syndrome

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouxsein, Kelly J.; Tiger, Jeffrey H.; Fisher, Wayne W.

2008-01-01

Previous research has suggested that the topography of instructions (general vs. specific) may influence the likelihood that young children comply with instructions. The purpose of the current study was to compare the rates of task completion of a young man diagnosed with Asperger syndrome when provided with general and specific instructions…

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

PubMed

Wilkinson, Andrea J; Yang, Lixia

2016-01-01

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

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

PubMed Central

Wilkinson, Andrea J.; Yang, Lixia

2016-01-01

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

The delay period as an opportunity to think about future intentions: Effects of delay length and delay task difficulty on young adult's prospective memory performance.

PubMed

Mahy, Caitlin E V; Schnitzspahn, Katharina; Hering, Alexandra; Pagobo, Jacqueline; Kliegel, Matthias

2018-05-01

The current study examined the impact of length and difficulty of the delay task on young adult's event-based prospective memory (PM). Participants engaged in either a short (2.5 min) or a long (15 min) delay that was filled with either a simple item categorization task or a difficult cognitive task. They also completed a questionnaire on whether they thought about the PM intention during the delay period and how often they thought about it. Results revealed that participants' PM was better after a difficult delay task compared to an easy delay task. Participants thought about the PM intention more often during the difficult delay task than during the easy delay task. PM performance was positively related to participants' reports of how many times they thought about their intentions. The important role of delay task difficulty in allowing or preventing individuals from refreshing their future intentions is discussed.

Validation of a touchscreen psychomotor vigilance task.

PubMed

Arsintescu, Lucia; Kato, Kenji H; Cravalho, Patrick F; Feick, Nathan H; Stone, Leland S; Flynn-Evans, Erin E

2017-11-30

The purpose of this study was to compare a psychomotor vigilance task developed for use on touchscreen devices with the original PVT-192 in conditions of acute sleep loss and circadian desynchronization. The Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) is considered the gold standard fatigue detection test and is used frequently in fatigue research. With the rapid development of new technologies it is essential to develop a PVT available on different platforms such as touchscreen devices. The advantage of such PVT is that it can be implemented on small devices and can be easily used in field studies. Ten participants completed a 5-min PVT (NASA-PVT) on a touchscreen device and a 5-min PVT on the original PVT-192. On the day of the experiment, participants arrived in the lab approximately two hours after their habitual wake time. Participants completed a constant routine protocol under dim lighting, while maintaining a constant posture. The 5-min PVT-192 and NASA-PVT were taken every two hours for at least 24h. The NASA-PVT and PVT-192 were sensitive to extended wakefulness in the same manner. The reaction times were slower and the lapses were higher as time progressed on both NASA-PVT and PVT-192 (p<0.001). Overall, there was a sharp decline in performance after 16h of being awake which coincided with the time the participants were usually going to bed and the worst performance occurred after 24h of wakefulness for both PVTs (p<0.001). Overall, our data suggest that the NASA-PVT is a valid tool for assessing fatigue in field studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Chronic Detrimental Impact of Interruptions in a Simulated Submarine Track Management Task.

PubMed

Loft, Shayne; Sadler, Andreas; Braithwaite, Janelle; Huf, Samuel

2015-12-01

The objective of this article is to examine the extent to which interruptions negatively impact situation awareness and long-term performance in a submarine track management task where pre- and postinterruption display scenes remained essentially identical. Interruptions in command and control task environments can degrade performance well beyond the first postinterruption action typically measured for sequential static tasks, because individuals need to recover their situation awareness for multiple unfolding display events. Participants in the current study returned to an unchanged display scene following interruption and therefore could be more immune to such long-term performance deficits. The task required participants to monitor a display to detect contact heading changes and to make enemy engagement decisions. Situation awareness (Situation Present Assessment Method) and subjective workload (NASA-Task Load Index) were measured. The interruption replaced the display for 20 s with a blank screen, during which participants completed a classification task. Situation awareness after returning from interruption was degraded. Participants were slower to make correct engagement decisions and slower and less accurate in detecting heading changes, despite these task decisions being made at least 40 s following the interruption. Interruptions negatively impacted situation awareness and long-term performance because participants needed to redetermine the location and spatial relationship between the displayed contacts when returning from interruption, either because their situation awareness for the preinterruption scene decayed or because they did not encode the preinterruption scene. Interruption in work contexts such as submarines is unavoidable, and further understanding of how operators are affected is required to improve work design and training. © 2015, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Emotional task management: neural correlates of switching between affective and non-affective task-sets.

PubMed

Reeck, Crystal; Egner, Tobias

2015-08-01

Although task-switching has been investigated extensively, its interaction with emotionally salient task content remains unclear. Prioritized processing of affective stimulus content may enhance accessibility of affective task-sets and generate increased interference when switching between affective and non-affective task-sets. Previous research has demonstrated that more dominant task-sets experience greater switch costs, as they necessitate active inhibition during performance of less entrenched tasks. Extending this logic to the affective domain, the present experiment examined (a) whether affective task-sets are more dominant than non-affective ones, and (b) what neural mechanisms regulate affective task-sets, so that weaker, non-affective task-sets can be executed. While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants categorized face stimuli according to either their gender (non-affective task) or their emotional expression (affective task). Behavioral results were consistent with the affective task dominance hypothesis: participants were slower to switch to the affective task, and cross-task interference was strongest when participants tried to switch from the affective to the non-affective task. These behavioral costs of controlling the affective task-set were mirrored in the activation of a right-lateralized frontostriatal network previously implicated in task-set updating and response inhibition. Connectivity between amygdala and right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was especially pronounced during cross-task interference from affective features. © The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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

PubMed

Williams, Bethany R; Donovick, Peter J

2008-09-01

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

Performance variability on perceptual discrimination tasks in profoundly deaf adults with cochlear implants.

PubMed

Hay-McCutcheon, Marcia J; Peterson, Nathaniel R; Pisoni, David B; Kirk, Karen Iler; Yang, Xin; Parton, Jason

The purpose of this study was to evaluate performance on two challenging listening tasks, talker and regional accent discrimination, and to assess variables that could have affected the outcomes. A prospective study using 35 adults with one cochlear implant (CI) or a CI and a contralateral hearing aid (bimodal hearing) was conducted. Adults completed talker and regional accent discrimination tasks. Two-alternative forced-choice tasks were used to assess talker and accent discrimination in a group of adults who ranged in age from 30 years old to 81 years old. A large amount of performance variability was observed across listeners for both discrimination tasks. Three listeners successfully discriminated between talkers for both listening tasks, 14 participants successfully completed one discrimination task and 18 participants were not able to discriminate between talkers for either listening task. Some adults who used bimodal hearing benefitted from the addition of acoustic cues provided through a HA but for others the HA did not help with discrimination abilities. Acoustic speech feature analysis of the test signals indicated that both the talker speaking rate and the fundamental frequency (F0) helped with talker discrimination. For accent discrimination, findings suggested that access to more salient spectral cues was important for better discrimination performance. The ability to perform challenging discrimination tasks successfully likely involves a number of complex interactions between auditory and non-auditory pre- and post-implant factors. To understand why some adults with CIs perform similarly to adults with normal hearing and others experience difficulty discriminating between talkers, further research will be required with larger populations of adults who use unilateral CIs, bilateral CIs and bimodal hearing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Task Performance and Meta-Cognitive Outcomes When Using Activity Workstations and Traditional Desks

PubMed Central

Pilcher, June J.; Baker, Victoria C.

2016-01-01

The purpose of the current study is to compare the effects of light physical activity to sedentary behavior on cognitive task performance and meta-cognitive responses. Thirty-eight undergraduate students participated in the study. The participants used a stationary bicycle with a desk top and a traditional desk while completing two complex cognitive tasks and measures of affect, motivation, morale, and engagement. The participants pedaled the stationary bicycle at a slow pace (similar in exertion to a normal walking pace) while working. The results indicated that cognitive task performance did not change between the two workstations. However, positive affect, motivation, and morale improved when using the stationary bicycle. These results suggest that activity workstations could be implemented in the work place and in educational settings to help decrease sedentary behavior without negatively affecting performance. Furthermore, individuals could experience a positive emotional response when working on activity workstations which in turn could help encourage individuals to choose to be more physical active during daily activities. PMID:27445921

"We've Got Creative Differences": The Effects of Task Conflict and Participative Safety on Team Creative Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fairchild, Joshua; Hunter, Samuel T.

2014-01-01

Although both participative safety and team task conflict are widely thought to be related to team creative performance, the nature of this relationship is still not well understood, and prior studies have frequently yielded conflicting results. This study examines the ambiguity in the extant literature and proposes that "both"…

Iowa Gambling Task with non-clinical participants: effects of using real + virtual cards and additional trials

PubMed Central

Overman, William H.; Pierce, Allison

2013-01-01

Performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) in clinical populations can be interpreted only in relation to established baseline performance in normal populations. As in all comparisons of assessment tools, the normal baseline must reflect performance under conditions in which subjects can function at their best levels. In this review, we show that a number of variables enhance IGT performance in non-clinical participants. First, optimal performance is produced by having participants turn over real cards while viewing virtual cards on a computer screen. The use of only virtual cards results in significantly lower performance than the combination of real + virtual cards. Secondly, administration of more than 100 trials also enhances performance. When using the real/virtual card procedure, performance is shown to significantly increase from early adolescence through young adulthood. Under these conditions young (mean age 19 years) and older (mean age 59 years) adults perform equally. Females, as a group, score lower than males because females tend to choose cards from high-frequency-of-gain Deck B. Groups of females with high or low gonadal hormones perform equally. Concurrent tasks, e.g., presentation of aromas, decrease performance in males. Age and gender effects are discussed in terms of a dynamic between testosterone and orbital prefrontal cortex. PMID:24376431

Musical Tasks and Energetic Arousal.

PubMed

Lim, Hayoung A; Watson, Angela L

2018-03-08

Music is widely recognized as a motivating stimulus. Investigators have examined the use of music to improve a variety of motivation-related outcomes; however, these studies have focused primarily on passive music listening rather than active participation in musical activities. To examine the influence of participation in musical tasks and unique participant characteristics on energetic arousal. We used a one-way Welch's ANOVA to examine the influence of musical participation (i.e., a non-musical control and four different musical task conditions) upon energetic arousal. In addition, ancillary analyses of participant characteristics including personality, age, gender, sleep, musical training, caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol revealed their possible influence upon pretest and posttest energetic arousal scores. Musical participation yielded a significant relationship with energetic arousal, F(4, 55.62) = 44.38, p = .000, estimated ω2 = 0.60. Games-Howell post hoc pairwise comparisons revealed statistically significant differences between five conditions. Descriptive statistics revealed expected differences between introverts' and extraverts' energetic arousal scores at the pretest, F(1, 115) = 6.80, p = .010, partial η2= .06; however, mean differences failed to reach significance at the posttest following musical task participation. No other measured participant characteristics yielded meaningful results. Passive tasks (i.e., listening to a story or song) were related to decreased energetic arousal, while active musical tasks (i.e., singing, rhythm tapping, and keyboard playing) were related to increased energetic arousal. Musical task participation appeared to have a differential effect for individuals with certain personality traits (i.e., extroverts and introverts).

Toward a better understanding of task demands, workload, and performance during physician-computer interactions.

PubMed

Mazur, Lukasz M; Mosaly, Prithima R; Moore, Carlton; Comitz, Elizabeth; Yu, Fei; Falchook, Aaron D; Eblan, Michael J; Hoyle, Lesley M; Tracton, Gregg; Chera, Bhishamjit S; Marks, Lawrence B

2016-11-01

To assess the relationship between (1) task demands and workload, (2) task demands and performance, and (3) workload and performance, all during physician-computer interactions in a simulated environment. Two experiments were performed in 2 different electronic medical record (EMR) environments: WebCIS (n = 12) and Epic (n = 17). Each participant was instructed to complete a set of prespecified tasks on 3 routine clinical EMR-based scenarios: urinary tract infection (UTI), pneumonia (PN), and heart failure (HF). Task demands were quantified using behavioral responses (click and time analysis). At the end of each scenario, subjective workload was measured using the NASA-Task-Load Index (NASA-TLX). Physiological workload was measured using pupillary dilation and electroencephalography (EEG) data collected throughout the scenarios. Performance was quantified based on the maximum severity of omission errors. Data analysis indicated that the PN and HF scenarios were significantly more demanding than the UTI scenario for participants using WebCIS (P < .01), and that the PN scenario was significantly more demanding than the UTI and HF scenarios for participants using Epic (P < .01). In both experiments, the regression analysis indicated a significant relationship only between task demands and performance (P < .01). Results suggest that task demands as experienced by participants are related to participants' performance. Future work may support the notion that task demands could be used as a quality metric that is likely representative of performance, and perhaps patient outcomes. The present study is a reasonable next step in a systematic assessment of how task demands and workload are related to performance in EMR-evolving environments. © The Author 2016. 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 effect of orthographic neighborhood in the reading span task.

PubMed

Robert, Christelle; Postal, Virginie; Mathey, Stéphanie

2015-04-01

This study aimed at examining whether and to what extent orthographic neighborhood of words influences performance in a working memory span task. Twenty-five participants performed a reading span task in which final words to be memorized had either no higher frequency orthographic neighbor or at least one. In both neighborhood conditions, each participant completed three series of two, three, four, or five sentences. Results indicated an interaction between orthographic neighborhood and list length. In particular, an inhibitory effect of orthographic neighborhood on recall appeared in list length 5. A view is presented suggesting that words with higher frequency neighbors require more resources to be memorized than words with no such neighbors. The implications of the results are discussed with regard to memory processes and current models of visual word recognition.

Characterizing “fibrofog”: Subjective appraisal, objective performance, and task-related brain activity during a working memory task

PubMed Central

Walitt, Brian; Čeko, Marta; Khatiwada, Manish; Gracely, John L.; Rayhan, Rakib; VanMeter, John W.; Gracely, Richard H.

2016-01-01

The subjective experience of cognitive dysfunction (“fibrofog”) is common in fibromyalgia. This study investigated the relation between subjective appraisal of cognitive function, objective cognitive task performance, and brain activity during a cognitive task using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Sixteen fibromyalgia patients and 13 healthy pain-free controls completed a battery of questionnaires, including the Multiple Ability Self-Report Questionnaire (MASQ), a measure of self-perceived cognitive difficulties. Participants were evaluated for working memory performance using a modified N-back working memory task while undergoing Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) fMRI measurements. Fibromyalgia patients and controls did not differ in working memory performance. Subjective appraisal of cognitive function was associated with better performance (accuracy) on the working memory task in healthy controls but not in fibromyalgia patients. In fibromyalgia patients, increased perceived cognitive difficulty was positively correlated with the severity of their symptoms. BOLD response during the working memory task did not differ between the groups. BOLD response correlated with task accuracy in control subjects but not in fibromyalgia patients. Increased subjective cognitive impairment correlated with decreased BOLD response in both groups but in different anatomic regions. In conclusion, “fibrofog” appears to be better characterized by subjective rather than objective impairment. Neurologic correlates of this subjective experience of impairment might be separate from those involved in the performance of cognitive tasks. PMID:26955513

Implicit and Explicit Knowledge Both Improve Dual Task Performance in a Continuous Pursuit Tracking Task.

PubMed

Ewolds, Harald E; Bröker, Laura; de Oliveira, Rita F; Raab, Markus; Künzell, Stefan

2017-01-01

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of predictability on dual-task performance in a continuous tracking task. Participants practiced either informed (explicit group) or uninformed (implicit group) about a repeated segment in the curves they had to track. In Experiment 1 participants practices the tracking task only, dual-task performance was assessed after by combining the tracking task with an auditory reaction time task. Results showed both groups learned equally well and tracking performance on a predictable segment in the dual-task condition was better than on random segments. However, reaction times did not benefit from a predictable tracking segment. To investigate the effect of learning under dual-task situation participants in Experiment 2 practiced the tracking task while simultaneously performing the auditory reaction time task. No learning of the repeated segment could be demonstrated for either group during the training blocks, in contrast to the test-block and retention test, where participants performed better on the repeated segment in both dual-task and single-task conditions. Only the explicit group improved from test-block to retention test. As in Experiment 1, reaction times while tracking a predictable segment were no better than reaction times while tracking a random segment. We concluded that predictability has a positive effect only on the predictable task itself possibly because of a task-shielding mechanism. For dual-task training there seems to be an initial negative effect of explicit instructions, possibly because of fatigue, but the advantage of explicit instructions was demonstrated in a retention test. This might be due to the explicit memory system informing or aiding the implicit memory system.

Implicit and Explicit Knowledge Both Improve Dual Task Performance in a Continuous Pursuit Tracking Task

PubMed Central

Ewolds, Harald E.; Bröker, Laura; de Oliveira, Rita F.; Raab, Markus; Künzell, Stefan

2017-01-01

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of predictability on dual-task performance in a continuous tracking task. Participants practiced either informed (explicit group) or uninformed (implicit group) about a repeated segment in the curves they had to track. In Experiment 1 participants practices the tracking task only, dual-task performance was assessed after by combining the tracking task with an auditory reaction time task. Results showed both groups learned equally well and tracking performance on a predictable segment in the dual-task condition was better than on random segments. However, reaction times did not benefit from a predictable tracking segment. To investigate the effect of learning under dual-task situation participants in Experiment 2 practiced the tracking task while simultaneously performing the auditory reaction time task. No learning of the repeated segment could be demonstrated for either group during the training blocks, in contrast to the test-block and retention test, where participants performed better on the repeated segment in both dual-task and single-task conditions. Only the explicit group improved from test-block to retention test. As in Experiment 1, reaction times while tracking a predictable segment were no better than reaction times while tracking a random segment. We concluded that predictability has a positive effect only on the predictable task itself possibly because of a task-shielding mechanism. For dual-task training there seems to be an initial negative effect of explicit instructions, possibly because of fatigue, but the advantage of explicit instructions was demonstrated in a retention test. This might be due to the explicit memory system informing or aiding the implicit memory system. PMID:29312083

Obstacle crossing with dual tasking is a danger for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and for healthy older people.

PubMed

Simieli, Lucas; Barbieri, Fabio Augusto; Orcioli-Silva, Diego; Lirani-Silva, Ellen; Stella, Florindo; Gobbi, Lilian Teresa Bucken

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of dual tasking on obstacle crossing during walking by individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and by healthy older people. Thirty four elderly individuals (16 healthy subjects and 18 individuals with AD) were recruited to participate in this study. Three AD individuals and one control participant were excluded due to exclusion criteria. The participants were instructed to walk barefoot at their own speed along an 8 m long pathway. Each participant performed five trials for each condition (unobstructed walking, unobstructed walking with dual tasking, and obstacle crossing during walking with dual tasking). The trials were completely randomized for each participant. The mid-pathway stride was measured in the unobstructed walking trials and the stride that occurred during the obstacle avoidance was measured in the trials that involved obstacle crossing. The behavior of the healthy elderly subjects and individuals with AD was similar for obstacle crossing during walking with dual tasking. Both groups used the "posture first" strategy to prioritize stability and showed decreased attention to executive tasking while walking. Additionally, AD had a strong influence on the modifications that are made by the elderly while walking under different walking conditions.

Visuospatial abilities and fine motor experiences influence acquisition and maintenance of fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (FLS) task performance.

PubMed

Harrington, Cuan M; Dicker, Patrick; Traynor, Oscar; Kavanagh, Dara O

2018-05-18

Minimally invasive surgery poses a unique learning curve due to the requirement for non-intuitive psychomotor skills. The fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery (FLS) program trains and certifies residents in such skills. However, innate predictors of FLS performance and maintenance remain to be described. This single-centre observational study aimed to assess for candidate factors influencing the acquisition and maintenance of FLS performance amongst a surgically naïve cohort. Laparoscopically naïve medical students were recruited from pre-clinical university grades. Participants completed five visuospatial/psychomotor tests and a questionnaire surveying non-surgical experiences and personality traits. Individuals completed baseline assessments of FLS standard tasks followed by an intensive training course over week one and two on inanimate box trainers. A post-training assessment was performed in week three to evaluate acquisition. Participants were withdrawn from exposure and retested at four 1-month intervals to assess maintenance requirements. Forty-nine participants enrolled with 35 (71.4%) and 33 (67.3%) completing acquisition and maintenance phases, respectively. Mean age of participants was 19.3 (± 1.2) years with 68.6% female predominance. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in all five tasks during the acquisition (p < 0.05) period and maintenance of skills with task exposure at 1-month intervals. Significant predictors of skill acquisition included: card rotations for intracorporeal knot (p = 0.027) and combined tasks (p = 0.028) and cube comparisons for extracorporeal knot (p = 0.040). During skill maintenance: Card rotations predicted performance across all tasks (p < 0.05), Cube comparisons for tasks 1/2/4/5 (p < 0.05), PicSOR for peg transfer (p = 0.017) and grooved pegboard for peg transfer (p = 0.023) and ligating-loop (p = 0.038) tasks. Musical instrument experience demonstrated associations

Sleep Deprivation and Time-on-Task Performance Decrement in the Rat Psychomotor Vigilance Task

PubMed Central

Oonk, Marcella; Davis, Christopher J.; Krueger, James M.; Wisor, Jonathan P.; Van Dongen, Hans P.A.

2015-01-01

Study Objectives: The rat psychomotor vigilance task (rPVT) was developed as a rodent analog of the human psychomotor vigilance task (hPVT). We examined whether rPVT performance displays time-on-task effects similar to those observed on the hPVT. Design: The rPVT requires rats to respond to a randomly presented light stimulus to obtain a water reward. Rats were water deprived for 22 h prior to each 30-min rPVT session to motivate performance. We analyzed rPVT performance over time on task and as a function of the response-stimulus interval, at baseline and after sleep deprivation. Setting: The study was conducted in an academic research vivarium. Participants: Male Long-Evans rats were trained to respond to a 0.5 sec stimulus light within 3 sec of stimulus onset. Complete data were available for n = 20 rats. Interventions: Rats performed the rPVT for 30 min at baseline and after 24 h total sleep deprivation by gentle handling. Measurements and Results: Compared to baseline, sleep deprived rats displayed increased performance lapses and premature responses, similar to hPVT lapses of attention and false starts. However, in contrast to hPVT performance, the time-on-task performance decrement was not significantly enhanced by sleep deprivation. Moreover, following sleep deprivation, rPVT response times were not consistently increased after short response-stimulus intervals. Conclusions: The rat psychomotor vigilance task manifests similarities to the human psychomotor vigilance task in global performance outcomes, but not in post-sleep deprivation effects of time on task and response-stimulus interval. Citation: Oonk M, Davis CJ, Krueger JM, Wisor JP, Van Dongen HPA. Sleep deprivation and time-on-task performance decrement in the rat psychomotor vigilance task. SLEEP 2015;38(3):445–451. PMID:25515099

Test-retest reliability and gender differences in the sexual discounting task among cocaine-dependent individuals.

PubMed

Johnson, Matthew W; Bruner, Natalie R

2013-08-01

The Sexual Discounting Task uses the delay discounting framework to examine sexual HIV risk behavior. Previous research showed task performance to be significantly correlated with self-reported HIV risk behavior in cocaine dependence. Test-retest reliability and gender differences had remained unexamined. The present study examined the test-retest reliability of the Sexual Discounting Task. Cocaine-dependent individuals (18 men, 13 women) completed the task in two laboratory visits ∼7 days apart. Participants selected photographs of individuals with whom they were willing to have casual sex. Among these, participants identified the individual most (and least) likely to have a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and the individual with whom he or she most (and least) wanted to have sex. In reference to these individuals, participants rated their likelihood of having unprotected sex versus waiting to have sex with a condom, at various delays. A money delay discounting task was also completed at the first visit. Significant differences in discounting among partner conditions were shown. Differential stability was demonstrated by significant, positive correlations between test and retest for all four partner conditions. Absolute stability was demonstrated by statistical equivalence tests between test and retest, and also supported by a lack of significant differences between test and retest. Men generally discounted significantly more than women for sexual outcomes but not money. Results suggest the Sexual Discounting Task to be a reliable measure in cocaine-dependent individuals, which supports its use as a repeated measure in clinical research, for example, studies examining acute drug effects on sexual risk and the effects of addiction treatment and HIV prevention interventions on sexual risk. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Return to activity after concussion affects dual-task gait balance control recovery.

PubMed

Howell, David R; Osternig, Louis R; Chou, Li-Shan

2015-04-01

Recent work has identified deficits in dual-task gait balance control for up to 2 months after adolescent concussion; however, how resumption of preinjury physical activities affects recovery is unknown. The objective of this study is to examine how return to activity (RTA) affects recovery from concussion on measures of symptom severity, cognition, and balance control during single-task and dual-task walking. Nineteen adolescents with concussion who returned to preinjury activity within 2 months after injury and 19 uninjured, matched controls completed symptom inventories, computerized cognitive testing, and single-task and dual-task gait analyses. Concussion participants were assessed at five time points: within 72 h, 1 wk, 2 wk, 1 month, and 2 months postinjury. Control participants were assessed at the same time points as their matched concussion counterparts. RTA day was documented as the postinjury day in which physical activity participation was allowed. The effect of returning to physical activity was assessed by examining the percent change on each dependent variable across time before and directly after the RTA. Data were analyzed by two-way mixed effects ANOVAs. After the RTA day, concussion participants significantly increased their total center-of-mass medial/lateral displacement (P = 0.009, ηp = .175) and peak velocity (P = 0.048, ηp = 0.104) during dual-task walking when compared with pre-RTA data, whereas no changes for the concussion group or between groups were detected on measures of single-task walking, forward movement, or cognition. Adolescents with concussion displayed increased center-of-mass medial/lateral displacement and velocity during dual-task walking after RTA, suggesting a regression of recovery in gait balance control. This study reinforces the need for a multifaceted approach to concussion management and continued monitoring beyond the point of clinical recovery.

Sensory enhancing insoles improve athletic performance during a hexagonal agility task.

PubMed

Miranda, Daniel L; Hsu, Wen-Hao; Gravelle, Denise C; Petersen, Kelsey; Ryzman, Rachael; Niemi, James; Lesniewski-Laas, Nicholas

2016-05-03

Athletes incorporate afferent signals from the mechanoreceptors of their plantar feet to provide information about posture, stability, and joint position. Sub-threshold stochastic resonance (SR) sensory enhancing insoles have been shown to improve balance and proprioception in young and elderly participant populations. Balance and proprioception are correlated with improved athletic performance, such as agility. Agility is defined as the ability to quickly change direction. An athlete's agility is commonly evaluated during athletic performance testing to assess their ability to participate in a competitive sporting event. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of SR insoles during a hexagonal agility task routinely used by coaches and sports scientists. Twenty recreational athletes were recruited to participate in this study. Each athlete was asked to perform a set of hexagonal agility trials while SR stimulation was either on or off. Vicon motion capture was used to measure feet position during six successful trials for each stimulation condition. Stimulation condition was randomized in a pairwise fashion. The study outcome measures were the task completion time and the positional accuracy of footfalls. Pairwise comparisons revealed a 0.12s decrease in task completion time (p=0.02) with no change in hopping accuracy (p=0.99) when SR stimulation was on. This is the first study to show athletic performance benefits while wearing proprioception and balance improving equipment on healthy participants. With further development, a self-contained sensory enhancing insole device could be used by recreational and professional athletes to improve movements that require rapid changes in direction. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Monitoring supports performance in a dual-task paradigm involving a risky decision-making task and a working memory task

PubMed Central

Gathmann, Bettina; Schiebener, Johannes; Wolf, Oliver T.; Brand, Matthias

2015-01-01

Performing two cognitively demanding tasks at the same time is known to decrease performance. The current study investigates the underlying executive functions of a dual-tasking situation involving the simultaneous performance of decision making under explicit risk and a working memory task. It is suggested that making a decision and performing a working memory task at the same time should particularly require monitoring—an executive control process supervising behavior and the state of processing on two tasks. To test the role of a supervisory/monitoring function in such a dual-tasking situation we investigated 122 participants with the Game of Dice Task plus 2-back task (GDT plus 2-back task). This dual task requires participants to make decisions under risk and to perform a 2-back working memory task at the same time. Furthermore, a task measuring a set of several executive functions gathered in the term concept formation (Modified Card Sorting Test, MCST) and the newly developed Balanced Switching Task (BST), measuring monitoring in particular, were used. The results demonstrate that concept formation and monitoring are involved in the simultaneous performance of decision making under risk and a working memory task. In particular, the mediation analysis revealed that BST performance partially mediates the influence of MCST performance on the GDT plus 2-back task. These findings suggest that monitoring is one important subfunction for superior performance in a dual-tasking situation including decision making under risk and a working memory task. PMID:25741308

The Use of Task-based Cognitive Tests for Defining Vocational Aptness of Individuals with Disabilities.

PubMed

Kwon, Jae-Sung; Oh, Duck-Won

2015-06-01

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use of task-based cognitive tests to detect potential problems in the assessment of work training for vocational rehabilitation. Eleven participants with a normal range of cognitive functioning scores were recruited for this study. Participants were all trainees who participated in a vocational training program. The Rey Complex Figure Test and the Allen Cognitive Level Screen were randomly administered to all participants. Responses to the tests were qualitatively analyzed with matrix and scatter charts. Observational outcomes derived from the tests indicated that response errors, distortions, and behavioral problems occurred in most participants. These factors may impede occupational performance despite normal cognitive function. These findings suggest that the use of task-based tests may be beneficial for detecting potential problems associated with the work performance of people with disabilities. Specific analysis using the task-based tests may be necessary to complete the decision-making process for vocational aptness. Furthermore, testing should be led by professionals with a higher specialization in this field.

The carry-over effect of competition in task-sharing: evidence from the joint Simon task.

PubMed

Iani, Cristina; Anelli, Filomena; Nicoletti, Roberto; Rubichi, Sandro

2014-01-01

The Simon effect, that is the advantage of the spatial correspondence between stimulus and response locations when stimulus location is a task-irrelevant dimension, occurs even when the task is performed together by two participants, each performing a go/no-go task. Previous studies showed that this joint Simon effect, considered by some authors as a measure of self-other integration, does not emerge when during task performance co-actors are required to compete. The present study investigated whether and for how long competition experienced during joint performance of one task can affect performance in a following joint Simon task. In two experiments, we required pairs of participants to perform together a joint Simon task, before and after jointly performing together an unrelated non-spatial task (the Eriksen flanker task). In Experiment 1, participants always performed the joint Simon task under neutral instructions, before and after performing the joint flanker task in which they were explicitly required either to cooperate with (i.e., cooperative condition) or to compete against a co-actor (i.e., competitive condition). In Experiment 2, they were required to compete during the joint flanker task and to cooperate during the subsequent joint Simon task. Competition experienced in one task affected the way the subsequent joint task was performed, as revealed by the lack of the joint Simon effect, even though, during the Simon task participants were not required to compete (Experiment 1). However, prior competition no longer affected subsequent performance if a new goal that created positive interdependence between the two agents was introduced (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the emergence of the joint Simon effect is significantly influenced by how the goals of the co-acting individuals are related, with the effect of competition extending beyond the specific competitive setting and affecting subsequent interactions.

Evidence for holistic episodic recollection via hippocampal pattern completion.

PubMed

Horner, Aidan J; Bisby, James A; Bush, Daniel; Lin, Wen-Jing; Burgess, Neil

2015-07-02

Recollection is thought to be the hallmark of episodic memory. Here we provide evidence that the hippocampus binds together the diverse elements forming an event, allowing holistic recollection via pattern completion of all elements. Participants learn complex 'events' from multiple overlapping pairs of elements, and are tested on all pairwise associations. At encoding, element 'types' (locations, people and objects/animals) produce activation in distinct neocortical regions, while hippocampal activity predicts memory performance for all within-event pairs. When retrieving a pairwise association, neocortical activity corresponding to all event elements is reinstated, including those incidental to the task. Participant's degree of incidental reinstatement correlates with their hippocampal activity. Our results suggest that event elements, represented in distinct neocortical regions, are bound into coherent 'event engrams' in the hippocampus that enable episodic recollection--the re-experiencing or holistic retrieval of all aspects of an event--via a process of hippocampal pattern completion and neocortical reinstatement.

Time constraints in the alcohol purchase task.

PubMed

Kaplan, Brent A; Reed, Derek D; Murphy, James G; Henley, Amy J; Reed, Florence D DiGennaro; Roma, Peter G; Hursh, Steven R

2017-06-01

Hypothetical purchase tasks have advanced behavioral economic evaluations of demand by circumventing practical and ethical restrictions associated with delivering drug reinforcers to participants. Numerous studies examining the reliability and validity of purchase task methodology suggest that it is a valuable method for assessing demand that warrants continued use and evaluation. Within the literature examining purchase tasks, the alcohol purchase task (APT) has received the most investigation, and currently represents the most experimentally validated variant. However, inconsistencies in purchase task methodology between studies exist, even within APT studies, and, to date, none have assessed the influence of experimental economic constraints on responding. This study examined changes in Q0 (reported consumption when drinks are free), breakpoint (price that suppresses consumption), and α (rate of change in demand elasticity) in the presence of different hypothetical durations of access to alcohol in an APT. One hundred seventy-nine participants (94 males, 85 females) from Amazon Mechanical Turk completed 3 APTs that varied in the duration of time at a party (i.e., access to alcoholic beverages) as described in the APT instructions (i.e., vignette). The 3 durations included 5-hr (used by Murphy et al., 2013), 1-hr, and 9-hr time frames. We found that hypothetical duration of access was significantly related to Q0 and breakpoint at the individual level. Additionally, group-level mean α decreased significantly with increases in duration of access, thus indicating relatively higher demand for alcohol with longer durations of access. We discuss implications for conducting hypothetical purchase task research and alcohol misuse prevention efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Training conquers multitasking costs by dividing task representations in the frontoparietal-subcortical system

PubMed Central

Garner, K. G.; Dux, Paul E.

2015-01-01

Negotiating the information-rich sensory world often requires the concurrent management of multiple tasks. Despite this requirement, humans are thought to be poor at multitasking because of the processing limitations of frontoparietal and subcortical (FP-SC) brain regions. Although training is known to improve multitasking performance, it is unknown how the FP-SC system functionally changes to support improved multitasking. To address this question, we characterized the FP-SC changes that predict training outcomes using an individual differences approach. Participants (n = 100) performed single and multiple tasks in pre- and posttraining magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions interspersed by either a multitasking or an active-control training regimen. Multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPA) revealed that training induced multitasking improvements were predicted by divergence in the FP-SC blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response patterns to the trained tasks. Importantly, this finding was only observed for participants who completed training on the component (single) tasks and their combination (multitask) and not for the control group. Therefore, the FP-SC system supports multitasking behavior by segregating constituent task representations. PMID:26460014

Training conquers multitasking costs by dividing task representations in the frontoparietal-subcortical system.

PubMed

Garner, K G; Dux, Paul E

2015-11-17

Negotiating the information-rich sensory world often requires the concurrent management of multiple tasks. Despite this requirement, humans are thought to be poor at multitasking because of the processing limitations of frontoparietal and subcortical (FP-SC) brain regions. Although training is known to improve multitasking performance, it is unknown how the FP-SC system functionally changes to support improved multitasking. To address this question, we characterized the FP-SC changes that predict training outcomes using an individual differences approach. Participants (n = 100) performed single and multiple tasks in pre- and posttraining magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions interspersed by either a multitasking or an active-control training regimen. Multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPA) revealed that training induced multitasking improvements were predicted by divergence in the FP-SC blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response patterns to the trained tasks. Importantly, this finding was only observed for participants who completed training on the component (single) tasks and their combination (multitask) and not for the control group. Therefore, the FP-SC system supports multitasking behavior by segregating constituent task representations.

Heart rate variability and cognitive processing: The autonomic response to task demands.

PubMed

Luque-Casado, Antonio; Perales, José C; Cárdenas, David; Sanabria, Daniel

2016-01-01

This study investigated variations in heart rate variability (HRV) as a function of cognitive demands. Participants completed an execution condition including the psychomotor vigilance task, a working memory task and a duration discrimination task. The control condition consisted of oddball versions (participants had to detect the rare event) of the tasks from the execution condition, designed to control for the effect of the task parameters (stimulus duration and stimulus rate) on HRV. The NASA-TLX questionnaire was used as a subjective measure of cognitive workload across tasks and conditions. Three major findings emerged from this study. First, HRV varied as a function of task demands (with the lowest values in the working memory task). Second, and crucially, we found similar HRV values when comparing each of the tasks with its oddball control equivalent, and a significant decrement in HRV as a function of time-on-task. Finally, the NASA-TLX results showed larger cognitive workload in the execution condition than in the oddball control condition, and scores variations as a function of task. Taken together, our results suggest that HRV is highly sensitive to overall demands of sustained attention over and above the influence of other cognitive processes suggested by previous literature. In addition, our study highlights a potential dissociation between objective and subjective measures of mental workload, with important implications in applied settings. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The relationship between regular sports participation and vigilance in male and female adolescents.

PubMed

Ballester, Rafael; Huertas, Florentino; Yuste, Francisco Javier; Llorens, Francesc; Sanabria, Daniel

2015-01-01

The present study investigated the relationship between regular sport participation (soccer) and vigilance performance. Two groups of male and female adolescents differentiated in terms of their sport participation (athletes, n = 39, and non-athletes, n = 36) took part in the study. In one session, participants performed the Leger Multi-stage fitness test to estimate their aerobic fitness level. In the other session, participants completed the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) to evaluate their vigilance performance. Perceived arousal prior to the task and motivation toward the task were also measured in the PVT session. The results revealed that athletes had better cardiovascular fitness and showed better performance in the PVT. However, correlation analyses did not show any significant relationship between cardiovascular fitness and performance in the PVT. Athletes showed larger scores in motivation and perceived arousal measures with respect to non-athletes, although, once again, these variables were not correlated with PVT performance. Gender differences were observed only in the Leger test, with males showing greater fitness level than females. The major outcome of this research points to a positive relationship between regular sport participation and vigilance during adolescence. This relationship did not seem to be influenced by gender, perceived arousal, motivation toward the task or cardiovascular fitness. We discuss our results in terms of the different hypotheses put forward in the literature to explain the relationship between physical activity and cognitive functioning.

General practitioners' participation in cancer treatment in Norway.

PubMed

Holtedahl, Knut; Scheel, Benedicte I; Johansen, May-Lill

2018-05-01

General practitioners (GPs) participate in a patient's cancer care to different extents at different times, from prevention and diagnosis to treatment and end-of-life care. Traditionally, the GP has had a minor role in cancer treatment. However, oncological and surgical services frequently delegate limited cancer treatment tasks to GPs, especially in rural areas far from hospitals. The aim of this study was to explore the extent of GPs' participation in cancer treatment in Norway. This study was an observational questionnaire study. In 2007, the chief municipal medical officer in all 93 municipalities in North Norway and a 25% random sample (85 municipalities) in South Norway was asked to identify up to five GPs who had recently participated in local treatment of cancer patients, and to forward a patient questionnaire to them. Seventy-eight GPs in 49 municipalities returned completed questionnaires for 118 patients, most of them with progressive disease and living in rural areas. All the GPs reported substantial participation in therapeutic tasks for this select group of patients. Not counting palliative treatment, 64% of the GPs participated in cancer treatment either directly, or indirectly through referrals. Twenty patients received chemotherapy; they belonged to no particular diagnostic category. Eighty-eight percent of the GPs prescribed some kind of palliative medicine, such as analgesic, antiemetic, anxiolytic or antidepressant. Morphine was prescribed equally often by GPs and hospitals. Eighty-one percent of GPs reported having had a thorough conversation with the patient about the patient's condition and circumstances. In this group of GPs, participation rates were high for most of the therapeutic and communicative tasks suggested in the questionnaire. GP participation is feasible not only in palliative care, but also in some aspects of oncological treatment and in clinical follow-up. Communication with both patient and hospital seemed good in this local

What's the Problem? Familiarity Working Memory, and Transfer in a Problem-Solving Task.

PubMed

Kole, James A; Snyder, Hannah R; Brojde, Chandra L; Friend, Angela

2015-01-01

The contributions of familiarity and working memory to transfer were examined in the Tower of Hanoi task. Participants completed 3 different versions of the task: a standard 3-disk version, a clothing exchange task that included familiar semantic content, and a tea ceremony task that included unfamiliar semantic content. The constraints on moves were equivalent across tasks, and each could be solved with the same sequence of movements. Working memory demands were manipulated by the provision of a (static or dynamic) visual representation of the problem. Performance was equivalent for the standard Tower of Hanoi and clothing exchange tasks but worse for the tea ceremony task, and it decreased with increasing working memory demands. Furthermore, the standard Tower of Hanoi task and clothing exchange tasks independently, additively, and equivalently transferred to subsequent tasks, whereas the tea ceremony task did not. The results suggest that both familiarity and working memory demands determine overall level of performance, whereas familiarity influences transfer.

Tracking the impact of depression in a perspective-taking task.

PubMed

Ferguson, Heather J; Cane, James

2017-11-01

Research has identified impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities in depressed patients, particularly in relation to tasks involving empathetic responses and belief reasoning. We aimed to build on this research by exploring the relationship between depressed mood and cognitive ToM, specifically visual perspective-taking ability. High and low depressed participants were eye-tracked as they completed a perspective-taking task, in which they followed the instructions of a 'director' to move target objects (e.g. a "teapot with spots on") around a grid, in the presence of a temporarily-ambiguous competitor object (e.g. a "teapot with stars on"). Importantly, some of the objects in the grid were occluded from the director's (but not the participant's) view. Results revealed no group-based difference in participants' ability to use perspective cues to identify the target object. All participants were faster to select the target object when the competitor was only available to the participant, compared to when the competitor was mutually available to the participant and director. Eye-tracking measures supported this pattern, revealing that perspective directed participants' visual search immediately upon hearing the ambiguous object's name (e.g. "teapot"). We discuss how these results fit with previous studies that have shown a negative relationship between depression and ToM.

Language and Theory of Mind in Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Relationship between Complement Syntax and False Belief Task Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lind, Sophie E.; Bowler, Dermot M.

2009-01-01

This study aimed to test the hypothesis that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use their knowledge of complement syntax as a means of "hacking out" solutions to false belief tasks, despite lacking a representational theory of mind (ToM). Participants completed a "memory for complements" task, a measure of receptive vocabulary, and…

Exploring the repetition bias in voluntary task switching.

PubMed

Mittelstädt, Victor; Dignath, David; Schmidt-Ott, Magdalena; Kiesel, Andrea

2018-01-01

In the voluntary task-switching paradigm, participants are required to randomly select tasks. We reasoned that the consistent finding of a repetition bias (i.e., participants repeat tasks more often than expected by chance) reflects reasonable adaptive task selection behavior to balance the goal of random task selection with the goals to minimize the time and effort for task performance. We conducted two experiments in which participants were provided with variable amount of preview for the non-chosen task stimuli (i.e., potential switch stimuli). We assumed that switch stimuli would initiate some pre-processing resulting in improved performance in switch trials. Results showed that reduced switch costs due to extra-preview in advance of each trial were accompanied by more task switches. This finding is in line with the characteristics of rational adaptive behavior. However, participants were not biased to switch tasks more often than chance despite large switch benefits. We suggest that participants might avoid effortful additional control processes that modulate the effects of preview on task performance and task choice.

Working Memory Training Improves Dual-Task Performance on Motor Tasks.

PubMed

Kimura, Takehide; Kaneko, Fuminari; Nagahata, Keita; Shibata, Eriko; Aoki, Nobuhiro

2017-01-01

The authors investigated whether working memory training improves motor-motor dual-task performance consisted of upper and lower limb tasks. The upper limb task was a simple reaction task and the lower limb task was an isometric knee extension task. 45 participants (age = 21.8 ± 1.6 years) were classified into a working memory training group (WM-TRG), dual-task training group, or control group. The training duration was 2 weeks (15 min, 4 times/week). Our results indicated that working memory capacity increased significantly only in the WM-TRG. Dual-task performance improved in the WM-TRG and dual-task training group. Our study provides the novel insight that working memory training improves dual-task performance without specific training on the target motor task.

An Intervention Designed to Increase Participation and Completion Rates of Community College Students in Nontraditional Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Straight, Carli A.

2012-01-01

One of the missions of California Community Colleges (CCCs) is to provide career and technical education (CTE) to students that will prepare them for the workforce. Major funding for CTE programs comes from grant monies that are tied to the condition that institutions must demonstrate an effort to increase the participation and completion rates of…

Neuronal Substrates Underlying Performance Variability in Well-Trained Skillful Motor Task in Humans.

PubMed

Mizuguchi, Nobuaki; Uehara, Shintaro; Hirose, Satoshi; Yamamoto, Shinji; Naito, Eiichi

2016-01-01

Motor performance fluctuates trial by trial even in a well-trained motor skill. Here we show neural substrates underlying such behavioral fluctuation in humans. We first scanned brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while healthy participants repeatedly performed a 10 s skillful sequential finger-tapping task. Before starting the experiment, the participants had completed intensive training. We evaluated task performance per trial (number of correct sequences in 10 s) and depicted brain regions where the activity changes in association with the fluctuation of the task performance across trials. We found that the activity in a broader range of frontoparietocerebellar network, including the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate and anterior insular cortices, and left cerebellar hemisphere, was negatively correlated with the task performance. We further showed in another transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) experiment that task performance deteriorated, when we applied anodal tDCS to the right DLPFC. These results indicate that fluctuation of brain activity in the nonmotor frontoparietocerebellar network may underlie trial-by-trial performance variability even in a well-trained motor skill, and its neuromodulation with tDCS may affect the task performance.

Autistic traits and social anxiety predict differential performance on social cognitive tasks in typically developing young adults

PubMed Central

Burk, Joshua A.; Fleckenstein, Katarina; Kozikowski, C. Teal

2018-01-01

The current work examined the unique contribution that autistic traits and social anxiety have on tasks examining attention and emotion processing. In Study 1, 119 typically-developing college students completed a flanker task assessing the control of attention to target faces and away from distracting faces during emotion identification. In Study 2, 208 typically-developing college students performed a visual search task which required identification of whether a series of 8 or 16 emotional faces depicted the same or different emotions. Participants with more self-reported autistic traits performed more slowly on the flanker task in Study 1 than those with fewer autistic traits when stimuli depicted complex emotions. In Study 2, participants higher in social anxiety performed less accurately on trials showing all complex faces; participants with autistic traits showed no differences. These studies suggest that traits related to autism and to social anxiety differentially impact social cognitive processing. PMID:29596523

International confederation for cleft lip and palate and related craniofacial anomalies task force report: holistic outcomes.

PubMed

Broder, Hillary L

2014-11-01

Objective : This paper describes the process and outcomes of the 2013 American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association task force on Holistic Outcomes. The goals and membership of the task force are presented. Methods : Using internet communication, the group introduced themselves, shared ideas and information related to holistic assessment and implementation of using a validated holistic measure, the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) at participating international sites. Results : Data from the sites were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Administration of the COHIP was successful. It varied from self-completion as well as verbal presentation due to language differences and a function of the short time period to complete collection. Additionally qualitative comments were reported by the task force site directors. Conclusions : Future directions for holistic assessment and communication among task force members and sites were discussed at the Congress and are presented in this report.

Qualitative Differences between Bilingual Language Control and Executive Control: Evidence from Task-Switching

PubMed Central

Calabria, Marco; Hernández, Mireia; Branzi, Francesca M.; Costa, Albert

2012-01-01

Previous research has shown that highly proficient bilinguals have comparable switch costs in both directions when they switch between languages (L1 and L2), the so-called “symmetrical switch cost” effect. Interestingly, the same symmetry is also present when they switch between L1 and a much weaker L3. These findings suggest that highly proficient bilinguals develop a language control system that seems to be insensitive to language proficiency. In the present study, we explore whether the pattern of symmetrical switch costs in language switching tasks generalizes to a non-linguistic switching task in the same group of highly proficient bilinguals. The end goal of this is to assess whether bilingual language control (bLC) can be considered as subsidiary to domain-general executive control (EC). We tested highly proficient Catalan–Spanish bilinguals both in a linguistic switching task and in a non-linguistic switching task. In the linguistic task, participants named pictures in L1 and L2 (Experiment 1) or L3 (Experiment 2) depending on a cue presented with the picture (a flag). In the non-linguistic task, the same participants had to switch between two card sorting rule-sets (color and shape). Overall, participants showed symmetrical switch costs in the linguistic switching task, but not in the non-linguistic switching task. In a further analysis, we observed that in the linguistic switching task the asymmetry of the switch costs changed across blocks, while in the non-linguistic switching task an asymmetrical switch cost was observed throughout the task. The observation of different patterns of switch costs in the linguistic and the non-linguistic switching tasks suggest that the bLC system is not completely subsidiary to the domain-general EC system. PMID:22275905

Neural Correlates of Task Cost for Stance Control with an Additional Motor Task: Phase-Locked Electroencephalogram Responses

PubMed Central

Hwang, Ing-Shiou; Huang, Cheng-Ya

2016-01-01

With appropriate reallocation of central resources, the ability to maintain an erect posture is not necessarily degraded by a concurrent motor task. This study investigated the neural control of a particular postural-suprapostural procedure involving brain mechanisms to solve crosstalk between posture and motor subtasks. Participants completed a single posture task and a dual-task while concurrently conducting force-matching and maintaining a tilted stabilometer stance at a target angle. Stabilometer movements and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The added force-matching task increased the irregularity of postural response rather than the size of postural response prior to force-matching. In addition, the added force-matching task during stabilometer stance led to marked topographic ERP modulation, with greater P2 positivity in the frontal and sensorimotor-parietal areas of the N1-P2 transitional phase and in the sensorimotor-parietal area of the late P2 phase. The time-frequency distribution of the ERP primary principal component revealed that the dual-task condition manifested more pronounced delta (1–4 Hz) and beta (13–35 Hz) synchronizations but suppressed theta activity (4–8 Hz) before force-matching. The dual-task condition also manifested coherent fronto-parietal delta activity in the P2 period. In addition to a decrease in postural regularity, this study reveals spatio-temporal and temporal-spectral reorganizations of ERPs in the fronto-sensorimotor-parietal network due to the added suprapostural motor task. For a particular set of postural-suprapostural task, the behavior and neural data suggest a facilitatory role of autonomous postural response and central resource expansion with increasing interregional interactions for task-shift and planning the motor-suprapostural task. PMID:27010634

Developing a unified list of physicians' reasoning tasks during clinical encounters.

PubMed

Goldszmidt, Mark; Minda, John Paul; Bordage, Georges

2013-03-01

The clinical reasoning literature focuses on how physicians reason while making decisions, rather than on what they reason about while performing their clinical tasks. In an attempt to provide a common language for discussing, teaching, and researching clinical reasoning, the authors undertook the task of developing a unified list of physicians' reasoning tasks, or what they reason about, during clinical encounters. The authors compiled an initial list of 20 reasoning tasks based on the literature from four content areas--clinical reasoning, communications, medical errors, and clinical guidelines. In the summer and fall of 2010, they surveyed a purposive sample of 46 international experts in clinical reasoning and communications. From the results of the first survey, the authors refined their list of reasoning tasks, then resurveyed 22 of the original participants. From the results of the second survey, they further refined their list and validated the inclusion of the reasoning tasks. Twenty-four of 46 (52%) and 15 of 22 (65%) participants completed the first- and second-round surveys, respectively. Following the second-round survey, the authors' list included 24 reasoning tasks, and a clinical example corresponding to each, that fell into four broad categories: framing the encounter (3), diagnosis (8), management (11), and self-reflection (2). The development of this unified list represents a first step in offering a vocabulary for discussing, reflecting on, teaching, and studying physicians' reasoning tasks during clinical encounters.

On the Origins of the Task Mixing Cost in the Cuing Task-Switching Paradigm

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubin, Orit; Meiran, Nachshon

2005-01-01

Poorer performance in conditions involving task repetition within blocks of mixed tasks relative to task repetition within blocks of single task is called mixing cost (MC). In 2 experiments exploring 2 hypotheses regarding the origins of MC, participants either switched between cued shape and color tasks, or they performed them as single tasks.…

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

PubMed

Becker, Kevin; Smith, Peter J K

2013-08-01

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

`Opening up' a science task: an exploration of shifting embodied participation of a multilingual primary student

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gómez Fernández, Roberto; Siry, Christina

2018-05-01

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students have different home languages and cultures from many of their peers, In our context, these students suffer from higher school drop-out rates than their peers and are far behind their peers in sciences. This study investigates the interactions of a nine-year-old child whose home language is Portuguese and who learns science in this specific case in a diglossic environment in the Luxembourgish school system, in which his teacher used German for written tasks and Luxembourgish for oral communication. We examine, moment-by-moment, the interactions around a task regarding environmental protection. The role of this Lusoburguês (Luxembourgish and Portuguese identities and nationalities combined) student and his embodiment and participation changes when his group is confronted with an activity that requires an increased amount of manipulation. His identity evolves in interaction, as he becomes the leader in his group, and through a playful stance, manages to open the task so that his peers can further explore. Implications include the value of including more open-ended investigations in the teaching and learning of science as well as implications for further study concerning practice-based approaches in science classrooms with CLD students, particularly in increasingly multilingual/cultural and/or diglossic or heteroglossic school contexts.

Dividing Attention Between Tasks: Testing Whether Explicit Payoff Functions Elicit Optimal Dual-Task Performance.

PubMed

Farmer, George D; Janssen, Christian P; Nguyen, Anh T; Brumby, Duncan P

2018-04-01

We test people's ability to optimize performance across two concurrent tasks. Participants performed a number entry task while controlling a randomly moving cursor with a joystick. Participants received explicit feedback on their performance on these tasks in the form of a single combined score. This payoff function was varied between conditions to change the value of one task relative to the other. We found that participants adapted their strategy for interleaving the two tasks, by varying how long they spent on one task before switching to the other, in order to achieve the near maximum payoff available in each condition. In a second experiment, we show that this behavior is learned quickly (within 2-3 min over several discrete trials) and remained stable for as long as the payoff function did not change. The results of this work show that people are adaptive and flexible in how they prioritize and allocate attention in a dual-task setting. However, it also demonstrates some of the limits regarding people's ability to optimize payoff functions. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Cognitive Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Cognitive Science Society.

Accuracy of Tympanic Temperature Measurement in Firefighters Completing a Simulated Structural Firefighting Task.

PubMed

Keene, Toby; Brearley, Matt; Bowen, Beth; Walker, Anthony

2015-10-01

In the course of their duties, firefighters risk heat stroke and other medical conditions due to exertion in high-temperature environments. Infrared tympanic temperature measurement (TTym) is often used by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to assess the core body temperature of firefighters. The accuracy of TTym in this setting has been called into question. Hypothesis/Problem This study aimed to examine the accuracy of TTym for core body temperature assessment at emergency firefighting events compared with gastrointestinal temperature measurement (TGI) as measured by ingestible thermometers. Forty-five (42 male, three female) professional urban firefighters from an Australian fire service completed two 20-minute work periods in a 100°C (± 5°C) heat chamber while wearing personal protective clothing (PPC) and breathing apparatus (weighing approximately 22 kg). Measurements were taken immediately before entering, and on exiting, the heat chamber. Tympanic temperature was assessed by an infrared tympanic thermometer and TGI was measured by ingestible sensor and radio receiver. Complete data were available for 37 participants. Participant temperatures were higher on exiting the heat chamber than at baseline (TTym: 35.9°C (SD=0.7) vs 37.5°C (SD=0.8); TGI: 37.2°C (SD=0.4) vs 38.6°C (SD=0.5)). Tympanic temperature underestimated TGI on average by 1.3°C (SD=0.5) before entering the chamber and by 1.0°C (SD=0.8) following the exercise. Using pooled data, the average underestimation was 1.2°C (SD=0.7). Tympanic thermometers cause an unreliable measure of core body temperature for firefighters engaged in fire suppression activities. Accurate and practical measures of core body temperature are required urgently.

Extending the evaluation of Genia Event task toward knowledge base construction and comparison to Gene Regulation Ontology task

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Background The third edition of the BioNLP Shared Task was held with the grand theme "knowledge base construction (KB)". The Genia Event (GE) task was re-designed and implemented in light of this theme. For its final report, the participating systems were evaluated from a perspective of annotation. To further explore the grand theme, we extended the evaluation from a perspective of KB construction. Also, the Gene Regulation Ontology (GRO) task was newly introduced in the third edition. The final evaluation of the participating systems resulted in relatively low performance. The reason was attributed to the large size and complex semantic representation of the ontology. To investigate potential benefits of resource exchange between the presumably similar tasks, we measured the overlap between the datasets of the two tasks, and tested whether the dataset for one task can be used to enhance performance on the other. Results We report an extended evaluation on all the participating systems in the GE task, incoporating a KB perspective. For the evaluation, the final submission of each participant was converted to RDF statements, and evaluated using 8 queries that were formulated in SPARQL. The results suggest that the evaluation may be concluded differently between the two different perspectives, annotation vs. KB. We also provide a comparison of the GE and GRO tasks by converting their datasets into each other's format. More than 90% of the GE data could be converted into the GRO task format, while only half of the GRO data could be mapped to the GE task format. The imbalance in conversion indicates that the GRO is a comprehensive extension of the GE task ontology. We further used the converted GRO data as additional training data for the GE task, which helped improve GE task participant system performance. However, the converted GE data did not help GRO task participants, due to overfitting and the ontology gap. PMID:26202680

"Jumping to conclusions" in delusion-prone participants: an experimental economics approach.

PubMed

van der Leer, Leslie; McKay, Ryan

2014-01-01

That delusional and delusion-prone individuals "jump to conclusions" on probabilistic reasoning tasks is a key finding in cognitive neuropsychiatry. Here we focused on a less frequently investigated aspect of "jumping to conclusions" (JTC): certainty judgments. We incorporated rigorous procedures from experimental economics to eliminate potential confounds of miscomprehension and motivation and systematically investigated the effect of incentives on task performance. Low- and high-delusion-prone participants (n = 109) completed a series of computerised trials; on each trial, they were shown a black or a white fish, caught from one of the two lakes containing fish of both colours in complementary ratios. In the betting condition, participants were given £4 to distribute over the two lakes as they wished; in the control condition, participants simply provided an estimate of how probable each lake was. Deviations from Bayesian probabilities were investigated. Whereas high-delusion-prone participants in both the control and betting conditions underestimated the Bayesian probabilities (i.e. were conservative), low-delusion-prone participants in the control condition underestimated but those in the betting condition provided accurate estimates. In the control condition, there was a trend for high-delusion-prone participants to give higher estimates than low-delusion-prone participants, which is consistent with previous reports of "jumping to conclusions" in delusion-prone participants. However, our findings in the betting condition, where high-delusion-prone participants provided lower estimates than low-delusion-prone participants (who were accurate), are inconsistent with the jumping-to-conclusions effect in both a relative and an absolute sense. Our findings highlight the key role of task incentives and underscore the importance of comparing the responses of delusion-prone participants to an objective rational standard as well as to the responses of non

The influence of time on task on mind wandering and visual working memory.

PubMed

Krimsky, Marissa; Forster, Daniel E; Llabre, Maria M; Jha, Amishi P

2017-12-01

Working memory relies on executive resources for successful task performance, with higher demands necessitating greater resource engagement. In addition to mnemonic demands, prior studies suggest that internal sources of distraction, such as mind wandering (i.e., having off-task thoughts) and greater time on task, may tax executive resources. Herein, the consequences of mnemonic demand, mind wandering, and time on task were investigated during a visual working memory task. Participants (N=143) completed a delayed-recognition visual working memory task, with mnemonic load for visual objects manipulated across trials (1 item=low load; 2 items=high load) and subjective mind wandering assessed intermittently throughout the experiment using a self-report Likert-type scale (1=on-task, 6=off-task). Task performance (correct/incorrect response) and self-reported mind wandering data were evaluated by hierarchical linear modeling to track trial-by-trial fluctuations. Performance declined with greater time on task, and the rate of decline was steeper for high vs low load trials. Self-reported mind wandering increased over time, and significantly varied asa function of both load and time on task. Participants reported greater mind wandering at the beginning of the experiment for low vs. high load trials; however, with greater time on task, more mind wandering was reported during high vs. low load trials. These results suggest that the availability of executive resources in support of working memory maintenance processes fluctuates in a demand-sensitive manner with time on task, and may be commandeered by mind wandering. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Throwing out the rules: anticipatory alpha-band oscillatory attention mechanisms during task-set reconfigurations.

PubMed

Foxe, John J; Murphy, Jeremy W; De Sanctis, Pierfilippo

2014-06-01

We assessed the role of alpha-band oscillatory activity during a task-switching design that required participants to switch between an auditory and a visual task, while task-relevant audiovisual inputs were simultaneously presented. Instructional cues informed participants which task to perform on a given trial and we assessed alpha-band power in the short 1.35-s period intervening between the cue and the task-imperative stimuli, on the premise that attentional biasing mechanisms would be deployed to resolve competition between the auditory and visual inputs. Prior work had shown that alpha-band activity was differentially deployed depending on the modality of the cued task. Here, we asked whether this activity would, in turn, be differentially deployed depending on whether participants had just made a switch of task or were being asked to simply repeat the task. It is well established that performance speed and accuracy are poorer on switch than on repeat trials. Here, however, the use of instructional cues completely mitigated these classic switch-costs. Measures of alpha-band synchronisation and desynchronisation showed that there was indeed greater and earlier differential deployment of alpha-band activity on switch vs. repeat trials. Contrary to our hypothesis, this differential effect was entirely due to changes in the amount of desynchronisation observed during switch and repeat trials of the visual task, with more desynchronisation over both posterior and frontal scalp regions during switch-visual trials. These data imply that particularly vigorous, and essentially fully effective, anticipatory biasing mechanisms resolved the competition between competing auditory and visual inputs when a rapid switch of task was required. © 2014 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Associations between cognitive and gait performance during single- and dual-task walking in people with Parkinson disease.

PubMed

Stegemöller, Elizabeth L; Wilson, Jonathan P; Hazamy, Audrey; Shelley, Mack C; Okun, Michael S; Altmann, Lori J P; Hass, Chris J

2014-06-01

Cognitive impairments in Parkinson disease (PD) manifest as deficits in speed of processing, working memory, and executive function and attention abilities. The gait impairment in PD is well documented to include reduced speed, shortened step lengths, and increased step-to-step variability. However, there is a paucity of research examining the relationship between overground walking and cognitive performance in people with PD. This study sought to examine the relationship between both the mean and variability of gait spatiotemporal parameters and cognitive performance across a broad range of cognitive domains. A cross-sectional design was used. Thirty-five participants with no dementia and diagnosed with idiopathic PD completed a battery of 12 cognitive tests that yielded 3 orthogonal factors: processing speed, working memory, and executive function and attention. Participants completed 10 trials of overground walking (single-task walking) and 5 trials of overground walking while counting backward by 3's (dual-task walking). All gait measures were impaired by the dual task. Cognitive processing speed correlated with stride length and walking speed. Executive function correlated with step width variability. There were no significant associations with working memory. Regression models relating speed of processing to gait spatiotemporal variables revealed that including dual-task costs in the model significantly improved the fit of the model. Participants with PD were tested only in the on-medication state. Different characteristics of gait are related to distinct types of cognitive processing, which may be differentially affected by dual-task walking due to the pathology of PD. © 2014 American Physical Therapy Association.

Completing the Task Procedure or Focusing on Form: Contextualizing Grammar Instruction via Task-Based Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saraç, Hatice Sezgi

2018-01-01

In this study, it was aimed to compare two distinct methodologies of grammar instruction: task-based and form-focused teaching. Within the application procedure, which lasted for one academic term, two groups of tertiary level learners (N = 53) were exposed to the same sequence of target structures, extensive writing activities and evaluation…

Poorer divided attention in children born very preterm can be explained by difficulty with each component task, not the executive requirement to dual-task.

PubMed

Delane, Louise; Campbell, Catherine; Bayliss, Donna M; Reid, Corinne; Stephens, Amelia; French, Noel; Anderson, Mike

2017-07-01

Children born very preterm (VP, ≤ 32 weeks) exhibit poor performance on tasks of executive functioning. However, it is largely unknown whether this reflects the cumulative impact of non-executive deficits or a separable impairment in executive-level abilities. A dual-task paradigm was used in the current study to differentiate the executive processes involved in performing two simple attention tasks simultaneously. The executive-level contribution to performance was indexed by the within-subject cost incurred to single-task performance under dual-task conditions, termed dual-task cost. The participants included 77 VP children (mean age: 7.17 years) and 74 peer controls (mean age: 7.16 years) who completed Sky Search (selective attention), Score (sustained attention) and Sky Search DT (divided attention) from the Test of Everyday Attention for Children. The divided-attention task requires the simultaneous performance of the selective- and sustained-attention tasks. The VP group exhibited poorer performance on the selective- and divided-attention tasks, and showed a strong trend toward poorer performance on the sustained-attention task. However, there were no significant group differences in dual-task cost. These results suggest a cumulative impact of vulnerable lower-level cognitive processes on dual-tasking or divided attention in VP children, and fail to support the hypothesis that VP children show a separable impairment in executive-level abilities.

Evaluating the utility of administering a reaction time task in an ecological momentary assessment study.

PubMed

Waters, Andrew J; Li, Yisheng

2008-03-01

Cognitive processes underlying drug use have typically been assessed in laboratory settings. More detailed and ecologically valid data may be possible if assessments were conducted in an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) setting. We evaluated the feasibility and utility of administering a reaction time task on a hand-held computer (personal digital assistant, PDA) in an EMA setting. Twenty-two smokers and 22 non-smokers carried around the PDA for 1 week as they went about their daily lives. They were beeped at random times four times per day (random assessments, RAs). Participants were also instructed to press an "anxiety assessment" (AA) button on the PDA whenever they felt suddenly anxious. At each assessment (RA, AA), participants responded to items assessing subjective, pharmacological, and contextual variables, and subsequently completed a Stroop task (classic-Stroop, emotional-Stroop, or smoking-Stroop task). Participants responded to 81.2% of RAs, completed assessments in an average of 4.44 min, reported no interruptions on the majority of assessments (62.4%), and produced data with adequate reliability. Using generalized estimating equation (GEE) analyses, age was associated with the classic-Stroop effect, state anxiety was associated with the emotional-Stroop effect, and Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence scores were associated with the smoking-Stroop effect. The study provided evidence for the feasibility and utility of the approach.

Evidence that communication impairment in schizophrenia is associated with generalized poor task performance.

PubMed

Merrill, Anne M; Karcher, Nicole R; Cicero, David C; Becker, Theresa M; Docherty, Anna R; Kerns, John G

2017-03-01

People with schizophrenia exhibit wide-ranging cognitive deficits, including slower processing speed and decreased cognitive control. Disorganized speech symptoms, such as communication impairment, have been associated with poor cognitive control task performance (e.g., goal maintenance and working memory). Whether communication impairment is associated with poorer performance on a broader range of non-cognitive control measures is unclear. In the current study, people with schizophrenia (n =51) and non-psychiatric controls (n =26) completed speech interviews allowing for reliable quantitative assessment of communication impairment. Participants also completed multiple goal maintenance and working memory tasks. In addition, we also examined (a) simple measures of processing speed involving highly automatic prepotent responses and (b) a non-cognitive control measure of general task performance. Schizophrenia communication impairment was significantly associated with poor performance in all cognitive domains, with the largest association found with processing speed (r s =-0.52). Further, communication impairment was also associated with the non-cognitive control measure of poor general task performance (r s =-0.43). In contrast, alogia, a negative speech symptom, and positive symptoms were less if at all related to cognitive task performance. Overall, this study suggests that communication impairment in schizophrenia may be associated with relatively generalized poor cognitive task performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

PubMed

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

2014-01-01

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

Pain Anxiety and Its Association With Pain Congruence Trajectories During the Cold Pressor Task.

PubMed

Clark, Shannon M; Cano, Annmarie; Goubert, Liesbet; Vlaeyen, Johan W S; Wurm, Lee H; Corley, Angelia M

2017-04-01

Incongruence of pain severity ratings among people experiencing pain and their observers has been linked to psychological distress. Previous studies have measured pain rating congruence through static self-report, involving a single rating of pain; however, this method does not capture changes in ratings over time. The present study examined the extent to which partners were congruent on multiple ratings of a participants' pain severity during the cold pressor task. Furthermore, 2 components of pain anxiety-pain catastrophizing and perceived threat-were examined as predictors of pain congruence. Undergraduate couples in a romantic relationship (N = 127 dyads) participated in this study. Both partners completed measures of pain catastrophizing and perceived threat before randomization to their cold pressor participant or observer roles. Participants and observers rated the participant's pain in writing several times over the course of the task. On average, observers rated participants' pain as less severe than participants' rated their own pain. In addition, congruence between partners increased over time because of observers' ratings becoming more similar to participant's ratings. Finally, pain catastrophizing and perceived threat independently and jointly influenced the degree to which partners similarly rated the participant's pain. This article presents a novel application of the cold pressor task to show that pain rating congruence among romantic partners changes over time. These findings indicate that pain congruence is not static and is subject to pain anxiety in both partners. Copyright © 2016 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anterior medial prefrontal cortex exhibits activation during task preparation but deactivation during task execution.

PubMed

Koshino, Hideya; Minamoto, Takehiro; Ikeda, Takashi; Osaka, Mariko; Otsuka, Yuki; Osaka, Naoyuki

2011-01-01

The anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) exhibits activation during some cognitive tasks, including episodic memory, reasoning, attention, multitasking, task sets, decision making, mentalizing, and processing of self-referenced information. However, the medial part of anterior PFC is part of the default mode network (DMN), which shows deactivation during various goal-directed cognitive tasks compared to a resting baseline. One possible factor for this pattern is that activity in the anterior medial PFC (MPFC) is affected by dynamic allocation of attentional resources depending on task demands. We investigated this possibility using an event related fMRI with a face working memory task. Sixteen students participated in a single fMRI session. They were asked to form a task set to remember the faces (Face memory condition) or to ignore them (No face memory condition), then they were given 6 seconds of preparation period before the onset of the face stimuli. During this 6-second period, four single digits were presented one at a time at the center of the display, and participants were asked to add them and to remember the final answer. When participants formed a task set to remember faces, the anterior MPFC exhibited activation during a task preparation period but deactivation during a task execution period within a single trial. The results suggest that the anterior MPFC plays a role in task set formation but is not involved in execution of the face working memory task. Therefore, when attentional resources are allocated to other brain regions during task execution, the anterior MPFC shows deactivation. The results suggest that activation and deactivation in the anterior MPFC are affected by dynamic allocation of processing resources across different phases of processing.

Comparison of the Effects of Video Models with and without Verbal Cueing on Task Completion by Young Adults with Moderate Intellectual Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mechling, Linda C.; Collins, Terri S.

2012-01-01

This study compared the effects of video models with and without verbal cuing (voice over) on the completion of fine motor cooking related tasks by four young adults with moderate intellectual disability. The effects of the two modeling conditions were compared using an adapted alternating treatments design with an extended baseline, comparison,…

Guessing versus Choosing an Upcoming Task

PubMed Central

Kleinsorge, Thomas; Scheil, Juliane

2016-01-01

We compared the effects of guessing vs. choosing an upcoming task. In a task-switching paradigm with four tasks, two groups of participants were asked to either guess or choose which task will be presented next under otherwise identical conditions. The upcoming task corresponded to participants’ guesses or choices in 75 % of the trials. However, only participants in the Choosing condition were correctly informed about this, whereas participants in the Guessing condition were told that tasks were determined at random. In the Guessing condition, we replicated previous findings of a pronounced reduction of switch costs in case of incorrect guesses. This switch cost reduction was considerably less pronounced with denied choices in the Choosing condition. We suggest that in the Choosing condition, the signaling of prediction errors associated with denied choices is attenuated because a certain proportion of denied choices is consistent with the overall representation of the situation as conveyed by task instructions. In the Guessing condition, in contrast, the mismatch of guessed and actual task is resolved solely on the level of individual trials by strengthening the representation of the actual task. PMID:27047423

Dissociating Stimulus-Set and Response-Set in the Context of Task-Set Switching

PubMed Central

Kieffaber, Paul D.; Kruschke, John K.; Cho, Raymond Y.; Walker, Philip M.; Hetrick, William P.

2014-01-01

The primary aim of the present research was to determine how stimulus-set and response-set components of task-set contribute to switch costs and conflict processing. Three experiments are described wherein participants completed an explicitly cued task-switching procedure. Experiment 1 established that task switches requiring a reconfiguration of both stimulus- and response-set incurred larger residual switch costs than task switches requiring the reconfiguration of stimulus-set alone. Between-task interference was also drastically reduced for response-set conflict compared with stimulus-set conflict. A second experiment replicated these findings and demonstrated that stimulus- and response-conflict have dissociable effects on the “decision time” and “motor time” components of total response time. Finally, a third experiment replicated Experiment 2 and demonstrated that the stimulus- and response- components of task switching and conflict processing elicit dissociable neural activity as evidence by event-related brain potentials. PMID:22984990

The role of attention during retrieval in working-memory span: a dual-task study.

PubMed

Healey, M Karl; Miyake, Akira

2009-04-01

We tested the hypothesis that retrieving target words in operation span (OSpan) involves attention-demanding processes. Participants completed the standard OSpan task and a modified version in which all equations preceded all target words. Recall took place under either full attention or easy versus hard divided-attention conditions. Recall suffered under divided attention with the recall decrement being greater for the hard secondary task. Moreover, secondary-task performance was disrupted more by the standard OSpan task than by the modified version with the hard secondary task showing the larger decrement. Finally, the time taken to start recalling the first word was considerably longer for the standard version than for the modified version. These results are consistent with the proposal that successful OSpan task performance in part involves the attention-demanding retrieval of targets from long-term memory.

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

PubMed

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

2016-09-01

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

Effects of cognitive appraisal and mental workload factors on performance in an arithmetic task.

PubMed

Galy, Edith; Mélan, Claudine

2015-12-01

We showed in a previous study an additive interaction between intrinsic and extraneous cognitive loads and of participants' alertness in an 1-back working memory task. The interaction between intrinsic and extraneous cognitive loads was only observed when participants' alertness was low (i.e. in the morning). As alertness is known to reflect an individual's general functional state, we suggested that the working memory capacity available for germane cognitive load depends on a participant's functional state, in addition to intrinsic and extraneous loads induced by the task and task conditions. The relationships between the different load types and their assessment by specific load measures gave rise to a modified cognitive load model. The aim of the present study was to complete the model by determining to what extent and at what processing level an individual's characteristics intervene in order to implement efficient strategies in a working memory task. Therefore, the study explored participants' cognitive appraisal of the situation in addition to the load factors considered previously-task difficulty, time pressure and alertness. Each participant performed a mental arithmetic task in four different cognitive load conditions (crossover of two task difficulty conditions and of two time pressure conditions), both while their alertness was low (9 a.m.) and high (4 p.m.). Results confirmed an additive effect of task difficulty and time pressure, previously reported in the 1-back memory task, thereby lending further support to the modified cognitive load model. Further, in the high intrinsic and extraneous load condition, performance was reduced on the morning session (i.e. when alertness was low) on one hand, and in those participants' having a threat appraisal of the situation on the other hand. When these factors were included into the analysis, a performance drop occurred in the morning irrespective of cognitive appraisal, and with threat appraisal in the

Selective attention and avoidance on a pictorial cueing task during stress in clinically anxious and depressed participants.

PubMed

Ellenbogen, Mark A; Schwartzman, Alex E

2009-02-01

Although it is well established that attentional biases exist in anxious populations, the specific components of visual orienting towards and away from emotional stimuli are not well delineated. The present study was designed to examine these processes. We used a modified spatial cueing task to assess the speed of engagement and disengagement from supraliminal and masked pictorial cues depicting threat, dysphoria, or neutral content in 36 clinically anxious, 41 depressed and 41 control participants. Participants were randomly assigned to a stress or neutral condition. During stress, anxious participants were slow to disengage from masked left hemifield pictures depicting threat or dysphoria, but were quick to disengage from supraliminal threat pictures. Information processing in anxious participants during stress was characterized by early selective attention of emotional stimuli, occurring prior to full conscious awareness, followed by effortful avoidance of threat. Depressed participants were distinct from the anxious group, displaying selective attention for stimuli depicting dysphoria, but not threat, during the neutral condition. In sum, attentional biases in clinical populations are associated with difficulties in the disengagement component of visual orienting. Further, a vigilant-avoidant pattern of attentional bias may represent a strategic attempt to compensate for the early activation of a fear response.

How do task characteristics affect learning and performance? The roles of variably mapped and dynamic tasks.

PubMed

Macnamara, Brooke N; Frank, David J

2018-05-01

For well over a century, scientists have investigated individual differences in performance. The majority of studies have focused on either differences in practice, or differences in cognitive resources. However, the predictive ability of either practice or cognitive resources varies considerably across tasks. We are the first to examine task characteristics' impact on learning and performance in a complex task while controlling for other task characteristics. In 2 experiments we test key theoretical task characteristic thought to moderate the relationship between practice, cognitive resources, and performance. We devised a task where each of several key task characteristics can be manipulated independently. Participants played 5 rounds of a game similar to the popular tower defense videogame Plants vs. Zombies where both cognitive load and game characteristics were manipulated. In Experiment 1, participants either played a consistently mapped version-the stimuli and the associated meaning of their properties were constant across the 5 rounds-or played a variably mapped version-the stimuli and the associated meaning of their properties changed every few minutes. In Experiment 2, participants either played a static version-that is, turn taking with no time pressure-or played a dynamic version-that is, the stimuli moved regardless of participants' response rates. In Experiment 1, participants' accuracy and efficiency were substantially hindered in the variably mapped conditions. In Experiment 2, learning and performance accuracy were hindered in the dynamic conditions, especially when under cognitive load. Our results suggest that task characteristics impact the relative importance of cognitive resources and practice on predicting learning and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Reduced dual-task gait speed is associated with visual Go/No-Go brain network activation in children and adolescents with concussion.

PubMed

Howell, David R; Meehan, William P; Barber Foss, Kim D; Reches, Amit; Weiss, Michal; Myer, Gregory D

2018-05-31

To investigate the association between dual-task gait performance and brain network activation (BNA) using an electroencephalography (EEG)-based Go/No-Go paradigm among children and adolescents with concussion. Participants with a concussion completed a visual Go/No-Go task with collection of electroencephalogram brain activity. Data were treated with BNA analysis, which involves an algorithmic approach to EEG-ERP activation quantification. Participants also completed a dual-task gait assessment. The relationship between dual-task gait speed and BNA was assessed using multiple linear regression models. Participants (n = 20, 13.9 ± 2.3 years of age, 50% female) were tested at a mean of 7.0 ± 2.5 days post-concussion and were symptomatic at the time of testing (post-concussion symptom scale = 40.4 ± 21.9). Slower dual-task average gait speed (mean = 82.2 ± 21.0 cm/s) was significantly associated with lower relative time BNA scores (mean = 39.6 ± 25.8) during the No-Go task (β = 0.599, 95% CI = 0.214, 0.985, p = 0.005, R 2  = 0.405), while controlling for the effect of age and gender. Among children and adolescents with a concussion, slower dual-task gait speed was independently associated with lower BNA relative time scores during a visual Go/No-Go task. The relationship between abnormal gait behaviour and brain activation deficits may be reflective of disruption to multiple functional abilities after concussion.

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

PubMed

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

2015-01-01

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

Inharmonic music elicits more negative affect and interferes more with a concurrent cognitive task than does harmonic music.

PubMed

Bonin, Tanor; Smilek, Daniel

2016-04-01

We evaluated whether task-irrelevant inharmonic music produces greater interference with cognitive performance than task-irrelevant harmonic music. Participants completed either an auditory (Experiment 1) or a visual (Experiment 2) version of the cognitively demanding 2-back task in which they were required to categorize each digit in a sequence of digits as either being a target (a digit also presented two positions earlier in the sequence) or a distractor (all other items). They were concurrently exposed to either task-irrelevant harmonic music (judged to be consonant), task-irrelevant inharmonic music (judged to be dissonant), or no music at all as a distraction. The main finding across both experiments was that performance on the 2-back task was worse when participants were exposed to inharmonic music than when they were exposed to harmonic music. Interestingly, performance on the 2-back task was generally the same regardless of whether harmonic music or no music was played. We suggest that inharmonic, dissonant music interferes with cognitive performance by requiring greater cognitive processing than harmonic, consonant music, and speculate about why this might be.

Factors contributing to nursing task incompletion as perceived by nurses working in Kuwait general hospitals.

PubMed

Al-Kandari, Fatimah; Thomas, Deepa

2009-12-01

Unfinished care has a strong relationship with quality of nursing care. Most issues related to tasks incompletion arise from staffing and workload. This study was conducted to assess the workload of nurses, the nursing activities (tasks) nurses commonly performed on medical and surgical wards, elements of nursing care activities left incomplete by nurses during a shift, factors contributing to task incompletion and the relationship between staffing, demographic variables and task incompletion. Exploratory survey using a self-administered questionnaire developed from IHOC survey, USA. All full time registered nurses working on the general medical and surgical wards of five government general hospitals in Kuwait. Research assistants distributed and collected back the questionnaires. Four working days were given to participants to complete and return the questionnaires. A total of 820 questionnaires were distributed and 95% were returned. Descriptive and inferential analysis using SPSS-11. The five most frequently performed nursing activities were: administration of medications, assessing patient condition, preparing/updating nursing care plans, close patient monitoring and client health teaching. The most common nursing activities nurses were unable to complete were: comfort talk with patient and family, adequate documentation of nursing care, oral hygiene, routine catheter care and starting or changing IV fluid on time. Tasks were more complete when the nurse-patient load was less than 5. Nurses' age and educational background influenced task completion while nurses' gender had no influence on it. Increased patient loads, resulting in increased frequency of nursing tasks and non-nursing tasks, were positively correlated to incompletion of nursing activities during the shift. Emphasis should be given to maintaining the optimum nurse-patient load and decreasing the non-nursing workload of nurses to enhance the quality of nursing care.

Dyslexic Participants Show Intact Spontaneous Categorization Processes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nikolopoulos, Dimitris S.; Pothos, Emmanuel M.

2009-01-01

We examine the performance of dyslexic participants on an unsupervised categorization task against that of matched non-dyslexic control participants. Unsupervised categorization is a cognitive process critical for conceptual development. Existing research in dyslexia has emphasized perceptual tasks and supervised categorization tasks (for which…

The Effects of Assignment Format and Choice on Task Completion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hua, Youjia; Lee, David; Stansbery, Samuel; McAfee, James

2014-01-01

Modifying task presentation format and providing opportunities to choose are two effective procedures teachers can use to improve academic productivity for students with learning difficulties. Combining the two procedures may result in academic interventions that teachers can use without significantly changing the curriculum. The present study…

Anterior Medial Prefrontal Cortex Exhibits Activation during Task Preparation but Deactivation during Task Execution

PubMed Central

Koshino, Hideya; Minamoto, Takehiro; Ikeda, Takashi; Osaka, Mariko; Otsuka, Yuki; Osaka, Naoyuki

2011-01-01

Background The anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) exhibits activation during some cognitive tasks, including episodic memory, reasoning, attention, multitasking, task sets, decision making, mentalizing, and processing of self-referenced information. However, the medial part of anterior PFC is part of the default mode network (DMN), which shows deactivation during various goal-directed cognitive tasks compared to a resting baseline. One possible factor for this pattern is that activity in the anterior medial PFC (MPFC) is affected by dynamic allocation of attentional resources depending on task demands. We investigated this possibility using an event related fMRI with a face working memory task. Methodology/Principal Findings Sixteen students participated in a single fMRI session. They were asked to form a task set to remember the faces (Face memory condition) or to ignore them (No face memory condition), then they were given 6 seconds of preparation period before the onset of the face stimuli. During this 6-second period, four single digits were presented one at a time at the center of the display, and participants were asked to add them and to remember the final answer. When participants formed a task set to remember faces, the anterior MPFC exhibited activation during a task preparation period but deactivation during a task execution period within a single trial. Conclusions/Significance The results suggest that the anterior MPFC plays a role in task set formation but is not involved in execution of the face working memory task. Therefore, when attentional resources are allocated to other brain regions during task execution, the anterior MPFC shows deactivation. The results suggest that activation and deactivation in the anterior MPFC are affected by dynamic allocation of processing resources across different phases of processing. PMID:21829668

A Mobile App (BEDSide Mobility) to Support Nurses' Tasks at the Patient's Bedside: Usability Study.

PubMed

Ehrler, Frederic; Weinhold, Thomas; Joe, Jonathan; Lovis, Christian; Blondon, Katherine

2018-03-21

The introduction of clinical information systems has increased the amount of clinical documentation. Although this documentation generally improves patient safety, it has become a time-consuming task for nurses, which limits their time with the patient. On the basis of a user-centered methodology, we have developed a mobile app named BEDSide Mobility to support nurses in their daily workflow and to facilitate documentation at the bedside. The aim of the study was to assess the usability of the BEDSide Mobility app in terms of the navigation and interaction design through usability testing. Nurses were asked to complete a scenario reflecting their daily work with patients. Their interactions with the app were captured with eye-tracking glasses and by using the think aloud protocol. After completing the tasks, participants filled out the system usability scale questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize task completion rates and the users' performance. A total of 10 nurses (aged 21-50) participated in the study. Overall, they were satisfied with the navigation, layout, and interaction design of the app, with the exception of one user who was unfamiliar with smartphones. The problems identified were related to the ambiguity of some icons, the navigation logic, and design inconsistency. Besides the usability issues identified in the app, the participants' results do indicate good usability, high acceptance, and high satisfaction with the developed app. However, the results must be taken with caution because of the poor ecological validity of the experimental setting. ©Frederic Ehrler, Thomas Weinhold, Jonathan Joe, Christian Lovis, Katherine Blondon. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 21.03.2018.

Discriminating talent-identified junior Australian football players using a video decision-making task.

PubMed

Woods, Carl T; Raynor, Annette J; Bruce, Lyndell; McDonald, Zane

2016-01-01

This study examined if a video decision-making task could discriminate talent-identified junior Australian football players from their non-talent-identified counterparts. Participants were recruited from the 2013 under 18 (U18) West Australian Football League competition and classified into two groups: talent-identified (State U18 Academy representatives; n = 25; 17.8 ± 0.5 years) and non-talent-identified (non-State U18 Academy selection; n = 25; 17.3 ± 0.6 years). Participants completed a video decision-making task consisting of 26 clips sourced from the Australian Football League game-day footage, recording responses on a sheet provided. A score of "1" was given for correct and "0" for incorrect responses, with the participants total score used as the criterion value. One-way analysis of variance tested the main effect of "status" on the task criterion, whilst a bootstrapped receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve assessed the discriminant ability of the task. An area under the curve (AUC) of 1 (100%) represented perfect discrimination. Between-group differences were evident (P < 0.05) and the ROC curve was maximised with a score of 15.5/26 (60%) (AUC = 89.0%), correctly classifying 92% and 76% of the talent-identified and non-talent-identified participants, respectively. Future research should investigate the mechanisms leading to the superior decision-making observed in the talent-identified group.

Strategy quantification using body worn inertial sensors in a reactive agility task.

PubMed

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

2017-11-07

Agility performance is often evaluated using time-based metrics, which provide little information about which factors aid or limit success. The objective of this study was to better understand agility strategy by identifying biomechanical metrics that were sensitive to performance speed, which were calculated with data from an array of body-worn inertial sensors. Five metrics were defined (normalized number of foot contacts, stride length variance, arm swing variance, mean normalized stride frequency, and number of body rotations) that corresponded to agility terms defined by experts working in athletic, clinical, and military environments. Eighteen participants donned 13 sensors to complete a reactive agility task, which involved navigating a set of cones in response to a vocal cue. Participants were grouped into fast, medium, and slow performance based on their completion time. Participants in the fast group had the smallest number of foot contacts (normalizing by height), highest stride length variance (normalizing by height), highest forearm angular velocity variance, and highest stride frequency (normalizing by height). The number of body rotations was not sensitive to speed and may have been determined by hand and foot dominance while completing the agility task. The results of this study have the potential to inform the development of a composite agility score constructed from the list of significant metrics. By quantifying the agility terms previously defined by expert evaluators through an agility score, this study can assist in strategy development for training and rehabilitation across athletic, clinical, and military domains. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Same task, different strategies: How brain networks can be influenced by memory strategy

PubMed Central

Sanfratello, Lori; Caprihan, Arvind; Stephen, Julia M.; Knoefel, Janice E.; Adair, John C.; Qualls, Clifford; Lundy, S. Laura; Aine, Cheryl J.

2015-01-01

Previous functional neuroimaging studies demonstrated that different neural networks underlie different types of cognitive processing by engaging participants in particular tasks, such as verbal or spatial working memory (WM) tasks. However, we report here that even when a working memory task is defined as verbal or spatial, different types of memory strategies may be employed to complete it, with concomitant variations in brain activity. We developed a questionnaire to characterize the type of strategy used by individual members in a group of 28 young healthy participants (18–25 years) during a spatial WM task. A cluster analysis was performed to differentiate groups. We acquired functional magnetoencephalography (MEG) and structural diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures to characterize the brain networks associated with the use of different strategies. We found two types of strategies were utilized during the spatial WM task, a visuospatial and a verbal strategy, and brain regions and timecourses of activation differed between participants who used each. Task performance also varied by type of strategy used, with verbal strategies showing an advantage. In addition, performance on neuropsychological tests (indices from WAIS-IV, REY-D Complex Figure) correlated significantly with fractional anisotropy (FA) measures for the visuospatial strategy group in white matter tracts implicated in other WM/attention studies. We conclude that differences in memory strategy can have a pronounced effect on the locations and timing of brain activation, and that these differences need further investigation as a possible confounding factor for studies using group averaging as a means for summarizing results. PMID:24931401

Same task, different strategies: how brain networks can be influenced by memory strategy.

PubMed

Sanfratello, Lori; Caprihan, Arvind; Stephen, Julia M; Knoefel, Janice E; Adair, John C; Qualls, Clifford; Lundy, S Laura; Aine, Cheryl J

2014-10-01

Previous functional neuroimaging studies demonstrated that different neural networks underlie different types of cognitive processing by engaging participants in particular tasks, such as verbal or spatial working memory (WM) tasks. However, we report here that even when a WM task is defined as verbal or spatial, different types of memory strategies may be used to complete it, with concomitant variations in brain activity. We developed a questionnaire to characterize the type of strategy used by individual members in a group of 28 young healthy participants (18-25 years) during a spatial WM task. A cluster analysis was performed to differentiate groups. We acquired functional magnetoencephalography and structural diffusion tensor imaging measures to characterize the brain networks associated with the use of different strategies. We found two types of strategies were used during the spatial WM task, a visuospatial and a verbal strategy, and brain regions and time courses of activation differed between participants who used each. Task performance also varied by type of strategy used with verbal strategies showing an advantage. In addition, performance on neuropsychological tests (indices from Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV, Rey Complex Figure Test) correlated significantly with fractional anisotropy measures for the visuospatial strategy group in white matter tracts implicated in other WM and attention studies. We conclude that differences in memory strategy can have a pronounced effect on the locations and timing of brain activation and that these differences need further investigation as a possible confounding factor for studies using group averaging as a means for summarizing results. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

ACC Neuro-over-Connectivity Is Associated with Mathematically Modeled Additional Encoding Operations of Schizophrenia Stroop-Task Performance

PubMed Central

Taylor, Reggie; Théberge, Jean; Williamson, Peter C.; Densmore, Maria; Neufeld, Richard W. J.

2016-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging at 7.0 Tesla was undertaken among Schizophrenia participants (Sz), and clinical (major mood disorder; MDD) and healthy controls (HC), during performance of the Stoop task. Stroop conditions included congruent and incongruent word color items, color-only items, and word-only items. Previous modeling results extended to this most widely used selective-attention task. All groups executed item-encoding operations (subprocesses of the item encoding process) at the same rate (performance accuracy being similarly high throughout), thus displaying like processing capacity; Sz participants, however, employed more subprocesses for item completions than did the MDD participants, who in turn used more subprocesses than the HC group. The reduced efficiency in deploying cognitive-workload capacity among the Sz participants was paralleled by more diffuse neuroconnectivity (Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent co-activation) with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (Broadman Area 32), spreading away from this encoding-intensive region; and by less evidence of network dissociation across Stroop conditions. Estimates of cognitive work done to accomplish item completion were greater for the Sz participants, as were estimates of entropy in both the modeled trial-latency distribution, and its associated neuro-circuitry. Findings are held to be symptom and assessment significant, and to have potential implications for clinical intervention. PMID:27695425

Does Working Memory Enhance or Interfere With Speech Fluency in Adults Who Do and Do Not Stutter? Evidence From a Dual-Task Paradigm.

PubMed

Eichorn, Naomi; Marton, Klara; Schwartz, Richard G; Melara, Robert D; Pirutinsky, Steven

2016-06-01

The present study examined whether engaging working memory in a secondary task benefits speech fluency. Effects of dual-task conditions on speech fluency, rate, and errors were examined with respect to predictions derived from three related theoretical accounts of disfluencies. Nineteen adults who stutter and twenty adults who do not stutter participated in the study. All participants completed 2 baseline tasks: a continuous-speaking task and a working-memory (WM) task involving manipulations of domain, load, and interstimulus interval. In the dual-task portion of the experiment, participants simultaneously performed the speaking task with each unique combination of WM conditions. All speakers showed similar fluency benefits and decrements in WM accuracy as a result of dual-task conditions. Fluency effects were specific to atypical forms of disfluency and were comparable across WM-task manipulations. Changes in fluency were accompanied by reductions in speaking rate but not by corresponding changes in overt errors. Findings suggest that WM contributes to disfluencies regardless of stuttering status and that engaging WM resources while speaking enhances fluency. Further research is needed to verify the cognitive mechanism involved in this effect and to determine how these findings can best inform clinical intervention.

Quality improvement training for core medical and general practice trainees: a pilot study of project participation, completion and journal publication.

PubMed

McNab, Duncan; McKay, John; Bowie, Paul

2015-11-01

Small-scale quality improvement projects are expected to make a significant contribution towards improving the quality of healthcare. Enabling doctors-in-training to design and lead quality improvement projects is important preparation for independent practice. Participation is mandatory in speciality training curricula. However, provision of training and ongoing support in quality improvement methods and practice is variable. We aimed to design and deliver a quality improvement training package to core medical and general practice specialty trainees and evaluate impact in terms of project participation, completion and publication in a healthcare journal. A quality improvement training package was developed and delivered to core medical trainees and general practice specialty trainees in the west of Scotland encompassing a 1-day workshop and mentoring during completion of a quality improvement project over 3 months. A mixed methods evaluation was undertaken and data collected via questionnaire surveys, knowledge assessment, and formative assessment of project proposals, completed quality improvement projects and publication success. Twenty-three participants attended the training day with 20 submitting a project proposal (87%). Ten completed quality improvement projects (43%), eight were judged as satisfactory (35%), and four were submitted and accepted for journal publication (17%). Knowledge and confidence in aspects of quality improvement improved during the pilot, while early feedback on project proposals was valued (85.7%). This small study reports modest success in training core medical trainees and general practice specialty trainees in quality improvement. Many gained knowledge of, confidence in and experience of quality improvement, while journal publication was shown to be possible. The development of educational resources to aid quality improvement project completion and mentoring support is necessary if expectations for quality improvement are to be

Effect of hamstring flexibility on hip and lumbar spine joint excursions during forward-reaching tasks in participants with and without low back pain.

PubMed

Johnson, Erica N; Thomas, James S

2010-07-01

To examine the correlation between hamstring flexibility and hip and lumbar spine joint excursions during standardized reaching and forward-bending tasks. Retrospective analysis of data obtained during 2 previous prospective studies that examined kinematics and kinetics during forward-reaching tasks in participants with and without low back pain (LBP). The 2 previous studies were conducted in the Motor Control Lab at Ohio University and the Orthopaedic Ergonomics Laboratory at The Ohio State University. Data from a total of 122 subjects from 2 previous studies: study 1: 86 subjects recovered from an episode of acute LBP (recovered) and study 2 (A.I. McCallum, unpublished data): 18 chronic LBP subjects and 18 healthy-matched controls (healthy). Not applicable. Correlation values between hamstring flexibility as measured by straight leg raise (SLR) and amount of hip and lumbar spine joint excursions used during standardized reaching and forward-bending tasks. No significant correlation was found between hamstring flexibility and hip and lumbar joint excursions during forward-bending tasks in the LBP or recovered groups. The SLR had a significant negative correlation with lumbar spine excursions during reaching tasks to a low target in the healthy group (right SLR: P=.011, left SLR: P=.004). Hamstring flexibility is not strongly related to the amount of lumbar flexion used to perform forward-reaching tasks in participants who have chronic LBP or who have recovered from LBP. More research needs to be conducted to examine the influence of hamstring flexibility on observed movement patterns to further evaluate the efficacy of flexibility training in the rehabilitation of patients with LBP. Copyright 2010 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predicting dual-task performance with the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ).

PubMed

Boles, David B; Bursk, Jonathan H; Phillips, Jeffrey B; Perdelwitz, Jason R

2007-02-01

The objective was to assess the validity of the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ) in predicting dual-task interference. Subjective workload measures such as the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) and NASA Task Load Index are sensitive to single-task parameters and dual-task loads but have not attempted to measure workload in particular mental processes. An alternative is the MRQ. In Experiment 1, participants completed simple laboratory tasks and the MRQ after each. Interference between tasks was then correlated to three different task similarity metrics: profile similarity, based on r(2) between ratings; overlap similarity, based on summed minima; and overall demand, based on summed ratings. Experiment 2 used similar methods but more complex computer-based games. In Experiment 1 the MRQ moderately predicted interference (r = +.37), with no significant difference between metrics. In Experiment 2 the metric effect was significant, with overlap similarity excelling in predicting interference (r = +.83). Mean ratings showed high diagnosticity in identifying specific mental processing bottlenecks. The MRQ shows considerable promise as a cognitive-process-sensitive workload measure. Potential applications of the MRQ include the identification of dual-processing bottlenecks as well as process overloads in single tasks, preparatory to redesign in areas such as air traffic management, advanced flight displays, and medical imaging.

Intrinsic motivation and attentional capture from gamelike features in a visual search task.

PubMed

Miranda, Andrew T; Palmer, Evan M

2014-03-01

In psychology research studies, the goals of the experimenter and the goals of the participants often do not align. Researchers are interested in having participants who take the experimental task seriously, whereas participants are interested in earning their incentive (e.g., money or course credit) as quickly as possible. Creating experimental methods that are pleasant for participants and that reward them for effortful and accurate data generation, while not compromising the scientific integrity of the experiment, would benefit both experimenters and participants alike. Here, we explored a gamelike system of points and sound effects that rewarded participants for fast and accurate responses. We measured participant engagement at both cognitive and perceptual levels and found that the point system (which invoked subtle, anonymous social competition between participants) led to positive intrinsic motivation, while the sound effects (which were pleasant and arousing) led to attentional capture for rewarded colors. In a visual search task, points were awarded after each trial for fast and accurate responses, accompanied by short, pleasant sound effects. We adapted a paradigm from Anderson, Laurent, and Yantis (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108(25):10367-10371, 2011b), in which participants completed a training phase during which red and green targets were probabilistically associated with reward (a point bonus multiplier). During a test phase, no points or sounds were delivered, color was irrelevant to the task, and previously rewarded targets were sometimes presented as distractors. Significantly longer response times on trials in which previously rewarded colors were present demonstrated attentional capture, and positive responses to a five-question intrinsic-motivation scale demonstrated participant engagement.

The Association between Dual-Task Gait after Concussion and Prolonged Symptom Duration.

PubMed

Howell, David R; Brilliant, Anna; Berkstresser, Brant; Wang, Francis; Fraser, Joana; Meehan, William P

2017-12-01

Quantitative gait measurements can identify persistent postconcussion impairments. However, their prognostic utility after injury to identify the likelihood of prolonged concussion symptoms remains unknown. Our objective was to examine if dual-task gait performance measures are independently associated with persistent (> 28 days) concussion symptoms among a sample of athletes. Sixty individuals diagnosed with a sport-related concussion were assessed within 10 days of their injury. Each participant completed a postconcussion symptom scale, an injury history questionnaire, and a single/dual-task gait examination. They were followed until they no longer reported symptoms, and the duration of time required for symptom resolution was calculated. A binary multivariable logistic regression model determined the independent association between dual-task gait and symptom duration (≤ 28 days vs. >28 days) while controlling for the effect of gender, age, symptom severity, injury-to-examination time, and history of concussion. Seventeen (28%) participants reported a symptom duration >28 days. The dual-task cost for average gait speed (-25.9 ± 9.5% vs. -19.8 ± 8.9%; p = 0.027) and cadence (-18.0 ± 2.9% vs. -12.0 ± 7.7%; p = 0.029) was significantly greater among participants who experienced symptoms for >28 days. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, greater dual-task average gait speed costs were independently associated with prolonged symptom duration (aOR = 0.908; 95% CI = 0.835-0.987). Examinations of dual-task gait may provide useful information during multifaceted concussion examinations. Quantitative assessments that simultaneously test multiple domains, such as dual tasks, may be clinically valuable after a concussion to identify those more likely to experience symptoms for >28 days after injury.

The correlation between fundamental characteristics and first-time performance in laparoscopic tasks.

PubMed

Harrington, Cuan M; Bresler, Richard; Ryan, Donncha; Dicker, Patrick; Traynor, Oscar; Kavanagh, Dara O

2018-04-01

The ability of characteristics to predict first time performance in laparoscopic tasks is not well described. Videogame experience predicts positive performance in laparoscopic experiences but its mechanism and confounding-association with aptitude remains to be elucidated. This study sought to evaluate for innate predictors of laparoscopic performance in surgically naive individuals with minimal videogame exposure. Participants with no prior laparoscopic exposure and minimal videogaming experience were recruited consecutively from preclinical years at a medical university. Participants completed four visuospatial, one psychomotor aptitude test and an electronic survey, followed by four laparoscopic tasks on a validated Virtual Reality simulator (LAP Mentor™). Twenty eligible individuals participated with a mean age of 20.8 (±3.8) years. Significant intra-aptitude performance correlations were present amongst 75% of the visuospatial tests. These visuospatial aptitudes correlated significantly with multiple laparoscopic task metrics: number of movements of a dominant instrument (r s  ≥ -0.46), accuracy rate of clip placement (r s  ≥ 0.50) and time taken (r s  ≥ -0.47) (p < 0.05). Musical Instrument experience predicted higher average speed of instruments (r s  ≥ 0.47) (p < 0.05). Participant's revised competitive index level predicted lower proficiency in laparoscopic metrics including: pathlength, economy and number of movements of dominant instrument (r s  ≥ 0.46) (p < 0.05). Multiple visuospatial aptitudes and innate competitive level influenced baseline laparoscopic performances across several tasks in surgically naïve individuals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cardiovascular fitness and executive control during task-switching: an ERP study.

PubMed

Scisco, Jenna L; Leynes, P Andrew; Kang, Jie

2008-07-01

Cardiovascular fitness recently has been linked to executive control function in older adults. The present study examined the relationship between cardiovascular fitness and executive control in young adults using event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants completed a two-part experiment. In part one, a graded exercise test (GXT) was administered using a cycle ergometer to obtain VO(2)max, a measure of maximal oxygen uptake. High-fit participants had VO(2)max measures at or above the 70th percentile based on age and sex, and low-fit participants had VO(2)max measures at or below the 30th percentile. In part two, a task-switching paradigm was used to investigate executive control. Task-switching trials produced slower response times and greater amplitude for both the P3a and P3b components of the ERP relative to a non-switch trial block. No ERP components varied as a function of fitness group. These findings, combined with results from previous research, suggest that the relationship between greater cardiovascular fitness and better cognitive function emerges after early adulthood.

How to explain receptivity to conjunction-fallacy inhibition training: evidence from the Iowa gambling task.

PubMed

Cassotti, Mathieu; Moutier, Sylvain

2010-04-01

Intuitive predictions and judgments under conditions of uncertainty are often mediated by judgment heuristics that sometimes lead to biases. Using the classical conjunction bias example, the present study examines the relationship between receptivity to metacognitive executive training and emotion-based learning ability indexed by Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance. After completing a computerised version of the IGT, participants were trained to avoid conjunction bias on a frequency judgment task derived from the works of Tversky and Kahneman. Pre- and post-test performances were assessed via another probability judgment task. Results clearly showed that participants who produced a biased answer despite the experimental training (individual patterns of the biased --> biased type) mainly had less emotion-based learning ability in IGT. Better emotion-based learning ability was observed in participants whose response pattern was biased --> logical. These findings argue in favour of the capacity of the human mind/brain to overcome reasoning bias when trained under executive programming conditions and as a function of emotional warning sensitivity. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Materials processing in space programs tasks. [NASA research tasks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pentecost, E.

1981-01-01

Active research tasks as of the end of fiscal year 1981 of the materials processing in space program, NASA Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications are summarized to provide an overview of the program scope for managers and scientists in industry, university, and government communities. The program, its history, strategy, and overall goal are described the organizational structures and people involved are identified and a list of recent publications is given for each research task. Four categories: Crystal Growth; Solidification of Metals, Alloys, and Composites; Fluids, Transports, and Chemical Processes, and Ultrahigh Vacuum and Containerless Processing Technologies are used to group the tasks. Some tasks are placed in more than one category to insure complete coverage of each category.

Examining depletion theories under conditions of within-task transfer.

PubMed

Brewer, Gene A; Lau, Kevin K H; Wingert, Kimberly M; Ball, B Hunter; Blais, Chris

2017-07-01

In everyday life, mental fatigue can be detrimental across many domains including driving, learning, and working. Given the importance of understanding and accounting for the deleterious effects of mental fatigue on behavior, a growing body of literature has studied the role of motivational and executive control processes in mental fatigue. In typical laboratory paradigms, participants complete a task that places demand on these self-control processes and are later given a subsequent task. Generally speaking, decrements to subsequent task performance are taken as evidence that the initial task created mental fatigue through the continued engagement of motivational and executive functions. Several models have been developed to account for negative transfer resulting from this "ego depletion." In the current study, we provide a brief literature review, specify current theoretical approaches to ego-depletion, and report an empirical test of current models of depletion. Across 4 experiments we found minimal evidence for executive control depletion along with strong evidence for motivation mediated ego depletion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Performance on a virtual reality angled laparoscope task correlates with spatial ability of trainees.

PubMed

Rosenthal, Rachel; Hamel, Christian; Oertli, Daniel; Demartines, Nicolas; Gantert, Walter A

2010-08-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether trainees' performance on a virtual reality angled laparoscope navigation task correlates with scores obtained on a validated conventional test of spatial ability. 56 participants of a surgery workshop performed an angled laparoscope navigation task on the Xitact LS 500 virtual reality Simulator. Performance parameters were correlated with the score of a validated paper-and-pencil test of spatial ability. Performance at the conventional spatial ability test significantly correlated with performance at the virtual reality task for overall task score (p < 0.001), task completion time (p < 0.001) and economy of movement (p = 0.035), not for endoscope travel speed (p = 0.947). In conclusion, trainees' performance in a standardized virtual reality camera navigation task correlates with their innate spatial ability. This VR session holds potential to serve as an assessment tool for trainees.

Testing Differential Holistic Processing Within a Face: No Evidence of Asymmetry from the Complete Composite Task.

PubMed

Shyi, Gary C-W; Wang, Chao-Chih

2016-01-01

The composite face task is one of the most popular research paradigms for measuring holistic processing of upright faces. The exact mechanism underlying holistic processing remains elusive and controversial, and some studies have suggested that holistic processing may not be evenly distributed, in that the top-half of a face might induce stronger holistic processing than its bottom-half counterpart. In two experiments, we further examined the possibility of asymmetric holistic processing. Prior to Experiment 1, we confirmed that perceptual discriminability was equated between top and bottom face halves; we found no differences in performance between top and bottom face halves when they were presented individually. Then, in Experiment 1, using the composite face task with the complete design to reduce response bias, we failed to obtain evidence that would support the notion of asymmetric holistic processing between top and bottom face halves. To further reduce performance variability and to remove lingering holistic effects observed in the misaligned condition in Experiment 1, we doubled the number of trials and increased misalignment between top and bottom face halves to make misalignment more salient in Experiment 2. Even with these additional manipulations, we were unable to find evidence indicative of asymmetric holistic processing. Taken together, these findings suggest that holistic processing is distributed homogenously within an upright face.

Development and Pilot Testing of the Dual Task Screen in Healthy Adolescents.

PubMed

Stephens, Jaclyn; Nicholson, Rachel; Slomine, Beth; Suskauer, Stacy

Athletes with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) should refrain from high-risk activities until recovered (symptom free and cognitive and physical exam findings normalize). Studies have suggested that this examination may not be sufficiently sensitive because dual-task paradigms, which typically assess motor performance while a person simultaneously completes a distractor task, can detect residual deficits in athletes who otherwise appear recovered from mTBI. Paradigms used to date are time-intensive procedures conducted in laboratory settings. Here, we report findings from a pilot study of the Dual Task Screen (DTS), which is a brief evaluation with two dual-task paradigms. In 32 healthy female adolescents, the DTS was administered in a mean of 5.63 min in the community, and every participant had poorer dual-condition performance on at least one of the motor tasks. The DTS is a clinically feasible measure and merits additional study regarding utility in adolescents with mTBIs. Copyright © 2018 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Goal orientation, perceived task outcome and task demands in mathematics tasks: effects on students' attitude in actual task settings.

PubMed

Seegers, Gerard; van Putten, Cornelis M; de Brabander, Cornelis J

2002-09-01

In earlier studies, it has been found that students' domain-specific cognitions and personal learning goals (goal orientation) influence task-specific appraisals of actual learning tasks. The relations between domain-specific and task-specific variables have been specified in the model of adaptive learning. In this study, additional influences, i.e., perceived task outcome on a former occasion and variations in task demands, were investigated. The purpose of this study was to identify personality and situational variables that mediate students' attitude when confronted with a mathematics task. Students worked on a mathematics task in two subsequent sessions. Effects of perceived task outcome at the first session on students' attitude at the second session were investigated. In addition, we investigated how differences in task demands influenced students' attitude. Variations in task demands were provoked by different conditions in task-instruction. In one condition, students were told that the result on the test would add to their mark on mathematics. This outcome orienting condition was contrasted with a task-orienting condition where students were told that the results on the test would not be used to give individual grades. Participants were sixth grade students (N = 345; aged 11-12 years) from 14 primary schools. Multivariate and univariate analyses of (co)variance were applied to the data. Independent variables were goal orientation, task demands, and perceived task outcome, with task-specific variables (estimated competence for the task, task attraction, task relevance, and willingness to invest effort) as the dependent variables. The results showed that previous perceived task outcome had a substantial impact on students' attitude. Additional but smaller effects were found for variation in task demands. Furthermore, effects of previous perceived task outcome and task demands were related to goal orientation. The resulting pattern confirmed that, in general

Disengagement from tasks as a function of cognitive load and depressive symptom severity.

PubMed

Bowie, Christopher R; Milanovic, Melissa; Tran, Tanya; Cassidy, Sarah

2017-01-01

Depression is associated with impairment in cognition and everyday functioning. Mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction in depression and the factors that influence strategic deployment of cognitive abilities in complex environments remain elusive. In this study we investigated whether depression symptom severity is associated with disengagement from a working memory task (Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task; PASAT) with parametric adjustment of task difficulty. 235 participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory, low and high cognitive load conditions of the PASAT, and quality of life. Cognitive disengagement was the sum of consecutive items in which participants did not proffer a response to the trial. Individuals with higher depression severity showed more cognitive disengagement on the high but not low cognitive load trial of the PASAT; they did not differ in number of correct responses. Increased disengagement from the low to high cognitive load was associated with more impaired quality of life. Depression severity is associated with increased disengagement from tasks as difficulty increases. These findings suggest the importance of measuring how cognitive skills are avoided in complex environments in addition to considering performance accuracy. Individuals with depressive symptoms might preferentially avoid cognitive tasks that are perceived as more complex in spite of intact ability.

The Effect of Prior Concussion History on Dual-Task Gait following a Concussion.

PubMed

Howell, David R; Beasley, Michael; Vopat, Lisa; Meehan, William P

2017-02-15

Sustaining repeated concussions has been associated with worse outcomes after additional injuries. This effect has been identified using symptom inventories and neurocognitive tests; however, few investigations have examined how a prior concussion history affects gait soon after a subsequent concussion. We examined the gait characteristics of athletes with no documented concussion history (n = 31), athletes recovering from their first lifetime concussion (n = 15), and athletes recovering from their second or greater lifetime concussion (n = 22). All participants completed a single-task and dual-task gait examination, a medical history questionnaire, and a postconcussion symptom scale. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) models were used to evaluate mean gait differences among groups, and Spearman's ρ analyses were used to assess correlations between the number of lifetime concussions and gait characteristics. Patients reporting to the clinic with their second or greater lifetime concussion demonstrated smaller stride lengths than healthy control participants during dual-task walking (p = 0.01; d = 0.70). A moderate but insignificant correlation was detected between dual-task gait speed and the number of prior concussions (ρ = 0.41, p = 0.07). These results indicate that a cumulative effect of concussions across the lifetime may contribute to worsening dual-task dynamic motor function after concussion.

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

PubMed

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

2011-01-26

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

Comprehension of Idioms in Turkish Aphasic Participants.

PubMed

Aydin, Burcu; Barin, Muzaffer; Yagiz, Oktay

2017-12-01

Brain damaged participants offer an opportunity to evaluate the cognitive and linguistic processes and make assumptions about how the brain works. Cognitive linguists have been investigating the underlying mechanisms of idiom comprehension to unravel the ongoing debate on hemispheric specialization in figurative language comprehension. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the comprehension of idiomatic expressions in left brain damaged (LBD) aphasic, right brain damaged (RBD) and healthy control participants. Idiom comprehension in eleven LBD aphasic participants, ten RBD participants and eleven healthy control participants were assessed with three tasks: String to Picture Matching Task, Literal Sentence Comprehension Task and Oral Idiom Definition Task. The results of the tasks showed that in overall idiom comprehension category, the left brain-damaged aphasic participants interpret idioms more literally compared to right brain-damaged participants. What is more, there is a significant difference in opaque idiom comprehension implying that left brain-damaged aphasic participants perform worse compared to right brain-damaged participants. On the other hand, there is no statistically significant difference in scores of transparent idiom comprehension between the left brain-damaged aphasic and right brain-damaged participants. This result also contribute to the idea that while figurative processing system is damaged in LBD aphasics, the literal comprehension mechanism is spared to some extent. The results of this study support the view that idiom comprehension sites are mainly left lateralized. Furthermore, the results of this study are in consistence with the Giora's Graded Salience Hypothesis.

Coordinating Procedural and Conceptual Knowledge to Make Sense of Word Equations: Understanding the Complexity of a "Simple" Completion Task at the Learner's Resolution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taber, Keith S.; Bricheno, Pat

2009-01-01

The present paper discusses the conceptual demands of an apparently straightforward task set to secondary-level students--completing chemical word equations with a single omitted term. Chemical equations are of considerable importance in chemistry, and school students are expected to learn to be able to write and interpret them. However, it is…

Unexpected Dual Task Benefits on Cycling in Parkinson Disease and Healthy Adults: A Neuro-Behavioral Model

PubMed Central

Altmann, Lori J. P.; Stegemöller, Elizabeth; Hazamy, Audrey A.; Wilson, Jonathan P.; Okun, Michael S.; McFarland, Nikolaus R.; Shukla, Aparna Wagle; Hass, Chris J.

2015-01-01

Background When performing two tasks at once, a dual task, performance on one or both tasks typically suffers. People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) usually experience larger dual task decrements on motor tasks than healthy older adults (HOA). Our objective was to investigate the decrements in cycling caused by performing cognitive tasks with a range of difficulty in people with PD and HOAs. Methods Twenty-eight participants with Parkinson’s disease and 20 healthy older adults completed a baseline cycling task with no secondary tasks and then completed dual task cycling while performing 12 tasks from six cognitive domains representing a wide range of difficulty. Results Cycling was faster during dual task conditions than at baseline, and was significantly faster for six tasks (all p<.02) across both groups. Cycling speed improved the most during the easiest cognitive tasks, and cognitive performance was largely unaffected. Cycling improvement was predicted by task difficulty (p<.001). People with Parkinson’s disease cycled slower (p<.03) and showed reduced dual task benefits (p<.01) than healthy older adults. Conclusions Unexpectedly, participants’ motor performance improved during cognitive dual tasks, which cannot be explained in current models of dual task performance. To account for these findings, we propose a model integrating dual task and acute exercise approaches which posits that cognitive arousal during dual tasks increases resources to facilitate motor and cognitive performance, which is subsequently modulated by motor and cognitive task difficulty. This model can explain both the improvement observed on dual tasks in the current study and more typical dual task findings in other studies. PMID:25970607

Backwards Fading to Speed Task Learning

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

estimates.) Table 1 Finalized Task List Task Domain Task Name Knot Tying Hand Cuff Rappel First Aid Fracture Bleed Map Reading* Resection...materials used. Hand Cuff . There are 10 steps in this task. To complete this task, the learner must manipulate a short length of rope (e.g...Design for Experiment 1 – Step Fade Experiment 1 (Step Fade) Task Type: Knot Tying Task Type: First Aid Task Complexity: Low (1) Hand Cuff (10

Go/No-Go task performance predicts differences in compulsivity but not in impulsivity personality traits.

PubMed

Sánchez-Kuhn, Ana; León, José Juan; Gôngora, Karinna; Pérez-Fernández, Cristian; Sánchez-Santed, Fernando; Moreno, Margarita; Flores, Pilar

2017-11-01

Lack of inhibitory control is present in impulsive and compulsive personality traits. The Go/No-Go task is one of the most effective means to assess response inhibition measured by the ability to appropriately withhold responding to No-Go stimuli. The aim of this work was to study whether differences in performance of Go/No-Go task predicts differences in personality traits related to inhibitory control. For this purpose 63 healthy participants divided into two groups based on the median split of false alarms on the Go/No-Go task completed Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and the Maudsley Obsessional Compulsive Questionnaire (MOCI). Results showed that participants with high false alarms (H-FA) displayed a high-risk strategy of responding, and higher scores in the MOCI Total and MOCI Checking subscale compared to participants with low false alarms (L-FA). The results show for the first time a relation between the execution of the Go/No-Go task and the MOCI scale. Surprisingly, no relation was found between the Go/No-Go task and the BIS-11 scale. Further studies are needed to define the heterogeneous constructs of compulsivity and impulsivity, and to improve the convergence of the clinical scales and the behavioral measures of these two personality traits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of video game "warm-up" on performance of laparoscopic surgery tasks.

PubMed

Rosser, James C; Gentile, Douglas A; Hanigan, Kevin; Danner, Omar K

2012-01-01

Performing laparoscopic procedures requires special training and has been documented as a significant source of surgical errors. "Warming up" before performing a task has been shown to enhance performance. This study investigates whether surgeons benefit from "warming up" using select video games immediately before performing laparoscopic partial tasks and clinical tasks. This study included 303 surgeons (249 men and 54 women). Participants were split into a control (n=180) and an experimental group (n=123). The experimental group played 3 previously validated video games for 6 minutes before task sessions. The Cobra Rope partial task and suturing exercises were performed immediately after the warm-up sessions. Surgeons who played video games prior to the Cobra Rope drill were significantly faster on their first attempt and across all 10 trials. The experimental and control groups were significantly different in their total suturing scores (t=2.28, df=288, P<.05). The overall Top Gun score showed that the experimental group performed marginally better overall. This study demonstrates that subjects completing "warming-up" sessions with select video games prior to performing laparoscopic partial and clinical tasks (intracorporeal suturing) were faster and had fewer errors than participants not engaging in "warm-up." More study is needed to determine whether this translates into superior procedural execution in the clinical setting.

Cognitive and motor dual task gait training improve dual task gait performance after stroke - A randomized controlled pilot trial.

PubMed

Liu, Yan-Ci; Yang, Yea-Ru; Tsai, Yun-An; Wang, Ray-Yau

2017-06-22

This study investigated effects of cognitive and motor dual task gait training on dual task gait performance in stroke. Participants (n = 28) were randomly assigned to cognitive dual task gait training (CDTT), motor dual task gait training (MDTT), or conventional physical therapy (CPT) group. Participants in CDTT or MDTT group practiced the cognitive or motor tasks respectively during walking. Participants in CPT group received strengthening, balance, and gait training. The intervention was 30 min/session, 3 sessions/week for 4 weeks. Three test conditions to evaluate the training effects were single walking, walking while performing cognitive task (serial subtraction), and walking while performing motor task (tray-carrying). Parameters included gait speed, dual task cost of gait speed (DTC-speed), cadence, stride time, and stride length. After CDTT, cognitive-motor dual task gait performance (stride length and DTC-speed) was improved (p = 0.021; p = 0.015). After MDTT, motor dual task gait performance (gait speed, stride length, and DTC-speed) was improved (p = 0.008; p = 0.008; p = 0.008 respectively). It seems that CDTT improved cognitive dual task gait performance and MDTT improved motor dual task gait performance although such improvements did not reach significant group difference. Therefore, different types of dual task gait training can be adopted to enhance different dual task gait performance in stroke.

Emotion, working memory task demands and individual differences predict behavior, cognitive effort and negative affect.

PubMed

Storbeck, Justin; Davidson, Nicole A; Dahl, Chelsea F; Blass, Sara; Yung, Edwin

2015-01-01

We examined whether positive and negative affect motivates verbal and spatial working memory processes, respectively, which have implications for the expenditure of mental effort. We argue that when emotion promotes cognitive tendencies that are goal incompatible with task demands, greater cognitive effort is required to perform well. We sought to investigate whether this increase in cognitive effort impairs behavioural control over a broad domain of self-control tasks. Moreover, we predicted that individuals with higher behavioural inhibition system (BIS) sensitivities would report more negative affect within the goal incompatible conditions because such individuals report higher negative affect during cognitive challenge. Positive or negative affective states were induced followed by completing a verbal or spatial 2-back working memory task. All participants then completed one of three self-control tasks. Overall, we observed that conditions of emotion and working memory incompatibility (positive/spatial and negative/verbal) performed worse on the self-control tasks, and within the incompatible conditions individuals with higher BIS sensitivities reported more negative affect at the end of the study. The combination of findings suggests that emotion and working memory compatibility reduces cognitive effort and impairs behavioural control.

Skill components of task analysis

PubMed Central

Rogers, Wendy A.; Fisk, Arthur D.

2017-01-01

Some task analysis methods break down a task into a hierarchy of subgoals. Although an important tool of many fields of study, learning to create such a hierarchy (redescription) is not trivial. To further the understanding of what makes task analysis a skill, the present research examined novices’ problems with learning Hierarchical Task Analysis and captured practitioners’ performance. All participants received a task description and analyzed three cooking and three communication tasks by drawing on their knowledge of those tasks. Thirty six younger adults (18–28 years) in Study 1 analyzed one task before training and five afterwards. Training consisted of a general handout that all participants received and an additional handout that differed between three conditions: a list of steps, a flow-diagram, and concept map. In Study 2, eight experienced task analysts received the same task descriptions as in Study 1 and demonstrated their understanding of task analysis while thinking aloud. Novices’ initial task analysis scored low on all coding criteria. Performance improved on some criteria but was well below 100 % on others. Practitioners’ task analyses were 2–3 levels deep but also scored low on some criteria. A task analyst’s purpose of analysis may be the reason for higher specificity of analysis. This research furthers the understanding of Hierarchical Task Analysis and provides insights into the varying nature of task analyses as a function of experience. The derived skill components can inform training objectives. PMID:29075044

Detection of Acute and Long-Term Effects of Concussion: Dual-Task Gait Balance Control Versus Computerized Neurocognitive Test.

PubMed

Howell, David R; Osternig, Louis R; Chou, Li-Shan

2018-02-16

To examine the acute (within 72h of injury) and long-term (2mo postinjury) independent associations between objective dual-task gait balance and neurocognitive measurements among adolescents and young adults with a concussion and matched controls. Longitudinal case-control. Motion analysis laboratory. A total of 95 participants completed the study: 51 who sustained a concussion (mean age, 17.5±3.3y; 71% men) and 44 controls (mean age, 17.7±2.9y; 72% men). Participants who sustained a concussion underwent a dual-task gait analysis and computerized neurocognitive testing within 72 hours of injury and again 2 months later. Uninjured controls also completed the same test protocol in similar time increments. Not applicable. We compared dual-task gait balance control and computerized neurocognitive test performance between groups using independent samples t tests. Multivariable binary logistic regression models were then constructed for each testing time to determine the association between group membership (concussion vs control), dual-task gait balance control, and neurocognitive function. Medial-lateral center-of-mass displacement during dual-task gait was independently associated with group membership at the initial test (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.432; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.269-4.661) and 2-month follow-up test (aOR, 1.817; 95% CI, 1.014-3.256) tests. Visual memory composite scores were significantly associated with group membership at the initial hour postinjury time point (aOR, .953; 95% CI, .833-.998). However, the combination of computerized neurocognitive test variables did not predict dual-task gait balance control for participants with concussion, and no single neurocognitive variable was associated with dual-task gait balance control at either testing time. Dual-task assessments concurrently evaluating gait and cognitive performance may allow for the detection of persistent deficits beyond those detected by computerized neurocognitive deficits

Self-Control of Task Difficulty during Training Enhances Motor Learning of a Complex Coincidence-Anticipation Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrieux, Mathieu; Danna, Jeremy; Thon, Bernard

2012-01-01

The aim of the present work was to analyze the influence of self-controlled task difficulty on motor learning. Participants had to intercept three targets falling at different velocities by displacing a stylus above a digitizer. Task difficulty corresponded to racquet width. Half the participants (self-control condition) could choose the racquet…

Heart Rate Response During Mission-Critical Tasks After Space Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arzeno, Natalia M.; Lee, S. M. C.; Stenger, M. B.; Lawrence, E. L.; Platts, S. H.; Bloomberg, J. J.

2010-01-01

Adaptation to microgravity could impair crewmembers? ability to perform required tasks upon entry into a gravity environment, such as return to Earth, or during extraterrestrial exploration. Historically, data have been collected in a controlled testing environment, but it is unclear whether these physiologic measures result in changes in functional performance. NASA?s Functional Task Test (FTT) aims to investigate whether adaptation to microgravity increases physiologic stress and impairs performance during mission-critical tasks. PURPOSE: To determine whether the well-accepted postflight tachycardia observed during standard laboratory tests also would be observed during simulations of mission-critical tasks during and after recovery from short-duration spaceflight. METHODS: Five astronauts participated in the FTT 30 days before launch, on landing day, and 1, 6, and 30 days after landing. Mean heart rate (HR) was measured during 5 simulations of mission-critical tasks: rising from (1) a chair or (2) recumbent seated position followed by walking through an obstacle course (egress from a space vehicle), (3) translating graduated masses from one location to another (geological sample collection), (4) walking on a treadmill at 6.4 km/h (ambulation on planetary surface), and (5) climbing 40 steps on a passive treadmill ladder (ingress to lander). For tasks 1, 2, 3, and 5, astronauts were encouraged to complete the task as quickly as possible. Time to complete tasks and mean HR during each task were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and ANCOVA respectively, in which task duration was a covariate. RESULTS: Landing day HR was higher (P < 0.05) than preflight during the upright seat egress (7%+/-3), treadmill walk (13%+/-3) and ladder climb (10%+/-4), and HR remained elevated during the treadmill walk 1 day after landing. During tasks in which HR was not elevated on landing day, task duration was significantly greater on landing day (recumbent seat egress: 25

Interference effects on commonly used memory tasks.

PubMed

Brophy, Linda M; Jackson, Martin; Crowe, Simon F

2009-02-01

This paper reports two studies which investigated the effect of interference on delayed recall scores of the WMS-III and other commonly used memory measures. In Study 1, participants completed the immediate and delayed components of the WMS-III, with or without the introduction of conceptually similar memory tasks between the recall trials. In Study 2, this order of administration was reversed, with the WMS-III subtests used as the interference items. The results indicated that the introduction of interference items during the delay negatively affected delayed recall performance on almost all sub-tests. In addition, equal effects of proactive and retroactive interference were demonstrated. These findings raise concerns regarding the standardization process for memory tasks and highlight the need to consider interference effects in clinical practice, and stand as a caution in the use of memory-related materials during the delay interval in memory testing.

A study of performance assessment task organization in high school optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zawicki, Joseph Leo

2002-01-01

This investigation was undertaken to validate three performance assessment tasks in high school physics. The tasks that were studied were developed around three organizational models of performance assessments: integrated, independent and surrogate. The integrated model required students to answer questions, make observations and demonstrate skills related to the index of refraction of a particular material. All of the questions and activities the students completed were related to a sample of a particular plastic sample that was the focus of this task. The independent model is analogous to the station model that is currently used on three New York State assessments: the Grade 4 - Elementary Science Program Evaluation Test, the Intermediate Level Science (ILS) Test, and the Physical Setting: Earth Science Regents Exam. Students took measurements related to the index of refraction of a plastic sample that was the focus of the initial portion of this task; the remaining questions on the assessment were generally related to the concept of the index of refraction but did not refer back to the initial sample. The final task organization followed the surrogate model. In this model, students reviewed data that was collected and analyzed by other (fictitious) students. The students completing this task were asked to review the work presented on this assessment for errors; they evaluated the conclusions and statements presented on the assessment. Students were also asked to determine if the student work was acceptable or if this investigation should be repeated. Approximately 300 students from urban, suburban and rural districts across Western New York State participated in the study. The tasks were administered during the spring semester of the 2000--2001 school year. The participating schools had at least covered the topic of refraction, both in classroom lectures and in laboratory activities. Each student completed only one form of the task---either the integrated, the

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.

How we can measure the non-driving-task engagement in automated driving: Comparing flow experience and workload.

PubMed

Ko, Sang Min; Ji, Yong Gu

2018-02-01

In automated driving, a driver can completely concentrate on non-driving-related tasks (NDRTs). This study investigated the flow experience of a driver who concentrated on NDRTs and tasks that induce mental workload under conditional automation. Participants performed NDRTs under different demand levels: a balanced demand-skill level (fit condition) to induce flow, low-demand level to induce boredom, and high-demand level to induce anxiety. In addition, they performed the additional N-Back task, which artificially induces mental workload. The results showed participants had the longest reaction time when they indicated the highest flow score, and had the longest gaze-on time, road-fixation time, hands-on time, and take-over time under the fit condition. Significant differences were not observed in the driver reaction times in the fit condition and the additional N-Back task, indicating that performing NDRTs that induce a high flow experience could influence driver reaction time similar to performing tasks with a high mental workload. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Study of Co-Located and Distant Collaboration with Symbolic Support via a Haptics-Enhanced Virtual Reality Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeh, Shih-Ching; Hwang, Wu-Yuin; Wang, Jin-Liang; Zhan, Shi-Yi

2013-01-01

This study intends to investigate how multi-symbolic representations (text, digits, and colors) could effectively enhance the completion of co-located/distant collaborative work in a virtual reality context. Participants' perceptions and behaviors were also studied. A haptics-enhanced virtual reality task was developed to conduct…

Effects of cues in a binary categorization task on dual-task performance, mental workload, and effort.

PubMed

Botzer, Assaf; Meyer, Joachim; Parmet, Yisrael

2016-09-01

Binary cues help operators perform binary categorization tasks, such as monitoring for system failures. They may also allow them to attend to other tasks they concurrently perform. If the time saved by using cues is allocated to other concurrent tasks, users' overall effort may remain unchanged. In 2 experiments, participants performed a simulated quality control task, together with a tracking task. In half the experimental blocks cues were available, and participants could use them in their decisions about the quality of products (intact or faulty). In Experiment 1, the difficulty of tracking was constant, while in Experiment 2, tracking difficulty differed in the 2 halves of the experiment. In both experiments, participants reported on the NASA Task Load Index that cues improved their performance and reduced their frustration. Consequently, their overall score on mental workload (MWL) was lower with cues. They also reported, however, that cues did not reduce their effort. We conclude that cues and other forms of automation may support task performance and reduce overall MWL, but this will not necessarily mean that users will work less hard. Thus, effort and overall MWL should be evaluated separately, if one wants to obtain a full picture of the effects of automation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

Divided visual attention: A comparison of patients with multiple sclerosis and controls, assessed with an optokinetic nystagmus suppression task.

PubMed

Williams, Isla M; Schofield, Peter; Khade, Neha; Abel, Larry A

2016-12-01

Multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently causes impairment of cognitive function. We compared patients with MS with controls on divided visual attention tasks. The MS patients' and controls' stare optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) was recorded in response to a 24°/s full field stimulus. Suppression of the OKN response, judged by the gain, was measured during tasks dividing visual attention between the fixation target and a second stimulus, central or peripheral, static or dynamic. All participants completed the Audio Recorded Cognitive Screen. MS patients had lower gain on the baseline stare OKN. OKN suppression in divided attention tasks was the same in MS patients as in controls but in both groups was better maintained in static than in dynamic tasks. In only dynamic tasks, older age was associated with less effective OKN suppression. MS patients had lower scores on a timed attention task and on memory. There was no significant correlation between attention or memory and eye movement parameters. Attention, a complex multifaceted construct, has different neural combinations for each task. Despite impairments on some measures of attention, MS patients completed the divided visual attention tasks normally. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subjective and psychophysiological indexes of listening effort in a competing-talker task.

PubMed

Mackersie, Carol L; Cones, Heather

2011-02-01

The effects of noise and other competing backgrounds on speech recognition performance are well documented. There is less information, however, on listening effort and stress experienced by listeners during a speech-recognition task that requires inhibition of competing sounds. The purpose was (a) to determine if psychophysiological indexes of listening effort were more sensitive than performance measures (percentage correct) obtained near ceiling level during a competing speech task, (b) to determine the relative sensitivity of four psychophysiological measures to changes in task demand, and (c) to determine the relationships between changes in psychophysiological measures and changes in subjective ratings of stress and workload. A repeated-measures experimental design was used to examine changes in performance, psychophysiological measures, and subjective ratings in response to increasing task demand. Fifteen adults with normal hearing participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 27 (range: 24-54). Psychophysiological recordings of heart rate, skin conductance, skin temperature, and electromyographic (EMG) activity were obtained during listening tasks of varying demand. Materials from the Dichotic Digits Test were used to modulate task demand. The three levels of task demand were single digits presented to one ear (low-demand reference condition), single digits presented simultaneously to both ears (medium demand), and a series of two digits presented simultaneously to both ears (high demand). Participants were asked to repeat all the digits they heard, while psychophysiological activity was recorded simultaneously. Subjective ratings of task load were obtained after each condition using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index questionnaire. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were completed for each measure using task demand and session as factors. Mean performance was higher than 96% for all listening tasks. There

Choice in multitasking: how delays in the primary task turn a rational into an irrational multitasker.

PubMed

Katidioti, Ioanna; Taatgen, Niels A

2014-06-01

The objective was to establish the nature of choice in cognitive multitasking. Laboratory studies of multitasking suggest people are rational in their switch choices regarding multitasking, whereas observational studies suggest they are not. Threaded cognition theory predicts that switching is opportunistic and depends on availability of cognitive resources. A total of 21 participants answered e-mails by looking up information (similar to customer service employees) while being interrupted by chat messages. They were free to choose when to switch to the chat message. We analyzed the switching behavior and the time they needed to complete the primary mail task. When participants are faced with a delay in the e-mail task, they switch more often to the chat task at high-workload points. Choosing to switch to the secondary task instead of waiting makes them slower. It also makes them forget the information in the e-mail task half of the time, which slows them down even more. When many cognitive resources are available, the probability of switching from one task to another is high. This does not necessarily lead to optimal switching behavior. Potential applications of this research include the minimization of delays in task design and the inability or discouragement of switching in high-workload moments.

Optimizing the balance between task automation and human manual control in simulated submarine track management.

PubMed

Chen, Stephanie I; Visser, Troy A W; Huf, Samuel; Loft, Shayne

2017-09-01

Automation can improve operator performance and reduce workload, but can also degrade operator situation awareness (SA) and the ability to regain manual control. In 3 experiments, we examined the extent to which automation could be designed to benefit performance while ensuring that individuals maintained SA and could regain manual control. Participants completed a simulated submarine track management task under varying task load. The automation was designed to facilitate information acquisition and analysis, but did not make task decisions. Relative to a condition with no automation, the continuous use of automation improved performance and reduced subjective workload, but degraded SA. Automation that was engaged and disengaged by participants as required (adaptable automation) moderately improved performance and reduced workload relative to no automation, but degraded SA. Automation engaged and disengaged based on task load (adaptive automation) provided no benefit to performance or workload, and degraded SA relative to no automation. Automation never led to significant return-to-manual deficits. However, all types of automation led to degraded performance on a nonautomated task that shared information processing requirements with automated tasks. Given these outcomes, further research is urgently required to establish how to design automation to maximize performance while keeping operators cognitively engaged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Perceived task complexity of trunk stability exercises.

PubMed

McPhee, Megan; Tucker, Kylie J; Wan, Alan; MacDonald, David A

2017-02-01

Perceived task complexity can impact participation in an exercise programme and the level of skill acquisition resulting from participation. Although trunk stability exercises are commonly included in the management of people with low back pain, potential differences in perceived task complexity between those exercises have not been investigated previously. To investigate the perceived task complexity following first time instruction of two common stability exercises: the abdominal brace and abdominal hollow. Cross-sectional. Twenty-four naïve healthy participants received instruction in the performance of an abdominal brace and an abdominal hollow with feedback. Participants rated their perceived task complexity (mental, physical, and temporal demand, performance, effort, frustration) for each exercise on the NASA-Task Load Index. The abdominal hollow was associated with higher perceived mental demand than the abdominal brace (p = 0.01), and required more time to learn (p < 0.01). The abdominal brace was associated with greater mental demand and frustration when performed after the abdominal hollow than before. This study has provided the first evidence for differences in perceived task complexity between two commonly used trunk stability exercises. Those differences in perceived task complexity may influence the selection of exercises intended to enhance the robustness of spinal stability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correlation of within-individual fluctuation of depressed mood with prefrontal cortex activity during verbal working memory task: optical topography study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Hiroki; Aoki, Ryuta; Katura, Takusige; Matsuda, Ryoichi; Koizumi, Hideaki

2011-12-01

Previous studies showed that interindividual variations in mood state are associated with prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity. In this study, we focused on the depressed-mood state under natural circumstances and examined the relationship between within-individual changes over time in this mood state and PFC activity. We used optical topography (OT), a functional imaging technique based on near-infrared spectroscopy, to measure PFC activity for each participant in three experimental sessions repeated at 2-week intervals. In each session, the participants completed a self-report questionnaire of mood state and underwent OT measurement while performing verbal and spatial working memory (WM) tasks. The results showed that changes in the depressed-mood score between successive sessions were negatively correlated with those in the left PFC activation for the verbal WM task (ρ = -0.56, p < 0.05). In contrast, the PFC activation for the spatial WM task did not co-vary with participants' mood changes. We thus demonstrated that PFC activity during a verbal WM task varies depending on the participant's depressed mood state, independent of trait factors. This suggests that using optical topography to measure PFC activity during a verbal WM task can be used as a potential state marker for an individual's depressed mood state.

Stay on or Drop Out? The Role of Identities in Continued Participation at Technical College in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fisher, Laurel J.

2014-01-01

Identities extend standard models that explain student motivations to complete courses at technical college. A differential hypothesis was that profiles of identities (individuality, belonging and place) explain the self-concepts and task values that contribute to participation, considering demographic factors (age, gender, location, paid work).…

Convergence and divergence of neuroanatomic correlates and executive task performance in healthy controls and psychiatric participants.

PubMed

Ming-Tak Chung, Dennis; Jerram, Matthew W; Lee, Jonathan K; Katz, Harvey; Gansler, David A

2013-12-30

The associations between brain matter volume in the cerebral cortex and set shifting and attentional control as operationalized by the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST) and Condition Three of the Delis-Kaplan version of the Color Word Interference Test (CWIT) were investigated in 15 healthy controls and 16 heterogeneously diagnosed psychiatric patients with self-control problems using voxel based morphometry. Both groups underwent standardized magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological assessment. WCST and CWIT variables, and a composite, were regressed across the whole brain. Although CWIT performance levels were the same in both groups, neuroanatomic correlates for the psychiatric participants invoked the left hemisphere language system, but the bilateral dorsal attention system in the healthy controls. On its own, no neuroanatomic correlates were observed for the WCST. But when part of a composite with CWIT, neuroanatomic correlates in the dorsal attention system emerged for the psychiatric participants. Psychometric combinations of manifest executive task variables may best represent higher level latent neuro-cognitive control systems. Factor analytic studies of neuropsychological test performances suggest the constructs being measured are the same across psychiatric and non-diagnosed participants, however, imaging modalities indicate the relevant neural architecture can vary by group. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inhibition in Dot Comparison Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clayton, Sarah; Gilmore, Camilla

2015-01-01

Dot comparison tasks are commonly used to index an individual's Approximate Number System (ANS) acuity, but the cognitive processes involved in completing these tasks are poorly understood. Here, we investigated how factors including numerosity ratio, set size and visual cues influence task performance. Forty-four children aged 7-9 years completed…

Increased activity in the right prefrontal cortex measured using near-infrared spectroscopy during a flower arrangement task.

PubMed

Morita, Yuka; Ebara, Fumio; Morita, Yoshimitsu; Horikawa, Etsuo

2018-03-01

Flower arrangement program (FAP) horticultural therapy promotes psychological, social and physiological wellness and recovery. Moreover, FAPs have been used to evaluate the outcomes related to visuospatial working memory; yet, most of these studies used subjective outcome measures such as behavioural observations and questionnaires. Few studies report objective evaluations of FAP effects in humans. In the present study, we measured the effects of an FAP task on frontal lobe activity in healthy participants using near-infrared spectroscopy. We quantified salivary amylase levels as an indicator of stress level during the FAP. The FAP task involved a predetermined arrangement pattern of natural materials (flowers and leaves) that required the participants to identify where a given material should be placed and temporarily memorise the designated position to complete the flower arrangement. The FAP task was compared to the block-tapping task (BTT), which is routinely used to evaluate visuospatial working memory. Both the FAP task and BTT positively stimulated the right prefrontal cortex; however, stress was more effectively limited during the performance of the FAP task. Our data suggest that FAP therapy may be useful for the rehabilitation of patients who are sensitive to stress.

SOCIAL MEDIA MINING SHARED TASK WORKSHOP.

PubMed

Sarker, Abeed; Nikfarjam, Azadeh; Gonzalez, Graciela

2016-01-01

Social media has evolved into a crucial resource for obtaining large volumes of real-time information. The promise of social media has been realized by the public health domain, and recent research has addressed some important challenges in that domain by utilizing social media data. Tasks such as monitoring flu trends, viral disease outbreaks, medication abuse, and adverse drug reactions are some examples of studies where data from social media have been exploited. The focus of this workshop is to explore solutions to three important natural language processing challenges for domain-specific social media text: (i) text classification, (ii) information extraction, and (iii) concept normalization. To explore different approaches to solving these problems on social media data, we designed a shared task which was open to participants globally. We designed three tasks using our in-house annotated Twitter data on adverse drug reactions. Task 1 involved automatic classification of adverse drug reaction assertive user posts; Task 2 focused on extracting specific adverse drug reaction mentions from user posts; and Task 3, which was slightly ill-defined due to the complex nature of the problem, involved normalizing user mentions of adverse drug reactions to standardized concept IDs. A total of 11 teams participated, and a total of 24 (18 for Task 1, and 6 for Task 2) system runs were submitted. Following the evaluation of the systems, and an assessment of their innovation/novelty, we accepted 7 descriptive manuscripts for publication--5 for Task 1 and 2 for Task 2. We provide descriptions of the tasks, data, and participating systems in this paper.

Final Report on ITER Task Agreement 81-08

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

Richard L. Moore

As part of an ITER Implementing Task Agreement (ITA) between the ITER US Participant Team (PT) and the ITER International Team (IT), the INL Fusion Safety Program was tasked to provide the ITER IT with upgrades to the fusion version of the MELCOR 1.8.5 code including a beryllium dust oxidation model. The purpose of this model is to allow the ITER IT to investigate hydrogen production from beryllium dust layers on hot surfaces inside the ITER vacuum vessel (VV) during in-vessel loss-of-cooling accidents (LOCAs). Also included in the ITER ITA was a task to construct a RELAP5/ATHENA model of themore » ITER divertor cooling loop to model the draining of the loop during a large ex-vessel pipe break followed by an in-vessel divertor break and compare the results to a simular MELCOR model developed by the ITER IT. This report, which is the final report for this agreement, documents the completion of the work scope under this ITER TA, designated as TA 81-08.« less

The Time on Task Effect in Reading and Problem Solving Is Moderated by Task Difficulty and Skill: Insights from a Computer-Based Large-Scale Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldhammer, Frank; Naumann, Johannes; Stelter, Annette; Tóth, Krisztina; Rölke, Heiko; Klieme, Eckhard

2014-01-01

Computer-based assessment can provide new insights into behavioral processes of task completion that cannot be uncovered by paper-based instruments. Time presents a major characteristic of the task completion process. Psychologically, time on task has 2 different interpretations, suggesting opposing associations with task outcome: Spending more…

Subjective and psychophysiological indices of listening effort in a competing-talker task

PubMed Central

Mackersie, Carol L.; Cones, Heather

2010-01-01

Background The effects of noise and other competing backgrounds on speech recognition performance are well documented. There is less information, however, on listening effort and stress experienced by listeners during a speech recognition task that requires inhibition of competing sounds. Purpose The purpose was a) to determine if psychophysiological indices of listening effort were more sensitive than performance measures (percentage correct) obtained near ceiling level during a competing speech task b) to determine the relative sensitivity of four psychophysiological measures to changes in task demand and c) to determine the relationships between changes in psychophysiological measures and changes in subjective ratings of stress and workload. Research Design A repeated-measures experimental design was used to examine changes in performance, psychophysiological measures, and subjective ratings in response to increasing task demand. Study Sample Fifteen adults with normal hearing participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 27 (range: 24–54). Data Collection and Analysis Psychophysiological recordings of heart rate, skin conductance, skin temperature, and electromyographic activity (EMG) were obtained during listening tasks of varying demand. Materials from the Dichotic Digits Test were used to modulate task demand. The three levels of tasks demand were: single digits presented to one ear (low-demand reference condition), single digits presented simultaneously to both ears (medium demand), and a series of two digits presented simultaneously to both ears (high demand). Participants were asked to repeat all the digits they heard while psychophysiological activity was recorded simultaneously. Subjective ratings of task load were obtained after each condition using the NASA-TLX questionnaire. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were completed for each measure using task demand and session as factors. Results Mean performance was higher than 96

Development of a novel task for investigating decision making in a social context following traumatic brain injury.

PubMed

Kelly, Michelle; McDonald, Skye; Kellett, David

2014-01-01

Examination of social cognition as a target for assessment and intervention is beginning to gain momentum in a number of illnesses and acquired disorders. One facet of social cognition is decision making within interpersonal situations. This skill forms an important part of our everyday lives and is commonly impaired in those with neurological and mental health conditions. A novel task was developed to allow the assessment of decision making specifically within a social context and was examined within a group known to experience this difficulty. Participants with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) were compared to healthy control participants on the Social Decision Making Task (SDMT), which required the participant to learn who the "friendly" players were in a game of toss. Participants also completed a nonsocial decision-making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) as well as a battery of neuropsychological tests and social cognition tasks. Current social functioning was also examined. Consistent with predictions, the TBI group made poorer decisions on the SDMT than the control group; however, group differences were not evident on the IGT. No significant relationships were observed between the SDMT and either measures of executive functioning (including working memory and reversal learning) or social cognition (including emotion recognition and theory of mind). Performance on the SDMT and the IGT were not associated, suggesting that the two tasks measure different constructs. The SDMT offers a novel way of examining decision making within a social context following TBI and may also be useful in other populations known to have specific social cognition impairment. Future research should aim to provide further clarification of the mechanisms of action and neuroanatomical correlates of poor performance on this task.

Effects of Selected Task Performance Criteria at Initiating Adaptive Task Real locations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montgomery, Demaris A.

2001-01-01

In the current report various performance assessment methods used to initiate mode transfers between manual control and automation for adaptive task reallocation were tested. Participants monitored two secondary tasks for critical events while actively controlling a process in a fictional system. One of the secondary monitoring tasks could be automated whenever operators' performance was below acceptable levels. Automation of the secondary task and transfer of the secondary task back to manual control were either human- or machine-initiated. Human-initiated transfers were based on the operator's assessment of the current task demands while machine-initiated transfers were based on the operators' performance. Different performance assessment methods were tested in two separate experiments.

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

PubMed Central

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

2015-01-01

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

The Effects of a Goal Setting Intervention on Productivity and Persistence in an Analogue Work Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tammemagi, Triona; O'Hora, Denis; Maglieri, Kristen A.

2013-01-01

The authors of this study sought to quantify the beneficial effect of goal setting on work performance, and to characterize the persistence or deterioration of goal-directed behavior over time. Twenty-six participants completed a computer-based data entry task. Performance was measured during an initial baseline, a goal setting intervention that…

Language and theory of mind in autism spectrum disorder: the relationship between complement syntax and false belief task performance.

PubMed

Lind, Sophie E; Bowler, Dermot M

2009-06-01

This study aimed to test the hypothesis that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use their knowledge of complement syntax as a means of "hacking out" solutions to false belief tasks, despite lacking a representational theory of mind (ToM). Participants completed a "memory for complements" task, a measure of receptive vocabulary, and traditional location change and unexpected contents false belief tasks. Consistent with predictions, the correlation between complement syntax score and location change task performance was significantly stronger within the ASD group than within the comparison group. However, contrary to predictions, complement syntax score was not significantly correlated with unexpected contents task performance within either group. Possible explanations for this pattern of results are considered.

45 CFR 2526.20 - Is an AmeriCorps participant who does not complete an originally-approved term of service...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... an originally-approved term of service eligible to receive a pro-rated education award? 2526.20... AND COMMUNITY SERVICE ELIGIBILITY FOR AN EDUCATION AWARD § 2526.20 Is an AmeriCorps participant who does not complete an originally-approved term of service eligible to receive a pro-rated education...

45 CFR 2526.20 - Is an AmeriCorps participant who does not complete an originally-approved term of service...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... an originally-approved term of service eligible to receive a pro-rated education award? 2526.20... AND COMMUNITY SERVICE ELIGIBILITY FOR AN EDUCATION AWARD § 2526.20 Is an AmeriCorps participant who does not complete an originally-approved term of service eligible to receive a pro-rated education...

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

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

Assessment of perception of morphed facial expressions using the Emotion Recognition Task: normative data from healthy participants aged 8-75.

PubMed

Kessels, Roy P C; Montagne, Barbara; Hendriks, Angelique W; Perrett, David I; de Haan, Edward H F

2014-03-01

The ability to recognize and label emotional facial expressions is an important aspect of social cognition. However, existing paradigms to examine this ability present only static facial expressions, suffer from ceiling effects or have limited or no norms. A computerized test, the Emotion Recognition Task (ERT), was developed to overcome these difficulties. In this study, we examined the effects of age, sex, and intellectual ability on emotion perception using the ERT. In this test, emotional facial expressions are presented as morphs gradually expressing one of the six basic emotions from neutral to four levels of intensity (40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). The task was administered in 373 healthy participants aged 8-75. In children aged 8-17, only small developmental effects were found for the emotions anger and happiness, in contrast to adults who showed age-related decline on anger, fear, happiness, and sadness. Sex differences were present predominantly in the adult participants. IQ only minimally affected the perception of disgust in the children, while years of education were correlated with all emotions but surprise and disgust in the adult participants. A regression-based approach was adopted to present age- and education- or IQ-adjusted normative data for use in clinical practice. Previous studies using the ERT have demonstrated selective impairments on specific emotions in a variety of psychiatric, neurologic, or neurodegenerative patient groups, making the ERT a valuable addition to existing paradigms for the assessment of emotion perception. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Left-handers look before they leap: handedness influences reactivity to novel Tower of Hanoi tasks

PubMed Central

Wright, Lynn; Hardie, Scott M.

2015-01-01

A sample of 203 task naïve left- and right-handed participants were asked to complete a combination of the 3- and 4-disk Towers of Hanoi (ToH), manipulating novelty and complexity. Self-reported state anxiety and latency to respond (initiation time) were recorded before each ToH. Novelty had a major effect on initiation time, particularly for left-handers. Left-handers had a longer latency to start and this was significantly longer on the first trial. Irrespective of hand-preference, initiation time reduced on the second trial, however, this was greatest for left-handers. Condition of task did not systematically influence initiation time for right handers, but did for left-handers. State anxiety was influenced by task novelty and complexity in a more complicated way. During the first trial, there was a significant handedness × number of disks interaction with left-handers having significantly higher state anxiety levels before the 3-disk ToH. This suggests that the initial reaction to this task for left-handers was not simply due to perceived difficulty. On their second trial, participants completing a novel ToH had higher state anxiety scores than those completing a repeated version. Overall, left-handers had a larger reduction in their state anxiety across trials. Relating to this, the expected strong positive correlation between state and trait anxiety was absent for left-handed females in their first tower presentation, but appeared on their second. This was driven by low trait anxiety individuals showing a higher state anxiety response in the first (novel) trial, supporting the idea that left-handed females respond to novelty in a way that is not directly a consequence of their trait anxiety. A possible explanation may be stereotype threat influencing the behavior of left-handed females. PMID:25691878

Proactive interference and practice effects in visuospatial working memory span task performance.

PubMed

Blalock, Lisa Durrance; McCabe, David P

2011-01-01

In the current study the influence of proactive interference (PI) and practice on recall from a visuospatial working memory (WM) task was examined. Participants completed a visuospatial WM span task under either high-PI conditions (a traditional span task) or low-PI conditions (a span task with breaks between trials). Trials of each length (i.e., two to five to-be-remembered items) were equally distributed across three blocks in order to examine practice effects. Recall increased across blocks to a greater extent in the low-PI condition than in the high-PI condition, indicating that reducing PI increased recall from WM. Additionally, in the final block the correlation between fluid intelligence and WM recall was stronger for the high-PI condition than the low-PI condition, indicating that practice reduced the strength of the correlation between span task recall and fluid intelligence, but only in the low-PI condition. These results support current theories that propose that one source of variability in recall from WM span task is the build-up of PI, and that PI build-up is an important contributing factor to the relation between visuospatial WM span task recall and higher-level cognition.

Exploring social influences on the joint Simon task: empathy and friendship

PubMed Central

Ford, Ruth M.; Aberdein, Bradley

2015-01-01

Tasks for which people must act together to achieve a goal are a feature of daily life. The present study explored social influences on joint action using a Simon procedure for which participants (n = 44) were confronted with a series of images of hands and asked to respond via button press whenever the index finger wore a ring of a certain color (red or green) regardless of pointing direction (left or right). In an initial joint condition they performed the task while sitting next to another person (friend or stranger) who responded to the other color. In a subsequent individual condition they repeated the task on their own; additionally, they completed self-report tests of empathy. Consistent with past research, participants reacted more quickly when the finger pointed toward them rather than their co-actor (the Simon Effect or SE). The effect remained robust when the co-actor was no longer present and was unaffected by degree of acquaintance; however, its magnitude was correlated positively with empathy only among friends. For friends, the SE was predicted by cognitive perspective taking when the co-actor was present and by propensity for fantasizing when the co-actor was absent. We discuss these findings in relation to social accounts (e.g., task co-representation) and non-social accounts (e.g., referential coding) of joint action. PMID:26217281

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

PubMed

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

2017-04-01

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

Design and Validation of an Open-Source, Partial Task Trainer for Endonasal Neuro-Endoscopic Skills Development: Indian Experience.

PubMed

Singh, Ramandeep; Baby, Britty; Damodaran, Natesan; Srivastav, Vinkle; Suri, Ashish; Banerjee, Subhashis; Kumar, Subodh; Kalra, Prem; Prasad, Sanjiva; Paul, Kolin; Anand, Sneh; Kumar, Sanjeev; Dhiman, Varun; Ben-Israel, David; Kapoor, Kulwant Singh

2016-02-01

Box trainers are ideal simulators, given they are inexpensive, accessible, and use appropriate fidelity. The development and validation of an open-source, partial task simulator that teaches the fundamental skills necessary for endonasal skull-base neuro-endoscopic surgery. We defined the Neuro-Endo-Trainer (NET) SkullBase-Task-GraspPickPlace with an activity area by analyzing the computed tomography scans of 15 adult patients with sellar suprasellar parasellar tumors. Four groups of participants (Group E, n = 4: expert neuroendoscopists; Group N, n =19: novice neurosurgeons; Group R, n = 11: neurosurgery residents with multiple iterations; and Group T, n = 27: neurosurgery residents with single iteration) performed grasp, pick, and place tasks using NET and were graded on task completion time and skills assessment scale score. Group E had lower task completion times and greater skills assessment scale scores than both Group N and R (P ≤ 0.03, 0.001). The performance of Groups N and R was found to be equivalent; in self-assessing neuro-endoscopic skill, the participants in these groups were found to have equally low pretraining scores (4/10) with significant improvement shown after NET simulation (6, 7 respectively). Angled scopes resulted in decreased scores with tilted plates compared with straight plates (30° P ≤ 0.04, 45° P ≤ 0.001). With tilted plates, decreased scores were observed when we compared the 0° with 45° endoscope (right, P ≤ 0.008; left, P ≤ 0.002). The NET, a face and construct valid open-source partial task neuroendoscopic trainer, was designed. Presimulation novice neurosurgeons and neurosurgical residents were described as having insufficient skills and preparation to practice neuro-endoscopy. Plate tilt and endoscope angle were shown to be important factors in participant performance. The NET was found to be a useful partial-task trainer for skill building in neuro-endoscopy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A nonlinear contextually aware prompting system (N-CAPS) to assist workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities to perform factory assembly tasks: system overview and pilot testing.

PubMed

Mihailidis, A; Melonis, M; Keyfitz, R; Lanning, M; Van Vuuren, S; Bodine, C

2016-10-01

This paper presents a new cognitive assistive technology, nonlinear contextually aware prompting system (N-CAPS) that uses advanced sensing and artificial intelligence to monitor and provide assistance to workers with cognitive disabilities during a factory assembly task. The N-CAPS system was designed through the application of various computer vision and artificial intelligence algorithms that allows the system to track a user during a specific assembly task, and then provide verbal and visual prompts to the worker as needed. A pilot study was completed with the N-CAPS solution in order to investigate whether it was an appropriate intervention. Four participants completed the required assembly task five different times, using the N-CAPS system. The participants completed all of the trials that they attempted with 85.7% of the steps completed without assistance from the job coach. Of the 85.7% of steps completed independently, 32.5% of these were completed in response to prompts given by N-CAPS. Overall system accuracy was 83.3%, the overall sensitivity was 86.2% and the overall specificity was 82.4%. The results from the study were positive in that they showed that this type of technology does have merit with this population. Implications for Rehabilitation It provides a concise summary of the importance of work in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and how technology can support this life goal. It describes the first artificially intelligent system designed to support workers with intellectually disabilities. It provides evidence that individuals with intellectual disabilities can perform a work task in response to technology.

Exploring individual differences in task switching: Persistence and other personality traits related to anterior cingulate cortex function.

PubMed

Umemoto, A; Holroyd, C B

2016-01-01

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in cognitive control and decision-making but its precise function is still highly debated. Based on evidence from lesion, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging studies, we have recently proposed a critical role for ACC in motivating extended behaviors according to learned task values (Holroyd and Yeung, 2012). Computational simulations based on this theory suggest a hierarchical mechanism in which a caudal division of ACC selects and applies control over task execution, and a rostral division of ACC facilitates switches between tasks according to a higher task strategy (Holroyd and McClure, 2015). This theoretical framework suggests that ACC may contribute to personality traits related to persistence and reward sensitivity (Holroyd and Umemoto, 2016). To explore this possibility, we carried out a voluntary task switching experiment in which on each trial participants freely chose one of two tasks to perform, under the condition that they try to select the tasks "at random" and equally often. The participants also completed several questionnaires that assessed personality trait related to persistence, apathy, anhedonia, and rumination, in addition to the Big 5 personality inventory. Among other findings, we observed greater compliance with task instructions by persistent individuals, as manifested by a greater facility with switching between tasks, which is suggestive of increased engagement of rostral ACC. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of alcohol on attention orienting and dual-task performance during simulated driving: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Wester, Anne E; Verster, Joris C; Volkerts, Edmund R; Böcker, Koen B E; Kenemans, J Leon

2010-09-01

Driving is a complex task and is susceptible to inattention and distraction. Moreover, alcohol has a detrimental effect on driving performance, possibly due to alcohol-induced attention deficits. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of alcohol on simulated driving performance and attention orienting and allocation, as assessed by event-related potentials (ERPs). Thirty-two participants completed two test runs in the Divided Attention Steering Simulator (DASS) with blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.00%, 0.02%, 0.05%, 0.08% and 0.10%. Sixteen participants performed the second DASS test run with a passive auditory oddball to assess alcohol effects on involuntary attention shifting. Sixteen other participants performed the second DASS test run with an active auditory oddball to assess alcohol effects on dual-task performance and active attention allocation. Dose-dependent impairments were found for reaction times, the number of misses and steering error, even more so in dual-task conditions, especially in the active oddball group. ERP amplitudes to novel irrelevant events were also attenuated in a dose-dependent manner. The P3b amplitude to deviant target stimuli decreased with blood alcohol concentration only in the dual-task condition. It is concluded that alcohol increases distractibility and interference from secondary task stimuli, as well as reduces attentional capacity and dual-task integrality.

The effect of instructions on postural-suprapostural interactions in three working memory tasks.

PubMed

Burcal, Christopher J; Drabik, Evan C; Wikstrom, Erik A

2014-06-01

Examining postural control while simultaneously performing a cognitive, or suprapostural task, has shown a fairly consistent trend of improving postural control in young healthy adults and provides insight into postural control mechanisms used in everyday life. However, the role of attention driven by explicit verbal instructions while dual-tasking is less understood. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to determine the effects of explicit verbal instructions on the postural-suprapostural interactions among various domains of working memory. A total of 22 healthy young adults with a heterogeneous history of ankle sprains volunteered to participate (age: 22.2±5.1 years; n=10 history of ankle sprains, n=12 no history). Participants were asked to perform single-limb balance trials while performing three suprapostural tasks: backwards counting, random number generation, and the manikin test. In addition, each suprapostural task was completed under three conditions of instruction: no instructions, focus on the postural control task, focus on the suprapostural task. The results indicate a significant effect of instructions on postural control outcomes, with postural performance improving in the presence of instructions across all three cognitive tasks which each stress different aspects of working memory. Further, postural-suprapostural interactions appear to be related to the direction or focus of an individual's attention as instructions to focus on the suprapostural task resulted in the greatest postural control improvements.Thus, attention driven by explicit verbal instructions influence postural-suprapostural interactions as measured by a temporal-spatial postural control outcome, time-to-boundary, regardless of the suprapostural task performed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Mobile App (BEDSide Mobility) to Support Nurses’ Tasks at the Patient's Bedside: Usability Study

PubMed Central

Weinhold, Thomas; Joe, Jonathan; Lovis, Christian; Blondon, Katherine

2018-01-01

Background The introduction of clinical information systems has increased the amount of clinical documentation. Although this documentation generally improves patient safety, it has become a time-consuming task for nurses, which limits their time with the patient. On the basis of a user-centered methodology, we have developed a mobile app named BEDSide Mobility to support nurses in their daily workflow and to facilitate documentation at the bedside. Objective The aim of the study was to assess the usability of the BEDSide Mobility app in terms of the navigation and interaction design through usability testing. Methods Nurses were asked to complete a scenario reflecting their daily work with patients. Their interactions with the app were captured with eye-tracking glasses and by using the think aloud protocol. After completing the tasks, participants filled out the system usability scale questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize task completion rates and the users’ performance. Results A total of 10 nurses (aged 21-50) participated in the study. Overall, they were satisfied with the navigation, layout, and interaction design of the app, with the exception of one user who was unfamiliar with smartphones. The problems identified were related to the ambiguity of some icons, the navigation logic, and design inconsistency. Conclusions Besides the usability issues identified in the app, the participants’ results do indicate good usability, high acceptance, and high satisfaction with the developed app. However, the results must be taken with caution because of the poor ecological validity of the experimental setting. PMID:29563074

[Worrying and performance on the Stroop task in women].

PubMed

Janowski, Konrad; Kaczmarek, Łukasz; Kossowska, Magdalena; Niedbał, Kornelia

2009-01-01

Worrying is a process involving chronic, repetitive activation of unproductive thought chains whose contents are predominantly characterized by anticipation of future outcomes undesirable for the individual. Numerous studies demonstrated the role of excessive worrying in the patomechanisms of general anxiety disorder and depression as well as its associations with several non-adaptative aspects of functioning. Some neuroimaging studies suggested an association of worrying with frontal cortex activity. The objective of this study was to assess the associations of worrying with the frontal lobe functions, as measured by the Stroop Task. Fifty female students took part in the study. Each participant completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSQW), a psychometric measure of worrying tendencies, and performed on the Color Words Stroop Task. No statistically significant associations were found between the worrying levels and response times on the Stroop Task. However, worrying was found to be statistically significantly related to the number of errors committed on the Stroop Task, with women characterized by higher worrying levels, making approximately two-fold fewer errors in comparison to women with lower worrying levels. In women, higher worrying levels may be associated with a qualitatively better performance on some mental tasks, which may probably be accounted for by the involvement of higher attentional readiness or personality traits, such as perfectionism.

Effects of Single Compared to Dual Task Practice on Learning a Dynamic Balance Task in Young Adults

PubMed Central

Kiss, Rainer; Brueckner, Dennis; Muehlbauer, Thomas

2018-01-01

Background: In everyday life, people engage in situations involving the concurrent processing of motor (balance) and cognitive tasks (i.e., “dual task situations”) that result in performance declines in at least one of the given tasks. The concurrent practice of both the motor and cognitive task may counteract these performance decrements. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of single task (ST) compared to dual task (DT) practice on learning a dynamic balance task. Methods: Forty-eight young adults were randomly assigned to either a ST (i.e., motor or cognitive task training only) or a DT (i.e., motor-cognitive training) practice condition. The motor task required participants to stand on a platform and keeping the platform as close to horizontal as possible. In the cognitive task, participants were asked to recite serial subtractions of three. For 2 days, participants of the ST groups practiced the motor or cognitive task only, while the participants of the DT group concurrently performed both. Root-mean-square error (RMSE) for the motor and total number of correct calculations for the cognitive task were computed. Results: During practice, all groups improved their respective balance and/or cognitive task performance. With regard to the assessment of learning on day 3, we found significantly smaller RMSE values for the ST motor (d = 1.31) and the DT motor-cognitive (d = 0.76) practice group compared to the ST cognitive practice group but not between the ST motor and the DT motor-cognitive practice group under DT test condition. Further, we detected significantly larger total numbers of correct calculations under DT test condition for the ST cognitive (d = 2.19) and the DT motor-cognitive (d = 1.55) practice group compared to the ST motor practice group but not between the ST cognitive and the DT motor-cognitive practice group. Conclusion: We conclude that ST practice resulted in an effective modulation of the trained domain (i.e., motor or

On the origins of the task mixing cost in the cuing task-switching paradigm.

PubMed

Rubin, Orit; Meiran, Nachshon

2005-11-01

Poorer performance in conditions involving task repetition within blocks of mixed tasks relative to task repetition within blocks of single task is called mixing cost (MC). In 2 experiments exploring 2 hypotheses regarding the origins of MC, participants either switched between cued shape and color tasks, or they performed them as single tasks. Experiment 1 supported the hypothesis that mixed-tasks trials require the resolution of task ambiguity by showing that MC existed only with ambiguous stimuli that afforded both tasks and not with unambiguous stimuli affording only 1 task. Experiment 2 failed to support the hypothesis that holding multiple task sets in working memory (WM) generates MC by showing that systematic manipulation of the number of stimulus-response rules in WM did not affect MC. The results emphasize the role of competition management between task sets during task control.

Auditory Attention and Comprehension During a Simulated Night Shift: Effects of Task Characteristics.

PubMed

Pilcher, June J; Jennings, Kristen S; Phillips, Ginger E; McCubbin, James A

2016-11-01

The current study investigated performance on a dual auditory task during a simulated night shift. Night shifts and sleep deprivation negatively affect performance on vigilance-based tasks, but less is known about the effects on complex tasks. Because language processing is necessary for successful work performance, it is important to understand how it is affected by night work and sleep deprivation. Sixty-two participants completed a simulated night shift resulting in 28 hr of total sleep deprivation. Performance on a vigilance task and a dual auditory language task was examined across four testing sessions. The results indicate that working at night negatively impacts vigilance, auditory attention, and comprehension. The effects on the auditory task varied based on the content of the auditory material. When the material was interesting and easy, the participants performed better. Night work had a greater negative effect when the auditory material was less interesting and more difficult. These findings support research that vigilance decreases during the night. The results suggest that auditory comprehension suffers when individuals are required to work at night. Maintaining attention and controlling effort especially on passages that are less interesting or more difficult could improve performance during night shifts. The results from the current study apply to many work environments where decision making is necessary in response to complex auditory information. Better predicting the effects of night work on language processing is important for developing improved means of coping with shiftwork. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Influence of acute stress on spatial tasks in humans.

PubMed

Richardson, Anthony E; VanderKaay Tomasulo, Melissa M

2011-07-06

Few studies have investigated the relationship between stress and spatial performance in humans. In this study, participants were exposed to an acute laboratory stressor (Star Mirror Tracing Task) or a control condition (watching a nature video) and then performed two spatial tasks. In the first task, participants navigated through a virtual reality (VR) environment and then returned to the environment to make directional judgments relating to the learned targets. In the second task, perspective taking, participants made directional judgments to targets after imagined body rotations with respect to a map. Compared to the control condition, participants in the Stress condition showed increases in heart rate and systolic and diastolic blood pressure indicating sympathetic adrenal medulla (SAM) axis activation. Participants in the Stress condition also reported being more anxious, angry, frustrated, and irritated than participants in the Non-Stress condition. Salivary cortisol did not differ between conditions, indicating no significant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis involvement. In the VR task, memory encoding was unaffected as directional error was similar in both conditions; however, participants in the Stress condition responded more slowly, which may be due to increases in negative affect, SAM disruption in spatial memory retrieval through catecholamine release, or a combination of both factors. In the perspective taking task, participants were also slower to respond after stress, suggesting interference in the ability to adopt new spatial orientations. Additionally, sex differences were observed in that men had greater accuracy on both spatial tasks, but no significant Sex by Stress condition interactions were demonstrated. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Task Fluency and Concurrent Reinforcement Schedules on Student Choice Allocation between Math Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zaman, Maliha

2010-01-01

Students may avoid working on difficult tasks because it takes them longer to complete those tasks, which results in a delay to reinforcement. Research studies show that reinforcer and response dimensions can be manipulated within a concurrent operants framework to bias choice allocation toward more difficult tasks. The current study extends…

TASK: Let's Have a Party!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rees, James

2012-01-01

In this article, the author describes a creative way to demystify contemporary art for students. TASK is artist Oliver Herring's creation, where participants actively interpret instructions found on little pieces of paper--what he calls "tasks." An art classroom has all the key ingredients for a TASK event: (1) people; (2) materials; (3) space;…

Sort-Mid tasks scheduling algorithm in grid computing.

PubMed

Reda, Naglaa M; Tawfik, A; Marzok, Mohamed A; Khamis, Soheir M

2015-11-01

Scheduling tasks on heterogeneous resources distributed over a grid computing system is an NP-complete problem. The main aim for several researchers is to develop variant scheduling algorithms for achieving optimality, and they have shown a good performance for tasks scheduling regarding resources selection. However, using of the full power of resources is still a challenge. In this paper, a new heuristic algorithm called Sort-Mid is proposed. It aims to maximizing the utilization and minimizing the makespan. The new strategy of Sort-Mid algorithm is to find appropriate resources. The base step is to get the average value via sorting list of completion time of each task. Then, the maximum average is obtained. Finally, the task has the maximum average is allocated to the machine that has the minimum completion time. The allocated task is deleted and then, these steps are repeated until all tasks are allocated. Experimental tests show that the proposed algorithm outperforms almost other algorithms in terms of resources utilization and makespan.

Mood states determine the degree of task shielding in dual-task performance.

PubMed

Zwosta, Katharina; Hommel, Bernhard; Goschke, Thomas; Fischer, Rico

2013-01-01

Current models of multitasking assume that dual-task performance and the degree of multitasking are affected by cognitive control strategies. In particular, cognitive control is assumed to regulate the amount of shielding of the prioritised task from crosstalk from the secondary task. We investigated whether and how task shielding is influenced by mood states. Participants were exposed to two short film clips, one inducing high and one inducing low arousal, of either negative or positive content. Negative mood led to stronger shielding of the prioritised task (i.e., less crosstalk) than positive mood, irrespective of arousal. These findings support the assumption that emotional states determine the parameters of cognitive control and play an important role in regulating dual-task performance.

It takes longer than you think: librarian time spent on systematic review tasks*

PubMed Central

Bullers, Krystal; Howard, Allison M.; Hanson, Ardis; Kearns, William D.; Orriola, John J.; Polo, Randall L.; Sakmar, Kristen A.

2018-01-01

Introduction The authors examined the time that medical librarians spent on specific tasks for systematic reviews (SRs): interview process, search strategy development, search strategy translation, documentation, deliverables, search methodology writing, and instruction. We also investigated relationships among the time spent on SR tasks, years of experience, and number of completed SRs to gain a better understanding of the time spent on SR tasks from time, staffing, and project management perspectives. Methods A confidential survey and study description were sent to medical library directors who were members of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries as well as librarians serving members of the Association of American Medical Colleges or American Osteopathic Association. Results Of the 185 participants, 143 (77%) had worked on an SR within the last 5 years. The number of SRs conducted by participants during their careers ranged from 1 to 500, with a median of 5. The major component of time spent was on search strategy development and translation. Average aggregated time for standard tasks was 26.9 hours, with a median of 18.5 hours. Task time was unrelated to the number of SRs but was positively correlated with years of SR experience. Conclusion The time required to conduct the librarian’s discrete tasks in an SR varies substantially, and there are no standard time frames. Librarians with more SR experience spent more time on instruction and interviews; time spent on all other tasks varied widely. Librarians also can expect to spend a significant amount of their time on search strategy development, translation, and writing. PMID:29632442

Age-related decrements in dual-task performance: Comparison of different mobility and cognitive tasks. A cross sectional study.

PubMed

Brustio, Paolo Riccardo; Magistro, Daniele; Zecca, Massimiliano; Rabaglietti, Emanuela; Liubicich, Monica Emma

2017-01-01

This cross-sectional study investigated the age-related differences in dual-task performance both in mobility and cognitive tasks and the additive dual-task costs in a sample of older, middle-aged and young adults. 74 older adults (M = 72.63±5.57 years), 58 middle-aged adults (M = 46.69±4.68 years) and 63 young adults (M = 25.34±3.00 years) participated in the study. Participants performed different mobility and subtraction tasks under both single- and dual-task conditions. Linear regressions, repeated-measures and one-way analyses of covariance were used, The results showed: significant effects of the age on the dual and mobility tasks (p<0.05) and differences among the age-groups in the combined dual-task costs (p<0.05); significant decreases in mobility performance under dual-task conditions in all groups (p<0.05) and a decrease in cognitive performance in the older group (p<0.05). Dual-task activity affected mobility and cognitive performance, especially in older adults who showed a higher dual-task cost, suggesting that dual-tasks activities are affected by the age and consequently also mobility and cognitive tasks are negatively influenced.

Age-related decrements in dual-task performance: Comparison of different mobility and cognitive tasks. A cross sectional study

PubMed Central

Brustio, Paolo Riccardo; Zecca, Massimiliano; Rabaglietti, Emanuela; Liubicich, Monica Emma

2017-01-01

This cross-sectional study investigated the age-related differences in dual-task performance both in mobility and cognitive tasks and the additive dual-task costs in a sample of older, middle-aged and young adults. 74 older adults (M = 72.63±5.57 years), 58 middle-aged adults (M = 46.69±4.68 years) and 63 young adults (M = 25.34±3.00 years) participated in the study. Participants performed different mobility and subtraction tasks under both single- and dual-task conditions. Linear regressions, repeated-measures and one-way analyses of covariance were used, The results showed: significant effects of the age on the dual and mobility tasks (p<0.05) and differences among the age-groups in the combined dual-task costs (p<0.05); significant decreases in mobility performance under dual-task conditions in all groups (p<0.05) and a decrease in cognitive performance in the older group (p<0.05). Dual-task activity affected mobility and cognitive performance, especially in older adults who showed a higher dual-task cost, suggesting that dual-tasks activities are affected by the age and consequently also mobility and cognitive tasks are negatively influenced. PMID:28732080

The effects of stimulus modality and task integrality: Predicting dual-task performance and workload from single-task levels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hart, S. G.; Shively, R. J.; Vidulich, M. A.; Miller, R. C.

1986-01-01

The influence of stimulus modality and task difficulty on workload and performance was investigated. The goal was to quantify the cost (in terms of response time and experienced workload) incurred when essentially serial task components shared common elements (e.g., the response to one initiated the other) which could be accomplished in parallel. The experimental tasks were based on the Fittsberg paradigm; the solution to a SternBERG-type memory task determines which of two identical FITTS targets are acquired. Previous research suggested that such functionally integrated dual tasks are performed with substantially less workload and faster response times than would be predicted by suming single-task components when both are presented in the same stimulus modality (visual). The physical integration of task elements was varied (although their functional relationship remained the same) to determine whether dual-task facilitation would persist if task components were presented in different sensory modalities. Again, it was found that the cost of performing the two-stage task was considerably less than the sum of component single-task levels when both were presented visually. Less facilitation was found when task elements were presented in different sensory modalities. These results suggest the importance of distinguishing between concurrent tasks that complete for limited resources from those that beneficially share common resources when selecting the stimulus modalities for information displays.

Feasibility of the adaptive and automatic presentation of tasks (ADAPT) system for rehabilitation of upper extremity function post-stroke

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Current guidelines for rehabilitation of arm and hand function after stroke recommend that motor training focus on realistic tasks that require reaching and manipulation and engage the patient intensively, actively, and adaptively. Here, we investigated the feasibility of a novel robotic task-practice system, ADAPT, designed in accordance with such guidelines. At each trial, ADAPT selects a functional task according to a training schedule and with difficulty based on previous performance. Once the task is selected, the robot picks up and presents the corresponding tool, simulates the dynamics of the tasks, and the patient interacts with the tool to perform the task. Methods Five participants with chronic stroke with mild to moderate impairments (> 9 months post-stroke; Fugl-Meyer arm score 49.2 ± 5.6) practiced four functional tasks (selected out of six in a pre-test) with ADAPT for about one and half hour and 144 trials in a pseudo-random schedule of 3-trial blocks per task. Results No adverse events occurred and ADAPT successfully presented the six functional tasks without human intervention for a total of 900 trials. Qualitative analysis of trajectories showed that ADAPT simulated the desired task dynamics adequately, and participants reported good, although not excellent, task fidelity. During training, the adaptive difficulty algorithm progressively increased task difficulty leading towards an optimal challenge point based on performance; difficulty was then continuously adjusted to keep performance around the challenge point. Furthermore, the time to complete all trained tasks decreased significantly from pretest to one-hour post-test. Finally, post-training questionnaires demonstrated positive patient acceptance of ADAPT. Conclusions ADAPT successfully provided adaptive progressive training for multiple functional tasks based on participant's performance. Our encouraging results establish the feasibility of ADAPT; its efficacy will next be tested

Feasibility of the adaptive and automatic presentation of tasks (ADAPT) system for rehabilitation of upper extremity function post-stroke.

PubMed

Choi, Younggeun; Gordon, James; Park, Hyeshin; Schweighofer, Nicolas

2011-08-03

Current guidelines for rehabilitation of arm and hand function after stroke recommend that motor training focus on realistic tasks that require reaching and manipulation and engage the patient intensively, actively, and adaptively. Here, we investigated the feasibility of a novel robotic task-practice system, ADAPT, designed in accordance with such guidelines. At each trial, ADAPT selects a functional task according to a training schedule and with difficulty based on previous performance. Once the task is selected, the robot picks up and presents the corresponding tool, simulates the dynamics of the tasks, and the patient interacts with the tool to perform the task. Five participants with chronic stroke with mild to moderate impairments (> 9 months post-stroke; Fugl-Meyer arm score 49.2 ± 5.6) practiced four functional tasks (selected out of six in a pre-test) with ADAPT for about one and half hour and 144 trials in a pseudo-random schedule of 3-trial blocks per task. No adverse events occurred and ADAPT successfully presented the six functional tasks without human intervention for a total of 900 trials. Qualitative analysis of trajectories showed that ADAPT simulated the desired task dynamics adequately, and participants reported good, although not excellent, task fidelity. During training, the adaptive difficulty algorithm progressively increased task difficulty leading towards an optimal challenge point based on performance; difficulty was then continuously adjusted to keep performance around the challenge point. Furthermore, the time to complete all trained tasks decreased significantly from pretest to one-hour post-test. Finally, post-training questionnaires demonstrated positive patient acceptance of ADAPT. ADAPT successfully provided adaptive progressive training for multiple functional tasks based on participant's performance. Our encouraging results establish the feasibility of ADAPT; its efficacy will next be tested in a clinical trial.

Marital dissolution and blood pressure reactivity: evidence for the specificity of emotional intrusion-hyperarousal and task-rated emotional difficulty.

PubMed

Sbarra, David A; Law, Rita W; Lee, Lauren A; Mason, Ashley E

2009-06-01

To assess blood pressure (BP) reactivity as recently separated adults completed a laboratory task asking to mentally reflect on their relationship experiences. Marital separations and the experience of divorce are associated with increased risk for early mortality and poor health outcomes. Few studies, however, have investigated the potential psychophysiological mechanisms that may account for these broad-based associations. Seventy recently separated or divorced community-dwelling adults (26 men) completed self-report measures of divorce-related psychological adjustment. During a laboratory visit, quasi-continuous BP was assessed across four task periods, including a divorce-specific mental activation task (DMAT). A task-rated emotional difficulty (TRED) index was computed based on participants' immediate appraisals of the task demands. After accounting for relevant health-related covariates and depressed mood, participants who reported higher degrees of divorce-related emotional intrusion and physical hyperarousal demonstrated significantly elevated resting BP at entry into the study. When assessing change from a within-person control task to the DMAT, a three-way interaction indicated that men reporting high TRED scores evidenced significant increases in BP, whereas men reporting low TRED scores evidenced significant decreases in BP. Women evidenced no significant changes in BP across study periods. Results suggest that divorce-related emotional intrusion-hyperarousal and real-time ratings of emotional difficulty (when people think about their separation experience) may play a specific role in BP reactivity, especially for men. These data shed new light on the potential mechanisms that may link marital dissolution and poor health.

Characterization of task-free and task-performance brain states via functional connectome patterns.

PubMed

Zhang, Xin; Guo, Lei; Li, Xiang; Zhang, Tuo; Zhu, Dajiang; Li, Kaiming; Chen, Hanbo; Lv, Jinglei; Jin, Changfeng; Zhao, Qun; Li, Lingjiang; Liu, Tianming

2013-12-01

Both resting state fMRI (R-fMRI) and task-based fMRI (T-fMRI) have been widely used to study the functional activities of the human brain during task-free and task-performance periods, respectively. However, due to the difficulty in strictly controlling the participating subject's mental status and their cognitive behaviors during R-fMRI/T-fMRI scans, it has been challenging to ascertain whether or not an R-fMRI/T-fMRI scan truly reflects the participant's functional brain states during task-free/task-performance periods. This paper presents a novel computational approach to characterizing and differentiating the brain's functional status into task-free or task-performance states, by which the functional brain activities can be effectively understood and differentiated. Briefly, the brain's functional state is represented by a whole-brain quasi-stable connectome pattern (WQCP) of R-fMRI or T-fMRI data based on 358 consistent cortical landmarks across individuals, and then an effective sparse representation method was applied to learn the atomic connectome patterns (ACPs) of both task-free and task-performance states. Experimental results demonstrated that the learned ACPs for R-fMRI and T-fMRI datasets are substantially different, as expected. A certain portion of ACPs from R-fMRI and T-fMRI data were overlapped, suggesting some subjects with overlapping ACPs were not in the expected task-free/task-performance brain states. Besides, potential outliers in the T-fMRI dataset were further investigated via functional activation detections in different groups, and our results revealed unexpected task-performances of some subjects. This work offers novel insights into the functional architectures of the brain. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Task-free and Task-performance Brain States via Functional Connectome Patterns

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xin; Guo, Lei; Li, Xiang; Zhang, Tuo; Zhu, Dajiang; Li, Kaiming; Chen, Hanbo; Lv, Jinglei; Jin, Changfeng; Zhao, Qun; Li, Lingjiang; Liu, Tianming

2014-01-01

Both resting state fMRI (R-fMRI) and task-based fMRI (T-fMRI) have been widely used to study the functional activities of the human brain during task-free and task-performance periods, respectively. However, due to the difficulty in strictly controlling the participating subject's mental status and their cognitive behaviors during R-fMRI/T-fMRI scans, it has been challenging to ascertain whether or not an R-fMRI/T-fMRI scan truly reflects the participant's functional brain states during task-free/task-performance periods. This paper presents a novel computational approach to characterizing and differentiating the brain's functional status into task-free or task-performance states, by which the functional brain activities can be effectively understood and differentiated. Briefly, the brain's functional state is represented by a whole-brain quasi-stable connectome pattern (WQCP) of R-fMRI or T-fMRI data based on 358 consistent cortical landmarks across individuals, and then an effective sparse representation method was applied to learn the atomic connectome patterns (ACP) of both task-free and task-performance states. Experimental results demonstrated that the learned ACPs for R-fMRI and T-fMRI datasets are substantially different, as expected. A certain portion of ACPs from R-fMRI and T-fMRI data were overlapped, suggesting some subjects with overlapping ACPs were not in the expected task-free/task-performance brain states. Besides, potential outliers in the T-fMRI dataset were further investigated via functional activation detections in different groups, and our results revealed unexpected task-performances of some subjects. This work offers novel insights into the functional architectures of the brain. PMID:23938590