Department Publications 2010

This publication is a list of books, chapters, journal articles, staff papers, The Food Industry Center publications, International Science & Technology Practice & Policy Center papers, miscellaneous monographs, Center for Farm Financial Management papers, miscellaneous Extension publications, popular press articles, op-ed articles, speeches and unpublished papers, computer software, web pages, abstracts and book reviews and theses authored by members of the University of Minnesota Department of Applied Economics in 2009.Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Using Two Simulation Tools to Teach Concepts in Introductory Astronomy: A Design-Based Research Approach

Technology in college classrooms has gone from being an enhancement to the learning experience to being something expected by both instructors and students. This design-based research investigation takes technology one step further, putting the tools used to teach directly in the hands of students. The study examined the affordances and constraints of two simulation tools for use in introductory astronomy courses. The variety of experiences participants had using two tools; a virtual reality headset and fulldome immersive planetarium simulation, to manipulate a lunar surface flyby were identified using a multi-method research approach with N = 67 participants. Participants were recruited from classes of students taking astronomy over one academic year at a two-year college. Participants manipulated a lunar flyby using a virtual reality headset and a motion sensor device in the college fulldome planetarium. Data were collected in the form of two post-treatment questionnaires using Likert-type scales and one small group interview. The small group interview was intended to elicit various experiences participants had using the tools. Responses were analyzed quantitatively for optimal flyby speed and qualitatively for salient themes using data reduction informed by a methodological framework of phenomenography to identify the variety of experiences participants had using the tools. Findings for optimal flyby speed of the Moon based on analysis of data for both the Immersion Questionnaire and the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire done using SPSS software determine that the optimal flyby speed for college students to manipulate the Moon was calculated to be .04 x the radius of the Earth (3,959 miles) or 160 miles per second. A variety of different participant experiences were revealed using MAXQDA software to code positive and negative remarks participants had when engaged in the use of each tool. Both tools offer potential to actively engage students with astronomy content in college lecture and laboratory courses

Tratamiento para las reacciones al estrés mediante realidad virtual

RESUMEN En los últimos años se han producido enormes progresos en el ámbito de los tratamientos psicológicos y disponemos de numerosos tratamientos basados en la evidencia (Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures, 1995). Por otra parte, la Realidad Virtual (RV) ha demostrado eficacia en el tratamiento de distintos trastornos. Distintos estudios han mostrado su eficacia, sin embargo, aún queda mucho por hacer en relación a su eficiencia. Por ello, una línea de trabajo que consideramos muy fructífera es analizar si las técnicas de RV pueden contribuir a mejorar la eficiencia aquellos procedimientos que ya están establecidos como tratamientos eficaces Existen ambientes virtuales eficaces para el tratamiento de pacientes que han padecido diferentes acontecimientos traumáticos: víctimas de la guerra del Vietnam (Rothbaum, et al., 2001), del 11 de Septiembre (Difede & Hoffman, 2002), de la guerra de Iraq (Rizzo et al, 2004), o de accidentes de coches (Walshe et al., 2003). Sin embargo, esta lógica tiene limitaciones importantes ya que es necesario contar con diversos ambientes virtuales para tratar diferentes situaciones traumáticas. Con el fin de superar estas limitaciones, hemos trabajado desde una óptica diferente, y en vez de desarrollar diferentes mundos virtuales específicos para cada problema, hemos diseñado un sistema de RV versátil que puede ser útil para el tratamiento de diferentes problemas. Se trata de un dispositivo adaptable (adaptive display) denominado El mundo de EMMA. Este sistema es capaz de adaptase de un modo dinámico a las necesidades de cada persona, independientemente del tipo de acontecimiento traumático o emocional que se haya sufrido. El objetivo de esta tesis es someter a prueba la utilidad del Mundo de Emma para mejorar la eficacia y la eficiencia de los actuales programas de tratamiento psicológicos. para el Trastorno por Estrés Postraumático (TEPT), el Duelo Complicado (DC) y los Trastornos Adaptativos (TA). La muestra del estudio está formada por 45 participantes. De los cuales, 13 participantes tenían el diagnóstico de TPEP, 16 de TA y 16 DC. Se contó con dos condiciones experimentales: en una se aplica el protocolo de tratamiento psicológico tradicional y la otra condición de RV, en la que se aplicó el mismo protocolo de tratamiento psicológico apoyado por el Mundo de Emma. En todos los casos se utiliza un diseño entre sujetos de medidas repetidas (antes del tratamiento, después del tratamiento y en los seguimientos) con asignación al azar. Para el tratamiento del TEPT se realizó una adaptación del programa de tratamiento de Foa y Rothbaum (1998). Respecto al DC, se realizó una adaptación del programa de tratamiento de Neimeyer (2000). En cuanto a los TA, en la actualidad no existe ningún protocolo de tratamiento con respaldo empírico, por ello para este trabajo desarrollamos un protocolo de tratamiento específico. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que ambas condiciones de tratamiento fueron eficaces en todos los trastornos, y que estas mejorías se mantenían a los 6 meses del seguimiento. Ahora bien, la condición de tratamiento que utilizó también el sistema de RV mejoraba significativamente más que la condición tradicional en los seguimientos. Por otro lado, se estudió la satisfacción con el tratamiento por parte de los participantes y en ambas condiciones fue muy elevada. Se observó una tendencia a una mayor satisfacción con el tratamiento que utilizó RV (no estadísticamente significativa). Por otro lado, la valoración de los tratamientos por parte de los terapeutas en ambas condiciones también fue muy positiva. Sin embargo, la condición que utiliza RV fue mucho mejor valorada por los terapeutas, la describieron como una herramienta más atractiva, que facilita el procesamiento tanto cognitivo como emocional y menos aversiva que el tratamiento tradicional. __________________________________________________________________________________________________During the past years the field of psychological treatments based on evidence has undergone relevant progresses. (Task Force on Promotion and Dissemination of Psychological Procedures, 1995). On the other hand, Virtual Reality (VR) has proven the effectiveness in the treatment of different disorders, nevertheless, there is still a long path ahead regarding its efficiency. There are many efficient virtual environments which can be applied to patients who have suffered different traumatic events: Vietnam War (Rothbaum, et al., 2001), September 11 (Difede & Hoffman, 2002), Iraq War (Rizzo et al, 2004). Nevertheless, this logic has its limitations, for it is necessary to bear in mind different virtual environments in order to manage different traumatic situations. Therefore, we have designed an RV system aimed at overcoming these limitations. This thesis proves the effectiveness and the efficiency of the VR system applied to the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, Complex Duel (CD) and Adaptation Disorders (AD). The study has been done with 45 participants, from which 13 were diagnosticated of PTSD, 16 of AD and 16 CD. Two experimental conditions were applied: protocol of traditional psychological treatment, and the same protocol supported by VR. In all cases, a design with a repeating pattern is used (pre, during and post the treatment) assigned at random. The results obtained showed that both conditions were efficient and that improvement was maintained during monitoring. Nevertheless, the treatment using the VR system improved considerably more during monitoring than traditional treatment. Patient satisfaction with treatment was studied and it was very high for both conditions. There was a trend to a higher degree of satisfaction in VR condition. Evaluation by therapists in both conditions was very positive, nevertheless, condition applying VR was better evaluated than condition using VR

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a natural development from virtual reality (VR), which was developed several decades earlier. AR complements VR in many ways. Due to the advantages of the user being able to see both the real and virtual objects simultaneously, AR is far more intuitive, but it's not completely detached from human factors and other restrictions. AR doesn't consume as much time and effort in the applications because it's not required to construct the entire virtual scene and the environment. In this book, several new and emerging application areas of AR are presented and divided into three sections. The first section contains applications in outdoor and mobile AR, such as construction, restoration, security and surveillance. The second section deals with AR in medical, biological, and human bodies. The third and final section contains a number of new and useful applications in daily living and learning

Innovation to enhance health in care homes and evaluation of tools for measuring outcomes of care: rapid evidence synthesis

Background Flexible, integrated models of service delivery are being developed to meet the changing demands of an ageing population. To underpin the spread of innovative models of care across the NHS, summaries of the current research evidence are needed. This report focuses exclusively on care homes and reviews work in four specific areas, identified as key enablers for the NHS England vanguard programme. Aim To conduct a rapid synthesis of evidence relating to enhancing health in care homes across four key areas: technology, communication and engagement, workforce and evaluation. Objectives (1) To map the published literature on the uses, benefits and challenges of technology in care homes; flexible and innovative uses of the nursing and support workforce to benefit resident care; communication and engagement between care homes, communities and health-related organisations; and approaches to the evaluation of new models of care in care homes. (2) To conduct rapid, systematic syntheses of evidence to answer the following questions. Which technologies have a positive impact on resident health and well-being? How should care homes and the NHS communicate to enhance resident, family and staff outcomes and experiences? Which measurement tools have been validated for use in UK care homes? What is the evidence that staffing levels (i.e. ratio of registered nurses and support staff to residents or different levels of support staff) influence resident outcomes? Data sources Searches of MEDLINE, CINAHL, Science Citation Index, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects) and Index to Theses. Grey literature was sought via Google™ (Mountain View, CA, USA) and websites relevant to each individual search. Design Mapping review and rapid, systematic evidence syntheses. Setting Care homes with and without nursing in high-income countries. Review methods Published literature was mapped to a bespoke framework, and four linked rapid critical reviews of the available evidence were undertaken using systematic methods. Data were not suitable for meta-analysis, and are presented in narrative syntheses. Results Seven hundred and sixty-one studies were mapped across the four topic areas, and 65 studies were included in systematic rapid reviews. This work identified a paucity of large, high-quality research studies, particularly from the UK. The key findings include the following. (1) Technology: some of the most promising interventions appear to be games that promote physical activity and enhance mental health and well-being. (2) Communication and engagement: structured communication tools have been shown to enhance communication with health services and resident outcomes in US studies. No robust evidence was identified on care home engagement with communities. (3) Evaluation: 6 of the 65 measurement tools identified had been validated for use in UK care homes, two of which provide general assessments of care. The methodological quality of all six tools was assessed as poor. (4) Workforce: joint working within and beyond the care home and initiatives that focus on staff taking on new but specific care tasks appear to be associated with enhanced outcomes. Evidence for staff taking on traditional nursing tasks without qualification is limited, but promising. Limitations This review was restricted to English-language publications after the year 2000. The rapid methodology has facilitated a broad review in a short time period, but the possibility of omissions and errors cannot be excluded. Conclusions This review provides limited evidential support for some of the innovations in the NHS vanguard programme, and identifies key issues and gaps for future research and evaluation. Future work Future work should provide high-quality evidence, in particular experimental studies, economic evaluations and research sensitive to the UK context. Study registration This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42016052933, CRD42016052933, CRD42016052937 and CRD42016052938. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme

Designing for self-transcendent experiences in virtual reality

This thesis contributes to Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research with a focus on the design of immersive experiences that support self-transcendence. Self-transcendence is defined as a decrease in a sense of self and a increase in unity with the world. It can change what individuals know and value, their perspective on the world and life, evolving them as a grown person. Consequently, self-transcendence is gaining attention in Psychology, Philosophy, and Neuroscience. But, we are still far from understanding the complex phenomenological and neurocognitive aspects of self-transcendence, as well as its implications for individual growth and psychological well-being. In reviewing the methods for studying self-transcendence, we found differing conceptual models determine different ways for understanding and studying self-transcendence. Understanding self-transcendence is made especially challenging because of its ineffable qualities and extraordinary conditions in which it takes place. For that reason, researchers have began to look at technological solutions for both eliciting self-transcendence to better study it under controlled and replicable conditions as well as giving people greater access to the experience. We reviewed immersive, interactive technologies that aim to support positive experiences such as self-transcendence and extracted a set of design considerations that were prevalent across experiences. We then explored two different focuses of self-transcendence: awe and lucid dreaming. First, we took an existing VR experience designed specifically to support the self-transcendent experience of awe and looked at how the mindset and physical setting surrounding that VR experience might better support the experience of and accommodation of awe. Second, we delved deep into lucid dreaming to better understand the aspects that could help inform the design of an immersive experience that supports self-transcendence. We put those design ideas into practice by developing a neurofeedback system that aims to support lucid dreaming practices in an immersive experience. Through these review papers and design explorations, we contribute to the understanding of how one might design and evaluate immersive technological experiences that support varieties of self-transcendence. We hope to inspire more work in this area that holds promise in better understanding human nature and living our best lives

Older people’s appropriation of computers and the Internet

This thesis looks at how older people integrate computers and the Internet into their everyday lives and make these technologies their own as part of their broader experience of ageing. The thesis starts by considering the limits of current ‘deficit-driven’ models of accessible design used in relation to older people and highlights a need to develop new approaches which can accommodate the adaptive and ‘positive’ capacities that emerge with advanced age. The approach subsequently developed provides a consideration of older people’s situated and subjective experiences in relation to computer and Internet engagement as part of their adaptations to ageing. Qualitative and ethnographic data in the form of participant observations, contextual interviews and video-based observations are all used to examine the ways in which older users identify computers and the Internet as relevant and construct meaningful uses for them over time. Four case studies are used to explore the contextual and subjective determinants of these emerging psycho-socio-technical relationships over time and in different contexts. Through grounded analysis patterns are established in the data which outline persistent qualities of these emerging relationships in relation to ageing. A psycho-socio-technical process known as ‘appropriation’ is used to frame these adaptive relationships as they develop over time. In contrast to existing models of accessibility this analysis shows computer and Internet appropriation to be driven primarily by positive adaptations to ageing rather than its deficits. Six ‘core themes of relevance’ are identified across the studies (social contact; acquiring knowledge; supporting independence; intergenerational connection; reminiscence and life review and creativity) which represent age-relevant motivations that can be used as the basis for accessible designs promoting appropriation. In addition appropriation is outlined as a cumulative developmental process with distinct phases over time. This provides a structure for supporting older people’s appropriation of computers and the Internet whilst maintaining an emphasis on well-being. Finally this thesis contributes to understandings of contemporary ageing, offering insights into the potential for computers and the Internet to change the ageing experience in developed societies

Proceedings of the 10th international conference on disability, virtual reality and associated technologies (ICDVRAT 2014)

The proceedings of the conferenc

Can videogames be addicting? An investigation into the specific game features and personal characteristics associated with problematic videogame playing

The number of individuals who play videogames has increased dramatically in recent years. Unsurprisingly, the frequency with which patients seek psychotherapeutic services to help cope with problematic videogame playing (PVGP) behaviors has also risen. Thus, explorations into the specific characteristics of PVGP are essential now more than ever before. However, the current state of the literature primarily relies on comparisons between PVGP and pathological gambling, utilizing modified measures of the latter to assess the former. To date, no studies have attempted to adapt the diagnostic criteria for substance use disorder (SUD) in an effort to understand PVGP within the context of addiction. Further, few studies have explored the specific game characteristics and individual factors that contribute to the presence of PVGP. The current study sought to address these questions by adapting the SUD criteria to address videogame-related behavior via a measure labeled as the Videogame Addiction Scale (VGAS). Comparisons of the psychometrics and criterion validity of the VGAS and leading measures of PVGP suggested the former was superior. Further, results indicated that higher levels of addiction were present in players who prefer the MMORPG and Shooter genres over all other types of games, with the former yielding significantly higher VGAS scores than the latter. Further, many of the structural characteristics of videogames were considered to be more enjoyable, important, and associated with longer playtimes for individuals with higher “addiction” scores than their low scoring counterparts. Lastly, a model of videogame addiction was generated that aligns with the current literature on substance use disorders. Specifically, impulsivity, maladaptive coping, weekly playtime, and particular structural characteristics all seem to relate to videogame addiction