Search Process as Transitions Between Neural States

Search is one of the most performed activities on the World Wide Web. Various conceptual models postulate that the search process can be broken down into distinct emotional and cognitive states of searchers while they engage in a search process. These models significantly contribute to our understanding of the search process. However, they are typically based on self-report measures, such as surveys, questionnaire, etc. and therefore, only indirectly monitor the brain activity that supports such a process. With this work, we take one step further and directly measure the brain activity involved in a search process. To do so, we break down a search process into five time periods: a realisation of Information Need, Query Formulation, Query Submission, Relevance Judgment and Satisfaction Judgment. We then investigate the brain activity between these time periods. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we monitored the brain activity of twenty-four participants during a search process that involved answering questions carefully selected from the TREC-8 and TREC 2001 Q/A Tracks. This novel analysis that focuses on transitions rather than states reveals the contrasting brain activity between time periods – which enables the identification of the distinct parts of the search process as the user moves through them. This work, therefore, provides an important first step in representing the search process based on the transitions between neural states. Discovering more precisely how brain activity relates to different parts of the search process will enable the development of brain-computer interactions that better support search and search interactions, which we believe our study and conclusions advance

Revealing User Behaviour on the World-Wide Web

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of user behaviour on the World-Wide Web. Eight participants were filmed whilst performing user-defined tasks and then asked to review the video-taped session during prompted recall. This data forms the basis for a series of descriptions of user behaviour and the postulation of a number of underlying cognitive mechanisms. Our results indicate that people: lack ready made search strategies, prefer alternatives that are visible, immediately available and familiar, choose the path of least resistance, exhibit social forms of behaviour, engage in parallel activities, object to misleadingly presented information, have trouble orienting, are late in using appropriate strategies, are sensitive to matters of time, and are emotionally involved in the activity. The paper ends with a discussion of how these results can contribute to our understanding of hypermedia

Studying the users’ information-seeking behavior by recording brain waves activity with Electroencephalography method: A systematic Review

Despite the novelty in methodologies, User behavior study based on brain activity during information-seeking stages has become popular among information science researchers. This paper reviews scientific publications in which information-seeking behavior has been studied along with recorded brain activity to shed light on research status, challenges, and suggestions for future studies. Based on Kitchenham & Charters (2007) framework, a complete web search was performed in English and Persian scientific databases, and 22 publications in English were found as the final result, from 2007 to 2020. Review results demonstrate that exploring the user status (10 papers) and brain wave activity during information-seeking episodes (12 papers) were the most dominant subjective approaches in the field of user behavior studies. Cognitive load was found as an effective cognitive component on user status. With eye movement measurement and brain waves frequency study, 3 factors were found effective on cognitive load level generated during information searching and processing: searching media type, information representation, and text reading style. Brain wave activity and pupil dilation analysis were the most important measures in user status during search stages, and alpha and theta band waves were demonstrated as an index for cognitive load measurement during the information searching process. A correlation among eye data, search behavior, task complexity based on user experience, and cognitive style – as another effective factor on user status- led to results in different information searching behavior demonstrations. Also, 3 main stages were analyzed in the information-seeking process, based on brain wave activity: information exploring and query formulation, query reformulation and selection, relevance judgment, and decision making. Results showed a difference between brain activity areas, and differences in pupil dilation change level and alpha/beta frequency level during different search episodes. For future research, some suggestions were offered based on reviews. Finding relations between correlations among cognitive styles, task features, and domain knowledge during information searching process, personalized information retrieval improvement, more collaboration between information science and neurocognitive specialists, research in more user affective status like aggression and fatigue during the search process, using more economic methods and portable devices aiming to reduce research costs and expenses, facilitating larger sample studies and designing standard tasks were considered as a suggestion. Finally, some challenges were found based on reviewed studies. Some concepts like relevance feedback in information retrieval need more investigation. Also, it is necessary to investigate and explore user affections during the search process with multiple approaches

Методичні аспекти використання Web-квестів у процесі навчання майбутніх фінансистів

The paper deals with methodical aspects of promoting cognitive activity of future financiers with the help of web-quests.According to authors, web-quest is an independent search activity in the Internet by one or several branches of prepared route to a certain goal, which was determined at the beginning of the route, and during which a student should obtain and analyze information to determine the next step towards the goal.Based on the analysis and generalized experience of applying web-quests in educational process of higher educational institutions, the method of implementation of the web-quest on ''Making a draft of the local budget on revenues'' (the subject ''Finance''), which is represented in the form of graphical model, was developed. The goals, objectives and educational conditions were elaborated.The algorithm of students’ cognitive activity during the implementation of theoretical and practical parts of web-quests on estimating the revenues of the local budget was described. Evaluation criteria were given.Conclusions based on results of web-quest implementation were presented, which lie in considering the web-quest as effective tool for modeling certain production situations for financiers and allow the students to gain practical skills, abilities to search, generalize and analyze necessary information of legislative framework as well as public financial information at the level of local budgets for estimating the amount of budget revenues.В статье описывается методика организации Веб-квеста «Составление проекта местного бюджета по доходам», представлена графическая модель методики, перечислены педагогические условия. Описаны алгоритмы работы студентов при выполнении теоретической и практической частей Веб-квеста. Представлены выводы по результатам внедрения квеста и определены направления развития исследования.У статті описується методика організації Web-квесту «Складання проекту місцевого бюджету за доходами», представлено графічну модель методики, наведено педагогічні умови. Описано алгоритми роботи студентів при виконанні теоретичної і практичної частин Веб-квесту. Наведено висновки за результатами впровадження квесту і визначено напрями розвитку дослідження

Методичні аспекти використання Web-квестів у процесі навчання майбутніх фінансистів

The paper deals with methodical aspects of promoting cognitive activity of future financiers with the help of web-quests.According to authors, web-quest is an independent search activity in the Internet by one or several branches of prepared route to a certain goal, which was determined at the beginning of the route, and during which a student should obtain and analyze information to determine the next step towards the goal.Based on the analysis and generalized experience of applying web-quests in educational process of higher educational institutions, the method of implementation of the web-quest on ''Making a draft of the local budget on revenues'' (the subject ''Finance''), which is represented in the form of graphical model, was developed. The goals, objectives and educational conditions were elaborated.The algorithm of students’ cognitive activity during the implementation of theoretical and practical parts of web-quests on estimating the revenues of the local budget was described. Evaluation criteria were given.Conclusions based on results of web-quest implementation were presented, which lie in considering the web-quest as effective tool for modeling certain production situations for financiers and allow the students to gain practical skills, abilities to search, generalize and analyze necessary information of legislative framework as well as public financial information at the level of local budgets for estimating the amount of budget revenues.В статье описывается методика организации Веб-квеста «Составление проекта местного бюджета по доходам», представлена графическая модель методики, перечислены педагогические условия. Описаны алгоритмы работы студентов при выполнении теоретической и практической частей Веб-квеста. Представлены выводы по результатам внедрения квеста и определены направления развития исследования.У статті описується методика організації Web-квесту «Складання проекту місцевого бюджету за доходами», представлено графічну модель методики, наведено педагогічні умови. Описано алгоритми роботи студентів при виконанні теоретичної і практичної частин Веб-квесту. Наведено висновки за результатами впровадження квесту і визначено напрями розвитку дослідження

Users' trust in information resources in the Web environment: a status report

This study has three aims; to provide an overview of the ways in which trust is either assessed or asserted in relation to the use and provision of resources in the Web environment for research and learning; to assess what solutions might be worth further investigation and whether establishing ways to assert trust in academic information resources could assist the development of information literacy; to help increase understanding of how perceptions of trust influence the behaviour of information users

Stigmergy in Web 2.0: a model for site dynamics

Building Web 2.0 sites does not necessarily ensure the success of the site. We aim to better understand what improves the success of a site by drawing insight from biologically inspired design patterns. Web 2.0 sites provide a mechanism for human interaction enabling powerful intercommunication between massive volumes of users. Early Web 2.0 site providers that were previously dominant are being succeeded by newer sites providing innovative social interaction mechanisms. Understanding what site traits contribute to this success drives research into Web sites mechanics using models to describe the associated social networking behaviour. Some of these models attempt to show how the volume of users provides a self-organising and self-contextualisation of content. One model describing coordinated environments is called stigmergy, a term originally describing coordinated insect behavior. This paper explores how exploiting stigmergy can provide a valuable mechanism for identifying and analysing online user behavior specifically when considering that user freedom of choice is restricted by the provided web site functionality. This will aid our building better collaborative Web sites improving the collaborative processes

Towards Social Information Seeking and Interaction on the Web

User generated content is one of the key concepts of the social web (a. k. a “Web 2.0”) and enables users to search and interact with information that has been created (e.g. blogs) or annotated by other users (e.g. in tagging systems). Consequently, information seeking and interaction have been extended by a social dimension. The interaction can be social in so far that user generated content is searched and retrieved or, in a more direct manner that social interactions are carried out before, during or after search by communicating through Web 2.0 features like (micro-)blog posts, comments, and ratings. This paper focuses on social interactions during the search process by combining a model introduced by Shneiderman (2002) which attempts to describe human motivation for collaboratively using computers with an explorative model for social search by Evans and Chi (2008)

S-COL: A Copernican turn for the development of flexibly reusable collaboration scripts

Collaboration scripts are usually implemented as parts of a particular collaborative-learning platform. Therefore, scripts of demonstrated effectiveness are hardly used with learning platforms at other sites, and replication studies are rare. The approach of a platform-independent description language for scripts that allows for easy implementation of the same script on different platforms has not succeeded yet in making the transfer of scripts feasible. We present an alternative solution that treats the problem as a special case of providing support on top of diverse Web pages: In this case, the challenge is to trigger support based on the recognition of a Web page as belonging to a specific type of functionally equivalent pages such as the search query form or the results page of a search engine. The solution suggested has been implemented by means of a tool called S-COL (Scripting for Collaborative Online Learning) and allows for the sustainable development of scripts and scaffolds that can be used with a broad variety of content and platforms. The tool’s functions are described. In order to demonstrate the feasibility and ease of script reuse with S-COL, we describe the flexible re-implementation of a collaboration script for argumentation in S-COL and its adaptation to different learning platforms. To demonstrate that a collaboration script implemented in S-COL can actually foster learning, an empirical study about the effects of a specific script for collaborative online search on learning activities is presented. The further potentials and the limitations of the S-COL approach are discussed