Eye quietness and quiet eye in expert and novice golf performance: an electrooculographic analysis

Quiet eye (QE) is the final ocular fixation on the target of an action (e.g., the ball in golf putting). Camerabased eye-tracking studies have consistently found longer QE durations in experts than novices; however, mechanisms underlying QE are not known. To offer a new perspective we examined the feasibility of measuring the QE using electrooculography (EOG) and developed an index to assess ocular activity across time: eye quietness (EQ). Ten expert and ten novice golfers putted 60 balls to a 2.4 m distant hole. Horizontal EOG (2ms resolution) was recorded from two electrodes placed on the outer sides of the eyes. QE duration was measured using a EOG voltage threshold and comprised the sum of the pre-movement and post-movement initiation components. EQ was computed as the standard deviation of the EOG in 0.5 s bins from –4 to +2 s, relative to backswing initiation: lower values indicate less movement of the eyes, hence greater quietness. Finally, we measured club-ball address and swing durations. T-tests showed that total QE did not differ between groups (p = .31); however, experts had marginally shorter pre-movement QE (p = .08) and longer post-movement QE (p < .001) than novices. A group × time ANOVA revealed that experts had less EQ before backswing initiation and greater EQ after backswing initiation (p = .002). QE durations were inversely correlated with EQ from –1.5 to 1 s (rs = –.48 - –.90, ps = .03 - .001). Experts had longer swing durations than novices (p = .01) and, importantly, swing durations correlated positively with post-movement QE (r = .52, p = .02) and negatively with EQ from 0.5 to 1s (r = –.63, p = .003). This study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring ocular activity using EOG and validates EQ as an index of ocular activity. Its findings challenge the dominant perspective on QE and provide new evidence that expert-novice differences in ocular activity may reflect differences in the kinematics of how experts and novices execute skills

Prediction of uncertainty events using human-computer interaction

The practice of medicine is characterized by complex situations that evoke uncertainty. Uncertainty has implications for the quality and costs of health care, thus emphasizing the importance of identifying its the main causes. Uncertainty can be manifested through human behaviour. Accordingly, in this dissertation, a machine learning model that detects events of uncertainty based on mouse cursor movements was created. To do so, 79 participants answered an online survey while the mouse data was being tracked. This data was used to extract meaningful features that allowed model testing and training after a feature selection stage. With the implementation of a Logistic Regression, and applying a k-fold cross-validation method, the model achieved an estimated performance of 81%. It was found that, during moments of uncertainty, the number of horizontal direction inversions increases and the mouse cursor travels higher distances. Moreover, items that evoke uncertainty are associated to longer interaction times and a higher number of visits. Subsequently, the model was applied to a medical decision making task performed by 8 physicians, in order to understand whether it might be applied in different contexts or not. The results were consistent with the task design. To better understand the nature of uncertainty, its relationship with personality was explored. Regarding the clinical task, it was found a slight tendency of uncertainty to increase with Neuroticism. In the future, the created model may be used to help physicians understand their main difficulties

Assessing the leadership potential of choral conductors

When it comes to assessing the leadership aspects of conducting a music ensemble, the traditional focus is musical skills and knowledge, past experience, and observation, with little true understanding of leadership skills. In contrast, organizational science and psychology offer numerous methods of assessing leadership potential. A tool informed by these research disciplines would be helpful to choral organizations that are seeking a new director or those leaders wishing to assess their own leadership skills. In this study, I discuss the dynamics of leadership in the context of choral ensembles, examine several leadership aptitude assessments developed in fields other than music, and design a unique assessment approach specifically tailored to choral organizations. The study involved a sample of choral conductors (N=20) at liberal arts and state colleges in the United States who are leading successful choral programs. Participating conductors completed an anonymo! us survey, as did students in one of their ensembles (N=437) and colleagues from the school at which they worked (N=19). The answers on the three related survey respondent groups were compared in order to determine the correlations between perceived leadership style from the point of view of the conductor, student, and colleague. The validity of the assessment was tested by administering it to a sample of choral conductors in liberal arts colleges and comparing their results with questionnaire data gathered from other stakeholders (singers and colleagues). The study was designed to inform an effective approach for beginning to assess leadership attributes in a conductor and how self-perception relates to perception of leadership by singers and colleagues. Using Cronbach’s Alpha, analyses showed strong reliability on the measures of magnitude, better than average reliability for certain subscales of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) of Avolio and Bass which were used in the study, and strong reliability for the composite scales of the MLQ, specifically those determining transformational and transactional leadership capabilities. Results show strong correlations between a conductor’s ratings on magnitude and certain communication skills with their own ratings of skills in transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and inspirational motivation. When student assessments of various leadership attributes were compared with those from other students, strong correlation existed, but when student assessments of the conductor were compared with similar self-assessments performed by the conductor, either a smaller, zero, or negative correlation occurred between the transformational, transactional, and inspi! rational motivation scores. When compared with conductor scores on the same measures as well as others believed to be related to good leadership, colleague assessments of the conductor showed either a small or nonexistent correlation within the conductors’ own ratings of themselves. The study explores how the MLQ, magnitude, and communication assessments used within might be applied to conductors to determine leadership potential and to compare the conductor’s results with students’ or colleagues’ assessments of them. The findings suggests that the elusive nature of leadership is hard to describe for ensemble conductors, and that overall success of the organization may or may not be connected to the conductor’s leadership ratings using one of the measures within the present study. Finally, conductors, just as any other leader, should be aware that one’s own perception may not reflect the experience of followers. Both self-awareness and awareness of the type of leadership modality needed in a situation might create a more closely correlated assessment of the leader’s ability to lead from the perspective of the conductor, singers, and colleagues

Choreographic and Somatic Approaches for the Development of Expressive Robotic Systems

As robotic systems are moved out of factory work cells into human-facing environments questions of choreography become central to their design, placement, and application. With a human viewer or counterpart present, a system will automatically be interpreted within context, style of movement, and form factor by human beings as animate elements of their environment. The interpretation by this human counterpart is critical to the success of the system's integration: knobs on the system need to make sense to a human counterpart; an artificial agent should have a way of notifying a human counterpart of a change in system state, possibly through motion profiles; and the motion of a human counterpart may have important contextual clues for task completion. Thus, professional choreographers, dance practitioners, and movement analysts are critical to research in robotics. They have design methods for movement that align with human audience perception, can identify simplified features of movement for human-robot interaction goals, and have detailed knowledge of the capacity of human movement. This article provides approaches employed by one research lab, specific impacts on technical and artistic projects within, and principles that may guide future such work. The background section reports on choreography, somatic perspectives, improvisation, the Laban/Bartenieff Movement System, and robotics. From this context methods including embodied exercises, writing prompts, and community building activities have been developed to facilitate interdisciplinary research. The results of this work is presented as an overview of a smattering of projects in areas like high-level motion planning, software development for rapid prototyping of movement, artistic output, and user studies that help understand how people interpret movement. Finally, guiding principles for other groups to adopt are posited.Comment: Under review at MDPI Arts Special Issue "The Machine as Artist (for the 21st Century)" http://www.mdpi.com/journal/arts/special_issues/Machine_Artis

Design and semantics of form and movement (DeSForM 2006)

Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM) grew from applied research exploring emerging design methods and practices to support new generation product and interface design. The products and interfaces are concerned with: the context of ubiquitous computing and ambient technologies and the need for greater empathy in the pre-programmed behaviour of the ‘machines’ that populate our lives. Such explorative research in the CfDR has been led by Young, supported by Kyffin, Visiting Professor from Philips Design and sponsored by Philips Design over a period of four years (research funding £87k). DeSForM1 was the first of a series of three conferences that enable the presentation and debate of international work within this field: • 1st European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM1), Baltic, Gateshead, 2005, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 2nd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM2), Evoluon, Eindhoven, 2006, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. • 3rd European conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM3), New Design School Building, Newcastle, 2007, Feijs L., Kyffin S. & Young R.A. eds. Philips sponsorship of practice-based enquiry led to research by three teams of research students over three years and on-going sponsorship of research through the Northumbria University Design and Innovation Laboratory (nuDIL). Young has been invited on the steering panel of the UK Thinking Digital Conference concerning the latest developments in digital and media technologies. Informed by this research is the work of PhD student Yukie Nakano who examines new technologies in relation to eco-design textiles

Talking the Talk: The Effect of Vocalics in an Interview

Our voices carry more than just content. People continuously make assumptions of one’s intelligence, credibility, personality, and other characteristics merely based on the way we talk. As the diversity of individuals in the workplace increases, so too do the differences in how those individuals talk. It is important that we understand how these different ways of speaking are being perceived in the workplace. More specifically, how are individuals being perceived prior to being hired via the interview process? This Honors Capstone project aims to understand the impact that vocal characteristics in an individual have on the interviewer’s perception of the interviewee, and how that impacts the hiring process. This project will offer professionals of all ages tangible advice on ways to increase one’s chances of receiving a job just by altering aspects of one’s voice

Examining the mismatch between the training and assessment of band and orchestra conductors in Michigan.

The dissertation builds on the research literature studying conductor training and the musical attributes requisite for adequate conducting skill and musical performance. The study also provides evidence that effective tools for evaluation of band and orchestra conductors are prevalent throughout the music education literature. Public school administrators, however, are generally unaware of that literature and often lack adequate assessment instruments to measure conductor effectiveness in rehearsal settings. Conductors have been teaching in the public schools for almost a century, however, many still undergo assessment procedures as if they were in an academic classroom. The study was assisted by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) who provided a clean set of respondents representing middle school and high school conductors from the State of Michigan. Three research questions framed the study. The first research question identified to what extent the conductors\u27 formal training matched up with the musical attributes requisite for adequate conducting skill and musical performance. The literature review provided the context for a comparison of these training attributes based on the frequency of those attributes found in the research studies. The survey results from the study respondents provided a compilation of the means and standard deviations of the conductors\u27 formal training as compared with the musical attributes requisite to adequate conducting skill and musical performance. The second research question investigated whether the conductors perceived that their review process evaluated these same musical attributes. The researcher used a Pearson-Product Moment correlation analysis to compare the means of those musical skills received in their studies with the assessment criteria used by administrators. This method measured the strength of the relationship between the training and the assessment instruments used by administrators in the public schools. For the third research question, the study determined to what extent the review process contributed to their job satisfaction. The researcher used a regression analysis to compare overall job satisfaction with the evaluative process and with specific variables that correlated to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. A regression analysis instrument measured the difference for each factor to determine the statistical association that assessment variables had with job satisfaction. The final chapter summarizes the study\u27s implications for conductor assessment and provides a possible framework for use in Michigan public schools for administrators to effectively evaluate conductors. This proposed assessment instrument aligns the formal musical training attributes found in the literature with those of successful musical performance practices and offers opportunities for growth and continued development of the conductor

Sensation seeking, non-contextual decision making, and driving abilities as measured through a moped simulator.

The general aim of the present study was to explore the relations between driving style (assessed through a moped riding simulator) and psychological variables such as sensation seeking and decision making. Because the influences of sensation seeking and decision making on driving styles have been studied separately in the literature, we have tried to investigate their mutual relations so as to include them in a more integrated framework. Participants rode the Honda Riding Trainer (HRT) simulator, filled in the Sensation Seeking Scale V (SSS V), and performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). A cluster analysis of the HRT riding indexes identified three groups: Prudent, Imprudent, and Insecure riders. First, the results showed that Insecure males seek thrills and adventure less than both Prudent males and Insecure females, whereas Prudent females are less disinhibited than both Prudent males and Insecure females. Moreover, concerning the relations among SSS, decision making as measured by the IGT, and riding performance, high thrill and adventure seekers performed worse in the simulator only if they were also bad decision makers, indicating that these two traits jointly contribute to the quality of riding performance. From an applied perspective, these results also provide useful information for the development of protocols for assessing driving abilities among novice road users. Indeed, the relation between risk proneness and riding style may allow for the identification of road-user populations who require specific training

Design Principles for Signal Detection in Modern Job Application Systems: Identifying Fabricated Qualifications

Hiring a new employee is traditionally thought to be an uncertain investment. This uncertainty is lessened by the presence of signals that indicate job fitness. Ideally, job applicants objectively signal their qualifications, and those signals are correctly assessed by the hiring team. In reality, signal manipulation is pervasive in the hiring process, mitigating the reliability of signals used to make hiring decisions. To combat these inefficiencies, we propose and evaluate SIGHT, a theoretical class of systems affording more robust signal evaluation during the job application process. A prototypical implementation of the SIGHT framework was evaluated using a mock-interview paradigm. Results provide initial evidence that SIGHT systems can elicit and capture qualification signals beyond what can be traditionally obtained from a typical application and that SIGHT systems can assess signals more effectively than unaided decision-making. SIGHT principles may extend to domains such as audit and security interviews