Integrative Processing of Verbal and Graphical Information During Re-reading Predicts Learning from Illustrated Text: An Eye-Movement Study

Printed or digital textbooks contain texts accompanied by various kinds of visualisation. Successful comprehension of these materials requires integrating verbal and graphical information. This study investigates the time course of processing an illustrated text through eye-tracking methodology in the school context. The aims were to identify patterns of first- and second-pass reading and to examine whether the integrative processing of text and picture during the less automatic and more purposeful second-pass reading predicts learning, after controlling for reading comprehension, prior knowledge, and self-concept. Forty-three 7th graders read an illustrated science text while their eye-movements were recorded. A cluster analysis revealed two processing patterns during the first-pass reading, which differed for the time spent on the main concepts in the text and picture. During re-reading, two patterns of stronger and weaker integrative processing emerged. Integration of verbal and graphical information was revealed by the frequency of second-pass transitions from text to picture and from picture to text, and the duration of picture re-inspecting while re-reading text information (look-from text to picture) and re-reading text information while re-inspecting the visualised information (look-from picture to text). A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that only the patterns of integrative processing during the second-pass reading uniquely predict verbal and graphical recalls, and the transfer of knowledge. The study provides evidence that the delayed processing which integrates text and graphics contributes to text retention and the application of newly learned knowledge, over and above individual characteristics. The educational significance is outlined

Facing with Collaborative Robots : The Subjective Experience in Senior and Younger Workers

In the past few years, collaborative robots (i.e., cobots) have been largely adopted within industrial manufacturing. Although robots can support companies and workers in carrying out complex activities and improving productivity, human factors related to cobot operators have not yet been thoroughly investigated. The present study aims to understand the subjective experience of younger and senior workers interacting with an industrial collaborative robot. Results show that workers' acceptance of cobots is high, regardless of age and control modality used. Interesting differences between seniors and younger adults emerged in the evaluations of user experience, usability, and perceived workload of participants and are detailed and commented in the last part of the work.Peer reviewe

The attentional blink: a structural or strategic limitation of the attentional system?

The Attentional Blink could be considered as a blind spot in perceptual awareness. This phenomenon results in a marked difficulty to identify the second of two sequential targets, that are presented in a close temporal contiguity, when these are embedded in a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation stream of distractors. The critical temporal window duration of this effect (within 200-600 ms after the presentation of the first target) depends on the time needed from the central processing of the first target. It is interesting to underly that when the temporal interval between the targets is equal to, or shorter then, 100 ms, the Attentional Blink disappears, namely the second target is identified without impairment. This effect is known as Lag-1 sparing in the sense that the second target results spared from the Attentional Blink. Crucial to the present research is the aim to investigate the role of the nature of processing carried out on targets in the Lag-1 sparing phenomenon. In a first series of experiments, 0, 1, or 2 digits (and in one case 0, 1, 2 letters) were embedded with equal probability in Rapid Serial Visual Presentation streams of letter distractors (and in one case in streams of digit distractors). In two experiments (i.e., the first and the third) participants were asked to identify the digits in some blocks of trials and to count the digits in others blocks. In one experiment (i.e., the second) the target to identify or counting were letters and the digits were distractors. In one experiment (i.e., the fourth) the counting task was replaced with a digit-sum task. In the last experiment (i.e., the fifth) the counting task was replaced by a counting task of the digits of a given parity sub-class (odd vs. even digits). Lag-1 sparing was always evident when the participants when the task was the explicit identification of the target digits. Lag-1 sparing was evident when participants were required to sum 2 digits or to count digits of a prespecified parity subclass (e.g., count just even digits). The effect was abolished when participants were asked to count the digits independent on their parity subclass. These results suggest that the occurrence of Lag-1 sparing depends on the type of mental representation that have to be generated on the basis of the target and task information. A numbers of researchers have emphatized the role of distractors intervening between successive targets as the primary determinant of the Attentional Blink. These authors argued that this phenomenon is abolished when 3 or more targets are displayed in a condition of contiguity in rapidly presented serial sequences. In a second series of experiments the present investigation delves deeper into the Lag-1 sparing issue. A multi-targets Rapid Serial Visual Presentation paradigm was employed in which 1-, 2-, 3- digit targets were embedded among letter distractors. Across the series of three experiments both, the numbers of presented targets and the temporal lag between them were manipulated. Evidence of an Attentional Blink was found in each experiment, namely targets that followed the first one in these sequences presented an impairment in the identification task, when the probability of a given target report was condizionalized on a correct response to the preceding targets. These results support and reinforce the notion that some form of capacity limitation in the encoding of targets plays a fundamental role in the elicitation and modulation of the Attentional Blink effect.Il fenomeno Attentional Blink puo' essere considerato un punto debole nella consapevolezza percettiva. Tale effetto si configura come una marcata difficolta' nell'identificazione del secondo, di due stimoli target, quando questi vengono presentati in stretta contiguita' temporale, inseriti all'interno di una serie di stimoli distrattori in un paradigma sperimentale di Presentazione Visiva Seriale Rapida. La finestra temporale critica di questo fenomeno (compresa tra 200-600 ms dopo la presentazione del primo stimolo target) dipende dall'intervallo temporale richiesto al processo di elaborazione del primo stimolo target. E' interessante sottolineare che quando l'intervallo temporale tra i due stimoli target e' uguale, o inferiore, a 100 ms, l'attentional blink scompare, il risultato e' che il secondo stimolo target viene identificato correttamente. Questo effetto e' noto come Lag-1 sparing, da interpretare in questo senso, che il secondo target risulta preservato dall'Attentional Blink. Cruciale per la presente ricerca e' il proposito di investigare il ruolo della natura dell'elaborazione che viene condotta sugli stimoli targets, all'interno del fenomeno Lag-1 sparing. In una prima serie di esperimenti 0, 1, oppure due cifre target (e in un caso 0, 1, 2 lettere) venivano inserite con la medesima probabilita' all'interno di stringhe di Presentazione Visiva Seriale Rapida di lettere impiegate come distrattori (e in un caso all'interno di stringhe di cifre come distrattori). In due esperimenti (rispettivamente, il primo e il terzo) i partecipanti dovevano identificare i numeri in alcuni blocchi di prove e contare il numero di cifre in altri blocchi di prove. In un esperimento (il secondo) gli stimoli targets erano lettere, da identificare o contare, e gli stimoli distrattori erano cifre. In un esperimento (il quarto) il compito di conteggio era sostituito da un compito di somma delle cifre. Nell'ultimo esperimento (il quinto) il comptito di conteggio era sostituito da un compito di conteggio di una data sotto-classe di uguaglianza (cifre pari vs. cifre dispari). Il Lag-1 sparing era sempre presente nelle condizioni in cui ai partecipanti veniva chiesto esplicitamente di identificare le cifre. Il Lag-1 sparing era evidente quando i partecipanti dovevano sommare le due cifre o contare le cifre di una sotto-classe prespecificata (es., contare unicamente le cifre pari). L'effetto era abolito quando i partecipanti dovevano contare le cifre in modo indipendente dalla loro stessa sotto-classe. Tali risultati suggeriscono che la presenza del Lag-1 sparing dipende dalla tipologia di rappresentazione mentale che e' stata generata sulla base delle informazione proveniente dallo stimolo target e dal compito richiesto. Alcuni ricercatori hanno enfatizzato il ruolo dei distrattori, che intervengono tra due stimoli target successivi, come determinante primaria dell'Attentional Blink. Questi autori sostengono che tale fenomeno sia abolito quando 3 o piu' targets sono presentati in condizione di contiguita' all'interno di sequenze di stimoli distrattori presentate rapidamente. In una seconda serie di tre esperimenti la presente investigazione approfondisce in dettaglio la problematica Lag-1 sparing. E' stato impiegato un paradigma di Presentazione Visiva Serial Rapida con 1-, 2-, 3- cifre (stimoli target) inseriti all'interno di una serie di lettere (stimoli distrattori). Attraverso la serie di esperimenti sono stati manipolati sia il numero di stimoli target presentati sia l'intervallo temporale di presentazione di questi ultimi. La presenza di un Attentional Blink e' stata riscontrata in ciascun esperimento, gli stimoli targets che seguivano temporalmente il primo stimolo target, all'interno delle sequenze di stimoli, presentavano un prestazione deficitaria nel compito di identificazione, quando la probabilita' di un dato stimolo target era condizionata ad una corretta identificazione dei precedenti stimoli target. Tali risultati sostengono e rinforzano la nozione secondo cui alcune forme di limitazione a livello delle risorse di codifica degli stimoli target giocano un ruolo fondamentale nell'elicitare e nel modulare l'effetto di Attentional Blink

Reading information about a scientific phenomenon on webpages varying for reliability: An eye-movement analysis

Students search the Web every day for many purposes, one of which is to search information for academic assignments. Given the huge amount of easily accessible online information, they are required to develop new reading skills and become more able to effectively evaluate the reliability of web sources. This study investigates the distribution of their visual attention while reading webpages using eye-tracking methodology. The aim was to examine whether information received differential attention depending on the reliability of the source and whether the individual characteristics of topic-specific prior knowledge and epistemic beliefs moderated their visual behavior during reading. Factual knowledge after reading was also examined. Forty-nine university students read four webpages providing verbal and graphical information about the universal validity of the central dogma of molecular biology, which varied for reliability. Indices of first-pass and second pass reading or inspection were used to trace the processing of information within each page. Findings revealed that readers made an implicit source evaluation as they spent a longer time inspecting the pictures about the more and less familiar information within the most reliable source during the immediate, more automatic, processing. In addition, topic-specific epistemic beliefs moderated this processing as readers with more availing convictions about knowledge attended more the information provided in pages that required more discernment. Moreover, readers increased their factual knowledge of the topic after reading. Educational implications are outlined

Virtual morality: Using virtual reality to study moral behavior in extreme accident situations

Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are widely employed to investigate human behavior in dangerous situations that cannot be safely reproduced in the real world, allowing researchers to study in an ecological way complex scenarios such as training for risky jobs, safety procedures, emergencies and, more recently, moral dilemmas in driving context. Understanding how people act when facing severe accidents involving unavoidable collisions has extremely important implications for the design and development of the 'decisional system' of Autonomous Vehicles (AV s). However, previous studies have not focused on the differences between being the driver acting in a complex moral situation or being in a self-driving car that chooses for you. In the present paper, we described a case study that uses a first-person virtual reality simulation to investigate people's emotional reactions, perceived sense of responsibility, and acceptability of moral behavior in human and autonomous driving modalities. The main findings showed that participants experienced a high sense of presence in our simulation and react differently to the two driving conditions, showing a greater arousal, a more negative valence, and an increased sense of responsibility when faced moral dilemmas as drivers. Instead, in scenarios that did not involve killing someone (non-moral dilemmas), being in a fully autonomous vehicle was judged less pleasant than being the actual driver. These results suggest that people prefer to be in control only in common driving situations and not when their actions have deadly consequences on other people, suggesting the need to consider emotional factors in studying decision-making applied to autonomous vehicles, as a mean to reach a more complete understanding of people's reactions to this new technology, and to possibly gain insights for the design of autonomous driving systems and, more generally, AI-driven machines

Source Authoritativeness and Patterns of Eye Movement during Webpage Reading

Learners should be able to evaluate the credibility of websites and the veracity of their content to follow up only accurate and supported information. This study aimed to investigate whether attention on the same information is allocated differently according to the authoritativeness of a webpage, and whether individual characteristics of topic-specific prior knowledge and epistemic beliefs moderate this process. We used eye-tracking methodology that provides fine-grained data about the amount of visual attention devoted to the same information offered by different sources, both in a quick, automated way and in a delayed, deliberate way. Thirty-nine undergraduates read four authentic webpages, comprising five types of information: URL, text 1, text 2, picture 1, and picture 2, which provided verbal and graphical information about the universal validity of the central dogma of molecular biology. The webpages were situated on a continuum from the most to the least authoritative: institutional, encyclopedic, popular, and alternative. Findings indicated implicit source evaluation, as revealed by more automatic (first-pass fixation times) and delayed processing (second-pass fixation times), which varied according to source reliability. In the first-pass, greater attention was dedicated to the more familiar information within the most credible page. Readers also integrated more words and graphical elements when processing the information in the highly authoritative source during the second-pass reading. Data on individual characteristics \u201cvalidate\u201d, to some extent, data regarding the patterns of eye movement. In addition, crucial positive relations between integrative eye-movement patterns and web-based learning also emerged

Uso dei movimenti oculari per esaminare l’elaborazione cognitiva di testi scientifici illustrati

La ricerca sulla comprensione di testi scientifici si è più recentemente occupata di esaminare i processi on-line di elaborazione cognitiva durante la lettura, usando la metodologia oggettiva e non intrusiva della registrazione dei movimenti oculari. L’obiettivo di questo contributo è di analizzare indici raffinati del comportamento oculare, utili a rilevare il global text processing (Hyönä, Lorch, & Rinck, 2003) attivato da lettori di testi scientifici illustrati, coinvolti in due studi, e il loro legame con i risultati off-line della comprensione