Team Interaction Dynamics during Collaborative Problem Solving

The need for better understanding collaborative problem solving (CPS) is rising in prominence as many organizations are increasingly addressing complex problems requiring the combination of diverse sets of individual expertise to address novel situations. This research draws from theoretical and empirical work that describes the knowledge coordination arising from team communications during CPS and builds from this by incorporating methods to study interaction dynamics. Interaction between team members in such contexts is inherently dynamic and exhibits nonlinear patterns not accounted for by extant research methods. To redress this gap, the present study draws from methods designed to study social and team interaction as a nonlinear dynamical system. CPS was examined by studying knowledge building and interaction processes of 43 dyads working to solve NASA’s Moonbase Alpha simulation. Specifically, frame-differencing, an automated video analysis technique, was used to capture the bodily movements of participants and content coding was applied to the teams’ communications to characterize their CPS processes. A combination of linear and nonlinear analytic and modeling techniques were applied to quantify and predict CPS performance based on the observed interaction dynamics and other individual differences. We hypothesized that teams exhibiting synchronization in their bodily movements and complementarity in their communications would produce better problem solving outcomes. The present research advances theory and empirical knowledge on effective team interaction during CPS and provides practical guidance on methods that can be used to observe and quantify interaction dynamics during CPS in complex work domains

Conceptual and Methodological Challenges with Interpersonal Skills Assessment

This presentation, by Stephen Fiore of the University of Central Florida, was given during the second Workshop of Assessment of 21st Century Skills was held in May, 2011. In it, Fiore discusses different definitions of interpersonal skills, and they are assessed, what is missing from the current assessments, and the future of interpersonal skills assessment

Towards a computational model of social norms

We describe a computational model of social norms based on identifying values that a certain culture finds desirable such as dignity, generosity and politeness. The model quantifies these values in the form of Culture-Sanctioned Social Metrics (CSSMs) and treats social norms as the requirement to maximize these metrics from the perspective of the self, peers and public. This model can be used to create realistic social simulations, to explain or predict human behavior in specific scenarios, or as a component of robots or agents that need to interact with humans in specific social-cultural settings. We validate the model by using it to represent a complex deception scenario and showing that it can yield non-trivial insights such as the explanation of apparently irrational human behavior

MODELING THE ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE/NUTSEDGE PEST COMPLEX: PERSPECTIVES FROM WEED SCIENCE, NEMATOLOGY AND STATISTICS

Previous research by the authors has established that southern root-knot nematode (SRKN, Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood) and yellow and purple nutsedge (YNS, Cyperus esculentus L. and PNS, C. rotundus L.) form a pest-complex that adversely affects a wide variety of crops in the southern and western U.S. These pests appear to have co-evolved a mutually-beneficial relationship that promotes the survival of both nematodes and weeds to the detriment of crops. Traditional management has usually targeted one pest at a time, but managing this pest complex requires that all members of the complex be managed simultaneously. A series of experiments was performed to determine if this specific pest complex could be managed through crop-rotation using a non-dormant M. incognita-resistant variety of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) which can aggressively compete with, and hence decrease, occurrence of both species of nutsedges (NS), and subsequently decrease SRKN by decreasing the availability of root systems of host plants. A previous journal article discussed predicting counts of SRKN second-stage juveniles (SRKN-J2) as a function of YNS and PNS plant counts from a two-year alfalfa rotation experiment, using the Poisson distribution and a scale parameter to handle problems of overdispersion. In this paper, we examine three generalizations of the Poisson distribution that allow for the count variance being larger than the mean count: the Generalized Poisson, the Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP), and the Poisson Hurdle. The ZIP and Hurdle Poisson distributions both account for zero counts as a separate part of the distribution, while the Generalized Poisson incorporates a separate parameter that increases the variance relative to the mean. Different biological scenarios are presented for which each of these three general Poisson distributions might be logically appropriate. In addition, we use the alfalfa rotation data to present comparisons of fitted regression models of the three general Poisson distributions to the results from the previous analysis using the Poisson. For this data, there was no single probability distribution that worked best for all six sampling dates (three in each of the two years). This is not surprising in that over time the alfalfa rotation was, as planned, decreasing both nutsedge and nematode counts, thus presenting a moving target for the modeling process

uC: Ubiquitous Collaboration Platform for Multimodal Team Interaction Support

A human-centered computing platform that improves teamwork and transforms the “human- computer interaction experience” for distributed teams is presented. This Ubiquitous Collaboration, or uC (“you see”), platform\u27s objective is to transform distributed teamwork (i.e., work occurring when teams of workers and learners are geographically dispersed and often interacting at different times). It achieves this goal through a multimodal team interaction interface realized through a reconfigurable open architecture. The approach taken is to integrate: (1) an intuitive speech- and video-centric multi-modal interface to augment more conventional methods (e.g., mouse, stylus and touch), (2) an open and reconfigurable architecture supporting information gathering, and (3) a machine intelligent approach to analysis and management of heterogeneous live and stored sensor data to support collaboration. The system will transform how teams of people interact with computers by drawing on both the virtual and physical environment

BeppoSAX average spectra of Seyfert galaxies

We have studied the average 3-200 keV spectra of Seyfert galaxies of type 1 and 2, using data obtained with BeppoSAX. The average Seyfert 1 spectrum is well-fitted by a power law continuum with photon spectral index Gamma~1.9, a Compton reflection component R~0.6-1 (depending on the inclination angle between the line of sight and the reflecting material) and a high-energy cutoff at around 200 keV; there is also an iron line at 6.4 keV characterized by an equivalent width of 120 eV. Seyfert 2's on the other hand show stronger neutral absorption (NH=3-4 x 10^{22} atoms cm-2) as expected but are also characterized by an X-ray power law which is substantially harder (Gamma~1.75) and with a cut-off at lower energies (E_c~130 keV); the iron line parameters are instead substantially similar to those measured in type 1 objects. There are only two possible solutions to this problem: to assume more reflection in Seyfert 2 galaxies than observed in Seyfert 1 or more complex absorption than estimated in the first instance. The first possibility is ruled out by the Seyfert 2 to Seyfert 1 ratio while the second provides an average Seyfert 2 intrinsic spectrum very similar to that of the Seyfert 1. The extra absorber is likely an artifact due to summing spectra with different amounts of absorption, althought we cannot exclude its presence in at least some individual sources. Our result argues strongly for a very similar central engine in both type of galaxies as expected under the unified theory.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, to be published in ApJ Letter

Exploring the spectral properties of faint hard X-ray sources with XMM-Newton

We present a spectroscopic study of 41 hard X-ray sources detected serendipitously with high significance (> 5 sigma in the 2-10 keV band) in seven EPIC performance/verification phase observations. The large collecting area of EPIC allows us to explore the spectral properties of these faint hard X-ray sources with 2< F_{2-10} < 80 x 10^{-14} erg cm^{-2}s^{-1} even though the length of the exposures are modest (~ 20 ks). Optical identifications are available for 21 sources of our sample. Using a simple power law plus Galactic absorption model we find an average value of the photon index Gamma ~ 1.6-1.7, broadly consistent with recent measurements made at similar fluxes with ASCA and with Chandra stacked spectral analyses. We find that 31 out of 41 sources are well fitted by this simple model and only eight sources require absorption in excess of the Galactic value. Interestingly enough, one third of these absorbed sources are broad line objects, though with moderate column densities. Two sources in the sample are X-ray bright optically quiet galaxies and show flat X-ray spectra. Comparing our observational results with those expected from standard synthesis models of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) we find a fraction of unabsorbed to absorbed sources larger than predicted by theoretical models at our completeness limit of F_{2-10} ~ 5 x 10^{-14} erg cm^{-2}s^{-1}. The results presented here illustrate well how wide-angle surveys performed with EPIC on board XMM-Newton allow population studies of interesting and unusual sources to be made as well as enabling constraints to be placed on some input parameters for synthesis models of the CXB.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures. To be published in A&

Advancing the Science of Team Science

The First Annual International Science of Team Science (SciTS) Conference was held in Chicago, IL April 22-24, 2010. This article presents a summary of the Conference proceedings. Clin Trans Sci 2010; Volume 3: 263-266

Scientific Objectives of Einstein Telescope

The advanced interferometer network will herald a new era in observational astronomy. There is a very strong science case to go beyond the advanced detector network and build detectors that operate in a frequency range from 1 Hz-10 kHz, with sensitivity a factor ten better in amplitude. Such detectors will be able to probe a range of topics in nuclear physics, astronomy, cosmology and fundamental physics, providing insights into many unsolved problems in these areas.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, Plenary talk given at Amaldi Meeting, July 201