POPEYE: A production rule-based model of multitask supervisory control (POPCORN)

Recent studies of relationships between subjective ratings of mental workload, performance, and human operator and task characteristics have indicated that these relationships are quite complex. In order to study the various relationships and place subjective mental workload within a theoretical framework, we developed a production system model for the performance component of the complex supervisory task called POPCORN. The production system model is represented by a hierarchial structure of goals and subgoals, and the information flow is controlled by a set of condition-action rules. The implementation of this production system, called POPEYE, generates computer simulated data under different task difficulty conditions which are comparable to those of human operators performing the task. This model is the performance aspect of an overall dynamic psychological model which we are developing to examine and quantify relationships between performance and psychological aspects in a complex environment

Palaeomagnetic and U-series Dating of Cave Sediments in Baradla Cave, Hungary

Drobnozrnati siliklastični sedimenti glavne galerije in gornjega nivoja jame Baradla, izkazujejo veliko homogenost v zgradbi in sedimentnih teksturah. Paleomagnetne analize kažejo normalno polarizacijo vseh vzorcev, kar pomeni starost, ki je mlajša od meje Brunhes/Matuyama pri 780 ka. Siga oz. stalagmiti, ki pokrivajo siliklaste v gornjem jamskem nivoju, vsebujejo tudi reverzno polarizirane vzorce, katerih datacije z uran torijevo metodo kažejo na starost 114-115 ka, kar nakazuje na dogodek Blake. Homogenost sedimentov lahko razložimo z enkratnim dogodkom, kjer je zapolnitev s sedimentom povzročil zastoj pretoka. Temu so lahko botrovali geološki (npr. podor) ali paleoklimatski vzroki pred približno 130-150 ka, kolikor je tudi najvišja starost sedientov v sistemu Domica-Baradla izmerjena z metodo uran-torij. Fine-grained siliciclastic sediments from the main gallery and upper cave level show nearly uniform composition and sedimentary textures. Palaeomagnetic analysis indicates normal magnetic polarisation of all samples, i.e. the age younger than Brunhes/Matuyama boundary at 780 ka. Flowstone/stalagmite covering siliciclastics in the upper cave level contains reverse polarised samples dated by U-series method to about 114–115 ka, which can be identified as the Blake Event. The uniform composition of sediments can indicate the infill of the cave during a single event caused by the blockage of drainage routes due to geological (collapse) or palaeoclimatic (ice) changes, which took part before ca 130 to 150 ka as indicating by the oldest U-series data from the whole Domica–Baradla Cave System.

REKONSTRUKCE PALEOHYDROGRAFIE NA ZÁKLADĚ DATOVÁNÍ SEDIMENTŮ HOLŠTEJNSKÉ JESKYNĚ (MORAVSKÝ KRAS)

Large sections in cave deposits are exposed in the Holštejnská Cave in the Moravian Karst. The periods of fluvial activity alternated with periods of speleothem deposition. The study of the genesis and age of these cave deposits poses a clue to the reconstruction of development of the Holštejnská Cave and of local paleohydrographic history. The time of deposition was determined by U-series dating of speleothems, 10Be and 26Al dating of quartz pebbles, radiocarbon dating of charcoal and measurement of paleomagnetic record in both clastic sediments and speleothems. The fluvial sediments were deposited during the Early, Middle and Late Pleistocene in the cave. The age of oldest cave sediment sequence deposited by a subsurface stream indicates that the local hydrographic situation has changed later than 0.8 Ma

Information processing of stimulus modules and dimensions in visual perception: Independence and interactions

Early vision is believed to be moderated by a number of anatomically separate modules in the cortex. Specifically, two anatomically separate cortical pathways subserve the processing of different types of information: The occipito-temporal pathway processes information related to form, texture and color, while the occipito-parietal pathway is involved in the perception of motion, disparity and location. Evidence for the independence of processing of these two pathways is reviewed from three sources; neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of visual system, neuropsychology, and visual perception in normal adults. The term independence , however, needs to be clarified. Three definitions have been advanced in the framework of the General Recognition Theory (GRT; Ashby & Townsend, 1986), a multidimensional extension of Signal Detection Theory (SDT; Green & Swets, 1966); (1) perceptual separability, (2) decisional separability, (3) and perceptual independence. Within this framework, a new methodology to test for these three types of independence was recently developed (Kadlec & Townsend, 1992a, 1992b). The present study employed this methodology to test the separabilities and independence of three stimulus dimensions from the Form and Location modules/pathways. Two Form dimensions were chosen, Curvature of an arc and Orientation of a line segment in modified circle-radial line stimuli (Shepard, 1964). One dimension of Location was employed, the spatial position in the upper half of the retina. Stimuli were presented monocularly to the left or to the right visual hemifield. Three subjects were tested in three conditions, at low, medium and high discriminability on the three dimensions. Results supported the hypothesis that Form was perceptually separable from Location; however, Location was not separable from Form. Further analyses indicated that, as predicted, Curvature and Orientation interacted while Curvature and Location were often perceptually separable. Contrary to hypothesis, however, Location was not separable from Orientation. These results were corroborated by fitting and comparing two classes of geometric models, GRT models and Multidimensional Scaling (MDS)-Choice model (e.g., Getty, Swets, Swets, & Green, 1979; Nosofsky, 1989). The conclusions reached by the model fitting procedures were globally similar to those reached by the SDT-based methodology, but not as powerful in revealing the asymmetric failures of separability. Implications for future research are indicated

Perceptual or Analytical Processing? Evidence from Children\u27s and Adult\u27s Performance on the Euclidean Traveling Salesperson Problem

The Euclidean Traveling Salesperson Problem (E-TSP) is a useful task to study how humans optimize when faced with computational intractability. It has been found that humans are capable of finding high-quality solutions for E TSP in a relatively short time and with seemingly little cognitive effort. This observation has led to two general proposals: The high quality of performance on E-TSP reflects (a) the output of automatic and innate perceptual processes or (b) a fundamentally intelligent approach to the task by humans. An experiment was performed to compare performance of three age groups (7- year-olds, 12-year-olds, and adults). Our findings provide corroborating evidence that high-level performance on E-TSP is attainable with perceptual processing alone. At the same time, the exceptionally high performance of adult participants suggests that they additionally exploit their cognitive-analytic skills to improve upon what their visual systems provide

Providing Transparency and Quality in the Implementation of ECVET in the Czech Republic

Cílem zpracování návrhu je připravit materiál, který – ve vazbě na aktuální stav zavádění ECVET – reaguje na potřebu zajistit informovanost, transparentnost a kvalitu v procesu zavádění ECVET a identifikovat akcenty pro zavádění ECVET v nadcházejícím období