Meeting effectiveness and inclusiveness: large-scale measurement, identification of key features, and prediction in real-world remote meetings

Workplace meetings are vital to organizational collaboration, yet relatively little progress has been made toward measuring meeting effectiveness and inclusiveness at scale. The recent rise in remote and hybrid meetings represents an opportunity to do so via computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems. Here, we share the results of an effective and inclusive meetings survey embedded within a CMC system in a diverse set of companies and organizations. We correlate the survey results with objective metrics available from the CMC system to identify the generalizable attributes that characterize perceived effectiveness and inclusiveness in meetings. Additionally, we explore a predictive model of meeting effectiveness and inclusiveness based solely on objective meeting attributes. Lastly, we show challenges and discuss solutions around the subjective measurement of meeting experiences. To our knowledge, this is the largest data-driven study conducted after the pandemic peak to measure, understand, and predict effectiveness and inclusiveness in real-world meetings at an organizational scale

The interaction between reward-driven learning and selective attention

Selective attention is the prioritisation of certain pieces of information over others, and is often guided by task goals or by physical salience. Attention can also be guided by stimuli previously learned to be associated with reward which can capture attention in the absence of task relevance or physical salienceâa phenomenon termed value-driven attentional capture (VDAC; reviewed in Chapter 1). The first part of this thesis examines the cognitive and neural mechanisms of VDAC. Chapter 2 shows that stimuli with reward history can rapidly capture spatial attention without being currently task-relevant (akin to exogenous cues) and can also sustain attention over intervals as long as one second. Chapter 3 examines the neural mechanisms of VDAC using multivariate pattern analysis of magnetoencephalography data. Learned value modulates spatial representations of stimuli within posterior visual, parietal, and inferior temporal cortex, and this relates to the magnitude of the behavioural VDAC effect. No evidence was found suggesting that non-spatial features are similarly modulated. A stimulus-independent value signal was also found in insular and posterior visual and parietal cortex. However, the relatively late onset of these modulations during visual processing (~250ms) suggests that value signals may first arise elsewhere. The second part of this thesis describes a behavioural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in macaques which examines the impact of stimuli with reward history on reward learning and decision-making, and the brain regions that represent reward history and other parameters relevant to these processes. Chapter 4 shows that the reward history of a currently unrewarded option interferes with decision-making, possibly by slowing subjectsâ learning rates. Chapter 5 describes fMRI analyses showing that regions within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) track the learned value of stimuli. Analyses also revealed activity consistent with value comparison signals in the vmPFC, reward prediction error (RPE) signals in the amygdala and putamen, and unsigned RPE (âattentionâ) signals in the putamen, anterior cingulate cortex, and the vlPFC. However, fMRI analyses were not able to clearly explain the impact of reward history in the current study; possible reasons for this are discussed. Chapter 6 summarises the findings and their limitations and places them in the broader context of the interaction between learning and attention.</p

Previously reward-associated stimuli capture spatial attention in the absence of changes in the corresponding sensory representations as measured with MEG

Contains fulltext : 225017.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access

Polarity of uncertainty representation during exploration and exploitation in ventromedial prefrontal cortex

International audienceEnvironments furnish multiple information sources for making predictions about future events. Here we use behavioural modelling and functional magnetic resonance imaging to describe how humans select predictors that might be most relevant. First, during early encounters with potential predictors, participants’ selections were explorative and directed towards subjectively uncertain predictors (positive uncertainty effect). This was particularly the case when many future opportunities remained to exploit knowledge gained. Then, preferences for accurate predictors increased over time, while uncertain predictors were avoided (negative uncertainty effect). The behavioural transition from positive to negative uncertainty-driven selections was accompanied by changes in the representations of belief uncertainty in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). The polarity of uncertainty representations (positive or negative encoding of uncertainty) changed between exploration and exploitation periods. Moreover, the two periods were separated by a third transitional period in which beliefs about predictors’ accuracy predominated. The vmPFC signals a multiplicity of decision variables, the strength and polarity of which vary with behavioural context

Ultrasound modulation of macaque prefrontal cortex selectively alters credit assignment–related activity and behavior

International audienceCredit assignment is the association of specific instances of reward to the specific events, such as a particular choice, that caused them. Without credit assignment, choice values reflect an approximate estimate of how good the environment was when the choice was made—the global reward state—rather than exactly which outcome the choice caused. Combined transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging in macaques demonstrate credit assignment–related activity in prefrontal area 47/12o, and when this signal was disrupted with TUS, choice value representations across the brain were impaired. As a consequence, behavior was no longer guided by choice value, and decision-making was poorer. By contrast, global reward state–related activity in the adjacent anterior insula remained intact and determined decision-making after prefrontal disruption

10 Simple Rules for a Supportive Laboratory Environment

The transition to principal investigator (PI), or lab leader, can be challenging, partially due to the need to fulfil new managerial and leadership responsibilities. One key aspect of this role, which is often not explicitly discussed, is creating a supportive lab environment. Here, we present ten simple rules to guide the new PI in the development of their own positive and thriving lab atmosphere. These rules were written and voted on collaboratively, by the students and mentees of Professor Mark Stokes, who inspired this piece