Effects of Motion Cues on the Training of Multi-Axis Manual Control Skills

The study described in this paper investigated the effects of two different hexapod motion configurations on the training and transfer of training of a simultaneous roll and pitch control task. Pilots were divided between two groups which trained either under a baseline hexapod motion condition, with motion typically provided by current training simulators, or an optimized hexapod motion condition, with increased fidelity of the motion cues most relevant for the task. All pilots transferred to the same full-motion condition, representing motion experienced in flight. A cybernetic approach was used that gave insights into the development of pilots use of visual and motion cues over the course of training and after transfer. Based on the current results, neither of the hexapod motion conditions can unambiguously be chosen as providing the best motion for training and transfer of training of the used multi-axis control task. However, the optimized hexapod motion condition did allow pilots to generate less visual lead, control with higher gains, and have better disturbance-rejection performance at the end of the training session compared to the baseline hexapod motion condition. Significant adaptations in control behavior still occurred in the transfer phase under the full-motion condition for both groups. Pilots behaved less linearly compared to previous single-axis control-task experiments; however, this did not result in smaller motion or learning effects. Motion and learning effects were more pronounced in pitch compared to roll. Finally, valuable lessons were learned that allow us to improve the adopted approach for future transfer-of-training studies

Height, Size, and/or Gap Width Variation in Jumping Stone Configurations:Which Form of Variation Attracts Children the Most?

Earlier studies revealed that children prefer nonstandardized jumping stone configurations to standardized ones. In the present study, we examined whether children playing on jumping stones prefer variation in stone height, stone size, and/or gap width. In Experiment 1, children could play freely on one standardized configuration and three configurations in which one of the aforementioned factors was varied. It was found that children judged the variation in height as most fun. Yet, the configuration with gap width variation appeared to be most challenging for the children-most overground steps were made in this configuration. In Experiment 2, we examined whether the attractiveness of the configurations increased when height variation was combined with the other forms of variation. Adding size and/or gap width variation to the variation in height did not contribute to the attractiveness of the configuration. In line with experiment 1, it was found that the configurations with gap width variation were judged as the most challenging for children. The implications of these results are discussed in the context of the literature on play.</p

Lumen - Gaia - Atlas : architectuur, kunst en tuinen van de gebouwen van de Environmental Sciences Group

The Environmental Sciences Group (ESG) is a collaboration between the Wageningen University Department of Environmental Sciences and the research institute Alterra. ESG contributes to realising a relatively high-quality and sustainable green living environment through expert and independent research in the fields of water and climate, soils, landscape, geo-information and ecosystems. This publication describes the architecture of the three buildings and mentions the art products and gardens in and around them

You’re either with us or against us! Moral conviction determines how the politicized distinguish friend from foe

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordThree studies investigated how politicized collective identification affects individuals’ reactions towards others. We hypothesized that a strong politicized identity tends to be accompanied by a moral conviction about the politicized cause, which in turn determines how the politicized respond to those less committed to their cause. Consistent with this, Study 1 showed that politicized (feminist) identification is associated with lower identification with women who place moderate (vs. high) moral value on gender equality. Study 2 showed that politicized identification was associated with negative emotions towards people who disagree with this cause and this was mediated by the extent to which participants saw supporting the activist goal as morally obligatory. Study 3 showed that politicized identification, to the extent to which it implied holding a moral conviction about the activist cause, is associated with a desire for more social distance to an attitudinally dissimilar other, but not from an attitudinally similar other.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research reported in this article was partially funded by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (328485) awarded to Maarten Zaal

Development of Possible Go-Around Criteria for Transport Aircraft

This paper adds data to help with the development of possible go-around criteria for transport category aircraft. Presently, airline procedures state that pilots make a go-around decision using multiple criteria at 1000 or 500 ft above the ground, or so-called gates. An experiment conducted on three level-D full-flight simulators investigated the conditions from which pilots cannot successfully recover from an unstable approach and make a normal landing. In addition, pilots' perceptions of risk under these various unstable approach conditions and resulting landings were assessed. Six crews, comprised of a captain and a first officer from the same airline, participated in each simulator. Both the captain and the first officer flew approaches and landings from 55 different initial conditions with varying gate heights, localizer deviations, glideslope deviations, reference-speed deviations, and rate of descents. The initial condition at the starting gate mainly affected longitudinal touchdown deviation and rate of descent at touchdown, with reference-speed deviation having the most significant effect. Results show little difference in touchdown performance for conditions from the 300-ft and 500-ft gates. Conditions at the 100-ft gate introduced significant differences in touchdown performance. Reference-speed and localizer deviation at the starting gate had the strongest influences on perceived risk and go-around decision. In line with other studies, these findings suggest that a 300-ft go-around gate might be acceptable. More research is required to investigate the effects of environmental and runway variables before possible go-around criteria for transport category aircraft can be defined

Pilot Evaluation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria for Transport Category Aircraft

The primary objective of this study was to capture pilot feedback and decision-making with regard to proposed, hypothetical, go-around criteria that were developed based on previous research. A secondary objective of the study was to assess crew members' awareness of the aircraft state on approach. An experiment was conducted using Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A330-200 level D full-flight simulators, in which pilots flew multiple approaches which were on the borderline of the proposed go-around criteria at 300 ft. Pilots were instructed that they could either execute a go-around or land the airplane on each run, forcing a decision for the borderline cases at 300 ft. Pilots were instructed to go around if the aircraft was outside of the go-around criteria at 300 ft or if either pilot was uncomfortable with the approach. The results revealed that: 1) the most important factors which drove go-around decision-making during the experiment were airspeed and localizer deviation, 2) the objective data suggested that the 300-ft gate is viable, although many pilots were still uncomfortable with that gate height; perhaps more emphasis on checking stability at 1,000 ft and 500 ft would make more pilots comfortable with the 300-ft go-around gate, 3) allowing for momentary deviations should be considered, and 4) the acceptability of the criteria is highly dependent on given pilot's risk tolerance. Overall, the proposed criteria performed well, and most pilots would find the criteria acceptable with some minor adjustments

Perceiving affordances in sports through a momentum lens

In this experimental study, we tested whether athletes’ judgments of affordances and of environmental features vary with psychological momentum (PM). We recruited golf, hockey, and tennis players, who were assigned to a positive or negative momentum condition. We designed a golf course on which participants made practice putts, after which they were asked to place the ball at their maximum “puttable” distance and to judge the hole size. Next, participants played a golf match against an opponent, in which the first to take a lead of 5 points would win the match. Participants were told that they could win a point by making the putt or by being closest to the hole. They wore visual occlusion goggles to prevent them from seeing the actual result, and the experimenter manipulated the scoring pattern to induce positive or negative PM. Participants in the positive momentum condition came back from a four-point lag to a four-point lead, whereas those in the negative momentum condition underwent the opposite scenario. We then asked the participants again to indicate their maximum puttable distance from the hole and to judge the hole size. After the manipulation, participants judged the maximum puttable distance to be longer in the positive momentum condition and shorter in the negative momentum condition. For the hole-size judgments, there were no significant effects. These results provide first indications for the idea that athletes’ affordances change when they experience positive PM compared to negative PM. This sheds a new light on the dynamics of perception-action processes and PM in sports