Nie patrz mi na ręce : wpływ obecności świadków na realizację zadań ratowniczych

Strażacy podczas działań ratowniczych funkcjonują w otoczeniu społecznym, w związku z tym pozostają pod wpływem społecznym i sami go wywołują. Jednym z subtelnych przejawów wpływu społecznego jest efekt facylitacji społecznej polegający na zmianie w szybkości i jakości wykonania zadań w wyniku bycia obserwowanym przez inne osoby. Zjawisko to zdaje się wyjaśniać model uwagowy, który przewiduje, że pod wpływem obecności osób trzecich zawężeniu ulega uwaga, co może prowadzić do pogorszenia lub poprawy (w zależności od warunków) wykonania zadania. Autorzy postawili hipotezę, że strażacy podczas działań ratowniczych podlegają zjawisku facylitacji społecznej – obecność osób postronnych wpływa na przebieg wykonywanych przez nich zadań. Projekt i metody: Aby odpowiedzieć na pytanie, czy strażacy podczas działań ratowniczych mogą podlegać zjawisku facylitacji wywoływanemu przez obecność osób postronnych, przeprowadzono eksploracyjne badanie jakościowe oparte na osiemnastu inspirowanych metodą fenomenologiczną i częściowo-ustrukturyzowanych wywiadach z ratownikami Państwowej Straży Pożarnej. Wypowiedzi badanych analizowano pod kątem zachowań osób postronnych będących świadkami prowadzonych działań. Treść wywiadów była rozpatrywana zgodnie z wytycznymi IPA, przy użyciu oprogramowania wspomagającego analizę jakościową (Atlas.ti). Wyniki: Analiza wywiadów pozwala przypuszczać, że okoliczności społeczne podczas działań ratowniczych sprzyjają występowaniu zjawiska facylitacji społecznej. Zgromadzone dane, wskazujące na oddziaływanie świadków zdarzenia na strażaków, pozwoliły na wyodrębnienie dwóch grup zachowań osób postronnych, które w szczególny sposób pogarszają funkcjonowanie strażaków podczas działań: dokumentowanie działań przez świadków (np. poprzez nagrywanie) oraz świadome utrudnienie działań. Zebrany materiał pozwala również na wyciągnięcie wniosku, że dla ratowników w tych sytuacjach obecność świadków jest nacechowana emocjonalnie – świadkowie wzbudzają emocje (np. lęk przed konsekwencjami). Wnioski: Uzyskane wyniki wspierają hipotezę o wpływie osób postronnych na przebieg wykonywanych przez ratowników działań. Dodatkowo wskazano czynniki, które w szczególny sposób te działania utrudniają. Z praktycznego punktu widzenia szczególną uwagę przyciąga problem filmowania akcji ratowniczych. Można przewidywać, że to negatywnie wpływające na przebieg działań zjawisko, będzie w najbliższym czasie się nasilać. Rodzi to konieczność przygotowania systemu na coraz większą presję ze strony świadków zdarzeń, zwłaszcza poprzez szkolenie ratowników w zakresie minimalizowania negatywnych konsekwencji efektu audytorium.Aim: During rescue operations, firefighters function in a social setting, and therefore they remain under social influence and exert it themselves. One of the subtle manifestations of social influence is the social facilitation effect in changing the speed and quality of operations as a result of being watched by other people. This phenomenon seems to be explained by the attentional model, which predicts that in the presence of third parties attention is narrowed, which may lead to deterioration of, or improvement in, task performance (depending on conditions). The authors addressed the research question whether firefighters are affected by to the phenomenon of social facilitation during rescue operations – the presence of bystanders affecting the performance of their tasks. Design and methods: To answer the question of whether, during rescue operations, firefighters may be subject to the phenomenon of facilitation induced by the presence of bystanders, we conducted an exploratory qualitative study based on 18 partially-structured interviews inspired by the phenomenological method, with rescuers from the State Fire Service. The interviewees’ responses were subjected to content analysis in terms of the behaviour of bystanders witnessing their activities. Interviews were analysed according to IPA with the use of qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti. Results: Our analysis of the interviews suggests that social circumstances during rescue operations are conducive to the occurrence of the phenomenon of social facilitation. The collected data indicating the witnesses’ impact on firefighters allowed two different types of bystander behaviour, which impair the work of firefighters during operations: documenting actions of firefighters by witnesses (e.g. by recording) and conscious hindering of fire-fighting operations. The collected material also allows us to draw the conclusion that, for the rescuers in these situations, the presence of witnesses is emotionally charged – the witnesses evoke emotions (such as fear of consequences). Conclusions: The results suggest that the course of rescuers’ operations is influenced by bystanders. In addition, we identified some factors that especially hinder these activities. From a practical point of view, the filming of rescue operations by bystanders seems to be the most problematic. It is likely that this practice, which has a negative impact on the course of rescue activities, will intensify in the near future. Thus the system should be prepared for the increasing pressure from witnesses, and in particular should provide training to equip rescuers with the skills necessary to minimise the negative consequences of the audience effect

Polska adaptacja Kwestionariusza Presence Igroup

Poczucie bycia obecnym to kluczowy konstrukt w badaniach nad wirtualnymi środowiskami, a w szczególności nad wirtualną rzeczywistością – najpopularniejszym typem takich środowisk. Poczucie bycia obecnym ma wpływ na efektywność symulacji. W celu stworzenia polskiej wersji Kwestionariusza Presence Igroup (IPQ-PL) oryginalne narzędzie zostało przetłumaczone i użyte w badaniu ankietowym (n = 245) testującym strukturę i związki z innymi konstruktami. Wyniki wskazują, że IPQ-PL można uznać za trafne narzędzie do pomiaru poczucia bycia obecnym i wykorzystywać w badaniach na polskich próbach.Presence, defined as a psychological state of "being there", is experienced during an interaction with Immersive Virtual Environments, particularly with Virtual Reality – the most popular type of such environment. Measuring presence is crucial because its level determines the effectiveness of virtual environments. The authors conducted a translation and a study (n = 245) that aimed to provide a Polish version of the Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ-PL). The structure of the questionnaire and relations with other constructs were tested. The results indicate that IPQ-PL may be considered a valid tool for measuring presence and may be used in studies conducted on Polish samples

Search for expectancy-inconsistent information reduces uncertainty better : the role of cognitive capacity

Motivation and cognitive capacity are key factors in people’s everyday struggle withuncertainty. However, the exact nature of their interplay in various contexts still needsto be revealed. The presented paper reports on two experimental studies whichaimed to examine the joint consequences of motivational and cognitive factors forpreferences regarding incomplete information expansion. In Study 1 we demonstratethe interactional effect of motivation and cognitive capacity on information preference.High need for closure resulted in a stronger relative preference for expectancy-inconsistent information among non-depleted individuals, but the opposite amongcognitively depleted ones. This effect was explained by the different informative valueof questions in comparison to affirmative sentences and the potential possibility ofassimilation of new information if it contradicts prior knowledge. In Study 2 we furtherinvestigated the obtained effect, showing that not only questions but also other kindsof incomplete information are subject to the same dependency. Our results support theexpectation that, in face of incomplete information, motivation toward closure may befulfilled efficiently by focusing on expectancy-inconsistent pieces of data. We discussthe obtained effect in the context of previous assumptions that high need for closureresults in a simple processing style, advocating a more complex approach based on thecharacter of the provided information

When the need for closure promotes complex cognition

Lay epistemic theory is one of the most popular theoretical frameworks describing the knowledge formation process. According to it, the central variable determining the epistemic process is the need for cognitive closure. In most cases, high levels of this motivation are associated with simplified and accelerated processing of information. This can lead to an overly simplified understanding of this variable. In fact, there are reasons to believe that the typical relationship is reversed under certain circumstances. The paper is a review of the research supporting this prediction. Results were analyzed with particular emphasis on two postulates of the theory: the two phases of the epistemic process and the dual nature of the need for cognitive closure

Can Simulator Sickness Be Avoided? A Review on Temporal Aspects of Simulator Sickness

Simulator sickness is a syndrome similar to motion sickness, often experienced during simulator or another virtual reality (VR) exposure. Many theories have been developed or adapted from the motion sickness studies, in order to explain the existence of the syndrome. The simulator sickness can be measured using both subjective and objective methods. The most popular self-report method is the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Attempts have also been made to discover a physiological indicator of the described syndrome, but no definite conclusion has been reached on this issue. In the present paper, three temporal aspects of the simulator sickness are discussed: the temporal trajectory of the progression of simulator sickness, possibility of adapting VR users in advance and persistence of the symptoms after VR exposure. Evidence found in 39 articles is widely described. As for the first aspect, it is clear that in most cases severity of the simulator sickness symptoms increases with time of exposure, although it is impossible to develop a single, universal pattern for this effect. It has also been proved, that in some cases a threshold level or time point exists, after which the symptoms stop increasing or begin to decrease. The adaptation effect was proved in most of the reviewed studies and observed in different study designs – e.g., with a couple of VR exposures on separate days or on 1 day and with a single, prolonged VR exposure. As for the persistence of the simulator sickness symptoms after leaving the VR, on the whole the study results suggest that such an effect exists, but it varies strongly between individual studies – the symptoms may persist for a short period of time (10 min) or a relatively long one (even 4 h). Considering the conclusions reached in the paper, it is important to bear in mind that the virtual reality technology still evokes unpleasant sensations in its users and that these sensations should be cautiously controlled while developing new VR tools. Certainly, more research on this topic is necessary

Moderators of social facilitation effect in virtual reality : co-presence and realism of virtual agents

Social facilitation has been researched for decades, but in the face of the development of virtual reality technology, new questions arise regarding the possibility of its occurrence in this environment - in the presence of computer-generated agents. Past research provided inconclusive answers: several experiments confirmed this possibility, but several others disagreed. On the other hand, previous studies have shown the important role of VR characteristics, such as realism or co-presence, in evoking other psychological phenomena. However, no study has investigated the interplay between the presence of computer-generated agents and perceived social realism in evoking social facilitation in virtual reality. To this end, the present randomized control study was conducted. The sample consisted of professional firefighters (N = 48), divided into an experimental group with virtual bystanders and a control group without them. Subjects were instructed to perform a rescue procedure in a virtual reality headset. The performance of participants was logged and they completed questionnaires regarding sense of presence in the virtual environment, perceived realism of the environment and perceived co-presence of virtual agents. The obtained results confirmed the role of social realism as a moderator of the occurrence of social facilitation in the presence of computer-generated agents. At the same time, the main effect of facilitation was not confirmed. These results support predictions that the subjective feeling of being in a realistic company of others may be more important in evoking social facilitation than objective facts. Furthermore, the results contribute to the debate regarding the mechanism of social facilitation, suggesting that simple augmentation of the environment with social distractors is not always enough, thus questioning the attentional explanation of the effect. Taken together, our results extend previous findings on social facilitation and open up new possibilities for designing effective virtual environments

Applying affective design patterns in VR firefighter training simulator

We present a prototype of virtual reality training simulator for firefighters. Our approach is based on the concept of Affective Patterns in Serious Games. One of the most serious problems when it comes to training firefighters is to maintain the right level of their commitment. The idea to solve the problem of repetitive and monotonous exercises is to combine them with those implemented in VR. While creating the solution for optimizing a psychological background of knowledge acquisition in training, we used concepts from the Motivational Intensity Theory

Measuring the effectiveness of virtual training : a systematic review

The amount of research on virtual reality learning tools increases with time. Despite the diverse environments and theoretical foundations, enough data have been accumulated in recent years to provide a systematic review of the methods used. We pose ten questions concerning the methodological aspects of these studies. We performed a search in three databases according to the PRISMA guidelines and evaluated several characteristics, with particular emphasis on researchers' methodological decisions. We found an increase over time in the number of studies on the effectiveness of VR-based learning. We also identified shortcomings related to how the duration and number of training sessions are reported. We believe that these two factors could affect the effectiveness of VR-based training. Furthermore, when using the Kirkpatrick model, a significant imbalance can be observed in favor of outcomes from the ‘Reaction’ and ‘Learning’ levels compared to the ‘Behavior’ and ‘Results’ levels. The last of these was not used in any of the 330 reviewed studies. These results highlight the importance of research on the effectiveness of VR training. Taking into account the identified methodological shortcomings will allow for more significant research on this topic in the future