Acquisition and production of skilled behavior in dynamic decision-making tasks

This status report consists of a thesis entitled 'Ecological Task Analysis: A Method for Display Enhancements.' Previous use of various analysis processes for the purpose of display interface design or enhancement has run the risk of failing to improve user performance due to the analysis resulting in only a sequencial listing of user tasks. Adopting an ecological approach to performing the task analysis, however, may result in the necessary modeling of an unpredictable and variable task domain required to improve user performance. Kirlik has proposed an Ecological Task Analysis framework which is designed for this purpose. It is the purpose of this research to measure this framework's effectiveness at enhancing display interfaces in order to improve user performance. Following the proposed framework, an ecological task analysis of experienced users of a complex and dynamic laboratory task, Star Cruiser, was performed. Based on this analysis, display enhancements were proposed and implemented. An experiment was then conducted to compare this new version of Star Cruiser to the original. By measuring user performance at different tasks, it was determined that during early sessions, use of the enhanced display contributed to better user performance compared to that achieved using the original display. Furthermore, the results indicate that the enhancements proposed as a result of the ecological task analysis affected user performance differently depending on whether they are enhancements which aid in the selection of a possible action or in the performance of an action. Generalizations of these findings to larger, more complex systems were avoided since the analysis was only performed on this one particular system

The Examination of Slo-pitch Hitting Movement Coordination

This study developed an interdisciplinary approach by utilizing the principles of ecological task analysis and movement coordination from areas of motor leaning and biomechanics to examine the skill of slo-pitch softball hitting. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a task constraint, stride technique, and an environmental constraint, pitched ball location, on the participants’ movement patterns. Ten elite male softball players participated in the study and a two-way ANOVA of 2 locations of pitch (inside and outside) x 3 strides (open, parallel and closed) repeated measure study was conducted. The results showed that participants demonstrated different joint movements and different coordination patterns in slo-pitch hitting. Hence, this study supports the rationale of ecological task analysis. Further, a Euclidean distance analysis was conducted to evaluate the degree of dissimilarity between the individual and group mean results in attempt to better understand the generalizability. The results indicated that participants generally showed a low degree of dissimilarity; hence, coaches and educators may apply the findings to other players. A similar interdisciplinary approach is warranted for future research studies on other sport skills or health conditions in order to better understand the mechanics of human motion

Teaching Near The Edge of Chaos: Dynamic Systems, Student Choices and Library Research

This article is an investigation of the Dynamic Systems theory and its application to instruction and the learning process. Curricular suggestions are provided from the authors\u27 collaborative uses of library instruction within university academic courses. These suggestions address the use of environmental (classroom) and task manipulations to provide students with choices within activities related to conducting literature reviews. A Four-Step Teaching Model, based on the Ecological Task Analysis Model (Davis and Burton, 1991), is also outlined, to give readers a step-by-step procedure to use when developing classroom curricula and delivery plans

Breakfast for You task (B4Y): Preliminary evidence from the development of an interactive and ecological task for the assessment of social cognition

openIn the field of social cognition, the lack of ecological validity for the assessment procedures used in clinical practice is a recurrent obstacle. The classical static materials commonly used do not seem to accurately reflect the dynamic behavioural interchange occurring between people in the real-world, complex contexts that characterize social cognition. Consequently, researchers are now acknowledging the need for stimuli that are more dynamic, multimodal, context-embedded, and socially interactive. On this basis, the present study aimed to design a novel assessment tool that incorporates real-life scenarios and dynamic interactions between the subject and the researcher: The Breakfast for You (B4U) Task. We particularly sought to obtain preliminary evidence from a group of healthy young participants to initiate the validation process of the task, which framed social cognition in the context of daily life activities. By incorporating innovative variables tapping into components of social cognition (emotional recognition, ToM, and perspective taking), the study successfully demonstrated the convergent validity of B4U when compared to more traditional measures of social cognition. Furthermore, we achieved divergent validity by obtaining a genuine measure of pure social cognition disentangled from broader cognitive functions. Finally, we obtained evidence for ecological validity for a specific subcomponent of the ones assessed. Even if we lacked the appropriate statistical power to generalize our findings, the B4U task holds promise as a valid and ecologically sound assessment tool for social cognition if further implemented and refined with larger samples and extended to diverse clinical populations.In the field of social cognition, the lack of ecological validity for the assessment procedures used in clinical practice is a recurrent obstacle. The classical static materials commonly used do not seem to accurately reflect the dynamic behavioural interchange occurring between people in the real-world, complex contexts that characterize social cognition. Consequently, researchers are now acknowledging the need for stimuli that are more dynamic, multimodal, context-embedded, and socially interactive. On this basis, the present study aimed to design a novel assessment tool that incorporates real-life scenarios and dynamic interactions between the subject and the researcher: The Breakfast for You (B4U) Task. We particularly sought to obtain preliminary evidence from a group of healthy young participants to initiate the validation process of the task, which framed social cognition in the context of daily life activities. By incorporating innovative variables tapping into components of social cognition (emotional recognition, ToM, and perspective taking), the study successfully demonstrated the convergent validity of B4U when compared to more traditional measures of social cognition. Furthermore, we achieved divergent validity by obtaining a genuine measure of pure social cognition disentangled from broader cognitive functions. Finally, we obtained evidence for ecological validity for a specific subcomponent of the ones assessed. Even if we lacked the appropriate statistical power to generalize our findings, the B4U task holds promise as a valid and ecologically sound assessment tool for social cognition if further implemented and refined with larger samples and extended to diverse clinical populations

Application of Real and Virtual Radial Arm Maze Task in Human

Virtual Reality (VR) emerges as a promising technology capable of creating different scenarios in which the body, environment, and brain are closely related, proving enhancements in the diagnosis and treatment of several spatial memory deficits. In recent years, human spatial navigation has increasingly been studied in interactive virtual environments. However, navigational tasks are still not completely adapted in immersive 3D VR systems. We stipulate that an immersive Radial Arm Maze (RAM) is an excellent instrument, allowing the participants to be physically active within the maze exactly as in the walking RAM version in reality modality. RAM is a behavioral ecological task that allows the analyses of different facets of spatial memory, distinguishing declarative components from procedural ones. In addition to describing the characteristics of RAM, we will also analyze studies in which RAM has been used in virtual modality to provide suggestions into RAM building in immersive modality

The effect of traditional games in fundamental motor skill development in 7-­9 year old boys

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of traditional games on fundamental motor skills in seven to nine year-old boys. Methods: Forty subjects of seven to nine year-old boys selected randomly by a personal information questionnaire. After pretest by Test of Gross Motor Development, edition 2 (TGMD-2), gross motor skill, locomotor and object control motor skills, subjects were divided by random matching into two groups. The first group performed traditional games and the second group performed daily activities. Then children in first group played traditional game at 24 sessions. After 12 and 24 sessions, traditional game and daily activity groups participated in the mid and post tests. Data were analyzed by Variance Analyze of Repeated Measures. Findings: The results showed that traditional games with mean difference in fundamental motor skill development (17.12, P<0.001), and also with mean difference in locomotor (2.23, P=0.002), and mean difference in object control skill development (2.27, P=0.002) significantly are more effective than daily activities. Conclusion: Traditional game program is appropriate for a fundamental motor skill development

Acquisition and production of skilled behavior in dynamic decision-making tasks

Summaries of the four projects completed during the performance of this research are included. The four projects described are: Perceptual Augmentation Aiding for Situation Assessment, Perceptual Augmentation Aiding for Dynamic Decision-Making and Control, Action Advisory Aiding for Dynamic Decision-Making and Control, and Display Design to Support Time-Constrained Route Optimization. Papers based on each of these projects are currently in preparation. The theoretical framework upon which the first three projects are based, Ecological Task Analysis, was also developed during the performance of this research, and is described in a previous report. A project concerned with modeling strategies in human control of a dynamic system was also completed during the performance of this research

Left lateralization in autobiographical memory: An fMRI study using the expert archival paradigm

In brain-imaging and behavioural research, studies of autobiographical memory have higher ecological validity than controlled laboratory memory studies. However, they also have less controllability over the variables investigated. Here we present a novel technique—the expert archival paradigm—that increases controllability while maintaining ecological validity. Stimuli were created from games played by two international-level chess masters. We then asked these two players to perform a memory task with stimuli generated from their own games and stimuli generated from other players’ games while they were scanned using fMRI. We found a left lateralised pattern of brain activity which was very similar in both masters. The brain areas activated were the left temporo-parietal junction and left frontal areas. The expert archival paradigm has the advantage of not requiring an interview to assess the participants’ autobiographical memories, and affords the possibility of measuring their accuracy of remembering as well as their brain activity related to remote and recent memories. It can also be used in any field of expertise, including arts, sciences and sports, in which archival data are available

The Ecological Task Dynamics of Learning and Transfer in Coordinated Rhythmic Movement.

Research spanning 100 years has revealed that learning a novel perception-action task is remarkably task-specific. With only a few exceptions, transfer is typically very small, even with seemingly small changes to the task. This fact has remained surprising given previous attempts to formalise the notion of what a task is, which have been dominated by common-sense divisions of tasks into parts. This article lays out an ecologically grounded alternative, ecological task dynamics, which provides us with tools to formally define tasks as experience from the first-person perspective of the learner. We explain this approach using data from a learning and transfer experiment using bimanual coordinated rhythmic movement as the task, and acquiring a novel coordination as the goal of learning. 10 participants were extensively trained to perform 60° mean relative phase; this learning transferred to 30° and 90°, against predictions derived from our previous work. We use recent developments in the formal model of the task to guide interpretation of the learning and transfer results

Attachment and children's biased attentional processing: evidence for the exclusion of attachment-related information

Research in both infants and adults demonstrated that attachment expectations are associated with the attentional processing of attachment-related information. However, this research suffered from methodological issues and has not been validated across ages. Employing a more ecologically valid paradigm to measure attentional processes by virtue of eye tracking, the current study tested the defensive exclusion hypothesis in late childhood. According to this hypothesis, insecurely attached children are assumed to defensively exclude attachment-related information. We hypothesized that securely attached children process attachment- related neutral and emotional information in a more open manner compared to insecurely attached children. Sixty-two children (59.7% girls, 8–12 years) completed two different tasks, while eye movements were recorded: task one presented an array of neutral faces including mother and unfamiliar women and task two presented the same with happy and angry faces. Results indicated that more securely attached children looked longer at mother’s face regardless of the emotional expression. Also, they tend to have more maintained attention to mother’s neutral face. Furthermore, more attachment avoidance was related to a reduced total viewing time of mother’s neutral, happy, and angry face. Attachment anxiety was not consistently related to the processing of mother’s face. Findings support the theoretical assumption that securely attached children have an open manner of processing all attachment-related information