Sample records for human cognition multitasking
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Koch, Iring; Poljac, Edita; Müller, Hermann; Kiesel, Andrea
2018-06-01
Numerous studies showed decreased performance in situations that require multiple tasks or actions relative to appropriate control conditions. Because humans often engage in such multitasking activities, it is important to understand how multitasking affects performance. In the present article, we argue that research on dual-task interference and sequential task switching has proceeded largely separately using different experimental paradigms and methodology. In our article we aim at organizing this complex set of research in terms of three complementary research perspectives on human multitasking. One perspective refers to structural accounts in terms of cognitive bottlenecks (i.e., critical processing stages). A second perspective refers to cognitive flexibility in terms of the underlying cognitive control processes. A third perspective emphasizes cognitive plasticity in terms of the influence of practice on human multitasking abilities. With our review article we aimed at highlighting the value of an integrative position that goes beyond isolated consideration of a single theoretical research perspective and that broadens the focus from single experimental paradigms (dual task and task switching) to favor instead a view that emphasizes the fundamental similarity of the underlying cognitive mechanisms across multitasking paradigms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
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Cognitive Ageing: The Effects of Disruption on Multitasking Abilities in Healthy Adults
Barnes, Jenna
2013-01-01
The ability to multitask is an incredibly important aspect of everyday life and it is thought that the cognitive processes used for multitasking are mediated by the frontal lobes (Stuss & Alexander, 2000). Patients with frontal lobe damage have been shown to be impaired in their ability to multitask, despite having normal IQ’s. It is thought that as human adult’s age, the frontal lobes deteriorate, so there is a possibility that that multitasking skills will also be impaired in older adults. ...
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Murphy, Karen
2018-01-01
Abstract The current study focused on how engaging in media multitasking (MMT) and the experience of everyday cognitive failures impact on the individual's engagement in risky cybersecurity behaviors (RCsB). In total, 144 participants (32 males, 112 females) completed an online survey. The age range for participants was 18 to 43 years (M = 20.63, SD = 4.04). Participants completed three scales which included an inventory of weekly MMT, a measure of everyday cognitive failures, and RCsB. There was a significant difference between heavy media multitaskers (HMM), average media multitaskers (AMM), and light media multitaskers (LMM) in terms of RCsB, with HMM demonstrating more frequent risky behaviors than LMM or AMM. The HMM group also reported more cognitive failures in everyday life than the LMM group. A regression analysis showed that everyday cognitive failures and MMT acted as significant predictors for RCsB. These results expand our current understanding of the relationship between human factors and cybersecurity behaviors, which are useful to inform the design of training and intervention packages to mitigate RCsB. PMID:29638157
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Hadlington, Lee; Murphy, Karen
2018-03-01
The current study focused on how engaging in media multitasking (MMT) and the experience of everyday cognitive failures impact on the individual's engagement in risky cybersecurity behaviors (RCsB). In total, 144 participants (32 males, 112 females) completed an online survey. The age range for participants was 18 to 43 years (M = 20.63, SD = 4.04). Participants completed three scales which included an inventory of weekly MMT, a measure of everyday cognitive failures, and RCsB. There was a significant difference between heavy media multitaskers (HMM), average media multitaskers (AMM), and light media multitaskers (LMM) in terms of RCsB, with HMM demonstrating more frequent risky behaviors than LMM or AMM. The HMM group also reported more cognitive failures in everyday life than the LMM group. A regression analysis showed that everyday cognitive failures and MMT acted as significant predictors for RCsB. These results expand our current understanding of the relationship between human factors and cybersecurity behaviors, which are useful to inform the design of training and intervention packages to mitigate RCsB.
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Concurrent multitasking : From neural activity to human cognition
Nijboer, Menno
2016-01-01
Multitasking has become an important part of our daily lives. This delicate juggling act between several activities occurs when people drive, when they are working, and even when they should be paying attention in the classroom. While multitasking is typically considered as something to avoid, there
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Media Multitasking and Cognitive, Psychological, Neural, and Learning Differences.
Uncapher, Melina R; Lin, Lin; Rosen, Larry D; Kirkorian, Heather L; Baron, Naomi S; Bailey, Kira; Cantor, Joanne; Strayer, David L; Parsons, Thomas D; Wagner, Anthony D
2017-11-01
American youth spend more time with media than any other waking activity: an average of 7.5 hours per day, every day. On average, 29% of that time is spent juggling multiple media streams simultaneously (ie, media multitasking). This phenomenon is not limited to American youth but is paralleled across the globe. Given that a large number of media multitaskers (MMTs) are children and young adults whose brains are still developing, there is great urgency to understand the neurocognitive profiles of MMTs. It is critical to understand the relation between the relevant cognitive domains and underlying neural structure and function. Of equal importance is understanding the types of information processing that are necessary in 21st century learning environments. The present review surveys the growing body of evidence demonstrating that heavy MMTs show differences in cognition (eg, poorer memory), psychosocial behavior (eg, increased impulsivity), and neural structure (eg, reduced volume in anterior cingulate cortex). Furthermore, research indicates that multitasking with media during learning (in class or at home) can negatively affect academic outcomes. Until the direction of causality is understood (whether media multitasking causes such behavioral and neural differences or whether individuals with such differences tend to multitask with media more often), the data suggest that engagement with concurrent media streams should be thoughtfully considered. Findings from such research promise to inform policy and practice on an increasingly urgent societal issue while significantly advancing our understanding of the intersections between cognitive, psychosocial, neural, and academic factors. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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Redick, Thomas S; Shipstead, Zach; Meier, Matthew E; Montroy, Janelle J; Hicks, Kenny L; Unsworth, Nash; Kane, Michael J; Hambrick, D Zachary; Engle, Randall W
2016-11-01
Previous research has identified several cognitive abilities that are important for multitasking, but few studies have attempted to measure a general multitasking ability using a diverse set of multitasks. In the final dataset, 534 young adult subjects completed measures of working memory (WM), attention control, fluid intelligence, and multitasking. Correlations, hierarchical regression analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, structural equation models, and relative weight analyses revealed several key findings. First, although the complex tasks used to assess multitasking differed greatly in their task characteristics and demands, a coherent construct specific to multitasking ability was identified. Second, the cognitive ability predictors accounted for substantial variance in the general multitasking construct, with WM and fluid intelligence accounting for the most multitasking variance compared to attention control. Third, the magnitude of the relationships among the cognitive abilities and multitasking varied as a function of the complexity and structure of the various multitasks assessed. Finally, structural equation models based on a multifaceted model of WM indicated that attention control and capacity fully mediated the WM and multitasking relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
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Threaded cognition : An integrated theory of concurrent multitasking
Salvucci, Dario D.; Taatgen, Niels A.
The authors propose the idea of threaded cognition, an integrated theory of concurrent multitasking-that is, performing 2 or more tasks at once. Threaded cognition posits that streams of thought can be represented as threads of processing coordinated by a serial procedural resource and executed
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Multitasking as a choice: a perspective.
Broeker, Laura; Liepelt, Roman; Poljac, Edita; Künzell, Stefan; Ewolds, Harald; de Oliveira, Rita F; Raab, Markus
2018-01-01
Performance decrements in multitasking have been explained by limitations in cognitive capacity, either modelled as static structural bottlenecks or as the scarcity of overall cognitive resources that prevent humans, or at least restrict them, from processing two tasks at the same time. However, recent research has shown that individual differences, flexible resource allocation, and prioritization of tasks cannot be fully explained by these accounts. We argue that understanding human multitasking as a choice and examining multitasking performance from the perspective of judgment and decision-making (JDM), may complement current dual-task theories. We outline two prominent theories from the area of JDM, namely Simple Heuristics and the Decision Field Theory, and adapt these theories to multitasking research. Here, we explain how computational modelling techniques and decision-making parameters used in JDM may provide a benefit to understanding multitasking costs and argue that these techniques and parameters have the potential to predict multitasking behavior in general, and also individual differences in behavior. Finally, we present the one-reason choice metaphor to explain a flexible use of limited capacity as well as changes in serial and parallel task processing. Based on this newly combined approach, we outline a concrete interdisciplinary future research program that we think will help to further develop multitasking research.
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Threaded cognition: an integrated theory of concurrent multitasking.
Salvucci, Dario D; Taatgen, Niels A
2008-01-01
The authors propose the idea of threaded cognition, an integrated theory of concurrent multitasking--that is, performing 2 or more tasks at once. Threaded cognition posits that streams of thought can be represented as threads of processing coordinated by a serial procedural resource and executed across other available resources (e.g., perceptual and motor resources). The theory specifies a parsimonious mechanism that allows for concurrent execution, resource acquisition, and resolution of resource conflicts, without the need for specialized executive processes. By instantiating this mechanism as a computational model, threaded cognition provides explicit predictions of how multitasking behavior can result in interference, or lack thereof, for a given set of tasks. The authors illustrate the theory in model simulations of several representative domains ranging from simple laboratory tasks such as dual-choice tasks to complex real-world domains such as driving and driver distraction. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved
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The effect of mild motion sickness and sopite syndrome on multitasking cognitive performance.
Matsangas, Panagiotis; McCauley, Michael E; Becker, William
2014-09-01
In this study, we investigated the effects of mild motion sickness and sopite syndrome on multitasking cognitive performance. Despite knowledge on general motion sickness, little is known about the effect of motion sickness and sopite syndrome on multitasking cognitive performance. Specifically, there is a gap in existing knowledge in the gray area of mild motion sickness. Fifty-one healthy individuals performed a multitasking battery. Three independent groups of participants were exposed to two experimental sessions. Two groups received motion only in the first or the second session, whereas the control group did not receive motion. Measurements of motion sickness, sopite syndrome, alertness, and performance were collected during the experiment Only during the second session, motion sickness and sopite syndrome had a significant negative association with cognitive performance. Significant performance differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic participants in the second session were identified in composite (9.43%), memory (31.7%), and arithmetic (14.7%) task scores. The results suggest that performance retention between sessions was not affected by mild motion sickness. Multitasking cognitive performance declined even when motion sickness and soporific symptoms were mild. The results also show an order effect. We postulate that the differential effect of session on the association between symptomatology and multitasking performance may be related to the attentional resources allocated to performing the multiple tasks. Results suggest an inverse relationship between motion sickness effects on performance and the cognitive effort focused on performing a task. Even mild motion sickness has potential implications for multitasking operational performance.
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Threaded Cognition: An Integrated Theory of Concurrent Multitasking
Salvucci, Dario D.; Taatgen, Niels A.
2008-01-01
The authors propose the idea of threaded cognition, an integrated theory of concurrent multitasking--that is, performing 2 or more tasks at once. Threaded cognition posits that streams of thought can be represented as threads of processing coordinated by a serial procedural resource and executed across other available resources (e.g., perceptual…
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Douglas, Heather E; Raban, Magdalena Z; Walter, Scott R; Westbrook, Johanna I
2017-03-01
Multi-tasking is an important skill for clinical work which has received limited research attention. Its impacts on clinical work are poorly understood. In contrast, there is substantial multi-tasking research in cognitive psychology, driver distraction, and human-computer interaction. This review synthesises evidence of the extent and impacts of multi-tasking on efficiency and task performance from health and non-healthcare literature, to compare and contrast approaches, identify implications for clinical work, and to develop an evidence-informed framework for guiding the measurement of multi-tasking in future healthcare studies. The results showed healthcare studies using direct observation have focused on descriptive studies to quantify concurrent multi-tasking and its frequency in different contexts, with limited study of impact. In comparison, non-healthcare studies have applied predominantly experimental and simulation designs, focusing on interleaved and concurrent multi-tasking, and testing theories of the mechanisms by which multi-tasking impacts task efficiency and performance. We propose a framework to guide the measurement of multi-tasking in clinical settings that draws together lessons from these siloed research efforts. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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Individual differences in multitasking ability and adaptability.
Morgan, Brent; D'Mello, Sidney; Abbott, Robert; Radvansky, Gabriel; Haass, Michael; Tamplin, Andrea
2013-08-01
The aim of this study was to identify the cognitive factors that predictability and adaptability during multitasking with a flight simulator. Multitasking has become increasingly prevalent as most professions require individuals to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Considerable research has been undertaken to identify the characteristics of people (i.e., individual differences) that predict multitasking ability. Although working memory is a reliable predictor of general multitasking ability (i.e., performance in normal conditions), there is the question of whether different cognitive faculties are needed to rapidly respond to changing task demands (adaptability). Participants first completed a battery of cognitive individual differences tests followed by multitasking sessions with a flight simulator. After a baseline condition, difficulty of the flight simulator was incrementally increased via four experimental manipulations, and performance metrics were collected to assess multitasking ability and adaptability. Scholastic aptitude and working memory predicted general multitasking ability (i.e., performance at baseline difficulty), but spatial manipulation (in conjunction with working memory) was a major predictor of adaptability (performance in difficult conditions after accounting for baseline performance). Multitasking ability and adaptability may be overlapping but separate constructs that draw on overlapping (but not identical) sets of cognitive abilities. The results of this study are applicable to practitioners and researchers in human factors to assess multitasking performance in real-world contexts and with realistic task constraints. We also present a framework for conceptualizing multitasking adaptability on the basis of five adaptability profiles derived from performance on tasks with consistent versus increased difficulty.
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Using theta and alpha band power to assess cognitive workload in multitasking environments.
Puma, Sébastien; Matton, Nadine; Paubel, Pierre-V; Raufaste, Éric; El-Yagoubi, Radouane
2018-01-01
Cognitive workload is of central importance in the fields of human factors and ergonomics. A reliable measurement of cognitive workload could allow for improvements in human machine interface designs and increase safety in several domains. At present, numerous studies have used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cognitive workload, reporting the rise in cognitive workload to be associated with increases in theta band power and decreases in alpha band power. However, results have been inconsistent with some failing to reach the required level of significance. We hypothesized that the lack of consistency could be related to individual differences in task performance and/or to the small sample sizes in most EEG studies. In the present study we used EEG to assess the increase in cognitive workload occurring in a multitasking environment while taking into account differences in performance. Twenty participants completed a task commonly used in airline pilot recruitment, which included an increasing number of concurrent sub-tasks to be processed from one to four. Subjective ratings, performances scores, pupil size and EEG signals were recorded. Results showed that increases in EEG alpha and theta band power reflected increases in the involvement of cognitive resources for the completion of one to three subtasks in a multitasking environment. These values reached a ceiling when performances dropped. Consistent differences in levels of alpha and theta band power were associated to levels of task performance: highest performance was related to lowest band power. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Cardoso-Leite, Pedro; Kludt, Rachel; Vignola, Gianluca; Ma, Wei Ji; Green, C Shawn; Bavelier, Daphne
2016-01-01
Technology has the potential to impact cognition in many ways. Here we contrast two forms of technology usage: (1) media multitasking (i.e., the simultaneous consumption of multiple streams of media, such a texting while watching TV) and (2) playing action video games (a particular subtype of video games). Previous work has outlined an association between high levels of media multitasking and specific deficits in handling distracting information, whereas playing action video games has been associated with enhanced attentional control. Because these two factors are linked with reasonably opposing effects, failing to take them jointly into account may result in inappropriate conclusions as to the impacts of technology use on attention. Across four tasks (AX-continuous performance, N-back, task-switching, and filter tasks), testing different aspects of attention and cognition, we showed that heavy media multitaskers perform worse than light media multitaskers. Contrary to previous reports, though, the performance deficit was not specifically tied to distractors, but was instead more global in nature. Interestingly, participants with intermediate levels of media multitasking sometimes performed better than both light and heavy media multitaskers, suggesting that the effects of increasing media multitasking are not monotonic. Action video game players, as expected, outperformed non-video-game players on all tasks. However, surprisingly, this was true only for participants with intermediate levels of media multitasking, suggesting that playing action video games does not protect against the deleterious effect of heavy media multitasking. Taken together, these findings show that media consumption can have complex and counterintuitive effects on attentional control.
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Impairments of Motor Function While Multitasking in HIV.
Kronemer, Sharif I; Mandel, Jordan A; Sacktor, Ned C; Marvel, Cherie L
2017-01-01
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) became a treatable illness with the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (CART). As a result, patients with regular access to CART are expected to live decades with HIV. Long-term HIV infection presents unique challenges, including neurocognitive impairments defined by three major stages of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The current investigation aimed to study cognitive and motor impairments in HIV using a novel multitasking paradigm. Unlike current standard measures of cognitive and motor performance in HIV, multitasking increases real-world validity by mimicking the dual motor and cognitive demands that are part of daily professional and personal settings (e.g., driving, typing and writing). Moreover, multitask assessments can unmask compensatory mechanisms, normally used under single task conditions, to maintain performance. This investigation revealed that HIV+ participants were impaired on the motor component of the multitask, while cognitive performance was spared. A patient-specific positive interaction between motor performance and working memory recall was driven by poor HIV+ multitaskers. Surprisingly, HAND stage did not correspond with multitask performance and a variety of commonly used assessments indicated normal motor function among HIV+ participants with poor motor performance during the experimental task. These results support the use of multitasks to reveal otherwise hidden impairment in chronic HIV by expanding the sensitivity of clinical assessments used to determine HAND stage. Future studies should examine the capability of multitasks to predict performance in personal, professional and health-related behaviors and prognosis of patients living with chronic HIV.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
P. eTaylor
2015-09-01
Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: We developed an extensively general closed-loop system to improve human interaction in various multitasking scenarios, with semi-autonomous agents, processes, and robots. BACKGROUND: Much technology is converging toward semi-independent processes with intermittent human supervision distributed over multiple computerized agents. Human operators multitask notoriously poorly, in part due to cognitive load and limited working memory. To multitask optimally, users must remember task order, e.g., the most neglected task, since longer times not monitoring an element indicates greater probability of need for user input. The secondary task of monitoring attention history over multiple spatial tasks requires similar cognitive resources as primary tasks themselves. Humans can not reliably make more than ~2 decisions/s. METHODS: Participants managed a range of 4-10 semi-autonomous agents performing rescue tasks. To optimize monitoring and controlling multiple agents, we created an automated short term memory aid, providing visual cues from users' gaze history. Cues indicated when and where to look next, and were derived from an inverse of eye fixation recency. RESULTS: Contingent eye tracking algorithms drastically improved operator performance, increasing multitasking capacity. The gaze aid reduced biases, and reduced cognitive load, measured by smaller pupil dilation. CONCLUSIONS: Our eye aid likely helped by delegating short-term memory to the computer, and by reducing decision making load. Past studies used eye position for gaze-aware control and interactive updating of displays in application-specific scenarios, but ours is the first to successfully implement domain-general algorithms. Procedures should generalize well to: process control, factory operations, robot control, surveillance, aviation, air traffic control, driving, military, mobile search and rescue, and many tasks where probability of utility is predicted by duration since last
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Does Media Multitasking Always Hurt?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lui Fai Hong
2011-05-01
Full Text Available Chronic heavy media multitaskers have been found impaired cognitive performance on certain cognitive tasks (Ophir, Nass & Wagner, 2009. However, the poor performance may be caused by their breadth-biased style of cognitive control rather than a deficit in cognitive abilities such as the ability to filter out interference from irrelevant stimuli and representations in memory. In this study, a new media multitasking index was invented to differentiate heavy and light media multitaskers by adding three open ended questions to the Media Use Questionnaire used by Ophir, Nass and Wagner (2009. Also, four different cognitive tasks, which access the ability of attentional capture, attention allocation to infrequent information, task switching and crossmodal integration, were used to investigate whether the poor performance of heavy media multitaskers is general to a wider range of tasks. Preliminary results found that heavy media multitaskers showed better improvement in accuracy between the sound present condition and sound absent condition of Pip and Pop Task (Van der Burg, Olivers, Bronkhorst, & theeuwes, 2008. Heavy media multitaskers appeared to have better ability of crossmodal integration than light medie multitaskers; hence, their poor performance is limited in only certain cognitive tasks.
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Lui, Kelvin F H; Wong, Alan C-N
2012-08-01
Heavy media multitaskers have been found to perform poorly in certain cognitive tasks involving task switching, selective attention, and working memory. An account for this is that with a breadth-biased style of cognitive control, multitaskers tend to pay attention to various information available in the environment, without sufficient focus on the information most relevant to the task at hand. This cognitive style, however, may not cause a general deficit in all kinds of tasks. We tested the hypothesis that heavy media multitaskers would perform better in a multisensory integration task than would others, due to their extensive experience in integrating information from different modalities. Sixty-three participants filled out a questionnaire about their media usage and completed a visual search task with and without synchronous tones (pip-and-pop paradigm). It was found that a higher degree of media multitasking was correlated with better multisensory integration. The fact that heavy media multitaskers are not deficient in all kinds of cognitive tasks suggests that media multitasking does not always hurt.
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The Problem State : A Cognitive Bottleneck in Multitasking
Borst, Jelmer P.; Taatgen, Niels A.; van Rijn, Hedderik
The main challenge for theories of multitasking is to predict when and how tasks interfere. He re, we focus on interference related to the problem state. a directly accessible intermediate representation of the current state of a task. On the basis of Salvucci and Taatgen's (2008) threaded cognition
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Impairments of Motor Function While Multitasking in HIV
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cherie L. Marvel
2017-04-01
Full Text Available Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV became a treatable illness with the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (CART. As a result, patients with regular access to CART are expected to live decades with HIV. Long-term HIV infection presents unique challenges, including neurocognitive impairments defined by three major stages of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND. The current investigation aimed to study cognitive and motor impairments in HIV using a novel multitasking paradigm. Unlike current standard measures of cognitive and motor performance in HIV, multitasking increases real-world validity by mimicking the dual motor and cognitive demands that are part of daily professional and personal settings (e.g., driving, typing and writing. Moreover, multitask assessments can unmask compensatory mechanisms, normally used under single task conditions, to maintain performance. This investigation revealed that HIV+ participants were impaired on the motor component of the multitask, while cognitive performance was spared. A patient-specific positive interaction between motor performance and working memory recall was driven by poor HIV+ multitaskers. Surprisingly, HAND stage did not correspond with multitask performance and a variety of commonly used assessments indicated normal motor function among HIV+ participants with poor motor performance during the experimental task. These results support the use of multitasks to reveal otherwise hidden impairment in chronic HIV by expanding the sensitivity of clinical assessments used to determine HAND stage. Future studies should examine the capability of multitasks to predict performance in personal, professional and health-related behaviors and prognosis of patients living with chronic HIV.
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A Multitasking General Executive for Compound Continuous Tasks
Salvucci, Dario D.
2005-01-01
As cognitive architectures move to account for increasingly complex real-world tasks, one of the most pressing challenges involves understanding and modeling human multitasking. Although a number of existing models now perform multitasking in real-world scenarios, these models typically employ customized executives that schedule tasks for the…
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Katidioti, Ioanna; Taatgen, Niels
2014-01-01
Objective: The objective was to establish the nature of choice in cognitive multitasking. Background: Laboratory studies of multitasking suggest people are rational in their switch choices regarding multitasking, whereas observational studies suggest they are not. Threaded cognition theory predicts
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The Effect of Mild Motion Sickness and Sopite Syndrome on Multitasking Cognitive Performance
2013-03-01
useful as a predictor of performance in occupations such as pilot , where demands on multitasking are presumably high.” 33 It is interesting to assess...Council Committee on Selection and Training of Aircraft Pilots , Executive Subcommittee. Washington, D.C. Wendt, G. R. (1951). Vestibular functions. In S...public release; distribution is unlimited THE EFFECT OF MILD MOTION SICKNESS AND SOPITE SYNDROME ON MULTITASKING COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE by
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Evans, C H; Schneider, E; Shostrom, V; Schenarts, P J
2017-02-01
Today's medical learners are Millennials, and reportedly, multitasking pros. We aim to evaluate effect of multitasking on cognitive and technical skills. 16 medical students completed a mock page and laceration closure separately on day 1 and day 13, and in parallel on day 14. Suturing was graded using GRS and mock pages scored. Total time, suturing and loading times, and percent correct on mock page were compared. Percent correct on mock page improved from days 1-13 and 14 (p multitasking results in longer times to complete the complex component of the technical task. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Dedicated workspaces: Faster resumption times and reduced cognitive load in sequential multitasking
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Jeuris, Steven; Bardram, Jakob Eyvind
2016-01-01
Studies show that virtual desktops have become a widespread approach to window management within desktop environments. However, despite their success, there is no experimental evidence of their effect on multitasking. In this paper, we present an experimental study incorporating 16 participants...... to perform the same tasks. Results show that adopting virtual desktops as dedicated workspaces allows for faster task resumption (10 s faster on average) and reduced cognitive load during sequential multitasking. Within our experiment the majority of users already benefited from using dedicated workspaces...
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Cognitive Workload and Psychophysiological Parameters During Multitask Activity in Helicopter Pilots
Gaetan , Sophie; Dousset , Erick; Marqueste , Tanguy; Bringoux , Lionel; Bourdin , Christophe; Vercher , Jean-Louis; Besson , Patricia
2015-01-01
International audience; BACKGROUND: Helicopter pilots are involved in a complex multitask activity, implying overuse of cognitive resources, which may result in piloting task impairment or in decision-making failure. Studies usually investigate this phenomenon in well-controlled, poorly ecological situations by focusing on the correlation between physiological values and either cognitive workload or emotional state. This study aimed at jointly exploring workload induced by a realistic simulat...
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Media multitasking in adolescence.
Cain, Matthew S; Leonard, Julia A; Gabrieli, John D E; Finn, Amy S
2016-12-01
Media use has been on the rise in adolescents overall, and in particular, the amount of media multitasking-multiple media consumed simultaneously, such as having a text message conversation while watching TV-has been increasing. In adults, heavy media multitasking has been linked with poorer performance on a number of laboratory measures of cognition, but no relationship has yet been established between media-multitasking behavior and real-world outcomes. Examining individual differences across a group of adolescents, we found that more frequent media multitasking in daily life was associated with poorer performance on statewide standardized achievement tests of math and English in the classroom, poorer performance on behavioral measures of executive function (working memory capacity) in the laboratory, and traits of greater impulsivity and lesser growth mindset. Greater media multitasking had a relatively circumscribed set of associations, and was not related to behavioral measures of cognitive processing speed, implicit learning, or manual dexterity, or to traits of grit and conscientiousness. Thus, individual differences in adolescent media multitasking were related to specific differences in executive function and in performance on real-world academic achievement measures: More media multitasking was associated with poorer executive function ability, worse academic achievement, and a reduced growth mindset.
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Skaugset, L Melissa; Farrell, Susan; Carney, Michele; Wolff, Margaret; Santen, Sally A; Perry, Marcia; Cico, Stephen John
2016-08-01
Emergency physicians work in a fast-paced environment that is characterized by frequent interruptions and the expectation that they will perform multiple tasks efficiently and without error while maintaining oversight of the entire emergency department. However, there is a lack of definition and understanding of the behaviors that constitute effective task switching and multitasking, as well as how to improve these skills. This article reviews the literature on task switching and multitasking in a variety of disciplines-including cognitive science, human factors engineering, business, and medicine-to define and describe the successful performance of task switching and multitasking in emergency medicine. Multitasking, defined as the performance of two tasks simultaneously, is not possible except when behaviors become completely automatic; instead, physicians rapidly switch between small tasks. This task switching causes disruption in the primary task and may contribute to error. A framework is described to enhance the understanding and practice of these behaviors. Copyright © 2015 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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A multitasking general executive for compound continuous tasks.
Salvucci, Dario D
2005-05-06
As cognitive architectures move to account for increasingly complex real-world tasks, one of the most pressing challenges involves understanding and modeling human multitasking. Although a number of existing models now perform multitasking in real-world scenarios, these models typically employ customized executives that schedule tasks for the particular domain but do not generalize easily to other domains. This article outlines a general executive for the Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R) cognitive architecture that, given independent models of individual tasks, schedules and interleaves the models' behavior into integrated multitasking behavior. To demonstrate the power of the proposed approach, the article describes an application to the domain of driving, showing how the general executive can interleave component subtasks of the driving task (namely, control and monitoring) and interleave driving with in-vehicle secondary tasks (radio tuning and phone dialing). 2005 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
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Media multitasking and failures of attention in everyday life.
Ralph, Brandon C W; Thomson, David R; Cheyne, James Allan; Smilek, Daniel
2014-09-01
Using a series of online self-report measures, we examine media multitasking, a particularly pervasive form of multitasking, and its relations to three aspects of everyday attention: (1) failures of attention and cognitive errors (2) mind wandering, and (3) attentional control with an emphasis on attentional switching and distractibility. We observed a positive correlation between levels of media multitasking and self-reports of attentional failures, as well as with reports of both spontaneous and deliberate mind wandering. No correlation was observed between media multitasking and self-reported memory failures, lending credence to the hypothesis that media multitasking may be specifically related to problems of inattention, rather than cognitive errors in general. Furthermore, media multitasking was not related with self-reports of difficulties in attention switching or distractibility. We offer a plausible causal structural model assessing both direct and indirect effects among media multitasking, attentional failures, mind wandering, and cognitive errors, with the heuristic goal of constraining and motivating theories of the effects of media multitasking on inattention.
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Media multitasking, attention, and distraction
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Aagaard, Jesper
2015-01-01
Students often multitask with technologies such as computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones during class. Unfortunately, numerous empirical studies firmly establish a significant drop in academic performance caused by this media multitasking. In this paper it is argued that cognitive studies may...... is necessary to account for the materiality of practice. Notions of embodied habits and technical mediation are introduced, and an example of a postphenomenological account of media multitasking is introduced. It is argued that this approach enables researchers to investigate media multitasking as it occurs...
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Frölich, Jan; Lehmkuhl, Gerd
2018-03-05
The development of modern digital media, especially smartphones, has contributed to a fundamental change in the leisure activities and communication practices of adolescents. Besides the technical possibilities, the amount of multitasking, i.e., the parallel use of several media alone or in combination with nonmedia activities, has gained in importance. This article addresses the bidirectional relationships between multitasking and cognitive processes, consequences for performance, and the potentially negative effects on psychosocial health. This review article is based on a Medline research involving studies and reviews published on multitasking in digital media since 2000 concerning adolescents and adults. Multitasking is involved in specific neuropsychological processes of the frontal cortex and, in part, the corpus striatum. Up to an individually defined level and an objectively defined performance capacity, multitasking does not necessarily haven a negative impact on the quality of work. However, if excessive individual or objective stress occurs, especially in very young children, respective reactions and negative consequences for psychosocial health occur. According to present research results, multitasking should not be exercised in tasks requiring complex cognitive conditions. Many further studies will be required to assess the relationship between multitasking and specific psychiatric diseases, especially addictive disorders and ADHD, but also its useful implementation in educational settings has to be explored.
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Effect of music-based multitask training on cognition and mood in older adults.
Hars, Mélany; Herrmann, Francois R; Gold, Gabriel; Rizzoli, René; Trombetti, Andrea
2014-03-01
in a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial, we investigated whether 6 months of music-based multitask training had beneficial effects on cognitive functioning and mood in older adults. 134 community-dwellers aged ≥65 years at increased risk for falling were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (n = 66) who attended once weekly 1-h supervised group classes of multitask exercises, executed to the rhythm of piano music, or a control group with delayed intervention (n = 68) who maintained usual lifestyle habits, for 6 months. A short neuropsychological test battery was administered by an intervention-blinded neuropsychologist at baseline and Month 6, including the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), the clock-drawing test, the frontal assessment battery (FAB) and the hospital anxiety (HADS-A) and depression scale. intention-to-treat analysis showed an improvement in the sensitivity to interference subtest of the FAB (adjusted between-group mean difference (AMD), 0.12; 95% CI, 0.00 to 0.25; P = 0.047) and a reduction in anxiety level (HADS-A; AMD, -0.88; 95% CI, -1.73 to -0.05; P = 0.039) in intervention participants, as compared with the controls. Within-group analysis revealed an increase in MMSE score (P = 0.004) and a reduction in the number of participants with impaired global cognitive performance (i.e., MMSE score ≤23; P = 0.003) with intervention. six months of once weekly music-based multitask training was associated with improved cognitive function and decreased anxiety in community-dwelling older adults, compared with non-exercising controls. Studies designed to further delineate whether training-induced changes in cognitive function could contribute to dual-task gait improvements and falls reduction, remain to be conducted.
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Prefrontal Cortex Structure Predicts Training-Induced Improvements in Multitasking Performance.
Verghese, Ashika; Garner, K G; Mattingley, Jason B; Dux, Paul E
2016-03-02
The ability to perform multiple, concurrent tasks efficiently is a much-desired cognitive skill, but one that remains elusive due to the brain's inherent information-processing limitations. Multitasking performance can, however, be greatly improved through cognitive training (Van Selst et al., 1999, Dux et al., 2009). Previous studies have examined how patterns of brain activity change following training (for review, see Kelly and Garavan, 2005). Here, in a large-scale human behavioral and imaging study of 100 healthy adults, we tested whether multitasking training benefits, assessed using a standard dual-task paradigm, are associated with variability in brain structure. We found that the volume of the rostral part of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) predicted an individual's response to training. Critically, this association was observed exclusively in a task-specific training group, and not in an active-training control group. Our findings reveal a link between DLPFC structure and an individual's propensity to gain from training on a task that taps the limits of cognitive control. Cognitive "brain" training is a rapidly growing, multibillion dollar industry (Hayden, 2012) that has been touted as the panacea for a variety of disorders that result in cognitive decline. A key process targeted by such training is "cognitive control." Here, we combined an established cognitive control measure, multitasking ability, with structural brain imaging in a sample of 100 participants. Our goal was to determine whether individual differences in brain structure predict the extent to which people derive measurable benefits from a cognitive training regime. Ours is the first study to identify a structural brain marker-volume of left hemisphere dorsolateral prefrontal cortex-associated with the magnitude of multitasking performance benefits induced by training at an individual level. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/362638-08$15.00/0.
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Deprez, Sabine; Vandenbulcke, Mathieu; Peeters, Ronald; Emsell, Louise; Smeets, Ann; Christiaens, Marie-Rose; Amant, Frederic; Sunaert, Stefan
2014-07-01
To examine whether cognitive complaints after treatment for breast cancer are associated with detectable changes in brain activity during multitasking. Eighteen patients who were scheduled to receive chemotherapy performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging multitasking task in the scanner before the start of treatment (t1) and 4 to 6 months after finishing treatment (t2). Sixteen patients who were not scheduled to receive chemotherapy and 17 matched healthy controls performed the same task at matched intervals. Task difficulty level was adjusted individually to match performance across participants. Statistical Parametric Mapping 8 (SPM8) software was used for within-group, between-group, and group-by-time interaction image analyses. Voxel-based paired t tests revealed significantly decreased activation (P multitasking network of chemotherapy-treated patients, whereas no changes were noted in either of the control groups. At baseline, there were no differences between the groups. Furthermore, in contrast to controls, the chemotherapy-treated patients reported a significant increase in cognitive complaints (P multitasking-related brain activation. Moreover, a significant group-by-time interaction (P < .05) was found whereby chemotherapy-treated patients showed decreased activation and healthy controls did not. These results suggest that changes in brain activity may underlie chemotherapy-induced cognitive complaints. The observed changes might be related to chemotherapy-induced damage to the brain or reduced connectivity between brain regions rather than to changes in effort or changes in functional strategy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study providing evidence for a relationship between longitudinal changes in cognitive complaints and changes in brain activation after chemotherapy. © 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.
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Szumowska, Ewa; Kossowska, Małgorzata; Roets, Arne
2018-01-01
In three studies, we examined the role task rules play in multitasking performance. We postulated that rules should be especially important for individuals highly motivated to have structure and clear answers, i.e., those high on need for cognitive closure (NFC). High NFC should thus be related to greater compliance with task rules. Specifically, given high goal importance, NFC should be more strongly related to a multitasking strategy when multitasking is imposed by the rules, and to a mono-tasking strategy when monotasking is imposed by the rules. This should translate into better multitasking or mono-tasking performance, depending on condition. Overall, the results were supportive as NFC was related to a more mono-tasking strategy in the mono-tasking condition (Studies 1 and 2 only) and more dual-tasking strategy in the dual-tasking condition (Studies 1-3). This translated into respective differences in performance. The effects were significant only when goal importance was high (Study 1) and held when cognitive ability was controlled for (Study 2).
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Multi-task learning with group information for human action recognition
Qian, Li; Wu, Song; Pu, Nan; Xu, Shulin; Xiao, Guoqiang
2018-04-01
Human action recognition is an important and challenging task in computer vision research, due to the variations in human motion performance, interpersonal differences and recording settings. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-task learning framework with group information (MTL-GI) for accurate and efficient human action recognition. Specifically, we firstly obtain group information through calculating the mutual information according to the latent relationship between Gaussian components and action categories, and clustering similar action categories into the same group by affinity propagation clustering. Additionally, in order to explore the relationships of related tasks, we incorporate group information into multi-task learning. Experimental results evaluated on two popular benchmarks (UCF50 and HMDB51 datasets) demonstrate the superiority of our proposed MTL-GI framework.
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Mental juggling: when does multitasking impair reading comprehension?
Cho, Kit W; Altarriba, Jeanette; Popiel, Maximilian
2015-01-01
The present study investigated the conditions under which multitasking impairs reading comprehension. Participants read prose passages (the primary task), some of which required them to perform a secondary task. In Experiment 1, we compared two different types of secondary tasks (answering trivia questions and solving math problems). Reading comprehension was assessed using a multiple-choice test that measured both factual and conceptual knowledge. The results showed no observable detrimental effects associated with multitasking. In Experiment 2, the secondary task was a cognitive load task that required participants to remember a string of numbers while reading the passages. Performance on the reading comprehension test was lower in the cognitive load conditions relative to the no-load condition. The present study delineates the conditions under which multitasking can impair or have no effect on reading comprehension. These results further our understanding of our capacity to multitask and have practical implications in our technologically advanced society in which multitasking has become commonplace.
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Multitasking during social interactions in adolescence and early adulthood.
Mills, Kathryn L; Dumontheil, Iroise; Speekenbrink, Maarten; Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne
2015-11-01
Multitasking is part of the everyday lives of both adolescents and adults. We often multitask during social interactions by simultaneously keeping track of other non-social information. Here, we examined how keeping track of non-social information impacts the ability to navigate social interactions in adolescents and adults. Participants aged 11-17 and 22-30 years old were instructed to carry out two tasks, one social and one non-social, within each trial. The social task involved referential communication, requiring participants to use social cues to guide their decisions, which sometimes required taking a different perspective. The non-social task manipulated cognitive load by requiring participants to remember non-social information in the form of one two-digit number (low load) or three two-digit numbers (high load) presented before each social task stimulus. Participants showed performance deficits when under high cognitive load and when the social task involved taking a different perspective, and individual differences in both trait perspective taking and working memory capacity predicted performance. Overall, adolescents were less adept at multitasking than adults when under high cognitive load. These results suggest that multitasking during social interactions incurs performance deficits, and that adolescents are more sensitive than adults to the effects of cognitive load while multitasking.
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The relationship between media multitasking and executive function in early adolescents
Baumgartner, S.; Weeda, W.; van der Heijden, L.; Huizinga, M.
2013-01-01
Media multitasking is an ever more popular form of media consumption, in particular among youth. The increasing prevalence of media multitasking is concerning because frequent media multitasking may be negatively related to children’s cognitive control abilities (i.e. executive function). This study
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Katidioti, Ioanna; Taatgen, Niels A
2014-06-01
The objective was to establish the nature of choice in cognitive multitasking. Laboratory studies of multitasking suggest people are rational in their switch choices regarding multitasking, whereas observational studies suggest they are not. Threaded cognition theory predicts that switching is opportunistic and depends on availability of cognitive resources. A total of 21 participants answered e-mails by looking up information (similar to customer service employees) while being interrupted by chat messages. They were free to choose when to switch to the chat message. We analyzed the switching behavior and the time they needed to complete the primary mail task. When participants are faced with a delay in the e-mail task, they switch more often to the chat task at high-workload points. Choosing to switch to the secondary task instead of waiting makes them slower. It also makes them forget the information in the e-mail task half of the time, which slows them down even more. When many cognitive resources are available, the probability of switching from one task to another is high. This does not necessarily lead to optimal switching behavior. Potential applications of this research include the minimization of delays in task design and the inability or discouragement of switching in high-workload moments.
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The influence of positive vs. negative affect on multitasking.
Morgan, Brent; D'Mello, Sidney K
2016-10-01
Considerable research has investigated how affect influences performance on a single task; however, little is known about the role of affect in complex multitasking environments. In this paper, 178 participants multitasked in a synthetic work environment (SYNWORK) consisting of memory, visual monitoring, auditory monitoring, and math tasks. Participants multitasked for a 3-min baseline phase (MT1), following which they were randomly assigned to watch one of three affect-induction videos: positive, neutral, or negative. Participants then resumed multitasking for two additional critical phases (MT2, MT3; 3min each). In MT2, performance of the positive and neutral conditions was statistically equivalent and higher than the negative condition. In MT3, the positive condition performed better than the negative condition, with the neutral condition not significantly different from the other two. The differences in overall multitasking scores were largely driven by errors in the Math task (the most cognitively demanding task) in MT2 and the Memory task in MT3. These findings have implications for how positive and negative affective states influence processing in a cognitively demanding multitasking environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Healthy Adult Ageing: Multitasking Abilities and the Impact of Interruptions
Nevay, Robyn
2013-01-01
The ability to multitask plays a significant role within everyday life. This experiment investigated whether multitasking abilities are impaired in healthy adult ageing. Neuropsychological literature has shown that patients with frontal lobe damage are impaired in their ability to multitask on tests designed to assess cognitive functions used in real-life multitasking situations. Age-related reductions in brain volume are most pronounced in the frontal lobes. Therefore, it’s assumed that olde...
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Connectivity patterns in cognitive control networks predict naturalistic multitasking ability.
Wen, Tanya; Liu, De-Cyuan; Hsieh, Shulan
2018-06-01
Multitasking is a fundamental aspect of everyday life activities. To achieve a complex, multi-component goal, the tasks must be subdivided into sub-tasks and component steps, a critical function of prefrontal networks. The prefrontal cortex is considered to be organized in a cascade of executive processes from the sensorimotor to anterior prefrontal cortex, which includes execution of specific goal-directed action, to encoding and maintaining task rules, and finally monitoring distal goals. In the current study, we used a virtual multitasking paradigm to tap into real-world performance and relate it to each individual's resting-state functional connectivity in fMRI. While did not find any correlation between global connectivity of any of the major networks with multitasking ability, global connectivity of the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) was predictive of multitasking ability. Further analysis showed that multivariate connectivity patterns within the sensorimotor network (SMN), and between-network connectivity of the frontoparietal network (FPN) and dorsal attention network (DAN), predicted individual multitasking ability and could be generalized to novel individuals. Together, these results support previous research that prefrontal networks underlie multitasking abilities and show that connectivity patterns in the cascade of prefrontal networks may explain individual differences in performance. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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Task Speed and Accuracy Decrease When Multitasking
Lin, Lin; Cockerham, Deborah; Chang, Zhengsi; Natividad, Gloria
2016-01-01
As new technologies increase the opportunities for multitasking, the need to understand human capacities for multitasking continues to grow stronger. Is multitasking helping us to be more efficient? This study investigated the multitasking abilities of 168 participants, ages 6-72, by measuring their task accuracy and completion time when they…
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On supertaskers and the neural basis of efficient multitasking.
Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M; Strayer, David L
2015-06-01
The present study used brain imaging to determine the neural basis of individual differences in multitasking, the ability to successfully perform at least two attention-demanding tasks at once. Multitasking is mentally taxing and, therefore, should recruit the prefrontal cortex to maintain task goals when coordinating attentional control and managing the cognitive load. To investigate this possibility, we used functional neuroimaging to assess neural activity in both extraordinary multitaskers (Supertaskers) and control subjects who were matched on working memory capacity. Participants performed a challenging dual N-back task in which auditory and visual stimuli were presented simultaneously, requiring independent and continuous maintenance, updating, and verification of the contents of verbal and spatial working memory. With the task requirements and considerable cognitive load that accompanied increasing N-back, relative to the controls, the multitasking of Supertaskers was characterized by more efficient recruitment of anterior cingulate and posterior frontopolar prefrontal cortices. Results are interpreted using neuropsychological and evolutionary perspectives on individual differences in multitasking ability and the neural correlates of attentional control.
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Neuroticism Negatively Affects Multitasking Performance through State Anxiety
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Poposki, Elizabeth M; Oswald, Frederick L; Chen, Hubert T
2009-01-01
.... Though past research has demonstrated that cognitive predictors correlate positively with multitasking performance, there is reason to believe that non-cognitive factors are likely to predict such performance as well...
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Investigating the relationship between media multitasking and processes involved in task-switching.
Alzahabi, Reem; Becker, Mark W; Hambrick, David Z
2017-11-01
Although multitasking with media has increased dramatically in recent years (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010), the association between media multitasking and cognitive performance is poorly understood. In addition, the literature on the relationship between media multitasking and task-switching, one measure of cognitive control, has produced mixed results (Alzahabi & Becker, 2013; Minear et al., 2013; Ophir, Nass, & Wagner, 2009). Here we use an individual differences approach to investigate the relationship between media multitasking and task-switching performance by first examining the structure of task-switching and identifying the latent factors that contribute to switch costs. Participants performed a series of 3 different task-switching paradigms, each designed to isolate the effects of a specific putative mechanism (e.g., advanced preparation) related to task-switching performance, as well as a series of surveys to measure media multitasking and intelligence. The results suggest that task-switching performance is related to 2 somewhat independent factors, namely an advanced preparation factor and passive decay factor. In addition, multitasking with media was related to a faster ability to prepare for tasks, resulting in faster task-switching performance without a cost to accuracy. Media multitasking and intelligence were both unrelated to passive decay factors. These findings are consistent with a 2-component model of task-switching (Sohn & Anderson, 2001), as well as an automatic/executive framework of cognitive control (Schneider & Shiffrin, 1977). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
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Media multitasking and memory: Differences in working memory and long-term memory.
Uncapher, Melina R; K Thieu, Monica; Wagner, Anthony D
2016-04-01
Increasing access to media in the 21st century has led to a rapid rise in the prevalence of media multitasking (simultaneous use of multiple media streams). Such behavior is associated with various cognitive differences, such as difficulty filtering distracting information and increased trait impulsivity. Given the rise in media multitasking by children, adolescents, and adults, a full understanding of the cognitive profile of media multitaskers is imperative. Here we investigated the relationship between chronic media multitasking and working memory (WM) and long-term memory (LTM) performance. Four key findings are reported (1) heavy media multitaskers (HMMs) exhibited lower WM performance, regardless of whether external distraction was present or absent; (2) lower performance on multiple WM tasks predicted lower LTM performance; (3) media multitasking-related differences in memory reflected differences in discriminability rather than decision bias; and (4) attentional impulsivity correlated with media multitasking behavior and reduced WM performance. These findings suggest that chronic media multitasking is associated with a wider attentional scope/higher attentional impulsivity, which may allow goal-irrelevant information to compete with goal-relevant information. As a consequence, heavy media multitaskers are able to hold fewer or less precise goal-relevant representations in WM. HMMs' wider attentional scope, combined with their diminished WM performance, propagates forward to yield lower LTM performance. As such, chronic media multitasking is associated with a reduced ability to draw on the past--be it very recent or more remote--to inform present behavior.
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Sanbonmatsu, David M; Strayer, David L; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M
2013-01-01
The present study examined the relationship between personality and individual differences in multi-tasking ability. Participants enrolled at the University of Utah completed measures of multi-tasking activity, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. In addition, they performed the Operation Span in order to assess their executive control and actual multi-tasking ability. The findings indicate that the persons who are most capable of multi-tasking effectively are not the persons who are most likely to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously. To the contrary, multi-tasking activity as measured by the Media Multitasking Inventory and self-reported cell phone usage while driving were negatively correlated with actual multi-tasking ability. Multi-tasking was positively correlated with participants' perceived ability to multi-task ability which was found to be significantly inflated. Participants with a strong approach orientation and a weak avoidance orientation--high levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking--reported greater multi-tasking behavior. Finally, the findings suggest that people often engage in multi-tasking because they are less able to block out distractions and focus on a singular task. Participants with less executive control--low scorers on the Operation Span task and persons high in impulsivity--tended to report higher levels of multi-tasking activity.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
David M Sanbonmatsu
Full Text Available The present study examined the relationship between personality and individual differences in multi-tasking ability. Participants enrolled at the University of Utah completed measures of multi-tasking activity, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. In addition, they performed the Operation Span in order to assess their executive control and actual multi-tasking ability. The findings indicate that the persons who are most capable of multi-tasking effectively are not the persons who are most likely to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously. To the contrary, multi-tasking activity as measured by the Media Multitasking Inventory and self-reported cell phone usage while driving were negatively correlated with actual multi-tasking ability. Multi-tasking was positively correlated with participants' perceived ability to multi-task ability which was found to be significantly inflated. Participants with a strong approach orientation and a weak avoidance orientation--high levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking--reported greater multi-tasking behavior. Finally, the findings suggest that people often engage in multi-tasking because they are less able to block out distractions and focus on a singular task. Participants with less executive control--low scorers on the Operation Span task and persons high in impulsivity--tended to report higher levels of multi-tasking activity.
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Sanbonmatsu, David M.; Strayer, David L.; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M.
2013-01-01
The present study examined the relationship between personality and individual differences in multi-tasking ability. Participants enrolled at the University of Utah completed measures of multi-tasking activity, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. In addition, they performed the Operation Span in order to assess their executive control and actual multi-tasking ability. The findings indicate that the persons who are most capable of multi-tasking effectively are not the persons who are most likely to engage in multiple tasks simultaneously. To the contrary, multi-tasking activity as measured by the Media Multitasking Inventory and self-reported cell phone usage while driving were negatively correlated with actual multi-tasking ability. Multi-tasking was positively correlated with participants’ perceived ability to multi-task ability which was found to be significantly inflated. Participants with a strong approach orientation and a weak avoidance orientation – high levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking – reported greater multi-tasking behavior. Finally, the findings suggest that people often engage in multi-tasking because they are less able to block out distractions and focus on a singular task. Participants with less executive control - low scorers on the Operation Span task and persons high in impulsivity - tended to report higher levels of multi-tasking activity. PMID:23372720
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Efficient multitasking: parallel versus serial processing of multiple tasks.
Fischer, Rico; Plessow, Franziska
2015-01-01
In the context of performance optimizations in multitasking, a central debate has unfolded in multitasking research around whether cognitive processes related to different tasks proceed only sequentially (one at a time), or can operate in parallel (simultaneously). This review features a discussion of theoretical considerations and empirical evidence regarding parallel versus serial task processing in multitasking. In addition, we highlight how methodological differences and theoretical conceptions determine the extent to which parallel processing in multitasking can be detected, to guide their employment in future research. Parallel and serial processing of multiple tasks are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, questions focusing exclusively on either task-processing mode are too simplified. We review empirical evidence and demonstrate that shifting between more parallel and more serial task processing critically depends on the conditions under which multiple tasks are performed. We conclude that efficient multitasking is reflected by the ability of individuals to adjust multitasking performance to environmental demands by flexibly shifting between different processing strategies of multiple task-component scheduling.
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Arnould, Annabelle; Rochat, Lucien; Dromer, Emilie; Azouvi, Philippe; Van der Linden, Martial
2018-03-01
Apathy is frequently described in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI); its negative consequences particularly affect functional independence. Among apathetic manifestations, lack of initiative and lack of interest have mainly been associated with cognitive impairments. However, few studies have been conducted to precisely identify the underlying cognitive processes. Our aims were (1) to determine the best predictor of apathy from among several cognitive processes, including episodic memory and attention/executive mechanisms and multitasking, and (2) to examine to what extent multitasking could mediate the relationships between specific cognitive processes and lack of initiative/interest. Seventy participants (34 patients with TBI matched with 36 control participants) were given a questionnaire to assess anxio-depressive symptoms, four tasks to assess specific cognitive processes, and one task to assess real-life multitasking. Participants' relatives completed an apathy questionnaire. Multitasking, as assessed by the number of goals not achieved, was the only significant predictor of apathetic manifestations. In addition, the mediation analyses revealed that multitasking performance mediated the relationships between verbal episodic memory and lack of initiative/interest, whereas executive and attentional functions were only indirectly related to lack of initiative/interest due to their significant impacts on multitasking. These results shed new light on the aetiology of apathetic manifestations in patients with TBI, indicating how specific cognitive deficits are expressed in real-life multitasking, and consequently, how they may lead to the development and/or maintenance of apathetic manifestations. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.
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Buser, T.; Peter, N.
2012-01-01
We examine how multitasking affects performance. We also examine whether individuals optimally choose their degree of multitasking or whether they perform better under an externally imposed schedule. Subjects in our experiment perform two different tasks according to one of three treatments: one where they perform the tasks sequentially, one where they are forced to multitask, and one where they can freely organize their work. Subjects who are forced to multitask perform significantly worse t...
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MultitaskProtDB: a database of multitasking proteins.
Hernández, Sergio; Ferragut, Gabriela; Amela, Isaac; Perez-Pons, JosepAntoni; Piñol, Jaume; Mozo-Villarias, Angel; Cedano, Juan; Querol, Enrique
2014-01-01
We have compiled MultitaskProtDB, available online at http://wallace.uab.es/multitask, to provide a repository where the many multitasking proteins found in the literature can be stored. Multitasking or moonlighting is the capability of some proteins to execute two or more biological functions. Usually, multitasking proteins are experimentally revealed by serendipity. This ability of proteins to perform multitasking functions helps us to understand one of the ways used by cells to perform many complex functions with a limited number of genes. Even so, the study of this phenomenon is complex because, among other things, there is no database of moonlighting proteins. The existence of such a tool facilitates the collection and dissemination of these important data. This work reports the database, MultitaskProtDB, which is designed as a friendly user web page containing >288 multitasking proteins with their NCBI and UniProt accession numbers, canonical and additional biological functions, monomeric/oligomeric states, PDB codes when available and bibliographic references. This database also serves to gain insight into some characteristics of multitasking proteins such as frequencies of the different pairs of functions, phylogenetic conservation and so forth.
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Video game training enhances cognitive control in older adults.
Anguera, J A; Boccanfuso, J; Rintoul, J L; Al-Hashimi, O; Faraji, F; Janowich, J; Kong, E; Larraburo, Y; Rolle, C; Johnston, E; Gazzaley, A
2013-09-05
Cognitive control is defined by a set of neural processes that allow us to interact with our complex environment in a goal-directed manner. Humans regularly challenge these control processes when attempting to simultaneously accomplish multiple goals (multitasking), generating interference as the result of fundamental information processing limitations. It is clear that multitasking behaviour has become ubiquitous in today's technologically dense world, and substantial evidence has accrued regarding multitasking difficulties and cognitive control deficits in our ageing population. Here we show that multitasking performance, as assessed with a custom-designed three-dimensional video game (NeuroRacer), exhibits a linear age-related decline from 20 to 79 years of age. By playing an adaptive version of NeuroRacer in multitasking training mode, older adults (60 to 85 years old) reduced multitasking costs compared to both an active control group and a no-contact control group, attaining levels beyond those achieved by untrained 20-year-old participants, with gains persisting for 6 months. Furthermore, age-related deficits in neural signatures of cognitive control, as measured with electroencephalography, were remediated by multitasking training (enhanced midline frontal theta power and frontal-posterior theta coherence). Critically, this training resulted in performance benefits that extended to untrained cognitive control abilities (enhanced sustained attention and working memory), with an increase in midline frontal theta power predicting the training-induced boost in sustained attention and preservation of multitasking improvement 6 months later. These findings highlight the robust plasticity of the prefrontal cognitive control system in the ageing brain, and provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, of how a custom-designed video game can be used to assess cognitive abilities across the lifespan, evaluate underlying neural mechanisms, and serve as a powerful tool
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kep Kee Loh
Full Text Available Media multitasking, or the concurrent consumption of multiple media forms, is increasingly prevalent in today's society and has been associated with negative psychosocial and cognitive impacts. Individuals who engage in heavier media-multitasking are found to perform worse on cognitive control tasks and exhibit more socio-emotional difficulties. However, the neural processes associated with media multi-tasking remain unexplored. The present study investigated relationships between media multitasking activity and brain structure. Research has demonstrated that brain structure can be altered upon prolonged exposure to novel environments and experience. Thus, we expected differential engagements in media multitasking to correlate with brain structure variability. This was confirmed via Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM analyses: Individuals with higher Media Multitasking Index (MMI scores had smaller gray matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC. Functional connectivity between this ACC region and the precuneus was negatively associated with MMI. Our findings suggest a possible structural correlate for the observed decreased cognitive control performance and socio-emotional regulation in heavy media-multitaskers. While the cross-sectional nature of our study does not allow us to specify the direction of causality, our results brought to light novel associations between individual media multitasking behaviors and ACC structure differences.
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Ecological Relevance Determines Task Priority in Older Adults' Multitasking.
Doumas, Michail; Krampe, Ralf Th
2015-05-01
Multitasking is a challenging aspect of human behavior, especially if the concurrently performed tasks are different in nature. Several studies demonstrated pronounced performance decrements (dual-task costs) in older adults for combinations of cognitive and motor tasks. However, patterns of costs among component tasks differed across studies and reasons for participants' resource allocation strategies remained elusive. We investigated young and older adults' multitasking of a working memory task and two sensorimotor tasks, one with low (finger force control) and one with high ecological relevance (postural control). The tasks were performed in single-, dual-, and triple-task contexts. Working memory accuracy was reduced in dual-task contexts with either sensorimotor task and deteriorated further under triple-task conditions. Postural and force performance deteriorated with age and task difficulty in dual-task contexts. However, in the triple-task context with its maximum resource demands, older adults prioritized postural control over both force control and memory. Our results identify ecological relevance as the key factor in older adults' multitasking. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Sanbonmatsu, David M.; Strayer, David L.; Medeiros-Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M.
2013-01-01
The present study examined the relationship between personality and individual differences in multi-tasking ability. Participants enrolled at the University of Utah completed measures of multi-tasking activity, perceived multi-tasking ability, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. In addition, they performed the Operation Span in order to assess their executive control and actual multi-tasking ability. The findings indicate that the persons who are most capable of multi-tasking effectively are ...
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Multitasking in older adults with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional analysis.
Rucker, Jason L; McDowd, Joan M; Mahnken, Jonathan D; Burns, Jeffrey M; Sabus, Carla H; Britton-Carpenter, Amanda J; Utech, Nora B; Kluding, Patricia M
2017-01-01
Deficits in the ability to multitask contribute to gait abnormalities and falls in many at-risk populations. However, it is unclear whether older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) also demonstrate impairments in multitasking. The purpose of this study was to compare multitasking performance in cognitively intact older adults with and without DM and explore its relationship to measures of gait and functional ability. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 40 individuals aged 60 and older with type 2 DM and a matched group of 40 cognitively intact older adults without DM. Multitasking was examined via the ambulatory Walking and Remembering Test (WART) and seated Pursuit Rotor Test (PRT). Self-selected normal and fast walking speed and stride length variability were quantitatively measured, and self-reported functional ability was assessed via the Late Life Function and Disability Index (LLFDI). Participants with DM walked slower and took more steps off path when multitasking during the WART. No between-group differences in multitasking performance were observed on the PRT. Multitasking performance demonstrated little correlation with gait and functional ability in either group. Older adults with DM appear to perform poorly on an ambulatory measure of multitasking. However, we analyzed a relatively small, homogenous sample of older adults with and without type 2 DM and factors such as peripheral neuropathy and the use of multiple comparisons complicate interpretation of the data. Future research should explore the interactions between multitasking and safety, fall risk, and function in this vulnerable population. Clinicians should recognize that an array of factors may contribute to gait and physical dysfunction in older adults with type 2 diabetes, and be prepared to assess and intervene appropriately.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Melissa eScheldrup
2014-09-01
Full Text Available There is a need to facilitate acquisition of real world cognitive multi-tasks that require long periods of training (e.g., air traffic control, intelligence analysis, medicine. Non-invasive brain stimulation – specifically transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS – has promise as a method to speed multi-task training. We hypothesized that during acquisition of the complex multi-task Space Fortress, subtasks that require focused attention on ship control would benefit from tDCS aimed at the dorsal attention network while subtasks that require redirection of attention would benefit from tDCS aimed at the right hemisphere ventral attention network. We compared effects of 30 min prefrontal and parietal stimulation to right and left hemispheres on subtask performance during the first 45 min of training. The strongest effects both overall and for ship flying (control and velocity subtasks were seen with a right parietal (C4 to left shoulder montage, shown by modeling to induce an electric field that includes nodes in both dorsal and ventral attention networks. This is consistent with the re-orienting hypothesis that the ventral attention network is activated along with the dorsal attention network if a new, task-relevant event occurs while visuospatial attention is focused (Corbetta et al., 2008. No effects were seen with anodes over sites that stimulated only dorsal (C3 or only ventral (F10 attention networks. The speed subtask (update memory for symbols benefited from an F9 anode over left prefrontal cortex. These results argue for development of tDCS as a training aid in real world settings where multi-tasking is critical.
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Scheldrup, Melissa; Greenwood, Pamela M; McKendrick, Ryan; Strohl, Jon; Bikson, Marom; Alam, Mahtab; McKinley, R Andy; Parasuraman, Raja
2014-01-01
There is a need to facilitate acquisition of real world cognitive multi-tasks that require long periods of training (e.g., air traffic control, intelligence analysis, medicine). Non-invasive brain stimulation-specifically transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)-has promise as a method to speed multi-task training. We hypothesized that during acquisition of the complex multi-task Space Fortress, subtasks that require focused attention on ship control would benefit from tDCS aimed at the dorsal attention network while subtasks that require redirection of attention would benefit from tDCS aimed at the right hemisphere ventral attention network. We compared effects of 30 min prefrontal and parietal stimulation to right and left hemispheres on subtask performance during the first 45 min of training. The strongest effects both overall and for ship flying (control and velocity subtasks) were seen with a right parietal (C4, reference to left shoulder) montage, shown by modeling to induce an electric field that includes nodes in both dorsal and ventral attention networks. This is consistent with the re-orienting hypothesis that the ventral attention network is activated along with the dorsal attention network if a new, task-relevant event occurs while visuospatial attention is focused (Corbetta et al., 2008). No effects were seen with anodes over sites that stimulated only dorsal (C3) or only ventral (F10) attention networks. The speed subtask (update memory for symbols) benefited from an F9 anode over left prefrontal cortex. These results argue for development of tDCS as a training aid in real world settings where multi-tasking is critical.
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Multitasking in older adults with type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional analysis.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jason L Rucker
Full Text Available Deficits in the ability to multitask contribute to gait abnormalities and falls in many at-risk populations. However, it is unclear whether older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM also demonstrate impairments in multitasking. The purpose of this study was to compare multitasking performance in cognitively intact older adults with and without DM and explore its relationship to measures of gait and functional ability.We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 40 individuals aged 60 and older with type 2 DM and a matched group of 40 cognitively intact older adults without DM. Multitasking was examined via the ambulatory Walking and Remembering Test (WART and seated Pursuit Rotor Test (PRT. Self-selected normal and fast walking speed and stride length variability were quantitatively measured, and self-reported functional ability was assessed via the Late Life Function and Disability Index (LLFDI.Participants with DM walked slower and took more steps off path when multitasking during the WART. No between-group differences in multitasking performance were observed on the PRT. Multitasking performance demonstrated little correlation with gait and functional ability in either group.Older adults with DM appear to perform poorly on an ambulatory measure of multitasking. However, we analyzed a relatively small, homogenous sample of older adults with and without type 2 DM and factors such as peripheral neuropathy and the use of multiple comparisons complicate interpretation of the data. Future research should explore the interactions between multitasking and safety, fall risk, and function in this vulnerable population. Clinicians should recognize that an array of factors may contribute to gait and physical dysfunction in older adults with type 2 diabetes, and be prepared to assess and intervene appropriately.
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Laptop Multitasking Hinders Classroom Learning for Both Users and Nearby Peers
Sana, Faria; Weston, Tina; Cepeda, Nicholas J.
2013-01-01
Laptops are commonplace in university classrooms. In light of cognitive psychology theory on costs associated with multitasking, we examined the effects of in-class laptop use on student learning in a simulated classroom. We found that participants who multitasked on a laptop during a lecture scored lower on a test compared to those who did not…
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Multitasking Information Behaviour in Public Libraries: A Survey Study
Spink, Amanda; Alvarado-Albertorio, Frances; Narayan, Bhuva; Brumfield, Jean; Park, Minsoo
2007-01-01
Multitasking information behaviour is the human ability to handle the demands of multiple information tasks concurrently. When we multitask, we work on two or more tasks and switch between those tasks. Multitasking is the way most of us deal with the complex environment we all live in, and recent studies show that people often engage in…
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Trikojat, K; Buske-Kirschbaum, A; Plessow, F; Schmitt, J; Fischer, R
2017-04-01
In previous research, patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) showed poorer school and work performance during periods of acute allergic inflammation, supporting the idea of an impact of SAR on cognitive functions. However, the specific cognitive domains particularly vulnerable to inflammatory processes are unclear. In this study, the influence of SAR on memory and multitasking performance, as two potentially vulnerable cognitive domains essential in everyday life functioning, was investigated in patients with SAR. Non-medicated patients with SAR (n = 41) and healthy non-allergic controls (n = 42) performed a dual-task paradigm and a verbal learning and memory test during and out of symptomatic allergy periods (pollen vs. non-pollen season). Disease-related factors (e.g. symptom severity, duration of symptoms, duration of disease) and allergy-related quality of life were evaluated as potential influences of cognitive performance. During the symptomatic allergy period, patients showed (1) poorer performance in word list-based learning (P = 0.028) and (2) a general slowing in processing speed (P multitasking. Yet, typical parameters indicating specific multitasking costs were not affected. A significant negative association was found between learning performance and duration of disease (r = -0.451, P = 0.004), whereas symptom severity (r = 0.326; P = 0.037) and quality of life (r = 0.379; P = 0.015) were positively associated with multitasking strategy. Our findings suggest that SAR has a differentiated and complex impact on cognitive functions, which should be considered in the management of SAR symptoms. They also call attention to the importance of selecting sensitive measures and carefully interpreting cognitive outcomes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Hyperbaric Oxygen Environment Can Enhance Brain Activity and Multitasking Performance.
Vadas, Dor; Kalichman, Leonid; Hadanny, Amir; Efrati, Shai
2017-01-01
Background: The Brain uses 20% of the total oxygen supply consumed by the entire body. Even though, multitasking), the oxygen supply is shifted from one brain region to another, via blood perfusion modulation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether a hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) environment, with increased oxygen supply to the brain, will enhance the performance of complex and/or multiple activities. Methods: A prospective, double-blind randomized control, crossover trial including 22 healthy volunteers. Participants were asked to perform a cognitive task, a motor task and a simultaneous cognitive-motor task (multitasking). Participants were randomized to perform the tasks in two environments: (a) normobaric air (1 ATA 21% oxygen) (b) HBO (2 ATA 100% oxygen). Two weeks later participants were crossed to the alternative environment. Blinding of the normobaric environment was achieved in the same chamber with masks on while hyperbaric sensation was simulated by increasing pressure in the first minute and gradually decreasing to normobaric environment prior to tasks performance. Results: Compared to the performance at normobaric conditions, both cognitive and motor single tasks scores were significantly enhanced by HBO environment ( p Multitasking performance was also significantly enhanced in HBO environment ( p = 0.006 for the cognitive part and p = 0.02 for the motor part). Conclusions: The improvement in performance of both single and multi-tasking while in an HBO environment supports the hypothesis which according to, oxygen is indeed a rate limiting factor for brain activity. Hyperbaric oxygenation can serve as an environment for brain performance. Further studies are needed to evaluate the optimal oxygen levels for maximal brain performance.
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Schutten, Dan; Stokes, Kirk A; Arnell, Karen M
2017-01-01
Media multitasking, the concurrent use of multiple media forms, has been shown to be related to greater self-reported impulsivity and less self-control. These measures are both hallmarks of the need for immediate gratification which has been associated with fast, intuitive 'system-1' decision making, as opposed to more deliberate and effortful 'system-2' decision making. In Study 1, we used the Cognitive Reflection Task (CRT) to examine whether individuals who engage heavily in media multitasking differ from those who are light media multitaskers in their degree of system-1 versus system-2 thinking. In Study 2 we examined whether heavy and light media multitaskers differ in delay of gratification, using the delay discounting measure which estimates the preference for smaller immediate rewards, relative to larger delayed rewards in a hypothetical monetary choice task. We found that heavy media multitaskers were more likely than light media multitaskers to endorse intuitive, but wrong, decisions on the CRT indicating a greater reliance on 'system-1' thinking. Heavy media multitaskers were also willing to settle for less money immediately relative to light media multitaskers who were more willing to wait for the larger delayed reward. These results suggest that heavy media multitaskers have a reactive decision-making style that promotes current desires (money, ease of processing) at the expense of accuracy and future rewards. These findings highlight the potential for heavy media multitaskers to be at risk for problematic behaviors associated with delay discounting - behaviors such as substance abuse, overeating, problematic gambling, and poor financial management.
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Kosowicz, Maria; MacPherson, Sarah E
2017-01-01
Computerized cognitive assessment is becoming increasingly more common in clinical neuropsychological assessment and cognitive neuropsychological research. A number of computerized tasks now exist to assess multitasking abilities that are essential for everyday tasks such as cooking, shopping, or driving, but little is known about whether these tasks are appropriate for assessing older adults' multitasking. The present study directly compared age effects on multitasking when assessed using a computerized and a prop-based version of Craik and Bialystok's ( 2006 ) Breakfast task. Twenty participants aged 18 to 24 years and 20 participants aged 60 to 79 years were assessed on both versions of the Breakfast task. While age-related decrements in multitasking performance were found using the computerized task, significant age differences were not found on the majority of measures when the prop-based version was administered. The results suggest that age-related deficits in multitasking will be less when more contextualized, noncomputer based tasks are used.
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Hyperbaric Oxygen Environment Can Enhance Brain Activity and Multitasking Performance
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dor Vadas
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Background: The Brain uses 20% of the total oxygen supply consumed by the entire body. Even though, <10% of the brain is active at any given time, it utilizes almost all the oxygen delivered. In order to perform complex tasks or more than one task (multitasking, the oxygen supply is shifted from one brain region to another, via blood perfusion modulation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether a hyperbaric oxygen (HBO environment, with increased oxygen supply to the brain, will enhance the performance of complex and/or multiple activities.Methods: A prospective, double-blind randomized control, crossover trial including 22 healthy volunteers. Participants were asked to perform a cognitive task, a motor task and a simultaneous cognitive-motor task (multitasking. Participants were randomized to perform the tasks in two environments: (a normobaric air (1 ATA 21% oxygen (b HBO (2 ATA 100% oxygen. Two weeks later participants were crossed to the alternative environment. Blinding of the normobaric environment was achieved in the same chamber with masks on while hyperbaric sensation was simulated by increasing pressure in the first minute and gradually decreasing to normobaric environment prior to tasks performance.Results: Compared to the performance at normobaric conditions, both cognitive and motor single tasks scores were significantly enhanced by HBO environment (p < 0.001 for both. Multitasking performance was also significantly enhanced in HBO environment (p = 0.006 for the cognitive part and p = 0.02 for the motor part.Conclusions: The improvement in performance of both single and multi-tasking while in an HBO environment supports the hypothesis which according to, oxygen is indeed a rate limiting factor for brain activity. Hyperbaric oxygenation can serve as an environment for brain performance. Further studies are needed to evaluate the optimal oxygen levels for maximal brain performance.
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Making Sense of Multitasking: Key Behaviours
Judd, Terry
2013-01-01
Traditionally viewed as a positive characteristic, there is mounting evidence that multitasking using digital devices can have a range of negative impacts on task performance and learning. While the cognitive processes that cause these impacts are starting to be understood and the evidence that they occur in real learning contexts is mounting, the…
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Buser, T.; Peter, N.
2012-01-01
We examine how multitasking affects performance. We also examine whether individuals optimally choose their degree of multitasking or whether they perform better under an externally imposed schedule. Subjects in our experiment perform two different tasks according to one of three treatments: one
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Media multitasking and implicit learning.
Edwards, Kathleen S; Shin, Myoungju
2017-07-01
Media multitasking refers to the simultaneous use of different forms of media. Previous research comparing heavy media multitaskers and light media multitaskers suggests that heavy media multitaskers have a broader scope of attention. The present study explored whether these differences in attentional scope would lead to a greater degree of implicit learning for heavy media multitaskers. The study also examined whether media multitasking behaviour is associated with differences in visual working memory, and whether visual working memory differentially affects the ability to process contextual information. In addition to comparing extreme groups (heavy and light media multitaskers) the study included analysis of people who media multitask in moderation (intermediate media multitaskers). Ninety-four participants were divided into groups based on responses to the media use questionnaire, and completed the contextual cueing and n-back tasks. Results indicated that the speed at which implicit learning occurred was slower in heavy media multitaskers relative to both light and intermediate media multitaskers. There was no relationship between working memory performance and media multitasking group, and no relationship between working memory and implicit learning. There was also no evidence for superior performance of intermediate media multitaskers. A deficit in implicit learning observed in heavy media multitaskers is consistent with previous literature, which suggests that heavy media multitaskers perform more poorly than light media multitaskers in attentional tasks due to their wider attentional scope.
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Learning approach and its relationship to type of media use and frequency of media-multitasking
Law, Anna; Stock, Rosemary
2017-01-01
Research has demonstrated that learning is impaired if students multitask with media while encountering new information. However, some have gone further, and suggested that media-multitasking (as a general activity) may have a negative impact on cognitive control processes. If this were the case, students who are heavy media-multitaskers generally would have difficulties with goal-directed behaviour, and organising their time effectively to meet their learning goals. The study described here ...
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Older Adult Multitasking Performance Using a Gaze-Contingent Useful Field of View.
Ward, Nathan; Gaspar, John G; Neider, Mark B; Crowell, James; Carbonari, Ronald; Kaczmarski, Hank; Ringer, Ryan V; Johnson, Aaron P; Loschky, Lester C; Kramer, Arthur F
2018-03-01
Objective We implemented a gaze-contingent useful field of view paradigm to examine older adult multitasking performance in a simulated driving environment. Background Multitasking refers to the ability to manage multiple simultaneous streams of information. Recent work suggests that multitasking declines with age, yet the mechanisms supporting these declines are still debated. One possible framework to better understand this phenomenon is the useful field of view, or the area in the visual field where information can be attended and processed. In particular, the useful field of view allows for the discrimination of two competing theories of real-time multitasking, a general interference account and a tunneling account. Methods Twenty-five older adult subjects completed a useful field of view task that involved discriminating the orientation of lines in gaze-contingent Gabor patches appearing at varying eccentricities (based on distance from the fovea) as they operated a vehicle in a driving simulator. In half of the driving scenarios, subjects also completed an auditory two-back task to manipulate cognitive workload, and during some trials, wind was introduced as a means to alter general driving difficulty. Results Consistent with prior work, indices of driving performance were sensitive to both wind and workload. Interestingly, we also observed a decline in Gabor patch discrimination accuracy under high cognitive workload regardless of eccentricity, which provides support for a general interference account of multitasking. Conclusion The results showed that our gaze-contingent useful field of view paradigm was able to successfully examine older adult multitasking performance in a simulated driving environment. Application This study represents the first attempt to successfully measure dynamic changes in the useful field of view for older adults completing a multitasking scenario involving driving.
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Approximate entropy: a new evaluation approach of mental workload under multitask conditions
Yao, Lei; Li, Xiaoling; Wang, Wei; Dong, Yuanzhe; Jiang, Ying
2014-04-01
There are numerous instruments and an abundance of complex information in the traditional cockpit display-control system, and pilots require a long time to familiarize themselves with the cockpit interface. This can cause accidents when they cope with emergency events, suggesting that it is necessary to evaluate pilot cognitive workload. In order to establish a simplified method to evaluate cognitive workload under a multitask condition. We designed a series of experiments involving different instrument panels and collected electroencephalograms (EEG) from 10 healthy volunteers. The data were classified and analyzed with an approximate entropy (ApEn) signal processing. ApEn increased with increasing experiment difficulty, suggesting that it can be used to evaluate cognitive workload. Our results demonstrate that ApEn can be used as an evaluation criteria of cognitive workload and has good specificity and sensitivity. Moreover, we determined an empirical formula to assess the cognitive workload interval, which can simplify cognitive workload evaluation under multitask conditions.
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Time takes space: selective effects of multitasking on concurrent spatial processing.
Mäntylä, Timo; Coni, Valentina; Kubik, Veit; Todorov, Ivo; Del Missier, Fabio
2017-08-01
Many everyday activities require coordination and monitoring of complex relations of future goals and deadlines. Cognitive offloading may provide an efficient strategy for reducing control demands by representing future goals and deadlines as a pattern of spatial relations. We tested the hypothesis that multiple-task monitoring involves time-to-space transformational processes, and that these spatial effects are selective with greater demands on coordinate (metric) than categorical (nonmetric) spatial relation processing. Participants completed a multitasking session in which they monitored four series of deadlines, running on different time scales, while making concurrent coordinate or categorical spatial judgments. We expected and found that multitasking taxes concurrent coordinate, but not categorical, spatial processing. Furthermore, males showed a better multitasking performance than females. These findings provide novel experimental evidence for the hypothesis that efficient multitasking involves metric relational processing.
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A Systematic Approach for Engagement Analysis Under Multitasking Environments
Zhang, Guangfan; Leddo, John; Xu, Roger; Richey, Carl; Schnell, Tom; McKenzie, Frederick; Li, Jiang
2011-01-01
An overload condition can lead to high stress for an operator and further cause substantial drops in performance. On the other extreme, in automated systems, an operator may become underloaded; in which case, it is difficult for the operator to maintain sustained attention. When an unexpected event occurs, either internal or external to the automated system, a disengaged operation may neglect, misunderstand, or respond slowly/inappropriately to the situation. In this paper, we discuss a systematic approach monitor for extremes of cognitive workload and engagement in multitasking environments. Inferences of cognitive workload ar engagement are based on subjective evaluations, objective performance measures, physiological signals, and task analysis results. The systematic approach developed In this paper aggregates these types of information collected under the multitasking environment and can provide a real-time assessment or engagement.
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[Ecological validity and multitasking environments in the evaluation of the executive functions].
Bombín-González, Igor; Cifuentes-Rodríguez, Alicia; Climent-Martínez, Gema; Luna-Lario, Pilar; Cardas-Ibáñez, Jaione; Tirapu-Ustárroz, Javier; Díaz-Orueta, Unai
2014-07-16
Evaluation of executive functions is a major issue of neuropsychological assessment, due to the role displayed by these on a cognitive, behavioural and emotional level, and the implication of these functions in daily life functioning. In order to perform a reliable assessment, the strategy traditionally followed for the evaluation of executive functions has been their atomization in different cognitive subprocesses, which is useful in a clinical or a research context. However, in clinical practice it is frequently artificial to disintegrate a global and complex cognitive process, such as executive functions, in a variety of related components; thus, tests designed according to these theoretical processes have low value in clinical procedures (diagnosis, rehabilitation design) due to their poor correspondence with the subject's or patient's clinical reality. The aims of the present work are to revise the concept of ecological validity applied to the evaluation of executive functions, and to perform a critical review of executive functions assessment by means of multitask paradigms as a way to increase the ecological validity and predictive value of the subject's functional performance. After a historical journey around the (low) ecological validity of single-task tests, and the bet in favour of a multitask paradigm for the evaluation of executive functions, up-to-date existing multitask tests are presented meticulously (with their respective advantages and disadvantages). Finally, concrete recommendations about how to develop multitask tests in the future are presented, attending to concrete parameters related to the context, tasks, objectives, rules and scoring.
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Multitasking in multiple sclerosis: can it inform vocational functioning?
Morse, Chelsea L; Schultheis, Maria T; McKeever, Joshua D; Leist, Thomas
2013-12-01
To examine associations between multitasking ability defined by performance on a complex task integrating multiple cognitive domains and vocational functioning in multiple sclerosis (MS). Survey data collection. Laboratory with referrals from an outpatient clinic. Community-dwelling individuals with MS (N=30) referred between October 2011 and June 2012. Not applicable. The modified Six Elements Test (SET) to measure multitasking ability, Fatigue Severity Scale to measure fatigue, several neuropsychological measures of executive functioning, and vocational status. Among the sample, 60% of individuals have reduced their work hours because of MS symptoms (cutback employment group) and 40% had maintained their work hours. Among both groups, SET performance was significantly associated with performance on several measures of neuropsychological functioning. Individuals in the cutback employment group demonstrated significantly worse overall performance on the SET (P=.041). Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between SET performance and vocational status, while accounting for neuropsychological performance and fatigue. The overall model was significant (χ(2)3=8.65, P=.032), with fatigue [Exp(B)=.83, P=.01] and multitasking ability [Exp(B)=.60, P=.043] retained as significant predictors. Multitasking ability may play an important role in performance at work for individuals with MS. Given that multitasking was associated with vocational functioning, future efforts should assess the usefulness of incorporating multitasking ability into rehabilitation planning. Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Naturalistic Assessment of Executive Function and Everyday Multitasking in Healthy Older Adults
McAlister, Courtney; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen
2013-01-01
Everyday multitasking and its cognitive correlates were investigated in an older adult population using a naturalistic task, the Day Out Task. Fifty older adults and 50 younger adults prioritized, organized, initiated and completed a number of subtasks in a campus apartment to prepare for a day out (e.g., gather ingredients for a recipe, collect change for a bus ride). Participants also completed tests assessing cognitive constructs important in multitasking. Compared to younger adults, the older adults took longer to complete the everyday tasks and more poorly sequenced the subtasks. Although they initiated, completed, and interweaved a similar number of subtasks, the older adults demonstrated poorer task quality and accuracy, completing more subtasks inefficiently. For the older adults, reduced prospective memory abilities were predictive of poorer task sequencing, while executive processes and prospective memory were predictive of inefficiently completed subtasks. The findings suggest that executive dysfunction and prospective memory difficulties may contribute to the age-related decline of everyday multitasking abilities in healthy older adults. PMID:23557096
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yuhmiin Chang
2015-07-01
Full Text Available Simultaneous mobile internet and television usage has been getting very popular. Few, if any, studies explicated generational differences in this type of media multitasking behaviors. This study is the first to examine whether different generations have different behaviors and motives in the mobile internet-television media multitasking context. A national face-to-face survey with the probability proportional to size random sampling method was employed. The results showed that Web generation was most likely to perform mobile internet-television media multitasking behavior, followed by X generation and Baby Boomer generation. Web generation paid most attention to the contents on the mobile Internet, X generation focused their attention on either television or mobile internet, and Baby Boomer generation paid most attention to the contents on television. The results also showed that the motives driving mobile internet-television media multitasking behavior were the same across generations, including “habit and convenience” and “cognition and status.” All these findings supported the proposed theory of cross generation media multitasking behavior and the proposed method of analyzing the motives driving media multitasking behaviors.
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Anodal tDCS applied during multitasking training leads to transferable performance gains.
Filmer, Hannah L; Lyons, Maxwell; Mattingley, Jason B; Dux, Paul E
2017-10-11
Cognitive training can lead to performance improvements that are specific to the tasks trained. Recent research has suggested that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied during training of a simple response-selection paradigm can broaden performance benefits to an untrained task. Here we assessed the impact of combined tDCS and training on multitasking, stimulus-response mapping specificity, response-inhibition, and spatial attention performance in a cohort of healthy adults. Participants trained over four days with concurrent tDCS - anodal, cathodal, or sham - applied to the left prefrontal cortex. Immediately prior to, 1 day after, and 2 weeks after training, performance was assessed on the trained multitasking paradigm, an untrained multitasking paradigm, a go/no-go inhibition task, and a visual search task. Training combined with anodal tDCS, compared with training plus cathodal or sham stimulation, enhanced performance for the untrained multitasking paradigm and visual search tasks. By contrast, there were no training benefits for the go/no-go task. Our findings demonstrate that anodal tDCS combined with multitasking training can extend to untrained multitasking paradigms as well as spatial attention, but with no extension to the domain of response inhibition.
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Multitasking During Simulated Car Driving: A Comparison of Young and Older Persons
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Konstantin Wechsler
2018-06-01
Full Text Available Human multitasking is typically studied by repeatedly presenting two tasks, either sequentially (task switch paradigms or overlapping in time (dual-task paradigms. This is different from everyday life, which typically presents an ever-changing sequence of many different tasks. Realistic multitasking therefore requires an ongoing orchestration of task switching and dual-tasking. Here we investigate whether the age-related decay of multitasking, which has been documented with pure task-switch and pure dual-task paradigms, can also be quantified with a more realistic car driving paradigm. 63 young (20–30 years of age and 61 older (65–75 years of age participants were tested in an immersive driving simulator. They followed a car that occasionally slowed down and concurrently executed a mixed sequence of loading tasks that differed with respect to their sensory input modality, cognitive requirements and motor output channel. In two control conditions, the car-following or the loading task were administered alone. Older participants drove more slowly, more laterally and more variably than young ones, and this age difference was accentuated in the multitask-condition, particularly if the loading task took participants’ gaze and attention away from the road. In the latter case, 78% of older drivers veered off the road and 15% drove across the median. The corresponding values for young drivers were 40% and 0%, respectively. Our findings indicate that multitasking deteriorates in older age not only in typical laboratory paradigms, but also in paradigms that require orchestration of dual-tasking and task switching. They also indicate that older drivers are at a higher risk of causing an accident when they engage in a task that takes gaze and attention away from the road.
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Development of real-time multitask OSS based on cognitive task analysis
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wang He; Cheng Shouyu
2010-01-01
A Real-time Multi-task Operator Support System (RMOSS) has been developed to support the operator's decision making process in the control room of NPP. VxWorks, one embedded real-time operation system, is used for RMOSS software development. According to the SRK modeling analysis result of the operator' decision making process, RMOSS is divided into five system subtasks, including Data Collection and Validation Task (DCVT), Operation Monitor Task (OMT), Fault Diagnostic Task (FDT), Operation Guideline Task (OGT) and Human Machine Interface Task (HMIT). The task test of RMOSS has been done in a real-time full scope simulator. The results showed that each task of RMOSS is capable of accomplishing their functions. (authors)
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Xiaoli Liu
2018-01-01
Full Text Available Alzheimer’s disease (AD has been not only the substantial financial burden to the health care system but also the emotional burden to patients and their families. Predicting cognitive performance of subjects from their magnetic resonance imaging (MRI measures and identifying relevant imaging biomarkers are important research topics in the study of Alzheimer’s disease. Recently, the multitask learning (MTL methods with sparsity-inducing norm (e.g., l2,1-norm have been widely studied to select the discriminative feature subset from MRI features by incorporating inherent correlations among multiple clinical cognitive measures. However, these previous works formulate the prediction tasks as a linear regression problem. The major limitation is that they assumed a linear relationship between the MRI features and the cognitive outcomes. Some multikernel-based MTL methods have been proposed and shown better generalization ability due to the nonlinear advantage. We quantify the power of existing linear and nonlinear MTL methods by evaluating their performance on cognitive score prediction of Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, we extend the traditional l2,1-norm to a more general lql1-norm (q≥1. Experiments on the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database showed that the nonlinear l2,1lq-MKMTL method not only achieved better prediction performance than the state-of-the-art competitive methods but also effectively fused the multimodality data.
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Multitasking With Television Among Adolescents.
Christensen, Claire G; Bickham, David; Ross, Craig S; Rich, Michael
Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, we explored predictors of adolescents' television (TV) multitasking behaviors. We investigated whether demographic characteristics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, and maternal education) predict adolescents' likelihood of multitasking with TV. We also explored whether characteristics of the TV-multitasking moment (affect, TV genre, attention to people, and media multitasking) predict adolescents' likelihood of paying primary versus secondary attention to TV. Demographic characteristics do not predict TV multitasking. In TV-multitasking moments, primary attention to TV was more likely if adolescents experienced negative affect, watched a drama, or attended to people; it was less likely if they used computers or video games.
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Scholey, Andrew; Savage, Karen; O'Neill, Barry V; Owen, Lauren; Stough, Con; Priestley, Caroline; Wetherell, Mark
2014-09-01
This study assessed the effects of two doses of glucose and a caffeine-glucose combination on mood and performance of an ecologically valid, computerised multi-tasking platform. Following a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, parallel-groups design, 150 healthy adults (mean age 34.78 years) consumed drinks containing placebo, 25 g glucose, 60 g glucose or 60 g glucose with 40 mg caffeine. They completed a multi-tasking framework at baseline and then 30 min following drink consumption with mood assessments immediately before and after the multi-tasking framework. Blood glucose and salivary caffeine were co-monitored. The caffeine-glucose group had significantly better total multi-tasking scores than the placebo or 60 g glucose groups and were significantly faster at mental arithmetic tasks than either glucose drink group. There were no significant treatment effects on mood. Caffeine and glucose levels confirmed compliance with overnight abstinence/fasting, respectively, and followed the predicted post-drink patterns. These data suggest that co-administration of glucose and caffeine allows greater allocation of attentional resources than placebo or glucose alone. At present, we cannot rule out the possibility that the effects are due to caffeine alone Future studies should aim at disentangling caffeine and glucose effects. © 2014 The Authors. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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The Role of Area 10 (BA10) in Human Multitasking and in Social Cognition: A Lesion Study
Roca, Maria; Torralva, Teresa; Gleichgerrcht, Ezequiel; Woolgar, Alexandra; Thompson, Russell; Duncan, John; Manes, Facundo
2011-01-01
A role for rostral prefrontal cortex (BA10) has been proposed in multitasking, in particular, the selection and maintenance of higher order internal goals while other sub-goals are being performed. BA10 has also been implicated in the ability to infer someone else's feelings and thoughts, often referred to as theory of mind. While most of the data…
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Hsu, Wan-Yu; Zanto, Theodore P; van Schouwenburg, Martine R; Gazzaley, Adam
2017-01-01
Multitasking is associated with the generation of stimulus-locked theta (4-7 Hz) oscillations arising from prefrontal cortex (PFC). Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that influences endogenous brain oscillations. Here, we investigate whether applying alternating current stimulation within the theta frequency band would affect multitasking performance, and explore tACS effects on neurophysiological measures. Brief runs of bilateral PFC theta-tACS were applied while participants were engaged in a multitasking paradigm accompanied by electroencephalography (EEG) data collection. Unlike an active control group, a tACS stimulation group showed enhancement of multitasking performance after a 90-minute session (F1,35 = 6.63, p = 0.01, ηp2 = 0.16; effect size = 0.96), coupled with significant modulation of posterior beta (13-30 Hz) activities (F1,32 = 7.66, p = 0.009, ηp2 = 0.19; effect size = 0.96). Across participant regression analyses indicated that those participants with greater increases in frontal theta, alpha and beta oscillations exhibited greater multitasking performance improvements. These results indicate frontal theta-tACS generates benefits on multitasking performance accompanied by widespread neuronal oscillatory changes, and suggests that future tACS studies with extended treatments are worth exploring as promising tools for cognitive enhancement.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wan-Yu Hsu
Full Text Available Multitasking is associated with the generation of stimulus-locked theta (4-7 Hz oscillations arising from prefrontal cortex (PFC. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that influences endogenous brain oscillations. Here, we investigate whether applying alternating current stimulation within the theta frequency band would affect multitasking performance, and explore tACS effects on neurophysiological measures. Brief runs of bilateral PFC theta-tACS were applied while participants were engaged in a multitasking paradigm accompanied by electroencephalography (EEG data collection. Unlike an active control group, a tACS stimulation group showed enhancement of multitasking performance after a 90-minute session (F1,35 = 6.63, p = 0.01, ηp2 = 0.16; effect size = 0.96, coupled with significant modulation of posterior beta (13-30 Hz activities (F1,32 = 7.66, p = 0.009, ηp2 = 0.19; effect size = 0.96. Across participant regression analyses indicated that those participants with greater increases in frontal theta, alpha and beta oscillations exhibited greater multitasking performance improvements. These results indicate frontal theta-tACS generates benefits on multitasking performance accompanied by widespread neuronal oscillatory changes, and suggests that future tACS studies with extended treatments are worth exploring as promising tools for cognitive enhancement.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Miriam eGade
2012-05-01
Full Text Available The human cognitive system is equipped with various processes for dealing with everyday challenges. One of such processes is the inhibition of currently irrelevant goals or mental task sets, which can be seen as a response to the critical event of information overflow in the cognitive system and the cognitive system’s inability to keep track of ongoing demands. In two experiments, we investigate the flexibility of the inhibitory process by inserting rare non-critical events (25% of all trials, operationalized as univalent stimuli (i.e., unambiguous stimuli that call for only one specific task in a multitasking context, and by introducing the possibility to prepare for an upcoming task (Experiment 2. We found that the inhibitory process is not influenced by a cue informing subjects about the upcoming occurrence of a univalent stimulus. However, the introduction of univalent stimuli allowed preparatory processes to modify the impact of the inhibitory process. Therefore, our results suggest that inhibitory processes are engaged in a rather global manner, not taking into account variations in stimulus valence, which we took as operationalization of critical, conflict-inducing events in the ongoing stream of information processing. However, rare uncritical events, such as univalent stimuli that do not cause conflict and interference in the processing stream, appear to alter the way the cognitive system can take advantage of preparatory processes.
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Measuring media multitasking : Development of a short measure of media multitasking for adolescents
Baumgartner, Susanne E.; Lemmens, Jeroen S.; Weeda, Wouter D.; Huizinga, Mariette
2017-01-01
Although media multitasking is an increasingly occurring form of media use, there are currently no validated, short instruments to measure media multitasking among adolescents. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to develop a short media multitasking measure for adolescents (MMM-S). Two
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Schneider, Maude; Eliez, Stephan; Birr, Julie; Menghetti, Sarah; Debbané, Martin; Van der Linden, Martial
2016-03-01
The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is associated with cognitive and functional impairments and increased risk for schizophrenia. We characterized multitasking abilities of adolescents with 22q11.2DS using an experimental naturalistic setting and examined whether multitasking impairments were associated with real-world functioning and negative symptoms. Thirty-nine adolescents (19 with 22q11.2DS and 20 controls) underwent the Multitasking Evaluation for Adolescents. Real-world functioning and clinical symptoms were assessed in participants with 22q11.2DS. Adolescents with 22q11.2DS performed poorly in the multitasking evaluation. Our data also suggest that multitasking abilities are related to adaptive functioning in the practical domain and negative symptoms. This study shows that adolescents with 22q11.2DS are characterized by multitasking impairments, which may be relevant for several aspects of the clinical phenotype.
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Young and Older Adults' Gender Stereotype in Multitasking.
Strobach, Tilo; Woszidlo, Alesia
2015-01-01
In the present study, we investigated discrepancies between two components of stereotyping by means of the popular notion that women are better at multitasking behaviors: the cognitive structure in individuals (personal belief) and the perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs (perceived belief of groups). With focus on this notion, we examined whether there was empirical evidence for the stereotype's existence and whether and how it was shared among different age groups. Data were collected from 241 young (n = 129) and older (n = 112) German individuals. The reported perceptions of gender effects at multitasking were substantial and thus demonstrated the existence of its stereotype. Importantly, in young and older adults, this stereotype existed in the perception of attributed characteristics by members of a collective (perceived belief of groups). When contrasting this perceived belief of groups and the personal belief, older adults showed a similar level of conformation of the gender stereotype while young adults were able to differentiate between these perspectives. Thus, young adults showed a discrepancy between the stereotype's components cognitive structure in individuals and perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs.
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Multitasking With Television Among Adolescents
Christensen, Claire G.; Bickham, David; Ross, Craig S.; Rich, Michael
2015-01-01
Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, we explored predictors of adolescents’ television (TV) multitasking behaviors. We investigated whether demographic characteristics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, and maternal education) predict adolescents’ likelihood of multitasking with TV. We also explored whether characteristics of the TV-multitasking moment (affect, TV genre, attention to people, and media multitasking) predict adolescents’ likelihood of paying primary versus secondary attention to T...
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Kozlowska, Maria Teresa
2010-01-01
Older adults demonstrate poor performance on standard executive tests. However, age-related deficits have been found only on a number of more realistic executive tests. The present study investigated age effects in multitasking, requiring a range of executive, as well as non-executive, cognitive functions. Previous study by Craik and Bialystok (2006) showed impaired performance of older adults on a computerised multitasking test, which simulated cooking breakfast. Participants were instructed...
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Driving and Multitasking : The Good, the Bad, and the Dangerous
Nijboer, Menno; Borst, Jelmer P; van Rijn, Dirk; Taatgen, Niels A
2016-01-01
Previous research has shown that multitasking can have a positive or a negative influence on driving performance. The aim of this study was to determine how the interaction between driving circumstances and cognitive requirements of secondary tasks affect a driver's ability to control a car. We
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Multitasking During Degraded Speech Recognition in School-Age Children.
Grieco-Calub, Tina M; Ward, Kristina M; Brehm, Laurel
2017-01-01
Multitasking requires individuals to allocate their cognitive resources across different tasks. The purpose of the current study was to assess school-age children's multitasking abilities during degraded speech recognition. Children (8 to 12 years old) completed a dual-task paradigm including a sentence recognition (primary) task containing speech that was either unprocessed or noise-band vocoded with 8, 6, or 4 spectral channels and a visual monitoring (secondary) task. Children's accuracy and reaction time on the visual monitoring task was quantified during the dual-task paradigm in each condition of the primary task and compared with single-task performance. Children experienced dual-task costs in the 6- and 4-channel conditions of the primary speech recognition task with decreased accuracy on the visual monitoring task relative to baseline performance. In all conditions, children's dual-task performance on the visual monitoring task was strongly predicted by their single-task (baseline) performance on the task. Results suggest that children's proficiency with the secondary task contributes to the magnitude of dual-task costs while multitasking during degraded speech recognition.
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Gaetan, Sophie; Dousset, Erick; Marqueste, Tanguy; Bringoux, Lionel; Bourdin, Christophe; Vercher, Jean-Louis; Besson, Patricia
2015-12-01
Helicopter pilots are involved in a complex multitask activity, implying overuse of cognitive resources, which may result in piloting task impairment or in decision-making failure. Studies usually investigate this phenomenon in well-controlled, poorly ecological situations by focusing on the correlation between physiological values and either cognitive workload or emotional state. This study aimed at jointly exploring workload induced by a realistic simulated helicopter flight mission and emotional state, as well as physiological markers. The experiment took place in the helicopter full flight dynamic simulator. Six participants had to fly on two missions. Workload level, skin conductance, RMS-EMG, and emotional state were assessed. Joint analysis of psychological and physiological parameters associated with workload estimation revealed particular dynamics in each of three profiles. 1) Expert pilots showed a slight increase of measured physiological parameters associated with the increase in difficulty level. Workload estimates never reached the highest level and the emotional state for this profile only referred to positive emotions with low emotional intensity. 2) Non-Expert pilots showed increasing physiological values as the perceived workload increased. However, their emotional state referred to either positive or negative emotions, with a greater variability in emotional intensity. 3) Intermediate pilots were similar to Expert pilots regarding emotional states and similar to Non-Expert pilots regarding physiological patterns. Overall, high interindividual variability of these results highlight the complex link between physiological and psychological parameters with workload, and question whether physiology alone could predict a pilot's inability to make the right decision at the right time.
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MULTITASKER, Multitasking Kernel for C and FORTRAN Under UNIX
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Brooks, E.D. III
1988-01-01
1 - Description of program or function: MULTITASKER implements a multitasking kernel for the C and FORTRAN programming languages that runs under UNIX. The kernel provides a multitasking environment which serves two purposes. The first is to provide an efficient portable environment for the development, debugging, and execution of production multiprocessor programs. The second is to provide a means of evaluating the performance of a multitasking program on model multiprocessor hardware. The performance evaluation features require no changes in the application program source and are implemented as a set of compile- and run-time options in the kernel. 2 - Method of solution: The FORTRAN interface to the kernel is identical in function to the CRI multitasking package provided for the Cray XMP. This provides a migration path to high speed (but small N) multiprocessors once the application has been coded and debugged. With use of the UNIX m4 macro preprocessor, source compatibility can be achieved between the UNIX code development system and the target Cray multiprocessor. The kernel also provides a means of evaluating a program's performance on model multiprocessors. Execution traces may be obtained which allow the user to determine kernel overhead, memory conflicts between various tasks, and the average concurrency being exploited. The kernel may also be made to switch tasks every cpu instruction with a random execution ordering. This allows the user to look for unprotected critical regions in the program. These features, implemented as a set of compile- and run-time options, cause extra execution overhead which is not present in the standard production version of the kernel
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Yang, Tian-Xiao; Xie, Weizhen; Chen, Chu-Sheng; Altgassen, Mareike; Wang, Ya; Cheung, Eric F C; Chan, Raymond C K
2017-09-01
This study investigated the development of multitasking ability across childhood. A sample of 65 typically developing children aged 7, 9, and 11years completed two multitasking tests across three time points within a year. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data consistently indicated continuous linear growth in children's multitasking ability. By the age of 12years, children could effectively perform a simple multitasking scenario comprising six equally important tasks, although their ability to strategically organize assorted tasks with varied values and priorities in a complex multitasking setting had not reached proficiency yet. Cognitive functions underlying a complex multitasking scenario varied in their developmental trajectories. Retrospective memory developed continuously from 7 to 12years of age, suggesting its supporting role in the development of multitasking. Planning skills developed slowly and showed practice effects for older children but not for younger children. The ability to adhere to plans also developed slowly, and children of all age groups benefited from practice. This study offers a preliminary benchmark for future comparison with clinical populations and may help to inform the development of targeted interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Multitasking simulation: Present application and future directions.
Adams, Traci Nicole; Rho, Jason C
2017-02-01
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education lists multi-tasking as a core competency in several medical specialties due to increasing demands on providers to manage the care of multiple patients simultaneously. Trainees often learn multitasking on the job without any formal curriculum, leading to high error rates. Multitasking simulation training has demonstrated success in reducing error rates among trainees. Studies of multitasking simulation demonstrate that this type of simulation is feasible, does not hinder the acquisition of procedural skill, and leads to better performance during subsequent periods of multitasking. Although some healthcare agencies have discouraged multitasking due to higher error rates among multitasking providers, it cannot be eliminated entirely in settings such as the emergency department in which providers care for more than one patient simultaneously. Simulation can help trainees to identify situations in which multitasking is inappropriate, while preparing them for situations in which multitasking is inevitable.
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Young and older adults’ gender stereotype in multitasking
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tilo eStrobach
2015-12-01
Full Text Available In the present study, we investigated discrepancies between two components of stereotyping by means of the popular notion that women are better at multitasking behaviors: the cognitive structure in individuals (personal belief and the perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs (perceived belief of groups. With focus on this notion, we examined whether there was empirical evidence for the stereotype’s existence and whether and how it was shared among different age groups. Data were collected from 241 young (n = 129 and older (n = 112 German individuals. The reported perceptions of gender effects at multitasking were substantial and thus demonstrated the existence of its stereotype. Importantly, in young and older adults, this stereotype existed in the perception of attributed characteristics by members of a collective (perceived belief of groups. When contrasting this perceived belief of groups and the personal belief, older adults showed a similar level of conformation of the gender stereotype while young adults were able to differentiate between these perspectives. Thus, young adults showed a discrepancy between the stereotype’s components cognitive structure in individuals and perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs.
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Garner, K G; Dux, Paul E
2015-11-17
Negotiating the information-rich sensory world often requires the concurrent management of multiple tasks. Despite this requirement, humans are thought to be poor at multitasking because of the processing limitations of frontoparietal and subcortical (FP-SC) brain regions. Although training is known to improve multitasking performance, it is unknown how the FP-SC system functionally changes to support improved multitasking. To address this question, we characterized the FP-SC changes that predict training outcomes using an individual differences approach. Participants (n = 100) performed single and multiple tasks in pre- and posttraining magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions interspersed by either a multitasking or an active-control training regimen. Multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPA) revealed that training induced multitasking improvements were predicted by divergence in the FP-SC blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response patterns to the trained tasks. Importantly, this finding was only observed for participants who completed training on the component (single) tasks and their combination (multitask) and not for the control group. Therefore, the FP-SC system supports multitasking behavior by segregating constituent task representations.
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2014-08-01
multitasks using healthy control and SM with diagnosed mTBI. Approach: Inter-rater reliability and assessment of training requirements for expert...developers piloted the revised multitask assessment in a healthy population to assess IRR. Given the an- ticipated variability in task performance between...1 AD_________________ Award Number: Contract W81XWH-12-2-0070 TITLE: Annual Report: The Assessment of Military Multitasking
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Egocentric daily activity recognition via multitask clustering.
Yan, Yan; Ricci, Elisa; Liu, Gaowen; Sebe, Nicu
2015-10-01
Recognizing human activities from videos is a fundamental research problem in computer vision. Recently, there has been a growing interest in analyzing human behavior from data collected with wearable cameras. First-person cameras continuously record several hours of their wearers' life. To cope with this vast amount of unlabeled and heterogeneous data, novel algorithmic solutions are required. In this paper, we propose a multitask clustering framework for activity of daily living analysis from visual data gathered from wearable cameras. Our intuition is that, even if the data are not annotated, it is possible to exploit the fact that the tasks of recognizing everyday activities of multiple individuals are related, since typically people perform the same actions in similar environments, e.g., people working in an office often read and write documents). In our framework, rather than clustering data from different users separately, we propose to look for clustering partitions which are coherent among related tasks. In particular, two novel multitask clustering algorithms, derived from a common optimization problem, are introduced. Our experimental evaluation, conducted both on synthetic data and on publicly available first-person vision data sets, shows that the proposed approach outperforms several single-task and multitask learning methods.
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Multitasking: Productivity Effects and Gender Differences
Thomas Buser; Noemi Peter
2011-01-01
We examine how multitasking affects performance and check whether women are indeed better at multitasking. Subjects in our experiment perform two different tasks according to three treatments: one where they perform the tasks sequentially, one where they are forced to multitask, and one where they can freely organize their work. Subjects who are forced to multitask perform significantly worse than those forced to work sequentially. Surprisingly, subjects who can freely organize their own sche...
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Multitasking behaviors of osteopathic medical students.
Shah, Ankit V; Mullens, Dustin J; Van Duyn, Lindsey J; Januchowski, Ronald P
2014-08-01
To the authors' knowledge, few studies have investigated the relationship between electronic media multitasking by undergraduate and graduate students during lecture and their academic performance, and reports that have looked into this behavior have neglected to investigate factors that may influence students' multitasking during lecture. To determine the extent to which medical students multitask during lecture; the types of multitasking; the frequency of multitasking and factors that influence frequency; and the correlation between multitasking and knowledge acquisition as assessed by a postlecture quiz. A 1-page survey assessing students' multitasking behavior was administered to 125 second-year students at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and collected at the onset of a standard 50-minute lecture. On completion of the 50-minute lecture, an unannounced 10-question multiple-choice quiz was given to assess knowledge acquisition during those lectures. On a separate date, after a standard 50-minute lecture, a second quiz was administered. The 1-page survey revealed that 98% of students check e-mail, 81% use social media, and 74% study for another class. Students spent the most time studying for another class (23 minutes) followed by using social media (13 minutes) and checking e-mail (7 minutes). The most influential factors behind multitasking were examination schedule (91%), lecturer (90%), and the number of lectures in the day (65%). The mean score for quiz 1 (the day after an examination) was 75%, and the mean score for quiz 2 (the day before an examination) was 60%. Multitasking during lecture is prominent among medical students, and examination schedule is the most influential factor. Although a robust drop in mean score on a lecture-based, unannounced quiz was identified 1 day before a scheduled examination, the effect from multitasking on this process remains unclear. © 2014 The American Osteopathic Association.
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Multitasking Web Searching and Implications for Design.
Ozmutlu, Seda; Ozmutlu, H. C.; Spink, Amanda
2003-01-01
Findings from a study of users' multitasking searches on Web search engines include: multitasking searches are a noticeable user behavior; multitasking search sessions are longer than regular search sessions in terms of queries per session and duration; both Excite and AlltheWeb.com users search for about three topics per multitasking session and…
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Multitasking: productivity effects and gender differences
Buser, T.; Peter, N.
2011-01-01
We examine how multitasking affects performance and check whether women are indeed better at multitasking. Subjects in our experiment perform two different tasks according to three treatments: one where they perform the tasks sequentially, one where they are forced to multitask, and one where they
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Laloyaux, Julien; Van der Linden, Martial; Levaux, Marie-Noëlle; Mourad, Haitham; Pirri, Anthony; Bertrand, Hervé; Domken, Marc-André; Adam, Stéphane; Larøi, Frank
2014-07-30
Difficulties in everyday life activities are core features of persons diagnosed with schizophrenia and in particular during multitasking activities. However, at present, patients׳ multitasking capacities have not been adequately examined in the literature due to the absence of suitable assessment strategies. We thus recently developed a computerized real-life activity task designed to take into account the complex and multitasking nature of certain everyday life activities where participants are required to prepare a room for a meeting. Twenty-one individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 20 matched healthy controls completed the computerized task. Patients were also evaluated with a cognitive battery, measures of symptomatology and real world functioning. To examine the ecological validity, 14 other patients were recruited and were given the computerized version and a real version of the meeting preparation task. Results showed that performance on the computerized task was significantly correlated with executive functioning, pointing to the major implication of these cognitive processes in multitasking situations. Performance on the computerized task also significantly predicted up to 50% of real world functioning. Moreover, the computerized task demonstrated good ecological validity. These findings suggest the importance of evaluating multitasking capacities in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in order to predict real world functioning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Young and Older Adults' Gender Stereotype in Multitasking
Strobach, Tilo; Woszidlo, Alesia
2015-01-01
In the present study, we investigated discrepancies between two components of stereotyping by means of the popular notion that women are better at multitasking behaviors: the cognitive structure in individuals (personal belief) and the perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs (perceived belief of groups). With focus on this notion, we examined whether there was empirical evidence for the stereotype’s existence and whether and how it was shared among different age groups. Data were collec...
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Predictors of media multitasking in Chinese adolescents.
Yang, Xiaohui; Zhu, Liqi
2016-12-01
We examined predictors of media multitasking in Chinese adolescents from 3 contexts: characteristics of the media user, types of media use and family media contexts. Three hundred and twenty adolescents, 11-18 years of age, completed questionnaires to measure media use, impulsivity, sensation seeking, time management disposition and family media environment. The results showed that media multitasking was positively correlated with age and total media use time. Participants with high levels of impulsivity and sensation seeking reported more multitasking behaviour. Multitasking was negatively correlated with time management. Children from media-oriented families often engage in more multitasking. What's more, social networking sites use and music use can mediate the effect of individual and family factors on media multitasking. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.
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Wetherell, Mark A; Carter, Kirsty
2014-04-01
A variety of techniques exist for eliciting acute psychological stress in the laboratory; however, they vary in terms of their ease of use, reliability to elicit consistent responses and the extent to which they represent the stressors encountered in everyday life. There is, therefore, a need to develop simple laboratory techniques that reliably elicit psychobiological stress reactivity that are representative of the types of stressors encountered in everyday life. The multitasking framework is a performance-based, cognitively demanding stressor, representative of environments where individuals are required to attend and respond to several different stimuli simultaneously with varying levels of workload. Psychological (mood and perceived workload) and physiological (heart rate and blood pressure) stress reactivity was observed in response to a 15-min period of multitasking at different levels of workload intensity in a sample of 20 healthy participants. Multitasking stress elicited increases in heart rate and blood pressure, and increased workload intensity elicited dose-response increases in levels of perceived workload and mood. As individuals rarely attend to single tasks in real life, the multitasking framework provides an alternative technique for modelling acute stress and workload in the laboratory. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Intelligence, Working Memory, and Multitasking Performance
Colom, Roberto; Martinez-Molina, Agustin; Shih, Pei Chun; Santacreu, Jose
2010-01-01
Multitasking performance is relevant in everyday life and job analyses highlight the influence of multitasking over several diverse occupations. Intelligence is the best single predictor of overall job performance and it is also related to individual differences in multitasking. However, it has been shown that working memory capacity (WMC) is…
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Bender, Angela D.; Filmer, Hannah L.; Naughtin, Claire K.; Dux, Paul E.
2017-12-01
The ability to perform multiple tasks concurrently is an ever-increasing requirement in our information-rich world. Despite this, multitasking typically compromises performance due to the processing limitations associated with cognitive control and decision-making. While intensive dual-task training is known to improve multitasking performance, only limited evidence suggests that training-related performance benefits can transfer to untrained tasks that share overlapping processes. In the real world, however, coordinating and selecting several responses within close temporal proximity will often occur in high-interference environments. Over the last decade, there have been notable reports that training on video action games that require dynamic multitasking in a demanding environment can lead to transfer effects on aspects of cognition such as attention and working memory. Here, we asked whether continuous and dynamic multitasking training extends benefits to tasks that are theoretically related to the trained tasks. To examine this issue, we asked a group of participants to train on a combined continuous visuomotor tracking task and a perceptual discrimination task for six sessions, while an active control group practiced the component tasks in isolation. A battery of tests measuring response selection, response inhibition, and spatial attention was administered before and immediately after training to investigate transfer. Multitasking training resulted in substantial, task-specific gains in dual-task ability, but there was no evidence that these benefits generalized to other action control tasks. The findings suggest that training on a combined visuomotor tracking and discrimination task results in task-specific benefits but provides no additional value for untrained action selection tasks.
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Kievit, Rogier A.; Davis, Simon W.; Mitchell, Daniel J.; Taylor, Jason R.; Duncan, John; Tyler, Lorraine K.; Brayne, Carol; Bullmore, Ed; Calder, Andrew; Cusack, Rhodri; Dalgleish, Tim; Matthews, Fiona; Marslen-Wilson, William; Rowe, James; Shafto, Meredith; Campbell, Karen; Cheung, Teresa; Geerligs, Linda; McCarrey, Anna; Tsvetanov, Kamen; Williams, Nitin; Bates, Lauren; Emery, Tina; Erzinçlioglu, Sharon; Gadie, Andrew; Gerbase, Sofia; Georgieva, Stanimira; Hanley, Claire; Parkin, Beth; Troy, David; Allen, Jodie; Amery, Gillian; Amunts, Liana; Barcroft, Anne; Castle, Amanda; Dias, Cheryl; Dowrick, Jonathan; Fair, Melissa; Fisher, Hayley; Goulding, Anna; Grewal, Adarsh; Hale, Geoff; Hilton, Andrew; Johnson, Frances; Johnston, Patricia; Kavanagh-Williamson, Thea; Kwasniewska, Magdalena; McMinn, Alison; Norman, Kim; Penrose, Jessica; Roby, Fiona; Rowland, Diane; Sargeant, John; Squire, Maggie; Stevens, Beth; Stoddart, Aldabra; Stone, Cheryl; Thompson, Tracy; Yazlik, Ozlem; Barnes, Dan; Dixon, Marie; Hillman, Jaya; Mitchell, Joanne; Villis, Laura; Henson, Richard N.A.
2014-01-01
Ageing is characterized by declines on a variety of cognitive measures. These declines are often attributed to a general, unitary underlying cause, such as a reduction in executive function owing to atrophy of the prefrontal cortex. However, age-related changes are likely multifactorial, and the relationship between neural changes and cognitive measures is not well-understood. Here we address this in a large (N=567), population-based sample drawn from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) data. We relate fluid intelligence and multitasking to multiple brain measures, including grey matter in various prefrontal regions and white matter integrity connecting those regions. We show that multitasking and fluid intelligence are separable cognitive abilities, with differential sensitivities to age, which are mediated by distinct neural subsystems that show different prediction in older versus younger individuals. These results suggest that prefrontal ageing is a manifold process demanding multifaceted models of neurocognitive ageing. PMID:25519467
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The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS on Multitasking Throughput Capacity
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Justin Nelson
2016-11-01
Full Text Available Background: Multitasking has become an integral attribute associated with military operations within the past several decades. As the amount of information that needs to be processed during these high level multitasking environments exceeds the human operators’ capabilities, the information throughput capacity reaches an asymptotic limit. At this point, the human operator can no longer effectively process and respond to the incoming information resulting in a plateau or decline in performance. The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a non-invasive brain stimulation technique known as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS applied to a scalp location over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC to improve information processing capabilities during a multitasking environment. Methods: The study consisted of 20 participants from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (16 male and 4 female with an average age of 31.1 (SD = 4.5. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups, each consisting of eight males and two females. Group one received 2mA of anodal tDCS and group two received sham tDCS over the lDLPFC on their testing day. Results: The findings indicate that anodal tDCS significantly improves the participants’ information processing capability resulting in improved performance compared to sham tDCS. For example, the multitasking throughput capacity for the sham tDCS group plateaued near 1.0 bits/s at the higher baud input (2.0 bits/s whereas the anodal tDCS group plateaued near 1.3 bits/s. Conclusion: The findings provided new evidence that tDCS has the ability to augment and enhance multitasking capability in a human operator. Future research should be conducted to determine the longevity of the enhancement of transcranial direct current stimulation on multitasking performance, which has yet to be accomplished.
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The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Multitasking Throughput Capacity.
Nelson, Justin; McKinley, Richard A; Phillips, Chandler; McIntire, Lindsey; Goodyear, Chuck; Kreiner, Aerial; Monforton, Lanie
2016-01-01
Background: Multitasking has become an integral attribute associated with military operations within the past several decades. As the amount of information that needs to be processed during these high level multitasking environments exceeds the human operators' capabilities, the information throughput capacity reaches an asymptotic limit. At this point, the human operator can no longer effectively process and respond to the incoming information resulting in a plateau or decline in performance. The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a non-invasive brain stimulation technique known as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to a scalp location over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (lDLPFC) to improve information processing capabilities during a multitasking environment. Methods: The study consisted of 20 participants from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (16 male and 4 female) with an average age of 31.1 (SD = 4.5). Participants were randomly assigned into two groups, each consisting of eight males and two females. Group one received 2 mA of anodal tDCS and group two received sham tDCS over the lDLPFC on their testing day. Results: The findings indicate that anodal tDCS significantly improves the participants' information processing capability resulting in improved performance compared to sham tDCS. For example, the multitasking throughput capacity for the sham tDCS group plateaued near 1.0 bits/s at the higher baud input (2.0 bits/s) whereas the anodal tDCS group plateaued near 1.3 bits/s. Conclusion: The findings provided new evidence that tDCS has the ability to augment and enhance multitasking capability in a human operator. Future research should be conducted to determine the longevity of the enhancement of transcranial direct current stimulation on multitasking performance, which has yet to be accomplished.
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Managerial multitasking in the mutual fund industry
Agarwal, Vikas; Ma, Linlin; Mullally, Kevin
2015-01-01
We examine the determinants and consequences of mutual fund managers simultaneously managing multiple funds. Well-performing managers multitask by taking over poorly performing funds or launching new funds. Subsequent to multitasking, funds run by managers prior to multitasking (i.e., incumbent funds) experience performance deterioration while the performance of the acquired funds improves. Multitasking increases the assets of fund companies but results in a wealth transfer from shareholders ...
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Is Multitask Deep Learning Practical for Pharma?
Ramsundar, Bharath; Liu, Bowen; Wu, Zhenqin; Verras, Andreas; Tudor, Matthew; Sheridan, Robert P; Pande, Vijay
2017-08-28
Multitask deep learning has emerged as a powerful tool for computational drug discovery. However, despite a number of preliminary studies, multitask deep networks have yet to be widely deployed in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. This lack of acceptance stems from both software difficulties and lack of understanding of the robustness of multitask deep networks. Our work aims to resolve both of these barriers to adoption. We introduce a high-quality open-source implementation of multitask deep networks as part of the DeepChem open-source platform. Our implementation enables simple python scripts to construct, fit, and evaluate sophisticated deep models. We use our implementation to analyze the performance of multitask deep networks and related deep models on four collections of pharmaceutical data (three of which have not previously been analyzed in the literature). We split these data sets into train/valid/test using time and neighbor splits to test multitask deep learning performance under challenging conditions. Our results demonstrate that multitask deep networks are surprisingly robust and can offer strong improvement over random forests. Our analysis and open-source implementation in DeepChem provide an argument that multitask deep networks are ready for widespread use in commercial drug discovery.
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Hsu, Wan-Yu; Zanto, Theodore P; Anguera, Joaquin A; Lin, Yung-Yang; Gazzaley, Adam
2015-08-01
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been proposed to play an important role in neural processes that underlie multitasking performance. However, this claim is underexplored in terms of direct causal evidence. The current study aimed to delineate the causal involvement of the DLPFC during multitasking by modulating neural activity with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) prior to engagement in a demanding multitasking paradigm. The study is a single-blind, crossover, sham-controlled experiment. Anodal tDCS or sham tDCS was applied over left DLPFC in forty-one healthy young adults (aged 18-35 years) immediately before they engaged in a 3-D video game designed to assess multitasking performance. Participants were separated into three subgroups: real-sham (i.e., real tDCS in the first session, followed by sham tDCS in the second session 1 h later), sham-real (sham tDCS first session, real tDCS second session), and sham-sham (sham tDCS in both sessions). The real-sham group showed enhanced multitasking performance and decreased multitasking cost during the second session, compared to first session, suggesting delayed cognitive benefits of tDCS. Interestingly, performance benefits were observed only for multitasking and not on a single-task version of the game. No significant changes were found between the first and second sessions for either the sham-real or the sham-sham groups. These results suggest a causal role of left prefrontal cortex in facilitating the simultaneous performance of more than one task, or multitasking. Moreover, these findings reveal that anodal tDCS may have delayed benefits that reflect an enhanced rate of learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Intimacy and Smartphone Multitasking-A New Oxymoron?
Amichai-Hamburger, Yair; Etgar, Shir
2016-12-01
This study investigated the relationship between smartphone multitasking and romantic intimacy. Participants currently in a romantic relationship (N = 128; 98 women; M age = 26.7 years, SD = 4.3) filled out two sets of questionnaires: The Emotional Intimacy Scale, measuring romantic intimacy, and the mobile phone interference in life scale, measuring multitasking on a smartphone. Participants filled out each questionnaire twice, once in relation to themselves and once in relation to their partner (for the partner questionnaire, statements were altered from the first person to the third person singular, he/she instead of I). Results suggested that only the partners' smartphone multitasking scores were negatively related to ratings of romantic intimacy, whereas participants' own smartphone multitasking scores were not related to ratings of romantic intimacy. These results can be explained by the actor-observer asymmetry, suggesting that participants attributed their multitasking behaviors to situations, but attributed their partners multitasking behaviors to behavior patterns or intentionality. This research suggests that smartphone multitasking has a negative association with face-to-face interactions. People should attend to the costs of smartphone use during face-to-face interactions. © The Author(s) 2016.
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Media multitasking and behavioral measures of sustained attention.
Ralph, Brandon C W; Thomson, David R; Seli, Paul; Carriere, Jonathan S A; Smilek, Daniel
2015-02-01
In a series of four studies, self-reported media multitasking (using the media multitasking index; MMI) and general sustained-attention ability, through performance on three sustained-attention tasks: the metronome response task (MRT), the sustained-attention-to-response task (SART), and a vigilance task (here, a modified version of the SART). In Study 1, we found that higher reports of media multitasking were associated with increased response variability (i.e., poor performance) on the MRT. However, in Study 2, no association between reported media multitasking and performance on the SART was observed. These findings were replicated in Studies 3a and 3b, in which we again assessed the relation between media multitasking and performance on both the MRT and SART in two large online samples. Finally, in Study 4, using a large online sample, we tested whether media multitasking was associated with performance on a vigilance task. Although standard vigilance decrements were observed in both sensitivity (A') and response times, media multitasking was not associated with the size of these decrements, nor was media multitasking associated with overall performance, in terms of either sensitivity or response times. Taken together, the results of the studies reported here failed to demonstrate a relation between habitual engagement in media multitasking in everyday life and a general deficit in sustained-attention processes.
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SYRUS: Understanding and Predicting Multitasking Performance
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Oswald, Frederick L; Hambrick, D. Z; Jones, L. A; Ghumman, Sonia S
2007-01-01
.... Fourth, related to the previous point, a summarization of our initial empirical work on multitasking, based on college-student participants who engaged in a computerized multitasking performance task...
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Multitasking in the University Classroom
Burak, Lydia
2012-01-01
Although research evidence indicates that multitasking results in poorer learning and poorer performance, many students engage with text messaging, Facebook, internet searching, emailing, and instant messaging, while sitting in university classrooms. Research also suggests that multitasking may be related to risk behaviors. This study's purpose…
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On the effects of multimodal information integration in multitasking.
Stock, Ann-Kathrin; Gohil, Krutika; Huster, René J; Beste, Christian
2017-07-07
There have recently been considerable advances in our understanding of the neuronal mechanisms underlying multitasking, but the role of multimodal integration for this faculty has remained rather unclear. We examined this issue by comparing different modality combinations in a multitasking (stop-change) paradigm. In-depth neurophysiological analyses of event-related potentials (ERPs) were conducted to complement the obtained behavioral data. Specifically, we applied signal decomposition using second order blind identification (SOBI) to the multi-subject ERP data and source localization. We found that both general multimodal information integration and modality-specific aspects (potentially related to task difficulty) modulate behavioral performance and associated neurophysiological correlates. Simultaneous multimodal input generally increased early attentional processing of visual stimuli (i.e. P1 and N1 amplitudes) as well as measures of cognitive effort and conflict (i.e. central P3 amplitudes). Yet, tactile-visual input caused larger impairments in multitasking than audio-visual input. General aspects of multimodal information integration modulated the activity in the premotor cortex (BA 6) as well as different visual association areas concerned with the integration of visual information with input from other modalities (BA 19, BA 21, BA 37). On top of this, differences in the specific combination of modalities also affected performance and measures of conflict/effort originating in prefrontal regions (BA 6).
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Gender differences in multitasking reflect spatial ability.
Mäntylä, Timo
2013-04-01
Demands involving the scheduling and interleaving of multiple activities have become increasingly prevalent, especially for women in both their paid and unpaid work hours. Despite the ubiquity of everyday requirements to multitask, individual and gender-related differences in multitasking have gained minimal attention in past research. In two experiments, participants completed a multitasking session with four gender-fair monitoring tasks and separate tasks measuring executive functioning (working memory updating) and spatial ability (mental rotation). In both experiments, males outperformed females in monitoring accuracy. Individual differences in executive functioning and spatial ability were independent predictors of monitoring accuracy, but only spatial ability mediated gender differences in multitasking. Menstrual changes accentuated these effects, such that gender differences in multitasking (and spatial ability) were eliminated between males and females who were in the menstrual phase of the menstrual cycle but not between males and females who were in the luteal phase. These findings suggest that multitasking involves spatiotemporal task coordination and that gender differences in multiple-task performance reflect differences in spatial ability.
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Feng, S F; Schwemmer, M; Gershman, S J; Cohen, J D
2014-03-01
Why is it that behaviors that rely on control, so striking in their diversity and flexibility, are also subject to such striking limitations? Typically, people cannot engage in more than a few-and usually only a single-control-demanding task at a time. This limitation was a defining element in the earliest conceptualizations of controlled processing; it remains one of the most widely accepted axioms of cognitive psychology, and is even the basis for some laws (e.g., against the use of mobile devices while driving). Remarkably, however, the source of this limitation is still not understood. Here, we examine one potential source of this limitation, in terms of a trade-off between the flexibility and efficiency of representation ("multiplexing") and the simultaneous engagement of different processing pathways ("multitasking"). We show that even a modest amount of multiplexing rapidly introduces cross-talk among processing pathways, thereby constraining the number that can be productively engaged at once. We propose that, given the large number of advantages of efficient coding, the human brain has favored this over the capacity for multitasking of control-demanding processes.
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Differences in Multitask Resource Reallocation After Change in Task Values.
Matton, Nadine; Paubel, Pierre; Cegarra, Julien; Raufaste, Eric
2016-12-01
The objective was to characterize multitask resource reallocation strategies when managing subtasks with various assigned values. When solving a resource conflict in multitasking, Salvucci and Taatgen predict a globally rational strategy will be followed that favors the most urgent subtask and optimizes global performance. However, Katidioti and Taatgen identified a locally rational strategy that optimizes only a subcomponent of the whole task, leading to detrimental consequences on global performance. Moreover, the question remains open whether expertise would have an impact on the choice of the strategy. We adopted a multitask environment used for pilot selection with a change in emphasis on two out of four subtasks while all subtasks had to be maintained over a minimum performance. A laboratory eye-tracking study contrasted 20 recently selected pilot students considered as experienced with this task and 15 university students considered as novices. When two subtasks were emphasized, novices focused their resources particularly on one high-value subtask and failed to prevent both low-value subtasks falling below minimum performance. On the contrary, experienced people delayed the processing of one low-value subtask but managed to optimize global performance. In a multitasking environment where some subtasks are emphasized, novices follow a locally rational strategy whereas experienced participants follow a globally rational strategy. During complex training, trainees are only able to adjust their resource allocation strategy to subtask emphasis changes once they are familiar with the multitasking environment. © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
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Psychobiological responses to critically evaluated multitasking.
Wetherell, Mark A; Craw, Olivia; Smith, Kenny; Smith, Michael A
2017-12-01
In order to understand psychobiological responses to stress it is necessary to observe how people react to controlled stressors. A range of stressors exist for this purpose; however, laboratory stressors that are representative of real life situations provide more ecologically valid opportunities for assessing stress responding. The current study assessed psychobiological responses to an ecologically valid laboratory stressor involving multitasking and critical evaluation. The stressor elicited significant increases in psychological and cardiovascular stress reactivity; however, no cortisol reactivity was observed. Other socially evaluative laboratory stressors that lead to cortisol reactivity typically require a participant to perform tasks that involve verbal responses, whilst standing in front of evaluative others. The current protocol contained critical evaluation of cognitive performance; however, this was delivered from behind a seated participant. The salience of social evaluation may therefore be related to the response format of the task and the method of evaluation. That is, the current protocol did not involve the additional vulnerability associated with in person, face-to-face contact, and verbal delivery. Critical evaluation of multitasking provides an ecologically valid technique for inducing laboratory stress and provides an alternative tool for assessing psychological and cardiovascular reactivity. Future studies could additionally use this paradigm to investigate those components of social evaluation necessary for eliciting a cortisol response.
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Multitasking, working memory and remembering intentions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Robert H Logie
2010-02-01
Full Text Available Multitasking refers to the performance of a range of tasks that have to be completed within a limited time period. it differs from dual task paradigms in that tasks are performed not in parallel, but by interleaving, switching from one to the other. it differs also from task switching paradigms in that the time scale is very much longer, multiple different tasks are involved, and most tasks have a clear end point. Multitasking has been studied extensively with particular sets of experts such as in aviation and in the military, and impairments of multitasking performance have been studied in patients with frontal lobe lesions. Much less is known as to how multitasking is achieved in healthy adults who have not had specific training in the necessary skills. This paper will provide a brief review of research on everyday multitasking, and summarise the results of some recent experiments on simulated everyday tasks chosen to require advance and on-line planning, retrospective memory, prospective memory, and visual, spatial and verbal short-term memory.
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Neural sources of performance decline during continuous multitasking.
Al-Hashimi, Omar; Zanto, Theodore P; Gazzaley, Adam
2015-10-01
Multitasking performance costs have largely been characterized by experiments that involve two overlapping and punctuated perceptual stimuli, as well as punctuated responses to each task. Here, participants engaged in a continuous performance paradigm during fMRI recording to identify neural signatures associated with multitasking costs under more natural conditions. Our results demonstrated that only a single brain region, the superior parietal lobule (SPL), exhibited a significant relationship with multitasking performance, such that increased activation in the multitasking condition versus the singletasking condition was associated with higher task performance (i.e., least multitasking cost). Together, these results support previous research indicating that parietal regions underlie multitasking abilities and that performance costs are related to a bottleneck in control processes involving the SPL that serves to divide attention between two tasks. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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Steinborn, Michael B.; Huestegge, Lynn
2018-01-01
This is a pilot study that examined the effect of cell-phone conversation on cognition using a continuous multitasking paradigm. Current theorizing argues that phone conversation affects behavior (e.g., driving) by interfering at a level of cognitive processes (not peripheral activity) and by implying an attentional-failure account. Within the framework of an intermittent spare–utilized capacity threading model, we examined the effect of aspects of (secondary-task) phone conversation on (prim...
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Garner, K. G.; Dux, Paul E.
2015-01-01
The problem of how the brain undertakes multiple tasks concurrently is one of the oldest in psychology and neuroscience. Although successful negotiation of the rich sensory world clearly requires the ongoing management of multiple tasks, humans show substantial multitasking impairments in the laboratory and everyday life. Fortunately, training facilitates multitasking. However, until now, the neural mechanisms driving this functional adaptation were not understood. Here, in a large-scale huma...
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Neuroticism Negatively Affects Multitasking Performance through State Anxiety
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Poposki, Elizabeth M; Oswald, Frederick L; Chen, Hubert T
2009-01-01
.... Results supported the hypothesis that neuroticism, but not the other personality characteristics measured, significantly predicts performance at multitasking, and that this relationship is mediated by state anxiety experienced during multitasking. Implications for the impact of personality and anxiety on multitasking performance are discussed.
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Blini, Elvio; Romeo, Zaira; Spironelli, Chiara; Pitteri, Marco; Meneghello, Francesca; Bonato, Mario; Zorzi, Marco
2016-11-01
Unilateral Spatial Neglect, the most dramatic manifestation of contralesional space unawareness, is a highly heterogeneous syndrome. The presence of neglect is related to core spatially lateralized deficits, but its severity is also modulated by several domain-general factors (such as alertness or sustained attention) and by task demands. We previously showed that a computer-based dual-task paradigm exploiting both lateralized and non-lateralized factors (i.e., attentional load/multitasking) better captures this complex scenario and exacerbates deficits for the contralesional space after right hemisphere damage. Here we asked whether multitasking would reveal contralesional spatial disorders in chronic left-hemisphere damaged (LHD) stroke patients, a population in which impaired spatial processing is thought to be uncommon. Ten consecutive LHD patients with no signs of right-sided neglect at standard neuropsychological testing performed a computerized spatial monitoring task with and without concurrent secondary tasks (i.e., multitasking). Severe contralesional (right) space unawareness emerged in most patients under attentional load in both the visual and auditory modalities. Multitasking affected the detection of contralesional stimuli both when presented concurrently with an ipsilesional one (i.e., extinction for bilateral targets) and when presented in isolation (i.e., left neglect for right-sided targets). No spatial bias emerged in a control group of healthy elderly participants, who performed at ceiling, as well as in a second control group composed of patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment. We conclude that the pathological spatial asymmetry in LHD patients cannot be attributed to a global reduction of cognitive resources but it is the consequence of unilateral brain damage. Clinical and theoretical implications of the load-dependent lack of awareness for contralesional hemispace following LHD are discussed. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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ACT-R/E: An Embodied Cognitive Architecture for Human-Robot Interaction
2013-01-01
Threaded Cognition: An Integrated Theory of Concurrent Multitasking . Psychological Review, 115(1), 101–130, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X...Trafton, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA Email : greg.trafton@nrl.navy.mil Laura Hiatt, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA Email ...laura.hiatt@nrl.navy.mil Anthony Harrison, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA Email : anthony.harrison@nrl.navy.mil Frank Tamborello, Naval
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jelmer P Borst
Full Text Available BACKGROUND: It has been shown that people can only maintain one problem state, or intermediate mental representation, at a time. When more than one problem state is required, for example in multitasking, performance decreases considerably. This effect has been explained in terms of a problem state bottleneck. METHODOLOGY: In the current study we use the complimentary methodologies of computational cognitive modeling and neuroimaging to investigate the neural correlates of this problem state bottleneck. In particular, an existing computational cognitive model was used to generate a priori fMRI predictions for a multitasking experiment in which the problem state bottleneck plays a major role. Hemodynamic responses were predicted for five brain regions, corresponding to five cognitive resources in the model. Most importantly, we predicted the intraparietal sulcus to show a strong effect of the problem state manipulations. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the predictions were confirmed by a subsequent fMRI experiment, while others were not matched by the data. The experiment supported the hypothesis that the problem state bottleneck is a plausible cause of the interference in the experiment and that it could be located in the intraparietal sulcus.
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The applicability of a multitask boxing program using the BoxMaster ® for Parkinson’s disease
Domingos, Josefa; Loureiro, Rita; Godinho, Catarina; Dean, John; Ferreira, Joaquim J.
2016-01-01
Poster presented at the 4th World Parkinson Congress. Portland, Oregon, 20-23 September 2016 "Objective: To test the applicability of a multitasking boxing program using the BoxMaster® in individuals with Parkinson’s disease that combines motor, cognitive and vocal exercises." N/A
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A technical review of flexible endoscopic multitasking platforms.
Yeung, Baldwin Po Man; Gourlay, Terence
2012-01-01
Further development of advanced therapeutic endoscopic techniques and natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) requires a powerful flexible endoscopic multitasking platform. Medline search was performed to identify literature relating to flexible endoscopic multitasking platform from year 2004-2011 using keywords: Flexible endoscopic multitasking platform, NOTES, Instrumentation, Endoscopic robotic surgery, and specific names of various endoscopic multitasking platforms. Key articles from articles references were reviewed. Flexible multitasking platforms can be classified as either mechanical or robotic. Purely mechanical systems include the dual channel endoscope (DCE) (Olympus), R-Scope (Olympus), the EndoSamurai (Olympus), the ANUBIScope (Karl-Storz), Incisionless Operating Platform (IOP) (USGI), and DDES system (Boston Scientific). Robotic systems include the MASTER system (Nanyang University, Singapore) and the Viacath (Hansen Medical). The DCE, the R-Scope, the EndoSamurai and the ANUBIScope have integrated visual function and instrument manipulation function. The IOP and DDES systems rely on the conventional flexible endoscope for visualization, and instrument manipulation is integrated through the use of a flexible, often lockable, multichannel access device. The advantage of the access device concept is that it allows optics and instrument dissociation. Due to the anatomical constrains of the pharynx, systems are designed to have a diameter of less than 20 mm. All systems are controlled by traction cable system actuated either by hand or by robotic machinery. In a flexible system, this method of actuation inevitably leads to significant hysteresis. This problem will be accentuated with a long endoscope such as that required in performing colonic procedures. Systems often require multiple operators. To date, the DCE, the R-Scope, the IOP, and the Viacath system have data published relating to their application in human. Alternative forms of
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Multitasking Teachers: Mistake or Missing Link?
Eisenwine, Marilyn J.; Hadley, Nancy J.
2011-01-01
This article presents case studies involving graduate students who exhibited multitasking behaviors during their university courses, and explores how those behaviors functioned in their own classrooms. Though these university students appeared to be inattentive, their multitasking proved to be indicative of creativity and flexibility in their…
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Small Group Multitasking in Literature Classes
Baurain, Bradley
2007-01-01
Faced with the challenge of teaching American literature to large, multilevel classes in Vietnam, the writer developed a flexible small group framework called "multitasking". "Multitasking" sets up stable task categories which rotate among small groups from lesson to lesson. This framework enabled students to work cooperatively…
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Structural neural correlates of multitasking: A voxel-based morphometry study.
Zhang, Rui-Ting; Yang, Tian-Xiao; Wang, Yi; Sui, Yuxiu; Yao, Jingjing; Zhang, Chen-Yuan; Cheung, Eric F C; Chan, Raymond C K
2016-12-01
Multitasking refers to the ability to organize assorted tasks efficiently in a short period of time, which plays an important role in daily life. However, the structural neural correlates of multitasking performance remain unclear. The present study aimed at exploring the brain regions associated with multitasking performance using global correlation analysis. Twenty-six healthy participants first underwent structural brain scans and then performed the modified Six Element Test, which required participants to attempt six subtasks in 10 min while obeying a specific rule. Voxel-based morphometry of the whole brain was used to detect the structural correlates of multitasking ability. Grey matter volume of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was positively correlated with the overall performance and time monitoring in multitasking. In addition, white matter volume of the anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) was also positively correlated with time monitoring during multitasking. Other related brain regions associated with multitasking included the superior frontal gyrus, the inferior occipital gyrus, the lingual gyrus, and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. No significant correlation was found between grey matter volume of the prefrontal cortex (Brodmann Area 10) and multitasking performance. Using a global correlation analysis to examine various aspects of multitasking performance, this study provided new insights into the structural neural correlates of multitasking ability. In particular, the ACC was identified as an important brain region that played both a general and a specific time-monitoring role in multitasking, extending the role of the ACC from lesioned populations to healthy populations. The present findings also support the view that the ATR may influence multitasking performance by affecting time-monitoring abilities. © 2016 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
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Driving and Multitasking: The Good, the Bad, and the Dangerous
Nijboer, Menno; Borst, Jelmer P.; van Rijn, Hedderik; Taatgen, Niels A.
2016-01-01
Previous research has shown that multitasking can have a positive or a negative influence on driving performance. The aim of this study was to determine how the interaction between driving circumstances and cognitive requirements of secondary tasks affect a driver's ability to control a car. We created a driving simulator paradigm where participants had to perform one of two scenarios: one with no traffic in the driver's lane, and one with substantial traffic in both lanes, some of which had ...
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An Investigation of Factors Affecting Multi-Task Performance in an Immersive Environment
2007-12-01
in Team Sports . Personality and Individual Differences July 1998, 25 (1), 119- 128. Potosky, D. A Field Study of Computer Efficacy Beliefs as an...vacation I like to engage in active sports rather than just lie around. ____ 60. I’ll try anything once. ____ 61. I often feel unsure of myself...heart rate variability ( HRV ). • To identify non-invasive psychological and physiological measures of cognitive readiness in a multi-task environment
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Scholey, Andrew; Savage, Karen; O'Neill, Barry V; Owen, Lauren; Stough, Con; Priestley, Caroline; Wetherell, Mark
2014-01-01
Background This study assessed the effects of two doses of glucose and a caffeine–glucose combination on mood and performance of an ecologically valid, computerised multi-tasking platform. Materials and methods Following a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, parallel-groups design, 150 healthy adults (mean age 34.78 years) consumed drinks containing placebo, 25 g glucose, 60 g glucose or 60 g glucose with 40 mg caffeine. They completed a multi-tasking framework at baseline and then 30 min following drink consumption with mood assessments immediately before and after the multi-tasking framework. Blood glucose and salivary caffeine were co-monitored. Results The caffeine–glucose group had significantly better total multi-tasking scores than the placebo or 60 g glucose groups and were significantly faster at mental arithmetic tasks than either glucose drink group. There were no significant treatment effects on mood. Caffeine and glucose levels confirmed compliance with overnight abstinence/fasting, respectively, and followed the predicted post-drink patterns. Conclusion These data suggest that co-administration of glucose and caffeine allows greater allocation of attentional resources than placebo or glucose alone. At present, we cannot rule out the possibility that the effects are due to caffeine alone Future studies should aim at disentangling caffeine and glucose effects. PMID:25196040
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Margaret M Weightman
Full Text Available The Assessment of Military Multitasking Performance (AMMP is a battery of functional dual-tasks and multitasks based on military activities that target known sensorimotor, cognitive, and exertional vulnerabilities after concussion/mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI. The AMMP was developed to help address known limitations in post concussive return to duty assessment and decision making. Once validated, the AMMP is intended for use in combination with other metrics to inform duty-readiness decisions in Active Duty Service Members following concussion. This study used an iterative process of repeated interrater reliability testing and feasibility feedback to drive modifications to the 9 tasks of the original AMMP which resulted in a final version of 6 tasks with metrics that demonstrated clinically acceptable ICCs of > 0.92 (range of 0.92-1.0 for the 3 dual tasks and > 0.87 (range 0.87-1.0 for the metrics of the 3 multitasks. Three metrics involved in recording subject errors across 2 tasks did not achieve ICCs above 0.85 set apriori for multitasks (0.64 and above 0.90 set for dual-tasks (0.77 and 0.86 and were not used for further analysis. This iterative process involved 3 phases of testing with between 13 and 26 subjects, ages 18-42 years, tested in each phase from a combined cohort of healthy controls and Service Members with mTBI. Study findings support continued validation of this assessment tool to provide rehabilitation clinicians further return to duty assessment methods robust to ceiling effects with strong face validity to injured Warriors and their leaders.
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Media Multitasking among American Youth: Prevalence, Predictors and Pairings
Foehr, Ulla G.
2006-01-01
In the past, multitasking was a juggling act performed by busy adults, as they tried to manage jobs, chores, carpools, and PTA meetings. But recently, teens and tweens have turned into the real experts at multitasking, as their lives become chock-full of organized activities. For them, multitasking has simply become a way of life: "If I couldn't…
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Gonzales, Joaquin U; James, C Roger; Yang, Hyung Suk; Jensen, Daniel; Atkins, Lee; Al-Khalil, Kareem; O'Boyle, Michael
2017-05-01
Central arterial hemodynamics is associated with cognitive impairment. Reductions in gait speed during walking while performing concurrent tasks known as dual-tasking (DT) or multi-tasking (MT) is thought to reflect the cognitive cost that exceeds neural capacity to share resources. We hypothesized that central vascular function would associate with decrements in gait speed during DT or MT. Gait speed was measured using a motion capture system in 56 women (30-80y) without mild-cognitive impairment. Dual-tasking was considered walking at a fast-pace while balancing a tray. Multi-tasking was the DT condition plus subtracting by serial 7's. Applanation tonometry was used for measurement of aortic stiffness and central pulse pressure. Doppler-ultrasound was used to measure blood flow velocity and β-stiffness index in the common carotid artery. The percent change in gait speed was larger for MT than DT (14.1±11.2 vs. 8.7±9.6%, p decrement (third tertile) as compared to women with less decrement (first tertile) in gait speed during MT after adjusting for age, gait speed, and task error. Carotid pulse pressure and β-stiffness did not contribute to these tertile differences. Elevated carotid flow pulsatility and resistance are characteristics found in healthy women that show lower cognitive capacity to walk and perform multiple concurrent tasks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Social software e multitasking: un virus o una risorsa?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gisella Paoletti
2013-03-01
Full Text Available Il multitasking è una strategia di gestione delle risorse cognitive; consiste nello svolgere più di un compito contemporaneamente. In alcuni casi è inevitabile, altre volte no, ma sempre più spesso ci sentiamo costretti a cercare di fare più cose simultaneamente. Possiamo veramente dividere la nostra attenzione conscia tra due compiti impegnativi, come leggere e scrivere? In questo articolo si riportano risultati sperimentali che hanno dimostrato che il risparmio di tempo può essere illusorio e che la performance ha un decadimento rispetto alle situazioni in cui è possibile svolgere i compiti in sequenza.
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Are women better than men at multi-tasking?
Stoet, Gijsbert; O’Connor, Daryl B.; Conner, Mark; Laws, Keith R.
2013-01-01
Background: There seems to be a common belief that women are better in multi-tasking than men, but there is practically no scientific research on this topic. Here, we tested whether women have better multi-tasking skills than men.\\ensuremath\\ensuremath Methods: In Experiment 1, we compared performance of 120 women and 120 men in a computer-based task-switching paradigm. In Experiment 2, we compared a different group of 47 women and 47 men on "paper-and-pencil" multi-tasking tests.\\ensuremath\\...
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Multitasking with Smartphones in the College Classroom
Grinols, Anne Bradstreet; Rajesh, Rishi
2014-01-01
Although the concept of multitasking itself is under debate, smartphones do enable users to divert attention from the task at hand to nongermane matters. As smartphone use becomes pervasive, extending into our classrooms, educators are concerned that they are becoming a major distraction. Does multitasking with smartphones impede learning? Can…
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Robust visual tracking via multi-task sparse learning
Zhang, Tianzhu; Ghanem, Bernard; Liu, Si; Ahuja, Narendra
2012-01-01
In this paper, we formulate object tracking in a particle filter framework as a multi-task sparse learning problem, which we denote as Multi-Task Tracking (MTT). Since we model particles as linear combinations of dictionary templates
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Single-task fMRI overlap predicts concurrent multitasking interference.
Nijboer, Menno; Borst, Jelmer; van Rijn, Hedderik; Taatgen, Niels
2014-10-15
There is no consensus regarding the origin of behavioral interference that occurs during concurrent multitasking. Some evidence points toward a multitasking locus in the brain, while other results imply that interference is the consequence of task interactions in several brain regions. To investigate this issue, we conducted a functional MRI (fMRI) study consisting of three component tasks, which were performed both separately and in combination. The results indicated that no specific multitasking area exists. Instead, different patterns of activation across conditions could be explained by assuming that the interference is a result of task interactions. Additionally, similarity in single-task activation patterns correlated with a decrease in accuracy during dual-task conditions. Taken together, these results support the view that multitasking interference is not due to a bottleneck in a single "multitasking" brain region, but is a result of interactions between concurrently running processes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Media multitasking behavior: concurrent television and computer usage.
Brasel, S Adam; Gips, James
2011-09-01
Changes in the media landscape have made simultaneous usage of the computer and television increasingly commonplace, but little research has explored how individuals navigate this media multitasking environment. Prior work suggests that self-insight may be limited in media consumption and multitasking environments, reinforcing a rising need for direct observational research. A laboratory experiment recorded both younger and older individuals as they used a computer and television concurrently, multitasking across television and Internet content. Results show that individuals are attending primarily to the computer during media multitasking. Although gazes last longer on the computer when compared to the television, the overall distribution of gazes is strongly skewed toward very short gazes only a few seconds in duration. People switched between media at an extreme rate, averaging more than 4 switches per min and 120 switches over the 27.5-minute study exposure. Participants had little insight into their switching activity and recalled their switching behavior at an average of only 12 percent of their actual switching rate revealed in the objective data. Younger individuals switched more often than older individuals, but other individual differences such as stated multitasking preference and polychronicity had little effect on switching patterns or gaze duration. This overall pattern of results highlights the importance of exploring new media environments, such as the current drive toward media multitasking, and reinforces that self-monitoring, post hoc surveying, and lay theory may offer only limited insight into how individuals interact with media.
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The Impact of Media Multitasking on Learning
Lee, Jennifer; Lin, Lin; Robertson, Tip
2012-01-01
While multitasking is not a new concept, it has received increasing attention in recent years with the development of new media and technologies. Recent trends appear to suggest that multitasking is on the rise among the younger generation. The purpose of the study is to determine if students obtain more or less information in multitasking…
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The Effects of Workload Transitions in a Multitasking Environment
2016-09-13
Workload Transitions in a Multitasking Environment 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER Margaret A. Bowers...DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release. The Effects of Workload Transitions in a Multitasking Environment Margaret A. Bowers1,2, James C...well as performance in a complex multitasking environment. The results of the NASA TLX and shortened DSSQ did not provide support for the position
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Norman, D.A.
1982-01-01
The study of human cognition encompasses the study of all mental phenomena, from the receipt and interpretation of sensory information to the final control of the motor system in the performance of action. The cognitive scientist examines all intermediary processes, including thought, decision making, and memory and including the effects of motivation, states of arousal and stress, the study of language, and the effects of social factors. The field therefore ranges over an enormous territory, covering all that is known or that should be known about human behavior. It is not possible to summarize the current state of knowledge about cognition with any great confidence that we know the correct answer about any aspect of the work. Nontheless, models provide good characterizations of certain aspects of the data and situations. Even if these models should prove to be incorrect, they do provide good approximate descriptions of people's behavior in some situations, and these approximations will still apply even when the underlying theories have changed. A quick description is provided of models within a number of areas of human cognition and skill and some general theoretical frameworks with which to view human cognition. The frameworks are qualitative descriptions that provide a way to view the development of more detailed, quantitative models and, most important, a way of thinking about human performance and skill
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Individual differences in media multitasking and performance on the n-back.
Ralph, Brandon C W; Smilek, Daniel
2017-02-01
A number of studies have recently examined the link between individual differences in media multitasking (using the MMI) and performance on working memory paradigms. However, these studies have yielded mixed results. Here we examine the relation between media multitasking and one particular working memory paradigm-the n-back (2- and 3-back)-improving upon previous research by (a) treating media multitasking as a continuous variable and adopting a correlational approach as well as (b) using a large sample of participants. First, we found that higher scores on the MMI were associated with a greater proportion of omitted trials on both the 2-back and 3-back, indicating that heavier media multitaskers were more disengaged during the n-back. In line with such a claim, heavier media multitaskers were also more likely to confess to responding randomly during various portions of the experiment, and to report media multitasking during the experiment itself. Importantly, when controlling for the relation between MMI scores and omissions, higher scores on the MMI were associated with an increase in false alarms, but not with a change in hits. These findings refine the extant literature on media multitasking and working memory performance (specifically, performance on the n-back), and suggest that media multitasking may be related to the propensity to disengage from ongoing tasks.
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Heng, Kenneth Wj
2014-01-01
Multitasking is an essential skill to develop during Emergency Medicine (EM) residency. Residents who struggle to cope in a multitasking environment risk fatigue, stress, and burnout. Improper management of interruption has been causally linked with medical errors. Formal teaching and evaluation of multitasking is often lacking in EM residency programs. This article reviewed the literature on multitasking in EM to identify best practices for teaching and evaluating multitasking amongst EM residents. With the advancement in understanding of what multitasking is, deliberate attempts should be made to teach residents pitfalls and coping strategies. This can be taught through a formal curriculum, role modeling by faculty, and simulation training. The best way to evaluate multitasking ability in residents is by direct observation. The EM Milestone Project provides a framework by which multitasking can be evaluated. EM residents should be deployed in work environments commiserate with their multitasking ability and their progress should be graduated after identified deficiencies are remediated.
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The Impact of Motion Induced Interruptions on Cognitive Performance
2014-07-23
found that even participants presenting with minor physiological effects of motion experienced a decline in multitasking performance. Further, Yu...literature has investigated the impact of task based interruptions such as being inter- rupted by a phone call or writing an email . In these...Engineers Journal. 102 (2) 65-72. Matsangas, P. (2013). The Effect of Mild Motion Sickness and Sopite Syndrome on Multitasking Cognitive Performance
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Media multitasking is associated with symptoms of depression and social anxiety.
Becker, Mark W; Alzahabi, Reem; Hopwood, Christopher J
2013-02-01
We investigated whether multitasking with media was a unique predictor of depression and social anxiety symptoms. Participants (N=318) completed measures of their media use, personality characteristics, depression, and social anxiety. Regression analyses revealed that increased media multitasking was associated with higher depression and social anxiety symptoms, even after controlling for overall media use and the personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion. The unique association between media multitasking and these measures of psychosocial dysfunction suggests that the growing trend of multitasking with media may represent a unique risk factor for mental health problems related to mood and anxiety. Further, the results strongly suggest that future research investigating the impact of media use on mental health needs to consider the role that multitasking with media plays in the relationship.
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You Say Multitasking Like It's a Good Thing
Abaté, Charles J.
2008-01-01
"Multitasking" has developed a certain mantra in our culture, and according to this widely held axiom, people in general and students in particular, can and do function productively and learn efficiently doing several things at once. There also seems to be an unshakable conviction that young students excel in a multitasking environment.…
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Robust visual tracking via structured multi-task sparse learning
Zhang, Tianzhu; Ghanem, Bernard; Liu, Si; Ahuja, Narendra
2012-01-01
In this paper, we formulate object tracking in a particle filter framework as a structured multi-task sparse learning problem, which we denote as Structured Multi-Task Tracking (S-MTT). Since we model particles as linear combinations of dictionary
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Deadlines in space: Selective effects of coordinate spatial processing in multitasking.
Todorov, Ivo; Del Missier, Fabio; Konke, Linn Andersson; Mäntylä, Timo
2015-11-01
Many everyday activities require coordination and monitoring of multiple deadlines. One way to handle these temporal demands might be to represent future goals and deadlines as a pattern of spatial relations. We examined the hypothesis that spatial ability, in addition to executive functioning, contributes to individual differences in multitasking. In two studies, participants completed a multitasking session in which they monitored four digital clocks running at different rates. In Study 1, we found that individual differences in spatial ability and executive functions were independent predictors of multiple-task performance. In Study 2, we found that individual differences in specific spatial abilities were selectively related to multiple-task performance, as only coordinate spatial processing, but not categorical, predicted multitasking, even beyond executive functioning and numeracy. In both studies, males outperformed females in spatial ability and multitasking and in Study 2 these sex differences generalized to a simulation of everyday multitasking. Menstrual changes moderated the effects on multitasking, in that sex differences in coordinate spatial processing and multitasking were observed between males and females in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, but not between males and females at menses. Overall, these findings suggest that multiple-task performance reflects independent contributions of spatial ability and executive functioning. Furthermore, our results support the distinction of categorical versus coordinate spatial processing, and suggest that these two basic relational processes are selectively affected by female sex hormones and differentially effective in transforming and handling temporal patterns as spatial relations in the context of multitasking.
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Multitasking in the frontal lobes: An exploration of the effects of stress on cognition
McKernan, Laura
2009-01-01
Frontal lobe research has fractionated many of the higher-level processes associated with this area of the brain into specific aspects of executive functions. The current study furthers this investigation into the complex behaviour of multitasking and the modern impact of stress on these processes. A student sample of 41 participants (18 male, 23 female), were recruited and randomly assigned to either stressed or non-stressed groups. The experimental manipulation of stress was induced via a v...
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Single-task fMRI overlap predicts concurrent multitasking interference
Nijboer, Menno; Borst, Jelmer; van Rijn, Hedderik; Taatgen, Niels
2014-01-01
There is no consensus regarding the origin of behavioral interference that occurs during concurrent multitasking. Some evidence points toward a multitasking locus in the brain, while other results imply that interference is the consequence of task interactions in several brain regions. To
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The consequences of media multitasking for youth: a review
van der Schuur, W.A.; Baumgartner, S.E.; Sumter, S.R.; Valkenburg, P.M.
2015-01-01
The increasing prevalence of media multitasking among youth has raised concerns regarding its negative effects on youths’ functioning. Although the number of empirical studies on the consequences of media multitasking for youth has grown rapidly, there has been no attempt to integrate theory with
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Reheating breakfast: Age and multitasking on a computer-based and a non-computer-based task
Feinkohl, I.; Cress, U.; Kimmerle, J.
2016-01-01
Computer-based assessments are popular means to measure individual differences, including age differences, in cognitive ability, but are rarely tested for the extent to which they correspond to more realistic behavior. In the present study, we explored the extent to which performance on an existing computer-based task of multitasking ('cooking breakfast') may be generalizable by comparing it with a newly developed version of the same task that required interaction with physical objects. Twent...
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A null relationship between media multitasking and well-being.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shui-I Shih
Full Text Available There is a rapidly increasing trend in media-media multitasking or MMM (using two or more media concurrently. In a recent conference, scholars from diverse disciplines expressed concerns that indulgence in MMM may compromise well-being and/or cognitive abilities. However, research on MMM's impacts is too sparse to inform the general public and policy makers whether MMM should be encouraged, managed, or minimized. The primary purpose of the present study was to develop an innovative computerized instrument--the Survey of the Previous Day (SPD--to quantify MMM as well as media-nonmedia and nonmedia-nonmedia multitasking and sole-tasking. The secondary purpose was to examine whether these indices could predict a sample of well-being related, psychosocial measures. In the SPD, participants first recalled (typed what they did during each hour of the previous day. In later parts of the SPD, participants analysed activities and their timing and duration for each hour of the previous day, while relevant recall was on display. Participants also completed the Media Use Questionnaire. The results showed non-significant relationship between tasking measures and well-being related measures. Given how little is known about the associations between MMM and well-being, the null results may offer some general reassurance to those who are apprehensive about negative impacts of MMM.
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A Null Relationship between Media Multitasking and Well-Being
Shih, Shui-I
2013-01-01
There is a rapidly increasing trend in media-media multitasking or MMM (using two or more media concurrently). In a recent conference, scholars from diverse disciplines expressed concerns that indulgence in MMM may compromise well-being and/or cognitive abilities. However, research on MMM's impacts is too sparse to inform the general public and policy makers whether MMM should be encouraged, managed, or minimized. The primary purpose of the present study was to develop an innovative computerized instrument – the Survey of the Previous Day (SPD) – to quantify MMM as well as media-nonmedia and nonmedia-nonmedia multitasking and sole-tasking. The secondary purpose was to examine whether these indices could predict a sample of well-being related, psychosocial measures. In the SPD, participants first recalled (typed) what they did during each hour of the previous day. In later parts of the SPD, participants analysed activities and their timing and duration for each hour of the previous day, while relevant recall was on display. Participants also completed the Media Use Questionnaire. The results showed non-significant relationship between tasking measures and well-being related measures. Given how little is known about the associations between MMM and well-being, the null results may offer some general reassurance to those who are apprehensive about negative impacts of MMM. PMID:23691236
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The Effect of Multitasking to Faculty Members' Academic Works
Baran, Bahar
2013-01-01
Faculty members in higher education institutions which technology produced in and used actively try to overcome simultaneous one more works because of their intensive works and responsibilities. This study associated simultaneously doing one more academic works to multitasking. Multitasking may have a detrimental effect on academic works since it…
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Rekart, Jerome L.
2011-01-01
Multitasking impedes learning and performance in the short-term and may affect long-term memory and retention. The implications of these findings make it critical that educators and parents impress upon students the need to focus and reduce extraneous stimuli while studying or reading. Course-based quizzes and tests can be used for more than…
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Multitasking domain decomposition fast Poisson solvers on the Cray Y-MP
Chan, Tony F.; Fatoohi, Rod A.
1990-01-01
The results of multitasking implementation of a domain decomposition fast Poisson solver on eight processors of the Cray Y-MP are presented. The object of this research is to study the performance of domain decomposition methods on a Cray supercomputer and to analyze the performance of different multitasking techniques using highly parallel algorithms. Two implementations of multitasking are considered: macrotasking (parallelism at the subroutine level) and microtasking (parallelism at the do-loop level). A conventional FFT-based fast Poisson solver is also multitasked. The results of different implementations are compared and analyzed. A speedup of over 7.4 on the Cray Y-MP running in a dedicated environment is achieved for all cases.
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Raban, Magdalena Z; Walter, Scott R; Douglas, Heather E; Strumpman, Dana; Mackenzie, John; Westbrook, Johanna I
2015-10-13
Interruptions and multitasking are frequent in clinical settings, and have been shown in the cognitive psychology literature to affect performance, increasing the risk of error. However, comparatively less is known about their impact on errors in clinical work. This study will assess the relationship between prescribing errors, interruptions and multitasking in an emergency department (ED) using direct observations and chart review. The study will be conducted in an ED of a 440-bed teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia. Doctors will be shadowed at proximity by observers for 2 h time intervals while they are working on day shift (between 0800 and 1800). Time stamped data on tasks, interruptions and multitasking will be recorded on a handheld computer using the validated Work Observation Method by Activity Timing (WOMBAT) tool. The prompts leading to interruptions and multitasking will also be recorded. When doctors prescribe medication, type of chart and chart sections written on, along with the patient's medical record number (MRN) will be recorded. A clinical pharmacist will access patient records and assess the medication orders for prescribing errors. The prescribing error rate will be calculated per prescribing task and is defined as the number of errors divided by the number of medication orders written during the prescribing task. The association between prescribing error rates, and rates of prompts, interruptions and multitasking will be assessed using statistical modelling. Ethics approval has been obtained from the hospital research ethics committee. Eligible doctors will be provided with written information sheets and written consent will be obtained if they agree to participate. Doctor details and MRNs will be kept separate from the data on prescribing errors, and will not appear in the final data set for analysis. Study results will be disseminated in publications and feedback to the ED. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission
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Understanding Emergency Medicine Physicians Multitasking Behaviors Around Interruptions.
Fong, Allan; Ratwani, Raj M
2018-06-11
Interruptions can adversely impact human performance, particularly in fast-paced and high-risk environments such as the emergency department (ED). Understanding physician behaviors before, during, and after interruptions is important to the design and promotion of safe and effective workflow solutions. However, traditional human factors based interruption models do not accurately reflect the complexities of real-world environments like the ED and may not capture multiple interruptions and multitasking. We present a more comprehensive framework for understanding interruptions that is composed of three phases, each with multiple levels: Interruption Start Transition, Interruption Engagement, and Interruption End Transition. This three-phase framework is not constrained to discrete task transitions, providing a robust method to categorize multitasking behaviors around interruptions. We apply this framework in categorizing 457 interruption episodes. 457 interruption episodes were captured during 36 hours of observation. The interrupted task was immediately suspended 348 (76.1%) times. Participants engaged in new self-initiated tasks during the interrupting task 164 (35.9%) times and did not directly resume the interrupted task in 284 (62.1%) interruption episodes. Using this framework provides a more detailed description of the types of physician behaviors in complex environments. Understanding the different types of interruption and resumption patterns, which may have a different impact on performance, can support the design of interruption mitigation strategies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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On Hardy's paradox, weak measurements, and multitasking diagrams
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Meglicki, Zdzislaw
2011-01-01
We discuss Hardy's paradox and weak measurements by using multitasking diagrams, which are introduced to illustrate the progress of quantum probabilities through the double interferometer system. We explain how Hardy's paradox is avoided and elaborate on the outcome of weak measurements in this context. -- Highlights: → Hardy's paradox explained and eliminated. → Weak measurements: what is really measured? → Multitasking diagrams: introduced and used to discuss quantum mechanical processes.
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Balancing Structural and Temporal Constraints in Multitasking Contexts
Salvucci, Dario D.; Kujala, Tuomo
2016-01-01
Recent research has shown that when people multitask, both the subtask structure and the temporal constraints of the component tasks strongly influence people’s task-switching behavior. In this paper, we propose an integrated theoretical account and associated computational model that aims to quantify how people balance structural and temporal constraints in everyday multitasking. We validate the theory using data from an empirical study in which drivers performed a vi...
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Bilingualism as a Model for Multitasking.
Poarch, Gregory J; Bialystok, Ellen
2015-03-01
Because both languages of bilinguals are constantly active, bilinguals need to manage attention to the target language and avoid interference from the non-target language. This process is likely carried out by recruiting the executive function (EF) system, a system that is also the basis for multitasking. In previous research, bilinguals have been shown to outperform monolinguals on tasks requiring EF, suggesting that the practice using EF for language management benefits performance in other tasks as well. The present study examined 203 children, 8-11 years old, who were monolingual, partially bilingual, bilingual, or trilingual performing a flanker task. Two results support the interpretation that bilingualism is related to multitasking. First, bilingual children outperformed monolinguals on the conflict trials in the flanker task, confirming previous results for a bilingual advantage in EF. Second, the inclusion of partial bilinguals and trilinguals set limits on the role of experience: partial bilingual performed similarly to monolinguals and trilinguals performed similarly to bilinguals, suggesting that degrees of experience are not well-calibrated to improvements in EF. Our conclusion is that the involvement of EF in bilingual language processing makes bilingualism a form of linguistic multitasking.
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Multi-task Vector Field Learning.
Lin, Binbin; Yang, Sen; Zhang, Chiyuan; Ye, Jieping; He, Xiaofei
2012-01-01
Multi-task learning (MTL) aims to improve generalization performance by learning multiple related tasks simultaneously and identifying the shared information among tasks. Most of existing MTL methods focus on learning linear models under the supervised setting. We propose a novel semi-supervised and nonlinear approach for MTL using vector fields. A vector field is a smooth mapping from the manifold to the tangent spaces which can be viewed as a directional derivative of functions on the manifold. We argue that vector fields provide a natural way to exploit the geometric structure of data as well as the shared differential structure of tasks, both of which are crucial for semi-supervised multi-task learning. In this paper, we develop multi-task vector field learning (MTVFL) which learns the predictor functions and the vector fields simultaneously. MTVFL has the following key properties. (1) The vector fields MTVFL learns are close to the gradient fields of the predictor functions. (2) Within each task, the vector field is required to be as parallel as possible which is expected to span a low dimensional subspace. (3) The vector fields from all tasks share a low dimensional subspace. We formalize our idea in a regularization framework and also provide a convex relaxation method to solve the original non-convex problem. The experimental results on synthetic and real data demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach.
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Modularity, comparative cognition and human uniqueness.
Shettleworth, Sara J
2012-10-05
Darwin's claim 'that the difference in mind between man and the higher animals … is certainly one of degree and not of kind' is at the core of the comparative study of cognition. Recent research provides unprecedented support for Darwin's claim as well as new reasons to question it, stimulating new theories of human cognitive uniqueness. This article compares and evaluates approaches to such theories. Some prominent theories propose sweeping domain-general characterizations of the difference in cognitive capabilities and/or mechanisms between adult humans and other animals. Dual-process theories for some cognitive domains propose that adult human cognition shares simple basic processes with that of other animals while additionally including slower-developing and more explicit uniquely human processes. These theories are consistent with a modular account of cognition and the 'core knowledge' account of children's cognitive development. A complementary proposal is that human infants have unique social and/or cognitive adaptations for uniquely human learning. A view of human cognitive architecture as a mosaic of unique and species-general modular and domain-general processes together with a focus on uniquely human developmental mechanisms is consistent with modern evolutionary-developmental biology and suggests new questions for comparative research.
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Ranking Performance Measures in Multi-Task Agencies
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Christensen, Peter Ove; Sabac, Florin; Tian, Joyce
2010-01-01
We derive sufficient conditions for ranking performance evaluation systems in multi-task agency models (using both optimal and linear contracts) in terms of a second-order stochastic dominance (SSD) condition on the likelihood ratios. The SSD condition can be replaced by a variance-covariance mat......We derive sufficient conditions for ranking performance evaluation systems in multi-task agency models (using both optimal and linear contracts) in terms of a second-order stochastic dominance (SSD) condition on the likelihood ratios. The SSD condition can be replaced by a variance...
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Domestic outsourcing and multitasking: How much do they really contribute?
Sullivan, Oriel; Gershuny, Jonathan
2013-09-01
The bulk of responsibility for domestic work and childcare in heterosexual couples falls on women. But the means they find to cope with this load, and how these means relate to the factors underpinning the division of labor are not often studied. Two much-cited ways of reducing overall work time are purchasing domestic assistance (outsourcing) and the multitasking of domestic/caring tasks. Using UK 2000/2001 time-use data (N=4196 couples), we find domestic outsourcing is related to having dependent children and to partners' resources, but has little impact on the total domestic/caring workload of either partner. Nor can outsourcing account for the reduction in women's unpaid labor with increasing economic resources. Wives spend more time multitasking than husbands, but their proportion of multitasked domestic time is similar, and is not affected by resources or dependent children. Domestic multitasking seems to be more related to opportunity (time at home) than to time pressure. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Aagaard, Jesper
2014-01-01
. Eleverne drages mod distraktion som møl mod en flamme. I denne artikel vil jeg argumentere for, at den moderne brug af informationsteknologi (IT) udfordrer klassiske psykologiske begreber som opmærksomhed og multitasking. For forstå brugen af IT, anbefaler jeg derfor et analytisk perspektivskifte, der...
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Student Off-Task Electronic Multitasking Predictors: Scale Development and Validation
Qian, Yuxia; Li, Li
2017-01-01
In an attempt to better understand factors contributing to students' off-task electronic multitasking behavior in class, the research included two studies that developed a scale of students' off-task electronic multitasking predictors (the SOTEMP scale), and explored relationships between the scale and various classroom communication processes and…
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The developing brain in a multitasking world.
Rothbart, Mary K; Posner, Michael I
2015-03-01
To understand the problem of multitasking, it is necessary to examine the brain's attention networks that underlie the ability to switch attention between stimuli and tasks and to maintain a single focus among distractors. In this paper we discuss the development of brain networks related to the functions of achieving the alert state, orienting to sensory events, and developing self-control. These brain networks are common to everyone, but their efficiency varies among individuals and reflects both genes and experience. Training can alter brain networks. We consider two forms of training: (1) practice in tasks that involve particular networks, and (2) changes in brain state through such practices as meditation that may influence many networks. Playing action video games and multitasking are themselves methods of training the brain that can lead to improved performance but also to overdependence on media activity. We consider both of these outcomes and ideas about how to resist overdependence on media. Overall, our paper seeks to inform the reader about what has been learned about attention that can influence multitasking over the course of development.
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Multitasking the code ARC3D. [for computational fluid dynamics
Barton, John T.; Hsiung, Christopher C.
1986-01-01
The CRAY multitasking system was developed in order to utilize all four processors and sharply reduce the wall clock run time. This paper describes the techniques used to modify the computational fluid dynamics code ARC3D for this run and analyzes the achieved speedup. The ARC3D code solves either the Euler or thin-layer N-S equations using an implicit approximate factorization scheme. Results indicate that multitask processing can be used to achieve wall clock speedup factors of over three times, depending on the nature of the program code being used. Multitasking appears to be particularly advantageous for large-memory problems running on multiple CPU computers.
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Novel Virtual User Models of Mild Cognitive Impairment for Simulating Dementia
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sofia Segkouli
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Virtual user modeling research has attempted to address critical issues of human-computer interaction (HCI such as usability and utility through a large number of analytic, usability-oriented approaches as cognitive models in order to provide users with experiences fitting to their specific needs. However, there is demand for more specific modules embodied in cognitive architecture that will detect abnormal cognitive decline across new synthetic task environments. Also, accessibility evaluation of graphical user interfaces (GUIs requires considerable effort for enhancing ICT products accessibility for older adults. The main aim of this study is to develop and test virtual user models (VUM simulating mild cognitive impairment (MCI through novel specific modules, embodied at cognitive models and defined by estimations of cognitive parameters. Well-established MCI detection tests assessed users’ cognition, elaborated their ability to perform multitasks, and monitored the performance of infotainment related tasks to provide more accurate simulation results on existing conceptual frameworks and enhanced predictive validity in interfaces’ design supported by increased tasks’ complexity to capture a more detailed profile of users’ capabilities and limitations. The final outcome is a more robust cognitive prediction model, accurately fitted to human data to be used for more reliable interfaces’ evaluation through simulation on the basis of virtual models of MCI users.
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Novel Virtual User Models of Mild Cognitive Impairment for Simulating Dementia
Segkouli, Sofia; Tzovaras, Dimitrios; Tsakiris, Thanos; Tsolaki, Magda; Karagiannidis, Charalampos
2015-01-01
Virtual user modeling research has attempted to address critical issues of human-computer interaction (HCI) such as usability and utility through a large number of analytic, usability-oriented approaches as cognitive models in order to provide users with experiences fitting to their specific needs. However, there is demand for more specific modules embodied in cognitive architecture that will detect abnormal cognitive decline across new synthetic task environments. Also, accessibility evaluation of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) requires considerable effort for enhancing ICT products accessibility for older adults. The main aim of this study is to develop and test virtual user models (VUM) simulating mild cognitive impairment (MCI) through novel specific modules, embodied at cognitive models and defined by estimations of cognitive parameters. Well-established MCI detection tests assessed users' cognition, elaborated their ability to perform multitasks, and monitored the performance of infotainment related tasks to provide more accurate simulation results on existing conceptual frameworks and enhanced predictive validity in interfaces' design supported by increased tasks' complexity to capture a more detailed profile of users' capabilities and limitations. The final outcome is a more robust cognitive prediction model, accurately fitted to human data to be used for more reliable interfaces' evaluation through simulation on the basis of virtual models of MCI users. PMID:26339282
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Gorman, Thomas E; Green, C Shawn
2016-04-18
Recent research suggests that frequently switching between various forms of media (i.e. 'media multitasking') is associated with diminished attentional abilities, a disconcerting result given the prevalence of media multitasking in today's society. In the present study, we sought to investigate the extent to which the deficits associated with frequent media multitasking can be temporarily ameliorated via a short-term mindfulness intervention previously shown to produce beneficial effects on the attentional abilities of normally functioning individuals. Consistent with previous work, we found: (1) that heavy media multitaskers showed generally poorer attentional abilities than light media multitaskers and (2) that all participants showed benefits from the short-term mindfulness intervention. Furthermore, we found that the benefits of the short-term mindfulness intervention were not equivalently large across participants. Instead, these benefits were disproportionately large in the heavy media multitaskers. While the positive outcomes were short-lived, this opens the possibility of performing long-term interventions with the goal of realizing lasting gains in this population.
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Multiobjective Multifactorial Optimization in Evolutionary Multitasking.
Gupta, Abhishek; Ong, Yew-Soon; Feng, Liang; Tan, Kay Chen
2016-05-03
In recent decades, the field of multiobjective optimization has attracted considerable interest among evolutionary computation researchers. One of the main features that makes evolutionary methods particularly appealing for multiobjective problems is the implicit parallelism offered by a population, which enables simultaneous convergence toward the entire Pareto front. While a plethora of related algorithms have been proposed till date, a common attribute among them is that they focus on efficiently solving only a single optimization problem at a time. Despite the known power of implicit parallelism, seldom has an attempt been made to multitask, i.e., to solve multiple optimization problems simultaneously. It is contended that the notion of evolutionary multitasking leads to the possibility of automated transfer of information across different optimization exercises that may share underlying similarities, thereby facilitating improved convergence characteristics. In particular, the potential for automated transfer is deemed invaluable from the standpoint of engineering design exercises where manual knowledge adaptation and reuse are routine. Accordingly, in this paper, we present a realization of the evolutionary multitasking paradigm within the domain of multiobjective optimization. The efficacy of the associated evolutionary algorithm is demonstrated on some benchmark test functions as well as on a real-world manufacturing process design problem from the composites industry.
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Human reasoning and cognitive science
Stenning, K.; van Lambalgen, M.
2008-01-01
In Human Reasoning and Cognitive Science, Keith Stenning and Michiel van Lambalgen—a cognitive scientist and a logician—argue for the indispensability of modern mathematical logic to the study of human reasoning. Logic and cognition were once closely connected, they write, but were "divorced" in the
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Doing many things at a time: Lack of power decreases the ability to multitask.
Cai, Ran Alice; Guinote, Ana
2017-09-01
Three studies investigated the effects of power on the ability to pursue multiple, concomitant goals, also known as multitasking. It was predicted that powerless participants will show lower multitasking ability than control and powerful participants. Study 1 focused on self-reported ability to multitask in a sample of executives and subordinate employees. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the ability to dual-task and to switch between tasks, respectively, using dual-task and task-switching paradigms. Across the studies, powerless individuals were less able to effectively multitask compared with control and powerful participants, suggesting that the detrimental effects of lack of power extend beyond single-task environments, shown in past research, into multitasking environments. Underlying mechanisms are discussed. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.
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Multi-population genomic prediction using a multi-task Bayesian learning model.
Chen, Liuhong; Li, Changxi; Miller, Stephen; Schenkel, Flavio
2014-05-03
Genomic prediction in multiple populations can be viewed as a multi-task learning problem where tasks are to derive prediction equations for each population and multi-task learning property can be improved by sharing information across populations. The goal of this study was to develop a multi-task Bayesian learning model for multi-population genomic prediction with a strategy to effectively share information across populations. Simulation studies and real data from Holstein and Ayrshire dairy breeds with phenotypes on five milk production traits were used to evaluate the proposed multi-task Bayesian learning model and compare with a single-task model and a simple data pooling method. A multi-task Bayesian learning model was proposed for multi-population genomic prediction. Information was shared across populations through a common set of latent indicator variables while SNP effects were allowed to vary in different populations. Both simulation studies and real data analysis showed the effectiveness of the multi-task model in improving genomic prediction accuracy for the smaller Ayshire breed. Simulation studies suggested that the multi-task model was most effective when the number of QTL was small (n = 20), with an increase of accuracy by up to 0.09 when QTL effects were lowly correlated between two populations (ρ = 0.2), and up to 0.16 when QTL effects were highly correlated (ρ = 0.8). When QTL genotypes were included for training and validation, the improvements were 0.16 and 0.22, respectively, for scenarios of the low and high correlation of QTL effects between two populations. When the number of QTL was large (n = 200), improvement was small with a maximum of 0.02 when QTL genotypes were not included for genomic prediction. Reduction in accuracy was observed for the simple pooling method when the number of QTL was small and correlation of QTL effects between the two populations was low. For the real data, the multi-task model achieved an
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Vectorization and multitasking with a Monte-Carlo code for neutron transport problems
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chauvet, Y.
1985-04-01
This paper summarizes two improvements of a Monte Carlo code by resorting to vectorization and multitasking techniques. After a short presentation of the physical problem to solve and a description of the main difficulties to produce an efficient coding, this paper introduces the vectorization principles employed and briefly describes how the vectorized algorithm works. Next, measured performances on CRAY 1S, CYBER 205 and CRAY X-MP are compared. The second part of this paper is devoted to multitasking technique. Starting from the standard multitasking tools available with FORTRAN on CRAY X-MP/4, a multitasked algorithm and its measured speed-ups are presented. In conclusion we prove that vector and parallel computers are a great opportunity for such Monte Carlo algorithms
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"Women Are Better Than Men"-Public Beliefs on Gender Differences and Other Aspects in Multitasking.
Szameitat, André J; Hamaida, Yasmin; Tulley, Rebecca S; Saylik, Rahmi; Otermans, Pauldy C J
2015-01-01
Reports in public media suggest the existence of a stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men. The present online survey aimed at supporting this incidental observation by empirical data. For this, 488 participants from various ethnic backgrounds (US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, and others) filled out a self-developed online-questionnaire. Results showed that overall more than 50% of the participants believed in gender differences in multitasking abilities. Of those who believed in gender differences, a majority of 80% believed that women were better at multitasking. The main reasons for this were believed to be an evolutionary advantage and more multitasking practice in women, mainly due to managing children and household and/or family and job. Findings were consistent across the different countries, thus supporting the existence of a widespread gender stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men. Further questionnaire results provided information about the participants' self-rated own multitasking abilities, and how they conceived multitasking activities such as childcare, phoning while driving, and office work.
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"Women Are Better Than Men"-Public Beliefs on Gender Differences and Other Aspects in Multitasking.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
André J Szameitat
Full Text Available Reports in public media suggest the existence of a stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men. The present online survey aimed at supporting this incidental observation by empirical data. For this, 488 participants from various ethnic backgrounds (US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, and others filled out a self-developed online-questionnaire. Results showed that overall more than 50% of the participants believed in gender differences in multitasking abilities. Of those who believed in gender differences, a majority of 80% believed that women were better at multitasking. The main reasons for this were believed to be an evolutionary advantage and more multitasking practice in women, mainly due to managing children and household and/or family and job. Findings were consistent across the different countries, thus supporting the existence of a widespread gender stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men. Further questionnaire results provided information about the participants' self-rated own multitasking abilities, and how they conceived multitasking activities such as childcare, phoning while driving, and office work.
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Zhang, Yubo; Rau, Pei-Luen Patrick
2016-06-01
This study developed a scale measuring excessive involvement in multitasking interaction with smart devices. An online questionnaire was designed and surveyed in a sample of 380 respondents. The sample was split into two groups for exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, respectively. A four-factor structure was identified with an acceptable goodness of fit. The first two factors, "Obsession and neglect" and "Problematic control," described the obsessive feelings, neglect behaviors, and behavior control problems accompanied by excessive multitasking interaction with smart devices. The latter two factors, "Multitasking preference" and "Polychronic orientation," referred to multitaskers' preference of engaging in multiple media use or interaction tasks rather than a single task from the time orientation perspective. The four-factor structure indicates that excessive involvement in multitasking interaction with smart devices shares some similarities with other behavioral addiction types, but demonstrates uniqueness compared with excessive engagement in single media use.
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The Impact of Multitasking Learning Environments in the Middle Grades
Drinkwine, Timothy
2013-01-01
This research study considers the status of middle school students in the 21st century in terms of their tendency to multitask in their daily lives and the overall influence this multitasking has on teaching and learning environments. Student engagement in the learning environment and students' various learning styles are discussed as primary…
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MTGAN: Speaker Verification through Multitasking Triplet Generative Adversarial Networks
Ding, Wenhao; He, Liang
2018-01-01
In this paper, we propose an enhanced triplet method that improves the encoding process of embeddings by jointly utilizing generative adversarial mechanism and multitasking optimization. We extend our triplet encoder with Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and softmax loss function. GAN is introduced for increasing the generality and diversity of samples, while softmax is for reinforcing features about speakers. For simplification, we term our method Multitasking Triplet Generative Advers...
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Weigl, Matthias; Müller, Andreas; Sevdalis, Nick; Angerer, Peter
2013-03-01
Simultaneous task performance ("multitasking") is common in hospital physicians' work and is implicated as a major determinant for enhanced strain and detrimental performance. The aim was to determine the impact of multitasking by hospital physicians on their self reported strain and performance. A prospective observational time-and-motion study in a Community Hospital was conducted. Twenty-seven hospital physicians (surgical and internal specialties) were observed in 40 full-shift observations. Observed physicians reported twice on their self-monitored strain and performance during the observation time. Associations of observed multitasking events and subsequent strain and performance appraisals were calculated. About 21% of the working time physicians were engaged in simultaneous activities. The average time spent in multitasking activities correlated significantly with subsequently reported strain (r = 0.27, P = 0.018). The number of instances of multitasking activities correlated with self-monitored performance to a marginally significant level (r = 0.19, P = 0.098). Physicians who engage in multitasking activities tend to self-report better performance but at the cost of enhanced psychophysical strain. Hence, physicians do not perceive their own multitasking activities as a source for deficient performance, for example, medical errors. Readjustment of workload, improved organization of work for hospital physicians, and training programs to improve physicians' skills in dealing with multiple clinical demands, prioritization, and efficient task allocation may be useful avenues to explore to reduce the potentially negative impact of simultaneous task performance in clinical settings.
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Decision Making in Concurrent Multitasking : Do People Adapt to Task Interference?
Nijboer, Menno; Taatgen, Niels A.; Brands, Annelies; Borst, Jelmer P.; van Rijn, Hedderik
2013-01-01
While multitasking has received a great deal of attention from researchers, we still know little about how well people adapt their behavior to multitasking demands. In three experiments, participants were presented with a multicolumn subtraction task, which required working memory in half of the
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Manifold regularized multitask feature learning for multimodality disease classification.
Jie, Biao; Zhang, Daoqiang; Cheng, Bo; Shen, Dinggang
2015-02-01
Multimodality based methods have shown great advantages in classification of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its prodromal stage, that is, mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Recently, multitask feature selection methods are typically used for joint selection of common features across multiple modalities. However, one disadvantage of existing multimodality based methods is that they ignore the useful data distribution information in each modality, which is essential for subsequent classification. Accordingly, in this paper we propose a manifold regularized multitask feature learning method to preserve both the intrinsic relatedness among multiple modalities of data and the data distribution information in each modality. Specifically, we denote the feature learning on each modality as a single task, and use group-sparsity regularizer to capture the intrinsic relatedness among multiple tasks (i.e., modalities) and jointly select the common features from multiple tasks. Furthermore, we introduce a new manifold-based Laplacian regularizer to preserve the data distribution information from each task. Finally, we use the multikernel support vector machine method to fuse multimodality data for eventual classification. Conversely, we also extend our method to the semisupervised setting, where only partial data are labeled. We evaluate our method using the baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) data of subjects from AD neuroimaging initiative database. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method can not only achieve improved classification performance, but also help to discover the disease-related brain regions useful for disease diagnosis. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Multi-task feature selection in microarray data by binary integer programming.
Lan, Liang; Vucetic, Slobodan
2013-12-20
A major challenge in microarray classification is that the number of features is typically orders of magnitude larger than the number of examples. In this paper, we propose a novel feature filter algorithm to select the feature subset with maximal discriminative power and minimal redundancy by solving a quadratic objective function with binary integer constraints. To improve the computational efficiency, the binary integer constraints are relaxed and a low-rank approximation to the quadratic term is applied. The proposed feature selection algorithm was extended to solve multi-task microarray classification problems. We compared the single-task version of the proposed feature selection algorithm with 9 existing feature selection methods on 4 benchmark microarray data sets. The empirical results show that the proposed method achieved the most accurate predictions overall. We also evaluated the multi-task version of the proposed algorithm on 8 multi-task microarray datasets. The multi-task feature selection algorithm resulted in significantly higher accuracy than when using the single-task feature selection methods.
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Kononova, Anastasia G.; Yuan, Shupei
2017-01-01
A survey (N = 524) examined how frequently college students engage in multitasking with social media, texting/instant messaging (IM), and music while studying/working and what motivates them to multitask with each medium. Four out of five participants multitasked with Facebook and texting/IM, and two out of three multitasked with music. Habit was…
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The Relationship between Media Multitasking and Executive Function in Early Adolescents
Baumgartner, Susanne E.; Weeda, Wouter D.; van der Heijden, Lisa L.; Huizinga, Mariëtte
2014-01-01
The increasing prevalence of media multitasking among adolescents is concerning because it may be negatively related to goal-directed behavior. This study investigated the relationship between media multitasking and executive function in 523 early adolescents (aged 11-15; 48% girls). The three central components of executive functions (i.e.,…
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Roberts, C A; Wetherell, M A; Fisk, J E; Montgomery, C
2015-01-01
Cognitive deficits are well documented in ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) users, with such deficits being taken as evidence of dysregulation of the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) system. More recently neuroimaging has been used to corroborate these deficits. The present study aimed to assess multitasking performance in ecstasy polydrug users, polydrug users and drug-naive individuals. It was predicted that ecstasy polydrug users would perform worse than non-users on the behavioural measure and this would be supported by differences in cortical blood oxygenation. In the study, 20 ecstasy-polydrug users, 17 polydrug users and 19 drug-naive individuals took part. On day 1, drug use history was taken and questionnaire measures were completed. On day 2, participants completed a 20-min multitasking stressor while brain blood oxygenation was measured using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). There were no significant differences between the three groups on the subscales of the multitasking stressor. In addition, there were no significant differences on self-report measures of perceived workload (NASA Task Load Index). In terms of mood, ecstasy users were significantly less calm and less relaxed compared with drug-naive controls. There were also significant differences at three voxels on the fNIRS, indicating decreased blood oxygenation in ecstasy users compared with drug-naive controls at voxel 2 (left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), voxel 14 and voxel 16 (right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex), and compared with polydrug controls at V14. The results of the present study provide support for changes in brain activation during performance of demanding tasks in ecstasy polydrug users, which could be related to cerebral vasoconstriction.
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Transfer and Multi-task Learning in QSAR Modeling: Advances and Challenges
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rodolfo S. Simões
2018-02-01
Full Text Available Medicinal chemistry projects involve some steps aiming to develop a new drug, such as the analysis of biological targets related to a given disease, the discovery and the development of drug candidates for these targets, performing parallel biological tests to validate the drug effectiveness and side effects. Approaches as quantitative study of activity-structure relationships (QSAR involve the construction of predictive models that relate a set of descriptors of a chemical compound series and its biological activities with respect to one or more targets in the human body. Datasets used to perform QSAR analyses are generally characterized by a small number of samples and this makes them more complex to build accurate predictive models. In this context, transfer and multi-task learning techniques are very suitable since they take information from other QSAR models to the same biological target, reducing efforts and costs for generating new chemical compounds. Therefore, this review will present the main features of transfer and multi-task learning studies, as well as some applications and its potentiality in drug design projects.
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Differences in Multitask Resource Reallocation After Change in Task Values
Matton , Nadine; Paubel , Pierre-Vincent; Cegarra , Julien; Raufaste , Éric
2016-01-01
International audience; Objective The objective was to characterize multitask resource reallocation strategies when managing subtasks with various assigned values.Background When solving a resource conflict in multitasking, Salvucci and Taatgen predict a globally rational strategy will be followed that favors the most urgent subtask and optimizes global performance. However, Katidioti and Taatgen identified a locally rational strategy that optimizes only a subcomponent of the whole task, lead...
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Scott, J Cobb; Woods, Steven Paul; Vigil, Ofilio; Heaton, Robert K; Schweinsburg, Brian C; Ellis, Ronald J; Grant, Igor; Marcotte, Thomas D
2011-07-01
A subset of individuals with HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment experience related deficits in "real world" functioning (i.e., independently performing instrumental activities of daily living [IADL]). While performance-based tests of everyday functioning are reasonably sensitive to HIV-associated IADL declines, questions remain regarding the extent to which these tests' highly structured nature fully captures the inherent complexities of daily life. The aim of this study was to assess the predictive and ecological validity of a novel multitasking measure in HIV infection. Participants included 60 individuals with HIV infection (HIV+) and 25 demographically comparable seronegative adults (HIV-). Participants were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, questionnaires assessing mood and everyday functioning, and a novel standardized test of multitasking, which involved balancing the demands of four interconnected performance-based functional tasks (i.e., financial management, cooking, medication management, and telephone communication). HIV+ individuals demonstrated significantly worse overall performance, fewer simultaneous task attempts, and increased errors on the multitasking test as compared to the HIV- group. Within the HIV+ sample, multitasking impairments were modestly associated with deficits on standard neuropsychological measures of executive functions, episodic memory, attention/working memory, and information processing speed, providing preliminary evidence for convergent validity. More importantly, multivariate prediction models revealed that multitasking deficits were uniquely predictive of IADL dependence beyond the effects of depression and global neurocognitive impairment, with excellent sensitivity (86%), but modest specificity (57%). Taken together, these data indicate that multitasking ability may play an important role in successful everyday functioning in HIV+ individuals. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights
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“Women Are Better Than Men”–Public Beliefs on Gender Differences and Other Aspects in Multitasking
Szameitat, André J.; Hamaida, Yasmin; Tulley, Rebecca S.; Saylik, Rahmi; Otermans, Pauldy C. J.
2015-01-01
Reports in public media suggest the existence of a stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men. The present online survey aimed at supporting this incidental observation by empirical data. For this, 488 participants from various ethnic backgrounds (US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, and others) filled out a self-developed online-questionnaire. Results showed that overall more than 50% of the participants believed in gender differences in multitasking abilities. Of those who believed in gender differences, a majority of 80% believed that women were better at multitasking. The main reasons for this were believed to be an evolutionary advantage and more multitasking practice in women, mainly due to managing children and household and/or family and job. Findings were consistent across the different countries, thus supporting the existence of a widespread gender stereotype that women are better at multitasking than men. Further questionnaire results provided information about the participants’ self-rated own multitasking abilities, and how they conceived multitasking activities such as childcare, phoning while driving, and office work. PMID:26479359
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On Hardy's paradox, weak measurements, and multitasking diagrams
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Meglicki, Zdzislaw, E-mail: gustav@indiana.edu [Indiana University, Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, 601 E. Kirkwood Ave., Room 116, Bloomington, IN 47405-1223 (United States)
2011-07-04
We discuss Hardy's paradox and weak measurements by using multitasking diagrams, which are introduced to illustrate the progress of quantum probabilities through the double interferometer system. We explain how Hardy's paradox is avoided and elaborate on the outcome of weak measurements in this context. -- Highlights: → Hardy's paradox explained and eliminated. → Weak measurements: what is really measured? → Multitasking diagrams: introduced and used to discuss quantum mechanical processes.
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Can Teens Really Do It All?: Techno-Multitasking, Learning, and Performance
Bradley, Karen
2011-01-01
Many adults and students today think of themselves as excellent multitaskers--switching from task to task or from task to play in a nanosecond. Yet the pings and tweets their devices emit interrupt them in ways that are more problematic than they think. One of the powerful myths in the culture today is that multitasking is efficient for work or…
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Automation trust and attention allocation in multitasking workspace.
Karpinsky, Nicole D; Chancey, Eric T; Palmer, Dakota B; Yamani, Yusuke
2018-07-01
Previous research suggests that operators with high workload can distrust and then poorly monitor automation, which has been generally inferred from automation dependence behaviors. To test automation monitoring more directly, the current study measured operators' visual attention allocation, workload, and trust toward imperfect automation in a dynamic multitasking environment. Participants concurrently performed a manual tracking task with two levels of difficulty and a system monitoring task assisted by an unreliable signaling system. Eye movement data indicate that operators allocate less visual attention to monitor automation when the tracking task is more difficult. Participants reported reduced levels of trust toward the signaling system when the tracking task demanded more focused visual attention. Analyses revealed that trust mediated the relationship between the load of the tracking task and attention allocation in Experiment 1, an effect that was not replicated in Experiment 2. Results imply a complex process underlying task load, visual attention allocation, and automation trust during multitasking. Automation designers should consider operators' task load in multitasking workspaces to avoid reduced automation monitoring and distrust toward imperfect signaling systems. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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Tension and robustness in multitasking cellular networks.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jeffrey V Wong
Full Text Available Cellular networks multitask by exhibiting distinct, context-dependent dynamics. However, network states (parameters that generate a particular dynamic are often sub-optimal for others, defining a source of "tension" between them. Though multitasking is pervasive, it is not clear where tension arises, what consequences it has, and how it is resolved. We developed a generic computational framework to examine the source and consequences of tension between pairs of dynamics exhibited by the well-studied RB-E2F switch regulating cell cycle entry. We found that tension arose from task-dependent shifts in parameters associated with network modules. Although parameter sets common to distinct dynamics did exist, tension reduced both their accessibility and resilience to perturbation, indicating a trade-off between "one-size-fits-all" solutions and robustness. With high tension, robustness can be preserved by dynamic shifting of modules, enabling the network to toggle between tasks, and by increasing network complexity, in this case by gene duplication. We propose that tension is a general constraint on the architecture and operation of multitasking biological networks. To this end, our work provides a framework to quantify the extent of tension between any network dynamics and how it affects network robustness. Such analysis would suggest new ways to interfere with network elements to elucidate the design principles of cellular networks.
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Attitudes of Tertiary Students towards Multitasking on Facebook: A Comparative Analysis
Taiwo, Oyekan
2014-01-01
Multitasking activities on Facebook have become very popular with the increased popularity of Facebook throughout the world. The present study aims to explore the attitudes of Eastern Mediterranean University students’ towards multitasking activities on Facebook. In this study, quantitative methodology has been favored. 150 students studying at the three faculties (Communication, Architecture and Engineering) of the Eastern Mediterranean University constitute the sample of the study. Data ...
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The Effects of Interruption Task Complexity and Interruptions on Student Multitasking
Tan, Jiun Yi
2013-01-01
Students commonly multitask while studying. The ubiquitous use of laptops and computers has facilitated this phenomenon and even changed the nature of multitasking in studying environments. Interruptions have an undeniable presence in these everyday studying environments and there are growing concerns about their potential to disrupt both performance and the learning process. Since interruptions are unavoidable, it is useful to identify the features that make some interruptions more disruptiv...
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2015-11-01
preliminary validity of the Walking and Remembering Test. Journal of geriatric physical therapy . 2009;32(1):2-9. 23. Mancini M, Salarian A, Carlson-Kuhta P...MacMillan), American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) 2014 Annual conference, Charlotte, NC 88 August 18-21, 2014 (paper) A novel dual...Multitasking Performance for Mild TBI. Federal Section, American Physical Therapy Association’s Combined Section Meeting, (Weightman, Scherer, McCulloch
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Multi-task feature learning by using trace norm regularization
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jiangmei Zhang
2017-11-01
Full Text Available Multi-task learning can extract the correlation of multiple related machine learning problems to improve performance. This paper considers applying the multi-task learning method to learn a single task. We propose a new learning approach, which employs the mixture of expert model to divide a learning task into several related sub-tasks, and then uses the trace norm regularization to extract common feature representation of these sub-tasks. A nonlinear extension of this approach by using kernel is also provided. Experiments conducted on both simulated and real data sets demonstrate the advantage of the proposed approach.
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Schiebener, Johannes; Laier, Christian; Brand, Matthias
2015-03-01
Some individuals consume cybersex contents, such as pornographic material, in an addictive manner, which leads to severe negative consequences in private life or work. One mechanism leading to negative consequences may be reduced executive control over cognition and behavior that may be necessary to realize goal-oriented switching between cybersex use and other tasks and obligations of life. To address this aspect,we investigated 104 male participants with an executive multitasking paradigm with two sets: One set consisted of pictures of persons, the other set consisted of pornographic pictures. In both sets the pictures had to be classified according to certain criteria. The explicit goal was to work on all classification tasks to equal amounts, by switching between the sets and classification tasks in a balanced manner. We found that less balanced performance in this multitasking paradigm was associated with a higher tendency towards cybersex addiction. Persons with this tendency often either overused or neglected working on the pornographic pictures. The results indicate that reduced executive control over multitasking performance, when being confronted with pornographic material, may contribute to dysfunctional behaviors and negative consequences resulting from cybersex addiction. However, individuals with tendencies towards cybersex addiction seem to have either an inclination to avoid or to approach the pornographic material, as discussed in motivational models of addiction.
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Wilson, Mark R; Vine, Samuel J; Bright, Elizabeth; Masters, Rich S W; Defriend, David; McGrath, John S
2011-12-01
The operating room environment is replete with stressors and distractions that increase the attention demands of what are already complex psychomotor procedures. Contemporary research in other fields (e.g., sport) has revealed that gaze training interventions may support the development of robust movement skills. This current study was designed to examine the utility of gaze training for technical laparoscopic skills and to test performance under multitasking conditions. Thirty medical trainees with no laparoscopic experience were divided randomly into one of three treatment groups: gaze trained (GAZE), movement trained (MOVE), and discovery learning/control (DISCOVERY). Participants were fitted with a Mobile Eye gaze registration system, which measures eye-line of gaze at 25 Hz. Training consisted of ten repetitions of the "eye-hand coordination" task from the LAP Mentor VR laparoscopic surgical simulator while receiving instruction and video feedback (specific to each treatment condition). After training, all participants completed a control test (designed to assess learning) and a multitasking transfer test, in which they completed the procedure while performing a concurrent tone counting task. Not only did the GAZE group learn more quickly than the MOVE and DISCOVERY groups (faster completion times in the control test), but the performance difference was even more pronounced when multitasking. Differences in gaze control (target locking fixations), rather than tool movement measures (tool path length), underpinned this performance advantage for GAZE training. These results suggest that although the GAZE intervention focused on training gaze behavior only, there were indirect benefits for movement behaviors and performance efficiency. Additionally, focusing on a single external target when learning, rather than on complex movement patterns, may have freed-up attentional resources that could be applied to concurrent cognitive tasks.
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Mesocortical dopaminergic function and human cognition
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Weinberger, D.R.; Berman, K.F.; Chase, T.N.
1988-01-01
In summary, we have reviewed rCBF data in humans that suggest that mesoprefrontal dopaminergic activity is involved in human cognition. In patients with Parkinson's disease and possibly in patients with schizophrenia, prefrontal physiological activation during a cognitive task that appears to depend on prefrontal neural systems correlates positively with cognitive performance on the task and with clinical signs of dopaminergic function. It may be possible in the future to examine prefrontal dopamine metabolism directly during prefrontal cognition using positron emission tomography and tracers such as F-18 DOPA. 21 references
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Forsberg, Helena Hvitfeldt; Muntlin Athlin, Åsa; von Thiele Schwarz, Ulrica
2015-04-01
The aim was to understand how multitasking is experienced by registered nurses and how it relates to their everyday practice in the emergency department. Interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with registered nurses (n = 9) working in one of two included emergency departments in Sweden. Data were analyzed using Schilling's structured model for qualitative content analysis. Three core concepts related to multitasking emerged from the interviews: 'multitasking - an attractive prerequisite for ED care'; 'multitasking implies efficiency' and 'multitasking is not stressful'. From these core concepts an additional theme emerged: '… and does not cause errors – at least for me', related to patient safety. This study shows how the patient load and the unreflected multitasking that follows relate to nurses' perceived efficiency and job satisfaction. It also shows that the relationship between multitasking and errors is perceived to be mediated by whom the actor is, and his or her level of experience. Findings from this study add value to the discourse on multitasking and the emergency department context, as few studies go beyond examining the quantitative aspect of interruptions and multitasking and how it is experienced by the staff in their everyday practice. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Moisala, M; Salmela, V; Hietajärvi, L; Salo, E; Carlson, S; Salonen, O; Lonka, K; Hakkarainen, K; Salmela-Aro, K; Alho, K
2016-07-01
The current generation of young people indulges in more media multitasking behavior (e.g., instant messaging while watching videos) in their everyday lives than older generations. Concerns have been raised about how this might affect their attentional functioning, as previous studies have indicated that extensive media multitasking in everyday life may be associated with decreased attentional control. In the current study, 149 adolescents and young adults (aged 13-24years) performed speech-listening and reading tasks that required maintaining attention in the presence of distractor stimuli in the other modality or dividing attention between two concurrent tasks. Brain activity during task performance was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We studied the relationship between self-reported daily media multitasking (MMT), task performance and brain activity during task performance. The results showed that in the presence of distractor stimuli, a higher MMT score was associated with worse performance and increased brain activity in right prefrontal regions. The level of performance during divided attention did not depend on MMT. This suggests that daily media multitasking is associated with behavioral distractibility and increased recruitment of brain areas involved in attentional and inhibitory control, and that media multitasking in everyday life does not translate to performance benefits in multitasking in laboratory settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Fazeli, P L; Casaletto, K B; Woods, S P; Umlauf, A; Scott, J C; Moore, D J
2017-12-01
The prevalence of older adults living with HIV is rising, as is their risk for everyday functioning problems associated with neurocognitive dysfunction. Multitasking, the ability to maintain and carry out subgoals in support of a larger goal, is a multidimensional skill ubiquitous during most real-life tasks and associated with prefrontal networks that are vulnerable in HIV. Understanding factors associated with multitasking will improve characterization of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Metacognition is also associated with frontal systems, is impaired among individuals with HIV, and may contribute to multitasking. Ninety-nine older (≥50 years) adults with HIV completed: the Everyday Multitasking Test (MT), a performance-based measure during which participants concurrently attempt four everyday tasks (e.g., medication management) within a time limit; a comprehensive neuropsychological battery; measures of metacognition regarding their MT performance (e.g., metacognitive knowledge and online awareness). Better global neuropsychological performance (i.e., average T-score across all domains) was associated with better Everyday MT total scores (rho = 0.34; p multitasking, and metacognition of task performance was a pathway through which successful multitasking occurred. Interventions aimed at modifying metacognition to improve daily functioning may be warranted among older adults with HIV. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Yen, Po-Yin; Kelley, Marjorie; Lopetegui, Marcelo; Rosado, Amber L; Migliore, Elaina M; Chipps, Esther M; Buck, Jacalyn
2016-01-01
A fundamental understanding of multitasking within nursing workflow is important in today's dynamic and complex healthcare environment. We conducted a time motion study to understand nursing workflow, specifically multitasking and task switching activities. We used TimeCaT, a comprehensive electronic time capture tool, to capture observational data. We established inter-observer reliability prior to data collection. We completed 56 hours of observation of 10 registered nurses. We found, on average, nurses had 124 communications and 208 hands-on tasks per 4-hour block of time. They multitasked (having communication and hands-on tasks simultaneously) 131 times, representing 39.48% of all times; the total multitasking duration ranges from 14.6 minutes to 109 minutes, 44.98 minutes (18.63%) on average. We also reviewed workflow visualization to uncover the multitasking events. Our study design and methods provide a practical and reliable approach to conducting and analyzing time motion studies from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives.
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New thinking: the evolution of human cognition.
Heyes, Cecilia
2012-08-05
Humans are animals that specialize in thinking and knowing, and our extraordinary cognitive abilities have transformed every aspect of our lives. In contrast to our chimpanzee cousins and Stone Age ancestors, we are complex political, economic, scientific and artistic creatures, living in a vast range of habitats, many of which are our own creation. Research on the evolution of human cognition asks what types of thinking make us such peculiar animals, and how they have been generated by evolutionary processes. New research in this field looks deeper into the evolutionary history of human cognition, and adopts a more multi-disciplinary approach than earlier 'Evolutionary Psychology'. It is informed by comparisons between humans and a range of primate and non-primate species, and integrates findings from anthropology, archaeology, economics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, philosophy and psychology. Using these methods, recent research reveals profound commonalities, as well striking differences, between human and non-human minds, and suggests that the evolution of human cognition has been much more gradual and incremental than previously assumed. It accords crucial roles to cultural evolution, techno-social co-evolution and gene-culture co-evolution. These have produced domain-general developmental processes with extraordinary power-power that makes human cognition, and human lives, unique.
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Rewarding Multitasking: Negative Effects of an Incentive on Problem Solving under Divided Attention
Wieth, Mareike B.; Burns, Bruce D.
2014-01-01
Research has consistently shown negative effects of multitasking on tasks such as problem solving. This study was designed to investigate the impact of an incentive when solving problems in a multitasking situation. Incentives have generally been shown to increase problem solving (e.g., Wieth & Burns, 2006), however, it is unclear whether an…
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Cognitive neuroscience robotics B analytic approaches to human understanding
Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Asada, Minoru; Osaka, Mariko; Fujikado, Takashi
2016-01-01
Cognitive Neuroscience Robotics is the first introductory book on this new interdisciplinary area. This book consists of two volumes, the first of which, Synthetic Approaches to Human Understanding, advances human understanding from a robotics or engineering point of view. The second, Analytic Approaches to Human Understanding, addresses related subjects in cognitive science and neuroscience. These two volumes are intended to complement each other in order to more comprehensively investigate human cognitive functions, to develop human-friendly information and robot technology (IRT) systems, and to understand what kind of beings we humans are. Volume B describes to what extent cognitive science and neuroscience have revealed the underlying mechanism of human cognition, and investigates how development of neural engineering and advances in other disciplines could lead to deep understanding of human cognition.
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Training multitasking in a virtual supermarket: a novel intervention after stroke.
Rand, Debbie; Weiss, Patrice L Tamar; Katz, Noomi
2009-01-01
To explore the potential of the VMall, a virtual supermarket running on a video-capture virtual reality system, as an intervention tool for people who have multitasking deficits after stroke. Poststroke, 4 participants received ten 60-min sessions over 3 weeks using the VMall. The intervention focused on improving multitasking while the participant was engaged in a virtual shopping task. Instruments included the Multiple Errands Test-Hospital Version (MET-HV) in a real mall and in the VMall. Participants achieved improvements ranging from 20.5% to 51.2% for most of the MET-HV measures performed in a real shopping mall and in the VMall. The data support the VMall's potential as a motivating and effective intervention tool for the rehabilitation of people poststroke who have multitasking deficits during the performance of daily tasks. However, because the sample was small, additional intervention studies with the VMall should be conducted.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yong-Quan Chen
Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate if individuals with frequent internet gaming (IG experience exhibited better or worse multitasking ability compared with those with infrequent IG experience. The individuals' multitasking abilities were measured using virtual environment multitasks, such as Edinburgh Virtual Errands Test (EVET, and conventional laboratory multitasks, such as the dual task and task switching. Seventy-two young healthy college students participated in this study. They were split into two groups based on the time spent on playing online games, as evaluated using the Internet Use Questionnaire. Each participant performed EVET, dual-task, and task-switching paradigms on a computer. The current results showed that the frequent IG group performed better on EVET compared with the infrequent IG group, but their performance on the dual-task and task-switching paradigms did not differ significantly. The results suggest that the frequent IG group exhibited better multitasking efficacy if measured using a more ecologically valid task, but not when measured using a conventional laboratory multitasking task. The differences in terms of the subcomponents of executive function measured by these task paradigms were discussed. The current results show the importance of the task effect while evaluating frequent internet gamers' multitasking ability.
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Using an Activity to Simulate the Dangers of Multitasking with Technology while Walking
Lazaros, Edward J.; Xu, Renmei; Londt, Susan
2012-01-01
People are increasingly trying to multitask while walking. Text messaging while walking is a significant area for concern. The number of text messages sent is expected to be more than 8 trillion in 2012. Texting is becoming so commonplace that people use this technology while engaged in other activities. The dangers of multitasking have hit the…
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Pareto-path multitask multiple kernel learning.
Li, Cong; Georgiopoulos, Michael; Anagnostopoulos, Georgios C
2015-01-01
A traditional and intuitively appealing Multitask Multiple Kernel Learning (MT-MKL) method is to optimize the sum (thus, the average) of objective functions with (partially) shared kernel function, which allows information sharing among the tasks. We point out that the obtained solution corresponds to a single point on the Pareto Front (PF) of a multiobjective optimization problem, which considers the concurrent optimization of all task objectives involved in the Multitask Learning (MTL) problem. Motivated by this last observation and arguing that the former approach is heuristic, we propose a novel support vector machine MT-MKL framework that considers an implicitly defined set of conic combinations of task objectives. We show that solving our framework produces solutions along a path on the aforementioned PF and that it subsumes the optimization of the average of objective functions as a special case. Using the algorithms we derived, we demonstrate through a series of experimental results that the framework is capable of achieving a better classification performance, when compared with other similar MTL approaches.
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Patterson, Michael C.
2017-01-01
The present study investigated the use of multiple digital media technologies, including social networking platforms, by students while preparing for an examination (media multitasking) and the subsequent effects on exam performance. The level of media multitasking (number of simultaneous media technologies) and duration of study were used as…
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The functional neuroanatomy of multitasking: combining dual tasking with a short term memory task.
Deprez, Sabine; Vandenbulcke, Mathieu; Peeters, Ron; Emsell, Louise; Amant, Frederic; Sunaert, Stefan
2013-09-01
Insight into the neural architecture of multitasking is crucial when investigating the pathophysiology of multitasking deficits in clinical populations. Presently, little is known about how the brain combines dual-tasking with a concurrent short-term memory task, despite the relevance of this mental operation in daily life and the frequency of complaints related to this process, in disease. In this study we aimed to examine how the brain responds when a memory task is added to dual-tasking. Thirty-three right-handed healthy volunteers (20 females, mean age 39.9 ± 5.8) were examined with functional brain imaging (fMRI). The paradigm consisted of two cross-modal single tasks (a visual and auditory temporal same-different task with short delay), a dual-task combining both single tasks simultaneously and a multi-task condition, combining the dual-task with an additional short-term memory task (temporal same-different visual task with long delay). Dual-tasking compared to both individual visual and auditory single tasks activated a predominantly right-sided fronto-parietal network and the cerebellum. When adding the additional short-term memory task, a larger and more bilateral frontoparietal network was recruited. We found enhanced activity during multitasking in components of the network that were already involved in dual-tasking, suggesting increased working memory demands, as well as recruitment of multitask-specific components including areas that are likely to be involved in online holding of visual stimuli in short-term memory such as occipito-temporal cortex. These results confirm concurrent neural processing of a visual short-term memory task during dual-tasking and provide evidence for an effective fMRI multitasking paradigm. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Multitasking a three-dimensional Navier-Stokes algorithm on the Cray-2
Swisshelm, Julie M.
1989-01-01
A three-dimensional computational aerodynamics algorithm has been multitasked for efficient parallel execution on the Cray-2. It provides a means for examining the multitasking performance of a complete CFD application code. An embedded zonal multigrid scheme is used to solve the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for an internal flow model problem. The explicit nature of each component of the method allows a spatial partitioning of the computational domain to achieve a well-balanced task load for MIMD computers with vector-processing capability. Experiments have been conducted with both two- and three-dimensional multitasked cases. The best speedup attained by an individual task group was 3.54 on four processors of the Cray-2, while the entire solver yielded a speedup of 2.67 on four processors for the three-dimensional case. The multiprocessing efficiency of various types of computational tasks is examined, performance on two Cray-2s with different memory access speeds is compared, and extrapolation to larger problems is discussed.
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Ranking Performance Measures in Multi-Task Agencies
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Christensen, Peter Ove; Sabac, Florin; Tian, Joyce
We derive sufficient conditions for ranking performance evaluation systems in multi-task agency models using both optimal and linear contracts in terms of a second-order stochastic dominance (SSD) condition on the likelihood ratios. The SSD condition can be replaced by a variance-covariance matrix...
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Ratanawongsa, Neda; Matta, George Y; Bohsali, Fuad B; Chisolm, Margaret S
2018-02-06
multitasking. However, they brainstormed diverse strategies for using EHR systems safely while preserving patient relationships. ©Neda Ratanawongsa, George Y Matta, Fuad B Bohsali, Margaret S Chisolm. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (http://humanfactors.jmir.org), 06.02.2018.
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Mobile Learning: Can Students Really Multitask?
Coens, Joke; Reynvoet, Bert; Clarebout, Geraldine
2011-01-01
The advent of mobile learning offers opportunities for students to do two things at once in an educational context: learning while performing another activity. The main aim of the reported studies is to address the effect of multitasking on learning with a mobile device. Two experiments were set up to examine the effect of performing a secondary…
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Cognitive Technologies: The Design of Joint Human-Machine Cognitive Systems
Woods, David D.
1985-01-01
This article explores the implications of one type of cognitive technology, techniques and concepts to develop joint human-machine cognitive systems, for the application of computational technology by examining the joint cognitive system implicit in a hypothetical computer consultant that outputs some form of problem solution. This analysis reveals some of the problems can occur in cognitive system design-e.g., machine control of the interaction, the danger of a responsibility-authority doubl...
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Multi-tasking and Arduino : why and how?
Feijs, L.M.G.; Chen, L.L.; Djajadiningrat, T.; Feijs, L.M.G.; Fraser, S.; Hu, J.; Kyffin, S.; Steffen, D.
2013-01-01
In this article I argue that it is important to develop experiential prototypes which have multi-tasking capabilities. At the same time I show that for embedded prototype software based on the popular Arduino platform this is not too difficult. The approach is explained and illustrated using
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Semi-Supervised Multitask Learning for Scene Recognition.
Lu, Xiaoqiang; Li, Xuelong; Mou, Lichao
2015-09-01
Scene recognition has been widely studied to understand visual information from the level of objects and their relationships. Toward scene recognition, many methods have been proposed. They, however, encounter difficulty to improve the accuracy, mainly due to two limitations: 1) lack of analysis of intrinsic relationships across different scales, say, the initial input and its down-sampled versions and 2) existence of redundant features. This paper develops a semi-supervised learning mechanism to reduce the above two limitations. To address the first limitation, we propose a multitask model to integrate scene images of different resolutions. For the second limitation, we build a model of sparse feature selection-based manifold regularization (SFSMR) to select the optimal information and preserve the underlying manifold structure of data. SFSMR coordinates the advantages of sparse feature selection and manifold regulation. Finally, we link the multitask model and SFSMR, and propose the semi-supervised learning method to reduce the two limitations. Experimental results report the improvements of the accuracy in scene recognition.
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Multitasking information behavior, information task switching and anxiety: An exploratory study
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Alexopoulou, Peggy; Kotsopoulou, Anastasia
2015-01-01
Multitasking information behavior involves multiple forms of information searching such as library and Web search. Few researchers, however, have explored multitasking information behavior and information task switching in libraries in conjunction with psychological variables. This study explored this behavior in terms of anxiety under time pressure. This was an exploratory case study. Participant searched information for three unrelated everyday life information topics during a library visit, in a timeframe of one hour. The data collection tools used were: diary, observation, interview, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory test. Participant took the Trait-anxiety test before the library visit to measure anxiety level as a personal characteristic. She also took State-anxiety test before, during and after the library visit to measure anxiety levels regarding the information seeking behavior. The results suggested that participant had high levels of anxiety at the beginning of the multitasking information behavior. The reason for that was the concern about the performance as well as the identification of the right resources. During the multitasking information behavior, participant still had anxiety to find the right information. The levels of anxiety, however, were less due to library’s good organized structure. At the end of the information seeking process, the levels of anxiety dropped significant and therefore calm and safety returned. Finally, participant searched information for topics that were more important and for which she had prior knowledge When people, under time pressure, have access to well organized information, the levels of anxiety might decrease
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Multitask TSK fuzzy system modeling by mining intertask common hidden structure.
Jiang, Yizhang; Chung, Fu-Lai; Ishibuchi, Hisao; Deng, Zhaohong; Wang, Shitong
2015-03-01
The classical fuzzy system modeling methods implicitly assume data generated from a single task, which is essentially not in accordance with many practical scenarios where data can be acquired from the perspective of multiple tasks. Although one can build an individual fuzzy system model for each task, the result indeed tells us that the individual modeling approach will get poor generalization ability due to ignoring the intertask hidden correlation. In order to circumvent this shortcoming, we consider a general framework for preserving the independent information among different tasks and mining hidden correlation information among all tasks in multitask fuzzy modeling. In this framework, a low-dimensional subspace (structure) is assumed to be shared among all tasks and hence be the hidden correlation information among all tasks. Under this framework, a multitask Takagi-Sugeno-Kang (TSK) fuzzy system model called MTCS-TSK-FS (TSK-FS for multiple tasks with common hidden structure), based on the classical L2-norm TSK fuzzy system, is proposed in this paper. The proposed model can not only take advantage of independent sample information from the original space for each task, but also effectively use the intertask common hidden structure among multiple tasks to enhance the generalization performance of the built fuzzy systems. Experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate the applicability and distinctive performance of the proposed multitask fuzzy system model in multitask regression learning scenarios.
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Multitasking information behavior, information task switching and anxiety: An exploratory study
Alexopoulou, Peggy; Kotsopoulou, Anastasia
2015-02-01
Multitasking information behavior involves multiple forms of information searching such as library and Web search. Few researchers, however, have explored multitasking information behavior and information task switching in libraries in conjunction with psychological variables. This study explored this behavior in terms of anxiety under time pressure. This was an exploratory case study. Participant searched information for three unrelated everyday life information topics during a library visit, in a timeframe of one hour. The data collection tools used were: diary, observation, interview, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory test. Participant took the Trait-anxiety test before the library visit to measure anxiety level as a personal characteristic. She also took State-anxiety test before, during and after the library visit to measure anxiety levels regarding the information seeking behavior. The results suggested that participant had high levels of anxiety at the beginning of the multitasking information behavior. The reason for that was the concern about the performance as well as the identification of the right resources. During the multitasking information behavior, participant still had anxiety to find the right information. The levels of anxiety, however, were less due to library's good organized structure. At the end of the information seeking process, the levels of anxiety dropped significant and therefore calm and safety returned. Finally, participant searched information for topics that were more important and for which she had prior knowledge When people, under time pressure, have access to well organized information, the levels of anxiety might decrease.
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Multitasking information behavior, information task switching and anxiety: An exploratory study
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Alexopoulou, Peggy, E-mail: p.alexopoulou@lboro.ac.uk, E-mail: an-kotsopoulou@yahoo.com; Kotsopoulou, Anastasia, E-mail: p.alexopoulou@lboro.ac.uk, E-mail: an-kotsopoulou@yahoo.com [City Unity College, Thiseos 15-17, Athens, 105 62 (Greece)
2015-02-09
Multitasking information behavior involves multiple forms of information searching such as library and Web search. Few researchers, however, have explored multitasking information behavior and information task switching in libraries in conjunction with psychological variables. This study explored this behavior in terms of anxiety under time pressure. This was an exploratory case study. Participant searched information for three unrelated everyday life information topics during a library visit, in a timeframe of one hour. The data collection tools used were: diary, observation, interview, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory test. Participant took the Trait-anxiety test before the library visit to measure anxiety level as a personal characteristic. She also took State-anxiety test before, during and after the library visit to measure anxiety levels regarding the information seeking behavior. The results suggested that participant had high levels of anxiety at the beginning of the multitasking information behavior. The reason for that was the concern about the performance as well as the identification of the right resources. During the multitasking information behavior, participant still had anxiety to find the right information. The levels of anxiety, however, were less due to library’s good organized structure. At the end of the information seeking process, the levels of anxiety dropped significant and therefore calm and safety returned. Finally, participant searched information for topics that were more important and for which she had prior knowledge When people, under time pressure, have access to well organized information, the levels of anxiety might decrease.
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Judd, Terry; Kennedy, Gregor
2011-01-01
Logs of on-campus computer and Internet usage were used to conduct a study of computer-based task switching and multitasking by undergraduate medical students. A detailed analysis of over 6000 individual sessions revealed that while a majority of students engaged in both task switching and multitasking behaviours, they did so less frequently than…
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Voorveld, H.A.M.; Viswanathan, V.
2015-01-01
This study responds to the need for research on individuals' media multitasking behavior using observational data. Media multitasking can have a profound impact on media processing and effects. However, we have little knowledge on when people are likely to engage in media multitasking and,
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Integrative analysis of multiple diverse omics datasets by sparse group multitask regression
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Dongdong eLin
2014-10-01
Full Text Available A variety of high throughput genome-wide assays enable the exploration of genetic risk factors underlying complex traits. Although these studies have remarkable impact on identifying susceptible biomarkers, they suffer from issues such as limited sample size and low reproducibility. Combining individual studies of different genetic levels/platforms has the promise to improve the power and consistency of biomarker identification. In this paper, we propose a novel integrative method, namely sparse group multitask regression, for integrating diverse omics datasets, platforms and populations to identify risk genes/factors of complex diseases. This method combines multitask learning with sparse group regularization, which will: 1 treat the biomarker identification in each single study as a task and then combine them by multitask learning; 2 group variables from all studies for identifying significant genes; 3 enforce sparse constraint on groups of variables to overcome the ‘small sample, but large variables’ problem. We introduce two sparse group penalties: sparse group lasso and sparse group ridge in our multitask model, and provide an effective algorithm for each model. In addition, we propose a significance test for the identification of potential risk genes. Two simulation studies are performed to evaluate the performance of our integrative method by comparing it with conventional meta-analysis method. The results show that our sparse group multitask method outperforms meta-analysis method significantly. In an application to our osteoporosis studies, 7 genes are identified as significant genes by our method and are found to have significant effects in other three independent studies for validation. The most significant gene SOD2 has been identified in our previous osteoporosis study involving the same expression dataset. Several other genes such as TREML2, HTR1E and GLO1 are shown to be novel susceptible genes for osteoporosis, as confirmed
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Enhancing Human Cognition with Cocoa Flavonoids
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Valentina Socci
2017-05-01
Full Text Available Enhancing cognitive abilities has become a fascinating scientific challenge, recently driven by the interest in preventing age-related cognitive decline and sustaining normal cognitive performance in response to cognitively demanding environments. In recent years, cocoa and cocoa-derived products, as a rich source of flavonoids, mainly the flavanols sub-class, have been clearly shown to exert cardiovascular benefits. More recently, neuromodulation and neuroprotective actions have been also suggested. Here, we discuss human studies specifically aimed at investigating the effects of acute and chronic administration of cocoa flavanols on different cognitive domains, such as executive functions, attention and memory. Through a variety of direct and indirect biological actions, in part still speculative, cocoa and cocoa-derived food have been suggested to possess the potential to counteract cognitive decline and sustain cognitive abilities, particularly among patients at risk. Although still at a preliminary stage, research investigating the relations between cocoa and cognition shows dose-dependent improvements in general cognition, attention, processing speed, and working memory. Moreover, cocoa flavanols administration could also enhance normal cognitive functioning and exert a protective role on cognitive performance and cardiovascular function specifically impaired by sleep loss, in healthy subjects. Together, these findings converge at pointing to cocoa as a new interesting nutraceutical tool to protect human cognition and counteract different types of cognitive decline, thus encouraging further investigations. Future research should include complex experimental designs combining neuroimaging techniques with physiological and behavioral measures to better elucidate cocoa neuromodulatory properties and directly compare immediate versus long-lasting cognitive effects.
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Connected yet Distracted: Multitasking among College Students
Mokhtari, Kouider; Delello, Julie; Reichard, Carla
2015-01-01
In this study, 935 undergraduate college students from a regional four-year university responded to an online time-diary survey asking them to report their multitasking habits and practices while engaged in four main activities: reading voluntarily for fun, reading for academic purposes, watching television (TV), and using the Internet. Results…
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An Initial Investigation of Factors Affecting Multi-Task Performance
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Branscome, Tersa A; Swoboda, Jennifer C; Fatkin, Linda T
2007-01-01
This report presents the results of the first in a series of investigations designed to increase fundamental knowledge and understanding of the factors affecting multi-task performance in a military environment...
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Yuhmiin Chang
2015-01-01
Simultaneous mobile internet and television usage has been getting very popular. Few, if any, studies explicated generational differences in this type of media multitasking behaviors. This study is the first to examine whether different generations have different behaviors and motives in the mobile internet-television media multitasking context. A national face-to-face survey with the probability proportional to size random sampling method was employed. The results showed that Web generation ...
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The causal effect of multitasking on work-related mental health: The more you do, the worse you feel
Pikos, Anna Katharina
2017-01-01
This paper analyses whether there is a causal relationship between work-related mental health problems and multitasking, the number of tasks performed at work. The data comes from two cross sectional surveys on the German working population. The empirical strategies uses technological change as an instrument for multitasking. In the first stage, the introduction of new production and information technologies is associated with increases in multitasking. Production technology adoption has larg...
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Embodied artificial agents for understanding human social cognition.
Wykowska, Agnieszka; Chaminade, Thierry; Cheng, Gordon
2016-05-05
In this paper, we propose that experimental protocols involving artificial agents, in particular the embodied humanoid robots, provide insightful information regarding social cognitive mechanisms in the human brain. Using artificial agents allows for manipulation and control of various parameters of behaviour, appearance and expressiveness in one of the interaction partners (the artificial agent), and for examining effect of these parameters on the other interaction partner (the human). At the same time, using artificial agents means introducing the presence of artificial, yet human-like, systems into the human social sphere. This allows for testing in a controlled, but ecologically valid, manner human fundamental mechanisms of social cognition both at the behavioural and at the neural level. This paper will review existing literature that reports studies in which artificial embodied agents have been used to study social cognition and will address the question of whether various mechanisms of social cognition (ranging from lower- to higher-order cognitive processes) are evoked by artificial agents to the same extent as by natural agents, humans in particular. Increasing the understanding of how behavioural and neural mechanisms of social cognition respond to artificial anthropomorphic agents provides empirical answers to the conundrum 'What is a social agent?' © 2016 The Authors.
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Multitasking and microtasking experience on the NA S Cray-2 and ACF Cray X-MP
Raiszadeh, Farhad
1987-01-01
The fast Fourier transform (FFT) kernel of the NAS benchmark program has been utilized to experiment with the multitasking library on the Cray-2 and Cray X-MP/48, and microtasking directives on the Cray X-MP. Some performance figures are shown, and the state of multitasking software is described.
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2014-06-01
developed, pilot tested, and in its Beta form. Findings or Results The subset of NCAPS traits that demonstrated statistically significant prediction for...development and initial pilot testing of the Prototype Marine ATC Cognitive Test. Method The validation approach chosen for this project was a criterion... multitasking ability, and 5) inductive reasoning ability. A working memory capacity test was developed because working memory has been linked to
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Cognitive neuroscience robotics A synthetic approaches to human understanding
Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Asada, Minoru; Osaka, Mariko; Fujikado, Takashi
2016-01-01
Cognitive Neuroscience Robotics is the first introductory book on this new interdisciplinary area. This book consists of two volumes, the first of which, Synthetic Approaches to Human Understanding, advances human understanding from a robotics or engineering point of view. The second, Analytic Approaches to Human Understanding, addresses related subjects in cognitive science and neuroscience. These two volumes are intended to complement each other in order to more comprehensively investigate human cognitive functions, to develop human-friendly information and robot technology (IRT) systems, and to understand what kind of beings we humans are. Volume A describes how human cognitive functions can be replicated in artificial systems such as robots, and investigates how artificial systems could acquire intelligent behaviors through interaction with others and their environment.
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Feng, S. F.; Schwemmer, M.; Gershman, S. J.; Cohen, J. D.
2014-01-01
Why is it that behaviors that rely on control, so striking in their diversity and flexibility, are also subject to such striking limitations? Typically, people cannot engage in more than a few — and usually only a single — control-demanding task at a time. This limitation was a defining element in the earliest conceptualizations of controlled processing, it remains one of the most widely accepted axioms of cognitive psychology, and is even the basis for some laws (e.g., against the use of mobile devices while driving). Remarkably, however, the source of this limitation is still not understood. Here, we examine one potential source of this limitation, in terms of a tradeoff between the flexibility and efficiency of representation (“multiplexing”) and the simultaneous engagement of different processing pathways (“multitasking”). We show that even a modest amount of multiplexing rapidly introduces cross-talk among processing pathways, thereby constraining the number that can be productively engaged at once. We propose that, given the large number of advantages of efficient coding, the human brain has favored this over the capacity for multitasking of control-demanding processes. PMID:24481850
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Polychronicity and multitasking: a diary study at work
Kirchberg, D.M.; Roe, R.A.; van Eerde, W.
2015-01-01
Polychronicity and multitasking have been described as being indispensible in work today because they enable people to use their time flexibly and effectively. We conducted a diary study among 93 employees during the mornings and evenings of 5 consecutive workdays (n = 418 observations). The study
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chauvet, Y.
1985-01-01
This paper summarized two improvements of a real production code by using vectorization and multitasking techniques. After a short description of Monte Carlo algorithms employed in neutron transport problems, the authors briefly describe the work done in order to get a vector code. Vectorization principles are presented and measured performances on the CRAY 1S, CYBER 205 and CRAY X-MP compared in terms of vector lengths. The second part of this work is an adaptation to multitasking on the CRAY X-MP using exclusively standard multitasking tools available with FORTRAN under the COS 1.13 system. Two examples are presented. The goal of the first one is to measure the overhead inherent to multitasking when tasks become too small and to define a granularity threshold, that is to say a minimum size for a task. With the second example they propose a method that is very X-MP oriented in order to get the best speedup factor on such a computer. In conclusion they prove that Monte Carlo algorithms are very well suited to future vector and parallel computers
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Lin, Lin; Lee, Jennifer; Robertson, Tip
2011-01-01
Media multitasking, or engaging in multiple media and tasks simultaneously, is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon with the development and engagement in social media. This study examines to what extent video content affects students' reading comprehension in media multitasking environments. One hundred and thirty university students were…
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Multi-Task Convolutional Neural Network for Pose-Invariant Face Recognition
Yin, Xi; Liu, Xiaoming
2018-02-01
This paper explores multi-task learning (MTL) for face recognition. We answer the questions of how and why MTL can improve the face recognition performance. First, we propose a multi-task Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for face recognition where identity classification is the main task and pose, illumination, and expression estimations are the side tasks. Second, we develop a dynamic-weighting scheme to automatically assign the loss weight to each side task, which is a crucial problem in MTL. Third, we propose a pose-directed multi-task CNN by grouping different poses to learn pose-specific identity features, simultaneously across all poses. Last but not least, we propose an energy-based weight analysis method to explore how CNN-based MTL works. We observe that the side tasks serve as regularizations to disentangle the variations from the learnt identity features. Extensive experiments on the entire Multi-PIE dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work using all data in Multi-PIE for face recognition. Our approach is also applicable to in-the-wild datasets for pose-invariant face recognition and achieves comparable or better performance than state of the art on LFW, CFP, and IJB-A datasets.
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The multitasking organ: recent insights into skin immune function.
Di Meglio, Paola; Perera, Gayathri K; Nestle, Frank O
2011-12-23
The skin provides the first line defense of the human body against injury and infection. By integrating recent findings in cutaneous immunology with fundamental concepts of skin biology, we portray the skin as a multitasking organ ensuring body homeostasis. Crosstalk between the skin and its microbial environment is also highlighted as influencing the response to injury, infection, and autoimmunity. The importance of the skin immune network is emphasized by the identification of several skin-resident cell subsets, each with its unique functions. Lessons learned from targeted therapy in inflammatory skin conditions, such as psoriasis, provide further insights into skin immune function. Finally, we look at the skin as an interacting network of immune signaling pathways exemplified by the development of a disease interactome for psoriasis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Rajendran, Gnanathusharan; Law, Anna S.; Logie, Robert H.; van der Meulen, Marian; Fraser, Diane; Corley, Martin
2011-01-01
Using a modified version of the Virtual Errands Task (VET; McGeorge et al. in "Presence-Teleop Virtual Environ" 10(4):375-383, 2001), we investigated the executive ability of multitasking in 18 high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 18 typically developing adolescents. The VET requires multitasking (Law et al. in "Acta Psychol" 122(1):27-44,…
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Multitask Classification Hypothesis Space With Improved Generalization Bounds.
Li, Cong; Georgiopoulos, Michael; Anagnostopoulos, Georgios C
2015-07-01
This paper presents a pair of hypothesis spaces (HSs) of vector-valued functions intended to be used in the context of multitask classification. While both are parameterized on the elements of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces and impose a feature mapping that is common to all tasks, one of them assumes this mapping as fixed, while the more general one learns the mapping via multiple kernel learning. For these new HSs, empirical Rademacher complexity-based generalization bounds are derived, and are shown to be tighter than the bound of a particular HS, which has appeared recently in the literature, leading to improved performance. As a matter of fact, the latter HS is shown to be a special case of ours. Based on an equivalence to Group-Lasso type HSs, the proposed HSs are utilized toward corresponding support vector machine-based formulations. Finally, experimental results on multitask learning problems underline the quality of the derived bounds and validate this paper's analysis.
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Oxytocin, testosterone, and human social cognition.
Crespi, Bernard J
2016-05-01
I describe an integrative social-evolutionary model for the adaptive significance of the human oxytocinergic system. The model is based on a role for this hormone in the generation and maintenance of social familiarity and affiliation across five homologous, functionally similar, and sequentially co-opted contexts: mothers with offspring, female and male mates, kin groups, individuals with reciprocity partners, and individuals within cooperating and competing social groups defined by culture. In each situation, oxytocin motivates, mediates and rewards the cognitive and behavioural processes that underlie the formation and dynamics of a more or less stable social group, and promotes a relationship between two or more individuals. Such relationships may be positive (eliciting neurological reward, reducing anxiety and thus indicating fitness-enhancing effects), or negative (increasing anxiety and distress, and thus motivating attempts to alleviate a problematic, fitness-reducing social situation). I also present evidence that testosterone exhibits opposite effects from oxytocin on diverse aspects of cognition and behaviour, most generally by favouring self-oriented, asocial and antisocial behaviours. I apply this model for effects of oxytocin and testosterone to understanding human psychological disorders centrally involving social behaviour. Reduced oxytocin and higher testosterone levels have been associated with under-developed social cognition, especially in autism. By contrast, some combination of oxytocin increased above normal levels, and lower testosterone, has been reported in a notable number of studies of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, and, in some cases, higher oxytocin involves maladaptively 'hyper-developed' social cognition in these conditions. This pattern of findings suggests that human social cognition and behaviour are structured, in part, by joint and opposing effects of oxytocin and testosterone, and that extremes of such joint
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Human mobility, cognition and GISc
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Welcome to Human Mobility, Cognition and GISc’ - a conference hosted by the University of Copenhagen on November 9, 2015. The present document encloses the abstracts contributed by five invited speakers and eight submitted as responses to a public call made on June 1st 2015. In GIS and related...... the psychological/cognitive and neurophysiological background of our spatial behavior - including our abilities to perceive, memorize, apply and communicate spatial knowledge. It is the aim of the conference to bring together professionals from cognitive, analytical and geo-technical sciences (including...
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Microprocessor multi-task monitor
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Ludemann, C.A.
1983-01-01
This paper describes a multi-task monitor program for microprocessors. Although written for the Intel 8085, it incorporates features that would be beneficial for implementation in other microprocessors used in controlling and monitoring experiments and accelerators. The monitor places permanent programs (tasks) arbitrarily located throughout ROM in a priority ordered queue. The programmer is provided with the flexibility to add new tasks or modified versions of existing tasks, without having to comply with previously defined task boundaries or having to reprogram all of ROM. Scheduling of tasks is triggered by timers, outside stimuli (interrupts), or inter-task communications. Context switching time is of the order of tenths of a milllisecond
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Spatial cognition in apes and humans.
Gentner, Dedre
2007-05-01
The debate on whether language influences cognition is sometimes seen as a simple dichotomy: cognitive development is governed either by innate predispositions or by influences of language and culture. In two recent papers on spatial cognition, Haun and colleagues break new ground in bringing together a comparative cognition approach with a cross-linguistic framework to arrive at a third position: that humans begin with the same spatial reference frames as our near relatives, the great apes, and diverge later owing to the influence of language and culture.
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Feature selection for domain knowledge representation through multitask learning
CSIR Research Space (South Africa)
Rosman, Benjamin S
2014-10-01
Full Text Available represent stimuli of interest, and rich feature sets which increase the dimensionality of the space and thus the difficulty of the learning problem. We focus on a multitask reinforcement learning setting, where the agent is learning domain knowledge...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chauvet, Y.
1985-01-01
This paper summarized two improvements of a real production code by using vectorization and multitasking techniques. After a short description of Monte Carlo algorithms employed in our neutron transport problems, we briefly describe the work we have done in order to get a vector code. Vectorization principles will be presented and measured performances on the CRAY 1S, CYBER 205 and CRAY X-MP compared in terms of vector lengths. The second part of this work is an adaptation to multitasking on the CRAY X-MP using exclusively standard multitasking tools available with FORTRAN under the COS 1.13 system. Two examples will be presented. The goal of the first one is to measure the overhead inherent to multitasking when tasks become too small and to define a granularity threshold, that is to say a minimum size for a task. With the second example we propose a method that is very X-MP oriented in order to get the best speedup factor on such a computer. In conclusion we prove that Monte Carlo algorithms are very well suited to future vector and parallel computers. (orig.)
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Comparative developmental psychology: how is human cognitive development unique?
Rosati, Alexandra G; Wobber, Victoria; Hughes, Kelly; Santos, Laurie R
2014-04-29
The fields of developmental and comparative psychology both seek to illuminate the roots of adult cognitive systems. Developmental studies target the emergence of adult cognitive systems over ontogenetic time, whereas comparative studies investigate the origins of human cognition in our evolutionary history. Despite the long tradition of research in both of these areas, little work has examined the intersection of the two: the study of cognitive development in a comparative perspective. In the current article, we review recent work using this comparative developmental approach to study non-human primate cognition. We argue that comparative data on the pace and pattern of cognitive development across species can address major theoretical questions in both psychology and biology. In particular, such integrative research will allow stronger biological inferences about the function of developmental change, and will be critical in addressing how humans come to acquire species-unique cognitive abilities.
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Jie, Biao; Zhang, Daoqiang; Cheng, Bo; Shen, Dinggang
2013-01-01
Accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), as well as its prodromal stage (i.e., mild cognitive impairment, MCI), is very important for possible delay and early treatment of the disease. Recently, multi-modality methods have been used for fusing information from multiple different and complementary imaging and non-imaging modalities. Although there are a number of existing multi-modality methods, few of them have addressed the problem of joint identification of disease-related brain regions from multi-modality data for classification. In this paper, we proposed a manifold regularized multi-task learning framework to jointly select features from multi-modality data. Specifically, we formulate the multi-modality classification as a multi-task learning framework, where each task focuses on the classification based on each modality. In order to capture the intrinsic relatedness among multiple tasks (i.e., modalities), we adopted a group sparsity regularizer, which ensures only a small number of features to be selected jointly. In addition, we introduced a new manifold based Laplacian regularization term to preserve the geometric distribution of original data from each task, which can lead to the selection of more discriminative features. Furthermore, we extend our method to the semi-supervised setting, which is very important since the acquisition of a large set of labeled data (i.e., diagnosis of disease) is usually expensive and time-consuming, while the collection of unlabeled data is relatively much easier. To validate our method, we have performed extensive evaluations on the baseline Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) data of Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
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The disruptive effects of pain on multitasking in a virtual errands task.
Moore, David J; Law, Anna S
2017-07-01
Pain is known to have a disruptive effect on cognitive performance, but prior studies have used highly constrained laboratory tasks that lack ecological validity. In everyday life people are required to complete more complex sets of tasks, prioritising task completion and recalling lists of tasks which need to be completed, and these tasks continue to be attempted during episodes or states of pain. The present study therefore examined the impact of thermal induced pain on a simulated errand task. Fifty-five healthy adults (36 female) performed the Edinburgh Virtual Errands Task (EVET) either during a painful thermal sensation or with no concurrent pain. Participants also completed the Experience of Cognitive Intrusion of Pain (ECIP) questionnaire to measure their self-reported cognitive impact of pain in general life. Participants who completed the EVET task in pain and who self-reported high intrusion of pain made significantly more errors than those who reported lower intrusion on the ECIP. Findings here support the growing literature that suggests that pain has a significant impact on cognitive performance. Furthermore, these findings support the developing literature suggesting that this relationship is complex when considering real world cognition, and that self-report on the ECIP relates well to performance on a task designed to reflect the complexities of everyday living. If extrapolated to chronic pain populations, these data suggest that pain during complex multitasking performance may have a significant impact on the number of errors made. For people highly vulnerable to cognitive intrusion by pain, this may result in errors such as selecting the wrong location or item to perform tasks, or forgetting to perform these tasks at the correct time. If these findings are shown to extend to chronic pain populations then occupational support to manage complex task performance, using for example diaries/electronic reminders, may help to improve everyday abilities
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Deliberation's blindsight: how cognitive load can improve judgments.
Hoffmann, Janina A; von Helversen, Bettina; Rieskamp, Jörg
2013-06-01
Multitasking poses a major challenge in modern work environments by putting the worker under cognitive load. Performance decrements often occur when people are under high cognitive load because they switch to less demanding--and often less accurate--cognitive strategies. Although cognitive load disturbs performance over a wide range of tasks, it may also carry benefits. In the experiments reported here, we showed that judgment performance can increase under cognitive load. Participants solved a multiple-cue judgment task in which high performance could be achieved by using a similarity-based judgment strategy but not by using a more demanding rule-based judgment strategy. Accordingly, cognitive load induced a shift to a similarity-based judgment strategy, which consequently led to more accurate judgments. By contrast, shifting to a similarity-based strategy harmed judgments in a task best solved by using a rule-based strategy. These results show how important it is to consider the cognitive strategies people rely on to understand how people perform in demanding work environments.
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Baumgartner, S.E.; Sumter, S.R.
2017-01-01
The aim of this observational study was to investigate differences in computer-based multitasking among children and adults. Moreover, the study investigated how attention problems are related to computer-based multitasking and how these individual differences interact with age. Computer-based
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Gender Differences in Human Cognition. Counterpoints: Cognition, Memory, and Language Series.
Caplan, Paula J.; Crawford, Mary; Hyde, Janet Shibley; Richardson, John T. E.
Noting the fascination of both researchers and the general public with possible gender differences in human cognition and whether these differences originate in biology, childhood influences, or cultural stereotypes, this book summarizes research studies on gender differences in cognition. The book examines social and cultural implications of this…
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Translating cognition from animals to humans.
Keeler, J F; Robbins, T W
2011-06-15
Many clinical disorders, whether neurological (e.g. Alzheimer's disease) or neuropsychiatric (e.g. schizophrenia and depression), exhibit cognitive symptoms that require pharmacological treatment. Cognition is multi-faceted and includes processes of perception, attention, working memory, long-term memory, executive function, language and social cognition. This article reviews how it is feasible to model many aspects of human cognition with the use of appropriate animal models and associated techniques, including the use of computer controlled tests (e.g. touch-screens), for optimising translation of experimental research to the clinic. When investigating clinical disorders, test batteries should aim to profile cognitive function in order to determine which aspects are impaired and which are preserved. In this review we have paid particular attention to the validation of translational methods; this may be done through the application of common theoretical principles, by comparing the effects of psychological manipulations and, wherever feasible, with the demonstration of homologous neural circuitry or equivalent pharmacological actions in the animal and human paradigms. Of particular importance is the use of 'back-translation' to ensure that the animal model has validity, for example, in predicting the effects of therapeutic drugs already found in human studies. It is made clear that the choice of appropriate behavioral tests is an important element of animal models of neuropsychiatric or neurological disorder; however, of course it is also important to select appropriate manipulations, whether genetic, neurodevelopmental, neurotoxic, or pharmacological, for simulating the neural substrates relevant to the disorders that lead to predictable behavioral and cognitive impairments, for optimising the testing of candidate compounds. 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Decision Making in Concurrent Multitasking: Do People Adapt to Task Interference?
Nijboer, Menno; Taatgen, Niels A.; Brands, Annelies; Borst, Jelmer P.; van Rijn, Hedderik
2013-01-01
While multitasking has received a great deal of attention from researchers, we still know little about how well people adapt their behavior to multitasking demands. In three experiments, participants were presented with a multicolumn subtraction task, which required working memory in half of the trials. This primary task had to be combined with a secondary task requiring either working memory or visual attention, resulting in different types of interference. Before each trial, participants were asked to choose which secondary task they wanted to perform concurrently with the primary task. We predicted that if people seek to maximize performance or minimize effort required to perform the dual task, they choose task combinations that minimize interference. While performance data showed that the predicted optimal task combinations indeed resulted in minimal interference between tasks, the preferential choice data showed that a third of participants did not show any adaptation, and for the remainder it took a considerable number of trials before the optimal task combinations were chosen consistently. On the basis of these results we argue that, while in principle people are able to adapt their behavior according to multitasking demands, selection of the most efficient combination of strategies is not an automatic process. PMID:24244527
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Decision making in concurrent multitasking: do people adapt to task interference?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Menno Nijboer
Full Text Available While multitasking has received a great deal of attention from researchers, we still know little about how well people adapt their behavior to multitasking demands. In three experiments, participants were presented with a multicolumn subtraction task, which required working memory in half of the trials. This primary task had to be combined with a secondary task requiring either working memory or visual attention, resulting in different types of interference. Before each trial, participants were asked to choose which secondary task they wanted to perform concurrently with the primary task. We predicted that if people seek to maximize performance or minimize effort required to perform the dual task, they choose task combinations that minimize interference. While performance data showed that the predicted optimal task combinations indeed resulted in minimal interference between tasks, the preferential choice data showed that a third of participants did not show any adaptation, and for the remainder it took a considerable number of trials before the optimal task combinations were chosen consistently. On the basis of these results we argue that, while in principle people are able to adapt their behavior according to multitasking demands, selection of the most efficient combination of strategies is not an automatic process.
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Exploring Human Cognition Using Large Image Databases.
Griffiths, Thomas L; Abbott, Joshua T; Hsu, Anne S
2016-07-01
Most cognitive psychology experiments evaluate models of human cognition using a relatively small, well-controlled set of stimuli. This approach stands in contrast to current work in neuroscience, perception, and computer vision, which have begun to focus on using large databases of natural images. We argue that natural images provide a powerful tool for characterizing the statistical environment in which people operate, for better evaluating psychological theories, and for bringing the insights of cognitive science closer to real applications. We discuss how some of the challenges of using natural images as stimuli in experiments can be addressed through increased sample sizes, using representations from computer vision, and developing new experimental methods. Finally, we illustrate these points by summarizing recent work using large image databases to explore questions about human cognition in four different domains: modeling subjective randomness, defining a quantitative measure of representativeness, identifying prior knowledge used in word learning, and determining the structure of natural categories. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Frith, Christopher; Frith, Uta
2007-01-01
We review a diversity of studies of human social interaction and highlight the importance of social signals. We also discuss recent findings from social cognitive neuroscience that explore the brain basis of the capacity for processing social signals. These signals enable us to learn about...
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Multitasking for flows about multiple body configurations using the chimera grid scheme
Dougherty, F. C.; Morgan, R. L.
1987-01-01
The multitasking of a finite-difference scheme using multiple overset meshes is described. In this chimera, or multiple overset mesh approach, a multiple body configuration is mapped using a major grid about the main component of the configuration, with minor overset meshes used to map each additional component. This type of code is well suited to multitasking. Both steady and unsteady two dimensional computations are run on parallel processors on a CRAY-X/MP 48, usually with one mesh per processor. Flow field results are compared with single processor results to demonstrate the feasibility of running multiple mesh codes on parallel processors and to show the increase in efficiency.
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Speech-Based Robotic Control for Dismounted Soldiers: Evaluation of Visual Display Options
2014-05-01
expected to reduce mission completion times by enhancing the operator’s ability to multitask . For example, the operator could drive the SUGV with the...Individual Differences in Human-Robot Interaction in a Military Multitasking Environment. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making 2011, 5...Bugajska, M.; Schultz, A.; Trafton, J.; Blisard, S.; Skubic, M. Finding the FOO: A Pilot Study for a Multimodal Interface; ADA434963; U.S. Navy Center
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An operating environment with multitasking capabilities for radiochemistry autosynthesizers
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Feliu, A.L.
1991-01-01
The proliferation of positron emission tomography centers during recent years has stimulated intensive efforts to develop reliable and efficient devices for automating radiopharmaceutical syntheses. In order to expedite the design and operation of fully automated synthesizers, a graphical process control scheme featuring a simple method for the end-user to reconfigure the software was recently suggested. The flexibility and user-friendliness of this scheme were demonstrated with an application package to operate a commercially-available autosynthesizer. This methodology is now extended to include multitasking capabilities. To evaluate the multitasking concept, the demonstration program AUTOMATE was created to simulate independent operation of four autosynthesizers. With AUTOMATE, a chemist could easily supervise one routine synthesis whole ''warming up'' another synthesizer or conducting a research experiment. The graphical approach provides the simplicity of manual control, instant status information, and a choice between ''hands-on'' or unattended operations. The potential utility of AUTOMATE in the laboratory is discussed. (author)
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Jie, Biao; Cheng, Bo
2014-01-01
Accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as well as its pro-dromal stage (i.e., mild cognitive impairment, MCI), is very important for possible delay and early treatment of the disease. Recently, multi-modality methods have been used for fusing information from multiple different and complementary imaging and non-imaging modalities. Although there are a number of existing multi-modality methods, few of them have addressed the problem of joint identification of disease-related brain regions from multi-modality data for classification. In this paper, we proposed a manifold regularized multi-task learning framework to jointly select features from multi-modality data. Specifically, we formulate the multi-modality classification as a multi-task learning framework, where each task focuses on the classification based on each modality. In order to capture the intrinsic relatedness among multiple tasks (i.e., modalities), we adopted a group sparsity regularizer, which ensures only a small number of features to be selected jointly. In addition, we introduced a new manifold based Laplacian regularization term to preserve the geometric distribution of original data from each task, which can lead to the selection of more discriminative features. Furthermore, we extend our method to the semi-supervised setting, which is very important since the acquisition of a large set of labeled data (i.e., diagnosis of disease) is usually expensive and time-consuming, while the collection of unlabeled data is relatively much easier. To validate our method, we have performed extensive evaluations on the baseline Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) data of Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:24505676
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Educational Cognitive Technologies as Human Adaptation Strategies
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Marja Nesterova
2017-07-01
Full Text Available Modernity is characterized by profound changes in all spheres of human life caused by the global transformations on macro and micro levels of social reality. These changes allow us to speak about the present as the era of civilizational transition in the mode of uncertainty. Therefore, this situation demands qualitative transformations of human adaptive strategies and educational technologies accordingly. The dominant role in the dynamics of pedagogics and andragogy’s landscape belongs to transformative learning. The transformative learning theory is considered as the relevant approach to education of the individual, which is able to become an autonomous communicative actor of the social complexity. The article considers the cognitive technologies of social cohesion development and perspectives of their implementation in the educational dimension. In addition to implementing the principles of inclusion, equity in education, an important factor for improving social cohesion, stability and unity of society is the development of cognitive educational technologies. The key factors and foundations for the cognitive educational technologies are transversal competencies. They create the conditions for civil, public dialogue, non-violent type of communication. These “21st century skills” are extremely important for better human adaptation. One of the aspects and roots of social adaptation is social cohesion. Mutual determinations and connections between social cohesion development and transversal competences have been shown. The perspective direction of further researches is to find a methodological base for the further development of cognitive education technologies and platform for realization of innovative services for educational programs. New educational paradigm offers the concept of human adaptation as cognitive effectiveness and how to reach it through educational technologies. The article includes topics of creative thinking, teambuilding
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Algorithm Design of CPCI Backboard's Interrupts Management Based on VxWorks' Multi-Tasks
Cheng, Jingyuan; An, Qi; Yang, Junfeng
2006-09-01
This paper begins with a brief introduction of the embedded real-time operating system VxWorks and CompactPCI standard, then gives the programming interfaces of Peripheral Controller Interface (PCI) configuring, interrupts handling and multi-tasks programming interface under VxWorks, and then emphasis is placed on the software frameworks of CPCI interrupt management based on multi-tasks. This method is sound in design and easy to adapt, ensures that all possible interrupts are handled in time, which makes it suitable for data acquisition systems with multi-channels, a high data rate, and hard real-time high energy physics.
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New thinking: the evolution of human cognition
Heyes, Cecilia
2012-01-01
Humans are animals that specialize in thinking and knowing, and our extraordinary cognitive abilities have transformed every aspect of our lives. In contrast to our chimpanzee cousins and Stone Age ancestors, we are complex political, economic, scientific and artistic creatures, living in a vast range of habitats, many of which are our own creation. Research on the evolution of human cognition asks what types of thinking make us such peculiar animals, and how they have been generated by evolu...
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Bloomberg, J. J.; Peters, B. T.; Mulavara, A. P.; Brady, R. A.; Batson, C. D.; Miller, C. A.; Ploutz-Snyder, R. J.; Guined, J. R.; Buxton, R. E.; Cohen, H. S.
2011-01-01
During exploration-class missions, sensorimotor disturbances may lead to disruption in the ability to ambulate and perform functional tasks during the initial introduction to a novel gravitational environment following a landing on a planetary surface. The overall goal of our current project is to develop a sensorimotor adaptability training program to facilitate rapid adaptation to these environments. We have developed a unique training system comprised of a treadmill placed on a motion-base facing a virtual visual scene. It provides an unstable walking surface combined with incongruent visual flow designed to enhance sensorimotor adaptability. Greater metabolic cost incurred during balance instability means more physical work is required during adaptation to new environments possibly affecting crewmembers? ability to perform mission critical tasks during early surface operations on planetary expeditions. The goal of this study was to characterize adaptation to a discordant sensory challenge across a number of performance modalities including locomotor stability, multi-tasking ability and metabolic cost. METHODS: Subjects (n=15) walked (4.0 km/h) on a treadmill for an 8 -minute baseline walking period followed by 20-minutes of walking (4.0 km/h) with support surface motion (0.3 Hz, sinusoidal lateral motion, peak amplitude 25.4 cm) provided by the treadmill/motion-base system. Stride frequency and auditory reaction time were collected as measures of locomotor stability and multi-tasking ability, respectively. Metabolic data (VO2) were collected via a portable metabolic gas analysis system. RESULTS: At the onset of lateral support surface motion, subj ects walking on our treadmill showed an increase in stride frequency and auditory reaction time indicating initial balance and multi-tasking disturbances. During the 20-minute adaptation period, balance control and multi-tasking performance improved. Similarly, throughout the 20-minute adaptation period, VO2 gradually
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What Happens When We Switch Tasks : Pupil Dilation in Multitasking
Katidioti, Ioanna; Borst, Jelmer P.; Taatgen, Niels A.
2014-01-01
Interruption studies typically focus on external interruptions, even though self-interruptions occur at least as often in real work environments. In this article, we therefore contrast external interruptions with self-interruptions. Three multitasking experiments were conducted, in which we examined
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Driving and Multitasking: the Good, the Bad, and the Dangerous.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Menno Nijboer
2016-11-01
Full Text Available Previous research has shown that multitasking can have a positive or a negative influence on driving performance. The aim of this study was to determine how the interaction between driving circumstances and cognitive requirements of secondary tasks affect a driver’s ability to control a car. We created a driving simulator paradigm where participants had to perform one of two scenarios: one with no traffic in the driver’s lane, and one with substantial traffic in both lanes, some of which had to be overtaken. Four different secondary task conditions were combined with these driving scenarios. In both driving scenarios, using a tablet resulted in the worst, most dangerous, performance, while passively listening to the radio or answering questions for a radio quiz led to the best driving performance. Interestingly, driving as a single task did not produce better performance than driving in combination with one of the radio tasks, and even tended to be slightly worse. These results suggest that drivers switch to internally focused secondary tasks when nothing else is available during monotonous or repetitive driving environments. This mind wandering potentially has a stronger interference effect with driving than non-visual secondary tasks.
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Driving and Multitasking: The Good, the Bad, and the Dangerous.
Nijboer, Menno; Borst, Jelmer P; van Rijn, Hedderik; Taatgen, Niels A
2016-01-01
Previous research has shown that multitasking can have a positive or a negative influence on driving performance. The aim of this study was to determine how the interaction between driving circumstances and cognitive requirements of secondary tasks affect a driver's ability to control a car. We created a driving simulator paradigm where participants had to perform one of two scenarios: one with no traffic in the driver's lane, and one with substantial traffic in both lanes, some of which had to be overtaken. Four different secondary task conditions were combined with these driving scenarios. In both driving scenarios, using a tablet resulted in the worst, most dangerous, performance, while passively listening to the radio or answering questions for a radio quiz led to the best driving performance. Interestingly, driving as a single task did not produce better performance than driving in combination with one of the radio tasks, and even tended to be slightly worse. These results suggest that drivers switch to internally focused secondary tasks when nothing else is available during monotonous or repetitive driving environments. This mind wandering potentially has a stronger interference effect with driving than non-visual secondary tasks.
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Bongers, Pim J; Diederick van Hove, P; Stassen, Laurents P S; Dankelman, Jenny; Schreuder, Henk W R
2015-01-01
During laparoscopic surgery distractions often occur and multitasking between surgery and other tasks, such as technical equipment handling, is a necessary competence. In psychological research, reduction of adverse effects of distraction is demonstrated when specifically multitasking is trained. The aim of this study was to examine whether multitasking and more specifically task-switching can be trained in a virtual-reality (VR) laparoscopic skills simulator. After randomization, the control group trained separately with an insufflator simulation module and a laparoscopic skills exercise module on a VR simulator. In the intervention group, insufflator module and VR skills exercises were combined to develop a new integrated training in which multitasking was a required competence. At random moments, problems with the insufflator appeared and forced the trainee to multitask. During several repetitions of a different multitask VR skills exercise as posttest, performance parameters (laparoscopy time, insufflator time, and errors) were measured and compared between both the groups as well with a pretest exercise to establish the learning effect. A face-validity questionnaire was filled afterward. University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands. Medical and PhD students (n = 42) from University Medical Centre Utrecht, without previous experience in laparoscopic simulation, were randomly assigned to either intervention (n = 21) or control group (n = 21). All participants performed better in the posttest exercises without distraction of the insufflator compared with the exercises in which multitasking was necessary to solve the insufflator problems. After training, the intervention group was significantly quicker in solving the insufflator problems (mean = 1.60Log(s) vs 1.70Log(s), p = 0.02). No significant differences between both the groups were seen in laparoscopy time and errors. Multitasking has negative effects on the laparoscopic performance. This study suggests
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Support for Multitasking and background Awareness Using Interactive Peripheral Displays
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
MacIntyre, Blair; Mynatt, Elizabeth Diane; Voida, Stephen
2001-01-01
n this paper, we describe Kimura, an augmented office environment to support common multitasking practices. Previous systems, such as Rooms, limit users by constraining the interaction to the desktop monitor. In Kimura, we leverage interactive projected peripheral displays to support the perusal...
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Investigating the prevalence and predictors of media multitasking across countries
Voorveld, H.A.M.; Segijn, C.M.; Ketelaar, P.E.; Smit, E.G.
2014-01-01
This study provides insight into the prevalence and predictors of different forms of media multitasking across different countries. Results of a survey of 5,973 participants from six countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and France) demonstrated that
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Cognitive maps, spatial abilities and human wayfinding.
Golledge, Reginald G.; Jacobson, R. Daniel; Kitchin, Rob; Blades, Mark
2000-01-01
In this paper we discuss the relations between cognitive maps, spatial abilities and human wayfinding, particularly in the context of traveling without the use of sight. Initially we discuss the nature of cognitive maps and the process of cognitive mapping as mechanisms for developing person to object (egocentric) and object to object (allocentric) internal representations. Imperfections in encoding either relations can introduce imperfections in representations of environments in memory. Thi...
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Multi-task learning for cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction: an in-silico study.
Liu, Qi; Xu, Qian; Zheng, Vincent W; Xue, Hong; Cao, Zhiwei; Yang, Qiang
2010-04-10
Gene silencing using exogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) is now a widespread molecular tool for gene functional study and new-drug target identification. The key mechanism in this technique is to design efficient siRNAs that incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISC) to bind and interact with the mRNA targets to repress their translations to proteins. Although considerable progress has been made in the computational analysis of siRNA binding efficacy, few joint analysis of different RNAi experiments conducted under different experimental scenarios has been done in research so far, while the joint analysis is an important issue in cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction. A collective analysis of RNAi mechanisms for different datasets and experimental conditions can often provide new clues on the design of potent siRNAs. An elegant multi-task learning paradigm for cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction is proposed. Experimental studies were performed on a large dataset of siRNA sequences which encompass several RNAi experiments recently conducted by different research groups. By using our multi-task learning method, the synergy among different experiments is exploited and an efficient multi-task predictor for siRNA efficacy prediction is obtained. The 19 most popular biological features for siRNA according to their jointly importance in multi-task learning were ranked. Furthermore, the hypothesis is validated out that the siRNA binding efficacy on different messenger RNAs(mRNAs) have different conditional distribution, thus the multi-task learning can be conducted by viewing tasks at an "mRNA"-level rather than at the "experiment"-level. Such distribution diversity derived from siRNAs bound to different mRNAs help indicate that the properties of target mRNA have important implications on the siRNA binding efficacy. The knowledge gained from our study provides useful insights on how to analyze various cross-platform RNAi data for uncovering
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Multi-task learning for cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction: an in-silico study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Xue Hong
2010-04-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene silencing using exogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs is now a widespread molecular tool for gene functional study and new-drug target identification. The key mechanism in this technique is to design efficient siRNAs that incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complexes (RISC to bind and interact with the mRNA targets to repress their translations to proteins. Although considerable progress has been made in the computational analysis of siRNA binding efficacy, few joint analysis of different RNAi experiments conducted under different experimental scenarios has been done in research so far, while the joint analysis is an important issue in cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction. A collective analysis of RNAi mechanisms for different datasets and experimental conditions can often provide new clues on the design of potent siRNAs. Results An elegant multi-task learning paradigm for cross-platform siRNA efficacy prediction is proposed. Experimental studies were performed on a large dataset of siRNA sequences which encompass several RNAi experiments recently conducted by different research groups. By using our multi-task learning method, the synergy among different experiments is exploited and an efficient multi-task predictor for siRNA efficacy prediction is obtained. The 19 most popular biological features for siRNA according to their jointly importance in multi-task learning were ranked. Furthermore, the hypothesis is validated out that the siRNA binding efficacy on different messenger RNAs(mRNAs have different conditional distribution, thus the multi-task learning can be conducted by viewing tasks at an "mRNA"-level rather than at the "experiment"-level. Such distribution diversity derived from siRNAs bound to different mRNAs help indicate that the properties of target mRNA have important implications on the siRNA binding efficacy. Conclusions The knowledge gained from our study provides useful insights on how to
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Robust visual tracking via multi-task sparse learning
Zhang, Tianzhu
2012-06-01
In this paper, we formulate object tracking in a particle filter framework as a multi-task sparse learning problem, which we denote as Multi-Task Tracking (MTT). Since we model particles as linear combinations of dictionary templates that are updated dynamically, learning the representation of each particle is considered a single task in MTT. By employing popular sparsity-inducing p, q mixed norms (p D; 1), we regularize the representation problem to enforce joint sparsity and learn the particle representations together. As compared to previous methods that handle particles independently, our results demonstrate that mining the interdependencies between particles improves tracking performance and overall computational complexity. Interestingly, we show that the popular L 1 tracker [15] is a special case of our MTT formulation (denoted as the L 11 tracker) when p q 1. The learning problem can be efficiently solved using an Accelerated Proximal Gradient (APG) method that yields a sequence of closed form updates. As such, MTT is computationally attractive. We test our proposed approach on challenging sequences involving heavy occlusion, drastic illumination changes, and large pose variations. Experimental results show that MTT methods consistently outperform state-of-the-art trackers. © 2012 IEEE.
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Modeling cognition and disease using human glial chimeric mice
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldman, Steven A.; Nedergaard, Maiken; Windrem, Martha S.
2015-01-01
, oligodendrocytes as well. As a result, the recipient brains may become inexorably humanized with regards to their resident glial populations, yielding human glial chimeric mouse brains. These brains provide us a fundamentally new tool by which to assess the species-specific attributes of glia in modulating human...... for studying the human-specific contributions of glia to psychopathology, as well as to higher cognition. As such, the assessment of human glial chimeric mice may provide us new insight into the species-specific contributions of glia to human cognitive evolution, as well as to the pathogenesis of human...
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Cognitive Emotional Regulation Model in Human-Robot Interaction
Liu, Xin; Xie, Lun; Liu, Anqi; Li, Dan
2015-01-01
This paper integrated Gross cognitive process into the HMM (hidden Markov model) emotional regulation method and implemented human-robot emotional interaction with facial expressions and behaviors. Here, energy was the psychological driving force of emotional transition in the cognitive emotional model. The input facial expression was translated into external energy by expression-emotion mapping. Robot’s next emotional state was determined by the cognitive energy (the stimulus after cognition...
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Molecular networks and the evolution of human cognitive specializations.
Fontenot, Miles; Konopka, Genevieve
2014-12-01
Inroads into elucidating the origins of human cognitive specializations have taken many forms, including genetic, genomic, anatomical, and behavioral assays that typically compare humans to non-human primates. While the integration of all of these approaches is essential for ultimately understanding human cognition, here, we review the usefulness of coexpression network analysis for specifically addressing this question. An increasing number of studies have incorporated coexpression networks into brain expression studies comparing species, disease versus control tissue, brain regions, or developmental time periods. A clearer picture has emerged of the key genes driving brain evolution, as well as the developmental and regional contributions of gene expression patterns important for normal brain development and those misregulated in cognitive diseases. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Westbrook, Johanna I; Raban, Magdalena Z; Walter, Scott R; Douglas, Heather
2018-01-09
Interruptions and multitasking have been demonstrated in experimental studies to reduce individuals' task performance. These behaviours are frequently used by clinicians in high-workload, dynamic clinical environments, yet their effects have rarely been studied. To assess the relative contributions of interruptions and multitasking by emergency physicians to prescribing errors. 36 emergency physicians were shadowed over 120 hours. All tasks, interruptions and instances of multitasking were recorded. Physicians' working memory capacity (WMC) and preference for multitasking were assessed using the Operation Span Task (OSPAN) and Inventory of Polychronic Values. Following observation, physicians were asked about their sleep in the previous 24 hours. Prescribing errors were used as a measure of task performance. We performed multivariate analysis of prescribing error rates to determine associations with interruptions and multitasking, also considering physician seniority, age, psychometric measures, workload and sleep. Physicians experienced 7.9 interruptions/hour. 28 clinicians were observed prescribing 239 medication orders which contained 208 prescribing errors. While prescribing, clinicians were interrupted 9.4 times/hour. Error rates increased significantly if physicians were interrupted (rate ratio (RR) 2.82; 95% CI 1.23 to 6.49) or multitasked (RR 1.86; 95% CI 1.35 to 2.56) while prescribing. Having below-average sleep showed a >15-fold increase in clinical error rate (RR 16.44; 95% CI 4.84 to 55.81). WMC was protective against errors; for every 10-point increase on the 75-point OSPAN, a 19% decrease in prescribing errors was observed. There was no effect of polychronicity, workload, physician gender or above-average sleep on error rates. Interruptions, multitasking and poor sleep were associated with significantly increased rates of prescribing errors among emergency physicians. WMC mitigated the negative influence of these factors to an extent. These
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Robust visual tracking via structured multi-task sparse learning
Zhang, Tianzhu
2012-11-09
In this paper, we formulate object tracking in a particle filter framework as a structured multi-task sparse learning problem, which we denote as Structured Multi-Task Tracking (S-MTT). Since we model particles as linear combinations of dictionary templates that are updated dynamically, learning the representation of each particle is considered a single task in Multi-Task Tracking (MTT). By employing popular sparsity-inducing lp,q mixed norms (specifically p∈2,∞ and q=1), we regularize the representation problem to enforce joint sparsity and learn the particle representations together. As compared to previous methods that handle particles independently, our results demonstrate that mining the interdependencies between particles improves tracking performance and overall computational complexity. Interestingly, we show that the popular L1 tracker (Mei and Ling, IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intel 33(11):2259-2272, 2011) is a special case of our MTT formulation (denoted as the L11 tracker) when p=q=1. Under the MTT framework, some of the tasks (particle representations) are often more closely related and more likely to share common relevant covariates than other tasks. Therefore, we extend the MTT framework to take into account pairwise structural correlations between particles (e.g. spatial smoothness of representation) and denote the novel framework as S-MTT. The problem of learning the regularized sparse representation in MTT and S-MTT can be solved efficiently using an Accelerated Proximal Gradient (APG) method that yields a sequence of closed form updates. As such, S-MTT and MTT are computationally attractive. We test our proposed approach on challenging sequences involving heavy occlusion, drastic illumination changes, and large pose variations. Experimental results show that S-MTT is much better than MTT, and both methods consistently outperform state-of-the-art trackers. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.
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He, Dan; Kuhn, David; Parida, Laxmi
2016-06-15
Given a set of biallelic molecular markers, such as SNPs, with genotype values encoded numerically on a collection of plant, animal or human samples, the goal of genetic trait prediction is to predict the quantitative trait values by simultaneously modeling all marker effects. Genetic trait prediction is usually represented as linear regression models. In many cases, for the same set of samples and markers, multiple traits are observed. Some of these traits might be correlated with each other. Therefore, modeling all the multiple traits together may improve the prediction accuracy. In this work, we view the multitrait prediction problem from a machine learning angle: as either a multitask learning problem or a multiple output regression problem, depending on whether different traits share the same genotype matrix or not. We then adapted multitask learning algorithms and multiple output regression algorithms to solve the multitrait prediction problem. We proposed a few strategies to improve the least square error of the prediction from these algorithms. Our experiments show that modeling multiple traits together could improve the prediction accuracy for correlated traits. The programs we used are either public or directly from the referred authors, such as MALSAR (http://www.public.asu.edu/~jye02/Software/MALSAR/) package. The Avocado data set has not been published yet and is available upon request. dhe@us.ibm.com. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.
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Hubungan Multitasking Teknologi Informasi Terhadap Produktivitas Kerja (Studi Kasus: Mahasiswa ITS
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Galang Arga Marendha
2017-01-01
Full Text Available Pada era globalisasi saat ini cara hidup individu umumnya para remaja dan dewasa yang selalu bergerak cepat dalam mendapatkan informasi terbaru agar tidak tertinggal dari yang lain memungkinkan melakukan pekerjaan secara bersamaan. Mayoritas dari individu-individu menganggap melakukan banyak pekerjaan sekaligus dapat digunakan sebagai solusi yang tepat. Dengan kemajuan teknologi saat ini dan perilaku seperti itu, banyak sekali contoh pekerjaan yang dilakukan secara bersama-sama seperti halnya mengirim e-mail saat sedang menonton televisi maupun membuat laporan saat rapat. Teknologi informasi tersebut merupakan komponen yang mendukung peningkatan produktivitas kerja. Dalam hasil dari penelitian ini didapatkan perbandingan antara skenario 1 dengan 2 dan skenario 1 dengan 3 berpengaruh terhadap produktivitas kerja karena adanya penambahan tugas me-resume video dan mengerjakan 10 soal matematika, sedangkan perbandingan skenario 2 dengan skenario 3 didapatkan dari hasil wawancara terhadap responden bahwa tidak adanya pengaruh pada produktivitas kerja dikarenakan penambahan tugas me-resume video skenario 2 lebih sulit dari tugas me-resume video skenario 3 serta penambahan 10 soal matematika tidak menjadi masalah dalam pengerjaan skenario 3. Dalam hasil hubungan multitasking teknologi informasi skenario 1 didapatkan hasil 33,1% terhadap produktivitas kerja, kemudian hubungan multitasking teknologi informasi skenario 2 didapatkan hasil 23,6% terhadap produktivitas kerja, dan hubungan multitasking teknologi informasi skenario 3 didapatkan hasil 24,8% terhadap produktivitas kerja. Sehingga dari pengerjaan skenario 2 dan 3 produktivitas kerja responden menurun dikarenakan adanya tambahan kuantitas pengerjaan.
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Bongers, P.J.; van Hove, P.D.; Stassen, L.P.S.; Schreuder, HWR; Dankelman, J.
Objective During laparoscopic surgery distractions often occur and multitasking between surgery and other tasks, such as technical equipment handling, is a necessary competence. In psychological research, reduction of adverse effects of distraction is demonstrated when specifically multitasking is
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An operating environment with multitasking capabilities for radiochemistry autosynthesizers
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Feliu, A.L.
1990-01-01
AUTOMATE is an operating environment which has been developed for control of commercially available autosynthesizers of radiopharmaceuticals. The software is a user-friendly multitasking system with graphical display, compatible with standard 80x86 personal computers running MS-DOS. Up to four autosynthesizers may be controlled with the software simultaneously. Applications for both routine use and research are discussed
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An Investigation of Factors Affecting Multi-Task Performance in an Immersive Environment
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Branscome, Teresa A; Grynovicki, Jock O
2007-01-01
This report presents the results of a study included in a series of investigations designed to increase fundamental knowledge and understanding of the factors affecting multi-task performance in a military environment...
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Cognitive modelling: a basic complement of human reliability analysis
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Bersini, U.; Cacciabue, P.C.; Mancini, G.
1988-01-01
In this paper the issues identified in modelling humans and machines are discussed in the perspective of the consideration of human errors managing complex plants during incidental as well as normal conditions. The dichotomy between the use of a cognitive versus a behaviouristic model approach is discussed and the complementarity aspects rather than the differences of the two methods are identified. A cognitive model based on a hierarchical goal-oriented approach and driven by fuzzy logic methodology is presented as the counterpart to the 'classical' THERP methodology for studying human errors. Such a cognitive model is discussed at length and its fundamental components, i.e. the High Level Decision Making and the Low Level Decision Making models, are reviewed. Finally, the inadequacy of the 'classical' THERP methodology to deal with cognitive errors is discussed on the basis of a simple test case. For the same case the cognitive model is then applied showing the flexibility and adequacy of the model to dynamic configuration with time-dependent failures of components and with consequent need for changing of strategy during the transient itself. (author)
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Human cognitive aging: corriger la fortune?
Lindenberger, Ulman
2014-10-31
Human cognitive aging differs between and is malleable within individuals. In the absence of a strong genetic program, it is open to a host of hazards, such as vascular conditions, metabolic syndrome, and chronic stress, but also open to protective and enhancing factors, such as experience-dependent cognitive plasticity. Longitudinal studies suggest that leading an intellectually challenging, physically active, and socially engaged life may mitigate losses and consolidate gains. Interventions help to identify contexts and mechanisms of successful cognitive aging and give science and society a hint about what would be possible if conditions were different. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Experiences and results multitasking a hydrodynamics code on global and local memory machines
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mandell, D.
1987-01-01
A one-dimensional, time-dependent Lagrangian hydrodynamics code using a Godunov solution method has been multimasked for the Cray X-MP/48, the Intel iPSC hypercube, the Alliant FX series and the IBM RP3 computers. Actual multitasking results have been obtained for the Cray, Intel and Alliant computers and simulated results were obtained for the Cray and RP3 machines. The differences in the methods required to multitask on each of the machines is discussed. Results are presented for a sample problem involving a shock wave moving down a channel. Comparisons are made between theoretical speedups, predicted by Amdahl's law, and the actual speedups obtained. The problems of debugging on the different machines are also described
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FMRI to probe sex-related differences in brain function with multitasking.
Tschernegg, Melanie; Neuper, Christa; Schmidt, Reinhold; Wood, Guilherme; Kronbichler, Martin; Fazekas, Franz; Enzinger, Christian; Koini, Marisa
2017-01-01
Although established as a general notion in society, there is no solid scientific foundation for the existence of sex-differences in multitasking. Reaction time and accuracy in dual task conditions have an inverse relationship relative to single task, independently from sex. While a more disseminated network, parallel to decreasing accuracy and reaction time has been demonstrated in dual task fMRI studies, little is known so far whether there exist respective sex-related differences in activation. We subjected 20 women (mean age = 25.45; SD = 5.23) and 20 men (mean age = 27.55; SD = 4.00) to a combined verbal and spatial fMRI paradigm at 3.0T to assess sex-related skills, based on the assumption that generally women better perform in verbal tasks while men do better in spatial tasks. We also obtained behavioral tests for verbal and spatial intelligence, attention, executive functions, and working memory. No differences between women and men were observed in behavioral measures of dual-tasking or cognitive performance. Generally, brain activation increased with higher task load, mainly in the bilateral inferior and prefrontal gyri, the anterior cingulum, thalamus, putamen and occipital areas. Comparing sexes, women showed increased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus in the verbal dual-task while men demonstrated increased activation in the precuneus and adjacent visual areas in the spatial task. Against the background of equal cognitive and behavioral dual-task performance in both sexes, we provide first evidence for sex-related activation differences in functional networks for verbal and spatial dual-tasking.
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FMRI to probe sex-related differences in brain function with multitasking.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Melanie Tschernegg
Full Text Available Although established as a general notion in society, there is no solid scientific foundation for the existence of sex-differences in multitasking. Reaction time and accuracy in dual task conditions have an inverse relationship relative to single task, independently from sex. While a more disseminated network, parallel to decreasing accuracy and reaction time has been demonstrated in dual task fMRI studies, little is known so far whether there exist respective sex-related differences in activation.We subjected 20 women (mean age = 25.45; SD = 5.23 and 20 men (mean age = 27.55; SD = 4.00 to a combined verbal and spatial fMRI paradigm at 3.0T to assess sex-related skills, based on the assumption that generally women better perform in verbal tasks while men do better in spatial tasks. We also obtained behavioral tests for verbal and spatial intelligence, attention, executive functions, and working memory.No differences between women and men were observed in behavioral measures of dual-tasking or cognitive performance. Generally, brain activation increased with higher task load, mainly in the bilateral inferior and prefrontal gyri, the anterior cingulum, thalamus, putamen and occipital areas. Comparing sexes, women showed increased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus in the verbal dual-task while men demonstrated increased activation in the precuneus and adjacent visual areas in the spatial task.Against the background of equal cognitive and behavioral dual-task performance in both sexes, we provide first evidence for sex-related activation differences in functional networks for verbal and spatial dual-tasking.
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User assistance for multitasking with interruptions on a mobile device
Nagata, S.F.
2006-01-01
Issues users have with use of the web on a mobile device can be attributed to difficulties with the mobile interface. A major challenge that we address is improving the user experience for handling of interruptions and multitasking when using the web in a mobile context. The usability issues with a
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User Assistance for Multitasking with Interruptions on a Mobile Device
Nagata, S.F.
2006-01-01
Issues users have with use of the web on a mobile device can be attributed to difficulties with the mobile interface. A major challenge that we address is improving the user experience for handling of interruptions and multitasking when using the web in a mobile context. The usability issues with a
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The human socio-cognitive niche and its evolutionary origins
Whiten, Andrew; Erdal, David
2012-01-01
Hominin evolution took a remarkable pathway, as the foraging strategy extended to large mammalian prey already hunted by a guild of specialist carnivores. How was this possible for a moderately sized ape lacking the formidable anatomical adaptations of these competing ‘professional hunters’? The long-standing answer that this was achieved through the elaboration of a new ‘cognitive niche’ reliant on intelligence and technology is compelling, yet insufficient. Here we present evidence from a diversity of sources supporting the hypothesis that a fuller answer lies in the evolution of a new socio-cognitive niche, the principal components of which include forms of cooperation, egalitarianism, mindreading (also known as ‘theory of mind’), language and cultural transmission, that go far beyond the most comparable phenomena in other primates. This cognitive and behavioural complex allows a human hunter–gatherer band to function as a unique and highly competitive predatory organism. Each of these core components of the socio-cognitive niche is distinctive to humans, but primate research has increasingly identified related capacities that permit inferences about significant ancestral cognitive foundations to the five pillars of the human social cognitive niche listed earlier. The principal focus of the present study was to review and integrate this range of recent comparative discoveries. PMID:22734055
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Modularity, comparative cognition and human uniqueness
Shettleworth, Sara J.
2012-01-01
Darwin's claim ‘that the difference in mind between man and the higher animals … is certainly one of degree and not of kind’ is at the core of the comparative study of cognition. Recent research provides unprecedented support for Darwin's claim as well as new reasons to question it, stimulating new theories of human cognitive uniqueness. This article compares and evaluates approaches to such theories. Some prominent theories propose sweeping domain-general characterizations of the difference ...
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Culture-sensitive neural substrates of human cognition: a transcultural neuroimaging approach.
Han, Shihui; Northoff, Georg
2008-08-01
Our brains and minds are shaped by our experiences, which mainly occur in the context of the culture in which we develop and live. Although psychologists have provided abundant evidence for diversity of human cognition and behaviour across cultures, the question of whether the neural correlates of human cognition are also culture-dependent is often not considered by neuroscientists. However, recent transcultural neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that one's cultural background can influence the neural activity that underlies both high- and low-level cognitive functions. The findings provide a novel approach by which to distinguish culture-sensitive from culture-invariant neural mechanisms of human cognition.
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Steinborn, Michael B.; Huestegge, Lynn
2017-01-01
This is a pilot study that examined the effect of cell-phone conversation on cognition using a continuous multitasking paradigm. Current theorizing argues that phone conversation affects behavior (e.g., driving) by interfering at a level of cognitive processes (not peripheral activity) and by implying an attentional-failure account. Within the framework of an intermittent spare–utilized capacity threading model, we examined the effect of aspects of (secondary-task) phone conversation on (primary-task) continuous arithmetic performance, asking whether phone use makes components of automatic and controlled information-processing (i.e., easy vs. hard mental arithmetic) run more slowly, or alternatively, makes processing run less reliably albeit with the same processing speed. The results can be summarized as follows: While neither expecting a text message nor expecting an impending phone call had any detrimental effects on performance, active phone conversation was clearly detrimental to primary-task performance. Crucially, the decrement imposed by secondary-task (conversation) was not due to a constant slowdown but is better be characterized by an occasional breakdown of information processing, which differentially affected automatic and controlled components of primary-task processing. In conclusion, these findings support the notion that phone conversation makes individuals not constantly slower but more vulnerable to commit attention failure, and in this way, hampers stability of (primary-task) information processing. PMID:28634458
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Michael B. Steinborn
2017-06-01
Full Text Available This is a pilot study that examined the effect of cell-phone conversation on cognition using a continuous multitasking paradigm. Current theorizing argues that phone conversation affects behavior (e.g., driving by interfering at a level of cognitive processes (not peripheral activity and by implying an attentional-failure account. Within the framework of an intermittent spare–utilized capacity threading model, we examined the effect of aspects of (secondary-task phone conversation on (primary-task continuous arithmetic performance, asking whether phone use makes components of automatic and controlled information-processing (i.e., easy vs. hard mental arithmetic run more slowly, or alternatively, makes processing run less reliably albeit with the same processing speed. The results can be summarized as follows: While neither expecting a text message nor expecting an impending phone call had any detrimental effects on performance, active phone conversation was clearly detrimental to primary-task performance. Crucially, the decrement imposed by secondary-task (conversation was not due to a constant slowdown but is better be characterized by an occasional breakdown of information processing, which differentially affected automatic and controlled components of primary-task processing. In conclusion, these findings support the notion that phone conversation makes individuals not constantly slower but more vulnerable to commit attention failure, and in this way, hampers stability of (primary-task information processing.
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Steinborn, Michael B; Huestegge, Lynn
2017-01-01
This is a pilot study that examined the effect of cell-phone conversation on cognition using a continuous multitasking paradigm. Current theorizing argues that phone conversation affects behavior (e.g., driving) by interfering at a level of cognitive processes (not peripheral activity) and by implying an attentional-failure account. Within the framework of an intermittent spare-utilized capacity threading model, we examined the effect of aspects of (secondary-task) phone conversation on (primary-task) continuous arithmetic performance, asking whether phone use makes components of automatic and controlled information-processing (i.e., easy vs. hard mental arithmetic) run more slowly, or alternatively, makes processing run less reliably albeit with the same processing speed. The results can be summarized as follows: While neither expecting a text message nor expecting an impending phone call had any detrimental effects on performance, active phone conversation was clearly detrimental to primary-task performance. Crucially, the decrement imposed by secondary-task (conversation) was not due to a constant slowdown but is better be characterized by an occasional breakdown of information processing, which differentially affected automatic and controlled components of primary-task processing. In conclusion, these findings support the notion that phone conversation makes individuals not constantly slower but more vulnerable to commit attention failure, and in this way, hampers stability of (primary-task) information processing.
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Default, Cognitive, and Affective Brain Networks in Human Tinnitus
2015-10-01
AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-13-1-0491 TITLE: Default, Cognitive, and Affective Brain Networks in Human Tinnitus PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Jennifer R...SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Default, Cognitive and Affective Brain Networks in Human Tinnitus 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6...Release; Distribution Unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT Tinnitus is a major health problem among those currently and formerly in military
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Examining the impact of age and multitasking on motorcycle conspicuity.
Ledbetter, Jonathan L; Boyce, Michael W; Fekety, Drea K; Sawyer, Ben; Smither, Janan A
2012-01-01
This poster presents a study to assess one's ability to detect motorcycles under different conditions of conspicuity while performing a secondary visual load task. Previous research in which participants were required to detect motorcycles revealed differences in age (young adults/older adult) as well as differences associated with motorcycle conspicuity conditions. Past research has specifically found motorcycles with headlights ON and modulating headlights (flashing) to be more conspicuous than motorcycles with headlights OFF within traffic conditions. The present study seeks to provide more information on the effects of multitasking on motorcycle conspicuity and safety. The current study seeks to determine the degree to which multitasking limits the conspicuity of a motorcycle within traffic. We expect our results will indicate main effects for distraction task, age, gender, motorcycle lighting conditions, and vehicular DRLs on one's ability to effectively detect a motorcycle. The results have implications for motorcycle safety in general and through this research, a better understanding of motorcycle conspicuity can be established so as to minimize the risk involved with motorcycle operation.
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Halvarsson, Alexandra; Franzén, Erika; Ståhle, Agneta
2015-04-01
To evaluate the effects of a balance training program including dual- and multi-task exercises on fall-related self-efficacy, fear of falling, gait and balance performance, and physical function in older adults with osteoporosis with an increased risk of falling and to evaluate whether additional physical activity would further improve the effects. Randomized controlled trial, including three groups: two intervention groups (Training, or Training+Physical activity) and one Control group, with a 12-week follow-up. Stockholm County, Sweden. Ninety-six older adults, aged 66-87, with verified osteoporosis. A specific and progressive balance training program including dual- and multi-task three times/week for 12 weeks, and physical activity for 30 minutes, three times/week. Fall-related self-efficacy (Falls Efficacy Scale-International), fear of falling (single-item question - 'In general, are you afraid of falling?'), gait speed with and without a cognitive dual-task at preferred pace and fast walking (GAITRite®), balance performance tests (one-leg stance, and modified figure of eight), and physical function (Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument). Both intervention groups significantly improved their fall-related self-efficacy as compared to the controls (p ≤ 0.034, 4 points) and improved their balance performance. Significant differences over time and between groups in favour of the intervention groups were found for walking speed with a dual-task (p=0.003), at fast walking speed (p=0.008), and for advanced lower extremity physical function (p=0.034). This balance training program, including dual- and multi-task, improves fall-related self-efficacy, gait speed, balance performance, and physical function in older adults with osteoporosis. © The Author(s) 2014.
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Reading Performances between Novices and Experts in Different Media Multitasking Environments
Lin, Lin; Robertson, Tip; Lee, Jennifer
2009-01-01
This experimental study investigated connections between subject expertise and multitasking ability among college students. One hundred thirty college students participated in the study. Participants were assessed on their subject expertise and reading tasks under three conditions: (a) reading only (silence condition), (b) reading with a video…
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Cognition beyond the brain computation, interactivity and human artifice
Cowley, Stephen J
2013-01-01
Arguing that a collective dimension has given cognitive flexibility to human intelligence, this book shows that traditional cognitive psychology underplays the role of bodies, dialogue, diagrams, tools, talk, customs, habits, computers and cultural practices.
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Psychological biases affecting human cognitive performance in dynamic operational environments
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Takano, Kenichi; Reason, J.
1999-01-01
In order to identify cognitive error mechanisms observed in the dynamic operational environment, the following materials were analyzed giving special attention to psychological biases, together with possible cognitive tasks and these location, and internal and external performance shaping factors: (a) 13 human factors analyses of US nuclear power plant accidents, (b) 14 cases of Japanese nuclear power plant incidents, and (c) 23 cases collected in simulator experiments. In the resulting analysis, the most frequently identified cognitive process associated with error productions was situation assessment, and following varieties were KB processes and response planning, all of that were the higher cognitive activities. Over 70% of human error cases, psychological bias was affecting to cognitive errors, especially those to higher cognitive activities. In addition, several error occurrence patterns, including relations between cognitive process, biases, and PSFs were identified by the multivariate analysis. According to the identified error patterns, functions that an operator support system have to equip were discussed and specified for design base considerations. (author)
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Media multitasking and the role of task relevance in background advertising processing
Smit, E.G.; Segijn, C.M.; van de Giessen, W.; Wottrich, V.M.; Vandeberg, L.; Voorveld, H.A.M.; Zabkar, V.; Eisend, M.
2017-01-01
People are increasingly combining multiple media simultaneously (e.g., checking Facebook while watching television, listening to the radio while reading). Simultaneously using multiple media with different screens, audio sources, and content is referred to as media multitasking (Chinchanachokchai et
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Human cognitive ecology: an instructive framework for comparative primatology.
Keller, Janet Dixon
2004-03-01
In this review, research on human cognitive ecology is compared with studies of the cognitive ecologies of apes-especially the common chimpanzee. The objective was to assess the feasibility of extending an activity-theory framework developed in studies of humans to an integrated approach for studying the cognitive accomplishments and skills of other primates living in the wild. Six generalizations were abstracted from studies of humans: 1) Social and material environments are arranged to facilitate production. 2) Human activity is shaped by conceptual and cultural principles that provide underlying logic for working knowledge and practice. 3) Schemata (multimodal, mental representations of procedures, strategies, and techniques) govern performance in a domain. 4) Working knowledge, skills, and social identities are co-constructed in communities of practice. 5) Rehearsal improves skilled performances, from which reputations as well as material products are derived. 6) Planning and emergence are in productive tension in human practices. These generalizations are applied to findings in the literature regarding the behavior of chimpanzees and other apes in the wild to assess the potential utility of a situated-activity approach for comparative studies of primate cognition. It is argued in the Discussion that schemata constitute a common core of higher primate intelligence. Planning, emergence, and alterations of the environment to facilitate production further characterize human and chimpanzee or gorilla behaviors to varying degrees. Less apparent in the nonhuman-primate literature is evidence of governing principles, rehearsal, and skill-based reputations or identities entailing theories of mind. Nonetheless, recent observations in the wild suggest that further research is warranted to explore the rudiments of each of these components to enhance our understanding of the ecology of primate cognition and its evolutionary history. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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Research on rapid agile metrology for manufacturing based on real-time multitask operating system
Chen, Jihong; Song, Zhen; Yang, Daoshan; Zhou, Ji; Buckley, Shawn
1996-10-01
Rapid agile metrology for manufacturing (RAMM) using multiple non-contact sensors is likely to remain a growing trend in manufacturing. High speed inspecting systems for manufacturing is characterized by multitasks implemented in parallel and real-time events which occur simultaneously. In this paper, we introduce a real-time operating system into RAMM research. A general task model of a class-based object- oriented technology is proposed. A general multitask frame of a typical RAMM system using OPNet is discussed. Finally, an application example of a machine which inspects parts held on a carrier strip is described. With RTOS and OPNet, this machine can measure two dimensions of the contacts at 300 parts/second.
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Hsu, W.Y.; Zanto, T.P.; van Schouwenburg, M.R.; Gazzaley, A.
2017-01-01
Multitasking is associated with the generation of stimulus-locked theta (4–7 Hz) oscillations arising from prefrontal cortex (PFC). Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that influences endogenous brain oscillations. Here, we investigate
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Cognitive engineering in the design of human-computer interaction and expert systems
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Salvendy, G.
1987-01-01
The 68 papers contributing to this book cover the following areas: Theories of Interface Design; Methodologies of Interface Design; Applications of Interface Design; Software Design; Human Factors in Speech Technology and Telecommunications; Design of Graphic Dialogues; Knowledge Acquisition for Knowledge-Based Systems; Design, Evaluation and Use of Expert Systems. This demonstrates the dual role of cognitive engineering. On the one hand cognitive engineering is utilized to design computing systems which are compatible with human cognition and can be effectively and be easily utilized by all individuals. On the other hand, cognitive engineering is utilized to transfer human cognition into the computer for the purpose of building expert systems. Two papers are of interest to INIS
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Humans have evolved specialized skills of social cognition: the cultural intelligence hypothesis.
Herrmann, Esther; Call, Josep; Hernàndez-Lloreda, Maráa Victoria; Hare, Brian; Tomasello, Michael
2007-09-07
Humans have many cognitive skills not possessed by their nearest primate relatives. The cultural intelligence hypothesis argues that this is mainly due to a species-specific set of social-cognitive skills, emerging early in ontogeny, for participating and exchanging knowledge in cultural groups. We tested this hypothesis by giving a comprehensive battery of cognitive tests to large numbers of two of humans' closest primate relatives, chimpanzees and orangutans, as well as to 2.5-year-old human children before literacy and schooling. Supporting the cultural intelligence hypothesis and contradicting the hypothesis that humans simply have more "general intelligence," we found that the children and chimpanzees had very similar cognitive skills for dealing with the physical world but that the children had more sophisticated cognitive skills than either of the ape species for dealing with the social world.
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Position-aware deep multi-task learning for drug-drug interaction extraction.
Zhou, Deyu; Miao, Lei; He, Yulan
2018-05-01
A drug-drug interaction (DDI) is a situation in which a drug affects the activity of another drug synergistically or antagonistically when being administered together. The information of DDIs is crucial for healthcare professionals to prevent adverse drug events. Although some known DDIs can be found in purposely-built databases such as DrugBank, most information is still buried in scientific publications. Therefore, automatically extracting DDIs from biomedical texts is sorely needed. In this paper, we propose a novel position-aware deep multi-task learning approach for extracting DDIs from biomedical texts. In particular, sentences are represented as a sequence of word embeddings and position embeddings. An attention-based bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) network is used to encode each sentence. The relative position information of words with the target drugs in text is combined with the hidden states of BiLSTM to generate the position-aware attention weights. Moreover, the tasks of predicting whether or not two drugs interact with each other and further distinguishing the types of interactions are learned jointly in multi-task learning framework. The proposed approach has been evaluated on the DDIExtraction challenge 2013 corpus and the results show that with the position-aware attention only, our proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art method by 0.99% for binary DDI classification, and with both position-aware attention and multi-task learning, our approach achieves a micro F-score of 72.99% on interaction type identification, outperforming the state-of-the-art approach by 1.51%, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Bock, Otmar; Weigelt, Cornelia; Bloomberg, Jacob J
2010-09-01
Two previous single-case studies found that the dual-task costs of manual tracking plus memory search increased during a space mission, and concluded that sensorimotor deficits during spaceflight may be related to cognitive overload. Since dual-task costs were insensitive to the difficulty of memory search, the authors argued that the overload may reflect stress-related problems of multitasking, rather than a scarcity of specific cognitive resources. Here we expand the available database and compare different types of concurrent task. Three subjects were repeatedly tested before, during, and after an extended mission on the International Space Station (ISS). They performed an unstable tracking task and four reaction-time tasks, both separately and concurrently. Inflight data could only be obtained during later parts of the mission. The tracking error increased from pre- to in flight by a factor of about 2, both under single- and dual-task conditions. The dual-task costs with a reaction-time task requiring rhythm production was 2.4 times higher than with a reaction-time task requiring visuo-spatial transformations, and 8 times higher than with a regular choice reaction-time task. Long-term sensorimotor deficits during spaceflight may reflect not only stress, but also a scarcity of resources related to complex motor programming; possibly those resources are tied up by sensorimotor adaptation to the space environment.
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No A 4 U: The Relationship between Multitasking and Academic Performance
Junco, Reynol; Cotten, Shelia R.
2012-01-01
The proliferation and ease of access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as Facebook, text messaging, and instant messaging has resulted in ICT users being presented with more real-time streaming data than ever before. Unfortunately, this has also resulted in individuals increasingly engaging in multitasking as an information…
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HD-MTL: Hierarchical Deep Multi-Task Learning for Large-Scale Visual Recognition.
Fan, Jianping; Zhao, Tianyi; Kuang, Zhenzhong; Zheng, Yu; Zhang, Ji; Yu, Jun; Peng, Jinye
2017-02-09
In this paper, a hierarchical deep multi-task learning (HD-MTL) algorithm is developed to support large-scale visual recognition (e.g., recognizing thousands or even tens of thousands of atomic object classes automatically). First, multiple sets of multi-level deep features are extracted from different layers of deep convolutional neural networks (deep CNNs), and they are used to achieve more effective accomplishment of the coarseto- fine tasks for hierarchical visual recognition. A visual tree is then learned by assigning the visually-similar atomic object classes with similar learning complexities into the same group, which can provide a good environment for determining the interrelated learning tasks automatically. By leveraging the inter-task relatedness (inter-class similarities) to learn more discriminative group-specific deep representations, our deep multi-task learning algorithm can train more discriminative node classifiers for distinguishing the visually-similar atomic object classes effectively. Our hierarchical deep multi-task learning (HD-MTL) algorithm can integrate two discriminative regularization terms to control the inter-level error propagation effectively, and it can provide an end-to-end approach for jointly learning more representative deep CNNs (for image representation) and more discriminative tree classifier (for large-scale visual recognition) and updating them simultaneously. Our incremental deep learning algorithms can effectively adapt both the deep CNNs and the tree classifier to the new training images and the new object classes. Our experimental results have demonstrated that our HD-MTL algorithm can achieve very competitive results on improving the accuracy rates for large-scale visual recognition.
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Multi-Task Vehicle Detection with Region-of-Interest Voting.
Chu, Wenqing; Liu, Yao; Shen, Chen; Cai, Deng; Hua, Xian-Sheng
2017-10-12
Vehicle detection is a challenging problem in autonomous driving systems, due to its large structural and appearance variations. In this paper, we propose a novel vehicle detection scheme based on multi-task deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) and region-of-interest (RoI) voting. In the design of CNN architecture, we enrich the supervised information with subcategory, region overlap, bounding-box regression and category of each training RoI as a multi-task learning framework. This design allows the CNN model to share visual knowledge among different vehicle attributes simultaneously, thus detection robustness can be effectively improved. In addition, most existing methods consider each RoI independently, ignoring the clues from its neighboring RoIs. In our approach, we utilize the CNN model to predict the offset direction of each RoI boundary towards the corresponding ground truth. Then each RoI can vote those suitable adjacent bounding boxes which are consistent with this additional information. The voting results are combined with the score of each RoI itself to find a more accurate location from a large number of candidates. Experimental results on the real-world computer vision benchmarks KITTI and the PASCAL2007 vehicle dataset show that our approach achieves superior performance in vehicle detection compared with other existing published works.
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Samala, Ravi K.; Chan, Heang-Ping; Hadjiiski, Lubomir M.; Helvie, Mark A.; Cha, Kenny H.; Richter, Caleb D.
2017-12-01
Transfer learning in deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) is an important step in its application to medical imaging tasks. We propose a multi-task transfer learning DCNN with the aim of translating the ‘knowledge’ learned from non-medical images to medical diagnostic tasks through supervised training and increasing the generalization capabilities of DCNNs by simultaneously learning auxiliary tasks. We studied this approach in an important application: classification of malignant and benign breast masses. With Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, digitized screen-film mammograms (SFMs) and digital mammograms (DMs) were collected from our patient files and additional SFMs were obtained from the Digital Database for Screening Mammography. The data set consisted of 2242 views with 2454 masses (1057 malignant, 1397 benign). In single-task transfer learning, the DCNN was trained and tested on SFMs. In multi-task transfer learning, SFMs and DMs were used to train the DCNN, which was then tested on SFMs. N-fold cross-validation with the training set was used for training and parameter optimization. On the independent test set, the multi-task transfer learning DCNN was found to have significantly (p = 0.007) higher performance compared to the single-task transfer learning DCNN. This study demonstrates that multi-task transfer learning may be an effective approach for training DCNN in medical imaging applications when training samples from a single modality are limited.
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Active glass-type human augmented cognition system considering attention and intention
Kim, Bumhwi; Ojha, Amitash; Lee, Minho
2015-10-01
Human cognition is the result of an interaction of several complex cognitive processes with limited capabilities. Therefore, the primary objective of human cognitive augmentation is to assist and expand these limited human cognitive capabilities independently or together. In this study, we propose a glass-type human augmented cognition system, which attempts to actively assist human memory functions by providing relevant, necessary and intended information by constantly assessing intention of the user. To achieve this, we exploit selective attention and intention processes. Although the system can be used in various real-life scenarios, we test the performance of the system in a person identity scenario. To detect the intended face, the system analyses the gaze points and change in pupil size to determine the intention of the user. An assessment of the gaze points and change in pupil size together indicates that the user intends to know the identity and information about the person in question. Then, the system retrieves several clues through speech recognition system and retrieves relevant information about the face, which is finally displayed through head-mounted display. We present the performance of several components of the system. Our results show that the active and relevant assistance based on users' intention significantly helps the enhancement of memory functions.
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Enabling Robotic Social Intelligence by Engineering Human Social-Cognitive Mechanisms
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Wiltshire, Travis; Warta, Samantha F.; Barber, Daniel
2017-01-01
for artificial cognitive systems. We discuss a recent integrative perspective of social cognition to provide a systematic theoretical underpinning for computational instantiations of these mechanisms. We highlight several commitments of our approach that we refer to as Engineering Human Social Cognition. We...... then provide a series of recommendations to facilitate the development of the perceptual, motor, and cognitive architecture for this proposed artificial cognitive system in future work. For each recommendation, we highlight their relation to the discussed social-cognitive mechanisms, provide the rationale...
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Kononova, Anastasia; Yuan, Shupei; Joo, Eunsin
2017-06-01
As health organizations increasingly use the Internet to communicate medical information and advice (Shortliffe et al., 2000; World Health Organization, 2013), studying factors that affect health information processing and health-protective behaviors becomes extremely important. The present research applied the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion to explore the effects of media multitasking, polychronicity (preference for multitasking), and strength of health-related arguments on health-protective behavioral intentions. Participants read an online article about influenza that included strong and weak suggestions to engage in flu-preventive behaviors. In one condition, participants read the article and checked Facebook; in another condition, they were exposed only to the article. Participants expressed greater health-protective behavioral intentions in the media multitasking condition than in the control condition. Strong arguments were found to elicit more positive behavioral intentions than weak arguments. Moderate and high polychronics showed greater behavioral intentions than low polychronics when they read the article in the multitasking condition. The difference in intentions to follow strong and weak arguments decreased for moderate and high polychronics. The results of the present study suggest that health communication practitioners should account for not only media use situations in which individuals typically read about health online but also individual differences in information processing, which puts more emphasis on the strength of health-protective suggestions when targeting light multitaskers.
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Human Space Exploration and Human Space Flight: Latency and the Cognitive Scale of the Universe
Lester, Dan; Thronson, Harley
2011-01-01
The role of telerobotics in space exploration as placing human cognition on other worlds is limited almost entirely by the speed of light, and the consequent communications latency that results from large distances. This latency is the time delay between the human brain at one end, and the telerobotic effector and sensor at the other end. While telerobotics and virtual presence is a technology that is rapidly becoming more sophisticated, with strong commercial interest on the Earth, this time delay, along with the neurological timescale of a human being, quantitatively defines the cognitive horizon for any locale in space. That is, how distant can an operator be from a robot and not be significantly impacted by latency? We explore that cognitive timescale of the universe, and consider the implications for telerobotics, human space flight, and participation by larger numbers of people in space exploration. We conclude that, with advanced telepresence, sophisticated robots could be operated with high cognition throughout a lunar hemisphere by astronauts within a station at an Earth-Moon Ll or L2 venue. Likewise, complex telerobotic servicing of satellites in geosynchronous orbit can be carried out from suitable terrestrial stations.
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Kapellusch, Jay M; Silverstein, Barbara A; Bao, Stephen S; Thiese, Mathew S; Merryweather, Andrew S; Hegmann, Kurt T; Garg, Arun
2018-02-01
The Strain Index (SI) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) threshold limit value for hand activity level (TLV for HAL) have been shown to be associated with prevalence of distal upper-limb musculoskeletal disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The SI and TLV for HAL disagree on more than half of task exposure classifications. Similarly, time-weighted average (TWA), peak, and typical exposure techniques used to quantity physical exposure from multi-task jobs have shown between-technique agreement ranging from 61% to 93%, depending upon whether the SI or TLV for HAL model was used. This study compared exposure-response relationships between each model-technique combination and prevalence of CTS. Physical exposure data from 1,834 workers (710 with multi-task jobs) were analyzed using the SI and TLV for HAL and the TWA, typical, and peak multi-task job exposure techniques. Additionally, exposure classifications from the SI and TLV for HAL were combined into a single measure and evaluated. Prevalent CTS cases were identified using symptoms and nerve-conduction studies. Mixed effects logistic regression was used to quantify exposure-response relationships between categorized (i.e., low, medium, and high) physical exposure and CTS prevalence for all model-technique combinations, and for multi-task workers, mono-task workers, and all workers combined. Except for TWA TLV for HAL, all model-technique combinations showed monotonic increases in risk of CTS with increased physical exposure. The combined-models approach showed stronger association than the SI or TLV for HAL for multi-task workers. Despite differences in exposure classifications, nearly all model-technique combinations showed exposure-response relationships with prevalence of CTS for the combined sample of mono-task and multi-task workers. Both the TLV for HAL and the SI, with the TWA or typical techniques, appear useful for epidemiological studies and surveillance
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G.W.C. Paas (Fred); J. Sweller (John)
2012-01-01
textabstractCognitive load theory is intended to provide instructional strategies derived from experimental, cognitive load effects. Each effect is based on our knowledge of human cognitive architecture, primarily the limited capacity and duration of a human working memory. These limitations are
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Vectorized and multitasked solution of the few-group neutron diffusion equations
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Zee, S.K.; Turinsky, P.J.; Shayer, Z.
1989-01-01
A numerical algorithm with parallelism was used to solve the two-group, multidimensional neutron diffusion equations on computers characterized by shared memory, vector pipeline, and multi-CPU architecture features. Specifically, solutions were obtained on the Cray X/MP-48, the IBM-3090 with vector facilities, and the FPS-164. The material-centered mesh finite difference method approximation and outer-inner iteration method were employed. Parallelism was introduced in the inner iterations using the cyclic line successive overrelaxation iterative method and solving in parallel across lines. The outer iterations were completed using the Chebyshev semi-iterative method that allows parallelism to be introduced in both space and energy groups. For the three-dimensional model, power, soluble boron, and transient fission product feedbacks were included. Concentrating on the pressurized water reactor (PWR), the thermal-hydraulic calculation of moderator density assumed single-phase flow and a closed flow channel, allowing parallelism to be introduced in the solution across the radial plane. Using a pinwise detail, quarter-core model of a typical PWR in cycle 1, for the two-dimensional model without feedback the measured million floating point operations per second (MFLOPS)/vector speedups were 83/11.7. 18/2.2, and 2.4/5.6 on the Cray, IBM, and FPS without multitasking, respectively. Lower performance was observed with a coarser mesh, i.e., shorter vector length, due to vector pipeline start-up. For an 18 x 18 x 30 (x-y-z) three-dimensional model with feedback of the same core, MFLOPS/vector speedups of --61/6.7 and an execution time of 0.8 CPU seconds on the Cray without multitasking were measured. Finally, using two CPUs and the vector pipelines of the Cray, a multitasking efficiency of 81% was noted for the three-dimensional model
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Identifying beneficial task relations for multi-task learning in deep neural networks
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bingel, Joachim; Søgaard, Anders
2017-01-01
Multi-task learning (MTL) in deep neural networks for NLP has recently received increasing interest due to some compelling benefits, including its potential to efficiently regularize models and to reduce the need for labeled data. While it has brought significant improvements in a number of NLP...
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Examining the Effects of Distractive Multitasking with Peripheral Computing in the Classroom
Puente, Jaime E.
2017-01-01
The growing use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in college campuses has dramatically increased the potential for multitasking among students who have to juggle classes, school assignments, work, and recreational activities. These students believe that they have become more efficient by performing two or more tasks…
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Design of multitasking and windows software for beam diagnostic system on HIRFL
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Nie Zhenpeng; Shen Zhiqing; Xu Xiangyang; Zheng Jianping; Tang Jingyu; Dong Jinmei
2002-01-01
An introduction is given to the design idea and method of multitasking and Windows software for beam diagnostic system on HIRFL. The testing result is presented in the end. The software has many advantages such as powerful function, visual display, high reliability and friendly interface, etc
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Cognitive Factors Affecting Freeze-like Behavior in Humans.
Alban, Michael W; Pocknell, Victoria
2017-01-01
Contemporary research on survival-related defensive behaviors has identified physiological markers of freeze/flight/fight. Our research focused on cognitive factors associated with freeze-like behavior in humans. Study 1 tested if an explicit decision to freeze is associated with the psychophysiological state of freezing. Heart rate deceleration occurred when participants chose to freeze. Study 2 varied the efficacy of freezing relative to other defense options and found "freeze" was responsive to variations in the perceived effectiveness of alternative actions. Study 3 tested if individual differences in motivational orientation affect preference for a "freeze" option when the efficacy of options is held constant. A trend in the predicted direction suggested that naturally occurring cognitions led loss-avoiders to select "freeze" more often than reward-seekers. In combination, our attention to the cognitive factors affecting freeze-like behavior in humans represents a preliminary step in addressing an important but neglected research area.
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A Multi-task Principal Agent Model for Knowledge Contribution of Enterprise Staff
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chengyi LE
2016-10-01
Full Text Available According to the different behavior characteristics of knowledge contribution of enterprise employees, a multi-task principal-agent relationship of knowledge contribution between enterprise and employees is established based on principal-agent theory, analyzing staff’s knowledge contribution behavior of knowledge creation and knowledge participation. Based on this, a multi-task principal agent model for knowledge contribution of enterprise staff is developed to formulate the asymmetry of information in knowledge contribution Then, a set of incentive measures are derived from the theoretic model, aiming to prompt the knowledge contribution in enterprise. The result shows that staff’s knowledge creation behavior and positive participation behavior can influence and further promote each other Enterprise should set up respective target levels of both knowledge creation contribution and knowledge participation contribution and make them irreplaceable to each other. This work contributes primarily to the development of the literature on knowledge management and principal-agent theory. In addition, the applicability of the findings will be improved by further empirical analysis.
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Reissland, Jessika; Manzey, Dietrich
2016-07-01
Understanding the mechanisms and performance consequences of multitasking has long been in focus of scientific interest, but has been investigated by three research lines more or less isolated from each other. Studies in the fields of the psychological refractory period, task switching, and interruptions have scored with a high experimental control, but usually do not give participants many degrees of freedom to self-organize the processing of two concurrent tasks. Individual strategies as well as their impact on efficiency have mainly been neglected. Self-organized multitasking has been investigated in the field of human factors, but primarily with respect to overall performance without detailed investigation of how the tasks are processed. The current work attempts to link aspects of these research lines. All of them, explicitly or implicitly, provide hints about an individually preferred type of task organization, either more cautious trying to work strictly serially on only one task at a time or more daring with a focus on task interleaving and, if possible, also partially overlapping (parallel) processing. In two experiments we investigated different strategies of task organization and their impact on efficiency using a new measure of overall multitasking efficiency. Experiment 1 was based on a classical task switching paradigm with two classification tasks, but provided one group of participants with a stimulus preview of the task to switch to next, enabling at least partial overlapping processing. Indeed, this preview led to a reduction of switch costs and to an increase of dual-task efficiency, but only for a subgroup of participants. They obviously exploited the possibility of overlapping processing, while the others worked mainly serially. While task-sequence was externally guided in the first experiment, Experiment 2 extended the approach by giving the participants full freedom of task organization in concurrent performance of the same tasks. Fine
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Empirical insights into the frequency and nature of multitasking on Dutch trains
Waerden, van der P.J.H.J.; Timmermans, H.J.P.; Neerven, van R.J.C.
2008-01-01
This paper describes a study of the frequency and nature of multitasking on Dutch trains. Based on field observations on intercity and regional trains descriptive and model analyses were carried out. It appears that the most occurring task was ‘doing nothing’, followed by ‘Talking socially’ and
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High Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Novel Test of Multitasking
Mackinlay, Rachael; Charman, Tony; Karmiloff-Smith, Annette
2006-01-01
High functioning children with a diagnosis of autism or Asperger's syndrome (HF-ASD) often experience difficulties organising goal-directed actions in their day-to-day lives, requiring support to schedule daily activities. This study aimed to capture these everyday difficulties experimentally using multitasking, a methodology that taps into the…
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Development of multitasking software running on IBM PC
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Krishnan, K.K.; Chhokra, R.S.; Gupta, P.B.
1992-01-01
A Real-Time Multitasking Executive (RTMEX) was developed to facilitate concurrent execution of a number of data acquisition and processing tasks for a dat data acquisition system employing two DOS-based PCs in a host-slave configuration. RTMEX consists of a pre-emptive scheduler and a set of inter-task communication/synchronization primitives. Integrated into RTMEX environment are a number of device drivers. A multilayer communication protocol was adopted to facilitate implementation of two logical channels for data and messages on a single physical media. (author). 3 refs. 1 fig
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Klarer, Paul
1993-01-01
An approach for a robotic control system which implements so called 'behavioral' control within a realtime multitasking architecture is proposed. The proposed system would attempt to ameliorate some of the problems noted by some researchers when implementing subsumptive or behavioral control systems, particularly with regard to multiple processor systems and realtime operations. The architecture is designed to allow synchronous operations between various behavior modules by taking advantage of a realtime multitasking system's intertask communications channels, and by implementing each behavior module and each interconnection node as a stand-alone task. The potential advantages of this approach over those previously described in the field are discussed. An implementation of the architecture is planned for a prototype Robotic All Terrain Lunar Exploration Rover (RATLER) currently under development and is briefly described.
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Real-time multi-task operators support system
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Wang He; Peng Minjun; Wang Hao; Cheng Shouyu
2005-01-01
The development in computer software and hardware technology and information processing as well as the accumulation in the design and feedback from Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operation created a good opportunity to develop an integrated Operator Support System. The Real-time Multi-task Operator Support System (RMOSS) has been built to support the operator's decision making process during normal and abnormal operations. RMOSS consists of five system subtasks such as Data Collection and Validation Task (DCVT), Operation Monitoring Task (OMT), Fault Diagnostic Task (FDT), Operation Guideline Task (OGT) and Human Machine Interface Task (HMIT). RMOSS uses rule-based expert system and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The rule-based expert system is used to identify the predefined events in static conditions and track the operation guideline through data processing. In dynamic status, Back-Propagation Neural Network is adopted for fault diagnosis, which is trained with the Genetic Algorithm. Embedded real-time operation system VxWorks and its integrated environment Tornado II are used as the RMOSS software cross-development. VxGUI is used to design HMI. All of the task programs are designed in C language. The task tests and function evaluation of RMOSS have been done in one real-time full scope simulator. Evaluation results show that each task of RMOSS is capable of accomplishing its functions. (authors)
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Paas, Fred; Sweller, John
2012-01-01
Cognitive load theory is intended to provide instructional strategies derived from experimental, cognitive load effects. Each effect is based on our knowledge of human cognitive architecture, primarily the limited capacity and duration of a human working memory. These limitations are ameliorated by changes in long-term memory associated with…
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Automation bias and verification complexity: a systematic review.
Lyell, David; Coiera, Enrico
2017-03-01
While potentially reducing decision errors, decision support systems can introduce new types of errors. Automation bias (AB) happens when users become overreliant on decision support, which reduces vigilance in information seeking and processing. Most research originates from the human factors literature, where the prevailing view is that AB occurs only in multitasking environments. This review seeks to compare the human factors and health care literature, focusing on the apparent association of AB with multitasking and task complexity. EMBASE, Medline, Compendex, Inspec, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Business Source Premiere from 1983 to 2015. Evaluation studies where task execution was assisted by automation and resulted in errors were included. Participants needed to be able to verify automation correctness and perform the task manually. Tasks were identified and grouped. Task and automation type and presence of multitasking were noted. Each task was rated for its verification complexity. Of 890 papers identified, 40 met the inclusion criteria; 6 were in health care. Contrary to the prevailing human factors view, AB was found in single tasks, typically involving diagnosis rather than monitoring, and with high verification complexity. The literature is fragmented, with large discrepancies in how AB is reported. Few studies reported the statistical significance of AB compared to a control condition. AB appears to be associated with the degree of cognitive load experienced in decision tasks, and appears to not be uniquely associated with multitasking. Strategies to minimize AB might focus on cognitive load reduction. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
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An Unobtrusive System to Measure, Assess, and Predict Cognitive Workload in Real-World Environments
Bracken, Bethany K.; Palmon, Noa; Elkin-Frankston, Seth; Irvin, Scott; Jenkins, Michael; Farry, Mike
2017-01-01
Across many careers, individuals face alternating periods of high and low attention and cognitive workload, which can result in impaired cognitive functioning and can be detrimental to job performance. For example, some professions (e.g., fire fighters, emergency medical personnel, doctors and nurses working in an emergency room, pilots) require long periods of low workload (boredom), followed by sudden, high-tempo operations during which they may be required to respond to an emergency and perform at peak cognitive levels. Conversely, other professions (e.g., air traffic controllers, market investors in financial industries, analysts) require long periods of high workload and multitasking during which the addition of just one more task results in cognitive overload resulting in mistakes. An unobtrusive system to measure, assess, and predict cognitive workload could warn individuals, their teammates, or their supervisors when steps should be taken to augment cognitive readiness. In this talk I will describe an approach to this problem that we have found to be successful across work domains including: (1) a suite of unobtrusive, field-ready neurophysiological, physiological, and behavioral sensors that are chosen to best suit the target environment; (2) custom algorithms and statistical techniques to process and time-align raw data originating from the sensor suite; (3) probabilistic and statistical models designed to interpret the data into the human state of interest (e.g., cognitive workload, attention, fatigue); (4) and machine-learning techniques to predict upcoming performance based on the current pattern of events, and (5) display of each piece of information depending on the needs of the target user who may or may not want to drill down into the functioning of the system to determine how conclusions about human state and performance are determined. I will then focus in on our experimental results from our custom functional near-infrared spectroscopy sensor
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HUMAN RELIABILITY ANALYSIS DENGAN PENDEKATAN COGNITIVE RELIABILITY AND ERROR ANALYSIS METHOD (CREAM
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Zahirah Alifia Maulida
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Kecelakaan kerja pada bidang grinding dan welding menempati urutan tertinggi selama lima tahun terakhir di PT. X. Kecelakaan ini disebabkan oleh human error. Human error terjadi karena pengaruh lingkungan kerja fisik dan non fisik.Penelitian kali menggunakan skenario untuk memprediksi serta mengurangi kemungkinan terjadinya error pada manusia dengan pendekatan CREAM (Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method. CREAM adalah salah satu metode human reliability analysis yang berfungsi untuk mendapatkan nilai Cognitive Failure Probability (CFP yang dapat dilakukan dengan dua cara yaitu basic method dan extended method. Pada basic method hanya akan didapatkan nilai failure probabailty secara umum, sedangkan untuk extended method akan didapatkan CFP untuk setiap task. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan faktor- faktor yang mempengaruhi timbulnya error pada pekerjaan grinding dan welding adalah kecukupan organisasi, kecukupan dari Man Machine Interface (MMI & dukungan operasional, ketersediaan prosedur/ perencanaan, serta kecukupan pelatihan dan pengalaman. Aspek kognitif pada pekerjaan grinding yang memiliki nilai error paling tinggi adalah planning dengan nilai CFP 0.3 dan pada pekerjaan welding yaitu aspek kognitif execution dengan nilai CFP 0.18. Sebagai upaya untuk mengurangi nilai error kognitif pada pekerjaan grinding dan welding rekomendasi yang diberikan adalah memberikan training secara rutin, work instrucstion yang lebih rinci dan memberikan sosialisasi alat. Kata kunci: CREAM (cognitive reliability and error analysis method, HRA (human reliability analysis, cognitive error Abstract The accidents in grinding and welding sectors were the highest cases over the last five years in PT. X and it caused by human error. Human error occurs due to the influence of working environment both physically and non-physically. This study will implement an approaching scenario called CREAM (Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method. CREAM is one of human
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Deng, Li; Wang, Guohua; Yu, Suihuai
2016-01-01
In order to consider the psychological cognitive characteristics affecting operating comfort and realize the automatic layout design, cognitive ergonomics and GA-ACA (genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm) were introduced into the layout design of human-machine interaction interface. First, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, according to the information processing process, the cognitive model of human-machine interaction interface was established. Then, the human cognitive cha...
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Characterizing Cognitive Aging in Humans with Links to Animal Models
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gene E Alexander
2012-09-01
Full Text Available With the population of older adults expected to grow rapidly over the next two decades, it has become increasingly important to advance research efforts to elucidate the mechanisms associated with cognitive aging, with the ultimate goal of developing effective interventions and prevention therapies. Although there has been a vast research literature on the use of cognitive tests to evaluate the effects of aging and age-related neurodegenerative disease, the need for a set of standardized measures to characterize the cognitive profiles specific to healthy aging has been widely recognized. Here we present a review of selected methods and approaches that have been applied in human research studies to evaluate the effects of aging on cognition, including executive function, memory, processing speed, language, and visuospatial function. The effects of healthy aging on each of these cognitive domains are discussed with examples from cognitive/experimental and clinical/neuropsychological approaches. Further, we consider those measures that have clear conceptual and methodological links to tasks currently in use for non-human animal studies of aging, as well as those that have the potential for translation to animal aging research. Having a complementary set of measures to assess the cognitive profiles of healthy aging across species provides a unique opportunity to enhance research efforts for cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intervention studies of cognitive aging. Taking a cross-species, translational approach will help to advance cognitive aging research, leading to a greater understanding of associated neurobiological mechanisms with the potential for developing effective interventions and prevention therapies for age-related cognitive decline.
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Human figure drawing distinguishes Alzheimer's patients: a cognitive screening test study.
Stanzani Maserati, Michelangelo; D'Onofrio, Renato; Matacena, Corrado; Sambati, Luisa; Oppi, Federico; Poda, Roberto; De Matteis, Maddalena; Naldi, Ilaria; Liguori, Rocco; Capellari, Sabina
2018-05-01
To study human figure drawing in a group of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and compare it with a group of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and controls. We evaluated consecutive outpatients over a one-year period. Patients were classified as affected by AD or by MCI. All patients and controls underwent a simplified version of the human-figure drawing test and MMSE. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of all human figures was obtained. 112 AD, 100 MCI patients and 104 controls were enrolled. AD patients drew human figures poor in details and globally smaller than MCI patients and controls. Human figures drawn by MCI patients are intermediate in body height between those of the AD patients and the healthy subjects. The head-to-body ratio of human figures drawn by AD patients is greater than controls and MCI patients, while the human figure size-relative-to-page space index is significantly smaller. Body height is an independent predictor of cognitive impairment correlating with its severity and with the number of the figure's details. Human figures drawn by AD patients are different from those drawn by healthy subjects and MCI patients. Human figure drawing test is a useful tool for orienting cognitive impairment's diagnosis.
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Lin, Chin-Teng; Chen, Yu-Chieh; Huang, Teng-Yi; Chiu, Tien-Ting; Ko, Li-Wei; Liang, Sheng-Fu; Hsieh, Hung-Yi; Hsu, Shang-Hwa; Duann, Jeng-Ren
2008-05-01
Biomedical signal monitoring systems have been rapidly advanced with electronic and information technologies in recent years. However, most of the existing physiological signal monitoring systems can only record the signals without the capability of automatic analysis. In this paper, we proposed a novel brain-computer interface (BCI) system that can acquire and analyze electroencephalogram (EEG) signals in real-time to monitor human physiological as well as cognitive states, and, in turn, provide warning signals to the users when needed. The BCI system consists of a four-channel biosignal acquisition/amplification module, a wireless transmission module, a dual-core signal processing unit, and a host system for display and storage. The embedded dual-core processing system with multitask scheduling capability was proposed to acquire and process the input EEG signals in real time. In addition, the wireless transmission module, which eliminates the inconvenience of wiring, can be switched between radio frequency (RF) and Bluetooth according to the transmission distance. Finally, the real-time EEG-based drowsiness monitoring and warning algorithms were implemented and integrated into the system to close the loop of the BCI system. The practical online testing demonstrates the feasibility of using the proposed system with the ability of real-time processing, automatic analysis, and online warning feedback in real-world operation and living environments.
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Oviedo-Trespalacios, Oscar; Haque, Md Mazharul; King, Mark; Washington, Simon
2018-05-29
This study investigated how situational characteristics typically encountered in the transport system influence drivers' perceived likelihood of engaging in mobile phone multitasking. The impacts of mobile phone tasks, perceived environmental complexity/risk, and drivers' individual differences were evaluated as relevant individual predictors within the behavioral adaptation framework. An innovative questionnaire, which includes randomized textual and visual scenarios, was administered to collect data from a sample of 447 drivers in South East Queensland-Australia (66% females; n = 296). The likelihood of engaging in a mobile phone task across various scenarios was modeled by a random parameters ordered probit model. Results indicated that drivers who are female, are frequent users of phones for texting/answering calls, have less favorable attitudes towards safety, and are highly disinhibited were more likely to report stronger intentions of engaging in mobile phone multitasking. However, more years with a valid driving license, self-efficacy toward self-regulation in demanding traffic conditions and police enforcement, texting tasks, and demanding traffic conditions were negatively related to self-reported likelihood of mobile phone multitasking. The unobserved heterogeneity warned of riskier groups among female drivers and participants who need a lot of convincing to believe that multitasking while driving is dangerous. This research concludes that behavioral adaptation theory is a robust framework explaining self-regulation of distracted drivers. © 2018 Society for Risk Analysis.
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Metacognition of multitasking: How well do we predict the costs of divided attention?
Finley, Jason R; Benjamin, Aaron S; McCarley, Jason S
2014-06-01
Risky multitasking, such as texting while driving, may occur because people misestimate the costs of divided attention. In two experiments, participants performed a computerized visual-manual tracking task in which they attempted to keep a mouse cursor within a small target that moved erratically around a circular track. They then separately performed an auditory n-back task. After practicing both tasks separately, participants received feedback on their single-task tracking performance and predicted their dual-task tracking performance before finally performing the 2 tasks simultaneously. Most participants correctly predicted reductions in tracking performance under dual-task conditions, with a majority overestimating the costs of dual-tasking. However, the between-subjects correlation between predicted and actual performance decrements was near 0. This combination of results suggests that people do anticipate costs of multitasking, but have little metacognitive insight on the extent to which they are personally vulnerable to the risks of divided attention, relative to other people. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.
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Selective cognitive impairments associated with NMDA receptor blockade in humans.
Rowland, Laura M; Astur, Robert S; Jung, Rex E; Bustillo, Juan R; Lauriello, John; Yeo, Ronald A
2005-03-01
Hypofunction of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. NMDAR antagonists like ketamine induce schizophrenia-like features in humans. In rodent studies, NMDAR antagonism impairs learning by disrupting long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. This study investigated the effects of ketamine on spatial learning (acquisition) vs retrieval in a virtual Morris water task in humans. Verbal fluency, working memory, and learning and memory of verbal information were also assessed. Healthy human subjects participated in this double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. On two separate occasions, ketamine/placebo was administered and cognitive tasks were assessed in association with behavioral ratings. Ketamine impaired learning of spatial and verbal information but retrieval of information learned prior to drug administration was preserved. Schizophrenia-like symptoms were significantly related to spatial and verbal learning performance. Ketamine did not significantly impair attention, verbal fluency, or verbal working memory task performance. Spatial working memory was slightly impaired. In conclusion, these results provide evidence for ketamine's differential impairment of verbal and spatial learning vs retrieval. By using the Morris water task, which is hippocampal-dependent, this study helps bridge the gap between nonhuman animal and human NMDAR antagonism research. Impaired cognition is a core feature of schizophrenia. A better understanding of NMDA antagonism, its physiological and cognitive consequences, may provide improved models of psychosis and cognitive therapeutics.
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Systemic Cognition: Human Artifice in Life and Language
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Cowley, Stephen; Vallée-Tourangeau, Frédéric
2013-01-01
Rather than rely on functionalist or enactivist principles, Cognition Beyond the Brain traces thinking to human artifice. In pursuing this approach, we gradually developed what can be deemed a third position in cognitive science. This is because, like talking, doing things with artefacts draws...... on both biological and cultural principles. On this systemic view, skills embody beliefs, roles and social practices. Since people rely on interactivity or sense-saturated coordination, action also re-enacts cultural history. Bidirectional dynamics connect embodiment to non-local regularities. Thinking...... simulation to manage thought, feeling and action. The systemic nature of cognition connects now, the adjacent possible, implications for others and, potentially, social and environmental change....
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Human Uniqueness, Cognition by Description, and Procedural Memory
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
John Bolender
2008-06-01
Full Text Available Evidence will be reviewed suggesting a fairly direct link between the human ability to think about entities which one has never perceived — here called “cognition by description” — and procedural memory. Cognition by description is a uniquely hominid trait which makes religion, science, and history possible. It is hypothesized that cognition by description (in the manner of Bertrand Russell’s “knowledge by description” requires variable binding, which in turn utilizes quantifier raising. Quantifier raising plausibly depends upon the computational core of language, specifically the element of it which Noam Chomsky calls “internal Merge”. Internal Merge produces hierarchical structures by means of a memory of derivational steps, a process plausibly involving procedural memory. The hypothesis is testable, predicting that procedural memory deficits will be accompanied by impairments in cognition by description. We also discuss neural mechanisms plausibly underlying procedural memory and also, by our hypothesis, cognition by description.
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A high speed multi-tasking, multi-processor telemetry system
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wu, Kung Chris [Univ. of Texas, El Paso, TX (United States)
1996-12-31
This paper describes a small size, light weight, multitasking, multiprocessor telemetry system capable of collecting 32 channels of differential signals at a sampling rate of 6.25 kHz per channel. The system is designed to collect data from remote wind turbine research sites and transfer the data via wireless communication. A description of operational theory, hardware components, and itemized cost is provided. Synchronization with other data acquisition systems and test data on data transmission rates is also given. 11 refs., 7 figs., 4 tabs.
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Face cognition in humans: Psychophysiological, developmental, and cross-cultural aspects
Chernorizov A. M.; Zhong-qing J.; Petrakova A. V.; Zinchenko Yu. P.
2016-01-01
Investigators are finding increasing evidence for cross-cultural specificity in face cognition along with individual characteristics. The functions on which face cognition is based not only are types of general cognitive functions (perception, memory) but are elements of specific mental processes. Face perception, memorization, correct recognition of faces, and understanding the information that faces provide are essential skills for humans as a social species and can be considered as facets ...
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Experiment of X-MP CRAY multitasking with vectorial Monte Carlo algorithm
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Chauvet, Y.
1984-08-01
After a short comparison between CRAY-1S and CRAY X-MP we present the main multitasking tools available with FORTRAN. Next we present the main characteristics of the algorithm used and the principles of its parallelization. At last we show the measured results on the two computers and we prove that tasks should be long enough to get a good speed-up factor [fr
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Synthetic Synchronisation: From Attention and Multi-Tasking to Negative Capability and Judgment
Stables, Andrew
2013-01-01
Educational literature has tended to focus, explicitly and implicitly, on two kinds of task orientation: the ability either to focus on a single task, or to multi-task. A third form of orientation characterises many highly successful people. This is the ability to combine several tasks into one: to "kill two (or more) birds with one…
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Blair, Clancy
2006-04-01
This target article considers the relation of fluid cognitive functioning to general intelligence. A neurobiological model differentiating working memory/executive function cognitive processes of the prefrontal cortex from aspects of psychometrically defined general intelligence is presented. Work examining the rise in mean intelligence-test performance between normative cohorts, the neuropsychology and neuroscience of cognitive function in typically and atypically developing human populations, and stress, brain development, and corticolimbic connectivity in human and nonhuman animal models is reviewed and found to provide evidence of mechanisms through which early experience affects the development of an aspect of cognition closely related to, but distinct from, general intelligence. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of emotion in fluid cognition and on research indicating fluid cognitive deficits associated with early hippocampal pathology and with dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress-response system. Findings are seen to be consistent with the idea of an independent fluid cognitive construct and to assist with the interpretation of findings from the study of early compensatory education for children facing psychosocial adversity and from behavior genetic research on intelligence. It is concluded that ongoing development of neurobiologically grounded measures of fluid cognitive skills appropriate for young children will play a key role in understanding early mental development and the adaptive success to which it is related, particularly for young children facing social and economic disadvantage. Specifically, in the evaluation of the efficacy of compensatory education efforts such as Head Start and the readiness for school of children from diverse backgrounds, it is important to distinguish fluid cognition from psychometrically defined general intelligence.
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Valence, arousal and cognitive control: A voluntary task switching study
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jelle eDemanet
2011-11-01
Full Text Available The present study focused on the interplay between arousal, valence and cognitive control. To this end, we investigated how arousal and valence associated with affective stimuli influenced cognitive flexibility when switching between tasks voluntarily. Three hypotheses were tested. First, a valence hypothesis that states that the positive valence of affective stimuli will facilitate both global and task-switching performance because of increased cognitive flexibility. Second, an arousal hypothesis that states that arousal, and not valence, will specifically impair task-switching performance by strengthening the previously executed task-set. Third, an attention hypothesis that states that both cognitive and emotional control ask for limited attentional resources, and predicts that arousal will impair both global and task-switching performance. The results showed that arousal affected task-switching but not global performance, possibly by phasic modulations of the noradrenergic system that reinforces the previously executed task. In addition, positive valence only affected global performance but not task-switching performance, possibly by phasic modulations of dopamine that stimulates the general ability to perform in a multitasking environment.
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[Human interaction, social cognition, and the superior temporal sulcus].
Brunelle, Francis; Saitovitch, Anna; Boddaert, Nathalie; Grevent, David; Cambier, Jean; Lelord, Gilbert; Samson, Yves; Zilbovicius, Monica
2013-01-01
Human beings are social animals. This ability to live together is ensured by cognitive functions, the neuroanatomical bases of which are starting to be unraveled by MRI-based studies. The regions and network engaged in this process are known as the "social brain ". The core of this network is the superior temporal sulcus (STS), which integrates sensory and emotional inputs. Modeling studies of healthy volunteers have shown the role of the STS.in recognizing others as biological beings, as well as facial and eye-gaze recognition, intentionality and emotions. This cognitive capacity has been described as the "theory of mind ". Pathological models such as autism, in which the main clinical abnormality is altered social abilities and communication, have confirmed the role of the STS in the social brain. Conceptualisation of this empathic capacity has been described as "meta cognition ", which forms the basis of human social organizationand culture.
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The importance of motivation and emotion for explaining human cognition.
Güss, C Dominik; Dörner, Dietrich
2017-01-01
Lake et al. discuss building blocks of human intelligence that are quite different from those of artificial intelligence. We argue that a theory of human intelligence has to incorporate human motivations and emotions. The interaction of motivation, emotion, and cognition is the real strength of human intelligence and distinguishes it from artificial intelligence.
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Kätsyri, Jari; Kinnunen, Teemu; Kusumoto, Kenta; Oittinen, Pirkko; Ravaja, Niklas
2016-01-01
Television viewers' attention is increasingly more often divided between television and "second screens", for example when viewing television broadcasts and following their related social media discussion on a tablet computer. The attentional costs of such multitasking may vary depending on the ebb and flow of the social media channel, such as its emotional contents. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that negative social media messages would draw more attention than similar positive messages. Specifically, news broadcasts were presented in isolation and with simultaneous positive or negative Twitter messages on a tablet to 38 participants in a controlled experiment. Recognition memory, gaze tracking, cardiac responses, and self-reports were used as attentional indices. The presence of any tweets on the tablet decreased attention to the news broadcasts. As expected, negative tweets drew longer viewing times and elicited more attention to themselves than positive tweets. Negative tweets did not, however, decrease attention to the news broadcasts. Taken together, the present results demonstrate a negativity bias exists for social media messages in media multitasking; however, this effect does not amplify the overall detrimental effects of media multitasking.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jari Kätsyri
Full Text Available Television viewers' attention is increasingly more often divided between television and "second screens", for example when viewing television broadcasts and following their related social media discussion on a tablet computer. The attentional costs of such multitasking may vary depending on the ebb and flow of the social media channel, such as its emotional contents. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that negative social media messages would draw more attention than similar positive messages. Specifically, news broadcasts were presented in isolation and with simultaneous positive or negative Twitter messages on a tablet to 38 participants in a controlled experiment. Recognition memory, gaze tracking, cardiac responses, and self-reports were used as attentional indices. The presence of any tweets on the tablet decreased attention to the news broadcasts. As expected, negative tweets drew longer viewing times and elicited more attention to themselves than positive tweets. Negative tweets did not, however, decrease attention to the news broadcasts. Taken together, the present results demonstrate a negativity bias exists for social media messages in media multitasking; however, this effect does not amplify the overall detrimental effects of media multitasking.
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2016-01-01
This study aimed to assess the potential of driver distraction, task performance, orientation of : attention, and perceived workload in a multitasking situation involving interaction with touchscreen : interface, compared to physical interface. Autho...
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Bridging Human Reliability Analysis and Psychology, Part 2: A Cognitive Framework to Support HRA
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
April M. Whaley; Stacey M. L. Hendrickson; Ronald L. Boring; Jing Xing
2012-06-01
This is the second of two papers that discuss the literature review conducted as part of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) effort to develop a hybrid human reliability analysis (HRA) method in response to Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) SRM-M061020. This review was conducted with the goal of strengthening the technical basis within psychology, cognitive science and human factors for the hybrid HRA method being proposed. An overview of the literature review approach and high-level structure is provided in the first paper, whereas this paper presents the results of the review. The psychological literature review encompassed research spanning the entirety of human cognition and performance, and consequently produced an extensive list of psychological processes, mechanisms, and factors that contribute to human performance. To make sense of this large amount of information, the results of the literature review were organized into a cognitive framework that identifies causes of failure of macrocognition in humans, and connects those proximate causes to psychological mechanisms and performance influencing factors (PIFs) that can lead to the failure. This cognitive framework can serve as a tool to inform HRA. Beyond this, however, the cognitive framework has the potential to also support addressing human performance issues identified in Human Factors applications.
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Glutamate synapses in human cognitive disorders.
Volk, Lenora; Chiu, Shu-Ling; Sharma, Kamal; Huganir, Richard L
2015-07-08
Accumulating data, including those from large genetic association studies, indicate that alterations in glutamatergic synapse structure and function represent a common underlying pathology in many symptomatically distinct cognitive disorders. In this review, we discuss evidence from human genetic studies and data from animal models supporting a role for aberrant glutamatergic synapse function in the etiology of intellectual disability (ID), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and schizophrenia (SCZ), neurodevelopmental disorders that comprise a significant proportion of human cognitive disease and exact a substantial financial and social burden. The varied manifestations of impaired perceptual processing, executive function, social interaction, communication, and/or intellectual ability in ID, ASD, and SCZ appear to emerge from altered neural microstructure, function, and/or wiring rather than gross changes in neuron number or morphology. Here, we review evidence that these disorders may share a common underlying neuropathy: altered excitatory synapse function. We focus on the most promising candidate genes affecting glutamatergic synapse function, highlighting the likely disease-relevant functional consequences of each. We first present a brief overview of glutamatergic synapses and then explore the genetic and phenotypic evidence for altered glutamate signaling in ID, ASD, and SCZ.
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Multitask Learning-Based Security Event Forecast Methods for Wireless Sensor Networks
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hui He
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks have strong dynamics and uncertainty, including network topological changes, node disappearance or addition, and facing various threats. First, to strengthen the detection adaptability of wireless sensor networks to various security attacks, a region similarity multitask-based security event forecast method for wireless sensor networks is proposed. This method performs topology partitioning on a large-scale sensor network and calculates the similarity degree among regional subnetworks. The trend of unknown network security events can be predicted through multitask learning of the occurrence and transmission characteristics of known network security events. Second, in case of lacking regional data, the quantitative trend of unknown regional network security events can be calculated. This study introduces a sensor network security event forecast method named Prediction Network Security Incomplete Unmarked Data (PNSIUD method to forecast missing attack data in the target region according to the known partial data in similar regions. Experimental results indicate that for an unknown security event forecast the forecast accuracy and effects of the similarity forecast algorithm are better than those of single-task learning method. At the same time, the forecast accuracy of the PNSIUD method is better than that of the traditional support vector machine method.
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CRI, 4-Processor VAX-11/780 Simulation of CRAY Multitasking System
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Werner, N.E.; Van Matre, S.W.
1988-01-01
1 - Description of program or function: CRI is a subroutine library and set of utilities which allow the use of a four-processor shared memory DEC VAX11/780-4 computer for parallel processing in a manner compatible with the present use of Cray Research, Inc.'s (CRI's) multitasking primitives on Cray computers. Included in the library are subroutines to perform resource initialization, task functions, lock operations, event signals, file sharing, and work queueing synchronization. 2 - Method of solution: A task consists of code and data that can be scheduled for execution on a CPU. Locks are the facility for monitoring critical regions of code. Events allow signaling between tasks; they have two states: cleared and posted. Posting an event allows all other tasks waiting on that event to resume execution. The CRI utilities consist of command procedures for creating the files needed to use the shared memory; for compiling and liking a multitasking program; for starting the logical processors on the physical processors after the time specified by submitting the job(s) to the selected generic batch queue and, optionally, interactively relinquishing control to the multiprocessor debugger; and for removing jobs from the batch queue and, optionally, un-mapping specified global sections from shared memory. CRIDEBUG utility does not work properly in this release
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An advanced human reliability analysis methodology: analysis of cognitive errors focused on
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Kim, J. H.; Jeong, W. D.
2001-01-01
The conventional Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) methods such as THERP/ASEP, HCR and SLIM has been criticised for their deficiency in analysing cognitive errors which occurs during operator's decision making process. In order to supplement the limitation of the conventional methods, an advanced HRA method, what is called the 2 nd generation HRA method, including both qualitative analysis and quantitative assessment of cognitive errors has been being developed based on the state-of-the-art theory of cognitive systems engineering and error psychology. The method was developed on the basis of human decision-making model and the relation between the cognitive function and the performance influencing factors. The application of the proposed method to two emergency operation tasks is presented
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FMRI to probe sex-related differences in brain function with multitasking
Tschernegg, Melanie; Neuper, Christa; Schmidt, Reinhold; Wood, Guilherme; Kronbichler, Martin; Fazekas, Franz; Enzinger, Christian; Koini, Marisa
2017-01-01
Background Although established as a general notion in society, there is no solid scientific foundation for the existence of sex-differences in multitasking. Reaction time and accuracy in dual task conditions have an inverse relationship relative to single task, independently from sex. While a more disseminated network, parallel to decreasing accuracy and reaction time has been demonstrated in dual task fMRI studies, little is known so far whether there exist respective sex-related difference...
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On Sparse Multi-Task Gaussian Process Priors for Music Preference Learning
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Nielsen, Jens Brehm; Jensen, Bjørn Sand; Larsen, Jan
In this paper we study pairwise preference learning in a music setting with multitask Gaussian processes and examine the effect of sparsity in the input space as well as in the actual judgments. To introduce sparsity in the inputs, we extend a classic pairwise likelihood model to support sparse...... simulation shows the performance on a real-world music preference dataset which motivates and demonstrates the potential of the sparse Gaussian process formulation for pairwise likelihoods....
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Li Deng
2016-01-01
Full Text Available In order to consider the psychological cognitive characteristics affecting operating comfort and realize the automatic layout design, cognitive ergonomics and GA-ACA (genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm were introduced into the layout design of human-machine interaction interface. First, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, according to the information processing process, the cognitive model of human-machine interaction interface was established. Then, the human cognitive characteristics were analyzed, and the layout principles of human-machine interaction interface were summarized as the constraints in layout design. Again, the expression form of fitness function, pheromone, and heuristic information for the layout optimization of cabin was studied. The layout design model of human-machine interaction interface was established based on GA-ACA. At last, a layout design system was developed based on this model. For validation, the human-machine interaction interface layout design of drilling rig control room was taken as an example, and the optimization result showed the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.
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Deng, Li; Wang, Guohua; Yu, Suihuai
2016-01-01
In order to consider the psychological cognitive characteristics affecting operating comfort and realize the automatic layout design, cognitive ergonomics and GA-ACA (genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm) were introduced into the layout design of human-machine interaction interface. First, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, according to the information processing process, the cognitive model of human-machine interaction interface was established. Then, the human cognitive characteristics were analyzed, and the layout principles of human-machine interaction interface were summarized as the constraints in layout design. Again, the expression form of fitness function, pheromone, and heuristic information for the layout optimization of cabin was studied. The layout design model of human-machine interaction interface was established based on GA-ACA. At last, a layout design system was developed based on this model. For validation, the human-machine interaction interface layout design of drilling rig control room was taken as an example, and the optimization result showed the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.
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Cognitive aspects of human motor activity: Contribution of right hemisphere and cerebellum
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sedov A. S.
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Background. Concepts of movement and action are not completely synonymous, but what distinguishes one from the other? Movement may be defined as stimulus- driven motor acts, while action implies realization of a specific motor goal, essential for cognitively driven behavior. Although recent clinical and neuroimaging studies have revealed some areas of the brain that mediate cognitive aspects of human motor behavior, the identification of the basic neural circuit underlying the interaction between cognitive and motor functions remains a challenge for neurophysiology and psychology. Objective. In the current study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI to investigate elementary cognitive aspects of human motor behavior. Design. Twenty healthy right-handed volunteers were asked to perform stimulus-driven and goal-directed movements by clenching the right hand into a fist (7 times. The cognitive component lay in anticipation of simple stimuli signals. In order to disentangle the purely motor component of stimulus-driven movements, we used the event-related (ER paradigm. FMRI was performed on a 3 Tesla Siemens Magnetom Verio MR-scanner with 32-channel head coil. Results. We have shown differences in the localization of brain activity depending on the involvement of cognitive functions. These differences testify to the role of the cerebellum and the right hemisphere in motor cognition. In particular, our results suggest that right associative cortical areas, together with the right posterolateral cerebellum (Crus I and lobule VI and basal ganglia, de ne cognitive control of motor activity, promoting a shift from a stimulus-driven to a goal-directed mode. Conclusion. These results, along with recent data from research on cerebro-cerebellar circuitry, redefine the scope of tasks for exploring the contribution of the cerebellum to diverse aspects of human motor behavior and cognition.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Daniel A Sternberg
2013-06-01
Full Text Available Making new breakthroughs in understanding the processes underlying human cognition may depend on the availability of very large datasets that have not historically existed in psychology and neuroscience. Lumosity is a web-based cognitive training platform that has grown to include over 600 million cognitive training task results from over 35 million individuals, comprising the largest existing dataset of human cognitive performance. As part of the Human Cognition Project, Lumosity’s collaborative research program to understand the human mind, Lumos Labs researchers and external research collaborators have begun to explore this dataset in order uncover novel insights about the correlates of cognitive performance. This paper presents two preliminary demonstrations of some of the kinds of questions that can be examined with the dataset. The first example focuses on replicating known findings relating lifestyle factors to baseline cognitive performance in a demographically diverse, healthy population at a much larger scale than has previously been available. The second example examines a question that would likely be very difficult to study in laboratory-based and existing online experimental research approaches: specifically, how learning ability for different types of cognitive tasks changes with age. We hope that these examples will provoke the imagination of researchers who are interested in collaborating to answer fundamental questions about human cognitive performance.
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THE HUMAN ACTIVITY AS AFFECTIVE-COGNITIVE UNIT: A HISTORIC-CULTURAL APPROACH
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lígia Márcia Martins
2017-01-01
Full Text Available This article puts in question the affectional-cognitive unit which sustains the human activity, with the purpose to light incorrectness of approaches which dichotomize reason and emotion. It asserts that such dissociations are founded in theorical-methodological principles which set bounds for explanations about the human psychism, so that the overcoming of referred dualisms puts on as a method matter. For making explicit that assertion, it resorted to Historic-Cultural Psychology, based on that it explains about the psychism as subjective image of objective reality, of Vygotskyan criticisms to Cartesian dualism and the need of a historic-cultural approach on emotion studies, intend to analyzing the human activity as a affective-cognitive unit and the imbricated relations that are waged, within it, among affections, emotions, feelings and thoughts. Once presented the interrelations between emotions and cognitions this exhibition argues that the concepts are necessary as a minimum unit of analysis both of thought and feelings.
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Effects of low-dose recombinant human erythropoietin treatment on cognitive performance
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Viuff, Søren Lundgaard; Plenge, Ulla; Belhage, Bo
2017-01-01
, NUFI or self-reported results between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this small study, we found no significant effect of low-dose or micro-dose rhEpo on visual attention, cognitive performance in complex cognitive tasks or self-experienced cognitive performance compared with placebo. FUNDING: The Aase......INTRODUCTION: High-dose recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo) has been shown to improve cognitive performance in both healthy volunteers and in patients suffering from diseases affecting the brain. The aim of this study was to examine whether administration of low-dose and even micro-dose rh...
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Effects of low-dose recombinant human erythropoietin treatment on cognitive performance
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Viuff, Søren Lundgaard; Plenge, Ulla; Belhage, Bo
2017-01-01
-reported results between the groups. Conclusions: In this small study, we found no significant effect of low-dose or micro-dose rhEpo on visual attention, cognitive performance in complex cognitive tasks or self-experienced cognitive performance compared with placebo. Funding: The Aase and Ejnar Danielsen......Introduction: High-dose recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo) has been shown to improve cognitive performance in both healthy volunteers and in patients suffering from diseases affecting the brain. The aim of this study was to examine whether administration of low-dose and even micro-dose rh...
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Szameitat, Andre J; Saylik, Rahmi; Parton, Andrew
2016-12-02
It is known that neuroticism impairs cognitive performance mostly in difficult tasks, but not so much in easier tasks. One pervasive situation of this type is multitasking, in which the combination of two simple tasks creates a highly demanding dual-task, and consequently high neurotics show higher dual-task costs than low neurotics. However, the functional neuroanatomical correlates of these additional performance impairments in high neurotics are unknown. To test for this, we assessed brain activity by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 17 low and 15 high neurotics while they were performing a demanding dual-task and the less demanding component tasks as single-tasks. Behavioural results showed that performance (response times and error rates) was lower in the dual-task than in the single-tasks (dual-task costs), and that these dual-task costs were significantly higher in high neurotics. Imaging data showed that high neurotics showed less dual-task specific activation in lateral (mainly middle frontal gyrus) and medial prefrontal cortices. We conclude that high levels of neuroticism impair behavioural performance in demanding tasks, and that this impairment is accompanied by reduced activation of the task-associated brain areas. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.
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Improving multi-tasking ability through action videogames.
Chiappe, Dan; Conger, Mark; Liao, Janet; Caldwell, J Lynn; Vu, Kim-Phuong L
2013-03-01
The present study examined whether action videogames can improve multi-tasking in high workload environments. Two groups with no action videogame experience were pre-tested using the Multi-Attribute Task Battery (MATB). It consists of two primary tasks; tracking and fuel management, and two secondary tasks; systems monitoring and communication. One group served as a control group, while a second played action videogames a minimum of 5 h a week for 10 weeks. Both groups returned for a post-assessment on the MATB. We found the videogame treatment enhanced performance on secondary tasks, without interfering with the primary tasks. Our results demonstrate action videogames can increase people's ability to take on additional tasks by increasing attentional capacity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.
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Effect of cognitive biases on human-robot interaction: a case study of robot's misattribution
Biswas, Mriganka; Murray, John
2014-01-01
This paper presents a model for developing long-term human-robot interactions and social relationships based on the principle of 'human' cognitive biases applied to a robot. The aim of this work is to study how a robot influenced with human ‘misattribution’ helps to build better human-robot interactions than unbiased robots. The results presented in this paper suggest that it is important to know the effect of cognitive biases in human characteristics and interactions in order to better u...
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Cognitive Human-Machine Interface Applied in Remote Support for Industrial Robot Systems
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tomasz Kosicki
2013-10-01
Full Text Available An attempt is currently being made to widely introduce industrial robots to Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs. Since the enterprises usually employ too small number of robot units to afford specialized departments for robot maintenance, they must be provided with inexpensive and immediate support remotely. This paper evaluates whether the support can be provided by means of Cognitive Info-communication – communication in which human cognitive capabilities are extended irrespectively of geographical distances. The evaluations are given with an aid of experimental system that consists of local and remote rooms, which are physically separated – a six-degree-of-freedom NACHI SH133-03 industrial robot is situated in the local room, while the operator, who supervises the robot by means of audio-visual Cognitive Human-Machine Interface, is situated in the remote room. The results of simple experiments show that Cognitive Info-communication is not only efficient mean to provide the support remotely, but is probably also a powerful tool to enhance interaction with any data-rich environment that require good conceptual understanding of system's state and careful attention management. Furthermore, the paper discusses data presentation and reduction methods for data-rich environments, as well as introduces the concepts of Naturally Acquired Data and Cognitive Human-Machine Interfaces.
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Companion Cognitive Systems: A Step toward Human-Level AI
Forbus, Kenneth D.; Hinrichs, Thomas R.
2006-01-01
We are developing Companion Cognitive Systems, a new kind of software that can be effectively treated as a collaborator. Aside from their potential utility, we believe this effort is important because it focuses on three key problems that must be solved to achieve human-level AI: Robust reasoning and learning, interactivity, and longevity. We describe the ideas we are using to develop the first architecture for Companions: analogical processing, grounded in cognitive science for reasoning and...
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Battini, R; Chieffo, D; Bulgheroni, S; Piccini, G; Pecini, C; Lucibello, S; Lenzi, S; Moriconi, F; Pane, M; Astrea, G; Baranello, G; Alfieri, P; Vicari, S; Riva, D; Cioni, G; Mercuri, E
2018-02-01
The aim of our prospective observational study was to assess profiles of cognitive function and a possible impairment of executive functions in a cohort of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy without intellectual and behavior disability. Forty Duchenne boys (range of age: 6 years to 11 years and 6 months) were assessed by Wechsler Intelligence scale and battery of tests including tasks assessing working memory and executive functions (inhibition and switching, problem solving and planning). In our cohort some aspects of cognitive function were often impaired. These included multitasking, problem solving, inhibition and working memory necessary to plan and direct goal oriented behavior. Our results support the suggestion that aspects of cognitive function could be impaired even in boys without intellectual disability and support the hypothesis that executive functions may play an important role in specific aspects of cognitive impairment in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Holistic Modeling for Human-Autonomous System Interaction
2015-01-01
piloting ...2012). 18X Pilots Learn RPAs First. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from http://www.holloman.af.mil/news/story.asp...human processor (QN-‐ MHP): a computational architecture for multitask performance in human-‐machine
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A model for assessing human cognitive reliability in PRA studies
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Hannaman, G.W.; Spurgin, A.J.; Lukic, Y.
1985-01-01
This paper summarizes the status of a research project sponsored by EPRI as part of the Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) technology improvement program and conducted by NUS Corporation to develop a model of Human Cognitive Reliability (HCR). The model was synthesized from features identified in a review of existing models. The model development was based on the hypothesis that the key factors affecting crew response times are separable. The inputs to the model consist of key parameters the values of which can be determined by PRA analysts for each accident situation being assessed. The output is a set of curves which represent the probability of control room crew non-response as a function of time for different conditions affecting their performance. The non-response probability is then a contributor to the overall non-success of operating crews to achieve a functional objective identified in the PRA study. Simulator data and some small scale tests were utilized to illustrate the calibration of interim HCR model coefficients for different types of cognitive processing since the data were sparse. The model can potentially help PRA analysts make human reliability assessments more explicit. The model incorporates concepts from psychological models of human cognitive behavior, information from current collections of human reliability data sources and crew response time data from simulator training exercises
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Music cognition and the cognitive sciences.
Pearce, Marcus; Rohrmeier, Martin
2012-10-01
Why should music be of interest to cognitive scientists, and what role does it play in human cognition? We review three factors that make music an important topic for cognitive scientific research. First, music is a universal human trait fulfilling crucial roles in everyday life. Second, music has an important part to play in ontogenetic development and human evolution. Third, appreciating and producing music simultaneously engage many complex perceptual, cognitive, and emotional processes, rendering music an ideal object for studying the mind. We propose an integrated status for music cognition in the Cognitive Sciences and conclude by reviewing challenges and big questions in the field and the way in which these reflect recent developments. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.
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McFadyen, Bradford J; Cantin, Jean-François; Swaine, Bonnie; Duchesneau, Guylaine; Doyon, Julien; Dumas, Denyse; Fait, Philippe
2009-09-01
To study the effects of sensory modality of simultaneous tasks during walking with and without obstacles after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Group comparison study. Gait analysis laboratory within a postacute rehabilitation facility. Volunteer sample (N=18). Persons with moderate to severe TBI (n=11) (9 men, 3 women; age, 37.56+/-13.79 y) and a comparison group (n=7) of subjects without neurologic problems matched on average for body mass index and age (4 men, 3 women; age, 39.19+/-17.35 y). Not applicable. Magnitudes and variability for walking speeds, foot clearance margins (ratio of foot clearance distance to obstacle height), and response reaction times (both direct and as a relative cost because of obstacle avoidance). The TBI group had well-recovered walking speeds and a general ability to avoid obstacles. However, these subjects did show lower trail limb toe clearances (P=.003) across all conditions. Response reaction times to the Stroop tasks were longer in general for the TBI group (P=.017), and this group showed significant increases in response reaction times for the visual modality within the more challenging obstacle avoidance task that was not observed for control subjects. A measure of multitask costs related to differences in response reaction times between obstructed and unobstructed trials also only showed increased attention costs for the visual over the auditory stimuli for the TBI group (P=.002). Mobility is a complex construct, and the present results provide preliminary findings that, even after good locomotor recovery, subjects with moderate to severe TBI show residual locomotor deficits in multitasking. Furthermore, our results suggest that sensory modality is important, and greater multitask costs occur during sensory competition (ie, visual interference).
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Walter, Scott R; Li, Ling; Dunsmuir, William T M; Westbrook, Johanna I
2014-03-01
To provide a detailed characterisation of clinicians' work management strategies. 1002.3 h of observational data were derived from three previous studies conducted in a teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, among emergency department (ED) doctors (n=40), ward doctors (n=57) and ward nurses (n=104). The rates of task-switching (pausing a task to handle an incoming task) and multitasking (adding a task in parallel to an existing task) were compared in each group. Random intercepts logistic regression was used to determine factors significantly associated with clinicians' use of task-switching over multitasking and to quantify variation between individual clinicians. Task-switching rates were higher among ED doctors (6.0 per hour) than ward staff (2.2 and 1.8 per hour for doctors and nurses, respectively) and vice versa for multitasking rates (9.2 vs 17.3 and 14.1 per hour). Clinicians' strategy use was significantly related to the nature and complexity of work and to the person they were working with. In some settings, time of day, day of the week or previous chosen strategy affected a clinician's strategy. Independent of these factors, there was significant variation between individual clinicians in their use of strategies in a given situation (ED doctors p=0.04, ward staff p=0.03). Despite differences in factors associated with work management strategy use among ED doctors, ward doctors and ward nurses, clinicians in all settings appeared to prioritise certain types of tasks over others. Documentation was generally given low priority in all groups, while the arrival of direct care tasks tended to be treated with high priority. These findings suggest that considerations of safety may be implicit in task-switching and multitasking decisions. Although these strategies have been cast in a negative light, future research should consider their role in optimising competing quality and efficiency demands.
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Jiang Jianjun; Zhang Li; Wang Yiqun; Zhang Kun; Peng Yuyuan; Zhou Cheng
2012-01-01
Facing the shortcomings of the traditional cognitive factors and cognitive model, this paper presents a Bayesian networks cognitive reliability model by taking the main control room as a reference background and human factors as the key points. The model mainly analyzes the cognitive reliability affected by the human factors, and for the cognitive node and influence factors corresponding to cognitive node, a series of methods and function formulas to compute the node cognitive reliability is proposed. The model and corresponding methods can be applied to the evaluation of cognitive process for the nuclear power plant operators and have a certain significance for the prevention of safety accidents in nuclear power plants. (authors)
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Samala, Ravi K.; Chan, Heang-Ping; Hadjiiski, Lubomir; Helvie, Mark A.; Richter, Caleb; Cha, Kenny
2018-02-01
We propose a cross-domain, multi-task transfer learning framework to transfer knowledge learned from non-medical images by a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) to medical image recognition task while improving the generalization by multi-task learning of auxiliary tasks. A first stage cross-domain transfer learning was initiated from ImageNet trained DCNN to mammography trained DCNN. 19,632 regions-of-interest (ROI) from 2,454 mass lesions were collected from two imaging modalities: digitized-screen film mammography (SFM) and full-field digital mammography (DM), and split into training and test sets. In the multi-task transfer learning, the DCNN learned the mass classification task simultaneously from the training set of SFM and DM. The best transfer network for mammography was selected from three transfer networks with different number of convolutional layers frozen. The performance of single-task and multitask transfer learning on an independent SFM test set in terms of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.78+/-0.02 and 0.82+/-0.02, respectively. In the second stage cross-domain transfer learning, a set of 12,680 ROIs from 317 mass lesions on DBT were split into validation and independent test sets. We first studied the data requirements for the first stage mammography trained DCNN by varying the mammography training data from 1% to 100% and evaluated its learning on the DBT validation set in inference mode. We found that the entire available mammography set provided the best generalization. The DBT validation set was then used to train only the last four fully connected layers, resulting in an AUC of 0.90+/-0.04 on the independent DBT test set.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Qi Qi
2016-01-01
Full Text Available The mobile cloud computing (MCC that combines mobile computing and cloud concept takes wireless access network as the transmission medium and uses mobile devices as the client. When offloading the complicated multitask application to the MCC environment, each task executes individually in terms of its own computation, storage, and bandwidth requirement. Due to user’s mobility, the provided resources contain different performance metrics that may affect the destination choice. Nevertheless, these heterogeneous MCC resources lack integrated management and can hardly cooperate with each other. Thus, how to choose the appropriate offload destination and orchestrate the resources for multitask is a challenge problem. This paper realizes a programming resource provision for heterogeneous energy-constrained computing environments, where a software defined controller is responsible for resource orchestration, offload, and migration. The resource orchestration is formulated as multiobjective optimal problem that contains the metrics of energy consumption, cost, and availability. Finally, a particle swarm algorithm is used to obtain the approximate optimal solutions. Simulation results show that the solutions for all of our studied cases almost can hit Pareto optimum and surpass the comparative algorithm in approximation, coverage, and execution time.
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Evaluation technology of human behavior cognition; Ningen kodo ninchi hyoka gijutsu
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
NONE
1997-03-01
For human engineering and improvement of the living environment, the evaluation technology of human behavior cognition was studied. For the future reformation and creation of economic structure, the following are required: establishment of safe and affluent communities, further improvement of the safety and harmonious balance of people, lives and society, and R & D close to people and social needs. Introduction of Product Liability law and a fail-safe concept are examples of such efforts. However, since many accidents are found in the human society, the relation between human errors and human characteristics should be studied in detail. The cognitive science of human behavior is an objective evaluation technology from the viewpoint of human being, object, environment and society. Based on these social and technological background, the feasibility of the evaluation technology is studied, and the future trend and skeleton of this project are clarified. The domestic and foreign trends of technologies concerned are thus surveyed, and the important points, features, skeleton and ripple effect of the technology are summarized. 500 refs., 70 figs., 5 tabs.
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A queueing model of pilot decision making in a multi-task flight management situation
Walden, R. S.; Rouse, W. B.
1977-01-01
Allocation of decision making responsibility between pilot and computer is considered and a flight management task, designed for the study of pilot-computer interaction, is discussed. A queueing theory model of pilot decision making in this multi-task, control and monitoring situation is presented. An experimental investigation of pilot decision making and the resulting model parameters are discussed.
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Bellandi, Tommaso; Cerri, Alessandro; Carreras, Giulia; Walter, Scott; Mengozzi, Cipriana; Albolino, Sara; Mastrominico, Eleonora; Renzetti, Fernando; Tartaglia, Riccardo; Westbrook, Johanna
2018-01-01
The aim of this study was to obtain baseline data on doctors' and nurses' work activities and rates of interruptions and multitasking to improve work organisation and processes. Data were collected in six surgical units with the WOMBAT (Work Observation Method by Activity Timing) tool. Results show that doctors and nurses received approximately 13 interruptions per hour, or one interruption every 4.5 min. Compared to doctors, nurses were more prone to interruptions in most activities, while doctors performed multitasking (33.47% of their time, 95% CI 31.84-35.17%) more than nurses (15.23%, 95% CI 14.24-16.25%). Overall, the time dedicated to patient care is relatively limited for both professions (37.21%, 95% CI 34.95-39.60% for doctors, 27.22%, 95% CI 25.18-29.60% for nurses) compared to the time spent for registration of data and professional communication, that accounts for two-thirds of doctors' time and nearly half of nurses' time. Further investigation is needed on strategies to manage job demands and professional communications. Practitioner Summary: This study offers further findings on the characteristics and frequency of multitasking and interruptions in surgery, with a comparison of how they affect doctors and nurses. Further investigation is needed to improve the management of job demands and communications according to the results.
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Lee, Jennifer
2012-01-01
The intent of this study was to examine the relationship between media multitasking orientation and grade point average. The study utilized a mixed-methods approach to investigate the research questions. In the quantitative section of the study, the primary method of statistical analyses was multiple regression. The independent variables for the…
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Age-related effects on postural control under multi-task conditions.
Granacher, Urs; Bridenbaugh, Stephanie A; Muehlbauer, Thomas; Wehrle, Anja; Kressig, Reto W
2011-01-01
Changes in postural sway and gait patterns due to simultaneously performed cognitive (CI) and/or motor interference (MI) tasks have previously been reported and are associated with an increased risk of falling in older adults. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of a CI and/or MI task on static and dynamic postural control in young and elderly subjects, and to find out whether there is an association between measures of static and dynamic postural control while concurrently performing the CI and/or MI task. A total of 36 healthy young (n = 18; age: 22.3 ± 3.0 years; BMI: 21.0 ± 1.6 kg/m(2)) and elderly adults (n = 18; age: 73.5 ± 5.5 years; BMI: 24.2 ± 2.9 kg/m(2)) participated in this study. Static postural control was measured during bipedal stance, and dynamic postural control was obtained while walking on an instrumented walkway. Irrespective of the task condition, i.e. single-task or multiple tasks, elderly participants showed larger center-of-pressure displacements and greater stride-to-stride variability than younger participants. Associations between measures of static and dynamic postural control were found only under the single-task condition in the elderly. Age-related deficits in the postural control system seem to be primarily responsible for the observed results. The weak correlations detected between static and dynamic measures could indicate that fall-risk assessment should incorporate dynamic measures under multi-task conditions, and that skills like erect standing and walking are independent of each other and may have to be trained complementarily. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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Technological Augmentation of Human Cognition: An Interdisciplinary Review.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
A series of five interdisciplinary conferences held over a two-year period explored new teaching and training concepts and methodologies which offer powerful, symbiotic means of augmenting human cognition. The basic discussion points of the conferences are summarized. It was felt that the conferences were significant in that they brought together…
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Categorial Compositionality: A Category Theory Explanation for the Systematicity of Human Cognition
Phillips, Steven; Wilson, William H.
2010-01-01
Classical and Connectionist theories of cognitive architecture seek to explain systematicity (i.e., the property of human cognition whereby cognitive capacity comes in groups of related behaviours) as a consequence of syntactically and functionally compositional representations, respectively. However, both theories depend on ad hoc assumptions to exclude specific instances of these forms of compositionality (e.g. grammars, networks) that do not account for systematicity. By analogy with the P...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
SENGLAUB, MICHAEL E.; HARRIS, DAVID L.; RAYBOURN, ELAINE M.
2001-01-01
In exploring the question of how humans reason in ambiguous situations or in the absence of complete information, we stumbled onto a body of knowledge that addresses issues beyond the original scope of our effort. We have begun to understand the importance that philosophy, in particular the work of C. S. Peirce, plays in developing models of human cognition and of information theory in general. We have a foundation that can serve as a basis for further studies in cognition and decision making. Peircean philosophy provides a foundation for understanding human reasoning and capturing behavioral characteristics of decision makers due to cultural, physiological, and psychological effects. The present paper describes this philosophical approach to understanding the underpinnings of human reasoning. We present the work of C. S. Peirce, and define sets of fundamental reasoning behavior that would be captured in the mathematical constructs of these newer technologies and would be able to interact in an agent type framework. Further, we propose the adoption of a hybrid reasoning model based on his work for future computational representations or emulations of human cognition
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Arbilly, Michal; Lotem, Arnon
2017-10-25
Anthropomorphism, the attribution of human cognitive processes and emotional states to animals, is commonly viewed as non-scientific and potentially misleading. This is mainly because apparent similarity to humans can usually be explained by alternative, simpler mechanisms in animals, and because there is no explanatory power in analogies to human phenomena when these phenomena are not well understood. Yet, because it is also difficult to preclude real similarity and continuity in the evolution of humans' and animals' cognitive abilities, it may not be productive to completely ignore our understanding of human behaviour when thinking about animals. Here we propose that in applying a functional approach to the evolution of cognitive mechanisms, human cognition may be used to broaden our theoretical thinking and to generate testable hypotheses. Our goal is not to 'elevate' animals, but rather to find the minimal set of mechanistic principles that may explain 'advanced' cognitive abilities in humans, and consider under what conditions these mechanisms were likely to enhance fitness and to evolve in animals. We illustrate this approach, from relatively simple emotional states, to more advanced mechanisms, involved in planning and decision-making, episodic memory, metacognition, theory of mind, and consciousness. © 2017 The Author(s).
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The cognitive environment simulation as a tool for modeling human performance and reliability
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Woods, D.D.; Pople, H. Jr.
1989-01-01
Various studies have shown that intention errors, or cognitive error, are a major contributor to the risk of disaster. Intention formation refers to the cognitive processes by which an agent decides on what actions are appropriate to carry out (information gathering, situation assessment, diagnosis, response selection). Understanding, measuring, predicting and correcting cognitive errors depends on the answers to the question - what are difficult problems? The answer to this question defines what are risky situations from the point of view of what incidents will the human-technical system manage safely and what incidents will the human-technical system manage poorly and evolve towards negative outcomes. The authors have made progress in the development of such measuring devices through an NRC sponsored research program on cognitive modeling of operator performance. The approach is based on the demand-resource match view of human error. In this approach the difficulty of a problem depends on both the nature of the problem itself and on the resources (e.g., knowledge, plans) available to solve the problem. One can test the difficulty posed by a domain incident, given some set of resources by running the incident through a cognitive simulation that carries out the cognitive activities of a limited resource problem solver in a dynamic, uncertain, risky and highly doctrinal (pre-planned routines and procedures) world. The cognitive simulation that they have developed to do this in NPP accidents is called the Cognitive Environment Simulation (CES). They will illustrate the power of this approach by comparing the behavior of operators in variants on a simulated accident to the behavior of CES in the same accidents
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Impact of Multitasking on Listening Effectiveness in the Learning Environment
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alla Kushniryk
2012-12-01
Full Text Available This experimental study evaluated the impact of multitasking and social presence on students’ performances in the learning environment. In the first live-presenter group, the participants listened to a lecture in a face-to-face environment. In the second virtual-presenter group, the participants listened on their computers to a pre-recorded lecture. The participants of these groups listened to a lecture and simultaneously wrote responses to open-ended online survey questions. While the participants of the first two groups were multitasking, those in the third group completed listening and writing tasks sequentially. It was found that multitasking significantly decreased performances on both the listening and writing tasks. The experiment also uncovered that the degree of social presence did not affect students’ performances on the listening or writing tasks in the learning environment. The perceived degree of social presence was the same in the virtual- and live-presenter groups.La présente étude expérimentale évalue les conséquences de la multiplicité des tâches et de la présence sociale sur la performance des étudiants dans l’environnement d’apprentissage. Le premier groupe a assisté à une cours donnée par un conférencier sur place. Le deuxième groupe a écouté le cours préenregistrée à partir d’un ordinateur. Les participants de ces deux groupes ont répondu simultanément en ligne aux questions ouvertes d’un sondage. Alors que les participants des deux premiers groupes ont effectué des tâches multiples simultanément, ceux du troisième groupe ont d’abord écouté puis ont répondu au sondage de façon séquentielle. Les chercheurs ont découvert que le fait de réaliser des tâches multiples entraînent une baisse importante de la performance en ce qui a trait à l’écoute et à la rédaction des réponses. L’expérience a aussi permis de découvrir que la présence en classe n’influe pas sur la
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Borst, J.P.; Taatgen, N.A.; Stocco, A.; Van Rijn, D.H.
2010-01-01
Background: It has been shown that people can only maintain one problem state, or intermediate mental representation, at a time. When more than one problem state is required, for example in multitasking, performance decreases considerably. This effect has been explained in terms of a problem state
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Feeling smart: Effects of caffeine and glucose on cognition, mood and self-judgment.
Ullrich, Susann; de Vries, Yfke C; Kühn, Simone; Repantis, Dimitris; Dresler, Martin; Ohla, Kathrin
2015-11-01
During education and early career, young adults often face examinations and assessment centers. Coffee and energy drinks are convenient and commonly used to enhance or maintain performance in these situations. Whether these macronutrients improve performance in a demanding and drawn-out multi-task situation is not clear. Using double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, we set out to examine the effects of caffeine and glucose in an assessment center-like situation, under natural consumption conditions, in a group of young adults who were heterogeneous with respect to consumption patterns. We measured multi-task performance including logical thinking, processing speed, numeric and verbal memory, attention and the ability to concentrate, and mood over a two-hour period. Caffeine and glucose were administered in common beverages with appropriate placebo controls allowing the assessment of psychological effects of expectancy. Importantly, and in contrast to most previous studies, participants retained their habitual caffeine and sugar intake (studies 1 and 2) as this represents common behavior. Based on the bulk of literature, we hypothesized that (i) caffeine enhances attentional performance and mood, while performance in more complex tasks will remain unchanged, and that (ii) glucose enhances performance on memory tasks accompanied with negative mood. Our results provide evidence that neither caffeine nor glucose significantly influence cognitive performance when compared with placebo, water, or no treatment controls in a multi-task setting. Yet, caffeine and, by trend, placebo improve dispositions such that participants perceive preserved mental energy throughout the test procedure. These subjective effects were stronger after 24 h caffeine abstinence (study 3). Future studies will have to address whether these mood changes actually result in increased motivation during a challenging task.
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The application of cognitive models to the evaluation and prediction of human reliability
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Embrey, D.E.; Reason, J.T.
1986-01-01
The first section of the paper provides a brief overview of a number of important principles relevant to human reliability modeling that have emerged from cognitive models, and presents a synthesis of these approaches in the form of a Generic Error Modeling System (GEMS). The next section illustrates the application of GEMS to some well known nuclear power plant (NPP) incidents in which human error was a major contributor. The way in which design recommendations can emerge from analyses of this type is illustrated. The third section describes the use of cognitive models in the classification of human errors for prediction and data collection purposes. The final section addresses the predictive modeling of human error as part of human reliability assessment in Probabilistic Risk Assessment
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Wadley, Lyn; Hodgskiss, Tamaryn; Grant, Michael
2009-01-01
Compound adhesives made from red ochre mixed with plant gum were used in the Middle Stone Age (MSA), South Africa. Replications reported here suggest that early artisans did not merely color their glues red; they deliberately effected physical transformations involving chemical changes from acidic to less acidic pH, dehydration of the adhesive near wood fires, and changes to mechanical workability and electrostatic forces. Some of the steps required for making compound adhesive seem impossible without multitasking and abstract thought. This ability suggests overlap between the cognitive abilities of modern people and people in the MSA. Our multidisciplinary analysis provides a new way to recognize complex cognition in the MSA without necessarily invoking the concept of symbolism. PMID:19433786
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Identification and Analysis of Multi-tasking Product Information Search Sessions with Query Logs
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Xiang Zhou
2016-09-01
Full Text Available Purpose: This research aims to identify product search tasks in online shopping and analyze the characteristics of consumer multi-tasking search sessions. Design/methodology/approach: The experimental dataset contains 8,949 queries of 582 users from 3,483 search sessions. A sequential comparison of the Jaccard similarity coefficient between two adjacent search queries and hierarchical clustering of queries is used to identify search tasks. Findings: (1 Users issued a similar number of queries (1.43 to 1.47 with similar lengths (7.3-7.6 characters per task in mono-tasking and multi-tasking sessions, and (2 Users spent more time on average in sessions with more tasks, but spent less time for each task when the number of tasks increased in a session. Research limitations: The task identification method that relies only on query terms does not completely reflect the complex nature of consumer shopping behavior. Practical implications: These results provide an exploratory understanding of the relationships among multiple shopping tasks, and can be useful for product recommendation and shopping task prediction. Originality/value: The originality of this research is its use of query clustering with online shopping task identification and analysis, and the analysis of product search session characteristics.
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Shift Work and Cognitive Flexibility: Decomposing Task Performance.
Cheng, Philip; Tallent, Gabriel; Bender, Thomas John; Tran, Kieulinh Michelle; Drake, Christopher L
2017-04-01
Deficits in cognitive functioning associated with shift work are particularly relevant to occupational performance; however, few studies have examined how cognitive functioning is associated with specific components of shift work. This observational study examined how circadian phase, nocturnal sleepiness, and daytime insomnia in a sample of shift workers ( N = 30) were associated with cognitive flexibility during the night shift. Cognitive flexibility was measured using a computerized task-switching paradigm, which produces 2 indexes of flexibility: switch cost and set inhibition. Switch cost represents the additional cognitive effort required in switching to a different task and can impact performance when multitasking is involved. Set inhibition is the efficiency in returning to previously completed tasks and represents the degree of cognitive perseveration, which can lead to reduced accuracy. Circadian phase was measured via melatonin assays, nocturnal sleepiness was assessed using the Multiple Sleep Latency Test, and daytime insomnia was assessed using the Insomnia Severity Index. Results indicated that those with an earlier circadian phase, insomnia, and sleepiness exhibited reduced cognitive flexibility; however, specific components of cognitive flexibility were differentially associated with circadian phase, insomnia, and sleepiness. Individuals with an earlier circadian phase (thus more misaligned to the night shift) exhibited larger switch costs, which was also associated with reduced task efficiency. Shift workers with more daytime insomnia demonstrated difficulties with cognitive inhibition, whereas nocturnal sleepiness was associated with difficulties in reactivating previous tasks. Deficits in set inhibition were also related to reduced accuracy and increased perseverative errors. Together, this study indicates that task performance deficits in shift work are complex and are variably impacted by different mechanisms. Future research may examine
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Multimodal neural correlates of cognitive control in the Human Connectome Project.
Lerman-Sinkoff, Dov B; Sui, Jing; Rachakonda, Srinivas; Kandala, Sridhar; Calhoun, Vince D; Barch, Deanna M
2017-12-01
Cognitive control is a construct that refers to the set of functions that enable decision-making and task performance through the representation of task states, goals, and rules. The neural correlates of cognitive control have been studied in humans using a wide variety of neuroimaging modalities, including structural MRI, resting-state fMRI, and task-based fMRI. The results from each of these modalities independently have implicated the involvement of a number of brain regions in cognitive control, including dorsal prefrontal cortex, and frontal parietal and cingulo-opercular brain networks. However, it is not clear how the results from a single modality relate to results in other modalities. Recent developments in multimodal image analysis methods provide an avenue for answering such questions and could yield more integrated models of the neural correlates of cognitive control. In this study, we used multiset canonical correlation analysis with joint independent component analysis (mCCA + jICA) to identify multimodal patterns of variation related to cognitive control. We used two independent cohorts of participants from the Human Connectome Project, each of which had data from four imaging modalities. We replicated the findings from the first cohort in the second cohort using both independent and predictive analyses. The independent analyses identified a component in each cohort that was highly similar to the other and significantly correlated with cognitive control performance. The replication by prediction analyses identified two independent components that were significantly correlated with cognitive control performance in the first cohort and significantly predictive of performance in the second cohort. These components identified positive relationships across the modalities in neural regions related to both dynamic and stable aspects of task control, including regions in both the frontal-parietal and cingulo-opercular networks, as well as regions
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Romain J G Clément
Full Text Available Group-living is widespread among animals and one of the major advantages of group-living is the ability of groups to solve cognitive problems that exceed individual ability. Humans also make use of collective cognition and have simultaneously developed a highly complex language to exchange information. Here we investigated collective cognition of human groups regarding language use in a realistic situation. Individuals listened to a public announcement and had to reconstruct the sentence alone or in groups. This situation is often encountered by humans, for instance at train stations or airports. Using recent developments in machine speech recognition, we analysed how well individuals and groups reconstructed the sentences from a syntactic (i.e., the number of errors and semantic (i.e., the quality of the retrieved information perspective. We show that groups perform better both on a syntactic and semantic level than even their best members. Groups made fewer errors and were able to retrieve more information when reconstructing the sentences, outcompeting even their best group members. Our study takes collective cognition studies to the more complex level of language use in humans.
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Multi-task pose-invariant face recognition.
Ding, Changxing; Xu, Chang; Tao, Dacheng
2015-03-01
Face images captured in unconstrained environments usually contain significant pose variation, which dramatically degrades the performance of algorithms designed to recognize frontal faces. This paper proposes a novel face identification framework capable of handling the full range of pose variations within ±90° of yaw. The proposed framework first transforms the original pose-invariant face recognition problem into a partial frontal face recognition problem. A robust patch-based face representation scheme is then developed to represent the synthesized partial frontal faces. For each patch, a transformation dictionary is learnt under the proposed multi-task learning scheme. The transformation dictionary transforms the features of different poses into a discriminative subspace. Finally, face matching is performed at patch level rather than at the holistic level. Extensive and systematic experimentation on FERET, CMU-PIE, and Multi-PIE databases shows that the proposed method consistently outperforms single-task-based baselines as well as state-of-the-art methods for the pose problem. We further extend the proposed algorithm for the unconstrained face verification problem and achieve top-level performance on the challenging LFW data set.
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Geo-spatial Cognition on Human's Social Activity Space Based on Multi-scale Grids
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
ZHAI Weixin
2016-12-01
Full Text Available Widely applied location aware devices, including mobile phones and GPS receivers, have provided great convenience for collecting large volume individuals' geographical information. The researches on the human's society behavior space has attracts an increasingly number of researchers. In our research, based on location-based Flickr data From 2004 to May, 2014 in China, we choose five levels of spatial grids to form the multi-scale frame for investigate the correlation between the scale and the geo-spatial cognition on human's social activity space. The HT-index is selected as the fractal inspired by Alexander to estimate the maturity of the society activity on different scales. The results indicate that that the scale characteristics are related to the spatial cognition to a certain extent. It is favorable to use the spatial grid as a tool to control scales for geo-spatial cognition on human's social activity space.
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Simulation of a nuclear measurement system around a multi-task mode real-time monitor
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
De Grandi, G.; Ouiguini, R.
1983-01-01
When debugging and testing material and software for the automation of systems, the non-availability of this last one states important logistic problems. A simulator of the system to be automatized, conceived around a multi-task mode real-time monitor, allowing the debugging of the software of automation without the physical presence of the system to be automatized, is proposed in the present report
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Functional relations and cognitive psychology: Lessons from human performance and animal research.
Proctor, Robert W; Urcuioli, Peter J
2016-02-01
We consider requirements for effective interdisciplinary communication and explore alternative interpretations of "building bridges between functional and cognitive psychology." If the bridges are intended to connect radical behaviourism and cognitive psychology, or functional contextualism and cognitive psychology, the efforts are unlikely to be successful. But if the bridges are intended to connect functional relationships and cognitive theory, no construction is needed because the bridges already exist within cognitive psychology. We use human performance and animal research to illustrate the latter point and to counter the claim that the functional approach is unique in offering a close relationship between science and practice. Effective communication will be enhanced and, indeed, may only occur if the goal of functional contextualism extends beyond just "the advancement of functional contextual cognitive and behavioral science and practice" to "the advancement of cognitive and behavioral science and practice" without restriction. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.
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Human cognitive task distribution model for maintenance support system of a nuclear power plant
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Park, Young Ho
2007-02-15
In human factors research, more attention has been devoted to the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) than to their maintenance. However, human error related to maintenance is 45% among the total human errors from 1990 to 2005 in Korean nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is necessary to study human factors in the maintenance of an NPP. There is a current trend toward introducing digital technology into both safety and non-safety systems in NPPs. A variety of information about plant conditions can be used digitally. In the future, maintenance support systems will be developed based on an information-oriented NPP. In this context, it is necessary to study the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in maintenance and the interaction between the personnel and maintenance support systems. The fundamental purpose of this work is how to distribute the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in the maintenance in order to develop a maintenance support system that considers human factors. The second purpose is to find the causes of errors due to engineers or maintainers and propose system functions that are countermeasures to reduce these errors. In this paper, a cognitive task distribution model of the personnel involved in maintenance is proposed using Rasmussen's decision making model. First, the personnel were divided into three groups: the operators (inspectors), engineers, and maintainers. Second, human cognitive tasks related to maintenance were distributed based on these groups. The operators' cognitive tasks are detection and observation; the engineers' cognitive tasks are identification, evaluation, target state, select target, and procedure: and the maintainers' cognitive task is execution. The case study is an analysis of failure reports related to human error in maintenance over a period of 15years. By using error classification based on the information processing approach, the human errors involved in maintenance were classified
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Human cognitive task distribution model for maintenance support system of a nuclear power plant
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Park, Young Ho
2007-02-01
In human factors research, more attention has been devoted to the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) than to their maintenance. However, human error related to maintenance is 45% among the total human errors from 1990 to 2005 in Korean nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is necessary to study human factors in the maintenance of an NPP. There is a current trend toward introducing digital technology into both safety and non-safety systems in NPPs. A variety of information about plant conditions can be used digitally. In the future, maintenance support systems will be developed based on an information-oriented NPP. In this context, it is necessary to study the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in maintenance and the interaction between the personnel and maintenance support systems. The fundamental purpose of this work is how to distribute the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in the maintenance in order to develop a maintenance support system that considers human factors. The second purpose is to find the causes of errors due to engineers or maintainers and propose system functions that are countermeasures to reduce these errors. In this paper, a cognitive task distribution model of the personnel involved in maintenance is proposed using Rasmussen's decision making model. First, the personnel were divided into three groups: the operators (inspectors), engineers, and maintainers. Second, human cognitive tasks related to maintenance were distributed based on these groups. The operators' cognitive tasks are detection and observation; the engineers' cognitive tasks are identification, evaluation, target state, select target, and procedure: and the maintainers' cognitive task is execution. The case study is an analysis of failure reports related to human error in maintenance over a period of 15years. By using error classification based on the information processing approach, the human errors involved in maintenance were classified
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Karpinski, Aryn; Kirschner, Paul A.; Ozer, Ipek; Mellott, Jennifer; Ochwo, Pius
2018-01-01
Studies have shown that multitasking with technology, specifically using Social Networking Sites (SNSs), decreases both efficiency and productivity in an academic setting. This study investigates multitasking’s impact on the relationship between SNS use and Grade Point Average (GPA) in United
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2014-11-20
UAS/RPA AVOs is driving reassignment of manned aircraft pilots into unmanned piloting jobs, which may result in poor P- E Fit. Other Potential...Tasking Test (MTT) Test Description The USAF Multi-Tasking Test, based on a test originally sponsored by the US Navy, assesses cognitive multitasking ...0.26 0.20 N/A Favorable TBAS TBAS MultiTasking (Combination Joystick and Rudder Test) 0.25 0.00 N/A Favorable
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Clayson, Dennis E.; Haley, Debra A.
2013-01-01
This exploratory study looks at the phenomena of texting in a marketing education context. It outlines the difficulties of multitasking within two metacognitive models of learning and sets the stage for further research on the effects of texting within class. Students in marketing classes in two different universities were surveyed. They received…
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Boot, I.; Peter, J.; van Oosten, J.M.F.
2012-01-01
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether responses to sexual media depend on personal and situational factors. Specifically, we studied the role of sociosexual orientation (i.e., personal factor) and multitasking (i.e., situational factor) in the effects of sexual media content on
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Waerden, van der P.J.H.J.; Timmermans, H.J.P.; Neerven, van R.
2009-01-01
A study of the frequency and nature of multitasking on Dutch trains is described. Descriptive and model analyses were carried out on the basis of field observations on intercity and regional trains. The most frequent task was "doing nothing," followed by "talking socially" and "reading a newspaper."
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Humanity in the Digital Age: Cognitive, Social, Emotional, and Ethical Implications
Yamamoto, Junko; Ananou, Simeon
2015-01-01
Even though technology has brought great benefits to current society, there are also indications that the manner in which people use technology has undermined their humanity in some respects. In this article the authors frame human nature in terms of four dimensions: cognition, social interaction, emotion, and ethics. We argue that while basic…
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Multitasking the INS3D-LU code on the Cray Y-MP
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Fatoohi, Rod; Yoon, Seokkwan.
1991-01-01
This paper presents the results of multitasking the INS3D-LU code on eight processors. The code is a full Navier-Stokes solver for incompressible fluid in three dimensional generalized coordinates using a lower-upper symmetric-Gauss-Seidel implicit scheme. This code has been fully vectorized on oblique planes of sweep and parallelized using autotasking with some directives and minor modifications. The timing results for five grid sizes are presented and analyzed. The code has achieved a processing rate of over one Gflops
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Multitasking the INS3D-LU code on the Cray Y-MP
Fatoohi, Rod; Yoon, Seokkwan
1991-01-01
This paper presents the results of multitasking the INS3D-LU code on eight processors. The code is a full Navier-Stokes solver for incompressible fluid in three dimensional generalized coordinates using a lower-upper symmetric-Gauss-Seidel implicit scheme. This code has been fully vectorized on oblique planes of sweep and parallelized using autotasking with some directives and minor modifications. The timing results for five grid sizes are presented and analyzed. The code has achieved a processing rate of over one Gflops.
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Inverted-U shaped dopamine actions on human working memory and cognitive control
Cools, R; D’Esposito, M
2011-01-01
Brain dopamine has long been implicated in cognitive control processes, including working memory. However, the precise role of dopamine in cognition is not well understood, partly because there is large variability in the response to dopaminergic drugs both across different behaviors and across different individuals. We review evidence from a series of studies with experimental animals, healthy humans and patients with Parkinson’s disease, which highlight two important factors that contribute to this large variability. First, the existence of an optimum dopamine level for cognitive function implicates the need to take into account baseline levels of dopamine when isolating dopamine’s effects. Second, cognitive control is a multi-factorial phenomenon, requiring a dynamic balance between cognitive stability and cognitive flexibility. These distinct components might implicate the prefrontal cortex and the striatum respectively. Manipulating dopamine will thus have paradoxical consequences for distinct cognitive control processes depending on distinct basal or optimal levels of dopamine in different brain regions. PMID:21531388
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An update to the multitasking thermalhydraulics evaluation package
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Guo, Y.; Leung, L.K.H.; Vasic, A. [Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario (Canada)
2007-07-01
An update of the multitasking Thermalhydraulics Evaluation Package (TEP) was implemented to improve the prediction accuracy of critical heat flux (CHF) and post-dryout (PDO) heat transfer for 37-element fuel bundles. The improvement of prediction accuracy was achieved using the latest correlations for CHF and PDO heat transfer derived from fullscale bundle tests. The predictions of TEP were assessed against experimental data and good agreement has been observed. In addition to the improvement, the prediction capability of the package has been expanded to capture the effect of radial power profile on CHF for 37-element bundles. A correlation for the radial power profile effect on CHF has been implemented. It accounts for the deviation in CHF between the bundle of radial power profile of interest and the equivalent bundle of the natural uranium profile. (author)
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Cognitive genomics: Linking genes to behavior in the human brain
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Genevieve Konopka
2017-02-01
Full Text Available Correlations of genetic variation in DNA with functional brain activity have already provided a starting point for delving into human cognitive mechanisms. However, these analyses do not provide the specific genes driving the associations, which are complicated by intergenic localization as well as tissue-specific epigenetics and expression. The use of brain-derived expression datasets could build upon the foundation of these initial genetic insights and yield genes and molecular pathways for testing new hypotheses regarding the molecular bases of human brain development, cognition, and disease. Thus, coupling these human brain gene expression data with measurements of brain activity may provide genes with critical roles in brain function. However, these brain gene expression datasets have their own set of caveats, most notably a reliance on postmortem tissue. In this perspective, I summarize and examine the progress that has been made in this realm to date, and discuss the various frontiers remaining, such as the inclusion of cell-type-specific information, additional physiological measurements, and genomic data from patient cohorts.
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Linking human factors to corporate strategy with cognitive mapping techniques.
Village, Judy; Greig, Michael; Salustri, Filippo A; Neumann, W Patrick
2012-01-01
For human factors (HF) to avoid being considered of "side-car" status, it needs to be positioned within the organization in such a way that it affects business strategies and their implementation. Tools are needed to support this effort. This paper explores the feasibility of applying a technique from operational research called cognitive mapping to link HF to corporate strategy. Using a single case study, a cognitive map is drawn to reveal the complex relationships between human factors and achieving an organization's strategic goals. Analysis of the map for central concepts and reinforcing loops enhances understanding that can lead to discrete initiatives to facilitate integration of HF. It is recommended that this technique be used with senior managers to understand the organizations` strategic goals and enhance understanding of the potential for HF to contribute to the strategic goals.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
P. Bhattacharya
2007-11-01
Full Text Available To achieve an effective and safe operation on the machine system where the human interacts with the machine mutually, there is a need for the machine to understand the human state, especially cognitive state, when the human's operation task demands an intensive cognitive activity. Due to a well-known fact with the human being, a highly uncertain cognitive state and behavior as well as expressions or cues, the recent trend to infer the human state is to consider multimodality features of the human operator. In this paper, we present a method for multimodality inferring of human cognitive states by integrating neuro-fuzzy network and information fusion techniques. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this method, we take the driver fatigue detection as an example. The proposed method has, in particular, the following new features. First, human expressions are classified into four categories: (i casual or contextual feature, (ii contact feature, (iii contactless feature, and (iv performance feature. Second, the fuzzy neural network technique, in particular Takagi-Sugeno-Kang (TSK model, is employed to cope with uncertain behaviors. Third, the sensor fusion technique, in particular ordered weighted aggregation (OWA, is integrated with the TSK model in such a way that cues are taken as inputs to the TSK model, and then the outputs of the TSK are fused by the OWA which gives outputs corresponding to particular cognitive states under interest (e.g., fatigue. We call this method TSK-OWA. Validation of the TSK-OWA, performed in the Northeastern University vehicle drive simulator, has shown that the proposed method is promising to be a general tool for human cognitive state inferring and a special tool for the driver fatigue detection.
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Osvath, Mathias; Martin-Ordas, Gema
2014-11-05
One of the most contested areas in the field of animal cognition is non-human future-oriented cognition. We critically examine key underlying assumptions in the debate, which is mainly preoccupied with certain dichotomous positions, the most prevalent being whether or not 'real' future orientation is uniquely human. We argue that future orientation is a theoretical construct threatening to lead research astray. Cognitive operations occur in the present moment and can be influenced only by prior causation and the environment, at the same time that most appear directed towards future outcomes. Regarding the current debate, future orientation becomes a question of where on various continua cognition becomes 'truly' future-oriented. We question both the assumption that episodic cognition is the most important process in future-oriented cognition and the assumption that future-oriented cognition is uniquely human. We review the studies on future-oriented cognition in the great apes to find little doubt that our closest relatives possess such ability. We conclude by urging that future-oriented cognition not be viewed as expression of some select set of skills. Instead, research into future-oriented cognition should be approached more like research into social and physical cognition. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
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The structure of creative cognition in the human brain
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rex Eugene Jung
2013-07-01
Full Text Available Creativity is a vast construct, seemingly intractable to scientific inquiry – perhaps due to the vague concepts applied to the field of research. One attempt to limit the purview of creative cognition formulates the construct in terms of evolutionary constraints, namely that of blind variation and selective retention (BVSR. Behaviorally, one can limit the blind variation component to idea generation tests as manifested by measures of divergent thinking. The selective retention component can be represented by measures of convergent thinking, as represented by measures of remote associates. We summarize results from measures of creative cognition, correlated with structural neuroimaging measures including structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI, and proton magnetic resonance imaging (1H-MRS. We also review lesion studies, considered to be the gold standard of brain-behavioral studies. What emerges is a picture consistent with theories of disinhibitory brain features subserving creative cognition, as described previously (Martindale, 1981. We provide a perspective, involving aspects of the default mode network, which might provide a first approximation regarding how creative cognition might map on to the human brain.
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An assessment of emergency medicine residents' ability to perform in a multitasking environment.
Ledrick, David; Fisher, Susan; Thompson, Justin; Sniadanko, Mark
2009-09-01
Multitasking (MT) is a term often applied to emergency medicine (EM), but it is still poorly understood. In an effort to facilitate MT research in EM, the authors conducted this pilot study to describe EM residents' scores on a Multi-Tasking Assessment Tool (MTAT) and compare these scores with the residents' work efficiency in the emergency department. The authors administered a previously developed test of MT ability to EM residents. They performed a multiple regression analysis to determine the effect of MT ability on resident work efficiency, defining efficiency as the number of relative value units billed per hour. They controlled the analysis for year of training and medical knowledge using as a standard the in-service exam administered by the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Complete data for 35 residents were available for analysis. Work efficiency was multivariately correlated with MTAT scores and year of training (P training explained the majority of the variance, a resident's MT ability accounted for a smaller but still significant portion. This pilot study further validates the MTAT and lays the groundwork for further research in MT in EM. Resident year of training and MTAT scores explain the variability in resident work efficiency significantly more than medical knowledge. Understanding MT ability may ultimately help in resident selection, education, and remediation as well as career counseling and improvement of practice systems in EM.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Solange Maria Alves
2016-07-01
Full Text Available This text is fruit of studies, reflections and dialogues developed with graduate and post-graduate students inteaching and research coordinated by me, allocated in the research group: Human Development, Culture and Education, in rows : Language, Learning and Development and Imaginary Production and Creative Education. Over several years, the task of educational coordinating processes of teaching and research, allowed the construction of synthesis (always provisional, presented here. Having as a foundation the historic-cultural theory of Vygotsky and collaborators, the text reflects about human development, cognition and school education, pursuing the thesis that cognition is human development. To do this, search, in theoretical foundations of historical-cultural conception, the key elements that explain the process by which the biological becomes socio-historical, it takes up more carefully in the explicit about Vygotsky translates as plans or genetic fields of human development, increase the reflection articulating the categories: labor and language.
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Effort in Multitasking: Local and Global Assessment of Effort.
Kiesel, Andrea; Dignath, David
2017-01-01
When performing multiple tasks in succession, self-organization of task order might be superior compared to external-controlled task schedules, because self-organization allows optimizing processing modes and thus reduces switch costs, and it increases commitment to task goals. However, self-organization is an additional executive control process that is not required if task order is externally specified and as such it is considered as time-consuming and effortful. To compare self-organized and externally controlled task scheduling, we suggest assessing global subjective and objectives measures of effort in addition to local performance measures. In our new experimental approach, we combined characteristics of dual tasking settings and task switching settings and compared local and global measures of effort in a condition with free choice of task sequence and a condition with cued task sequence. In a multi-tasking environment, participants chose the task order while the task requirement of the not-yet-performed task remained the same. This task preview allowed participants to work on the previously non-chosen items in parallel and resulted in faster responses and fewer errors in task switch trials than in task repetition trials. The free-choice group profited more from this task preview than the cued group when considering local performance measures. Nevertheless, the free-choice group invested more effort than the cued group when considering global measures. Thus, self-organization in task scheduling seems to be effortful even in conditions in which it is beneficiary for task processing. In a second experiment, we reduced the possibility of task preview for the not-yet-performed tasks in order to hinder efficient self-organization. Here neither local nor global measures revealed substantial differences between the free-choice and a cued task sequence condition. Based on the results of both experiments, we suggest that global assessment of effort in addition to
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Metacognition of Multi-Tasking: How Well Do We Predict the Costs of Divided Attention?
Finley, Jason R.; Benjamin, Aaron S.; McCarley, Jason S.
2014-01-01
Risky multi-tasking, such as texting while driving, may occur because people misestimate the costs of divided attention. In two experiments, participants performed a computerized visual-manual tracking task in which they attempted to keep a mouse cursor within a small target that moved erratically around a circular track. They then separately performed an auditory n-back task. After practicing both tasks separately, participants received feedback on their single-task tracking performance and ...
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No Effect of TETRA Hand Portable Transmission Signals on Human Cognitive Function and Symptoms
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Riddervold, Ingunn Skogstad; Kjærgaard, Søren K.; Pedersen, Gert F.
2010-01-01
Current radio frequency radiation exposure guidelines rest on well-established thermal effects. However, recent research into analogue and digital transmission fields at levels covered by the exposure guidelines has indicated possible detrimental effects on human cognitive performance. To investi......Current radio frequency radiation exposure guidelines rest on well-established thermal effects. However, recent research into analogue and digital transmission fields at levels covered by the exposure guidelines has indicated possible detrimental effects on human cognitive performance....... To investigate this, we conducted a controlled climate chamber study of possible changes in cognitive performance in healthy volunteers exposed to transmission signals from TETRA hand portables (TETRA handsets). The trial deployed a balanced, randomized, double-blinded cross-over design. Performance on different...... paper-and-pencil, auditory and computer-based cognitive tasks was monitored in 53 male volunteers (mean age 36.41 years, SD 8.35) during 45-min exposure to a TETRA handset and sham control signals remotely controlled from a laboratory more than 100 km away. The main cognitive outcome was the Trail...
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International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Shen, Song-Hua; Chang, James Y.H.; Boring, Ronald L.; Whaley, April M.; Lois, Erasmia; Langfitt Hendrickson, Stacey M.; Oxstrand, Johanna H.; Forester, John Alan; Kelly, Dana L.; Mosleh, Ali
2010-01-01
The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) is sponsoring work in response to a Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) directing an effort to establish a single human reliability analysis (HRA) method for the agency or guidance for the use of multiple methods. As part of this effort an attempt to develop a comprehensive HRA qualitative approach is being pursued. This paper presents a draft of the method's middle layer, a part of the qualitative analysis phase that links failure mechanisms to performance shaping factors. Starting with a Crew Response Tree (CRT) that has identified human failure events, analysts identify potential failure mechanisms using the mid-layer model. The mid-layer model presented in this paper traces the identification of the failure mechanisms using the Information-Diagnosis/Decision-Action (IDA) model and cognitive models from the psychological literature. Each failure mechanism is grouped according to a phase of IDA. Under each phase of IDA, the cognitive models help identify the relevant performance shaping factors for the failure mechanism. The use of IDA and cognitive models can be traced through fault trees, which provide a detailed complement to the CRT.
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Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Stacey M. L. Hendrickson; April M. Whaley; Ronald L. Boring; James Y. H. Chang; Song-Hua Shen; Ali Mosleh; Johanna H. Oxstrand; John A. Forester; Dana L. Kelly; Erasmia L. Lois
2010-06-01
The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) is sponsoring work in response to a Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM) directing an effort to establish a single human reliability analysis (HRA) method for the agency or guidance for the use of multiple methods. As part of this effort an attempt to develop a comprehensive HRA qualitative approach is being pursued. This paper presents a draft of the method’s middle layer, a part of the qualitative analysis phase that links failure mechanisms to performance shaping factors. Starting with a Crew Response Tree (CRT) that has identified human failure events, analysts identify potential failure mechanisms using the mid-layer model. The mid-layer model presented in this paper traces the identification of the failure mechanisms using the Information-Diagnosis/Decision-Action (IDA) model and cognitive models from the psychological literature. Each failure mechanism is grouped according to a phase of IDA. Under each phase of IDA, the cognitive models help identify the relevant performance shaping factors for the failure mechanism. The use of IDA and cognitive models can be traced through fault trees, which provide a detailed complement to the CRT.
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Soldier Cognitive Processes: Supporting Teleoperated Ground Vehicle Operations
2014-12-01
They also examined training materials available to train robotic operators. Materials came from a pilot SUGV Master Trainer Course as well as from the...Allocation of Scarce Mental Resources. It is increasingly difficult to multitask if the similarity of the mental resources used in each task...1984). If separate tasks are not competing as much for the same mental resources, multitasking can be accomplished more effectively. Further, when
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Boot, I.; Peter, J.; van Oosten, J.M.F.
2014-01-01
The aim of the present study was to investigate whether responses to sexual media content depend on personal and situational factors. Specifically, we studied the role of the personal factor impersonal sex orientation (IS) and the situational factor multitasking in the effect of sexual media content
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Imagination in human social cognition, autism, and psychotic-affective conditions.
Crespi, Bernard; Leach, Emma; Dinsdale, Natalie; Mokkonen, Mikael; Hurd, Peter
2016-05-01
Complex human social cognition has evolved in concert with risks for psychiatric disorders. Recently, autism and psychotic-affective conditions (mainly schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression) have been posited as psychological 'opposites' with regard to social-cognitive phenotypes. Imagination, considered as 'forming new ideas, mental images, or concepts', represents a central facet of human social evolution and cognition. Previous studies have documented reduced imagination in autism, and increased imagination in association with psychotic-affective conditions, yet these sets of findings have yet to be considered together, or evaluated in the context of the diametric model. We first review studies of the components, manifestations, and neural correlates of imagination in autism and psychotic-affective conditions. Next, we use data on dimensional autism in healthy populations to test the hypotheses that: (1) imagination represents the facet of autism that best accounts for its strongly male-biased sex ratio, and (2) higher genetic risk of schizophrenia is associated with higher imagination, in accordance with the predictions of the diametric model. The first hypothesis was supported by a systematic review and meta-analysis showing that Imagination exhibits the strongest male bias of all Autism Quotient (AQ) subscales, in non-clinical populations. The second hypothesis was supported, for males, by associations between schizophrenia genetic risk scores, derived from a set of single-nucleotide polymorphisms, and the AQ Imagination subscale. Considered together, these findings indicate that imagination, especially social imagination as embodied in the default mode human brain network, mediates risk and diametric dimensional phenotypes of autism and psychotic-affective conditions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Selective neuronal lapses precede human cognitive lapses following sleep deprivation.
Nir, Yuval; Andrillon, Thomas; Marmelshtein, Amit; Suthana, Nanthia; Cirelli, Chiara; Tononi, Giulio; Fried, Itzhak
2017-12-01
Sleep deprivation is a major source of morbidity with widespread health effects, including increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, heart attack, and stroke. Moreover, sleep deprivation brings about vehicle accidents and medical errors and is therefore an urgent topic of investigation. During sleep deprivation, homeostatic and circadian processes interact to build up sleep pressure, which results in slow behavioral performance (cognitive lapses) typically attributed to attentional thalamic and frontoparietal circuits, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Recently, through study of electroencephalograms (EEGs) in humans and local field potentials (LFPs) in nonhuman primates and rodents it was found that, during sleep deprivation, regional 'sleep-like' slow and theta (slow/theta) waves co-occur with impaired behavioral performance during wakefulness. Here we used intracranial electrodes to record single-neuron activities and LFPs in human neurosurgical patients performing a face/nonface categorization psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) over multiple experimental sessions, including a session after full-night sleep deprivation. We find that, just before cognitive lapses, the selective spiking responses of individual neurons in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) are attenuated, delayed, and lengthened. These 'neuronal lapses' are evident on a trial-by-trial basis when comparing the slowest behavioral PVT reaction times to the fastest. Furthermore, during cognitive lapses, LFPs exhibit a relative local increase in slow/theta activity that is correlated with degraded single-neuron responses and with baseline theta activity. Our results show that cognitive lapses involve local state-dependent changes in neuronal activity already present in the MTL.
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Changes in gait pattern during multitask using smartphones.
Jeon, SoYeong; Kim, ChoRong; Song, SunHae; Lee, GyuChang
2015-01-01
With the development of science and technology, smartphones have been deeply involved in people's everyday lives, and many perform various tasks simultaneously on smartphones. To investigate gait pattern changes on performing multitask simultaneously when using smartphones. Three tasks were performed by 26 healthy adults. In the first, participants were directed to walk without using smartphones (single-task). In the second, they were required to walk while finding applications (dual-task). Lastly, in addition to performing the second task, they were asked to listen to questions and answer them on their smartphone (triple-task). Spatiotemporal variables of gait and degree of lateral deviation during walking were measured. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the single-task and dual tasks, as well as between the single task and triple task in all variables (p smartphones in comparison to walking without using smartphones.
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Oxytocin modulates human communication by enhancing cognitive exploration.
de Boer, Miriam; Kokal, Idil; Blokpoel, Mark; Liu, Rui; Stolk, Arjen; Roelofs, Karin; van Rooij, Iris; Toni, Ivan
2017-12-01
Oxytocin is a neuropeptide known to influence how humans share material resources. Here we explore whether oxytocin influences how we share knowledge. We focus on two distinguishing features of human communication, namely the ability to select communicative signals that disambiguate the many-to-many mappings that exist between a signal's form and meaning, and adjustments of those signals to the presumed cognitive characteristics of the addressee ("audience design"). Fifty-five males participated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled experiment involving the intranasal administration of oxytocin. The participants produced novel non-verbal communicative signals towards two different addressees, an adult or a child, in an experimentally-controlled live interactive setting. We found that oxytocin administration drives participants to generate signals of higher referential quality, i.e. signals that disambiguate more communicative problems; and to rapidly adjust those communicative signals to what the addressee understands. The combined effects of oxytocin on referential quality and audience design fit with the notion that oxytocin administration leads participants to explore more pervasively behaviors that can convey their intention, and diverse models of the addressees. These findings suggest that, besides affecting prosocial drive and salience of social cues, oxytocin influences how we share knowledge by promoting cognitive exploration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Brain Insulin Resistance at the Crossroads of Metabolic and Cognitive Disorders in Humans.
Kullmann, Stephanie; Heni, Martin; Hallschmid, Manfred; Fritsche, Andreas; Preissl, Hubert; Häring, Hans-Ulrich
2016-10-01
Ever since the brain was identified as an insulin-sensitive organ, evidence has rapidly accumulated that insulin action in the brain produces multiple behavioral and metabolic effects, influencing eating behavior, peripheral metabolism, and cognition. Disturbances in brain insulin action can be observed in obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D), as well as in aging and dementia. Decreases in insulin sensitivity of central nervous pathways, i.e., brain insulin resistance, may therefore constitute a joint pathological feature of metabolic and cognitive dysfunctions. Modern neuroimaging methods have provided new means of probing brain insulin action, revealing the influence of insulin on both global and regional brain function. In this review, we highlight recent findings on brain insulin action in humans and its impact on metabolism and cognition. Furthermore, we elaborate on the most prominent factors associated with brain insulin resistance, i.e., obesity, T2D, genes, maternal metabolism, normal aging, inflammation, and dementia, and on their roles regarding causes and consequences of brain insulin resistance. We also describe the beneficial effects of enhanced brain insulin signaling on human eating behavior and cognition and discuss potential applications in the treatment of metabolic and cognitive disorders. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.
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Trombetti, Andrea; Hars, Mélany; Herrmann, François R; Kressig, Reto W; Ferrari, Serge; Rizzoli, René
2011-03-28
Falls occur mainly while walking or performing concurrent tasks. We determined whether a music-based multitask exercise program improves gait and balance and reduces fall risk in elderly individuals. We conducted a 12-month randomized controlled trial involving 134 community-dwelling individuals older than 65 years, who are at increased risk of falling. They were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 66) or a delayed intervention control group scheduled to start the program 6 months later (n = 68). The intervention was a 6-month multitask exercise program performed to the rhythm of piano music. Change in gait variability under dual-task condition from baseline to 6 months was the primary end point. Secondary outcomes included changes in balance, functional performances, and fall risk. At 6 months, there was a reduction in stride length variability (adjusted mean difference, -1.4%; P Balance and functional tests improved compared with the control group. There were fewer falls in the intervention group (incidence rate ratio, 0.46; 95% confidence interval, 0.27-0.79) and a lower risk of falling (relative risk, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.39-0.96). Similar changes occurred in the delayed intervention control group during the second 6-month period with intervention. The benefit of the intervention on gait variability persisted 6 months later. In community-dwelling older people at increased risk of falling, a 6-month music-based multitask exercise program improved gait under dual-task condition, improved balance, and reduced both the rate of falls and the risk of falling. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01107288.
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Pyramid algorithms as models of human cognition
Pizlo, Zygmunt; Li, Zheng
2003-06-01
There is growing body of experimental evidence showing that human perception and cognition involves mechanisms that can be adequately modeled by pyramid algorithms. The main aspect of those mechanisms is hierarchical clustering of information: visual images, spatial relations, and states as well as transformations of a problem. In this paper we review prior psychophysical and simulation results on visual size transformation, size discrimination, speed-accuracy tradeoff, figure-ground segregation, and the traveling salesman problem. We also present our new results on graph search and on the 15-puzzle.
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Multitask Quantile Regression under the Transnormal Model.
Fan, Jianqing; Xue, Lingzhou; Zou, Hui
2016-01-01
We consider estimating multi-task quantile regression under the transnormal model, with focus on high-dimensional setting. We derive a surprisingly simple closed-form solution through rank-based covariance regularization. In particular, we propose the rank-based ℓ 1 penalization with positive definite constraints for estimating sparse covariance matrices, and the rank-based banded Cholesky decomposition regularization for estimating banded precision matrices. By taking advantage of alternating direction method of multipliers, nearest correlation matrix projection is introduced that inherits sampling properties of the unprojected one. Our work combines strengths of quantile regression and rank-based covariance regularization to simultaneously deal with nonlinearity and nonnormality for high-dimensional regression. Furthermore, the proposed method strikes a good balance between robustness and efficiency, achieves the "oracle"-like convergence rate, and provides the provable prediction interval under the high-dimensional setting. The finite-sample performance of the proposed method is also examined. The performance of our proposed rank-based method is demonstrated in a real application to analyze the protein mass spectroscopy data.
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Go4 multitasking class library with ROOT
Adamczewski, J; Bertini, D; Essel, H G; Hemberger, M; Kurz, N; Richter, M
2002-01-01
In the situation of monitoring an experiment, it is often necessary to control several independently running tasks from one graphical user interface (GUI). Such a GUI must be able to execute commands in the tasks even if they are busy, i.e., getting data, analyzing data, or waiting for data. Moreover, the tasks, being controlled by data streams (i.e., event data samples or slow control data), must be able to send data asynchronously to the GUI for visualization. A multitasking package (C++ class library) that meets these demands has been developed at the Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Darmstadt, Germany, in the framework of a new analysis system, Go4, which is based on the ROOT system [CERN, R. Brun et al]. The package provides a thread manager, a task handler, and asynchronous intertask communication between threads through sockets. Hence, objects can be sent at any time from a task to the GUI or vice versa. At the GUI side, an incoming object is accepted by a thread and processed. In a task, a...
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Consciousness, plasticity, and connectomics: the role of intersubjectivity in human cognition
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Allen, Micah Galen; Williams, Gary
2011-01-01
motivates philosophical and empirical hypotheses regarding the appropriate time-scale and function of neuroplastic adaptation, the relation of high and low-frequency neural activity to consciousness and cognitive plasticity, and the role of ritual social practices in neural development and cognitive...... take up our account of consciousness from the observation of radical cortical neuroplasticity in human development. Accordingly, we draw upon recent research on macroscopic neural networks, including the “default mode,” to illustrate cases in which an individual’s particular “connectome” is shaped...
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Face cognition in humans: Psychophysiological, developmental, and cross-cultural aspects
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Chernorizov A. M.
2016-12-01
Full Text Available Investigators are finding increasing evidence for cross-cultural specificity in face cognition along with individual characteristics. The functions on which face cognition is based not only are types of general cognitive functions (perception, memory but are elements of specific mental processes. Face perception, memorization, correct recognition of faces, and understanding the information that faces provide are essential skills for humans as a social species and can be considered as facets of social (cultural intelligence. Face cognition is a difficult, multifaceted set of processes. The systems and processes involved in perceiving and recognizing faces are captured by several models focusing on the pertinent functions or including the presumably underlying neuroanatomical substrates. Thus, the study of face-cognition mechanisms is a cross-disciplinary topic. In Russia, Germany, and China there are plans to organize an interdisciplinary crosscultural study of face cognition. The first step of this scientific interaction is conducting psychological and psychophysiological studies of face cognition in multinational Russia within the frame of a grant supported by the Russian Science Foundation and devoted to “cross-cultural tolerance”. For that reason and in the presence of the huge diversity of data concerning face cognition, we suggest for discussion, specifically within the psychological scientific community, three aspects of face cognition: (1 psychophysiological (quantitative data, (2 developmental (qualitative data from developmental psychology, and (3 cross-cultural (qualitative data from cross-cultural studies. These three aspects reflect the different levels of investigations and constitute a comprehensive, multilateral approach to the problem. Unfortunately, as a rule, neuropsychological and psychological investigations are carried out independently of each other. However, for the purposes of our overview here, we assume that the
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Multitasking the three-dimensional transport code TORT on CRAY platforms
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Azmy, Y.Y.
1996-01-01
The multitasking options in the three-dimensional neutral particle transport code TORT originally implemented for Cray's CTSS operating system are revived and extended to run on Cray Y/MP and C90 computers using the UNICOS operating system. These include two coarse-grained domain decompositions; across octants, and across directions within an octant, termed Octant Parallel (OP), and Direction Parallel (DP), respectively. Parallel performance of the DP is significantly enhanced by increasing the task grain size and reducing load imbalance via dynamic scheduling of the discrete angles among the participating tasks. Substantial Wall Clock speedup factors, approaching 4.5 using 8 tasks, have been measured in a time-sharing environment, and generally depend on the test problem specifications, number of tasks, and machine loading during execution
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Taniguchi, Hidetaka; Sato, Hiroshi; Shirakawa, Tomohiro
2018-05-09
Human learners can generalize a new concept from a small number of samples. In contrast, conventional machine learning methods require large amounts of data to address the same types of problems. Humans have cognitive biases that promote fast learning. Here, we developed a method to reduce the gap between human beings and machines in this type of inference by utilizing cognitive biases. We implemented a human cognitive model into machine learning algorithms and compared their performance with the currently most popular methods, naïve Bayes, support vector machine, neural networks, logistic regression and random forests. We focused on the task of spam classification, which has been studied for a long time in the field of machine learning and often requires a large amount of data to obtain high accuracy. Our models achieved superior performance with small and biased samples in comparison with other representative machine learning methods.
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Immune networks: multi-tasking capabilities at medium load
Agliari, E.; Annibale, A.; Barra, A.; Coolen, A. C. C.; Tantari, D.
2013-08-01
Associative network models featuring multi-tasking properties have been introduced recently and studied in the low-load regime, where the number P of simultaneously retrievable patterns scales with the number N of nodes as P ˜ log N. In addition to their relevance in artificial intelligence, these models are increasingly important in immunology, where stored patterns represent strategies to fight pathogens and nodes represent lymphocyte clones. They allow us to understand the crucial ability of the immune system to respond simultaneously to multiple distinct antigen invasions. Here we develop further the statistical mechanical analysis of such systems, by studying the medium-load regime, P ˜ Nδ with δ ∈ (0, 1]. We derive three main results. First, we reveal the nontrivial architecture of these networks: they exhibit a high degree of modularity and clustering, which is linked to their retrieval abilities. Second, by solving the model we demonstrate for δ frameworks are required to achieve effective retrieval.
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Potential of Cognitive Computing and Cognitive Systems
Noor, Ahmed K.
2015-01-01
Cognitive computing and cognitive technologies are game changers for future engineering systems, as well as for engineering practice and training. They are major drivers for knowledge automation work, and the creation of cognitive products with higher levels of intelligence than current smart products. This paper gives a brief review of cognitive computing and some of the cognitive engineering systems activities. The potential of cognitive technologies is outlined, along with a brief description of future cognitive environments, incorporating cognitive assistants - specialized proactive intelligent software agents designed to follow and interact with humans and other cognitive assistants across the environments. The cognitive assistants engage, individually or collectively, with humans through a combination of adaptive multimodal interfaces, and advanced visualization and navigation techniques. The realization of future cognitive environments requires the development of a cognitive innovation ecosystem for the engineering workforce. The continuously expanding major components of the ecosystem include integrated knowledge discovery and exploitation facilities (incorporating predictive and prescriptive big data analytics); novel cognitive modeling and visual simulation facilities; cognitive multimodal interfaces; and cognitive mobile and wearable devices. The ecosystem will provide timely, engaging, personalized / collaborative, learning and effective decision making. It will stimulate creativity and innovation, and prepare the participants to work in future cognitive enterprises and develop new cognitive products of increasing complexity. http://www.aee.odu.edu/cognitivecomp
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Hansen, Pil; Oxoby, Robert J.
2017-01-01
In this article, we articulate preliminary insights from two pilot studies. These studies contribute to an ongoing process of developing empirical, cross-disciplinary measures to understand the cognitive and learning effects of complex artistic practices - effects that we situate between theory of embodied concepts and conceptually calibrated physical attention and action. The stage of this process that we report on here was led by the cognitive performance studies scholar and dramaturge, Pil Hansen, and undertaken in collaboration with the experimental psychologist, Vina Goghari, and the behavioural economist, Robert Oxoby, assisted by four research assistants from Drama, Music, and Psychology at the University of Calgary. Our team set out to test the following hypothesis: Active participation in performance generating systems has a positive effect on advanced student performers' working memory capacity, executive functions, and learning. Our results have implications, in particular, for understandings of embodied learning in the educational sector, however a perhaps more significant contribution is a better understanding of the measures and constructs needed to arrive at a more complex, yet operational concept of embodied learning and forward the experimental study of relationships between performing arts practices, cognition, and learning.
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Modeling cognition dynamics and its application to human reliability analysis
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Mosleh, A.; Smidts, C.; Shen, S.H.
1996-01-01
For the past two decades, a number of approaches have been proposed for the identification and estimation of the likelihood of human errors, particularly for use in the risk and reliability studies of nuclear power plants. Despite the wide-spread use of the most popular among these methods, their fundamental weaknesses are widely recognized, and the treatment of human reliability has been considered as one of the soft spots of risk studies of large technological systems. To alleviate the situation, new efforts have focused on the development of human reliability models based on a more fundamental understanding of operator response and its cognitive aspects
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Narelle M. Berry
2012-05-01
Full Text Available Background and aim: Preliminary evaluation of a wild green oat extract (WGOE (Neuravena® ELFA®955, Frutarom, Switzerland revealed an acute cognitive benefit of supplementation. This study investigated whether regular daily WGOE supplementation would result in sustained cognitive improvements. Method: A 12-week randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over trial of WGOE supplementation (1500 mg/day versus placebo was undertaken in 37 healthy adults aged 67 ± 0.8 years (mean ± SEM. Cognitive assessments included the Stroop colour-word test, letter cancellation, the rule-shift task, a computerised multi-tasking test battery and the trail-making task. All assessments were conducted in Week 12 and repeated in Week 24 whilst subjects were fasted and at least 18 h after taking the last dose of supplement. Result: Chronic WGOE supplementation did not affect any measures of cognition. Conclusion: It appears that the cognitive benefit of acute WGOE supplementation does not persist with chronic treatment in older adults with normal cognition. It remains to be seen whether sustained effects of WGOE supplementation may be more evident in those with mild cognitive impairment.
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Vascular endothelial growth factors: multitasking functionality in metabolism, health and disease.
Smith, Gina A; Fearnley, Gareth W; Harrison, Michael A; Tomlinson, Darren C; Wheatcroft, Stephen B; Ponnambalam, Sreenivasan
2015-07-01
Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) bind to VEGF receptor tyrosine kinases (VEGFRs). The VEGF and VEGFR gene products regulate diverse regulatory pathways in mammalian development, health and disease. The interaction between a particular VEGF and its cognate VEGFR activates multiple signal transduction pathways which regulate different cellular responses including metabolism, gene expression, proliferation, migration, and survival. The family of VEGF isoforms regulate vascular physiology and promote tissue homeostasis. VEGF dysfunction is implicated in major chronic disease states including atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancer. More recent studies implicate a strong link between response to VEGF and regulation of vascular metabolism. Understanding how this family of multitasking cytokines regulates cell and animal function has implications for treating many different diseases.
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Stutz, Aaron J.
2014-01-01
Human evolution unfolded through a rather distinctive, dynamically constructed ecological niche. The human niche is not only generally terrestrial in habitat, while being flexibly and extensively heterotrophic in food-web connections. It is also defined by semiotically structured and structuring embodied cognitive interfaces, connecting the individual organism with the wider environment. The embodied dimensions of niche-population co-evolution have long involved semiotic system construction, which I hypothesize to be an evolutionarily primitive aspect of learning and higher-level cognitive integration and attention in the great apes and humans alike. A clearly pre-linguistic form of semiotic cognitive structuration is suggested to involve recursively learned and constructed object icons. Higher-level cognitive iconic representation of visually, auditorily, or haptically perceived extrasomatic objects would be learned and evoked through indexical connections to proprioceptive and affective somatic states. Thus, private cognitive signs would be defined, not only by their learned and perceived extrasomatic referents, but also by their associations to iconically represented somatic states. This evolutionary modification of animal associative learning is suggested to be adaptive in ecological niches occupied by long-lived, large-bodied ape species, facilitating memory construction and recall in highly varied foraging and social contexts, while sustaining selective attention during goal-directed behavioral sequences. The embodied niche construction (ENC) hypothesis of human evolution posits that in the early hominin lineage, natural selection further modified the ancestral ape semiotic adaptations, favoring the recursive structuration of concise iconic narratives of embodied interaction with the environment. PMID:25136323
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Non-visual biological effects of light on human cognition, alertness, and mood
Li, Huaye; Wang, Huihui; Shen, Junfei; Sun, Peng; Xie, Ting; Zhang, Siman; Zheng, Zhenrong
2017-09-01
Light exerts non-visual effects on a wide range of biological functions and behavior apart from the visual effect. Light can regulate human circadian rhythms, like the secretion of melatonin and cortisol. Light also has influence on body's physiological parameters, such as blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. However, human cognitive performance, alertness and mood under different lighting conditions have not been considered thoroughly especially for the complicated visual task like surgical operating procedure. In this paper, an experiment was conducted to investigate the cognition, alertness and mood of healthy participants in a simulated operating room (OR) in the hospital. A LED surgical lamp was used as the light source, which is mixed by three color LEDs (amber, green and blue). The surgical lamp is flexible on both spectrum and intensity. Exposed to different light settings, which are varied from color temperature and luminance, participants were asked to take psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) for alertness measurement, alphabet test for cognitive performance measurement, positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) for mood measurement. The result showed the participants' cognitive performance, alertness and mood are related to the color temperature and luminance of the LED light. This research will have a guidance for the surgical lighting environment, which can not only enhance doctors' efficiency during the operations, but also create a positive and peaceful surgical lighting environment.
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Associationism and cognition: human contingency learning at 25.
Shanks, David R
2007-03-01
A major topic within human learning, the field of contingency judgement, began to emerge about 25 years ago following publication of an article on depressive realism by Alloy and Abramson (1979). Subsequently, associationism has been the dominant theoretical framework for understanding contingency learning but this has been challenged in recent years by an alternative cognitive or inferential approach. This article outlines the key conceptual differences between these approaches and summarizes some of the main methods that have been employed to distinguish between them.
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Structurally-constrained relationships between cognitive states in the human brain.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ann M Hermundstad
2014-05-01
Full Text Available The anatomical connectivity of the human brain supports diverse patterns of correlated neural activity that are thought to underlie cognitive function. In a manner sensitive to underlying structural brain architecture, we examine the extent to which such patterns of correlated activity systematically vary across cognitive states. Anatomical white matter connectivity is compared with functional correlations in neural activity measured via blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD signals. Functional connectivity is separately measured at rest, during an attention task, and during a memory task. We assess these structural and functional measures within previously-identified resting-state functional networks, denoted task-positive and task-negative networks, that have been independently shown to be strongly anticorrelated at rest but also involve regions of the brain that routinely increase and decrease in activity during task-driven processes. We find that the density of anatomical connections within and between task-positive and task-negative networks is differentially related to strong, task-dependent correlations in neural activity. The space mapped out by the observed structure-function relationships is used to define a quantitative measure of separation between resting, attention, and memory states. We find that the degree of separation between states is related to both general measures of behavioral performance and relative differences in task-specific measures of attention versus memory performance. These findings suggest that the observed separation between cognitive states reflects underlying organizational principles of human brain structure and function.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Petr Brůha
2018-04-01
Full Text Available Smoking, excessive drinking, overeating and physical inactivity are well-established risk factors decreasing human physical performance. Moreover, epidemiological work has identified modifiable lifestyle factors, such as poor diet and physical and cognitive inactivity that are associated with the risk of reduced cognitive performance. Definition, collection and annotation of human reaction times and suitable health related data and metadata provides researchers with a necessary source for further analysis of human physical and cognitive performance. The collection of human reaction times and supporting health related data was obtained from two groups comprising together 349 people of all ages - the visitors of the Days of Science and Technology 2016 held on the Pilsen central square and members of the Mensa Czech Republic visiting the neuroinformatics lab at the University of West Bohemia. Each provided dataset contains a complete or partial set of data obtained from the following measurements: hands and legs reaction times, color vision, spirometry, electrocardiography, blood pressure, blood glucose, body proportions and flexibility. It also provides a sufficient set of metadata (age, gender and summary of the participant's current life style and health to allow researchers to perform further analysis. This article has two main aims. The first aim is to provide a well annotated collection of human reaction times and health related data that is suitable for further analysis of lifestyle and human cognitive and physical performance. This data collection is complemented with a preliminarily statistical evaluation. The second aim is to present a procedure of efficient acquisition of human reaction times and supporting health related data in non-lab and lab conditions. Keywords: Reaction time, Health related data, Cognitive and physical performance, Chronic disease, Data acquisition, Data collection, Software for data collection
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Master of Puppets: Cooperative Multitasking for In Situ Processing
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Morozov, Dmitriy [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Lukic, Zarija [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
2016-01-01
Modern scientific and engineering simulations track the time evolution of billions of elements. For such large runs, storing most time steps for later analysis is not a viable strategy. It is far more efficient to analyze the simulation data while it is still in memory. Here, we present a novel design for running multiple codes in situ: using coroutines and position-independent executables we enable cooperative multitasking between simulation and analysis, allowing the same executables to post-process simulation output, as well as to process it on the fly, both in situ and in transit. We present Henson, an implementation of our design, and illustrate its versatility by tackling analysis tasks with different computational requirements. This design differs significantly from the existing frameworks and offers an efficient and robust approach to integrating multiple codes on modern supercomputers. The techniques we present can also be integrated into other in situ frameworks.
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City rats: insight from rat spatial behavior into human cognition in urban environments.
Yaski, Osnat; Portugali, Juval; Eilam, David
2011-09-01
The structure and shape of the urban environment influence our ability to find our way about in the city. Understanding how the physical properties of the environment affect spatial behavior and cognition is therefore a necessity. However, there are inherent difficulties in empirically studying complex and large-scale urban environments. These include the need to isolate the impact of specific urban features and to acquire data on the physical activity of individuals. In the present study, we attempted to overcome the above obstacles and examine the relation between urban environments and spatial cognition by testing the spatial behavior of rats. This idea originated from the resemblance in the operative brain functions and in the mechanisms and strategies employed by humans and other animals when acquiring spatial information and establishing an internal representation, as revealed in past studies. Accordingly, we tested rats in arenas that simulated a grid urban layout (e.g. Manhattan streets) and an irregular urban layout (e.g. Jerusalem streets). We found that in the grid layout, rat movement was more structured and extended over a greater area compared with their restricted movement in the irregular layout. These movement patterns recall those of humans in respective urban environments, illustrating that the structure and shape of the environment affect spatial behavior similarly in humans and rats. Overall, testing rats in environments that simulate facets of urban environments can provide new insights into human spatial cognition in urban environments.
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Dynamic Operator Overload Estimation during Supervisory Control of Multiple UAVs
2014-01-01
Olsen, and C. W. Nielsen, "Validating human-robot interaction schemes in multitasking environments," IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, vol. 35...Breslow is a cognitive scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory, Code 5515, Washington DC 20375; phone: 301-602-3585; email : len.breslow...nrl.navy.mil Daniel Gartenberg is a Ph.D. student at George Mason University, Fairfax VA; email : dgartenb@masonlive.gmu.edu J. Malcolm McCurry is a research
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A basic experimental study on mental workload for human cognitive work at man-machine interface
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Shimoda, Hiroshi; Wakamori, Osamu; Nagai, Yoshinori
1995-01-01
The nature and measurement methods of mental workload (MWL) for human cognitive activity at man-machine interface (MMI) were firstly discussed from the viewpoint of human information process model. Then, a model VDT experiment which simplifies the actual human-computer-interaction situation at MMI, was conducted for several subjects, where two subjects participated in experiment series and tried to solve the same cognitive task in competition. Adopted experimental parameters were (i)different kinds of cognitive task, and (ii)cycle time of information display, to see the influence on MWL characteristics from psycho-physiological viewpoint. A special processing unit for eye camera was developed and used for measuring subjects' eye movement characteristics. Concerning data analysis, total number of display presentation until problem solving (ie., total information needed for problem solving) was assumed as anchoring objective measure for MWL, and the investigations were conducted from two aspects; (i)global interpretation on MWL characteristics seen in the subjects' behavior from viewpoint of human information process model, and (ii)applicability of MWL by means of biocybernetic method. As regards to applicability of biocybernetic method, the nature of MWL characteristics was first divided into two aspects : (i)efficiency of visual information acquisition, and (ii)difficulty of inner cognitive process to solve problem, both in time pressure situation. Then, the data analysis results for eye movement characteristics were correlated to (i), while for heart rate characteristics, (ii). (author)
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Simulating motivated cognition
Gevarter, William B.
1991-01-01
A research effort to develop a sophisticated computer model of human behavior is described. A computer framework of motivated cognition was developed. Motivated cognition focuses on the motivations or affects that provide the context and drive in human cognition and decision making. A conceptual architecture of the human decision-making approach from the perspective of information processing in the human brain is developed in diagrammatic form. A preliminary version of such a diagram is presented. This architecture is then used as a vehicle for successfully constructing a computer program simulation Dweck and Leggett's findings that relate how an individual's implicit theories orient them toward particular goals, with resultant cognitions, affects, and behavior.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Aaron Jonas Stutz
2014-08-01
Full Text Available Human evolution unfolded through a rather distinctive, dynamically constructed ecological niche. The human niche is not only generally terrestrial in habitat, while being flexibly and extensively heterotrophic in food-web connections. It is also defined by semiotically structured and structuring embodied cognitive interfaces, connecting the individual organism with the wider environment. The embodied dimensions of niche-population co-evolution have long involved semiotic system construction, which I hypothesize to be an evolutionarily primitive aspect of learning and higher-level cognitive integration and attention in the great apes and humans alike. A clearly pre-linguistic form of semiotic cognitive structuration is suggested to involve recursively learned and constructed object icons. Higher-level cognitive iconic representation of visually, auditorily, or haptically perceived extrasomatic objects would be learned and evoked through indexical connections to proprioceptive and affective somatic states. Thus, private cognitive signs would be defined, not only by their learned and perceived extrasomatic referents, but also by their associations to iconically represented somatic states. This evolutionary modification of animal associative learning is suggested to be adaptive in ecological niches occupied by long-lived, large-bodied ape species, facilitating memory construction and recall in highly varied foraging and social contexts, while sustaining selective attention during goal-directed behavioral sequences. The embodied niche construction (ENC hypothesis of human evolution posits that in the early hominin lineage, natural selection further modified the ancestral ape semiotic adaptations, favoring the recursive structuration of concise iconic narratives of embodied interaction with the environment.
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Rhythmic Cognition in Humans and Animals: Distinguishing Meter and Pulse Perception
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
W Tecumseh eFitch
2013-10-01
Full Text Available This paper outlines a cognitive and comparative perspective on human rhythmic cognition that emphasizes a key distinction between pulse perception and meter perception. Pulse perception involves the extraction of a regular pulse or 'tactus' from a stream of events. Meter perception involves grouping of events into hierarchical trees with differing levels of 'strength', or perceptual prominence. I argue that metrically-structured rhythms are required to either perform or move appropriately to music (e.g. to dance. Rhythms, from this metrical perspective, constitute 'trees in time'. Rhythmic syntax represents a neglected form of musical syntax, and warrants more thorough neuroscientific investigation. The recent literature on animal entrainment clearly demonstrates the capacity to extract the pulse from rhythmic music, and to entrain periodic movements to this pulse, in several parrot species and a California sea lion, and a more limited ability to do so in one chimpanzee. However, the ability of these or other species to infer hierarchical rhythmic trees remains, for the most part, unexplored (with some apparent negative results from macaques. The results from this new animal comparative research, combined with new methods to explore rhythmic cognition neurally, provide exciting new routes for understanding not just rhythmic cognition, but hierarchical cognition more generally, from a biological and neural perspective.
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The Human Stain: Why Cognitivism Can't Tell Us What Cognition Is & What It Does
Keijzer, F.; Lyon, P.; B. Wallace,
2007-01-01
What is cognition? It is now common knowledge that, so far, no one has a ready answer. It is much less generally acknowledged that this is a matter of strong concern when it comes to the further development of the cognitive sciences. We discuss how cognitivism provided a strongly human orientation
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Coping with cancer-related cognitive dysfunction: a scoping review of the literature.
Sleight, Alix
2016-01-01
Cancer-related cognitive dysfunction (CRCD) impacts memory, attention, concentration, language, multi-tasking, and organizational skills and decreases participation and quality of life for cancer survivors. The objectives of this article are: (1) to outline the neuroscience of CRCD, its risk factors, and its effect on participation; and (2) to identify and summarize the literature on rehabilitation interventions and coping techniques for CRCD in cancer survivors. A scoping review of articles cited in PubMed, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and CINAHL was performed. To be included, articles must have been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal between 1996 and 2014, written in English, and included a quantitative or qualitative non-pharmacological study of interventions and/or coping strategies for adult cancer survivors experiencing CRCD. Ten articles met the inclusion criteria for final review. Six studies tested the efficacy of rehabilitation treatments on CRCD. Three involved cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), while three tested neuropsychological and/or cognitive training interventions. Four qualitative studies investigated coping strategies used by survivors with CRCD. CBT-based treatments and neuropsychological/cognitive training methods may ameliorate symptoms of CRCD. The most commonly-reported coping strategy is utilization of assistive technology and memory aids. Further research is needed about efficacious rehabilitation techniques for this population. Implications for Rehabilitation Cancer-related cognitive dysfunction (CRCD) may impact up to 50% of cancer survivors. CRCD can significantly decrease participation and quality of life during survivorship. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and neuropsychological/cognitive training methods may ameliorate symptoms of CRCD. The most common coping strategy reported by cancer survivors with CRCD is the use of assistive technology and memory aids.
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Principles of minimal cognition : Casting cognition as sensorimotor coordination
Duijn, Marc van; Keijzer, F.A.; Franken, Daan
2006-01-01
Within the cognitive sciences, cognition tends to be interpreted from an anthropocentric perspective, involving a stringent set of human capabilities. Instead, we suggest that cognition is better explicated as a much more general biological phenomenon, allowing the lower bound of cognition to extend