Is a "Complex" Task Really Complex? Validating the Assumption of Cognitive Task Complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Sasayama, Shoko

2016-01-01

In research on task-based learning and teaching, it has traditionally been assumed that differing degrees of cognitive task complexity can be inferred through task design and/or observations of differing qualities in linguistic production elicited by second language (L2) communication tasks. Without validating this assumption, however, it is…

Cross-national comparisons of complex problem-solving strategies in two microworlds.

Science.gov (United States)

Güss, C Dominik; Tuason, Ma Teresa; Gerhard, Christiane

2010-04-01

Research in the fields of complex problem solving (CPS) and dynamic decision making using microworlds has been mainly conducted in Western industrialized countries. This study analyzes the CPS process by investigating thinking-aloud protocols in five countries. Participants were 511 students from Brazil, Germany, India, the Philippines, and the United States who worked on two microworlds. On the basis of cultural-psychological theories, specific cross-national differences in CPS strategies were hypothesized. Following theories of situatedness of cognition, hypotheses about the specific frequency of problem-solving strategies in the two microworlds were developed. Results of the verbal protocols showed (a) modification of the theoretical CPS model, (b) task dependence of CPS strategies, and (c) cross-national differences in CPS strategies. Participants' CPS processes were particularly influenced by country-specific problem-solving strategies. Copyright © 2009 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Successfully carrying out complex learning-tasks through guiding teams' qualitative and quantitative reasoning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slof, B.; Erkens, G.; Kirschner, P. A.; Janssen, J.; Jaspers, J. G. M.

This study investigated whether and how scripting learners' use of representational tools in a computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL)-environment fostered their collaborative performance on a complex business-economics task. Scripting the problem-solving process sequenced and made its

The Process of Solving Complex Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Andreas; Greiff, Samuel; Funke, Joachim

2012-01-01

This article is about Complex Problem Solving (CPS), its history in a variety of research domains (e.g., human problem solving, expertise, decision making, and intelligence), a formal definition and a process theory of CPS applicable to the interdisciplinary field. CPS is portrayed as (a) knowledge acquisition and (b) knowledge application…

Complex Problem Solving in Teams: The Impact of Collective Orientation on Team Process Demands.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagemann, Vera; Kluge, Annette

2017-01-01

Complex problem solving is challenging and a high-level cognitive process for individuals. When analyzing complex problem solving in teams, an additional, new dimension has to be considered, as teamwork processes increase the requirements already put on individual team members. After introducing an idealized teamwork process model, that complex problem solving teams pass through, and integrating the relevant teamwork skills for interdependently working teams into the model and combining it with the four kinds of team processes (transition, action, interpersonal, and learning processes), the paper demonstrates the importance of fulfilling team process demands for successful complex problem solving within teams. Therefore, results from a controlled team study within complex situations are presented. The study focused on factors that influence action processes, like coordination, such as emergent states like collective orientation, cohesion, and trust and that dynamically enable effective teamwork in complex situations. Before conducting the experiments, participants were divided by median split into two-person teams with either high ( n = 58) or low ( n = 58) collective orientation values. The study was conducted with the microworld C3Fire, simulating dynamic decision making, and acting in complex situations within a teamwork context. The microworld includes interdependent tasks such as extinguishing forest fires or protecting houses. Two firefighting scenarios had been developed, which takes a maximum of 15 min each. All teams worked on these two scenarios. Coordination within the team and the resulting team performance were calculated based on a log-file analysis. The results show that no relationships between trust and action processes and team performance exist. Likewise, no relationships were found for cohesion. Only collective orientation of team members positively influences team performance in complex environments mediated by action processes such as

Solving Complex Problems to Create Charter Extension Options

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tippmann, Esther; Nell, Phillip Christopher

undertaken by 29 subsidiary units supports our hypotheses, demonstrating that these activities are a means to systematically reduce inherent problem solving biases. This study contributes to problem solving theory, the literature on headquarters’ roles in complex organizations, as well as the literature......This study examines subsidiary-driven problem solving processes and their potential to create advanced solutions for charter extension options. Problem solving theory suggests that biases in problem formulation and solution search can confine problem solving potential. We thus argue that balanced...... solution search, or activities to reconcile the need for some solution features to be locally-tailored while others can be internationally standardized, mediates the relationships between problem complexity/headquarters involvement and the capacity to create advanced solutions. An analysis of 67 projects...

Calculation and Word Problem-Solving Skills in Primary Grades--Impact of Cognitive Abilities and Longitudinal Interrelations with Task-persistent Behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Jõgi, Anna-Liisa; Kikas, Eve

2016-01-01

Background: Primary school math skills form a basis for academic success down the road. Different math skills have different antecedents and there is a reason to believe that more complex math tasks require better self-regulation. Aims: The study aimed to investigate longitudinal interrelations of calculation and problem-solving skills, and…

Solving Complex Problems: A Convergent Approach to Cognitive Load Measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Robert; Cook, Anne

2012-01-01

The study challenged the current practices in cognitive load measurement involving complex problem solving by manipulating the presence of pictures in multiple rule-based problem-solving situations and examining the cognitive load resulting from both off-line and online measures associated with complex problem solving. Forty-eight participants…

Web-Based Undergraduate Chemistry Problem-Solving: The Interplay of Task Performance, Domain Knowledge and Web-Searching Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

She, Hsiao-Ching; Cheng, Meng-Tzu; Li, Ta-Wei; Wang, Chia-Yu; Chiu, Hsin-Tien; Lee, Pei-Zon; Chou, Wen-Chi; Chuang, Ming-Hua

2012-01-01

This study investigates the effect of Web-based Chemistry Problem-Solving, with the attributes of Web-searching and problem-solving scaffolds, on undergraduate students' problem-solving task performance. In addition, the nature and extent of Web-searching strategies students used and its correlation with task performance and domain knowledge also…

Cognitive Activities in Solving Mathematical Tasks: The Role of a Cognitive Obstacle

Science.gov (United States)

Antonijevic, Radovan

2016-01-01

In the process of learning mathematics, students practice various forms of thinking activities aimed to substantially contribute to the development of their different cognitive structures. In this paper, the subject matter is a "cognitive obstacle", a phenomenon that occurs in the procedures of solving mathematical tasks. Each task in…

Complex Problem Solving in Teams: The Impact of Collective Orientation on Team Process Demands

Science.gov (United States)

Hagemann, Vera; Kluge, Annette

2017-01-01

Complex problem solving is challenging and a high-level cognitive process for individuals. When analyzing complex problem solving in teams, an additional, new dimension has to be considered, as teamwork processes increase the requirements already put on individual team members. After introducing an idealized teamwork process model, that complex problem solving teams pass through, and integrating the relevant teamwork skills for interdependently working teams into the model and combining it with the four kinds of team processes (transition, action, interpersonal, and learning processes), the paper demonstrates the importance of fulfilling team process demands for successful complex problem solving within teams. Therefore, results from a controlled team study within complex situations are presented. The study focused on factors that influence action processes, like coordination, such as emergent states like collective orientation, cohesion, and trust and that dynamically enable effective teamwork in complex situations. Before conducting the experiments, participants were divided by median split into two-person teams with either high (n = 58) or low (n = 58) collective orientation values. The study was conducted with the microworld C3Fire, simulating dynamic decision making, and acting in complex situations within a teamwork context. The microworld includes interdependent tasks such as extinguishing forest fires or protecting houses. Two firefighting scenarios had been developed, which takes a maximum of 15 min each. All teams worked on these two scenarios. Coordination within the team and the resulting team performance were calculated based on a log-file analysis. The results show that no relationships between trust and action processes and team performance exist. Likewise, no relationships were found for cohesion. Only collective orientation of team members positively influences team performance in complex environments mediated by action processes such as

Complex Problem Solving in Teams: The Impact of Collective Orientation on Team Process Demands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vera Hagemann

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Complex problem solving is challenging and a high-level cognitive process for individuals. When analyzing complex problem solving in teams, an additional, new dimension has to be considered, as teamwork processes increase the requirements already put on individual team members. After introducing an idealized teamwork process model, that complex problem solving teams pass through, and integrating the relevant teamwork skills for interdependently working teams into the model and combining it with the four kinds of team processes (transition, action, interpersonal, and learning processes, the paper demonstrates the importance of fulfilling team process demands for successful complex problem solving within teams. Therefore, results from a controlled team study within complex situations are presented. The study focused on factors that influence action processes, like coordination, such as emergent states like collective orientation, cohesion, and trust and that dynamically enable effective teamwork in complex situations. Before conducting the experiments, participants were divided by median split into two-person teams with either high (n = 58 or low (n = 58 collective orientation values. The study was conducted with the microworld C3Fire, simulating dynamic decision making, and acting in complex situations within a teamwork context. The microworld includes interdependent tasks such as extinguishing forest fires or protecting houses. Two firefighting scenarios had been developed, which takes a maximum of 15 min each. All teams worked on these two scenarios. Coordination within the team and the resulting team performance were calculated based on a log-file analysis. The results show that no relationships between trust and action processes and team performance exist. Likewise, no relationships were found for cohesion. Only collective orientation of team members positively influences team performance in complex environments mediated by action processes

Decision paths in complex tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Galanter, Eugene

1991-01-01

Complex real world action and its prediction and control has escaped analysis by the classical methods of psychological research. The reason is that psychologists have no procedures to parse complex tasks into their constituents. Where such a division can be made, based say on expert judgment, there is no natural scale to measure the positive or negative values of the components. Even if we could assign numbers to task parts, we lack rules i.e., a theory, to combine them into a total task representation. We compare here two plausible theories for the amalgamation of the value of task components. Both of these theories require a numerical representation of motivation, for motivation is the primary variable that guides choice and action in well-learned tasks. We address this problem of motivational quantification and performance prediction by developing psychophysical scales of the desireability or aversiveness of task components based on utility scaling methods (Galanter 1990). We modify methods used originally to scale sensory magnitudes (Stevens and Galanter 1957), and that have been applied recently to the measure of task 'workload' by Gopher and Braune (1984). Our modification uses utility comparison scaling techniques which avoid the unnecessary assumptions made by Gopher and Braune. Formula for the utility of complex tasks based on the theoretical models are used to predict decision and choice of alternate paths to the same goal.

Teaching problem solving using non-routine tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Chong, Maureen Siew Fang; Shahrill, Masitah; Putri, Ratu Ilma Indra; Zulkardi

2018-04-01

Non-routine problems are related to real-life context and require some realistic considerations and real-world knowledge in order to resolve them. This study examines several activity tasks incorporated with non-routine problems through the use of an emerging mathematics framework, at two junior colleges in Brunei Darussalam. The three sampled teachers in this study assisted in selecting the topics and the lesson plan designs. They also recommended the development of the four activity tasks: incorporating the use of technology; simulation of a reality television show; designing real-life sized car park spaces for the school; and a classroom activity to design a real-life sized dustpan. Data collected from all four of the activity tasks were analyzed based on the students' group work. The findings revealed that the most effective activity task in teaching problem solving was to design a real-life sized car park. This was because the use of real data gave students the opportunity to explore, gather information and give or receive feedback on the effect of their reasons and proposed solutions. The second most effective activity task was incorporating the use of technology as it enhanced the students' understanding of the concepts learnt in the classroom. This was followed by the classroom activity that used real data as it allowed students to work and assess the results mathematically. The simulation of a television show was found to be the least effective since it was viewed as not sufficiently challenging to the students.

Effective algorithm for solving complex problems of production control and of material flows control of industrial enterprise

Science.gov (United States)

Mezentsev, Yu A.; Baranova, N. V.

2018-05-01

A universal economical and mathematical model designed for determination of optimal strategies for managing subsystems (components of subsystems) of production and logistics of enterprises is considered. Declared universality allows taking into account on the system level both production components, including limitations on the ways of converting raw materials and components into sold goods, as well as resource and logical restrictions on input and output material flows. The presented model and generated control problems are developed within the framework of the unified approach that allows one to implement logical conditions of any complexity and to define corresponding formal optimization tasks. Conceptual meaning of used criteria and limitations are explained. The belonging of the generated tasks of the mixed programming with the class of NP is shown. An approximate polynomial algorithm for solving the posed optimization tasks for mixed programming of real dimension with high computational complexity is proposed. Results of testing the algorithm on the tasks in a wide range of dimensions are presented.

Effects of long-term practice and task complexity on brain activities when performing abacus-based mental calculations: a PET study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Tung-Hsin; Chen, Chia-Lin; Huang, Yung-Hui; Liu, Ren-Shyan; Hsieh, Jen-Chuen; Lee, Jason J.S.

2009-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the neural bases for the exceptional mental calculation ability possessed by Chinese abacus experts through PET imaging. We compared the different regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) patterns using 15 O-water PET in 10 abacus experts and 12 non-experts while they were performing each of the following three tasks: covert reading, simple addition, and complex contiguous addition. All data collected were analyzed using SPM2 and MNI templates. For non-experts during the tasks of simple addition, the observed activation of brain regions were associated with coordination of language (inferior frontal network) and visuospatial processing (left parietal/frontal network). Similar activation patterns but with a larger visuospatial processing involvement were observed during complex contiguous addition tasks, suggesting the recruitment of more visuospatial memory for solving the complex problems. For abacus experts, however, the brain activation patterns showed slight differences when they were performing simple and complex addition tasks, both of which involve visuospatial processing (bilateral parietal/frontal network). These findings supported the notion that the experts were completing all the calculation process on a virtual mental abacus and relying on this same computational strategy in both simple and complex tasks, which required almost no increasing brain workload for solving the latter. In conclusion, after intensive training and practice, the neural pathways in an abacus expert have been connected more effectively for performing the number encoding and retrieval that are required in abacus tasks, resulting in exceptional mental computational ability. (orig.)

Supporting complex search tasks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gäde, Maria; Hall, Mark; Huurdeman, Hugo

2015-01-01

, is fragmented at best. The workshop addressed the many open research questions: What are the obvious use cases and applications of complex search? What are essential features of work tasks and search tasks to take into account? And how do these evolve over time? With a multitude of information, varying from...

Multistage Spectral Relaxation Method for Solving the Hyperchaotic Complex Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Saberi Nik

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We present a pseudospectral method application for solving the hyperchaotic complex systems. The proposed method, called the multistage spectral relaxation method (MSRM is based on a technique of extending Gauss-Seidel type relaxation ideas to systems of nonlinear differential equations and using the Chebyshev pseudospectral methods to solve the resulting system on a sequence of multiple intervals. In this new application, the MSRM is used to solve famous hyperchaotic complex systems such as hyperchaotic complex Lorenz system and the complex permanent magnet synchronous motor. We compare this approach to the Runge-Kutta based ode45 solver to show that the MSRM gives accurate results.

Artificial Immune Systems as a Modern Tool for Solving Multi-Purpose Optimization Tasks in the Field of Logistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skitsko Volodymyr I.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article investigates various aspects of the functioning of artificial immune systems and their using to solve different tasks. The analysis of the studied literature showed that nowadays there exist combinations of artificial immune systems, in particular with genetic algorithms, the particle swarm optimization method, artificial neural networks, etc., to solve different tasks. However, the solving of economic tasks is paid little attention. The article presents the basic terminology of artificial immune systems; the steps of the clonal selection algorithm are described, as well as a brief description of the negative selection algorithm, the immune network algorithm and the dendritic algorithm is given; conceptual aspects of the use of an artificial immune system for solving multi-purpose optimization problems are formulated, and an example of solving a problem in the field of logistics is described. Artificial immune systems as a means of solving various weakly structured, multi-criteria and multi-purpose economic tasks, in particular in the sphere of logistics, are a promising tool that requires further research. Therefore, it is advisable in the future to focus on the use of various existing immune algorithms for solving various economic problems.

Exploring Primary Student's Problem-Solving Ability by Doing Tasks Like PISA's Question

OpenAIRE

Novita, Rita; Zulkardi, Zulkardi; Hartono, Yusuf

2012-01-01

Problem solving plays an important role in mathematics and should have a prominent role in the mathematics education. The term “problem solving” refers to mathematics tasks that have the potential to provide intellectual challenges for enhancing students’ mathematical understanding and development. In addition, the contextual problem that requires students to connect their mathematical knowledge in solving mathematical situational problem is believed to be an impact on the development student...

Solving complex problems a handbook

CERN Document Server

Schönwandt, Walter; Grunau, Jens; Utz, Jürgen; Voermanek, Katrin

2014-01-01

When you're planning something big, problems appear rather quickly. We hear of them on a daily basis. The bigger or more complex a task, the more we have to deal with complicated, multidisciplinary task formulations. In many cases it is architecture, including urban and spatial planning, but also politics and all types of organizational forms, irrespective of whether they are public authorities or private enterprises, which are expected to deliver functional solutions for such challenges. This is precisely where this book is helpful. It introduces a methodology for developing target-specific,

Task complexity, student perceptions of vocabulary learning in EFL, and task performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaoli; Lowyck, Joost; Sercu, Lies; Elen, Jan

2013-03-01

The study deepened our understanding of how students' self-efficacy beliefs contribute to the context of teaching English as a foreign language in the framework of cognitive mediational paradigm at a fine-tuned task-specific level. The aim was to examine the relationship among task complexity, self-efficacy beliefs, domain-related prior knowledge, learning strategy use, and task performance as they were applied to English vocabulary learning from reading tasks. Participants were 120 second-year university students (mean age 21) from a Chinese university. This experiment had two conditions (simple/complex). A vocabulary level test was first conducted to measure participants' prior knowledge of English vocabulary. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of the learning tasks. Participants were administered task booklets together with the self-efficacy scales, measures of learning strategy use, and post-tests. Data obtained were submitted to multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and path analysis. Results from the MANOVA model showed a significant effect of vocabulary level on self-efficacy beliefs, learning strategy use, and task performance. Task complexity showed no significant effect; however, an interaction effect between vocabulary level and task complexity emerged. Results from the path analysis showed self-efficacy beliefs had an indirect effect on performance. Our results highlighted the mediating role of self-efficacy beliefs and learning strategy use. Our findings indicate that students' prior knowledge plays a crucial role on both self-efficacy beliefs and task performance, and the predictive power of self-efficacy on task performance may lie in its association with learning strategy use. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

What cognitive strategies do orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) use to solve a trial-unique puzzle-tube task incorporating multiple obstacles?

Science.gov (United States)

Tecwyn, Emma C; Thorpe, Susannah K S; Chappell, Jackie

2012-01-01

Apparently sophisticated behaviour during problem-solving is often the product of simple underlying mechanisms, such as associative learning or the use of procedural rules. These and other more parsimonious explanations need to be eliminated before higher-level cognitive processes such as causal reasoning or planning can be inferred. We presented three Bornean orangutans with 64 trial-unique configurations of a puzzle-tube to investigate whether they were able to consider multiple obstacles in two alternative paths, and subsequently choose the correct direction in which to move a reward in order to retrieve it. We were particularly interested in how subjects attempted to solve the task, namely which behavioural strategies they could have been using, as this is how we may begin to elucidate the cognitive mechanisms underpinning their choices. To explore this, we simulated performance outcomes across the 64 trials for various procedural rules and rule combinations that subjects may have been using based on the configuration of different obstacles. Two of the three subjects solved the task, suggesting that they were able to consider at least some of the obstacles in the puzzle-tube before executing action to retrieve the reward. This is impressive compared with the past performances of great apes on similar, arguably less complex tasks. Successful subjects may have been using a heuristic rule combination based on what they deemed to be the most relevant cue (the configuration of the puzzle-tube ends), which may be a cognitively economical strategy.

Dual Task of Fine Motor Skill and Problem Solving in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Goverover, Y; Sandroff, B M; DeLuca, J

2018-04-01

To (1) examine and compare dual-task performance in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and healthy controls (HCs) using mathematical problem-solving questions that included an everyday competence component while performing an upper extremity fine motor task; and (2) examine whether difficulties in dual-task performance are associated with problems in performing an everyday internet task. Pilot study, mixed-design with both a within and between subjects' factor. A nonprofit rehabilitation research institution and the community. Participants (N=38) included persons with MS (n=19) and HCs (n=19) who were recruited from a nonprofit rehabilitation research institution and from the community. Not applicable. Participant were presented with 2 testing conditions: (1) solving mathematical everyday problems or placing bolts into divots (single-task condition); and (2) solving problems while putting bolts into divots (dual-task condition). Additionally, participants were required to perform a test of everyday internet competence. As expected, dual-task performance was significantly worse than either of the single-task tasks (ie, number of bolts into divots or correct answers, and time to answer the questions). Cognitive but not motor dual-task cost was associated with worse performance in activities of everyday internet tasks. Cognitive dual-task cost is significantly associated with worse performance of everyday technology. This was not observed in the motor dual-task cost. The implications of dual-task costs on everyday activity are discussed. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Horses fail to use social learning when solving spatial detour tasks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rørvang, Maria Vilain; Peerstrup Ahrendt, Line; Christensen, Janne Winther

2015-01-01

Social animals should have plenty of opportunities to learn from conspecifics, but most studies have failed to document social learning in horses. This study investigates whether young Icelandic horses can learn a spatial detour task through observation of a trained demonstrator horse of either...... the same age (Experiments 1 and 2, n = 22) or older (Experiment 3, n = 24). Observer horses were allowed to observe the demonstrator being led three times through the detour route immediately before being given the opportunity to solve the task themselves. Controls were allowed only to observe...

The Role of Task Complexity, Modality, and Aptitude in Narrative Task Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Kormos, Judit; Trebits, Anna

2012-01-01

The study reported in this paper investigated the relationship between components of aptitude and the fluency, lexical variety, syntactic complexity, and accuracy of performance in two types of written and spoken narrative tasks. We also addressed the question of how narrative performance varies in tasks of different cognitive complexity in the…

Moving your eyes to solution: effects of movements on the perception of a problem-solving task.

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, K; Raab, M

2014-01-01

There is ample evidence suggesting a bidirectional connection between bodily movements and cognitive processes, such as problem solving. Current research suggests that previous movements can influence the problem-solving process, but it is unclear what phase of this process is affected. Therefore, we investigated participants' gaze behaviour in the first phase of arithmetic problem solving with two groups (plus group, minus group) to explore a spatial bias toward the left or the right while perceiving a problem-solving task (the water-jar problem) after two different movements-that is, for the plus group, sorting marbles from two outer bowls into one in the middle, and for the minus group, sorting marbles from the middle bowl to the outer ones. We showed a right shift of spatial bias for the plus and to the left for the minus group in the perception and problem tasks. Although movements affected gaze, the groups did not differ in their overall problem-solving strategies; however, the first correct solutions did differ. This study provides further evidence of sensorimotor effects on problem solving and spatial bias and offers insight into how a two-phase problem-solving process is guided by sensorimotor information.

The Effects of Authentic Tasks on Preservice Teachers' Attitudes towards Classes and Problem Solving Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Kocyigit, Sinan; Zembat, Rengin

2013-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the effects of authentic tasks on preschool preservice teachers' attitudes towards the course and problem solving skills. The study was designed in accordance with the pretest-posttest control group model. The data were collected by using the "Problem Solving Skills Inventory", the "Course Attitude…

Analogy as a strategy for supporting complex problem solving under uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Joel; Paletz, Susannah B F; Schunn, Christian D

2012-11-01

Complex problem solving in naturalistic environments is fraught with uncertainty, which has significant impacts on problem-solving behavior. Thus, theories of human problem solving should include accounts of the cognitive strategies people bring to bear to deal with uncertainty during problem solving. In this article, we present evidence that analogy is one such strategy. Using statistical analyses of the temporal dynamics between analogy and expressed uncertainty in the naturalistic problem-solving conversations among scientists on the Mars Rover Mission, we show that spikes in expressed uncertainty reliably predict analogy use (Study 1) and that expressed uncertainty reduces to baseline levels following analogy use (Study 2). In addition, in Study 3, we show with qualitative analyses that this relationship between uncertainty and analogy is not due to miscommunication-related uncertainty but, rather, is primarily concentrated on substantive problem-solving issues. Finally, we discuss a hypothesis about how analogy might serve as an uncertainty reduction strategy in naturalistic complex problem solving.

Ontology-based indirect interaction of mobile robots for joint task solving: a scenario for obstacle overcoming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petrov Mikhail

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes an ontology-based approach to interaction of users and mobile robots for joint task solving. The use of ontologies allows supporting semantic interoperability between robots. The ontologies store knowledge about the tasks to be performed, knowledge about the functionality of robots and the current situation factors like a robot location or busyness. Ontologies are published in a smart space which allows indirect interaction between participants. On the basis of the knowledge, a robot can define a task that is to be performed and get the current status of other robots. The paper presents a reference model of the approach to indirect interaction between mobile robots for joint task solving, an ontology model for the knowledge organization, and application of the presented approach for the scenario for obstacle overcoming.

Second Workshop on Supporting Complex Search Tasks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belkin, Nicholas J.; Bogers, Toine; Kamps, Jaap; Kelly, Diane; Koolen, Marijn; Yilmaz, Emine

2017-01-01

There is broad consensus in the field of IR that search is complex in many use cases and applications, both on the Web and in domain specific collections, and both professionally and in our daily life. Yet our understanding of complex search tasks, in comparison to simple look up tasks, is

Self-Controlled Feedback for a Complex Motor Task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wolf Peter

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Self-controlled augmented feedback enhances learning of simple motor tasks. Thereby, learners tend to request feedback after trials that were rated as good by themselves. Feedback after good trials promotes positive reinforcement, which enhances motor learning. The goal of this study was to investigate when naïve learners request terminal visual feedback in a complex motor task, as conclusions drawn on simple tasks can hardly be transferred to complex tasks. Indeed, seven of nine learners stated to have intended to request feedback predominantly after good trials, but in contrast to their intention, kinematic analysis showed that feedback was rather requested randomly (23% after good, 44% after intermediate, 33% after bad trials. Moreover, requesting feedback after good trials did not correlate with learning success. It seems that self-estimation of performance in complex tasks is challenging. As a consequence, learners might have focused on certain movement aspects rather than on the overall movement. Further studies should assess the current focus of the learner in detail to gain more insight in self-estimation capabilities during complex motor task learning.

Clinical Complexity in Medicine: A Measurement Model of Task and Patient Complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, R; Weir, C; Del Fiol, G

2016-01-01

Complexity in medicine needs to be reduced to simple components in a way that is comprehensible to researchers and clinicians. Few studies in the current literature propose a measurement model that addresses both task and patient complexity in medicine. The objective of this paper is to develop an integrated approach to understand and measure clinical complexity by incorporating both task and patient complexity components focusing on the infectious disease domain. The measurement model was adapted and modified for the healthcare domain. Three clinical infectious disease teams were observed, audio-recorded and transcribed. Each team included an infectious diseases expert, one infectious diseases fellow, one physician assistant and one pharmacy resident fellow. The transcripts were parsed and the authors independently coded complexity attributes. This baseline measurement model of clinical complexity was modified in an initial set of coding processes and further validated in a consensus-based iterative process that included several meetings and email discussions by three clinical experts from diverse backgrounds from the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Utah. Inter-rater reliability was calculated using Cohen's kappa. The proposed clinical complexity model consists of two separate components. The first is a clinical task complexity model with 13 clinical complexity-contributing factors and 7 dimensions. The second is the patient complexity model with 11 complexity-contributing factors and 5 dimensions. The measurement model for complexity encompassing both task and patient complexity will be a valuable resource for future researchers and industry to measure and understand complexity in healthcare.

Number line estimation and complex mental calculation: Is there a shared cognitive process driving the two tasks?

Science.gov (United States)

Montefinese, Maria; Semenza, Carlo

2018-05-17

It is widely accepted that different number-related tasks, including solving simple addition and subtraction, may induce attentional shifts on the so-called mental number line, which represents larger numbers on the right and smaller numbers on the left. Recently, it has been shown that different number-related tasks also employ spatial attention shifts along with general cognitive processes. Here we investigated for the first time whether number line estimation and complex mental arithmetic recruit a common mechanism in healthy adults. Participants' performance in two-digit mental additions and subtractions using visual stimuli was compared with their performance in a mental bisection task using auditory numerical intervals. Results showed significant correlations between participants' performance in number line bisection and that in two-digit mental arithmetic operations, especially in additions, providing a first proof of a shared cognitive mechanism (or multiple shared cognitive mechanisms) between auditory number bisection and complex mental calculation.

Pupillary response to complex interdependent tasks: A cognitive-load theory perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitra, Ritayan; McNeal, Karen S; Bondell, Howard D

2017-10-01

Pupil dilation is known to indicate cognitive load. In this study, we looked at the average pupillary responses of a cohort of 29 undergraduate students during graphical problem solving. Three questions were asked, based on the same graphical input. The questions were interdependent and comprised multiple steps. We propose a novel way of analyzing pupillometry data for such tasks on the basis of eye fixations, a commonly used eyetracking parameter. We found that pupil diameter increased during the solution process. However, pupil diameter did not always reflect the expected cognitive load. This result was studied within a cognitive-load theory model. Higher-performing students showed evidence of germane load and schema creation, indicating use of the interdependent nature of the tasks to inform their problem-solving process. However, lower-performing students did not recognize the interdependent nature of the tasks and solved each problem independently, which was expressed in a markedly different pupillary response pattern. We discuss the import of our findings for instructional design.

Knowledge based method for solving complexity in design problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vermeulen, B.

2007-01-01

The process of design aircraft systems is becoming more and more complex, due to an increasing amount of requirements. Moreover, the knowledge on how to solve these complex design problems becomes less readily available, because of a decrease in availability of intellectual resources and reduced

Main tasks of studying strong regulation of excitation of complex electrical system generators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gruzdev, I.A.; Yekimova, M.M.

1982-01-01

A survey is made of the current state of studies of the damping properties of complex electricity systems. The calculation programs of stability are based on frequency methods using the method of D-division. Now, when ARV of strong effect dominates at the SG, the task of coordinating their adjustments develops. Consequently, the following questions are discussed: study of the properties of quality functional with several points of regulation in the circuits of different structure; development of the efficient procedures for coordinating the ARV adjustment of the related energy systems; and creation of resources for solving these tasks. Results are presented of coordinating the ARV adjustments of the generators of the 3-machine electricity system. As an example, nonlinear relationships are shown between the obtained degree of stability and the coefficient of stabilization.

Problem Solving vs. Troubleshooting Tasks: The Case of Sixth-Grade Students Studying Simple Electric Circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Safadi, Rafi'; Yerushalmi, Edit

2014-01-01

We compared the materialization of knowledge integration processes in class discussions that followed troubleshooting (TS) and problem-solving (PS) tasks and examined the impact of these tasks on students' conceptual understanding. The study was conducted in two sixth-grade classes taught by the same teacher, in six lessons that constituted a…

Information Processing at the Memoryful and Memoryless Channel Levels in Problem-Solving and Recall Tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Fazio, Frank; Moser, Gene W.

A probabilistic model (see SE 013 578) describing information processing during the cognitive tasks of recall and problem solving was tested, refined, and developed by testing graduate students on a number of tasks which combined oral, written, and overt "input" and "output" modes in several ways. In a verbal chain one subject…

Representational scripting for carrying out complex learning tasks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slof, B.

2011-01-01

Learning to solve complex problems is important because in our rapidly changing modern society and work environments knowing the answer is often not possible. Although educators and instructional designers acknowledge the benefits of problem solving, they also realize that learners need good

The Use of Digital Technology in Finding Multiple Paths to Solve and Extend an Equilateral Triangle Task

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Santos-Trigo, Manuel; Reyes-Rodriguez, Aaron

2016-01-01

Mathematical tasks are crucial elements for teachers to orient, foster and assess students' processes to comprehend and develop mathematical knowledge. During the process of working and solving a task, searching for or discussing multiple solution paths becomes a powerful strategy for students to engage in mathematical thinking. A simple task that…

Performance in complex motor tasks deteriorates in hyperthermic humans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Piil, Jacob Feder; Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper; Trangmar, Steven J

2017-01-01

-motor tracking performance was reduced by 10.7 ± 6.5% following exercise-induced hyperthermia when integrated in the multipart protocol and 4.4 ± 5.7% when tested separately (bothP 1.3% (P math tasks...... of information or decision-making prior to responding. We hypothesized that divergences could relate to task complexity and developed a protocol consisting of 1) simple motor task [TARGET_pinch], 2) complex motor task [Visuo-motor tracking], 3) simple math task [MATH_type], 4) combined motor-math task [MATH...

Computerization and skill bifurcation: the role of of task complexity in creating skill gains and losses

OpenAIRE

Ben-Ner, Avner; Urtasun Alonso, Ainhoa

2013-01-01

Does computerization increase or reduce the extent of skills that workers are required to have? Autor, Levy and Murnane (2003) show empirically that adoption of computer-based technologies (CBT) was greater in industries historically intensive in routine tasks, and that computerization increased complex problem-solving and communication activities and reduced routine cognitive and manual activities. We extend this argument and argue that the effects of CBT are neither universal nor uniform, b...

When you have to climb downhill to reach the top: The effect of action versus state orientation on solving a goal-subgoal conflict in the Tower of Hanoi task

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jostmann, N.B.; Gieselmann, A.

2014-01-01

Complex problems often include a response conflict between a subgoal and a final goal. The present experiment investigated the roles of situational demands and individual differences in self-regulation on solving goal-subgoal conflicts in a computerized Tower of Hanoi task. Action-oriented versus

Addressing Complex Challenges through Adaptive Leadership: A Promising Approach to Collaborative Problem Solving

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Nelson, Tenneisha; Squires, Vicki

2017-01-01

Organizations are faced with solving increasingly complex problems. Addressing these issues requires effective leadership that can facilitate a collaborative problem solving approach where multiple perspectives are leveraged. In this conceptual paper, we critique the effectiveness of earlier leadership models in tackling complex organizational…

Nonlinearly Activated Neural Network for Solving Time-Varying Complex Sylvester Equation.

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Li, Shuai; Li, Yangming

2013-10-28

The Sylvester equation is often encountered in mathematics and control theory. For the general time-invariant Sylvester equation problem, which is defined in the domain of complex numbers, the Bartels-Stewart algorithm and its extensions are effective and widely used with an O(n³) time complexity. When applied to solving the time-varying Sylvester equation, the computation burden increases intensively with the decrease of sampling period and cannot satisfy continuous realtime calculation requirements. For the special case of the general Sylvester equation problem defined in the domain of real numbers, gradient-based recurrent neural networks are able to solve the time-varying Sylvester equation in real time, but there always exists an estimation error while a recently proposed recurrent neural network by Zhang et al [this type of neural network is called Zhang neural network (ZNN)] converges to the solution ideally. The advancements in complex-valued neural networks cast light to extend the existing real-valued ZNN for solving the time-varying real-valued Sylvester equation to its counterpart in the domain of complex numbers. In this paper, a complex-valued ZNN for solving the complex-valued Sylvester equation problem is investigated and the global convergence of the neural network is proven with the proposed nonlinear complex-valued activation functions. Moreover, a special type of activation function with a core function, called sign-bi-power function, is proven to enable the ZNN to converge in finite time, which further enhances its advantage in online processing. In this case, the upper bound of the convergence time is also derived analytically. Simulations are performed to evaluate and compare the performance of the neural network with different parameters and activation functions. Both theoretical analysis and numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The use of questions as problem-solving strategies during early childhood.

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Legare, Cristine H; Mills, Candice M; Souza, André L; Plummer, Leigh E; Yasskin, Rebecca

2013-01-01

This study examined the strategic use of questions to solve problems across early childhood. Participants (N=54, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds) engaged in two tasks: a novel problem-solving question task that required asking questions to an informant to determine which card in an array was located in a box and a cognitive flexibility task that required classifying stimuli by multiple dimensions. The results from the question task indicated that there were age differences in the types of questions asked, with 6-year-olds asking more constraint-seeking questions than 4- and 5-year-olds. The number of constraint-seeking questions asked was the only significant predictor of accuracy. Performance on the cognitive flexibility task correlated with both constraint-seeking strategy use and accuracy in the question task. In sum, our results provide evidence that the capacity to use questions to generate relevant information develops before the capacity to apply this information successfully and consistently to solve complex problems. We propose that the process of using questions as strategic tools is an ideal context for examining how children come to gain active and intentional control over problem solving. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The composite complex span: French validation of a short working memory task.

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Gonthier, Corentin; Thomassin, Noémylle; Roulin, Jean-Luc

2016-03-01

Most studies in individual differences in the field of working memory research use complex span tasks to measure working memory capacity. Various complex span tasks based on different materials have been developed, and these tasks have proven both reliable and valid; several complex span tasks are often combined to provide a domain-general estimate of working memory capacity with even better psychometric properties. The present work sought to address two issues. Firstly, having participants perform several full-length complex span tasks in succession makes for a long and tedious procedure. Secondly, few complex span tasks have been translated and validated in French. We constructed a French working memory task labeled the Composite Complex Span (CCS). The CCS includes shortened versions of three classic complex span tasks: the reading span, symmetry span, and operation span. We assessed the psychometric properties of the CCS, including test-retest reliability and convergent validity, with Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices and with an alpha span task; the CCS demonstrated satisfying qualities in a sample of 1,093 participants. This work provides evidence that shorter versions of classic complex span tasks can yield valid working memory estimates. The materials and normative data for the CCS are also included.

Problem solving stages in the five square problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Fedor, Anna; Szathmáry, Eörs; Öllinger, Michael

2015-01-01

According to the restructuring hypothesis, insight problem solving typically progresses through consecutive stages of search, impasse, insight, and search again for someone, who solves the task. The order of these stages was determined through self-reports of problem solvers and has never been verified behaviorally. We asked whether individual analysis of problem solving attempts of participants revealed the same order of problem solving stages as defined by the theory and whether their subjective feelings corresponded to the problem solving stages they were in. Our participants tried to solve the Five-Square problem in an online task, while we recorded the time and trajectory of their stick movements. After the task they were asked about their feelings related to insight and some of them also had the possibility of reporting impasse while working on the task. We found that the majority of participants did not follow the classic four-stage model of insight, but had more complex sequences of problem solving stages, with search and impasse recurring several times. This means that the classic four-stage model is not sufficient to describe variability on the individual level. We revised the classic model and we provide a new model that can generate all sequences found. Solvers reported insight more often than non-solvers and non-solvers reported impasse more often than solvers, as expected; but participants did not report impasse more often during behaviorally defined impasse stages than during other stages. This shows that impasse reports might be unreliable indicators of impasse. Our study highlights the importance of individual analysis of problem solving behavior to verify insight theory.

Problem solving stages in the five square problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna eFedor

2015-08-01

Full Text Available According to the restructuring hypothesis, insight problem solving typically progresses through consecutive stages of search, impasse, insight and search again for someone, who solves the task. The order of these stages was determined through self-reports of problem solvers and has never been verified behaviourally. We asked whether individual analysis of problem solving attempts of participants revealed the same order of problem solving stages as defined by the theory and whether their subjective feelings corresponded to the problem solving stages they were in. 101 participants tried to solve the Five-Square problem in an online task, while we recorded the time and trajectory of their stick movements. After the task they were asked about their feelings related to insight and 67 of them also had the possibility of reporting impasse while working on the task. We have found that 49% (19 out of 39 of the solvers and 13% (8 out of 62 of the non-solvers followed the classic four-stage model of insight. The rest of the participants had more complex sequences of problem solving stages, with search and impasse recurring several times. This means that the classic four-stage model must be extended to explain variability on the individual level. We provide a model that can generate all sequences found. Solvers reported insight more often than non-solvers and non-solvers reported impasse more often than solvers, as expected; but participants did not report impasse more often during behaviourally defined impasse stages than during other stages. This shows that impasse reports might be unreliable indicators of impasse. Our study highlights the importance of individual analysis of problem solving behaviour to verify insight theory.

Self-Efficacy, Task Complexity and Task Performance: Exploring Interactions in Two Versions of Vocabulary Learning Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaoli; Lowyck, Joost; Sercu, Lies; Elen, Jan

2012-01-01

The present study aimed for better understanding of the interactions between task complexity and students' self-efficacy beliefs and students' use of learning strategies, and finally their interacting effects on task performance. This investigation was carried out in the context of Chinese students learning English as a foreign language in a…

Model-based identification and use of task complexity factors of human integrated systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ham, Dong-Han; Park, Jinkyun; Jung, Wondea

2012-01-01

Task complexity is one of the conceptual constructs that are critical to explain and predict human performance in human integrated systems. A basic approach to evaluating the complexity of tasks is to identify task complexity factors and measure them. Although a great deal of task complexity factors have been studied, there is still a lack of conceptual frameworks for identifying and organizing them analytically, which can be generally used irrespective of the types of domains and tasks. This study proposes a model-based approach to identifying and using task complexity factors, which has two facets—the design aspects of a task and complexity dimensions. Three levels of design abstraction, which are functional, behavioral, and structural aspects of a task, characterize the design aspect of a task. The behavioral aspect is further classified into five cognitive processing activity types. The complexity dimensions explain a task complexity from different perspectives, which are size, variety, and order/organization. Twenty-one task complexity factors are identified by the combination of the attributes of each facet. Identification and evaluation of task complexity factors based on this model is believed to give insights for improving the design quality of tasks. This model for complexity factors can also be used as a referential framework for allocating tasks and designing information aids. The proposed approach is applied to procedure-based tasks of nuclear power plants (NPPs) as a case study to demonstrate its use. Last, we compare the proposed approach with other studies and then suggest some future research directions.

Conceptual and procedural knowledge community college students use when solving a complex science problem

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Steen-Eibensteiner, Janice Lee

2006-07-01

A strong science knowledge base and problem solving skills have always been highly valued for employment in the science industry. Skills currently needed for employment include being able to problem solve (Overtoom, 2000). Academia also recognizes the need for effectively teaching students to apply problem solving skills in clinical settings. This thesis investigates how students solve complex science problems in an academic setting in order to inform the development of problem solving skills for the workplace. Students' use of problem solving skills in the form of learned concepts and procedural knowledge was studied as students completed a problem that might come up in real life. Students were taking a community college sophomore biology course, Human Anatomy & Physiology II. The problem topic was negative feedback inhibition of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. The research questions answered were (1) How well do community college students use a complex of conceptual knowledge when solving a complex science problem? (2) What conceptual knowledge are community college students using correctly, incorrectly, or not using when solving a complex science problem? (3) What problem solving procedural knowledge are community college students using successfully, unsuccessfully, or not using when solving a complex science problem? From the whole class the high academic level participants performed at a mean of 72% correct on chapter test questions which was a low average to fair grade of C-. The middle and low academic participants both failed (F) the test questions (37% and 30% respectively); 29% (9/31) of the students show only a fair performance while 71% (22/31) fail. From the subset sample population of 2 students each from the high, middle, and low academic levels selected from the whole class 35% (8/23) of the concepts were used effectively, 22% (5/23) marginally, and 43% (10/23) poorly. Only 1 concept was used incorrectly by 3/6 of the students and identified as

Temperament and problem solving in a population of adolescent guide dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Bray, Emily E; Sammel, Mary D; Seyfarth, Robert M; Serpell, James A; Cheney, Dorothy L

2017-09-01

It is often assumed that measures of temperament within individuals are more correlated to one another than to measures of problem solving. However, the exact relationship between temperament and problem-solving tasks remains unclear because large-scale studies have typically focused on each independently. To explore this relationship, we tested 119 prospective adolescent guide dogs on a battery of 11 temperament and problem-solving tasks. We then summarized the data using both confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory principal components analysis. Results of confirmatory analysis revealed that a priori separation of tests as measuring either temperament or problem solving led to weak results, poor model fit, some construct validity, and no predictive validity. In contrast, results of exploratory analysis were best summarized by principal components that mixed temperament and problem-solving traits. These components had both construct and predictive validity (i.e., association with success in the guide dog training program). We conclude that there is complex interplay between tasks of "temperament" and "problem solving" and that the study of both together will be more informative than approaches that consider either in isolation.

Model-Based Approach to the Evaluation of Task Complexity in Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ham, Dong Han

2007-02-01

This study developed a model-based method for evaluating task complexity and examined the ways of evaluating the complexity of tasks designed for abnormal situations and daily task situations in NPPs. The main results of this study can be summarised as follows. First, this study developed a conceptual framework for studying complexity factors and a model of complexity factors that classifies complexity factors according to the types of knowledge that human operators use. Second, this study developed a more practical model of task complexity factors and identified twenty-one complexity factors based on the model. The model emphasizes that a task is a system to be designed and its complexity has several dimensions. Third, we developed a method of identifying task complexity factors and evaluating task complexity qualitatively based on the developed model of task complexity factors. This method can be widely used in various task situations. Fourth, this study examined the applicability of TACOM to abnormal situations and daily task situations, such as maintenance and confirmed that it can be reasonably used in those situations. Fifth, we developed application examples to demonstrate the use of the theoretical results of this study. Lastly, this study reinterpreted well-know principles for designing information displays in NPPs in terms of task complexity and suggested a way of evaluating the conceptual design of displays in an analytical way by using the concept of task complexity. All of the results of this study will be used as a basis when evaluating the complexity of tasks designed on procedures or information displays and designing ways of improving human performance in NPPs

Implementation Authentic Task to Enhance Problem Solving and Self-Management for Physics College Students

Science.gov (United States)

Festiyed; Djamas, D.; Pilendia, D.

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study is to enhance the problem solving and self-management abilities of student teachers through individual and group authentic task. Preliminary results showed that the learning outcomes in high category, nevertheless problem solving and self-management abilities are still low and average categories (scattered at interval 40 ≤ N ≤ 65). Initiative to improve this condition is needed. Action research is the alternative solution for that condition through planning, acting, evaluating, and reflecting. This study is allowed in 4 cycles. The acting step result with integrated discuss method, case study, and presentation including self-assessment for individual and group. This method was effective to enhance problem solving and self-management abilities. The final learning outcomes seen from the correlation between student self-assessment and lecture-assessment (r=0.19). Its means there are unidirectional relationship between the result of self-assessment and lecture-assessment. The Conclusion of the research was effective to enhance problem solving and self-management ability.

Task Complexity, Student Perceptions of Vocabulary Learning in EFL, and Task Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaoli; Lowyck, Joost; Sercu, Lies; Elen, Jan

2013-01-01

Background: The study deepened our understanding of how students' self-ef?cacy beliefs contribute to the context of teaching English as a foreign language in the framework of cognitive mediational paradigm at a ?ne-tuned task-speci?c level. Aim: The aim was to examine the relationship among task complexity, self-ef?cacy beliefs, domain-related…

Robust Sex Differences in Jigsaw Puzzle Solving-Are Boys Really Better in Most Visuospatial Tasks?

Science.gov (United States)

Kocijan, Vid; Horvat, Marina; Majdic, Gregor

2017-01-01

Sex differences are consistently reported in different visuospatial tasks with men usually performing better in mental rotation tests while women are better on tests for memory of object locations. In the present study, we investigated sex differences in solving jigsaw puzzles in children. In total 22 boys and 24 girls were tested using custom build tablet application representing a jigsaw puzzle consisting of 25 pieces and featuring three different pictures. Girls outperformed boys in solving jigsaw puzzles regardless of the picture. Girls were faster than boys in solving the puzzle, made less incorrect moves with the pieces of the puzzle, and spent less time moving the pieces around the tablet. It appears that the strategy of solving the jigsaw puzzle was the main factor affecting differences in success, as girls tend to solve the puzzle more systematically while boys performed more trial and error attempts, thus having more incorrect moves with the puzzle pieces. Results of this study suggest a very robust sex difference in solving the jigsaw puzzle with girls outperforming boys by a large margin.

The coordination of problem solving strategies: when low competence sources exert more influence on task processing than high competence sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Quiamzade, Alain; Mugny, Gabriel; Darnon, Céline

2009-03-01

Previous research has shown that low competence sources, compared to highly competent sources, can exert influence in aptitudes tasks in as much as they induce people to focus on the task and to solve it more deeply. Two experiments aimed at testing the coordination between self and source's problem solving strategies as a main explanation of such a difference in influence. The influence of a low versus high competence source has been examined in an anagram task that allows for distinguishing between three response strategies, including one that corresponds to the coordination between the source's strategy and participants' own strategy. In Study 1 the strategy suggested by the source was either relevant and useful or irrelevant and useless for solving the task. Results indicated that participants used the coordination strategy in a larger extend when they had been confronted to a low competence rather than a highly competent source but only when the source displayed a strategy that was useful to solve the task. In Study 2 the source's strategy was always relevant and useful, but a decentring procedure was introduced for half of the participants. This procedure induced participants to consider other points of view than their own. Results replicated the difference observed in Study 1 when no decentring was introduced. The difference however disappeared when decentring was induced, because of an increase of the high competence source's influence. These results highlight coordination of strategies as one mechanism underlying influence from low competence sources.

Nicotine intake and problem solving strategies are modified during a cognitively demanding water maze task in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Nesil, Tanseli; Kanit, Lutfiye; Pogun, Sakire

2015-11-01

Nicotine is the major addictive component in tobacco, and despite well-established adverse health effects of tobacco addiction, some smokers have difficulty quitting. The acute cognitive enhancement and/or the amelioration of the cognitive disruption during withdrawal that some smokers experience after smoking are among important factors that hinder quit attempts. The animal model presented in the current study is comparable to the human smoking condition although nicotine intake routes are different. Rats were exposed to a free choice of oral nicotine starting at adolescence, and given a water maze (WM) task as adults. This design allowed us to see if rats alter their nicotine intake during the WM task and if nicotine preference and intake modify abilities and strategies rats use for problem solving. Male and female rats were exposed to a free choice of oral nicotine/water for 24weeks, starting at five weeks of age. After this period, they were selected based on their nicotine intake and, together with control animals that received only water, were subjected to a place-learning task in the WM. Free-choice nicotine exposure continued during WM testing. Following acquisition, the probe trial presented the rats with a choice between using two different strategies for problem solving. Nicotine supported acquisition and rats increased their nicotine intake during WM testing; this effect was more pronounced in male rats with minimum nicotine preference and intake. Furthermore, nicotine modified the "female type" strategy in solving the place-learning task and nicotine treated female rats, unlike control females, behaved like males. The increase in nicotine intake during mental engagement, and the sexually dimorphic effect of nicotine on problem solving strategies that we have observed in rats, may suggest that implementing sex-specific smoking cessation approaches, especially under stressful and cognitively demanding conditions, may be useful in helping smokers quit

SOLVING OPTIMAL ASSEMBLY LINE CONFIGURATION TASK BY MULTIOBJECTIVE DECISION MAKING METHODS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ján ČABALA

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with looking for the optimal configuration of automated assembly line model placed within Department of Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence (DCAI. In order to solve this problem, Stateflow model of each configuration was created to simulate the behaviour of particular assembly line configuration. Outputs from these models were used as inputs into the multiobjective decision making process. Multi-objective decision-making methods were subsequently used to find the optimal configuration of assembly line. Paper describes the whole process of solving this task, from building the models to choosing the best configuration. Specifically, the problem was resolved using the experts’ evaluation method for evaluating the weights of every decision-making criterion, while the ELECTRE III, TOPSIS and AGREPREF methods were used for ordering the possible solutions from the most to the least suitable alternative. Obtained results were compared and final solution of this multi-objective decisionmaking problem is chosen.

Postural adjustments are modulated by manual task complexity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Augusto Teixeira

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Daily life activities of humans are characterized by dual tasks, in which a manual task is performed concomitantly with a postural task. Based on the assumption that both manual and postural tasks require attentional resources, no consensus exists as to how the central nervous system modulates postural adjustments in dual tasks. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of a manual task requiring attentional resources on shoulder and ankle adjustments as a function of the direction and predictability of postural perturbation. The participants (n=6 were evaluated during the performance of a simple and a complex manual task, while the base of support was moved backward or forward. Latency of activation of the tibialis anterior and gastroc-nemius muscles and angular acceleration of the shoulder were analyzed. The results showed that execution of the complex manual task delayed postural adjustment. Moreover, this delay occurred differently depending on the direction of postural perturbation. The delay in postural adjustment occurred proximally in the case of anterior displacement of the platform, and distally in the case of posterior displacement. Postural adjustments were more affected by the attentional task than by the predictability of platform displacement. These results are consistent with the concept of an integrated control between manual actions and the maintenance of static posture.

Heuristics in Managing Complex Clinical Decision Tasks in Experts' Decision Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Roosan; Weir, Charlene; Del Fiol, Guilherme

2014-09-01

Clinical decision support is a tool to help experts make optimal and efficient decisions. However, little is known about the high level of abstractions in the thinking process for the experts. The objective of the study is to understand how clinicians manage complexity while dealing with complex clinical decision tasks. After approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), three clinical experts were interviewed the transcripts from these interviews were analyzed. We found five broad categories of strategies by experts for managing complex clinical decision tasks: decision conflict, mental projection, decision trade-offs, managing uncertainty and generating rule of thumb. Complexity is created by decision conflicts, mental projection, limited options and treatment uncertainty. Experts cope with complexity in a variety of ways, including using efficient and fast decision strategies to simplify complex decision tasks, mentally simulating outcomes and focusing on only the most relevant information. Understanding complex decision making processes can help design allocation based on the complexity of task for clinical decision support design.

Task demand, task management, and teamwork

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braarud, Per Oeivind; Brendryen, Haavar

2001-03-15

The current approach to mental workload assessment in process control was evaluated in 3 previous HAMMLAB studies, by analysing the relationship between workload related measures and performance. The results showed that subjective task complexity rating was related to team's control room performance, that mental effort (NASA-TLX) was weakly related to performance, and that overall activity level was unrelated to performance. The results support the argument that general cognitive measures, i.e., mental workload, are weakly related to performance in the process control domain. This implies that other workload concepts than general mental workload are needed for valid assessment of human reliability and for valid assessment of control room configurations. An assessment of task load in process control suggested that how effort is used to handle task demand is more important then the level of effort invested to solve the task. The report suggests two main workload related concepts with a potential as performance predictors in process control: task requirements, and the work style describing how effort is invested to solve the task. The task requirements are seen as composed of individual task demand and team demand. In a similar way work style are seen as composed of individual task management and teamwork style. A framework for the development of the concepts is suggested based on a literature review and experiences from HAMMLAB research. It is suggested that operational definitions of workload concepts should be based on observable control room behaviour, to assure a potential for developing performance-shaping factors. Finally an explorative analysis of teamwork measures and performance in one study indicated that teamwork concepts are related to performance. This lends support to the suggested development of team demand and teamwork style as elements of a framework for the analysis of workload in process control. (Author)

Tangram solved? Prefrontal cortex activation analysis during geometric problem solving.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayaz, Hasan; Shewokis, Patricia A; Izzetoğlu, Meltem; Çakır, Murat P; Onaral, Banu

2012-01-01

Recent neuroimaging studies have implicated prefrontal and parietal cortices for mathematical problem solving. Mental arithmetic tasks have been used extensively to study neural correlates of mathematical reasoning. In the present study we used geometric problem sets (tangram tasks) that require executive planning and visuospatial reasoning without any linguistic representation interference. We used portable optical brain imaging (functional near infrared spectroscopy--fNIR) to monitor hemodynamic changes within anterior prefrontal cortex during tangram tasks. Twelve healthy subjects were asked to solve a series of computerized tangram puzzles and control tasks that required same geometric shape manipulation without problem solving. Total hemoglobin (HbT) concentration changes indicated a significant increase during tangram problem solving in the right hemisphere. Moreover, HbT changes during failed trials (when no solution found) were significantly higher compared to successful trials. These preliminary results suggest that fNIR can be used to assess cortical activation changes induced by geometric problem solving. Since fNIR is safe, wearable and can be used in ecologically valid environments such as classrooms, this neuroimaging tool may help to improve and optimize learning in educational settings.

Matching presentational tools' ontology to part-task demands to foster problem-solving in business economics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slof, Bert; Erkens, Gijsbert; Kirschner, Paul A.

2011-01-01

Slof, B., Erkens, G., & Kirschner, P. A. (2010, July). Matching representational tools’ ontology to part-task demands to foster problem-solving in business economics. In K. Gomez, L. Lyons, & J. Radinsky (Eds.), Learning in the Disciplines: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the

Engineering and Computing Portal to Solve Environmental Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Gudov, A. M.; Zavozkin, S. Y.; Sotnikov, I. Y.

2018-01-01

This paper describes architecture and services of the Engineering and Computing Portal, which is considered to be a complex solution that provides access to high-performance computing resources, enables to carry out computational experiments, teach parallel technologies and solve computing tasks, including technogenic safety ones.

Task complexity and task, goal, and reward interdependence in group performance : a prescriptive model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vijfeijken, van H.T.G.A.; Kleingeld, P.A.M.; Tuijl, van H.F.J.M.; Algera, J.A.; Thierry, H.

2002-01-01

A prescriptive model on how to design effective combinations of goal setting and contingent rewards for group performance management is presented. The model incorporates the constructs task complexity, task interdependence, goal interdependence, and reward interdependence and specifies optimal fit

Effects of Task Complexity, Task Conditions, and Task Difficulty on the Grammatical Accuracy of EFL Learners in Written Discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeideh Ahangari

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Different methods of language teaching have tried to help EFL learners to develop good language skills based on their various perspectives. Research findings have underscored the effect of using task types in promoting language skills in terms of accuracy in written discourse. Therefore, this study set out to investigate whether there is an evidence of correct use of simple past tense (Accuracy based on Task Complexity (Task type :Here-and now & There-and-then,Task Conditions (Gender: Male & Female, and Task Difficulty (Proficiency: Lower-intermediate & Intermediate. Sixty Iranian English learners in a language institute participated in the study and were assigned to four groups of lower-intermediate male, lower-intermediate female, intermediate male and intermediate female. Initial homogeneity of the groups was verified using two general proficiency tests; KET for lower-intermediate and PET for intermediate. All groups in here-and-now task type were asked to write a story using simple past based on a picture strip while for there-and-then task type the participants were supposed to write about their last birthday. The results from paired samples t-test, independent samples t-test and two-way ANOVA analysis of the written data revealed significant differences in performing task types, at different proficiency levels and interaction between them. The findings have significant pedagogical implications for EFL learners to understand the relationship among Task Complexity,Task Conditions, Task Difficulty and L2 written production leading to various degrees of Accuracy.

Task Complexity Modulates Sleep-Related Offline Learning in Sequential Motor Skills

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Klaus Blischke

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Recently, a number of authors have advocated the introduction of gross motor tasks into research on sleep-related motor offline learning. Such tasks are often designed to be more complex than traditional key-pressing tasks. However, until now, little effort has been undertaken to scrutinize the role of task complexity in any systematic way. Therefore, the effect of task complexity on the consolidation of gross motor sequence memory was examined by our group in a series of three experiments. Criterion tasks always required participants to produce unrestrained arm movement sequences by successively fitting a small peg into target holes on a pegboard. The sequences always followed a certain spatial pattern in the horizontal plane. The targets were visualized prior to each transport movement on a computer screen. The tasks differed with respect to sequence length and structural complexity. In each experiment, half of the participants initially learned the task in the morning and were retested 12 h later following a wake retention interval. The other half of the subjects underwent practice in the evening and was retested 12 h later following a night of sleep. The dependent variables were the error rate and total sequence execution time (inverse to the sequence execution speed. Performance generally improved during acquisition. The error rate was always low and remained stable during retention. The sequence execution time significantly decreased again following sleep but not after waking when the sequence length was long and structural complexity was high. However, sleep-related offline improvements were absent when the sequence length was short or when subjects performed a highly regular movement pattern. It is assumed that the occurrence of sleep-related offline performance improvements in sequential motor tasks is associated with a sufficient amount of motor task complexity.

Using cognitive architectures to study issues in team cognition in a complex task environment

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Smart, Paul R.; Sycara, Katia; Tang, Yuqing

2014-05-01

Cognitive social simulation is a computer simulation technique that aims to improve our understanding of the dynamics of socially-situated and socially-distributed cognition. This makes cognitive social simulation techniques particularly appealing as a means to undertake experiments into team cognition. The current paper reports on the results of an ongoing effort to develop a cognitive social simulation capability that can be used to undertake studies into team cognition using the ACT-R cognitive architecture. This capability is intended to support simulation experiments using a team-based problem solving task, which has been used to explore the effect of different organizational environments on collective problem solving performance. The functionality of the ACT-R-based cognitive social simulation capability is presented and a number of areas of future development work are outlined. The paper also describes the motivation for adopting cognitive architectures in the context of social simulation experiments and presents a number of research areas where cognitive social simulation may be useful in developing a better understanding of the dynamics of team cognition. These include the use of cognitive social simulation to study the role of cognitive processes in determining aspects of communicative behavior, as well as the impact of communicative behavior on the shaping of task-relevant cognitive processes (e.g., the social shaping of individual and collective memory as a result of communicative exchanges). We suggest that the ability to perform cognitive social simulation experiments in these areas will help to elucidate some of the complex interactions that exist between cognitive, social, technological and informational factors in the context of team-based problem-solving activities.

E-learning task analysis making temporal evolution graphics on symptoms of waves and the ability to solve problems

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Rosdiana, L.; Widodo, W.; Nurita, T.; Fauziah, A. N. M.

2018-04-01

This study aimed to describe the ability of pre-service teachers to create graphs, solve the problem of spatial and temporal evolution on the symptoms of vibrations and waves. The learning was conducted using e-learning method. The research design is a quasi-experimental design with one-shot case study. The e-learning contained learning materials and tasks involving answering tasks, making questions, solving their own questions, and making graphs. The participants of the study was 28 students of Science Department, Universitas Negeri Surabaya. The results obtained by using the e-learning were that the students’ ability increase gradually from task 1 to task 3 (the tasks consisted of three tasks). Additionally, based on the questionnaire with 28 respondents, it showed that 24 respondents stated that making graphs via e-learning were still difficult. Four respondents said that it was easy to make graphs via e-learning. Nine respondents stated that the e-learning did not help them in making graphs and 19 respondents stated that the e-learning help in creating graphs. The conclusion of the study is that the students was able to make graphs on paper sheet, but they got difficulty to make the graphs in e-learning (the virtual form).

Involvement of Spearman's g in conceptualisation versus execution of complex tasks.

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Carroll, Ellen L; Bright, Peter

2016-10-01

Strong correlations between measures of fluid intelligence (or Spearman's g) and working memory are widely reported in the literature, but there is considerable controversy concerning the nature of underlying mechanisms driving this relationship. In the four experiments presented here we consider the role of response conflict and task complexity in the context of real-time task execution demands (Experiments 1-3) and also address recent evidence that g confers an advantage at the level of task conceptualisation rather than (or in addition to) task execution (Experiment 4). We observed increased sensitivity of measured fluid intelligence to task performance in the presence (vs. the absence) of response conflict, and this relationship remained when task complexity was reduced. Performance-g correlations were also observed in the absence of response conflict, but only in the context of high task complexity. Further, we present evidence that differences in conceptualisation or 'modelling' of task instructions prior to execution had an important mediating effect on observed correlations, but only when the task encompassed a strong element of response inhibition. Our results suggest that individual differences in ability reflect, in large part, variability in the efficiency with which the relational complexity of task constraints are held in mind. It follows that fluid intelligence may support successful task execution through the construction of effective action plans via optimal allocation of limited resources. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Solving complex and disordered surface structures with electron diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Hove, M.A.

1987-10-01

The past of surface structure determination with low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) will be briefly reviewed, setting the stage for a discussion of recent and future developments. The aim of these developments is to solve complex and disordered surface structures. Some efficient solutions to the theoretical and experimental problems will be presented. Since the theoretical problems dominate, the emphasis will be on theoretical approaches to the calculation of the multiple scattering of electrons through complex and disordered surfaces. 49 refs., 13 figs., 1 tab

A Problem-Solving Intervention Using iPads to Improve Transition-Related Task Performance of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Yakubova, Gulnoza; Zeleke, Waganesh A.

2016-01-01

In this study, the effectiveness of teaching problem-solving to improve transition-related task performance of three students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was examined using a multiple probe across students design. Target behaviors included various transition-related tasks individualized for each student based on their individual…

The effects of tradition on problem solving by two wild populations of bearded capuchin monkeys in a probing task.

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Cardoso, Raphael Moura; Ottoni, Eduardo B

2016-11-01

The effects of culture on individual cognition have become a core issue among cultural primatologists. Field studies with wild populations provide evidence on the role of social cues in the ontogeny of tool use in non-human primates, and on the transmission of such behaviours over generations through socially biased learning. Recent experimental studies have shown that cultural knowledge may influence problem solving in wild populations of chimpanzees. Here, we present the results from a field experiment comparing the performance of bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) from two wild savannah populations with distinct toolkits in a probing task. Only the population that already exhibited the customary use of probing tools succeeded in solving the new problem, suggesting that their cultural repertoire shaped their approach to the new task. Moreover, only this population, which uses stone tools in a broader range of contexts, tried to use them to solve the problem. Social interactions can affect the formation of learning sets and they affect the performance of the monkeys in problem solving. We suggest that behavioural traditions affect the ways non-human primates solve novel foraging problems using tools. © 2016 The Author(s).

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOZART EFFECT AND THE MISSIONARIES AND CANNIBALS PROBLEM SOLVING TASK

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JULIANA ROJAS CORREDOR

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Relation between Mozart effect and problem solving test Missionaries and Cannibals was explored in female studentswith ages between 17 and 20 years old. This relation was measured with the interactive task Missionaries and Cannibalsand the Mozart’s Sonata para dos pianos K448. Statistical analysis with 0.05 significance level showed differences betweencontrol and experimental group; also when significance level was increased to 0.01 (confidence of 99% the testcontinue showing an association between test solution Missionaries and Cannibals and Mozart effect.

Error Sonification of a Complex Motor Task

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Riener Robert

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Visual information is mainly used to master complex motor tasks. Thus, additional information providing augmented feedback should be displayed in other modalities than vision, e.g. hearing. The present work evaluated the potential of error sonification to enhance learning of a rowing-type motor task. In contrast to a control group receiving self-controlled terminal feedback, the experimental group could not significantly reduce spatial errors. Thus, motor learning was not enhanced by error sonification, although during the training the participant could benefit from it. It seems that the motor task was too slow, resulting in immediate corrections of the movement rather than in an internal representation of the general characteristics of the motor task. Therefore, further studies should elaborate the impact of error sonification when general characteristics of the motor tasks are already known.

Report on the Second Workshop on Supporting Complex Search Tasks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koolen, Marijn; Kamps, Jaap; Bogers, Toine

2017-01-01

There is broad consensus in the field of IR that search is complex in many use cases and applications, both on the Web and in domain-specific collections, and both in our professional and in our daily life. Yet our understanding of complex search tasks, in comparison to simple look up tasks...

Insight Is Not in the Problem: Investigating Insight in Problem Solving across Task Types.

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Webb, Margaret E; Little, Daniel R; Cropper, Simon J

2016-01-01

The feeling of insight in problem solving is typically associated with the sudden realization of a solution that appears obviously correct (Kounios et al., 2006). Salvi et al. (2016) found that a solution accompanied with sudden insight is more likely to be correct than a problem solved through conscious and incremental steps. However, Metcalfe (1986) indicated that participants would often present an inelegant but plausible (wrong) answer as correct with a high feeling of warmth (a subjective measure of closeness to solution). This discrepancy may be due to the use of different tasks or due to different methods in the measurement of insight (i.e., using a binary vs. continuous scale). In three experiments, we investigated both findings, using many different problem tasks (e.g., Compound Remote Associates, so-called classic insight problems, and non-insight problems). Participants rated insight-related affect (feelings of Aha-experience, confidence, surprise, impasse, and pleasure) on continuous scales. As expected we found that, for problems designed to elicit insight, correct solutions elicited higher proportions of reported insight in the solution compared to non-insight solutions; further, correct solutions elicited stronger feelings of insight compared to incorrect solutions.

Acquisition and performance of a problem-solving skill.

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Morgan, B. B., Jr.; Alluisi, E. A.

1971-01-01

The acquisition of skill in the performance of a three-phase code transformation task (3P-COTRAN) was studied with 20 subjects who solved 27 3P-COTRAN problems during each of 8 successive sessions. The purpose of the study was to determine the changes in the 3P-COTRAN factor structure resulting from practice, the distribution of practice-related gains in performance over the nine measures of the five 3P-COTRAN factors, and the effects of transformation complexities on the 3P-COTRAN performance of subjects. A significant performance gain due to practice was observed, with improvements in speed continuing even when accuracy reached asymptotic levels. Transformation complexity showed no effect on early performances but the 3- and 4-element transformations were solved quicker than the 5-element transformation in the problem-solving Phase III of later skilled performances.

Manual lateralization in macaques: handedness, target laterality and task complexity.

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Regaiolli, Barbara; Spiezio, Caterina; Vallortigara, Giorgio

2016-01-01

Non-human primates represent models to understand the evolution of handedness in humans. Despite several researches have been investigating non-human primates handedness, few studies examined the relationship between target position, hand preference and task complexity. This study aimed at investigating macaque handedness in relation to target laterality and tastiness, as well as task complexity. Seven pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) were involved in three different "two alternative choice" tests: one low-level task and two high-level tasks (HLTs). During the first and the third tests macaques could select a preferred food and a non-preferred food, whereas by modifying the design of the second test, macaques were presented with no-difference alternative per trial. Furthermore, a simple-reaching test was administered to assess hand preference in a social context. Macaques showed hand preference at individual level both in simple and complex tasks, but not in the simple-reaching test. Moreover, target position seemed to affect hand preference in retrieving an object in the low-level task, but not in the HLT. Additionally, individual hand preference seemed to be affected from the tastiness of the item to be retrieved. The results suggest that both target laterality and individual motivation might influence hand preference of macaques, especially in simple tasks.

The Effect of Visual Representation Style in Problem-Solving : A Perspective from Cognitive Processes

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Nyamsuren, Enkhbold; Taatgen, Niels A.

2013-01-01

Using results from a controlled experiment and simulations based on cognitive models, we show that visual presentation style can have a significant impact on performance in a complex problem-solving task. We compared subject performances in two isomorphic, but visually different, tasks based on a

Developing an agent-based model on how different individuals solve complex problems

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Ipek Bozkurt

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Research that focuses on the emotional, mental, behavioral and cognitive capabilities of individuals has been abundant within disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, among others. However, when facing complex problems, a new perspective to understand individuals is necessary. The main purpose of this paper is to develop an agent-based model and simulation to gain understanding on the decision-making and problem-solving abilities of individuals. Design/Methodology/approach: The micro-level analysis modeling and simulation paradigm Agent-Based Modeling Through the use of Agent-Based Modeling, insight is gained on how different individuals with different profiles deal with complex problems. Using previous literature from different bodies of knowledge, established theories and certain assumptions as input parameters, a model is built and executed through a computer simulation. Findings: The results indicate that individuals with certain profiles have better capabilities to deal with complex problems. Moderate profiles could solve the entire complex problem, whereas profiles within extreme conditions could not. This indicates that having a strong predisposition is not the ideal way when approaching complex problems, and there should always be a component from the other perspective. The probability that an individual may use these capabilities provided by the opposite predisposition provides to be a useful option. Originality/value: The originality of the present research stems from how individuals are profiled, and the model and simulation that is built to understand how they solve complex problems. The development of the agent-based model adds value to the existing body of knowledge within both social sciences, and modeling and simulation.

Aiding the search: Examining individual differences in multiply-constrained problem solving.

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Ellis, Derek M; Brewer, Gene A

2018-07-01

Understanding and resolving complex problems is of vital importance in daily life. Problems can be defined by the limitations they place on the problem solver. Multiply-constrained problems are traditionally examined with the compound remote associates task (CRAT). Performance on the CRAT is partially dependent on an individual's working memory capacity (WMC). These findings suggest that executive processes are critical for problem solving and that there are reliable individual differences in multiply-constrained problem solving abilities. The goals of the current study are to replicate and further elucidate the relation between WMC and CRAT performance. To achieve these goals, we manipulated preexposure to CRAT solutions and measured WMC with complex-span tasks. In Experiment 1, we report evidence that preexposure to CRAT solutions improved problem solving accuracy, WMC was correlated with problem solving accuracy, and that WMC did not moderate the effect of preexposure on problem solving accuracy. In Experiment 2, we preexposed participants to correct and incorrect solutions. We replicated Experiment 1 and found that WMC moderates the effect of exposure to CRAT solutions such that high WMC participants benefit more from preexposure to correct solutions than low WMC (although low WMC participants have preexposure benefits as well). Broadly, these results are consistent with theories of working memory and problem solving that suggest a mediating role of attention control processes. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Task complexity and task, goal, and reward interdependence in group performance management : A prescriptive model

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van Vijfeijken, H.; Kleingeld, A.; van Tuijl, H.; Algera, J.A.; Thierry, Hk.

2002-01-01

A prescriptive model on how to design effective combinations of goal setting and contingent rewards for group performance management is presented. The model incorporates the constructs task complexity, task interdependence, goal interdependence, and reward interdependence and specifies optimal fit

Features of Solving Retrospective (Successive Tasks of the Monitoring Subsystem in Systems for Strategic Control of the Regional Structure and Territorial Organization in the Agri-Food Sphere

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Tkachenko Serhii A.

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The given article highlights features of solving retrospective (successive tasks of monitoring production and economic activity of the territorial-production system through a profound using of scientific principles in the developed and introduced enlarged block diagram of the control system for a functionally advanced solution of the task of monitoring labour force turnover at the entity in the agri-food sphere. Solving the task of monitoring the labour force turnover in the territorial-production system by means of electronic digital machines allows: to reduce the complexity of calculations performed by employees of Human Resources Department and make time for other research and control functions; to accelerate submission of necessary accounting and economic as well as analytical information on the labour force turnover at the entity in the agri-food sphere to consumers; increase the quality of accounting and economic as well as analytical information by eliminating errors, which occur at manual calculation; to build a real scientific basis for developing measures of technical, organizational and socio-economic nature aimed at reducing the labour force turnover. The given list of issues solved at development of the monitoring subsystem in strategic control systems of the regional structure and territorial organization of the agri-food sphere is not complete, the use of industrial methods for creating a monitoring subsystem, training specialists and a number of other issues, which are no less important, should be mentioned as well.

Autonomous Task Primitives for Complex Manipulation Operations

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The goal of this research effort is to enable robots to autonomously perform the complex manipulation tasks that are necessary to maintain a spacecraft. Robots, like...

Thrive or overload? The effect of task complexity on novices' simulation-based learning.

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Haji, Faizal A; Cheung, Jeffrey J H; Woods, Nicole; Regehr, Glenn; de Ribaupierre, Sandrine; Dubrowski, Adam

2016-09-01

Fidelity is widely viewed as an important element of simulation instructional design based on its purported relationship with transfer of learning. However, higher levels of fidelity may increase task complexity to a point at which novices' cognitive resources become overloaded. In this experiment, we investigate the effects of variations in task complexity on novices' cognitive load and learning during simulation-based procedural skills training. Thirty-eight medical students were randomly assigned to simulation training on a simple or complex lumbar puncture (LP) task. Participants completed four practice trials on this task (skill acquisition). After 10 days of rest, all participants completed one additional trial on their assigned task (retention) and one trial on a 'very complex' simulation designed to be similar to the complex task (transfer). We assessed LP performance and cognitive load on each trial using multiple measures. In both groups, LP performance improved significantly during skill acquisition (p ≤ 0.047, f = 0.29-0.96) and was maintained at retention. The simple task group demonstrated superior performance compared with the complex task group throughout these phases (p ≤ 0.002, d = 1.13-2.31). Cognitive load declined significantly in the simple task group (p Education.

Effects of visual and verbal interference tasks on olfactory memory: the role of task complexity.

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Annett, J M; Leslie, J C

1996-08-01

Recent studies have demonstrated that visual and verbal suppression tasks interfere with olfactory memory in a manner which is partially consistent with a dual coding interpretation. However, it has been suggested that total task complexity rather than modality specificity of the suppression tasks might account for the observed pattern of results. This study addressed the issue of whether or not the level of difficulty and complexity of suppression tasks could explain the apparent modality effects noted in earlier experiments. A total of 608 participants were each allocated to one of 19 experimental conditions involving interference tasks which varied suppression type (visual or verbal), nature of complexity (single, double or mixed) and level of difficulty (easy, optimal or difficult) and presented with 13 target odours. Either recognition of the odours or free recall of the odour names was tested on one occasion, either within 15 minutes of presentation or one week later. Both recognition and recall performance showed an overall effect for suppression nature, suppression level and time of testing with no effect for suppression type. The results lend only limited support to Paivio's (1986) dual coding theory, but have a number of characteristics which suggest that an adequate account of olfactory memory may be broadly similar to current theories of face and object recognition. All of these phenomena might be dealt with by an appropriately modified version of dual coding theory.

Integration of the information problem-solving skill in an educational programme: The effects of learning with authentic tasks.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Wopereis, Iwan

2008-01-01

Brand-Gruwel, S., & Wopereis, I. (2006). Integration of the information problem-solving skill in an educational programme: The effects of learning with authentic tasks. Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning, 4, 243-263.

The Effect of Focus on Form and Task Complexity on L2 Learners' Oral Task Performance

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Salimi, Asghar

2015-01-01

Second Language learners' oral task performance has been one of interesting and research generating areas of investigations in the field of second language acquisition specially, task-based language teaching and learning. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of focus on form and task complexity on L2 learners' oral…

Effects of Task Performance and Task Complexity on the Validity of Computational Models of Attention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koning, L. de; Maanen, P.P. van; Dongen, K. van

2008-01-01

Computational models of attention can be used as a component of decision support systems. For accurate support, a computational model of attention has to be valid and robust. The effects of task performance and task complexity on the validity of three different computational models of attention were

Lexical Complexity of Decision-Making Writing Tasks: Form-focused Guided Strategic Planning

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Fatemeh Mahdavirad

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The present study is an attempt to investigate the effect of form-focused guided strategic planning on lexical complexity of learners’ performance in writing tasks. The twenty intermediate level participants of the study performed an unplanned and then a planned decision-making task. In the planned task condition, the participants were provided with form-focused guided strategic planning which contained detailed instructions about how to plan, by being instructed to focus on form. The guidance included an explanation of the necessary structural and lexical patterns employed to express the learners’ views while developing a comparison-and-contrast paragraph in each task. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that the participants produced a written product with a greater lexical complexity in their performance of the task in the form-focused strategic planning condition. The findings emphasize the importance of guided strategic planning as a task condition in syllabus design for task-based language teaching and the necessity of incorporating this task feature for accomplishing lexical complexity in decision-making writing tasks.

Phonological similarity effect in complex span task.

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Camos, Valérie; Mora, Gérôme; Barrouillet, Pierre

2013-01-01

The aim of our study was to test the hypothesis that two systems are involved in verbal working memory; one is specifically dedicated to the maintenance of phonological representations through verbal rehearsal while the other would maintain multimodal representations through attentional refreshing. This theoretical framework predicts that phonologically related phenomena such as the phonological similarity effect (PSE) should occur when the domain-specific system is involved in maintenance, but should disappear when concurrent articulation hinders its use. Impeding maintenance in the domain-general system by a concurrent attentional demand should impair recall performance without affecting PSE. In three experiments, we manipulated the concurrent articulation and the attentional demand induced by the processing component of complex span tasks in which participants had to maintain lists of either similar or dissimilar words. Confirming our predictions, PSE affected recall performance in complex span tasks. Although both the attentional demand and the articulatory requirement of the concurrent task impaired recall, only the induction of an articulatory suppression during maintenance made the PSE disappear. These results suggest a duality in the systems devoted to verbal maintenance in the short term, constraining models of working memory.

Understanding and quantifying cognitive complexity level in mathematical problem solving items

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SUSAN E. EMBRETSON

2008-09-01

Full Text Available The linear logistic test model (LLTM; Fischer, 1973 has been applied to a wide variety of new tests. When the LLTM application involves item complexity variables that are both theoretically interesting and empirically supported, several advantages can result. These advantages include elaborating construct validity at the item level, defining variables for test design, predicting parameters of new items, item banking by sources of complexity and providing a basis for item design and item generation. However, despite the many advantages of applying LLTM to test items, it has been applied less often to understand the sources of complexity for large-scale operational test items. Instead, previously calibrated item parameters are modeled using regression techniques because raw item response data often cannot be made available. In the current study, both LLTM and regression modeling are applied to mathematical problem solving items from a widely used test. The findings from the two methods are compared and contrasted for their implications for continued development of ability and achievement tests based on mathematical problem solving items.

Solving complex band structure problems with the FEAST eigenvalue algorithm

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Laux, S. E.

2012-08-01

With straightforward extension, the FEAST eigenvalue algorithm [Polizzi, Phys. Rev. B 79, 115112 (2009)] is capable of solving the generalized eigenvalue problems representing traveling-wave problems—as exemplified by the complex band-structure problem—even though the matrices involved are complex, non-Hermitian, and singular, and hence outside the originally stated range of applicability of the algorithm. The obtained eigenvalues/eigenvectors, however, contain spurious solutions which must be detected and removed. The efficiency and parallel structure of the original algorithm are unaltered. The complex band structures of Si layers of varying thicknesses and InAs nanowires of varying radii are computed as test problems.

Embedded interruptions and task complexity influence schema-related cognitive load progression in an abstract learning task.

Science.gov (United States)

Wirzberger, Maria; Esmaeili Bijarsari, Shirin; Rey, Günter Daniel

2017-09-01

Cognitive processes related to schema acquisition comprise an essential source of demands in learning situations. Since the related amount of cognitive load is supposed to change over time, plausible temporal models of load progression based on different theoretical backgrounds are inspected in this study. A total of 116 student participants completed a basal symbol sequence learning task, which provided insights into underlying cognitive dynamics. Two levels of task complexity were determined by the amount of elements within the symbol sequence. In addition, interruptions due to an embedded secondary task occurred at five predefined stages over the task. Within the resulting 2x5-factorial mixed between-within design, the continuous monitoring of efficiency in learning performance enabled assumptions on relevant resource investment. From the obtained results, a nonlinear change of learning efficiency over time seems most plausible in terms of cognitive load progression. Moreover, different effects of the induced interruptions show up in conditions of task complexity, which indicate the activation of distinct cognitive mechanisms related to structural aspects of the task. Findings are discussed in the light of evidence from research on memory and information processing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The relationship between language and spatial ability an analysis of spatial language for reconstructing the solving of spatial tasks

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Mizzi, Angel

2017-01-01

This work investigates how different fifth-grade students solve spatial-verbal tasks and the role of language in this process. Based on a synthesis of theoretical foundations and methodological issues for supporting the relationship between spatial ability and language, this present study examines and classifies strategies used by students as well as the obstacles they encounter when solving spatial tasks in the reconstruction method. Contents Theoretical Framework Design and Implementation Results and Discussion from the Inductive Data Analyses Target Groups Scholars and students of mathematics education Teachers of mathematics in primary and secondary schools About the Author Angel Mizzi works as a research assistant and lecturer at the University of Duisburg-Essen, where he has successfully completed his PhD studies in mathematics education.

Towards effective partnerships in a collaborative problem-solving task.

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Schmitz, Megan J; Winskel, Heather

2008-12-01

Collaborative learning is recognized as an effective learning tool in the classroom. In order to optimize the collaborative learning experience for children within a collaborative partnership, it is important to understand how to match the children by ability level, and whether assigning roles within these dyads is beneficial or not. The current study investigated the effect of partnering children with different task-specific abilities and assigning or not assigning helping roles within the dyads on the quality of talk used in a collaborative learning task. The participants in this study comprised 54 year 6 pupils from a Western Sydney government primary school (boys=26, girls=28). The ages ranged from 10 years 10 months to 12 years 4 months with a mean age of 11 years 4 months. The children were formed into 27 single sex dyads of low-middle- and low-high-ability partnerships. In half of each of these dyads the higher ability partner was asked to help the lower ability partner, which was compared with just asking partners to work together. The quality of talk used by the dyads while working collaboratively on the problem-solving task was analysed using a language analysis framework developed by Mercer and colleagues (e.g. Littleton et al., 2005; Mercer, 1994, 1996). Results of this study found that children who worked collaboratively in the low-middle-ability dyad condition demonstrated significantly more high-quality exploratory talk than those in the low-high-ability dyad condition. Although there was no significant difference between dyads who were assigned roles and those who were asked to work together, there was an interaction trend which suggests that low-high-ability dyads, who were given the roles of helper and learner, showed more exploratory talk than dyads who were asked just to work together. Mercer's re-conceptualization of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in terms of the Intermental Development Zone (IDZ), which is reliant on

Does complexity matter? Meta-analysis of learner performance in artificial grammar tasks.

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Schiff, Rachel; Katan, Pesia

2014-01-01

Complexity has been shown to affect performance on artificial grammar learning (AGL) tasks (categorization of test items as grammatical/ungrammatical according to the implicitly trained grammar rules). However, previously published AGL experiments did not utilize consistent measures to investigate the comprehensive effect of grammar complexity on task performance. The present study focused on computerizing Bollt and Jones's (2000) technique of calculating topological entropy (TE), a quantitative measure of AGL charts' complexity, with the aim of examining associations between grammar systems' TE and learners' AGL task performance. We surveyed the literature and identified 56 previous AGL experiments based on 10 different grammars that met the sampling criteria. Using the automated matrix-lift-action method, we assigned a TE value for each of these 10 previously used AGL systems and examined its correlation with learners' task performance. The meta-regression analysis showed a significant correlation, demonstrating that the complexity effect transcended the different settings and conditions in which the categorization task was performed. The results reinforced the importance of using this new automated tool to uniformly measure grammar systems' complexity when experimenting with and evaluating the findings of AGL studies.

What Do Employers Pay for Employees' Complex Problem Solving Skills?

Science.gov (United States)

Ederer, Peer; Nedelkoska, Ljubica; Patt, Alexander; Castellazzi, Silvia

2015-01-01

We estimate the market value that employers assign to the complex problem solving (CPS) skills of their employees, using individual-level Mincer-style wage regressions. For the purpose of the study, we collected new and unique data using psychometric measures of CPS and an extensive background questionnaire on employees' personal and work history.…

Solving complex fisheries management problems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petter Johnsen, Jahn; Eliasen, Søren Qvist

2011-01-01

A crucial issue for the new EU common fisheries policy is how to solve the discard problem. Through a study of the institutional set up and the arrangements for solving the discard problem in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway, the article identifies the discard problem as related...

The effect of visual representation style in problem-solving: a perspective from cognitive processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyamsuren, Enkhbold; Taatgen, Niels A

2013-01-01

Using results from a controlled experiment and simulations based on cognitive models, we show that visual presentation style can have a significant impact on performance in a complex problem-solving task. We compared subject performances in two isomorphic, but visually different, tasks based on a card game of SET. Although subjects used the same strategy in both tasks, the difference in presentation style resulted in radically different reaction times and significant deviations in scanpath patterns in the two tasks. Results from our study indicate that low-level subconscious visual processes, such as differential acuity in peripheral vision and low-level iconic memory, can have indirect, but significant effects on decision making during a problem-solving task. We have developed two ACT-R models that employ the same basic strategy but deal with different presentations styles. Our ACT-R models confirm that changes in low-level visual processes triggered by changes in presentation style can propagate to higher-level cognitive processes. Such a domino effect can significantly affect reaction times and eye movements, without affecting the overall strategy of problem solving.

The Effect of Visual Representation Style in Problem-Solving: A Perspective from Cognitive Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Nyamsuren, Enkhbold; Taatgen, Niels A.

2013-01-01

Using results from a controlled experiment and simulations based on cognitive models, we show that visual presentation style can have a significant impact on performance in a complex problem-solving task. We compared subject performances in two isomorphic, but visually different, tasks based on a card game of SET. Although subjects used the same strategy in both tasks, the difference in presentation style resulted in radically different reaction times and significant deviations in scanpath patterns in the two tasks. Results from our study indicate that low-level subconscious visual processes, such as differential acuity in peripheral vision and low-level iconic memory, can have indirect, but significant effects on decision making during a problem-solving task. We have developed two ACT-R models that employ the same basic strategy but deal with different presentations styles. Our ACT-R models confirm that changes in low-level visual processes triggered by changes in presentation style can propagate to higher-level cognitive processes. Such a domino effect can significantly affect reaction times and eye movements, without affecting the overall strategy of problem solving. PMID:24260415

The effect of visual representation style in problem-solving: a perspective from cognitive processes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enkhbold Nyamsuren

Full Text Available Using results from a controlled experiment and simulations based on cognitive models, we show that visual presentation style can have a significant impact on performance in a complex problem-solving task. We compared subject performances in two isomorphic, but visually different, tasks based on a card game of SET. Although subjects used the same strategy in both tasks, the difference in presentation style resulted in radically different reaction times and significant deviations in scanpath patterns in the two tasks. Results from our study indicate that low-level subconscious visual processes, such as differential acuity in peripheral vision and low-level iconic memory, can have indirect, but significant effects on decision making during a problem-solving task. We have developed two ACT-R models that employ the same basic strategy but deal with different presentations styles. Our ACT-R models confirm that changes in low-level visual processes triggered by changes in presentation style can propagate to higher-level cognitive processes. Such a domino effect can significantly affect reaction times and eye movements, without affecting the overall strategy of problem solving.

Problem Solving Methods in Engineering Design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartvig, Susanne C

1999-01-01

This short paper discusses typical engineering tasks and problem solving methods, based on a field study of engineering tasks at a Danish engineering firm. The field study has identified ten classes of design tasks and in this paper these classes are related to problem solving methods. The descri...

Relation between task complexity and variability of procedure progression during an emergency operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yochan; Park, Jinkyun; Jung, Wondea

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The relation between task complexity and the variability of procedure progression was investigated. • The two quantitative measures, TACOM and VPP, were applied to this study. • The task complexity was positively related with the operator’s procedural variability. • The VPP measure can be useful for explaining the operator’s behaviors. - Abstract: In this study, the relation between task complexity and variability of procedure progression during an emergency operation was investigated by comparing the two quantitative measures. To this end, the TACOM measure and VPP measure were applied to evaluate the complexity of tasks and variability of procedure progression, respectively. The TACOM scores and VPP scores were obtained for 60 tasks in the OPERA database, and a correlation analysis between two measures and a multiple regression analysis between the sub-measures of the TACOM measure and VPP measure were conducted. The results showed that the TACOM measure is positively associated with the VPP measure, and the abstraction hierarchy complexity mainly affected the variability among the sub-measures of TACOM. From these findings, it was discussed that the task complexity is related to an operator’s procedural variability and VPP measure can be useful for explaining the operator’s behaviors

Interactive Evolution of Complex Behaviours Through Skill Encapsulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

González de Prado Salas, Pablo; Risi, Sebastian

2017-01-01

Human-based computation (HBC) is an emerging research area in which humans and machines collaborate to solve tasks that neither one can solve in isolation. In evolutionary computation, HBC is often realized through interactive evolutionary computation (IEC), in which a user guides evolution by it...... in evolutionary computation and, as the results in this paper show, IEC-ESP is able to solve complex control problems that are challenging for a traditional fitness-based approach.......Human-based computation (HBC) is an emerging research area in which humans and machines collaborate to solve tasks that neither one can solve in isolation. In evolutionary computation, HBC is often realized through interactive evolutionary computation (IEC), in which a user guides evolution...... by iteratively selecting the parents for the next generation. IEC has shown promise in a variety of different domains, but evolving more complex or hierarchically composed behaviours remains challenging with the traditional IEC approach. To overcome this challenge, this paper combines the recently introduced ESP...

The Use of Conjunctions in Cognitively Simple versus Complex Oral L2 Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, Marije C.

2013-01-01

The present study explores the use of conjunctions in simple versus complex argumentative tasks performed by second language (L2) learners as a specific measure for the amount of reasoning involved in task performance. The Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2005) states that an increase in cognitive task complexity promotes improvements in L2…

In search for instructional techniques to maximize the use of germane cognitive resources: A case of teaching complex tasks in physics

Science.gov (United States)

Sliva, Yekaterina

The purpose of this study was to introduce an instructional technique for teaching complex tasks in physics, test its effectiveness and efficiency, and understand cognitive processes taking place in learners' minds while they are exposed to this technique. The study was based primarily on cognitive load theory (CLT). CLT determines the amount of total cognitive load imposed on a learner by a learning task as combined intrinsic (invested in comprehending task complexity) and extraneous (wasteful) cognitive load. Working memory resources associated with intrinsic cognitive load are defined as germane resources caused by element interactivity that lead to learning, in contrast to extraneous working memory resources that are devoted to dealing with extraneous cognitive load. However, the amount of learner's working memory resources actually devoted to a task depends on how well the learner is engaged in the learning environment. Since total cognitive load has to stay within limits of working memory capacity, both extraneous and intrinsic cognitive load need to be reduced. In order for effective learning to occur, the use of germane cognitive resources should be maximized. In this study, the use of germane resources was maximized for two experimental groups by providing a learning environment that combined problem-solving procedure with prompts to self-explain with and without completion problems. The study tested three hypotheses and answered two research questions. The first hypothesis predicting that experimental treatments would reduce total cognitive load was not supported. The second hypothesis predicting that experimental treatments would increase performance was supported for the self-explanation group only. The third hypothesis that tested efficiency measure as adopted from Paas and van Merrienboer (1993) was not supported. As for the research question of whether the quality of self-explanations would change with time for the two experimental conditions, it was

Estimating the operator's performance time of emergency procedural tasks based on a task complexity measure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Won Dae; Park, Jink Yun

2012-01-01

It is important to understand the amount of time required to execute an emergency procedural task in a high-stress situation for managing human performance under emergencies in a nuclear power plant. However, the time to execute an emergency procedural task is highly dependent upon expert judgment due to the lack of actual data. This paper proposes an analytical method to estimate the operator's performance time (OPT) of a procedural task, which is based on a measure of the task complexity (TACOM). The proposed method for estimating an OPT is an equation that uses the TACOM as a variable, and the OPT of a procedural task can be calculated if its relevant TACOM score is available. The validity of the proposed equation is demonstrated by comparing the estimated OPTs with the observed OPTs for emergency procedural tasks in a steam generator tube rupture scenario.

An experimental-differential investigation of cognitive complexity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Cognitive complexity as defined by differential and experimental traditions was explored to investigate the theoretical advantage and utility of relational complexity (RC theory as a common framework for studying fluid cognitive functions. RC theory provides a domain general account of processing demand as a function of task complexity. In total, 142 participants completed two tasks in which RC was manipulated, and two tasks entailing manipulations of complexity derived from the differential psychology literature. A series of analyses indicated that, as expected, task manipulations influenced item difficulty. However, comparable changes in a psychometric index of complexity were not consistently observed. Active maintenance of information across multiple steps of the problem solving process, which entails strategic coordination of storage and processing that cannot be modelled under the RC framework was found to be an important component of cognitive complexity.

Simulating the Cost of Cooperation: A Recipe for Collaborative Problem-Solving

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Andrea Guazzini

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Collective problem-solving and decision-making, along with other forms of collaboration online, are central phenomena within ICT. There had been several attempts to create a system able to go beyond the passive accumulation of data. However, those systems often neglect important variables such as group size, the difficulty of the tasks, the tendency to cooperate, and the presence of selfish individuals (free riders. Given the complex relations among those variables, numerical simulations could be the ideal tool to explore such relationships. We take into account the cost of cooperation in collaborative problem solving by employing several simulated scenarios. The role of two parameters was explored: the capacity, the group’s capability to solve increasingly challenging tasks coupled with the collective knowledge of a group, and the payoff, an individual’s own benefit in terms of new knowledge acquired. The final cooperation rate is only affected by the cost of cooperation in the case of simple tasks and small communities. In contrast, the fitness of the community, the difficulty of the task, and the groups sizes interact in a non-trivial way, hence shedding some light on how to improve crowdsourcing when the cost of cooperation is high.

Robotics and STEM Learning: Students' Achievements in Assignments According to the P3 Task Taxonomy--Practice, Problem Solving, and Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Barak, Moshe; Assal, Muhammad

2018-01-01

This study presents the case of development and evaluation of a STEM-oriented 30-h robotics course for junior high school students (n = 32). Class activities were designed according to the P3 Task Taxonomy, which included: (1) practice-basic closed-ended tasks and exercises; (2) problem solving--small-scale open-ended assignments in which the…

An Exploratory Study into Perceived Task Complexity, Topic Specificity and Usefulness for Integrated Search

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingwersen, Peter; Lioma, Christina; Larsen, Birger

2012-01-01

We investigate the relations between user perceptions of work task complexity, topic specificity, and usefulness of retrieved results. 23 academic researchers submitted detailed descriptions of 65 real-life work tasks in the physics domain, and assessed documents retrieved from an integrated...... collection consisting of full text research articles in PDF, abstracts, and bibliographic records [6]. Bibliographic records were found to be more precise than full text PDFs, regardless of task complexity and topic specificity. PDFs were found to be more useful. Overall, for higher task complexity and topic...

Application of NASA management approach to solve complex problems on earth

Science.gov (United States)

Potate, J. S.

1972-01-01

The application of NASA management approach to solving complex problems on earth is discussed. The management of the Apollo program is presented as an example of effective management techniques. Four key elements of effective management are analyzed. Photographs of the Cape Kennedy launch sites and supporting equipment are included to support the discussions.

The Importance of Team Sex Composition in Team-Training Research Employing Complex Psychomotor Tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarrett, Steven M; Glaze, Ryan M; Schurig, Ira; Arthur, Winfred

2017-08-01

The relationship between team sex composition and team performance on a complex psychomotor task was examined because these types of tasks are commonly used in the lab-based teams literature. Despite well-documented sex-based differences on complex psychomotor tasks, the preponderance of studies-mainly lab based-that use these tasks makes no mention of the sex composition of teams across or within experimental conditions. A sample of 123 four-person teams with varying team sex composition learned and performed a complex psychomotor task, Steal Beasts Pro PE. Each team completed a 5-hr protocol whereby they conducted several performance missions. The results indicated significant large mean differences such that teams with larger proportions of males had higher performance scores. These findings demonstrate the potential effect of team sex composition on the validity of studies that use complex psychomotor tasks to explore and investigate team performance-related phenomena when (a) team sex composition is not a focal variable of interest and (b) it is not accounted for or controlled. Given the proclivity of complex psychomotor action-based tasks used in lab-based team studies, it is important to understand and control for the impact of team sex composition on team performance. When team sex composition is not controlled for, either methodologically or statistically, it may affect the validity of the results in teams studies using these types of tasks.

Examining the locus of age effects on complex span tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

McCabe, Jennifer; Hartman, Marilyn

2003-09-01

To investigate the locus of age effects on complex span tasks, the authors evaluated the contributions of working memory functions and processing speed. Age differences were found in measures of storage capacity, language processing speed, and lower level speed. Statistically controlling for each of these in hierarchical regressions substantially reduced, but did not eliminate, the complex span age effect. Accounting for lower level speed and storage, however, removed essentially the entire age effect, suggesting that both functions play important and independent roles. Additional evidence for the role of storage capacity was the absence of complex span age differences with span size calibrated to individual word span performance. Explanations for age differences based on inhibition and concurrent task performamce were not supported.

Performance impact of mutation operators of a subpopulation-based genetic algorithm for multi-robot task allocation problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chun; Kroll, Andreas

2016-01-01

Multi-robot task allocation determines the task sequence and distribution for a group of robots in multi-robot systems, which is one of constrained combinatorial optimization problems and more complex in case of cooperative tasks because they introduce additional spatial and temporal constraints. To solve multi-robot task allocation problems with cooperative tasks efficiently, a subpopulation-based genetic algorithm, a crossover-free genetic algorithm employing mutation operators and elitism selection in each subpopulation, is developed in this paper. Moreover, the impact of mutation operators (swap, insertion, inversion, displacement, and their various combinations) is analyzed when solving several industrial plant inspection problems. The experimental results show that: (1) the proposed genetic algorithm can obtain better solutions than the tested binary tournament genetic algorithm with partially mapped crossover; (2) inversion mutation performs better than other tested mutation operators when solving problems without cooperative tasks, and the swap-inversion combination performs better than other tested mutation operators/combinations when solving problems with cooperative tasks. As it is difficult to produce all desired effects with a single mutation operator, using multiple mutation operators (including both inversion and swap) is suggested when solving similar combinatorial optimization problems.

Distraction during learning with hypermedia: Difficult tasks help to keep task goals on track

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Katharina eScheiter

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In educational hypermedia environments, students are often confronted with potential sources of distraction arising from additional information that, albeit interesting, is unrelated to their current task goal. The paper investigates the conditions under which distraction occurs and hampers performance. Based on theories of volitional action control it was hypothesized that interesting information, especially if related to a pending goal, would interfere with task performance only when working on easy, but not on difficult tasks. In Experiment 1, 66 students learned about probability theory using worked examples and solved corresponding test problems, whose task difficulty was manipulated. As a second factor, the presence of interesting information unrelated to the primary task was varied. Results showed that students solved more easy than difficult probability problems correctly. However, the presence of interesting, but task-irrelevant information did not interfere with performance. In Experiment 2, 68 students again engaged in example-based learning and problem solving in the presence of task-irrelevant information. Problem-solving difficulty was varied as a first factor. Additionally, the presence of a pending goal related to the task-irrelevant information was manipulated. As expected, problem-solving performance declined when a pending goal was present during working on easy problems, whereas no interference was observed for difficult problems. Moreover, the presence of a pending goal reduced the time on task-relevant information and increased the time on task-irrelevant information while working on easy tasks. However, as revealed by mediation analyses these changes in overt information processing behavior did not explain the decline in problem-solving performance. As an alternative explanation it is suggested that goal conflicts resulting from pending goals claim cognitive resources, which are then no longer available for learning and

The Effects of Differential Goal Weights on the Performance of a Complex Financial Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Edmister, Robert O.; Locke, Edwin A.

1987-01-01

Determined whether people could obtain outcomes on a complex task that would be in line with differential goal weights corresponding to different aspects of the task. Bank lending officers were run through lender-simulation exercises. Five performance goals were weighted. Demonstrated effectiveness of goal setting with complex tasks, using group…

A Novel Method for Assessing Task Complexity in Outpatient Clinical-Performance Measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Hysong, Sylvia J; Amspoker, Amber B; Petersen, Laura A

2016-04-01

Clinical-performance measurement has helped improve the quality of health-care; yet success in attaining high levels of quality across multiple domains simultaneously still varies considerably. Although many sources of variability in care quality have been studied, the difficulty required to complete the clinical work itself has received little attention. We present a task-based methodology for evaluating the difficulty of clinical-performance measures (CPMs) by assessing the complexity of their component requisite tasks. Using Functional Job Analysis (FJA), subject-matter experts (SMEs) generated task lists for 17 CPMs; task lists were rated on ten dimensions of complexity, and then aggregated into difficulty composites. Eleven outpatient work SMEs; 133 VA Medical Centers nationwide. Clinical Performance: 17 outpatient CPMs (2000-2008) at 133 VA Medical Centers nationwide. Measure Difficulty: for each CPM, the number of component requisite tasks and the average rating across ten FJA complexity scales for the set of tasks comprising the measure. Measures varied considerably in the number of component tasks (M = 10.56, SD = 6.25, min = 5, max = 25). Measures of chronic care following acute myocardial infarction exhibited significantly higher measure difficulty ratings compared to diabetes or screening measures, but not to immunization measures ([Formula: see text] = 0.45, -0.04, -0.05, and -0.06 respectively; F (3, 186) = 3.57, p = 0.015). Measure difficulty ratings were not significantly correlated with the number of component tasks (r = -0.30, p = 0.23). Evaluating the difficulty of achieving recommended CPM performance levels requires more than simply counting the tasks involved; using FJA to assess the complexity of CPMs' component tasks presents an alternate means of assessing the difficulty of primary-care CPMs and accounting for performance variation among measures and performers. This in turn could be used in designing

Measuring cognitive load: performance, mental effort and simulation task complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Haji, Faizal A; Rojas, David; Childs, Ruth; de Ribaupierre, Sandrine; Dubrowski, Adam

2015-08-01

Interest in applying cognitive load theory in health care simulation is growing. This line of inquiry requires measures that are sensitive to changes in cognitive load arising from different instructional designs. Recently, mental effort ratings and secondary task performance have shown promise as measures of cognitive load in health care simulation. We investigate the sensitivity of these measures to predicted differences in intrinsic load arising from variations in task complexity and learner expertise during simulation-based surgical skills training. We randomly assigned 28 novice medical students to simulation training on a simple or complex surgical knot-tying task. Participants completed 13 practice trials, interspersed with computer-based video instruction. On trials 1, 5, 9 and 13, knot-tying performance was assessed using time and movement efficiency measures, and cognitive load was assessed using subjective rating of mental effort (SRME) and simple reaction time (SRT) on a vibrotactile stimulus-monitoring secondary task. Significant improvements in knot-tying performance (F(1.04,24.95)  = 41.1, p cognitive load (F(2.3,58.5)  = 57.7, p load among novices engaged in simulation-based learning. These measures can be used to track cognitive load during skills training. Mental effort ratings are also sensitive to small differences in intrinsic load arising from variations in the physical complexity of a simulation task. The complementary nature of these subjective and objective measures suggests their combined use is advantageous in simulation instructional design research. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Formulae of differentiation for solving differential equations with complex-valued random coefficients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ki Hong; Lee, Dong Hun

1999-01-01

Generalizing the work of Shapiro and Loginov, we derive new formulae of differentiation useful for solving differential equations with complex-valued random coefficients. We apply the formulae to the quantum-mechanical problem of noninteracting electrons moving in a correlated random potential in one dimension

Identification of effective visual problem solving strategies in a complex visual domain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Meeuwen, Ludo; Jarodzka, Halszka; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Kirschner, Paul A.; De Bock, Jeano; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen

2018-01-01

Students in complex visual domains must acquire visual problem solving strategies that allow them to make fast decisions and come up with good solutions to real-time problems. In this study, 31 air traffic controllers at different levels of expertise (novice, intermediate, expert) were confronted

Characterization of children's decision making: sensitivity to punishment frequency, not task complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Crone, Eveline A; Bunge, Silvia A; Latenstein, Heleen; van der Molen, Maurits W

2005-06-01

On a gambling task that models real-life decision making, children between ages 7 and 12 perform like patients with bilateral lesions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), opting for choices that yield high immediate gains in spite of higher future losses (Crone & Van der Molen, 2004). The current study set out to characterize developmental changes in decision making by varying task complexity and punishment frequency. Three age groups (7-9 years, 10-12 years, 13-15 years) performed two versions of a computerized variant of the original Iowa gambling task. Task complexity was manipulated by varying the number of choices participants could make. Punishment frequency was manipulated by varying the frequency of delayed punishment. Results showed a developmental increase in the sensitivity to future consequences, which was present only when the punishment was presented infrequently. These results could not be explained by differential sensitivity to task complexity, hypersensitivity to reward, or failure to switch response set after receiving punishment. There was a general pattern of boys outperforming girls by making more advantageous choices over the course of the task. In conclusion, 7-12-year-old children--like VMPFC patients--appear myopic about the future except when the potential for future punishment is high.

Investigating long-range correlation properties in EEG during complex cognitive tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karkare, Siddharth; Saha, Goutam; Bhattacharya, Joydeep

2009-01-01

Previous work shows the presence of scale invariance and long-range correlations in ongoing and spontaneous activity of large scale brain responses (i.e. EEG), and such scaling behavior can also be modulated by simple sensory stimulus. However, little is known whether such alteration but not destruction in scaling properties also occurs during complex cognitive processing and if neuroplasticity plays any role in mediating such changes. In this study, we addressed these issues by investigating scaling properties of multivariate EEG signals obtained from two broad groups - artists and non-artists - while they performed complex tasks of perception and mental imagery of visual art objects. We found that brain regions showing increased correlation properties from rest were similar for both tasks, suggesting that brain networks responsible for visual perception are reactivated for mental imagery. Further, we observed that the two groups could be differentiated by scaling exponents and an artificial neural network based classifier achieved a classification efficiency of over 80%. These results altogether suggest that specific complex cognitive task demands and task-specific expertise can modify the temporal scale-free dynamics of brain responses.

Investigating long-range correlation properties in EEG during complex cognitive tasks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karkare, Siddharth [Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302 (India); Saha, Goutam [Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302 (India); Bhattacharya, Joydeep [Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW (United Kingdom); Commission for Scientific Visualization, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna A1220 (Austria)], E-mail: j.bhattacharya@gold.ac.uk

2009-11-30

Previous work shows the presence of scale invariance and long-range correlations in ongoing and spontaneous activity of large scale brain responses (i.e. EEG), and such scaling behavior can also be modulated by simple sensory stimulus. However, little is known whether such alteration but not destruction in scaling properties also occurs during complex cognitive processing and if neuroplasticity plays any role in mediating such changes. In this study, we addressed these issues by investigating scaling properties of multivariate EEG signals obtained from two broad groups - artists and non-artists - while they performed complex tasks of perception and mental imagery of visual art objects. We found that brain regions showing increased correlation properties from rest were similar for both tasks, suggesting that brain networks responsible for visual perception are reactivated for mental imagery. Further, we observed that the two groups could be differentiated by scaling exponents and an artificial neural network based classifier achieved a classification efficiency of over 80%. These results altogether suggest that specific complex cognitive task demands and task-specific expertise can modify the temporal scale-free dynamics of brain responses.

Circadian Effects on Simple Components of Complex Task Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Clegg, Benjamin A.; Wickens, Christopher D.; Vieane, Alex Z.; Gutzwiller, Robert S.; Sebok, Angelia L.

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to advance understanding and prediction of the impact of circadian rhythm on aspects of complex task performance during unexpected automation failures, and subsequent fault management. Participants trained on two tasks: a process control simulation, featuring automated support; and a multi-tasking platform. Participants then completed one task in a very early morning (circadian night) session, and the other during a late afternoon (circadian day) session. Small effects of time of day were seen on simple components of task performance, but impacts on more demanding components, such as those that occur following an automation failure, were muted relative to previous studies where circadian rhythm was compounded with sleep deprivation and fatigue. Circadian low participants engaged in compensatory strategies, rather than passively monitoring the automation. The findings and implications are discussed in the context of a model that includes the effects of sleep and fatigue factors.

Tasks for the future process and works management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kinn, T.

1994-01-01

The actions which have been taken according to the company's targets formulated so far, have lead to complex large scale technical plants. The process and works management becomes more and more difficult due to increasing costs and the strict margins, which have been set by the environmental technology. A complex/An integrated approach at the development of process and works control systems can help considerably to solve these problems due to the dependency on information and partly similar tasks. Before the integrated/complex approach is made the structure and nature of the tasks of all company levels must be analysed and put into concrete terms. The resulting demand of data processing must be adjusted within the frame of a data processing development plan and be realised step by step. In this work the structures, the future tasks and the information demand of process and works management are described. (orig.) [de

How students process equations in solving quantitative synthesis problems? Role of mathematical complexity in students’ mathematical performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bashirah Ibrahim

2017-10-01

Full Text Available We examine students’ mathematical performance on quantitative “synthesis problems” with varying mathematical complexity. Synthesis problems are tasks comprising multiple concepts typically taught in different chapters. Mathematical performance refers to the formulation, combination, and simplification of equations. Generally speaking, formulation and combination of equations require conceptual reasoning; simplification of equations requires manipulation of equations as computational tools. Mathematical complexity is operationally defined by the number and the type of equations to be manipulated concurrently due to the number of unknowns in each equation. We use two types of synthesis problems, namely, sequential and simultaneous tasks. Sequential synthesis tasks require a chronological application of pertinent concepts, and simultaneous synthesis tasks require a concurrent application of the pertinent concepts. A total of 179 physics major students from a second year mechanics course participated in the study. Data were collected from written tasks and individual interviews. Results show that mathematical complexity negatively influences the students’ mathematical performance on both types of synthesis problems. However, for the sequential synthesis tasks, it interferes only with the students’ simplification of equations. For the simultaneous synthesis tasks, mathematical complexity additionally impedes the students’ formulation and combination of equations. Several reasons may explain this difference, including the students’ different approaches to the two types of synthesis problems, cognitive load, and the variation of mathematical complexity within each synthesis type.

Do New Caledonian crows solve physical problems through causal reasoning?

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, A.H.; Hunt, G.R.; Medina, F.S.; Gray, R.D.

2008-01-01

The extent to which animals other than humans can reason about physical problems is contentious. The benchmark test for this ability has been the trap-tube task. We presented New Caledonian crows with a series of two-trap versions of this problem. Three out of six crows solved the initial trap-tube. These crows continued to avoid the trap when the arbitrary features that had previously been associated with successful performances were removed. However, they did not avoid the trap when a hole and a functional trap were in the tube. In contrast to a recent primate study, the three crows then solved a causally equivalent but visually distinct problem—the trap-table task. The performance of the three crows across the four transfers made explanations based on chance, associative learning, visual and tactile generalization, and previous dispositions unlikely. Our findings suggest that New Caledonian crows can solve complex physical problems by reasoning both causally and analogically about causal relations. Causal and analogical reasoning may form the basis of the New Caledonian crow's exceptional tool skills. PMID:18796393

Inhibitory Control, but Not Prolonged Object-Related Experience Appears to Affect Physical Problem-Solving Performance of Pet Dogs

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Corsin A.; Riemer, Stefanie; Virányi, Zsófia; Huber, Ludwig; Range, Friederike

2016-01-01

Human infants develop an understanding of their physical environment through playful interactions with objects. Similar processes may influence also the performance of non-human animals in physical problem-solving tasks, but to date there is little empirical data to evaluate this hypothesis. In addition or alternatively to prior experiences, inhibitory control has been suggested as a factor underlying the considerable individual differences in performance reported for many species. Here we report a study in which we manipulated the extent of object-related experience for a cohort of dogs (Canis familiaris) of the breed Border Collie over a period of 18 months, and assessed their level of inhibitory control, prior to testing them in a series of four physical problem-solving tasks. We found no evidence that differences in object-related experience explain variability in performance in these tasks. It thus appears that dogs do not transfer knowledge about physical rules from one physical problem-solving task to another, but rather approach each task as a novel problem. Our results, however, suggest that individual performance in these tasks is influenced in a complex way by the subject’s level of inhibitory control. Depending on the task, inhibitory control had a positive or a negative effect on performance and different aspects of inhibitory control turned out to be the best predictors of individual performance in the different tasks. Therefore, studying the interplay between inhibitory control and problem-solving performance will make an important contribution to our understanding of individual and species differences in physical problem-solving performance. PMID:26863141

Inhibitory Control, but Not Prolonged Object-Related Experience Appears to Affect Physical Problem-Solving Performance of Pet Dogs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corsin A Müller

Full Text Available Human infants develop an understanding of their physical environment through playful interactions with objects. Similar processes may influence also the performance of non-human animals in physical problem-solving tasks, but to date there is little empirical data to evaluate this hypothesis. In addition or alternatively to prior experiences, inhibitory control has been suggested as a factor underlying the considerable individual differences in performance reported for many species. Here we report a study in which we manipulated the extent of object-related experience for a cohort of dogs (Canis familiaris of the breed Border Collie over a period of 18 months, and assessed their level of inhibitory control, prior to testing them in a series of four physical problem-solving tasks. We found no evidence that differences in object-related experience explain variability in performance in these tasks. It thus appears that dogs do not transfer knowledge about physical rules from one physical problem-solving task to another, but rather approach each task as a novel problem. Our results, however, suggest that individual performance in these tasks is influenced in a complex way by the subject's level of inhibitory control. Depending on the task, inhibitory control had a positive or a negative effect on performance and different aspects of inhibitory control turned out to be the best predictors of individual performance in the different tasks. Therefore, studying the interplay between inhibitory control and problem-solving performance will make an important contribution to our understanding of individual and species differences in physical problem-solving performance.

Inhibitory Control, but Not Prolonged Object-Related Experience Appears to Affect Physical Problem-Solving Performance of Pet Dogs.

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Müller, Corsin A; Riemer, Stefanie; Virányi, Zsófia; Huber, Ludwig; Range, Friederike

2016-01-01

Human infants develop an understanding of their physical environment through playful interactions with objects. Similar processes may influence also the performance of non-human animals in physical problem-solving tasks, but to date there is little empirical data to evaluate this hypothesis. In addition or alternatively to prior experiences, inhibitory control has been suggested as a factor underlying the considerable individual differences in performance reported for many species. Here we report a study in which we manipulated the extent of object-related experience for a cohort of dogs (Canis familiaris) of the breed Border Collie over a period of 18 months, and assessed their level of inhibitory control, prior to testing them in a series of four physical problem-solving tasks. We found no evidence that differences in object-related experience explain variability in performance in these tasks. It thus appears that dogs do not transfer knowledge about physical rules from one physical problem-solving task to another, but rather approach each task as a novel problem. Our results, however, suggest that individual performance in these tasks is influenced in a complex way by the subject's level of inhibitory control. Depending on the task, inhibitory control had a positive or a negative effect on performance and different aspects of inhibitory control turned out to be the best predictors of individual performance in the different tasks. Therefore, studying the interplay between inhibitory control and problem-solving performance will make an important contribution to our understanding of individual and species differences in physical problem-solving performance.

Multisensors Cooperative Detection Task Scheduling Algorithm Based on Hybrid Task Decomposition and MBPSO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changyun Liu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A multisensor scheduling algorithm based on the hybrid task decomposition and modified binary particle swarm optimization (MBPSO is proposed. Firstly, aiming at the complex relationship between sensor resources and tasks, a hybrid task decomposition method is presented, and the resource scheduling problem is decomposed into subtasks; then the sensor resource scheduling problem is changed into the match problem of sensors and subtasks. Secondly, the resource match optimization model based on the sensor resources and tasks is established, which considers several factors, such as the target priority, detecting benefit, handover times, and resource load. Finally, MBPSO algorithm is proposed to solve the match optimization model effectively, which is based on the improved updating means of particle’s velocity and position through the doubt factor and modified Sigmoid function. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is better in terms of convergence velocity, searching capability, solution accuracy, and efficiency.

Multi-robot Task Allocation for Search and Rescue Missions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, Ahmed; Adel, Mohamed; Bakr, Mohamed; Shehata, Omar M; Khamis, Alaa

2014-01-01

Many researchers from academia and industry are attracted to investigate how to design and develop robust versatile multi-robot systems by solving a number of challenging and complex problems such as task allocation, group formation, self-organization and much more. In this study, the problem of multi-robot task allocation (MRTA) is tackled. MRTA is the problem of optimally allocating a set of tasks to a group of robots to optimize the overall system performance while being subjected to a set of constraints. A generic market-based approach is proposed in this paper to solve this problem. The efficacy of the proposed approach is quantitatively evaluated through simulation and real experimentation using heterogeneous Khepera-III mobile robots. The results from both simulation and experimentation indicate the high performance of the proposed algorithms and their applicability in search and rescue missions

The Differential Effects of Task Complexity on Domain-Specific and Peer Assessment Skills

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van Zundert, Marjo J.; Sluijsmans, Dominique M. A.; Konings, Karen D.; van Merrienboer, Jeroen J. G.

2012-01-01

In this study the relationship between domain-specific skills and peer assessment skills as a function of task complexity is investigated. We hypothesised that peer assessment skills were superposed on domain-specific skills and will therefore suffer more when higher cognitive load is induced by increased task complexity. In a mixed factorial…

A meta-heuristic method for solving scheduling problem: crow search algorithm

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Adhi, Antono; Santosa, Budi; Siswanto, Nurhadi

2018-04-01

Scheduling is one of the most important processes in an industry both in manufacturingand services. The scheduling process is the process of selecting resources to perform an operation on tasks. Resources can be machines, peoples, tasks, jobs or operations.. The selection of optimum sequence of jobs from a permutation is an essential issue in every research in scheduling problem. Optimum sequence becomes optimum solution to resolve scheduling problem. Scheduling problem becomes NP-hard problem since the number of job in the sequence is more than normal number can be processed by exact algorithm. In order to obtain optimum results, it needs a method with capability to solve complex scheduling problems in an acceptable time. Meta-heuristic is a method usually used to solve scheduling problem. The recently published method called Crow Search Algorithm (CSA) is adopted in this research to solve scheduling problem. CSA is an evolutionary meta-heuristic method which is based on the behavior in flocks of crow. The calculation result of CSA for solving scheduling problem is compared with other algorithms. From the comparison, it is found that CSA has better performance in term of optimum solution and time calculation than other algorithms.

Task Complexity and Modality: Exploring Learners' Experience from the Perspective of Flow

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Cho, Minyoung

2018-01-01

Despite an increased awareness of language learner performance in task-based instruction, little is known about how learners perceive and respond to different task factors. This study investigates the effects of task complexity and modality on (a) learners' perception of task difficulty, skill, and its balance, and on (b) learners' task…

"One Task Fits All"? The Roles of Task Complexity, Modality, and Working Memory Capacity in L2 Performance

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Zalbidea, Janire

2017-01-01

The present study explores the independent and interactive effects of task complexity and task modality on linguistic dimensions of second language (L2) performance and investigates how these effects are modulated by individual differences in working memory capacity. Thirty-two intermediate learners of L2 Spanish completed less and more complex…

Solving structures of protein complexes by molecular replacement with Phaser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCoy, Airlie J.

2006-01-01

Four case studies in using maximum-likelihood molecular replacement, as implemented in the program Phaser, to solve structures of protein complexes are described. Molecular replacement (MR) generally becomes more difficult as the number of components in the asymmetric unit requiring separate MR models (i.e. the dimensionality of the search) increases. When the proportion of the total scattering contributed by each search component is small, the signal in the search for each component in isolation is weak or non-existent. Maximum-likelihood MR functions enable complex asymmetric units to be built up from individual components with a ‘tree search with pruning’ approach. This method, as implemented in the automated search procedure of the program Phaser, has been very successful in solving many previously intractable MR problems. However, there are a number of cases in which the automated search procedure of Phaser is suboptimal or encounters difficulties. These include cases where there are a large number of copies of the same component in the asymmetric unit or where the components of the asymmetric unit have greatly varying B factors. Two case studies are presented to illustrate how Phaser can be used to best advantage in the standard ‘automated MR’ mode and two case studies are used to show how to modify the automated search strategy for problematic cases

Detecting gait abnormalities after concussion or mild traumatic brain injury: A systematic review of single-task, dual-task, and complex gait.

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Fino, Peter C; Parrington, Lucy; Pitt, Will; Martini, Douglas N; Chesnutt, James C; Chou, Li-Shan; King, Laurie A

2018-05-01

While a growing number of studies have investigated the effects of concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) on gait, many studies use different experimental paradigms and outcome measures. The path for translating experimental studies for objective clinical assessments of gait is unclear. This review asked 2 questions: 1) is gait abnormal after concussion/mTBI, and 2) what gait paradigms (single-task, dual-task, complex gait) detect abnormalities after concussion. Data sources included MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) accessed on March 14, 2017. Original research articles reporting gait outcomes in people with concussion or mTBI were included. Studies of moderate, severe, or unspecified TBI, and studies without a comparator were excluded. After screening 233 articles, 38 studies were included and assigned to one or more sections based on the protocol and reported outcomes. Twenty-six articles reported single-task simple gait outcomes, 24 reported dual-task simple gait outcomes, 21 reported single-task complex gait outcomes, and 10 reported dual-task complex gait outcomes. Overall, this review provides evidence for two conclusions: 1) gait is abnormal acutely after concussion/mTBI but generally resolves over time; and 2) the inconsistency of findings, small sample sizes, and small number of studies examining homogenous measures at the same time-period post-concussion highlight the need for replication across independent populations and investigators. Future research should concentrate on dual-task and complex gait tasks, as they showed promise for detecting abnormal locomotor function outside of the acute timeframe. Additionally, studies should provide detailed demographic and clinical characteristics to enable more refined comparisons across studies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Problem Solving and Learning

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Singh, Chandralekha

2009-07-01

One finding of cognitive research is that people do not automatically acquire usable knowledge by spending lots of time on task. Because students' knowledge hierarchy is more fragmented, "knowledge chunks" are smaller than those of experts. The limited capacity of short term memory makes the cognitive load high during problem solving tasks, leaving few cognitive resources available for meta-cognition. The abstract nature of the laws of physics and the chain of reasoning required to draw meaningful inferences makes these issues critical. In order to help students, it is crucial to consider the difficulty of a problem from the perspective of students. We are developing and evaluating interactive problem-solving tutorials to help students in the introductory physics courses learn effective problem-solving strategies while solidifying physics concepts. The self-paced tutorials can provide guidance and support for a variety of problem solving techniques, and opportunity for knowledge and skill acquisition.

Association Between Gross-Motor and Executive Function Depends on Age and Motor Task Complexity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spedden, Meaghan E; Malling, Anne Sofie B; Andersen, Ken K

2017-01-01

The objective was to examine associations between motor and executive function across the adult lifespan and to investigate the role of motor complexity in these associations. Young, middle-aged and older adults (n = 82; 19-83y) performed two gross-motor tasks with different levels of complexity...... and a Stroop-like computer task. Performance was decreased in older adults. The association between motor and cognitive performance was significant for older adults in the complex motor task (p = 0.03, rs = -0.41), whereas no significant associations were found for young or middle-aged groups, suggesting...... that the link between gross-motor and executive function emerges with age and depends on motor complexity....

Using of P2P Networks for Acceleration of RTE Tasks Solving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian Iftene

2008-07-01

Full Text Available In the last years the computational Grids have become an important research area in large-scale scientific and engineering research. Our approach is based on Peer-to-peer (P2P networks, which are recognized as one of most used architectures in order to achieve scalability in key components of Grid systems. The main scope in using of a computational Grid was to improve the computational speed of systems that solve complex problems from Natural Language processing field. We will see how can be implemented a computational Grid using the P2P model, and how can be used SMB protocol for file transfer. After that we will see how we can use this computational Grid, in order to improve the computational speed of a system used in RTE competition [1], a new complex challenge from Natural Language processing field.

Optimizing the number of steps in learning tasks for complex skills.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nadolski, Rob; Kirschner, Paul A.; Van Merriënboer, Jeroen

2007-01-01

Background. Carrying out whole tasks is often too difficult for novice learners attempting to acquire complex skills. The common solution is to split up the tasks into a number of smaller steps. The number of steps must be optimised for efficient and effective learning. Aim. The aim of the study is

Applying Cooperative Techniques in Teaching Problem Solving

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Krisztina Barczi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Teaching how to solve problems – from solving simple equations to solving difficult competition tasks – has been one of the greatest challenges for mathematics education for many years. Trying to find an effective method is an important educational task. Among others, the question arises as to whether a method in which students help each other might be useful. The present article describes part of an experiment that was designed to determine the effects of cooperative teaching techniques on the development of problem-solving skills.

Monitoring cognitive and emotional processes through pupil and cardiac response during dynamic versus logical task.

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Causse, Mickaël; Sénard, Jean-Michel; Démonet, Jean François; Pastor, Josette

2010-06-01

The paper deals with the links between physiological measurements and cognitive and emotional functioning. As long as the operator is a key agent in charge of complex systems, the definition of metrics able to predict his performance is a great challenge. The measurement of the physiological state is a very promising way but a very acute comprehension is required; in particular few studies compare autonomous nervous system reactivity according to specific cognitive processes during task performance and task related psychological stress is often ignored. We compared physiological parameters recorded on 24 healthy subjects facing two neuropsychological tasks: a dynamic task that require problem solving in a world that continually evolves over time and a logical task representative of cognitive processes performed by operators facing everyday problem solving. Results showed that the mean pupil diameter change was higher during the dynamic task; conversely, the heart rate was more elevated during the logical task. Finally, the systolic blood pressure seemed to be strongly sensitive to psychological stress. A better taking into account of the precise influence of a given cognitive activity and both workload and related task-induced psychological stress during task performance is a promising way to better monitor operators in complex working situations to detect mental overload or pejorative stress factor of error.

Patterns of problem-solving in children's literacy and arithmetic.

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Farrington-Flint, Lee; Vanuxem-Cotterill, Sophie; Stiller, James

2009-11-01

Patterns of problem-solving among 5-to-7 year-olds' were examined on a range of literacy (reading and spelling) and arithmetic-based (addition and subtraction) problem-solving tasks using verbal self-reports to monitor strategy choice. The results showed higher levels of variability in the children's strategy choice across Years I and 2 on the arithmetic (addition and subtraction) than literacy-based tasks (reading and spelling). However, across all four tasks, the children showed a tendency to move from less sophisticated procedural-based strategies, which included phonological strategies for reading and spelling and counting-all and finger modellingfor addition and subtraction, to more efficient retrieval methods from Years I to 2. Distinct patterns in children's problem-solving skill were identified on the literacy and arithmetic tasks using two separate cluster analyses. There was a strong association between these two profiles showing that those children with more advanced problem-solving skills on the arithmetic tasks also showed more advanced profiles on the literacy tasks. The results highlight how different-aged children show flexibility in their use of problem-solving strategies across literacy and arithmetical contexts and reinforce the importance of studying variations in children's problem-solving skill across different educational contexts.

Quantifying the Physiological Stress Response to Simulated Maritime Pilotage Tasks: The Influence of Task Complexity and Pilot Experience.

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Main, Luana C; Wolkow, Alexander; Chambers, Timothy P

2017-11-01

The aim of this study was to quantify the stress associated with performing maritime pilotage tasks in a high-fidelity simulator. Eight trainee and 13 maritime pilots completed two simulated pilotage tasks of varying complexity. Salivary cortisol samples were collected pre- and post-simulation for both trials. Heart rate was measured continuously throughout the study. Significant changes in salivary cortisol (P = 0.000, η = 0.139), average (P = 0.006, η = 0.087), and peak heart rate (P = 0.013, η = 0.077) from pre- to postsimulation were found. Varying task complexity did partially influence stress response; average (P = 0.016, η = 0.026) and peak heart rate (P = 0.034, η = 0.020) were higher in the experimental condition. Trainees also recorded higher average (P = 0.000, η = 0.054) and peak heart rates (P = 0.027, η = 0.022). Performing simulated pilotage tasks evoked a measurable stress response in both trainee and expert maritime pilots.

Using Educational Data Mining Methods to Assess Field-Dependent and Field-Independent Learners' Complex Problem Solving

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Angeli, Charoula; Valanides, Nicos

2013-01-01

The present study investigated the problem-solving performance of 101 university students and their interactions with a computer modeling tool in order to solve a complex problem. Based on their performance on the hidden figures test, students were assigned to three groups of field-dependent (FD), field-mixed (FM), and field-independent (FI)…

Manual asymmetry in older adults on a complex coincidence-anticipation task.

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Rodrigues, Paula Cristina Dos Santos; Silva, João Miguel Carvalho da; Barreiros, João Manuel Pardal; Vasconcelos, Maria Olga Fernandes

2018-04-20

Age-related asymmetrical functional decline was tested in a sample of 57 right-handed volunteers between 65 and 85 years of age. Participants performed a complex coincidence-anticipation (CA) task with both preferred and non-preferred hands. Results demonstrated that the proficiency of a complex CA task was similar for the 2 age groups, but different for the 2 hands. The non-preferred hand was more proficient for temporal accuracy but not for response timing, which was similar for both hands. Moreover, the lack of interaction between age and hand both in response timing and response accuracy reveal symmetric performance across ages.

Measuring working memory in aphasia: Comparing performance on complex span and N-back tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Ivanova

2014-04-01

No significant correlations were observed between performance on complex span task and N-back tasks.Furthermore, performance on the modified listening span was related to performance on the comprehension subtest of the QASA, while no relationship was found for 2-back and 0-back tasks.Our results mirror studies in healthy controls that demonstrated no relationship between performance on the two tasks(Jaeggi et al., 2010; Kane et al., 2007. Thus although N-back tasks seem similar to traditional complex span measures and may also index abilities related to cognitive processing, the evidence to date does not warrant their direct association with the construct of WM. Implications for future investigation of cognitive deficits in aphasia will be discussed.

Individual Differences in Students' Complex Problem Solving Skills: How They Evolve and What They Imply

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Wüstenberg, Sascha; Greiff, Samuel; Vainikainen, Mari-Pauliina; Murphy, Kevin

2016-01-01

Changes in the demands posed by increasingly complex workplaces in the 21st century have raised the importance of nonroutine skills such as complex problem solving (CPS). However, little is known about the antecedents and outcomes of CPS, especially with regard to malleable external factors such as classroom climate. To investigate the relations…

Inverse sex effects on performance of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in a repeated problem-solving task.

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Duranton, Charlotte; Rödel, Heiko G; Bedossa, Thierry; Belkhir, Séverine

2015-02-01

The authors investigated differences between female and male pet dogs in physical cognition using an object manipulation task. Subjects (24 females and 23 males of different breeds) had to open a box in order to obtain a food reward during 3 consecutive trials, and latency times before success were measured. Males were significantly more successful in opening the box during the first trial. However, this sex difference was inversed when successful individuals were retested. During the following 2 trials, females were more successful than males, indicating that they were able to improve their skills more quickly once they had managed to succeed for a first time. Sex-specific dynamics in repeated problem-solving tasks might be an important contributor to individual differences in cognitive performance of pet dogs. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Report on the Second Workshop on Supporting Complex Search Tasks : CHIIR 2017 Workshop Report

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koolen, M.; Kamps, J.; Bogers, T.; Belkin, N.; Kelly, D.; Yilmaz, E.

There is broad consensus in the field of IR that search is complex in many use cases and applications, both on the Web and in domain-specific collections, and both in our professional and in our daily life. Yet our understanding of complex search tasks, in comparison to simple look up tasks, is

Negotiation as a metaphor for distributed problem solving

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davis, R.; Smith, R.G.

1983-01-01

The authors describe the concept of distributed problem solving and defines it as the cooperative solution of problems by a decentralized and loosely coupled collection of problem solvers. This approach to problem solving offers the promise of increased performance and provides a useful medium for exploring and developing new problem-solving techniques. A framework is presented called the contract net that specifies communication and control in a distribution problem solver. Task distribution is viewed as an interactive process, a discussion carried on between a node with a task to be executed and a group of nodes that may be able to execute the task. The kinds of information are described that must be passed between nodes during the discussion in order to obtain effective problem-solving behavior. This discussion is the origin of the negotiation metaphor: task distribution is viewed as a form of contract negotiation. 32 references.

The Development of Complex Problem Solving in Adolescence: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

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Frischkorn, Gidon T.; Greiff, Samuel; Wüstenberg, Sascha

2014-01-01

Complex problem solving (CPS) as a cross-curricular competence has recently attracted more attention in educational psychology as indicated by its implementation in international educational large-scale assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment. However, research on the development of CPS is scarce, and the few…

Decentralization of Decision Authority in Complex Task Structures DRUID

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dobrajska, Magdalena; Billinger, Stephan; Karim, Samina

-relevant knowledge, the matching of required knowledge and manager?s expertise, and information processing intensity affect (a) the occurrence of delegation, and (b), if delegation occurs, how far down the organizational hierarchy authority is delegated. We discuss how these findings complement existing theories......We investigate tradeoffs associated with delegating authority over multiple interrelated decisions in a complex task structure. The empirical setting is a business process of a global Fortune 50 firm. The firm decentralized its organization and redefined decision authority across organizational...... hierarchies between 2008 and 2011. We employ regression analysis of micro-level data on the organization design of 761 decision tasks and we investigate the allocation of decision authority at the level of all observable individual decision tasks. Our findings show how the specialization of decision...

Applications of systems thinking and soft operations research in managing complexity from problem framing to problem solving

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

This book captures current trends and developments in the field of systems thinking and soft operations research which can be applied to solve today's problems of dynamic complexity and interdependency. Such ‘wicked problems’ and messes are seemingly intractable problems characterized as value-laden, ambiguous, and unstable, that resist being tamed by classical problem solving. Actions and interventions associated with this complex problem space can have highly unpredictable and unintended consequences. Examples of such complex problems include health care reform, global climate change, transnational serious and organized crime, terrorism, homeland security, human security, disaster management, and humanitarian aid. Moving towards the development of solutions to these complex problem spaces depends on the lens we use to examine them and how we frame the problem. It will be shown that systems thinking and soft operations research has had great success in contributing to the management of complexity. .

Variations in task constraints shape emergent performance outcomes and complexity levels in balancing.

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Caballero Sánchez, Carla; Barbado Murillo, David; Davids, Keith; Moreno Hernández, Francisco J

2016-06-01

This study investigated the extent to which specific interacting constraints of performance might increase or decrease the emergent complexity in a movement system, and whether this could affect the relationship between observed movement variability and the central nervous system's capacity to adapt to perturbations during balancing. Fifty-two healthy volunteers performed eight trials where different performance constraints were manipulated: task difficulty (three levels) and visual biofeedback conditions (with and without the center of pressure (COP) displacement and a target displayed). Balance performance was assessed using COP-based measures: mean velocity magnitude (MVM) and bivariate variable error (BVE). To assess the complexity of COP, fuzzy entropy (FE) and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) were computed. ANOVAs showed that MVM and BVE increased when task difficulty increased. During biofeedback conditions, individuals showed higher MVM but lower BVE at the easiest level of task difficulty. Overall, higher FE and lower DFA values were observed when biofeedback was available. On the other hand, FE reduced and DFA increased as difficulty level increased, in the presence of biofeedback. However, when biofeedback was not available, the opposite trend in FE and DFA values was observed. Regardless of changes to task constraints and the variable investigated, balance performance was positively related to complexity in every condition. Data revealed how specificity of task constraints can result in an increase or decrease in complexity emerging in a neurobiological system during balance performance.

Controlling Uncertainty: A Review of Human Behavior in Complex Dynamic Environments

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Osman, Magda

2010-01-01

Complex dynamic control (CDC) tasks are a type of problem-solving environment used for examining many cognitive activities (e.g., attention, control, decision making, hypothesis testing, implicit learning, memory, monitoring, planning, and problem solving). Because of their popularity, there have been many findings from diverse domains of research…

Optimizing the number of steps in learning tasks for complex skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadolski, Rob J; Kirschner, Paul A; van Merriënboer, Jeroen J G

2005-06-01

Carrying out whole tasks is often too difficult for novice learners attempting to acquire complex skills. The common solution is to split up the tasks into a number of smaller steps. The number of steps must be optimized for efficient and effective learning. The aim of the study is to investigate the relation between the number of steps provided to learners and the quality of their learning of complex skills. It is hypothesized that students receiving an optimized number of steps will learn better than those receiving either the whole task in only one step or those receiving a large number of steps. Participants were 35 sophomore law students studying at Dutch universities, mean age=22.8 years (SD=3.5), 63% were female. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 computer-delivered versions of a multimedia programme on how to prepare and carry out a law plea. The versions differed only in the number of learning steps provided. Videotaped plea-performance results were determined, various related learning measures were acquired and all computer actions were logged and analyzed. Participants exposed to an intermediate (i.e. optimized) number of steps outperformed all others on the compulsory learning task. No differences in performance on a transfer task were found. A high number of steps proved to be less efficient for carrying out the learning task. An intermediate number of steps is the most effective, proving that the number of steps can be optimized for improving learning.

Expertise, Task Complexity, and Artificial Intelligence: A Conceptual Framework.

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Buckland, Michael K.; Florian, Doris

1991-01-01

Examines the relationship between users' expertise, task complexity of information system use, and artificial intelligence to provide the basis for a conceptual framework for considering the role that artificial intelligence might play in information systems. Cognitive and conceptual models are discussed, and cost effectiveness is considered. (27…

Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on multiscale complexity of dual-task postural control in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Diange; Zhou, Junhong; Chen, Hu; Manor, Brad; Lin, Jianhao; Zhang, Jue

2015-08-01

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting the prefrontal cortex reduces the size and speed of standing postural sway in younger adults, particularly when performing a cognitive dual task. Here, we hypothesized that tDCS would alter the complex dynamics of postural sway as quantified by multiscale entropy (MSE). Twenty healthy older adults completed two study visits. Center-of-pressure (COP) fluctuations were recorded during single-task (i.e., quiet standing) and dual-task (i.e., standing while performing serial subtractions) conditions, both before and after a 20-min session of real or sham tDCS. MSE was used to estimate COP complexity within each condition. The percentage change in complexity from single- to dual-task conditions (i.e., dual-task cost) was also calculated. Before tDCS, COP complexity was lower (p = 0.04) in the dual-task condition as compared to the single-task condition. Neither real nor sham tDCS altered complexity in the single-task condition. As compared to sham tDCS, real tDCS increased complexity in the dual-task condition (p = 0.02) and induced a trend toward improved serial subtraction performance (p = 0.09). Moreover, those subjects with lower dual-task COP complexity at baseline exhibited greater percentage increases in complexity following real tDCS (R = -0.39, p = 0.05). Real tDCS also reduced the dual-task cost to complexity (p = 0.02), while sham stimulation had no effect. A single session of tDCS targeting the prefrontal cortex increased standing postural sway complexity with concurrent non-postural cognitive task. This form of noninvasive brain stimulation may be a safe strategy to acutely improve postural control by enhancing the system's capacity to adapt to stressors.

Lexical Complexity of Decision-Making Writing Tasks: Form-focused Guided Strategic Planning

OpenAIRE

Mahdavirad, Fatemeh

2016-01-01

The present study is an attempt to investigate the effect of form-focused guided strategic planning on lexical complexity of learners’ performance in writing tasks. The twenty intermediate level participants of the study performed an unplanned and then a planned decision-making task. In the planned task condition, the participants were provided with form-focused guided strategic planning which contained detailed instructions about how to plan, by being instructed to focus on form. The guidanc...

Models for Understanding Student Thinking using Data from Complex Computerized Science Tasks

OpenAIRE

LaMar, Michelle

2014-01-01

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) define performance targets which will require assessment tasks that can integrate discipline knowledge and cross-cutting ideas with the practices of science. Complex computerized tasks will likely play a large role in assessing these standards, but many questions remain about how best to make use of such tasks within a psychometric framework (National Research Council, 2014). This dissertation explores the use of a more extensive...

Research on air and missile defense task allocation based on extended contract net protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yunzhi; Wang, Gang

2017-10-01

Based on the background of air and missile defense distributed element corporative engagement, the interception task allocation problem of multiple weapon units with multiple targets under network condition is analyzed. Firstly, a mathematical model of task allocation is established by combat task decomposition. Secondly, the initialization assignment based on auction contract and the adjustment allocation scheme based on swap contract were introduced to the task allocation. Finally, through the simulation calculation of typical situation, the model can be used to solve the task allocation problem in complex combat environment.

Facilitation of responses by task-irrelevant complex deviant stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Schomaker, J; Meeter, M

2014-05-01

Novel stimuli reliably attract attention, suggesting that novelty may disrupt performance when it is task-irrelevant. However, under certain circumstances novel stimuli can also elicit a general alerting response having beneficial effects on performance. In a series of experiments we investigated whether different aspects of novelty--stimulus novelty, contextual novelty, surprise, deviance, and relative complexity--lead to distraction or facilitation. We used a version of the visual oddball paradigm in which participants responded to an occasional auditory target. Participants responded faster to this auditory target when it occurred during the presentation of novel visual stimuli than of standard stimuli, especially at SOAs of 0 and 200 ms (Experiment 1). Facilitation was absent for both infrequent simple deviants and frequent complex images (Experiment 2). However, repeated complex deviant images did facilitate responses to the auditory target at the 200 ms SOA (Experiment 3). These findings suggest that task-irrelevant deviant visual stimuli can facilitate responses to an unrelated auditory target in a short 0-200 millisecond time-window after presentation. This only occurs when the deviant stimuli are complex relative to standard stimuli. We link our findings to the novelty P3, which is generated under the same circumstances, and to the adaptive gain theory of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system (Aston-Jones and Cohen, 2005), which may explain the timing of the effects. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neural bases for basic processes in heuristic problem solving: Take solving Sudoku puzzles as an example.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Yulin; Xiang, Jie; Wang, Rifeng; Zhou, Haiyan; Li, Kuncheng; Zhong, Ning

2012-12-01

Newell and Simon postulated that the basic steps in human problem-solving involve iteratively applying operators to transform the state of the problem to eventually achieve a goal. To check the neural basis of this framework, the present study focused on the basic processes in human heuristic problem-solving that the participants identified the current problem state and then recalled and applied the corresponding heuristic rules to change the problem state. A new paradigm, solving simplified Sudoku puzzles, was developed for an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in problem solving. Regions of interest (ROIs), including the left prefrontal cortex, the bilateral posterior parietal cortex, the anterior cingulated cortex, the bilateral caudate nuclei, the bilateral fusiform, as well as the bilateral frontal eye fields, were found to be involved in the task. To obtain convergent evidence, in addition to traditional statistical analysis, we used the multivariate voxel classification method to check the accuracy of the predictions for the condition of the task from the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response of the ROIs, using a new classifier developed in this study for fMRI data. To reveal the roles that the ROIs play in problem solving, we developed an ACT-R computational model of the information-processing processes in human problem solving, and tried to predict the BOLD response of the ROIs from the task. Advances in human problem-solving research after Newell and Simon are then briefly discussed. © 2012 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Learning and inference using complex generative models in a spatial localization task.

Science.gov (United States)

Bejjanki, Vikranth R; Knill, David C; Aslin, Richard N

2016-01-01

A large body of research has established that, under relatively simple task conditions, human observers integrate uncertain sensory information with learned prior knowledge in an approximately Bayes-optimal manner. However, in many natural tasks, observers must perform this sensory-plus-prior integration when the underlying generative model of the environment consists of multiple causes. Here we ask if the Bayes-optimal integration seen with simple tasks also applies to such natural tasks when the generative model is more complex, or whether observers rely instead on a less efficient set of heuristics that approximate ideal performance. Participants localized a "hidden" target whose position on a touch screen was sampled from a location-contingent bimodal generative model with different variances around each mode. Over repeated exposure to this task, participants learned the a priori locations of the target (i.e., the bimodal generative model), and integrated this learned knowledge with uncertain sensory information on a trial-by-trial basis in a manner consistent with the predictions of Bayes-optimal behavior. In particular, participants rapidly learned the locations of the two modes of the generative model, but the relative variances of the modes were learned much more slowly. Taken together, our results suggest that human performance in a more complex localization task, which requires the integration of sensory information with learned knowledge of a bimodal generative model, is consistent with the predictions of Bayes-optimal behavior, but involves a much longer time-course than in simpler tasks.

How Cognitive Style and Problem Complexity Affect Preservice Agricultural Education Teachers' Abilities to Solve Problems in Agricultural Mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Blackburn, J. Joey; Robinson, J. Shane; Lamm, Alexa J.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this experimental study was to determine the effects of cognitive style and problem complexity on Oklahoma State University preservice agriculture teachers' (N = 56) ability to solve problems in small gasoline engines. Time to solution was operationalized as problem solving ability. Kirton's Adaption-Innovation Inventory was…

Relationship between Usefulness Assessments and Perceptions of Work Task Complexity and Search Topic Specificity: An Exploratory Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingwersen, Peter; Wang, Peiling

2012-01-01

This research investigates the relations between the usefulness assessments of retrieved documents and the perceptions of task complexity and search topic specificity. Twenty-three academic researchers submitted 65 real task-based information search topics. These task topics were searched...... in an integrated document collection consisting of full text research articles in PDFs, abstracts, and bibliographic records (the iSearch Test Collection in Physics). The search results were provided to the researchers who, as task performers, made assessments of usefulness using a four-point sale (highly, fairly......, marginally, or not useful). In addition, they also assessed the perceived task complexity (highly, fairly, and routine/low) and the perceived specificity of the search topic (highly, fairly, and generic/low). It is found that highly specific topics associate with all degrees of task complexity, whereas...

Highly efficient parallel direct solver for solving dense complex matrix equations from method of moments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Chen

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Based on the vectorised and cache optimised kernel, a parallel lower upper decomposition with a novel communication avoiding pivoting scheme is developed to solve dense complex matrix equations generated by the method of moments. The fine-grain data rearrangement and assembler instructions are adopted to reduce memory accessing times and improve CPU cache utilisation, which also facilitate vectorisation of the code. Through grouping processes in a binary tree, a parallel pivoting scheme is designed to optimise the communication pattern and thus reduces the solving time of the proposed solver. Two large electromagnetic radiation problems are solved on two supercomputers, respectively, and the numerical results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms those in open source and commercial libraries.

The Effect of Performance-Contingent Incentives when Task Complexity is Manipulated through Instruction

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Monte Wynder

2010-12-01

Full Text Available When, and how, performance-contingent incentives improve performance is an important question fororganisations. Empirical results have been mixed – performance-contingent incentives sometimes increaseperformance, sometimes decrease performance, and sometimes have no effect. Theorists have called forfurther research to identify the effect of various moderating variables, including knowledge and taskcomplexity. This study responds by considering the role of instruction in providing the necessary knowledgeto reduce task complexity. The results suggest that a performance-contingent penalty can be a particularlyeffective means of directing effort for a simple task. For a complex task, performance can be improvedthrough instruction. The type of instruction is important – with rule-based instruction effectively directingeffort – however principle-based instruction is necessary to facilitate problem investigation and problemsolving.

Is it health information technology? : Task complexity and work substitution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Medina Palomino, Hector; Rutkowski, Anne; Verhulst, Matthijs

2015-01-01

New technology is making it possible to replace professions built on complex knowledge, e.g. medicine. In our exploratory research we examined how Information Technologies might be replacing some of the tasks formerly processed by physician anesthesiologists (MDAs). Data (N=1178) were collected at a

Solving Multiple Isolated, Interleaved, and Blended Tasks through Modular Neuroevolution.

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Schrum, Jacob; Miikkulainen, Risto

2016-01-01

Many challenging sequential decision-making problems require agents to master multiple tasks. For instance, game agents may need to gather resources, attack opponents, and defend against attacks. Learning algorithms can thus benefit from having separate policies for these tasks, and from knowing when each one is appropriate. How well this approach works depends on how tightly coupled the tasks are. Three cases are identified: Isolated tasks have distinct semantics and do not interact, interleaved tasks have distinct semantics but do interact, and blended tasks have regions where semantics from multiple tasks overlap. Learning across multiple tasks is studied in this article with Modular Multiobjective NEAT, a neuroevolution framework applied to three variants of the challenging Ms. Pac-Man video game. In the standard blended version of the game, a surprising, highly effective machine-discovered task division surpasses human-specified divisions, achieving the best scores to date in this game. In isolated and interleaved versions of the game, human-specified task divisions are also successful, though the best scores are surprisingly still achieved by machine discovery. Modular neuroevolution is thus shown to be capable of finding useful, unexpected task divisions better than those apparent to a human designer.

Geometric and Algebraic Approaches in the Concept of Complex Numbers

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Panaoura, A.; Elia, I.; Gagatsis, A.; Giatilis, G.-P.

2006-01-01

This study explores pupils' performance and processes in tasks involving equations and inequalities of complex numbers requiring conversions from a geometric representation to an algebraic representation and conversions in the reverse direction, and also in complex numbers problem solving. Data were collected from 95 pupils of the final grade from…

The Intersection of Task-Based Interaction, Task Complexity, and Working Memory: L2 Question Development through Recasts in a Laboratory Setting

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Kim, YouJin; Payant, Caroline; Pearson, Pamela

2015-01-01

The extent to which individual differences in cognitive abilities affect the relationship among task complexity, attention to form, and second language development has been addressed only minimally in the cognition hypothesis literature. The present study explores how reasoning demands in tasks and working memory (WM) capacity predict learners'…

Control of complex physically simulated robot groups

Science.gov (United States)

Brogan, David C.

2001-10-01

Actuated systems such as robots take many forms and sizes but each requires solving the difficult task of utilizing available control inputs to accomplish desired system performance. Coordinated groups of robots provide the opportunity to accomplish more complex tasks, to adapt to changing environmental conditions, and to survive individual failures. Similarly, groups of simulated robots, represented as graphical characters, can test the design of experimental scenarios and provide autonomous interactive counterparts for video games. The complexity of writing control algorithms for these groups currently hinders their use. A combination of biologically inspired heuristics, search strategies, and optimization techniques serve to reduce the complexity of controlling these real and simulated characters and to provide computationally feasible solutions.

Persistency and flexibility of complex brain networks underlie dual-task interference.

Science.gov (United States)

Alavash, Mohsen; Hilgetag, Claus C; Thiel, Christiane M; Gießing, Carsten

2015-09-01

Previous studies on multitasking suggest that performance decline during concurrent task processing arises from interfering brain modules. Here, we used graph-theoretical network analysis to define functional brain modules and relate the modular organization of complex brain networks to behavioral dual-task costs. Based on resting-state and task fMRI we explored two organizational aspects potentially associated with behavioral interference when human subjects performed a visuospatial and speech task simultaneously: the topological overlap between persistent single-task modules, and the flexibility of single-task modules in adaptation to the dual-task condition. Participants showed a significant decline in visuospatial accuracy in the dual-task compared with single visuospatial task. Global analysis of topological similarity between modules revealed that the overlap between single-task modules significantly correlated with the decline in visuospatial accuracy. Subjects with larger overlap between single-task modules showed higher behavioral interference. Furthermore, lower flexible reconfiguration of single-task modules in adaptation to the dual-task condition significantly correlated with larger decline in visuospatial accuracy. Subjects with lower modular flexibility showed higher behavioral interference. At the regional level, higher overlap between single-task modules and less modular flexibility in the somatomotor cortex positively correlated with the decline in visuospatial accuracy. Additionally, higher modular flexibility in cingulate and frontal control areas and lower flexibility in right-lateralized nodes comprising the middle occipital and superior temporal gyri supported dual-tasking. Our results suggest that persistency and flexibility of brain modules are important determinants of dual-task costs. We conclude that efficient dual-tasking benefits from a specific balance between flexibility and rigidity of functional brain modules. © 2015 Wiley

New Airborne Sensors and Platforms for Solving Specific Tasks in Remote Sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Kemper, G.

2012-07-01

A huge number of small and medium sized sensors entered the market. Today's mid format sensors reach 80 MPix and allow to run projects of medium size, comparable with the first big format digital cameras about 6 years ago. New high quality lenses and new developments in the integration prepared the market for photogrammetric work. Companies as Phase One or Hasselblad and producers or integrators as Trimble, Optec, and others utilized these cameras for professional image production. In combination with small camera stabilizers they can be used also in small aircraft and make the equipment small and easy transportable e.g. for rapid assessment purposes. The combination of different camera sensors enables multi or hyper-spectral installations e.g. useful for agricultural or environmental projects. Arrays of oblique viewing cameras are in the market as well, in many cases these are small and medium format sensors combined as rotating or shifting devices or just as a fixed setup. Beside the proper camera installation and integration, also the software that controls the hardware and guides the pilot has to solve much more tasks than a normal FMS did in the past. Small and relatively cheap Laser Scanners (e.g. Riegl) are in the market and a proper combination with MS Cameras and an integrated planning and navigation is a challenge that has been solved by different softwares. Turnkey solutions are available e.g. for monitoring power line corridors where taking images is just a part of the job. Integration of thermal camera systems with laser scanner and video capturing must be combined with specific information of the objects stored in a database and linked when approaching the navigation point.

Memory Indexing: A Novel Method for Tracing Memory Processes in Complex Cognitive Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Renkewitz, Frank; Jahn, Georg

2012-01-01

We validate an eye-tracking method applicable for studying memory processes in complex cognitive tasks. The method is tested with a task on probabilistic inferences from memory. It provides valuable data on the time course of processing, thus clarifying previous results on heuristic probabilistic inference. Participants learned cue values of…

Writing and mathematical problem solving in Grade 3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belinda Petersen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article looks at writing tasks as a methodology to support learners’ mathematical problemsolving strategies in the South African Foundation Phase context. It is a qualitative case study and explores the relation between the use of writing in mathematics and development of learners’ problem-solving strategies and conceptual understanding. The research was conducted in a suburban Foundation Phase school in Cape Town with a class of Grade 3 learners involved in a writing and mathematics intervention. Writing tasks were modelled to learners and implemented by them while they were engaged in mathematical problem solving. Data were gathered from a sample of eight learners of different abilities and included written work, interviews, field notes and audio recordings of ability group discussions. The results revealed an improvement in the strategies and explanations learners used when solving mathematical problems compared to before the writing tasks were implemented. Learners were able to reflect critically on their thinking through their written strategies and explanations. The writing tasks appeared to support learners in providing opportunities to construct and apply mathematical knowledge and skills in their development of problem-solving strategies.

Transfer of skill engendered by complex task training under conditions of variable priority.

Science.gov (United States)

Boot, Walter R; Basak, Chandramallika; Erickson, Kirk I; Neider, Mark; Simons, Daniel J; Fabiani, Monica; Gratton, Gabriele; Voss, Michelle W; Prakash, Ruchika; Lee, HyunKyu; Low, Kathy A; Kramer, Arthur F

2010-11-01

We explored the theoretical underpinnings of a commonly used training strategy by examining issues of training and transfer of skill in the context of a complex video game (Space Fortress, Donchin, 1989). Participants trained using one of two training regimens: Full Emphasis Training (FET) or Variable Priority Training (VPT). Transfer of training was assessed with a large battery of cognitive and psychomotor tasks ranging from basic laboratory paradigms measuring reasoning, memory, and attention to complex real-world simulations. Consistent with previous studies, VPT accelerated learning and maximized task mastery. However, the hypothesis that VPT would result in broader transfer of training received limited support. Rather, transfer was most evident in tasks that were most similar to the Space Fortress game itself. Results are discussed in terms of potential limitations of the VPT approach. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A teaching strategy for solving tasks integrating physics and artistic components in senior high school teacher’s training

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brito, Raúl Pedro

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This article is aimed at describing the results of a study intended to find a solution to shortcomings in the training of teacher of Physics, particularly in relation to the acquisition of an artistic cultural insight as a result of the process of learning Physics, which naturally hinders the fulfillment of junior high school general goal. A teaching strategy, centered in solving tasks of physics and artistic integrating nature, is suggested to contribute to enlarge cultural understanding and illustrating science and art relationship.

A FUNCTIONAL NEUROIMAGING INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLES OF STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY AND TASK-DEMAND DURING AUDITORY SENTENCE PROCESSING

Science.gov (United States)

Love, Tracy; Haist, Frank; Nicol, Janet; Swinney, David

2009-01-01

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study directly examined an issue that bridges the potential language processing and multi-modal views of the role of Broca’s area: the effects of task-demands in language comprehension studies. We presented syntactically simple and complex sentences for auditory comprehension under three different (differentially complex) task-demand conditions: passive listening, probe verification, and theme judgment. Contrary to many language imaging findings, we found that both simple and complex syntactic structures activated left inferior frontal cortex (L-IFC). Critically, we found activation in these frontal regions increased together with increased task-demands. Specifically, tasks that required greater manipulation and comparison of linguistic material recruited L-IFC more strongly; independent of syntactic structure complexity. We argue that much of the presumed syntactic effects previously found in sentence imaging studies of L-IFC may, among other things, reflect the tasks employed in these studies and that L-IFC is a region underlying mnemonic and other integrative functions, on which much language processing may rely. PMID:16881268

The Assessment of 21st Century Skills in Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Complex and Collaborative Problem Solving

OpenAIRE

Neubert, Jonas; Mainert, Jakob; Kretzschmar, André; Greiff, Samuel

2015-01-01

In the current paper, we highlight why and how industrial and organizational psychology can take advantage of research on 21st century skills and their assessment. We present vital theoretical perspectives, a suitable framework for assessment, and exemplary instruments with a focus on advances in the assessment of Human Capital. Specifically, Complex Problem Solving (CPS) and Collaborative Problem Solving (ColPS) are two transversal skills (i.e., skills that span multiple domains) that are...

The Effects of Musical Experience and Hearing Loss on Solving an Audio-Based Gaming Task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kjetil Falkenberg Hansen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available We conducted an experiment using a purposefully designed audio-based game called the Music Puzzle with Japanese university students with different levels of hearing acuity and experience with music in order to determine the effects of these factors on solving such games. A group of hearing-impaired students (n = 12 was compared with two hearing control groups with the additional characteristic of having high (n = 12 or low (n = 12 engagement in musical activities. The game was played with three sound sets or modes; speech, music, and a mix of the two. The results showed that people with hearing loss had longer processing times for sounds when playing the game. Solving the game task in the speech mode was found particularly difficult for the group with hearing loss, and while they found the game difficult in general, they expressed a fondness for the game and a preference for music. Participants with less musical experience showed difficulties in playing the game with musical material. We were able to explain the impacts of hearing acuity and musical experience; furthermore, we can promote this kind of tool as a viable way to train hearing by focused listening to sound, particularly with music.

NEW AIRBORNE SENSORS AND PLATFORMS FOR SOLVING SPECIFIC TASKS IN REMOTE SENSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Kemper

2012-07-01

Full Text Available A huge number of small and medium sized sensors entered the market. Today's mid format sensors reach 80 MPix and allow to run projects of medium size, comparable with the first big format digital cameras about 6 years ago. New high quality lenses and new developments in the integration prepared the market for photogrammetric work. Companies as Phase One or Hasselblad and producers or integrators as Trimble, Optec, and others utilized these cameras for professional image production. In combination with small camera stabilizers they can be used also in small aircraft and make the equipment small and easy transportable e.g. for rapid assessment purposes. The combination of different camera sensors enables multi or hyper-spectral installations e.g. useful for agricultural or environmental projects. Arrays of oblique viewing cameras are in the market as well, in many cases these are small and medium format sensors combined as rotating or shifting devices or just as a fixed setup. Beside the proper camera installation and integration, also the software that controls the hardware and guides the pilot has to solve much more tasks than a normal FMS did in the past. Small and relatively cheap Laser Scanners (e.g. Riegl are in the market and a proper combination with MS Cameras and an integrated planning and navigation is a challenge that has been solved by different softwares. Turnkey solutions are available e.g. for monitoring power line corridors where taking images is just a part of the job. Integration of thermal camera systems with laser scanner and video capturing must be combined with specific information of the objects stored in a database and linked when approaching the navigation point.

Task complexity, posture, age, sex: which is the main factor influencing manual laterality in captive Cercocebus torquatus torquatus?

Science.gov (United States)

Laurence, Agathe; Wallez, Catherine; Blois-Heulin, Catherine

2011-09-01

Behavioural asymmetries reflect brain asymmetry in nonhuman primates (NHP) as in humans. By investigating manual laterality, researchers can study the evolution of brain hemisphere specialisation. Three dominant theories aim to establish an evolutionary scenario. The most recent theory relates different levels of manual laterality to task complexity. Our investigation aimed to evaluate the importance of two extrinsic factors (posture and the need for manual coordination) and two intrinsic factors (age and sex) on the expression of manual laterality by red-capped mangabeys. We observed 19 captive-born mangabeys, in spontaneous situations and under experimental conditions (seven experimental tasks varying in complexity). No directionality was observed in hand preference at the group level whatever the task. But our data revealed an effect of task complexity: more subjects were lateralised than not lateralised for the bipedal task and for the three most complex tasks. Finally, we evidenced an age and a sex effect. We compare our results with data for several other primate species and discuss them in the light of different manual laterality theories.

Environmental influences on neural systems of relational complexity

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Layne eKalbfleisch

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Constructivist learning theory contends that we construct knowledge by experience and that environmental context influences learning. To explore this principle, we examined the cognitive process relational complexity (RC, defined as the number of visual dimensions considered during problem solving on a matrix reasoning task and a well-documented measure of mature reasoning capacity. We sought to determine how the visual environment influences RC by examining the influence of color and visual contrast on RC in a neuroimaging task. To specify the contributions of sensory demand and relational integration to reasoning, our participants performed a non-verbal matrix task comprised of color, no-color line, or black-white visual contrast conditions parametrically varied by complexity (relations 0, 1, 2. The use of matrix reasoning is ecologically valid for its psychometric relevance and for its potential to link the processing of psychophysically specific visual properties with various levels of relational complexity during reasoning. The role of these elements is important because matrix tests assess intellectual aptitude based on these seemingly context-less exercises. This experiment is a first step toward examining the psychophysical underpinnings of performance on these types of problems. The importance of this is increased in light of recent evidence that intelligence can be linked to visual discrimination. We submit three main findings. First, color and black-white visual contrast add demand at a basic sensory level, but contributions from color and from black-white visual contrast are dissociable in cortex such that color engages a reasoning heuristic and black-white visual contrast engages a sensory heuristic. Second, color supports contextual sense-making by boosting salience resulting in faster problem solving. Lastly, when visual complexity reaches 2-relations, color and visual contrast relinquish salience to other dimensions of problem

A Cognition Analysis of QUASAR's Mathematics Performance Assessment Tasks and Their Sensitivity to Measuring Changes in Middle School Students' Thinking and Reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Jinfa, And Others

1996-01-01

Presents a conceptual framework for analyzing students' mathematical understanding, reasoning, problem solving, and communication. Analyses of student responses indicated that the tasks appear to measure the complex thinking and reasoning processes that they were designed to assess. Concludes that the QUASAR assessment tasks can capture changes in…

Divide et impera: subgoaling reduces the complexity of probabilistic inference and problem solving.

Science.gov (United States)

Maisto, Domenico; Donnarumma, Francesco; Pezzulo, Giovanni

2015-03-06

It has long been recognized that humans (and possibly other animals) usually break problems down into smaller and more manageable problems using subgoals. Despite a general consensus that subgoaling helps problem solving, it is still unclear what the mechanisms guiding online subgoal selection are during the solution of novel problems for which predefined solutions are not available. Under which conditions does subgoaling lead to optimal behaviour? When is subgoaling better than solving a problem from start to finish? Which is the best number and sequence of subgoals to solve a given problem? How are these subgoals selected during online inference? Here, we present a computational account of subgoaling in problem solving. Following Occam's razor, we propose that good subgoals are those that permit planning solutions and controlling behaviour using less information resources, thus yielding parsimony in inference and control. We implement this principle using approximate probabilistic inference: subgoals are selected using a sampling method that considers the descriptive complexity of the resulting sub-problems. We validate the proposed method using a standard reinforcement learning benchmark (four-rooms scenario) and show that the proposed method requires less inferential steps and permits selecting more compact control programs compared to an equivalent procedure without subgoaling. Furthermore, we show that the proposed method offers a mechanistic explanation of the neuronal dynamics found in the prefrontal cortex of monkeys that solve planning problems. Our computational framework provides a novel integrative perspective on subgoaling and its adaptive advantages for planning, control and learning, such as for example lowering cognitive effort and working memory load. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Implementation of the concept of home hospitalisation for heart patients by means of telehomecare technology: integration of clinical tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birthe Dinesen

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To explore how the implementation of the concept ‘Home hospitalisation of heart patients’ by means of telehomecare technology influences the integration of clinical tasks across healthcare sectors. Theory: Inter-organisational theory. Methods: The case study approach was applied. Triangulations of data collection techniques were used: documentary materials, participant observation, qualitative and focus group interviews. Results: The clinical decision-making and task solving became multidisciplinary and integrated with the implementation of telehomecare and, therefore, complex in terms of the prescription and adjustment of patient medicine. Workflows between healthcare professionals across sectors changed from sequential to collective client flows. Pre-existing procedures for patient care, treatment, and responsibility were challenged. In addition, the number of tasks for the district nurses increased. Integration in the clinical task-solving area increases fragmentation in the knowledge technologies in a network perspective. Conclusions: Implementing the concept of ‘Home hospitalisation of heart patients’ by means of telehomecare technology will result in a more integrated clinical task-solving process that involves healthcare professionals from various sectors. Overall, the integration of clinical tasks between hospital and district nursing will result in a direct benefit for the heart patients.

Cognitive function predicts listening effort performance during complex tasks in normally aging adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennine Harvey

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This study examines whether cognitive function, as measured by the subtests of the Woodcock–Johnson III (WCJ-III assessment, predicts listening-effort performance during dual tasks across the adults of varying ages. Materials and Methods: Participants were divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 14 listeners (number of females = 11 who were 41–61 years old [mean = 53.18; standard deviation (SD = 5.97]. Group 2 consisted of 15 listeners (number of females = 9 who were 63–81 years old (mean = 72.07; SD = 5.11. Participants were administered the WCJ-III Memory for Words, Auditory Working Memory, Visual Matching, and Decision Speed subtests. All participants were tested in each of the following three dual-task experimental conditions, which were varying in complexity: (1 auditory word recognition + visual processing, (2 auditory working memory (word + visual processing, and (3 auditory working memory (sentence + visual processing in noise. Results: A repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that task complexity significantly affected the performance measures of auditory accuracy, visual accuracy, and processing speed. Linear regression revealed that the cognitive subtests of the WCJ-III test significantly predicted performance across dependent variable measures. Conclusion: Listening effort is significantly affected by task complexity, regardless of age. Performance on the WCJ-III test may predict listening effort in adults and may assist speech-language pathologist (SLPs to understand challenges faced by participants when subjected to noise.

Interaction between marihuana and altitude on a complex behavioral task in baboons.

Science.gov (United States)

1975-01-01

Marihuana, or its principal active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta9-THC), impairs performance on complex behavioral tasks in animals and man. Although there exists some evidence that altitude-induced hypoxia potentiates the physiologi...

Electroencephalogram complexity analysis in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during a visual cognitive task.

Science.gov (United States)

Zarafshan, Hadi; Khaleghi, Ali; Mohammadi, Mohammad Reza; Moeini, Mahdi; Malmir, Nastaran

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate electroencephalogram (EEG) dynamics using complexity analysis in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with healthy control children when performing a cognitive task. Thirty 7-12-year-old children meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria for ADHD and 30 healthy control children underwent an EEG evaluation during a cognitive task, and Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZC) values were computed. There were no significant differences between ADHD and control groups on age and gender. The mean LZC of the ADHD children was significantly larger than healthy children over the right anterior and right posterior regions during the cognitive performance. In the ADHD group, complexity of the right hemisphere was higher than that of the left hemisphere, but the complexity of the left hemisphere was higher than that of the right hemisphere in the normal group. Although fronto-striatal dysfunction is considered conclusive evidence for the pathophysiology of ADHD, our arithmetic mental task has provided evidence of structural and functional changes in the posterior regions and probably cerebellum in ADHD.

Effects of task complexity on rhythmic reproduction performance in adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Iannarilli, Flora; Vannozzi, Giuseppe; Iosa, Marco; Pesce, Caterina; Capranica, Laura

2013-02-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of task complexity on the capability to reproduce rhythmic patterns. Sedentary musically illiterate individuals (age: 34.8±4.2 yrs; M±SD) were administered a rhythmic test including three rhythmic patterns to be reproduced by means of finger-tapping, foot-tapping and walking. For the quantification of subjects' ability in the reproduction of rhythmic patterns, qualitative and quantitative parameters were submitted to analysis. A stereophotogrammetric system was used to reconstruct and evaluate individual performances. The findings indicated a good internal stability of the rhythmic reproduction, suggesting that the present experimental design is suitable to discriminate the participants' rhythmic ability. Qualitative aspects of rhythmic reproduction (i.e., speed of execution and temporal ratios between events) varied as a function of the perceptual-motor requirements of the rhythmic reproduction task, with larger reproduction deviations in the walking task. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrating Multi-Purpose Natural Language Understanding, Robot's Memory, and Symbolic Planning for Task Execution in Humanoid Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wächter, Mirko; Ovchinnikova, Ekaterina; Wittenbeck, Valerij

2017-01-01

We propose an approach for instructing a robot using natural language to solve complex tasks in a dynamic environment. In this study, we elaborate on a framework that allows a humanoid robot to understand natural language, derive symbolic representations of its sensorimotor experience, generate....... The framework is implemented within the robot development environment ArmarX. We evaluate the framework on the humanoid robot ARMAR-III in the context of two experiments: a demonstration of the real execution of a complex task in the kitchen environment on ARMAR-III and an experiment with untrained users...

Medium Moderates the Message. How Users Adjust Their Communication Trajectories to Different Media in Collaborative Task Solving.

Science.gov (United States)

Lisiecka, Karolina; Rychwalska, Agnieszka; Samson, Katarzyna; Łucznik, Klara; Ziembowicz, Michał; Szóstek, Agnieszka; Nowak, Andrzej

2016-01-01

Rapid development of information and communications technologies (ICT) has triggered profound changes in how people manage their social contacts in both informal and professional contexts. ICT mediated communication may seem limited in possibilities compared to face-to-face encounters, but research shows that puzzlingly often it can be just as effective and satisfactory. We posit that ICT users employ specific communication strategies adapted to particular communication channels, which results in a comparable effectiveness of communication. In order to maintain a satisfactory level of conversational intelligibility they calibrate the content of their messages to a given medium's richness and adjust the whole conversation trajectory so that every stage of the communication process runs fluently. In the current study, we compared complex task solving trajectories in chat, mobile phone and face-to-face dyadic conversations. Media conditions did not influence the quality of decision outcomes or users' perceptions of the interaction, but they had impact on the amount of time devoted to each of the identified phases of decision development. In face-to-face contacts the evaluation stage of the discussion dominated the conversation; in the texting condition the orientation-evaluation-control phases were evenly distributed; and the phone condition provided a midpoint between these two extremes. The results show that contemporary ICT users adjust their communication behavior to the limitations and opportunities of various media through the regulation of attention directed to each stage of the discussion so that as a whole the communication process remains effective.

A Dynamic Intelligent Decision Approach to Dependency Modeling of Project Tasks in Complex Engineering System Optimization

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Tinggui Chen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Complex engineering system optimization usually involves multiple projects or tasks. On the one hand, dependency modeling among projects or tasks highlights structures in systems and their environments which can help to understand the implications of connectivity on different aspects of system performance and also assist in designing, optimizing, and maintaining complex systems. On the other hand, multiple projects or tasks are either happening at the same time or scheduled into a sequence in order to use common resources. In this paper, we propose a dynamic intelligent decision approach to dependency modeling of project tasks in complex engineering system optimization. The approach takes this decision process as a two-stage decision-making problem. In the first stage, a task clustering approach based on modularization is proposed so as to find out a suitable decomposition scheme for a large-scale project. In the second stage, according to the decomposition result, a discrete artificial bee colony (ABC algorithm inspired by the intelligent foraging behavior of honeybees is developed for the resource constrained multiproject scheduling problem. Finally, a certain case from an engineering design of a chemical processing system is utilized to help to understand the proposed approach.

Personality and problem-solving in common mynas (Acridotheres tristis).

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Lermite, Françoise; Peneaux, Chloé; Griffin, Andrea S

2017-01-01

Animals show consistent individual differences in behaviour across time and/or contexts. Recently, it has been suggested that proactive personality types might also exhibit fast cognitive styles. The speed with which individuals sample environmental cues is one way in which correlations between personality and cognition might arise. Here, we measured a collection of behavioural traits (competitiveness, neophobia, neophilia, task-directed motivation and exploration) in common mynas (Acridotheres tristis) and measured their relationship with problem solving. We predicted that fast solving mynas would interact with (i.e. sample) the problem solving task at higher rates, but also be more competitive, less neophobic, more neophilic, and more exploratory. Mynas that were faster to solve a novel foraging problem were no more competitive around food and no more inclined to take risks. Unexpectedly, these fast-solving mynas had higher rates of interactions with the task, but also displayed lower levels of exploration. It is possible that a negative relation between problem solving and spatial exploration arose as a consequence of how inter-individual variation in exploration was quantified. We discuss the need for greater consensus on how to measure exploratory behaviour before we can advance our understanding of relationships between cognition and personality more effectively. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Counterfactual Problem Solving and Situated Cognition

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Glebkin V.V.,

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The paper describes and interprets data of a study on counterfactual problem solving in representatives of modern industrial culture. The study was inspired by similar experiments carried out by A.R. Luria during his expedition to Central Asia. The hypothesis of our study was that representatives of modern industrial culture would solve counterfactual puzzles at a slower rate and with higher numbers of mistakes than similar non-counterfactual tasks. The experiments we conducted supported this hypothesis as well as provided us with some insights as to how to further develop it. For instance, we found no significant differences in time lag in solving counterfactual and ‘realistic’ tasks between the subjects with mathematical and the ones with liberal arts education. As an interpretation of the obtained data, we suggest a two-stage model of counterfactual problem solving: on the first stage, where situated cognition dominates, the realistic situation is transferred into the system of symbols unrelated to this very situation; on the second stage, operations are carried out within the framework of this new system of symbols.

The Effects of a Problem Solving Intervention on Problem Solving Skills of Students with Autism during Vocational Tasks

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Yakubova, Gulnoza

2013-01-01

Problem solving is an important employability skill and considered valuable both in educational settings (Agran & Alper, 2000) and the workplace (Ju, Zhang, & Pacha, 2012). However, limited research exists instructing students with autism to engage in problem solving skills (e.g., Bernard-Opitz, Sriram, & Nakhoda-Sapuan, 2001). The…

Complex Span versus Updating Tasks of Working Memory: The Gap Is Not that Deep

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Schmiedek, Florian; Hildebrandt, Andrea; Lovden, Martin; Wilhelm, Oliver; Lindenberger, Ulman

2009-01-01

How to best measure working memory capacity is an issue of ongoing debate. Besides established complex span tasks, which combine short-term memory demands with generally unrelated secondary tasks, there exists a set of paradigms characterized by continuous and simultaneous updating of several items in working memory, such as the n-back, memory…

Practice makes perfect: familiarity of task determines success in solvable tasks for free-ranging dogs (Canis lupus familiaris).

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Bhattacharjee, Debottam; Dasgupta, Sandipan; Biswas, Arpita; Deheria, Jayshree; Gupta, Shreya; Nikhil Dev, N; Udell, Monique; Bhadra, Anindita

2017-07-01

Domestic dogs' (Canis lupus familiaris) socio-cognitive faculties have made them highly sensitive to human social cues. While dogs often excel at understanding human communicative gestures, they perform comparatively poorly in problem-solving and physical reasoning tasks. This difference in their behaviour could be due to the lifestyle and intense socialization, where problem solving and physical cognition are less important than social cognition. Free-ranging dogs live in human-dominated environments, not under human supervision and are less socialized. Being scavengers, they often encounter challenges where problem solving is required in order to get access to food. We tested Indian street dogs in familiar and unfamiliar independent solvable tasks and quantified their persistence and dependence on a novel human experimenter, in addition to their success in solving a task. Our results indicate that free-ranging dogs succeeded and persisted more in the familiar task as compared to the unfamiliar one. They showed negligible amount of human dependence in the familiar task, but showed prolonged gazing and considerable begging behaviour to the human experimenter in the context of the unfamiliar task. Cognitive abilities of free-ranging dogs thus play a pivotal role in determining task-associated behaviours based on familiarity. In addition to that, these dogs inherently tend to socialize with and depend on humans, even if they are strangers. Our results also illustrate free-ranging dogs' low competence at physical cognitive tasks.

The effect of two complexity factors on the performance of emergency tasks-An experimental verification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jinkyun; Jung, Wondea; Jung, Kwangtae

2008-01-01

It is well known that the use of procedures is very important in securing the safety of process systems, since good procedures effectively guide human operators by providing 'what should be done' and 'how to do it', especially under stressful conditions. At the same time, it has been emphasized that the use of complicated procedures could drastically impair operators' performance. This means that a systematic approach that can properly evaluate the complexity of procedures is indispensable for minimizing the side effects of complicated procedures. For this reason, Park et al. have developed a task complexity measure called TACOM that can be used to quantify the complexity of tasks stipulated in emergency operating procedures (EOPs) of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The TACOM measure consists of five sub-measures that can cover five important factors making the performance of emergency tasks complicated. However, a verification activity for two kinds of complexity factors-the level of abstraction hierarchy (AH) and engineering decision (ED)-seems to be insufficient. In this study, therefore, an experiment is conducted by using a low-fidelity simulator in order to clarify the appropriateness of these complexity factors. As a result, it seems that subjects' performance data are affected by the level of AH as well as ED. Therefore it is anticipate that both the level of AH and ED will play an important role in evaluating the complexity of EOPs

Age related differences in the strategies used by middle aged adults to solve a block design task.

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Rozencwajg, P; Cherfi, M; Ferrandez, A M; Lautrey, J; Lemoine, C; Loarer, E

2005-01-01

In the present study, it was proposed to investigate the effects of aging on the strategies used to solve a block design task and to establish whether these strategies may be associated with differential patterns of ability. Two groups of subjects, 30 young adults (aged 20-35 years) and 30 middle-aged adults (aged 45-60 years) were set a computer version of the Kohs task and a battery of tests. An age-related decrease in fluid intelligence (Gf) and visual-spatial ability (Gv) was observed, along with the fact that most of the older subjects used a global strategy rather than a synthetic one. On the other hand, while continuing to use strategies of the analytic type, the older subjects looked more frequently at the model and scored high on crystallized intelligence (Gc). These findings are discussed from two different points of view: the theory of hierarchical stimuli and the hypothesis that metacognitive ability, which is thought to rely on Gc, may increase with age, and thus compensate for the loss of Gf and Gv.

A study of the performance of patients with frontal lobe lesions in a financial planning task.

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Goel, V; Grafman, J; Tajik, J; Gana, S; Danto, D

1997-10-01

It has long been argued that patients with lesions in the prefrontal cortex have difficulties in decision making and problem solving in real-world, ill-structured situations, particularly problem types involving planning and look-ahead components. Recently, several researchers have questioned our ability to capture and characterize these deficits adequately using just the standard neuropsychological test batteries, and have called for tests that reflect real-world task requirements more accurately. We present data from 10 patients with focal lesions to the prefrontal cortex and 10 normal control subjects engaged in a real-world financial planning task. We also introduce a theoretical framework and methodology developed in the cognitive science literature for quantifying and analysing the complex data generated by problem-solving tasks. Our findings indicate that patient performance is impoverished at a global level but not at the local level. Patients have difficulty in organizing and structuring their problem space. Once they begin problem solving, they have difficulty in allocating adequate effort to each problem-solving phase. Patients also have difficulty dealing with the fact that there are no right or wrong answers nor official termination points in real-world planning problems. They also find it problematic to generate their own feedback. They invariably terminate the session before the details are fleshed out and all the goals satisfied. Finally, patients do not take full advantage of the fact that constraints on real-world problems are negotiable. However, it is not necessary to postulate a 'planning' deficit. It is possible to understand the patients' difficulties in real world planning tasks in terms of the following four accepted deficits: inadequate access to 'structured event complexes', difficulty in generalizing from particulars, failure to shift between 'mental sets', and poor judgment regarding adequacy and completeness of a plan.

Validity of the MicroDYN Approach: Complex Problem Solving Predicts School Grades beyond Working Memory Capacity

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Schweizer, Fabian; Wustenberg, Sascha; Greiff, Samuel

2013-01-01

This study examines the validity of the complex problem solving (CPS) test MicroDYN by investigating a) the relation between its dimensions--rule identification (exploration strategy), rule knowledge (acquired knowledge), rule application (control performance)--and working memory capacity (WMC), and b) whether CPS predicts school grades in…

Effect of task complexity on intelligence and neural efficiency in children: an event-related potential study.

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Zhang, Qiong; Shi, Jiannong; Luo, Yuejia; Liu, Sainan; Yang, Jie; Shen, Mowei

2007-10-08

The present study investigates the effects of task complexity, intelligence and neural efficiency on children's performance on an Elementary Cognitive Task. Twenty-three children were divided into two groups on the basis of their Raven Progressive Matrix scores and were then asked to complete a choice reaction task with two test conditions. We recorded the electroencephalogram and calculated the peak latencies and amplitudes for anteriorly distributed P225, N380 and late positive component. Our results suggested shorter late positive component latencies in brighter children, possibly reflecting a higher processing speed in these individuals. Increased P225 amplitude and increased N380 amplitudes for brighter children may indicate a more efficient allocation of attention for brighter children. No moderating effect of task complexity on brain-intelligence relationship was found.

Task complexity modulates pilot electroencephalographic activity during real flights.

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Di Stasi, Leandro L; Diaz-Piedra, Carolina; Suárez, Juan; McCamy, Michael B; Martinez-Conde, Susana; Roca-Dorda, Joaquín; Catena, Andrés

2015-07-01

Most research connecting task performance and neural activity to date has been conducted in laboratory conditions. Thus, field studies remain scarce, especially in extreme conditions such as during real flights. Here, we investigated the effects of flight procedures of varied complexity on the in-flight EEG activity of military helicopter pilots. Flight procedural complexity modulated the EEG power spectrum: highly demanding procedures (i.e., takeoff and landing) were associated with higher EEG power in the higher frequency bands, whereas less demanding procedures (i.e., flight exercises) were associated with lower EEG power over the same frequency bands. These results suggest that EEG recordings may help to evaluate an operator's cognitive performance in challenging real-life scenarios, and thus could aid in the prevention of catastrophic events. © 2015 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

The effects of overtime work and task complexity on the performance of nuclear plant operators: A proposed methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banks, W.W.; Potash, L.

1985-01-01

This document presents a very general methodology for determining the effect of overtime work and task complexity on operator performance in response to simulated out-of-limit nuclear plant conditions. The independent variables consist of three levels of overtime work and three levels of task complexity. Multiple dependent performance measures are proposed for use and discussion. Overtime work is operationally defined in terms of the number of hours worked by nuclear plant operators beyond the traditional 8 hours per shift. Task complexity is operationalized in terms of the number of operator tasks required to remedy a given plant anomalous condition and bring the plant back to a ''within limits'' or ''normal'' steady-state condition. The proposed methodology would employ a 2 factor repeated measures design along with the analysis of variance (linear) model

Modified task-based learning program promotes problem-solving capacity among Chinese medical postgraduates: a mixed quantitative survey.

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Tian, Yanping; Li, Chengren; Wang, Jiali; Cai, Qiyan; Wang, Hanzhi; Chen, Xingshu; Liu, Yunlai; Mei, Feng; Xiao, Lan; Jian, Rui; Li, Hongli

2017-09-07

Despite great advances, China's postgraduate education faces many problems, for example traditional lecture-based learning (LBL) method provides fewer oppotunities to apply knowledge in a working situation. Task-based learning (TBL) is an efficient strategy for increasing the connections among skills, knowledge and competences. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a modified TBL model on problem-solving abilities among postgraduate medical students in China. We allocated 228 first-year postgraduate students at Third Military Medical University into two groups: the TBL group and LBL group. The TBL group was taught using a TBL program for immunohistochemistry. The curriculum consisted of five phases: task design, self-learning, experimental operations, discussion and summary. The LBL group was taught using traditional LBL. After the course, learning performance was assessed using theoretical and practical tests. The students' preferences and satisfaction of TBL and LBL were also evaluated using questionnaires. There were notable differences in the mean score rates in the practical test (P 80) in the TBL group was higher than that in the LBL group. We observed no substantial differences in the theoretical test between the two groups (P > 0.05). The questionnaire results indicated that the TBL students were satisfied with teaching content, teaching methods and experiment content. The TBL program was also beneficial for the postgraduates in completing their research projects. Furthermore, the TBL students reported positive effects in terms of innovative thinking, collaboration, and communication. TBL is a powerful educational strategy for postgraduate education in China. Our modified TBL imparted basic knowledge to the students and also engaged them more effectively in applying knowledge to solve real-world issues. In conclusion, our TBL established a good foundation for the students' future in both medical research and clinical work.

The mathematical statement for the solving of the problem of N-version software system design

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Kovalev, I. V.; Kovalev, D. I.; Zelenkov, P. V.; Voroshilova, A. A.

2015-10-01

The N-version programming, as a methodology of the fault-tolerant software systems design, allows successful solving of the mentioned tasks. The use of N-version programming approach turns out to be effective, since the system is constructed out of several parallel executed versions of some software module. Those versions are written to meet the same specification but by different programmers. The problem of developing an optimal structure of N-version software system presents a kind of very complex optimization problem. This causes the use of deterministic optimization methods inappropriate for solving the stated problem. In this view, exploiting heuristic strategies looks more rational. In the field of pseudo-Boolean optimization theory, the so called method of varied probabilities (MVP) has been developed to solve problems with a large dimensionality.

An ergonomics study of computerized emergency operating procedures: Presentation style, task complexity, and training level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Song; Song Fei; Li Zhizhong; Zhao Qianyi; Luo Wei; He Xuhong; Salvendy, Gavriel

2008-01-01

Emergency operating procedures (EOPs) are widely used in nuclear power plants (NPPs). With the development of information technology, computerized EOPs are taking the place of paper-based ones. Unlike paper-based EOPs, the industrial practice of computerized EOPs is still quite limited. Ergonomics issues of computerized EOPs have not been studied adequately. This study focuses on the effects of EOP presentation style, task complexity, and training level on the performance of the operators in the execution of computerized EOPs. One simulated computerized EOP system was developed to present two EOPs, each with different task complexity levels, by two presentation styles (Style A: one- and two-dimensional flowcharts combination; Style B: two-dimensional flowchart and success logic tree combination). Forty subjects participated in the experiment of EOP execution using the simulated system. Statistical analysis of the experimental results indicates that: (1) complexity, presentation style, and training level all can significantly influence the error rate. High-complexity tasks and lack of sufficient training may lead to a higher error rate. Style B caused a significantly higher error rate than style A did in the skilled phase. So the designers of computerized procedures should take the presentation styles of EOPs into account. (2) Task complexity and training level can significantly influence operation time. No significant difference was found in operation time between the two presentation styles. (3) Training level can also significantly influence the subjective workload of EOPs operations. This implies that adequate training is very important for the performance of computerized EOPs even if emergency responses with computerized EOPs are much more simple and easy than that with paper-based EOPs

An ergonomics study of computerized emergency operating procedures: Presentation style, task complexity, and training level

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu Song; Song Fei [Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); Li Zhizhong [Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)], E-mail: zzli@tsinghua.edu.cn; Zhao Qianyi; Luo Wei [Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China); He Xuhong [Scanpower Risk Management China Inc., Towercrest International Plaza, No. 3 Maizidian West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100016 (China); Salvendy, Gavriel [Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2008-10-15

Emergency operating procedures (EOPs) are widely used in nuclear power plants (NPPs). With the development of information technology, computerized EOPs are taking the place of paper-based ones. Unlike paper-based EOPs, the industrial practice of computerized EOPs is still quite limited. Ergonomics issues of computerized EOPs have not been studied adequately. This study focuses on the effects of EOP presentation style, task complexity, and training level on the performance of the operators in the execution of computerized EOPs. One simulated computerized EOP system was developed to present two EOPs, each with different task complexity levels, by two presentation styles (Style A: one- and two-dimensional flowcharts combination; Style B: two-dimensional flowchart and success logic tree combination). Forty subjects participated in the experiment of EOP execution using the simulated system. Statistical analysis of the experimental results indicates that: (1) complexity, presentation style, and training level all can significantly influence the error rate. High-complexity tasks and lack of sufficient training may lead to a higher error rate. Style B caused a significantly higher error rate than style A did in the skilled phase. So the designers of computerized procedures should take the presentation styles of EOPs into account. (2) Task complexity and training level can significantly influence operation time. No significant difference was found in operation time between the two presentation styles. (3) Training level can also significantly influence the subjective workload of EOPs operations. This implies that adequate training is very important for the performance of computerized EOPs even if emergency responses with computerized EOPs are much more simple and easy than that with paper-based EOPs.

Learning by Preparing to Teach: Fostering Self-Regulatory Processes and Achievement during Complex Mathematics Problem Solving

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Muis, Krista R.; Psaradellis, Cynthia; Chevrier, Marianne; Di Leo, Ivana; Lajoie, Susanne P.

2016-01-01

We developed an intervention based on the learning by teaching paradigm to foster self-regulatory processes and better learning outcomes during complex mathematics problem solving in a technology-rich learning environment. Seventy-eight elementary students were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: learning by preparing to teach, or learning for…

Problem-solving performance and reproductive success of great tits in urban and forest habitats.

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Preiszner, Bálint; Papp, Sándor; Pipoly, Ivett; Seress, Gábor; Vincze, Ernő; Liker, András; Bókony, Veronika

2017-01-01

Success in problem solving, a form of innovativeness, can help animals exploit their environments, and recent research suggests that it may correlate with reproductive success. Innovativeness has been proposed to be especially beneficial in urbanized habitats, as suggested by superior problem-solving performance of urban individuals in some species. If there is stronger selection for innovativeness in cities than in natural habitats, we expect problem-solving performance to have a greater positive effect on fitness in more urbanized habitats. We tested this idea in great tits (Parus major) breeding at two urban sites and two forests by measuring their problem-solving performance in an obstacle-removal task and a food-acquisition task. Urban pairs were significantly faster problem-solvers in both tasks. Solving speed in the obstacle-removal task was positively correlated with hatching success and the number of fledglings, whereas performance in the food-acquisition task did not correlate with reproductive success. These relationships did not differ between urban and forest habitats. Neophobia, sensitivity to human disturbance, and risk taking in the presence of a predator did not explain the relationships of problem-solving performance either with habitat type or with reproductive success. Our results suggest that the benefit of innovativeness in terms of reproductive success is similar in urban and natural habitats, implying that problem-solving skills may be enhanced in urban populations by some other benefits (e.g. increased survival) or reduced costs (e.g. more opportunities to gain practice with challenging tasks).

Distributed Cooperation Solution Method of Complex System Based on MAS

Science.gov (United States)

Weijin, Jiang; Yuhui, Xu

To adapt the model in reconfiguring fault diagnosing to dynamic environment and the needs of solving the tasks of complex system fully, the paper introduced multi-Agent and related technology to the complicated fault diagnosis, an integrated intelligent control system is studied in this paper. Based on the thought of the structure of diagnostic decision and hierarchy in modeling, based on multi-layer decomposition strategy of diagnosis task, a multi-agent synchronous diagnosis federation integrated different knowledge expression modes and inference mechanisms are presented, the functions of management agent, diagnosis agent and decision agent are analyzed, the organization and evolution of agents in the system are proposed, and the corresponding conflict resolution algorithm in given, Layered structure of abstract agent with public attributes is build. System architecture is realized based on MAS distributed layered blackboard. The real world application shows that the proposed control structure successfully solves the fault diagnose problem of the complex plant, and the special advantage in the distributed domain.

Time for actions in lucid dreams: Effects of task modality, length, and complexity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel eErlacher

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The relationship between time in dreams and real time has intrigued scientists for centuries. The question if actions in dreams take the same time as in wakefulness can be tested by using lucid dreams where the dreamer is able to mark time intervals with prearranged eye movements that can be objectively identified in EOG recordings. Previous research showed an equivalence of time for counting in lucid dreams and in wakefulness (Erlacher & Schredl, 2004; LaBerge, 1985, but Erlacher and Schredl (2004 found that performing squats required about 40 % more time in lucid dreams than in the waking state. To find out if the task modality, the task length, or the task complexity results in prolonged times in lucid dreams, an experiment with three different conditions was conducted.In the first condition, five proficient lucid dreamers spent one to three non-consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory. Participants counted to 10, 20 and 30 in wakefulness and in their lucid dreams. Lucidity and task intervals were time stamped with left-right-left-right eye movements. The same procedure was used for the second condition where eight lucid dreamers had to walk 10, 20 or 30 steps. In the third condition, eight lucid dreamers performed a gymnastics routine, which in the waking state lasted the same time as walking 10 steps.Again, we found that performing a motor task in a lucid dream requires more time than in wakefulness. Longer durations in the dream state were present for all three tasks, but significant differences were found only for the tasks with motor activity (walking and gymnastics. However, no difference was found for relative times (no disproportional time effects and a more complex motor task did not result in more prolonged times. Longer durations in lucid dreams might be related to the lack of muscular feedback or slower neural processing during REM sleep. Future studies should explore factors that might be associated with prolonged durations.

Time for actions in lucid dreams: effects of task modality, length, and complexity.

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Erlacher, Daniel; Schädlich, Melanie; Stumbrys, Tadas; Schredl, Michael

2013-01-01

The relationship between time in dreams and real time has intrigued scientists for centuries. The question if actions in dreams take the same time as in wakefulness can be tested by using lucid dreams where the dreamer is able to mark time intervals with prearranged eye movements that can be objectively identified in EOG recordings. Previous research showed an equivalence of time for counting in lucid dreams and in wakefulness (LaBerge, 1985; Erlacher and Schredl, 2004), but Erlacher and Schredl (2004) found that performing squats required about 40% more time in lucid dreams than in the waking state. To find out if the task modality, the task length, or the task complexity results in prolonged times in lucid dreams, an experiment with three different conditions was conducted. In the first condition, five proficient lucid dreamers spent one to three non-consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory. Participants counted to 10, 20, and 30 in wakefulness and in their lucid dreams. Lucidity and task intervals were time stamped with left-right-left-right eye movements. The same procedure was used for the second condition where eight lucid dreamers had to walk 10, 20, or 30 steps. In the third condition, eight lucid dreamers performed a gymnastics routine, which in the waking state lasted the same time as walking 10 steps. Again, we found that performing a motor task in a lucid dream requires more time than in wakefulness. Longer durations in the dream state were present for all three tasks, but significant differences were found only for the tasks with motor activity (walking and gymnastics). However, no difference was found for relative times (no disproportional time effects) and a more complex motor task did not result in more prolonged times. Longer durations in lucid dreams might be related to the lack of muscular feedback or slower neural processing during REM sleep. Future studies should explore factors that might be associated with prolonged durations.

An episodic specificity induction enhances means-end problem solving in young and older adults.

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Madore, Kevin P; Schacter, Daniel L

2014-12-01

Episodic memory plays an important role not only in remembering past experiences, but also in constructing simulations of future experiences and solving means-end social problems. We recently found that an episodic specificity induction-brief training in recollecting details of past experiences-enhances performance of young and older adults on memory and imagination tasks. Here we tested the hypothesis that this specificity induction would also positively impact a means-end problem-solving task on which age-related changes have been linked to impaired episodic memory. Young and older adults received the specificity induction or a control induction before completing a means-end problem-solving task, as well as memory and imagination tasks. Consistent with previous findings, older adults provided fewer relevant steps on problem solving than did young adults, and their responses also contained fewer internal (i.e., episodic) details across the 3 tasks. There was no difference in the number of other (e.g., irrelevant) steps on problem solving or external (i.e., semantic) details generated on the 3 tasks as a function of age. Critically, the specificity induction increased the number of relevant steps and internal details (but not other steps or external details) that both young and older adults generated in problem solving compared with the control induction, as well as the number of internal details (but not external details) generated for memory and imagination. Our findings support the idea that episodic retrieval processes are involved in means-end problem solving, extend the range of tasks on which a specificity induction targets these processes, and show that the problem-solving performance of older adults can benefit from a specificity induction as much as that of young adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Complex Verbal Associative Thought

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Cerruti, Carlo; Schlaug, Gottfried

2009-01-01

The remote associates test (RAT) is a complex verbal task with associations to both creative thought and general intelligence. RAT problems require not only lateral associations and the internal production of many words but a convergent focus on a single answer. Complex problem-solving of this sort may thus require both substantial verbal…

Weak task-related modulation and stimulus representations during arithmetic problem solving in children with developmental dyscalculia.

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Ashkenazi, Sarit; Rosenberg-Lee, Miriam; Tenison, Caitlin; Menon, Vinod

2012-02-15

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) is a disability that impacts math learning and skill acquisition in school-age children. Here we investigate arithmetic problem solving deficits in young children with DD using univariate and multivariate analysis of fMRI data. During fMRI scanning, 17 children with DD (ages 7-9, grades 2 and 3) and 17 IQ- and reading ability-matched typically developing (TD) children performed complex and simple addition problems which differed only in arithmetic complexity. While the TD group showed strong modulation of brain responses with increasing arithmetic complexity, children with DD failed to show such modulation. Children with DD showed significantly reduced activation compared to TD children in the intraparietal sulcus, superior parietal lobule, supramarginal gyrus and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in relation to arithmetic complexity. Critically, multivariate representational similarity revealed that brain response patterns to complex and simple problems were less differentiated in the DD group in bilateral anterior IPS, independent of overall differences in signal level. Taken together, these results show that children with DD not only under-activate key brain regions implicated in mathematical cognition, but they also fail to generate distinct neural responses and representations for different arithmetic problems. Our findings provide novel insights into the neural basis of DD. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Medium Moderates the Message. How Users Adjust Their Communication Trajectories to Different Media in Collaborative Task Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Rychwalska, Agnieszka; Samson, Katarzyna; Łucznik, Klara; Ziembowicz, Michał; Szóstek, Agnieszka; Nowak, Andrzej

2016-01-01

Rapid development of information and communications technologies (ICT) has triggered profound changes in how people manage their social contacts in both informal and professional contexts. ICT mediated communication may seem limited in possibilities compared to face-to-face encounters, but research shows that puzzlingly often it can be just as effective and satisfactory. We posit that ICT users employ specific communication strategies adapted to particular communication channels, which results in a comparable effectiveness of communication. In order to maintain a satisfactory level of conversational intelligibility they calibrate the content of their messages to a given medium’s richness and adjust the whole conversation trajectory so that every stage of the communication process runs fluently. In the current study, we compared complex task solving trajectories in chat, mobile phone and face-to-face dyadic conversations. Media conditions did not influence the quality of decision outcomes or users’ perceptions of the interaction, but they had impact on the amount of time devoted to each of the identified phases of decision development. In face-to-face contacts the evaluation stage of the discussion dominated the conversation; in the texting condition the orientation-evaluation-control phases were evenly distributed; and the phone condition provided a midpoint between these two extremes. The results show that contemporary ICT users adjust their communication behavior to the limitations and opportunities of various media through the regulation of attention directed to each stage of the discussion so that as a whole the communication process remains effective. PMID:27337037

Medium Moderates the Message. How Users Adjust Their Communication Trajectories to Different Media in Collaborative Task Solving.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karolina Lisiecka

Full Text Available Rapid development of information and communications technologies (ICT has triggered profound changes in how people manage their social contacts in both informal and professional contexts. ICT mediated communication may seem limited in possibilities compared to face-to-face encounters, but research shows that puzzlingly often it can be just as effective and satisfactory. We posit that ICT users employ specific communication strategies adapted to particular communication channels, which results in a comparable effectiveness of communication. In order to maintain a satisfactory level of conversational intelligibility they calibrate the content of their messages to a given medium's richness and adjust the whole conversation trajectory so that every stage of the communication process runs fluently. In the current study, we compared complex task solving trajectories in chat, mobile phone and face-to-face dyadic conversations. Media conditions did not influence the quality of decision outcomes or users' perceptions of the interaction, but they had impact on the amount of time devoted to each of the identified phases of decision development. In face-to-face contacts the evaluation stage of the discussion dominated the conversation; in the texting condition the orientation-evaluation-control phases were evenly distributed; and the phone condition provided a midpoint between these two extremes. The results show that contemporary ICT users adjust their communication behavior to the limitations and opportunities of various media through the regulation of attention directed to each stage of the discussion so that as a whole the communication process remains effective.

Better decision making in complex, dynamic tasks training with human-facilitated interactive learning environments

CERN Document Server

Qudrat-Ullah, Hassan

2015-01-01

This book describes interactive learning environments (ILEs) and their underlying concepts. It explains how ILEs can be used to improve the decision-making process and how these improvements can be empirically verified. The objective of this book is to enhance our understanding of and to gain insights into the process by which human facilitated ILEs are effectively designed and used in improving users’ decision making in complex, dynamic tasks. This book is divided into four major parts. Part I serves as an introduction to the importance and complexity of decision making in dynamic tasks. Part II provides background material, drawing upon relevant literature, for the development of an integrated process model on the effectiveness of human facilitated ILEs in improving decision making in dynamic tasks. Part III focuses on the design, development, and application of FishBankILE in laboratory experiments to gather empirical evidence for the validity of the process model. Finally, part IV presents a comprehensi...

Using Students' Design Tasks to Develop Scientific Abilities

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Xueli

2007-11-01

To help students develop the scientific abilities desired in the 21st century workplace, four different types of student design tasks—observation, verification, application, and investigation experiments—have been developed and implemented in our calculus-based introductory courses. Students working in small groups are engaged in designing and conducting their own experiments to observe some physical phenomena, test a physical principle, build a real-life device, solve a complex problem, or conduct an open-inquiry investigation. A preliminary study has shown that, probed by a performance-based task, the identified scientific abilities are more explicitly demonstrated by design-lab students than non-design lab students. In this paper, detailed examples of the design tasks and assessment results will be reported.

USING OF TASK APPROACH METHOD WHILE TEACHING PROGRAMMING TO THE FUTURE INFORMATICS TEACHERS

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Oleksandr M. Kryvonos

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This article is dedicated to the problem of teaching programming to the future informatics teachers from the standpoint of competence approach in teaching. The article defines the role and the place of task approach in the process of teaching the module on “Procedure programming”, which is the part of the programming course; it scrutinizes the systematization of levels of tasks, which are proposed by D. Toleengerov. The article describes the levels of complexity of tasks (reproductive, partially searching, research (creative, which are used in the formation of methodological provision for programming course. It also presents the examples of tasks of specific topics to solve which a student should have habits which are crucial for informational communicational technological competence.

On the Role of Situational Stressors in the Disruption of Global Neural Network Stability during Problem Solving.

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Liu, Mengting; Amey, Rachel C; Forbes, Chad E

2017-12-01

When individuals are placed in stressful situations, they are likely to exhibit deficits in cognitive capacity over and above situational demands. Despite this, individuals may still persevere and ultimately succeed in these situations. Little is known, however, about neural network properties that instantiate success or failure in both neutral and stressful situations, particularly with respect to regions integral for problem-solving processes that are necessary for optimal performance on more complex tasks. In this study, we outline how hidden Markov modeling based on multivoxel pattern analysis can be used to quantify unique brain states underlying complex network interactions that yield either successful or unsuccessful problem solving in more neutral or stressful situations. We provide evidence that brain network stability and states underlying synchronous interactions in regions integral for problem-solving processes are key predictors of whether individuals succeed or fail in stressful situations. Findings also suggested that individuals utilize discriminate neural patterns in successfully solving problems in stressful or neutral situations. Findings overall highlight how hidden Markov modeling can provide myriad possibilities for quantifying and better understanding the role of global network interactions in the problem-solving process and how the said interactions predict success or failure in different contexts.

Complex neural codes in rat prelimbic cortex are stable across days on a spatial decision task

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Nathaniel J. Powell

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The rodent prelimbic cortex has been shown to play an important role in cognitive processing, and has been implicated in encoding many different parameters relevant to solving decision-making tasks. However, it is not known how the prelimbic cortex represents all these disparate variables, and if they are simultaneously represented when the task requires it. In order to investigate this question, we trained rats to run the Multiple-T Left Right Alternate (MT-LRA task and recorded multi-unit ensembles from their prelimbic regions. Significant populations of cells in the prelimbic cortex represented the strategy controlling reward receipt on a given lap, whether the animal chose to go right or left on a given lap, and whether the animal made a correct decision or an error on a given lap. These populations overlapped in the cells recorded, with several cells demonstrating differential firing to all three variables. The spatial and strategic firing patterns of individual prelimbic cells were highly conserved across several days of running this task, indicating that each cell encoded the same information across days.

Completion strategy or emphasis manipulation? Task support for teaching information problem solving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frerejean, Jimmy; Van Strien, Johan; Kirschner, Paul A.; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia

2016-01-01

While most students seem to solve information problems effortlessly, research shows that the cognitive skills for effective information problem solving are often underdeveloped. Students manage to find information and formulate solutions, but the quality of their process and product is questionable.

Completion strategy or emphasis manipulation? : Task support for teaching information problem solving

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frerejean, Jimmy; van Strien, J.L.H.; Kirschner, Paul A.; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia

While most students seem to solve information problems effortlessly, research shows that the cognitive skills for effective information problem solving are often underdeveloped. Students manage to find information and formulate solutions, but the quality of their process and product is questionable.

Sonification and haptic feedback in addition to visual feedback enhances complex motor task learning.

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Sigrist, Roland; Rauter, Georg; Marchal-Crespo, Laura; Riener, Robert; Wolf, Peter

2015-03-01

Concurrent augmented feedback has been shown to be less effective for learning simple motor tasks than for complex tasks. However, as mostly artificial tasks have been investigated, transfer of results to tasks in sports and rehabilitation remains unknown. Therefore, in this study, the effect of different concurrent feedback was evaluated in trunk-arm rowing. It was then investigated whether multimodal audiovisual and visuohaptic feedback are more effective for learning than visual feedback only. Naïve subjects (N = 24) trained in three groups on a highly realistic virtual reality-based rowing simulator. In the visual feedback group, the subject's oar was superimposed to the target oar, which continuously became more transparent when the deviation between the oars decreased. Moreover, a trace of the subject's trajectory emerged if deviations exceeded a threshold. The audiovisual feedback group trained with oar movement sonification in addition to visual feedback to facilitate learning of the velocity profile. In the visuohaptic group, the oar movement was inhibited by path deviation-dependent braking forces to enhance learning of spatial aspects. All groups significantly decreased the spatial error (tendency in visual group) and velocity error from baseline to the retention tests. Audiovisual feedback fostered learning of the velocity profile significantly more than visuohaptic feedback. The study revealed that well-designed concurrent feedback fosters complex task learning, especially if the advantages of different modalities are exploited. Further studies should analyze the impact of within-feedback design parameters and the transferability of the results to other tasks in sports and rehabilitation.

The unconscious nature of insight: A dual-task paradigm investigation

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Lebed A. A.

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background. Insight is a specific part of the thinking process during creative problem solving. The experience of a sudden unexpected solution of the problem makes it distinct from other problem solving. Though the insight problem solving process is hidden from the observer and the solver himself, it is possible to study working memory changes during the problem-solving process in order to observe the tracks of insight. Objective. A critical experiment was carried out to determine whether it is legitimate to measure insight-problem-solving dynamics within a dual-task paradigm and working memory model. Also a verification was conducted of the hypothesis of whether insight problem solving competes for cognitive resources with unconscious processes. Design. We designed a special procedure based on Kahneman’s (1973 modified dual-task paradigm, allowing simultaneous performance of the problem-solving process and probe tasks of different types. The reaction time was measured for the probe task. ere were two problems conditions (insight and regular, and two probe tasks conditions (implicit and explicit. Participants: 32 participants, aged from 18 to 32 years (M = 19.81; σ = 2.51. Results. Significant differences in implicit probe reaction time were found between the dual-task condition (implicit categorization and insight problem solving and solo implicit probe condition (t(15 = –3.21, p = .006, d = –.76. A joint effect of problem type and probe type was found (F(1, 60= 4.85, p = .035, ηp2 = .07. Conclusion. The results support the idea that information processing of conscious and of unconscious processes are separate. Unconscious processing capacity is limited. Implicit skill seems to be operated by the same mechanisms as insight problem solving, therefore competing for a common resource. It was also shown that such hidden creative unconscious processes as insight can be tracked via working memory load.

Investigating the Appropriateness of the TACOM Measure: Application to the Complexity of Proceduralized Tasks for High Speed Train Drivers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jin Kyun; Jung, Won Dea; Ko, Jong Hyun

2010-01-01

According to wide-spread experience in many industries, a procedure is one of the most effective countermeasures to reduce the possibility of human related problems. Unfortunately, a systematic framework to evaluate the complexity of procedural tasks seems to be very scant. For this reason, the TACOM measure, which can quantify the complexity of procedural tasks, has been developed. In this study, the appropriateness of the TACOM measure is investigated by comparing TACOM scores regarding the procedural tasks of high speed train drivers with the associated workload scores measured by the NASA-TLX technique. As a result, it is observed that there is a meaningful correlation between the TACOM scores and the associated NASA-TLX scores. Therefore, it is expected that the TACOM measure can properly quantify the complexity of procedural tasks

Investigating the Appropriateness of the TACOM Measure: Application to the Complexity of Proceduralized Tasks for High Speed Train Drivers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Jin Kyun; Jung, Won Dea [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Ko, Jong Hyun [Nuclear Engineering and Technology Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2010-02-15

According to wide-spread experience in many industries, a procedure is one of the most effective countermeasures to reduce the possibility of human related problems. Unfortunately, a systematic framework to evaluate the complexity of procedural tasks seems to be very scant. For this reason, the TACOM measure, which can quantify the complexity of procedural tasks, has been developed. In this study, the appropriateness of the TACOM measure is investigated by comparing TACOM scores regarding the procedural tasks of high speed train drivers with the associated workload scores measured by the NASA-TLX technique. As a result, it is observed that there is a meaningful correlation between the TACOM scores and the associated NASA-TLX scores. Therefore, it is expected that the TACOM measure can properly quantify the complexity of procedural tasks

Determining the Effects of Cognitive Style, Problem Complexity, and Hypothesis Generation on the Problem Solving Ability of School-Based Agricultural Education Students

Science.gov (United States)

Blackburn, J. Joey; Robinson, J. Shane

2016-01-01

The purpose of this experimental study was to assess the effects of cognitive style, problem complexity, and hypothesis generation on the problem solving ability of school-based agricultural education students. Problem solving ability was defined as time to solution. Kirton's Adaption-Innovation Inventory was employed to assess students' cognitive…

Development of a problem solving evaluation instrument; untangling of specific problem solving assets

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Adams, Wendy Kristine

The purpose of my research was to produce a problem solving evaluation tool for physics. To do this it was necessary to gain a thorough understanding of how students solve problems. Although physics educators highly value problem solving and have put extensive effort into understanding successful problem solving, there is currently no efficient way to evaluate problem solving skill. Attempts have been made in the past; however, knowledge of the principles required to solve the subject problem are so absolutely critical that they completely overshadow any other skills students may use when solving a problem. The work presented here is unique because the evaluation tool removes the requirement that the student already have a grasp of physics concepts. It is also unique because I picked a wide range of people and picked a wide range of tasks for evaluation. This is an important design feature that helps make things emerge more clearly. This dissertation includes an extensive literature review of problem solving in physics, math, education and cognitive science as well as descriptions of studies involving student use of interactive computer simulations, the design and validation of a beliefs about physics survey and finally the design of the problem solving evaluation tool. I have successfully developed and validated a problem solving evaluation tool that identifies 44 separate assets (skills) necessary for solving problems. Rigorous validation studies, including work with an independent interviewer, show these assets identified by this content-free evaluation tool are the same assets that students use to solve problems in mechanics and quantum mechanics. Understanding this set of component assets will help teachers and researchers address problem solving within the classroom.

Student Learning of Complex Earth Systems: A Model to Guide Development of Student Expertise in Problem-Solving

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Holder, Lauren N.; Scherer, Hannah H.; Herbert, Bruce E.

2017-01-01

Engaging students in problem-solving concerning environmental issues in near-surface complex Earth systems involves developing student conceptualization of the Earth as a system and applying that scientific knowledge to the problems using practices that model those used by professionals. In this article, we review geoscience education research…

The Effects of Pre-Task Planning and On-line Planning on Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy in L2 Monologic Oral Production.

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Yuan, Fangyuan; Ellis, Rod

2003-01-01

Investigated the effects of both pre-task and on-line planning on second language (L2) oral production. Results show that pre-task planning enhances grammatical complexity while on-line planning positively influences accuracy and grammatical complexity. Pre-task planners also produced more fluent and lexically varied language than the on-line…

Impaired reasoning and problem-solving in individuals with language impairment due to aphasia or language delay

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Baldo, Juliana V.; Paulraj, Selvi R.; Curran, Brian C.; Dronkers, Nina F.

2015-01-01

The precise nature of the relationship between language and thought is an intriguing and challenging area of inquiry for scientists across many disciplines. In the realm of neuropsychology, research has investigated the inter-dependence of language and thought by testing individuals with compromised language abilities and observing whether performance in other cognitive domains is diminished. One group of such individuals is patients with aphasia who have an impairment in speech and language arising from a brain injury, such as a stroke. Our previous research has shown that the degree of language impairment in these individuals is strongly associated with the degree of impairment on complex reasoning tasks, such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) and Raven’s Matrices. In the current study, we present new data from a large group of individuals with aphasia that show a dissociation in performance between putatively non-verbal tasks on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) that require differing degrees of reasoning (Picture Completion vs. Picture Arrangement tasks). We also present an update and replication of our previous findings with the WCST showing that individuals with the most profound core language deficits (i.e., impaired comprehension and disordered language output) are particularly impaired on problem-solving tasks. In the second part of the paper, we present findings from a neurologically intact individual known as “Chelsea” who was not exposed to language due to an unaddressed hearing loss that was present since birth. At the age of 32, she was fitted with hearing aids and exposed to spoken and signed language for the first time, but she was only able to acquire a limited language capacity. Chelsea was tested on a series of standardized neuropsychological measures, including reasoning and problem-solving tasks. She was able to perform well on a number of visuospatial tasks but was disproportionately impaired on tasks that required

Complex tasks force hand laterality and technological behaviour in naturalistically housed chimpanzees: inferences in hominin evolution.

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Mosquera, M; Geribàs, N; Bargalló, A; Llorente, M; Riba, D

2012-01-01

Clear hand laterality patterns in humans are widely accepted. However, humans only elicit a significant hand laterality pattern when performing complementary role differentiation (CRD) tasks. Meanwhile, hand laterality in chimpanzees is weaker and controversial. Here we have reevaluated our results on hand laterality in chimpanzees housed in naturalistic environments at Fundació Mona (Spain) and Chimfunshi Wild Orphanage (Zambia). Our results show that the difference between hand laterality in humans and chimpanzees is not as great as once thought. Furthermore, we found a link between hand laterality and task complexity and also an even more interesting connection: CRD tasks elicited not only the hand laterality but also the use of tools. This paper aims to turn attention to the importance of this threefold connection in human evolution: the link between CRD tasks, hand laterality, and tool use, which has important evolutionary implications that may explain the development of complex behaviour in early hominins.

Uncertainty dimensions of information behaviour in a group based problem solving context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hyldegård, Jette

2009-01-01

This paper presents a study of uncertainty dimensions of information behaviour in a group based problem solving context. After a presentation of the cognitive uncertainty dimension underlying Kuhlthau's ISP-model, uncertainty factors associated with personality, the work task situation and social...... members' experiences of uncertainty differ from the individual information seeker in Kuhlthau's ISP-model, and how this experience may be related to personal, work task and social factors. A number of methods have been employed to collect data on each group member during the assignment process......: a demographic survey, a personality test, 3 process surveys, 3 diaries and 3 interviews. It was found that group members' experiences of uncertainty did not correspond with the ISP-model in that other factors beyond the mere information searching process seemed to intermingle with the complex process...

Enhancing memory and imagination improves problem solving among individuals with depression.

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McFarland, Craig P; Primosch, Mark; Maxson, Chelsey M; Stewart, Brandon T

2017-08-01

Recent work has revealed links between memory, imagination, and problem solving, and suggests that increasing access to detailed memories can lead to improved imagination and problem-solving performance. Depression is often associated with overgeneral memory and imagination, along with problem-solving deficits. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that an interview designed to elicit detailed recollections would enhance imagination and problem solving among both depressed and nondepressed participants. In a within-subjects design, participants completed a control interview or an episodic specificity induction prior to completing memory, imagination, and problem-solving tasks. Results revealed that compared to the control interview, the episodic specificity induction fostered increased detail generation in memory and imagination and more relevant steps on the problem-solving task among depressed and nondepressed participants. This study builds on previous work by demonstrating that a brief interview can enhance problem solving among individuals with depression and supports the notion that episodic memory plays a key role in problem solving. It should be noted, however, that the results of the interview are relatively short-lived.

Intelligence-Augmented Rat Cyborgs in Maze Solving.

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Yipeng Yu

Full Text Available Cyborg intelligence is an emerging kind of intelligence paradigm. It aims to deeply integrate machine intelligence with biological intelligence by connecting machines and living beings via neural interfaces, enhancing strength by combining the biological cognition capability with the machine computational capability. Cyborg intelligence is considered to be a new way to augment living beings with machine intelligence. In this paper, we build rat cyborgs to demonstrate how they can expedite the maze escape task with integration of machine intelligence. We compare the performance of maze solving by computer, by individual rats, and by computer-aided rats (i.e. rat cyborgs. They were asked to find their way from a constant entrance to a constant exit in fourteen diverse mazes. Performance of maze solving was measured by steps, coverage rates, and time spent. The experimental results with six rats and their intelligence-augmented rat cyborgs show that rat cyborgs have the best performance in escaping from mazes. These results provide a proof-of-principle demonstration for cyborg intelligence. In addition, our novel cyborg intelligent system (rat cyborg has great potential in various applications, such as search and rescue in complex terrains.

Intelligence-Augmented Rat Cyborgs in Maze Solving.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yipeng; Pan, Gang; Gong, Yongyue; Xu, Kedi; Zheng, Nenggan; Hua, Weidong; Zheng, Xiaoxiang; Wu, Zhaohui

2016-01-01

Cyborg intelligence is an emerging kind of intelligence paradigm. It aims to deeply integrate machine intelligence with biological intelligence by connecting machines and living beings via neural interfaces, enhancing strength by combining the biological cognition capability with the machine computational capability. Cyborg intelligence is considered to be a new way to augment living beings with machine intelligence. In this paper, we build rat cyborgs to demonstrate how they can expedite the maze escape task with integration of machine intelligence. We compare the performance of maze solving by computer, by individual rats, and by computer-aided rats (i.e. rat cyborgs). They were asked to find their way from a constant entrance to a constant exit in fourteen diverse mazes. Performance of maze solving was measured by steps, coverage rates, and time spent. The experimental results with six rats and their intelligence-augmented rat cyborgs show that rat cyborgs have the best performance in escaping from mazes. These results provide a proof-of-principle demonstration for cyborg intelligence. In addition, our novel cyborg intelligent system (rat cyborg) has great potential in various applications, such as search and rescue in complex terrains.

Dynamic Modeling as a Cognitive Regulation Scaffold for Developing Complex Problem-Solving Skills in an Educational Massively Multiplayer Online Game Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Eseryel, Deniz; Ge, Xun; Ifenthaler, Dirk; Law, Victor

2011-01-01

Following a design-based research framework, this article reports two empirical studies with an educational MMOG, called "McLarin's Adventures," on facilitating 9th-grade students' complex problem-solving skill acquisition in interdisciplinary STEM education. The article discusses the nature of complex and ill-structured problem solving…

Effects of traumatic brain injury on a virtual reality social problem solving task and relations to cortical thickness in adolescence.

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Hanten, Gerri; Cook, Lori; Orsten, Kimberley; Chapman, Sandra B; Li, Xiaoqi; Wilde, Elisabeth A; Schnelle, Kathleen P; Levin, Harvey S

2011-02-01

Social problem solving was assessed in 28 youth ages 12-19 years (15 with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), 13 uninjured) using a naturalistic, computerized virtual reality (VR) version of the Interpersonal Negotiations Strategy interview (Yeates, Schultz, & Selman, 1991). In each scenario, processing load condition was varied in terms of number of characters and amount of information. Adolescents viewed animated scenarios depicting social conflict in a virtual microworld environment from an avatar's viewpoint, and were questioned on four problem solving steps: defining the problem, generating solutions, selecting solutions, and evaluating the likely outcome. Scoring was based on a developmental scale in which responses were judged as impulsive, unilateral, reciprocal, or collaborative, in order of increasing score. Adolescents with TBI were significantly impaired on the summary VR-Social Problem Solving (VR-SPS) score in Condition A (2 speakers, no irrelevant information), p=0.005; in Condition B (2 speakers+irrelevant information), p=0.035; and Condition C (4 speakers+irrelevant information), p=0.008. Effect sizes (Cohen's D) were large (A=1.40, B=0.96, C=1.23). Significant group differences were strongest and most consistent for defining the problems and evaluating outcomes. The relation of task performance to cortical thickness of specific brain regions was also explored, with significant relations found with orbitofrontal regions, the frontal pole, the cuneus, and the temporal pole. Results are discussed in the context of specific cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying social problem solving deficits after childhood TBI. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Complex Problems in Entrepreneurship Education: Examining Complex Problem-Solving in the Application of Opportunity Identification

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Yvette Baggen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In opening up the black box of what entrepreneurship education (EE should be about, this study focuses on the exploration of relationships between two constructs: opportunity identification (OI and complex problem-solving (CPS. OI, as a domain-specific capability, is at the core of entrepreneurship research, whereas CPS is a more domain-general skill. On a conceptual level, there are reasons to believe that CPS skills can help individuals to identify potential opportunities in dynamic and nontransparent environments. Therefore, we empirically investigated whether CPS relates to OI among 113 masters students. Data is analyzed using multiple regressions. The results show that CPS predicts the number of concrete ideas that students generate, suggesting that having CPS skills supports the generation of detailed, potential business ideas of good quality. The results of the current study suggest that training CPS, as a more domain-general skill, could be a valuable part of what should be taught in EE.

Autistic fluid intelligence: Increased reliance on visual functional connectivity with diminished modulation of coupling by task difficulty

Science.gov (United States)

Simard, Isabelle; Luck, David; Mottron, Laurent; Zeffiro, Thomas A.; Soulières, Isabelle

2015-01-01

Different test types lead to different intelligence estimates in autism, as illustrated by the fact that autistic individuals obtain higher scores on the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RSPM) test than they do on the Wechsler IQ, in contrast to relatively similar performance on both tests in non-autistic individuals. However, the cerebral processes underlying these differences are not well understood. This study investigated whether activity in the fluid “reasoning” network, which includes frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital regions, is differently modulated by task complexity in autistic and non-autistic individuals during the RSPM. In this purpose, we used fMRI to study autistic and non-autistic participants solving the 60 RSPM problems focussing on regions and networks involved in reasoning complexity. As complexity increased, activity in the left superior occipital gyrus and the left middle occipital gyrus increased for autistic participants, whereas non-autistic participants showed increased activity in the left middle frontal gyrus and bilateral precuneus. Using psychophysiological interaction analyses (PPI), we then verified in which regions did functional connectivity increase as a function of reasoning complexity. PPI analyses revealed greater connectivity in autistic, compared to non-autistic participants, between the left inferior occipital gyrus and areas in the left superior frontal gyrus, right superior parietal lobe, right middle occipital gyrus and right inferior temporal gyrus. We also observed generally less modulation of the reasoning network as complexity increased in autistic participants. These results suggest that autistic individuals, when confronted with increasing task complexity, rely mainly on visuospatial processes when solving more complex matrices. In addition to the now well-established enhanced activity observed in visual areas in a range of tasks, these results suggest that the enhanced reliance on visual perception has a

Autistic fluid intelligence: Increased reliance on visual functional connectivity with diminished modulation of coupling by task difficulty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isabelle Simard

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Different test types lead to different intelligence estimates in autism, as illustrated by the fact that autistic individuals obtain higher scores on the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RSPM test than they do on the Wechsler IQ, in contrast to relatively similar performance on both tests in non-autistic individuals. However, the cerebral processes underlying these differences are not well understood. This study investigated whether activity in the fluid “reasoning” network, which includes frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital regions, is differently modulated by task complexity in autistic and non-autistic individuals during the RSPM. In this purpose, we used fMRI to study autistic and non-autistic participants solving the 60 RSPM problems focussing on regions and networks involved in reasoning complexity. As complexity increased, activity in the left superior occipital gyrus and the left middle occipital gyrus increased for autistic participants, whereas non-autistic participants showed increased activity in the left middle frontal gyrus and bilateral precuneus. Using psychophysiological interaction analyses (PPI, we then verified in which regions did functional connectivity increase as a function of reasoning complexity. PPI analyses revealed greater connectivity in autistic, compared to non-autistic participants, between the left inferior occipital gyrus and areas in the left superior frontal gyrus, right superior parietal lobe, right middle occipital gyrus and right inferior temporal gyrus. We also observed generally less modulation of the reasoning network as complexity increased in autistic participants. These results suggest that autistic individuals, when confronted with increasing task complexity, rely mainly on visuospatial processes when solving more complex matrices. In addition to the now well-established enhanced activity observed in visual areas in a range of tasks, these results suggest that the enhanced reliance on visual

How Students Circumvent Problem-Solving Strategies that Require Greater Cognitive Complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Niaz, Mansoor

1996-01-01

Analyzes the great diversity in problem-solving strategies used by students in solving a chemistry problem and discusses the relationship between these variables and different cognitive variables. Concludes that students try to circumvent certain problem-solving strategies by adapting flexible and stylistic innovations that render the cognitive…

Analysis of Operators Comments on the PSF Questionnaire of the Task Complexity Experiment 2003/2004

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Torralba, B.; Martinez-Arias, R.

2007-07-01

Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) methods usually take into account the effect of Performance Shaping Factors (PSF). Therefore, the adequate treatment of PSFs in HRA of Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) models has a crucial importance. There is an important need for collecting PSF data based on simulator experiments. During the task complexity experiment 2003-2004, carried out in the BWR simulator of Halden Man-Machine Laboratory (HAMMLAB), there was a data collection on PSF by means of a PSF Questionnaire. Seven crews (composed of shift supervisor, reactor operator and turbine operator) from Swedish Nuclear Power Plants participated in the experiment. The PSF Questionnaire collected data on the factors: procedures, training and experience, indications, controls, team management, team communication, individual work practice, available time for the tasks, number of tasks or information load, masking and seriousness. The main statistical significant results are presented on Performance Shaping Factors data collection and analysis of the task complexity experiment 2003/2004 (HWR-810). The analysis of the comments about PSFs, which were provided by operators on the PSF Questionnaire, is described. It has been summarised the comments provided for each PSF on the scenarios, using a content analysis technique. (Author)

Analysis of Operators Comments on the PSF Questionnaire of the Task Complexity Experiment 2003/2004

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torralba, B.; Martinez-Arias, R.

2007-01-01

Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) methods usually take into account the effect of Performance Shaping Factors (PSF). Therefore, the adequate treatment of PSFs in HRA of Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) models has a crucial importance. There is an important need for collecting PSF data based on simulator experiments. During the task complexity experiment 2003-2004, carried out in the BWR simulator of Halden Man-Machine Laboratory (HAMMLAB), there was a data collection on PSF by means of a PSF Questionnaire. Seven crews (composed of shift supervisor, reactor operator and turbine operator) from Swedish Nuclear Power Plants participated in the experiment. The PSF Questionnaire collected data on the factors: procedures, training and experience, indications, controls, team management, team communication, individual work practice, available time for the tasks, number of tasks or information load, masking and seriousness. The main statistical significant results are presented on Performance Shaping Factors data collection and analysis of the task complexity experiment 2003/2004 (HWR-810). The analysis of the comments about PSFs, which were provided by operators on the PSF Questionnaire, is described. It has been summarised the comments provided for each PSF on the scenarios, using a content analysis technique. (Author)

Is self-generated thought a means of social problem solving?

Science.gov (United States)

Ruby, Florence J. M.; Smallwood, Jonathan; Sackur, Jerome; Singer, Tania

2013-01-01

Appropriate social problem solving constitutes a critical skill for individuals and may rely on processes important for self-generated thought (SGT). The aim of the current study was to investigate the link between SGT and social problem solving. Using the Means-End Problem Solving task (MEPS), we assessed participants' abilities to resolve daily social problems in terms of overall efficiency and number of relevant means they provided to reach the given solution. Participants also performed a non-demanding choice reaction time task (CRT) and a moderately-demanding working memory task (WM) as a context in which to measure their SGT (assessed via thought sampling). We found that although overall SGT was associated with lower MEPS efficiency, it was also associated with higher relevant means, perhaps because both depend on the capacity to generate cognition that is independent from the hear and now. The specific content of SGT did not differentially predict individual differences in social problem solving, suggesting that the relationship may depend on SGT regardless of its content. In addition, we also found that performance at the WM but not the CRT was linked to overall better MEPS performance, suggesting that individuals good at social processing are also distinguished by their capacity to constrain attention to an external task. Our results provide novel evidence that the capacity for SGT is implicated in the process by which solutions to social problems are generated, although optimal problem solving may be achieved by individuals who display a suitable balance between SGT and cognition derived from perceptual input. PMID:24391621

Task complexity as a driver for collaborative learning efficiency: The collective working-memory effect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kirschner, Femke; Paas, Fred; Kirschner, Paul A.

2010-01-01

Kirschner, F., Paas, F., & Kirschner, P. A. (2011). Task complexity as a driver for collaborative learning efficiency: The collective working-memory effect. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 615–624. doi: 10.1002/acp.1730.

Rumination decreases parental problem-solving effectiveness in dysphoric postnatal mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Mahen, Heather A; Boyd, Alex; Gashe, Caroline

2015-06-01

Postnatal depression is associated with poorer parenting quality, but there are few studies examining maternal-specific cognitive processes that may impact on parenting quality. In this study, we examined the impact of rumination on parental problem-solving effectiveness in dysphoric and non-dysphoric postnatal mothers. Fifty-nine mothers with a infant aged 12 months and under, 20 of whom had a Beck Depression Score II (BDI-II) score ≥ 14, and 39 who scored less than 14 on the BDI-II were randomly assigned to either a rumination or distraction condition. Problem-solving effectiveness was assessed post-induction with the "Postnatal Parental Problem-Solving Task" (PPST), which was adapted from the Means Ends Problem-solving task. Parental problem-solving confidence was also assessed. Dysphoric ruminating mothers exhibited poorer problem-solving effectiveness and poorer confidence regarding their problem-solving compared to dysphoric distracting, non-dysphoric distracting, and non-dysphoric ruminating mothers. A self-report measure of depressed mood was used. Rumination may be a key mechanism associated with both depressive mood and maternal parenting quality during the postnatal period. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using Problem-solving Therapy to Improve Problem-solving Orientation, Problem-solving Skills and Quality of Life in Older Hemodialysis Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Erdley-Kass, Shiloh D; Kass, Darrin S; Gellis, Zvi D; Bogner, Hillary A; Berger, Andrea; Perkins, Robert M

2017-08-24

To determine the effectiveness of Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) in older hemodialysis (HD) patients by assessing changes in health-related quality of life and problem-solving skills. 33 HD patients in an outpatient hemodialysis center without active medical and psychiatric illness were enrolled. The intervention group (n = 15) received PST from a licensed social worker for 6 weeks, whereas the control group (n = 18) received usual care treatment. In comparison to the control group, patients receiving PST intervention reported improved perceptions of mental health, were more likely to view their problems with a positive orientation and were more likely to use functional problem-solving methods. Furthermore, this group was also more likely to view their overall health, activity limits, social activities and ability to accomplish desired tasks with a more positive mindset. The results demonstrate that PST may positively impact mental health components of quality of life and problem-solving coping among older HD patients. PST is an effective, efficient, and easy to implement intervention that can benefit problem-solving abilities and mental health-related quality of life in older HD patients. In turn, this will help patients manage their daily living activities related to their medical condition and reduce daily stressors.

Organizational Adaptative Behavior: The Complex Perspective of Individuals-Tasks Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jiang; Sun, Duoyong; Hu, Bin; Zhang, Yu

Organizations with different organizational structures have different organizational behaviors when responding environmental changes. In this paper, we use a computational model to examine organizational adaptation on four dimensions: Agility, Robustness, Resilience, and Survivability. We analyze the dynamics of organizational adaptation by a simulation study from a complex perspective of the interaction between tasks and individuals in a sales enterprise. The simulation studies in different scenarios show that more flexible communication between employees and less hierarchy level with the suitable centralization can improve organizational adaptation.

Disintegration of power grid as part of the task of increasing functionality of electric system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mukatov Bekzhan

2017-01-01

operation is inevitable with reduced reliability or, otherwise, with incomplete functionality where functionality is the set of functions provided by the power system and the quality of their performance. With the mass input of distributed small generation in grids of almost all voltage classes it is necessary to solve the problem of ensuring stability in previously passive distribution networks. The traditional approach based on the “struggle” to maintain synchronism between power plants in the distribution networks is associated with a number of difficulties, which causes to apply another approach to control modes in distribution networks. Complication of the power grid, automatic devices, increase in possible variations of modes, and tendency to maximize the use of production assets lead to an increase in the complexity of tasks solved by dispatch centers. In this regard, it is important to note that availability of cascade failures in power systems speaks of the urgency of the task of ensuring the survivability of energy supply systems both globally and locally. The paper shows how disintegration of the power grid can solve the task of ensuring the functionality of traditional power systems and help to create favorable conditions for distributed small generation integration into the integrated electric power system.

Implementation of exterior complex scaling in B-splines to solve atomic and molecular collision problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCurdy, C William; MartIn, Fernando

2004-01-01

B-spline methods are now well established as widely applicable tools for the evaluation of atomic and molecular continuum states. The mathematical technique of exterior complex scaling has been shown, in a variety of other implementations, to be a powerful method with which to solve atomic and molecular scattering problems, because it allows the correct imposition of continuum boundary conditions without their explicit analytic application. In this paper, an implementation of exterior complex scaling in B-splines is described that can bring the well-developed technology of B-splines to bear on new problems, including multiple ionization and breakup problems, in a straightforward way. The approach is demonstrated for examples involving the continuum motion of nuclei in diatomic molecules as well as electronic continua. For problems involving electrons, a method based on Poisson's equation is presented for computing two-electron integrals over B-splines under exterior complex scaling

Expert Team Decision-Making and Problem Solving: Development and Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona Tancig

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Traditional research of decision-making has not significantly contributed towards better understanding of professional judgment and decisions in practice. Researchers dealing with decision-making in various professions and natural settings initiated new perspectives called naturalistic, which put the expert in the focus of research and the expertise thus entered the core of decision-making research in natural situations.Expert team is more than a group of experts. It is defined as a group of interdependent team members with a high level of task related expertise and the mastering of team processes.There have been several advances in understanding of expertise and the team. By combining theories, models, and empirical evidence we are trying to explain effectiveness and adaptation of expert teams in problem-solving and decision-making in complex and dynamic situations.A considerable research has been devoted to finding out what are the characteristics of experts and expert teams during their optimal functioning. These characteristics are discussed as input, process and output factors. As input variables the cognitive, social-affective, and motivational characteristics are presented. Process variables encompass individual and team learning, problem solving and decision-making as presented in Kolb’s cycle of learning, in deeper structures of dialogue and discussion, and in phenomena of collaboration, alignment, and distributed cognition. Outcome variables deal with task performance – activities.

Role of optimization in the human dynamics of task execution

Science.gov (United States)

Cajueiro, Daniel O.; Maldonado, Wilfredo L.

2008-03-01

In order to explain the empirical evidence that the dynamics of human activity may not be well modeled by Poisson processes, a model based on queuing processes was built in the literature [A. L. Barabasi, Nature (London) 435, 207 (2005)]. The main assumption behind that model is that people execute their tasks based on a protocol that first executes the high priority item. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the validity of that hypothesis assuming that people are rational agents that make their decisions in order to minimize the cost of keeping nonexecuted tasks on the list. Therefore, we build and analytically solve a dynamic programming model with two priority types of tasks and show that the validity of this hypothesis depends strongly on the structure of the instantaneous costs that a person has to face if a given task is kept on the list for more than one period. Moreover, one interesting finding is that in one of the situations the protocol used to execute the tasks generates complex one-dimensional dynamics.

Fitness landscape complexity and the emergence of modularity in neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Lowell, Jessica

Previous research has shown that the shape of the fitness landscape can affect the evolution of modularity. We evolved neural networks to solve different tasks with different fitness landscapes, using NEAT, a popular neuroevolution algorithm that quantifies similarity between genomes in order to divide them into species. We used this speciation mechanism as a means to examine fitness landscape complexity, and to examine connections between fitness landscape complexity and the emergence of modularity.

Physics: Quantum problems solved through games

Science.gov (United States)

Maniscalco, Sabrina

2016-04-01

Humans are better than computers at performing certain tasks because of their intuition and superior visual processing. Video games are now being used to channel these abilities to solve problems in quantum physics. See Letter p.210

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF TRANSPORT CARGO COMPLEX

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A. M. Okorokov

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Making the qualitative administrative decisions defining strategy and tactics of transport cargo complexes development, and also its subsystems, is possible only in the presence of flexible optimization model. This model has to consider multiparametricity and multicriteriality of the given task, uncertainty and vagueness of input information, and also to provide process automation of searching the best parameters of the given production facility. The purpose of the research is to develop procedures for the strategic management of complex with view of the most important factors and their stochastic nature, which will execute the improvement of technical equipment of TCC. Methodology. The problem of strategic management is based on solving the complex of issues of the optimal number of shunting locomotives, optimal processing capability of handling the front and rational capacity of warehouses. The problem is solved on the basis of the proposed optimality criterion – the specific set of profit per unit of capital assets of freight industry. The listed problems are solved using simulation modeling of the freight industry. Findings. The use of developed procedure allows one to improve the technical equipment of the freight stations and complexes. Originality. For the first time it was developed the procedure of strategic management of development. This procedure allows taking into account the probabilistic nature of demand for services of transport freight complexes and technological processes of client services on the complex stations. The proposed procedure can be applied during when planning the investments in the creation of transport freight complexes. Practical value. Use as a basic tool of simulation models of complex cargo operation allows estimating the effectiveness of the capital investments, the level of operating costs, as well as the quality of meeting the demands of potential customers in transportations at the stage of

Analysing task design and students' responses to context-based problems through different analytical frameworks

Science.gov (United States)

Broman, Karolina; Bernholt, Sascha; Parchmann, Ilka

2015-05-01

Background:Context-based learning approaches are used to enhance students' interest in, and knowledge about, science. According to different empirical studies, students' interest is improved by applying these more non-conventional approaches, while effects on learning outcomes are less coherent. Hence, further insights are needed into the structure of context-based problems in comparison to traditional problems, and into students' problem-solving strategies. Therefore, a suitable framework is necessary, both for the analysis of tasks and strategies. Purpose:The aim of this paper is to explore traditional and context-based tasks as well as students' responses to exemplary tasks to identify a suitable framework for future design and analyses of context-based problems. The paper discusses different established frameworks and applies the Higher-Order Cognitive Skills/Lower-Order Cognitive Skills (HOCS/LOCS) taxonomy and the Model of Hierarchical Complexity in Chemistry (MHC-C) to analyse traditional tasks and students' responses. Sample:Upper secondary students (n=236) at the Natural Science Programme, i.e. possible future scientists, are investigated to explore learning outcomes when they solve chemistry tasks, both more conventional as well as context-based chemistry problems. Design and methods:A typical chemistry examination test has been analysed, first the test items in themselves (n=36), and thereafter 236 students' responses to one representative context-based problem. Content analysis using HOCS/LOCS and MHC-C frameworks has been applied to analyse both quantitative and qualitative data, allowing us to describe different problem-solving strategies. Results:The empirical results show that both frameworks are suitable to identify students' strategies, mainly focusing on recall of memorized facts when solving chemistry test items. Almost all test items were also assessing lower order thinking. The combination of frameworks with the chemistry syllabus has been

Short-term Music Training Enhances Complex, Distributed Neural Communication during Music and Linguistic Tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpentier, Sarah M; Moreno, Sylvain; McIntosh, Anthony R

2016-10-01

Musical training is frequently associated with benefits to linguistic abilities, and recent focus has been placed on possible benefits of bilingualism to lifelong executive functions; however, the neural mechanisms for such effects are unclear. The aim of this study was to gain better understanding of the whole-brain functional effects of music and second-language training that could support such previously observed cognitive transfer effects. We conducted a 28-day longitudinal study of monolingual English-speaking 4- to 6-year-old children randomly selected to receive daily music or French language training, excluding weekends. Children completed passive EEG music note and French vowel auditory oddball detection tasks before and after training. Brain signal complexity was measured on source waveforms at multiple temporal scales as an index of neural information processing and network communication load. Comparing pretraining with posttraining, musical training was associated with increased EEG complexity at coarse temporal scales during the music and French vowel tasks in widely distributed cortical regions. Conversely, very minimal decreases in complexity at fine scales and trends toward coarse-scale increases were displayed after French training during the tasks. Spectral analysis failed to distinguish between training types and found overall theta (3.5-7.5 Hz) power increases after all training forms, with spatially fewer decreases in power at higher frequencies (>10 Hz). These findings demonstrate that musical training increased diversity of brain network states to support domain-specific music skill acquisition and music-to-language transfer effects.

Roles of Working Memory Performance and Instructional Strategy in Complex Cognitive Task Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Cevik, V.; Altun, A.

2016-01-01

This study aims to investigate how working memory (WM) performances and instructional strategy choices affect learners' complex cognitive task performance in online environments. Three different e-learning environments were designed based on Merrill's (2006a) model of instructional strategies. The lack of experimental research on his framework is…

The relation between task characteristics, BI quality and task compatibility: An explorative study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gaardboe, Rikke; Jonasen, Tanja Svarre; Nyvang, Tom

2018-01-01

The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between task characteristics, business intelligence (BI) quality, and task compatibility. It is essential to investigate this relationship, as BI often builds up data from the organization's existing information systems, and thus......, is a supplement. In addition, there is a gap within existing research about task characteristics and BI. We conducted a survey of three companies, where 104 BI end users answered the questionnaire. Our findings reveal that BI users who experience high information quality solve difficult tasks, have a specified...

Processing of Words Related to the Demands of a Previously Solved Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kowalczyk Marek

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Earlier research by the author brought about findings suggesting that people in a special way process words related to demands of a problem they previously solved, even when they do not consciously notice this relationship. The findings concerned interference in the task in which the words appeared, a shift in affective responses to them that depended on sex of the participants, and impaired memory of the words. The aim of this study was to replicate these effects and to find out whether they are related to working memory (WM span of the participants, taken as a measure of the individual’s ability to control attention. Participants in the experimental group solved a divergent problem, then performed an ostensibly unrelated speeded affective classification task concerning each of a series of nouns, and then performed an unexpected cued recall task for the nouns. Afterwards, a task measuring WM span was administered. In the control group there was no problem-solving phase. Response latencies for words immediately following problem-related words in the classification task were longer in the experimental than in the control group, but there was no relationship between this effect and WM span. Solving the problem, in interaction with sex of the participants and, independently, with their WM span, influenced affective responses to problem-related words. Recall of these words, however, was not impaired in the experimental group.

The development of a quantitative measure for the complexity of emergency tasks stipulated in emergency operating procedures of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jin Kyun; Jung, Won Dea

2006-11-01

Previous studies have continuously pointed out that human performance is a decisive factor affecting the safety of complicated process systems. Subsequently, as the result of extensive efforts, it has been revealed that the provision of procedures is one of the most effective countermeasures, especially if human operators have to carry out their tasks under a very stressful environment. That is, since good procedures are helpful to not only enhance the performance of human operators but also the reduction of the possibility of a human error through stipulating detailed tasks to be done by human operators. Ironically, it has been emphasized that the performance of human operators could be impaired due to complicated procedures, because procedures directly govern the physical as well as cognitive behavior of human operators by institutionalizing detailed actions. Therefore, it is a prerequisite to develop a systematic framework that properly evaluate the complexity of tasks described in procedures. For this reason, a measure called TACOM (Task Complexity) that can quantify the complexity of emergency tasks described in the emergency operating procedures (EOPs) of NPPs has been developed. In this report, a technical background as well as practical steps to quantify the complexity of tasks were presented with a series of studies that were conducted to ensure the validity of the TACOM measure. As a result of validation studies, since it is shown that the TACOM measure seem to properly quantify the complexity of emergency tasks, it is desirable that the TACOM measure plays an important role in improving the performance of human operators

The development of a quantitative measure for the complexity of emergency tasks stipulated in emergency operating procedures of nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Jin Kyun; Jung, Won Dea

2006-11-15

Previous studies have continuously pointed out that human performance is a decisive factor affecting the safety of complicated process systems. Subsequently, as the result of extensive efforts, it has been revealed that the provision of procedures is one of the most effective countermeasures, especially if human operators have to carry out their tasks under a very stressful environment. That is, since good procedures are helpful to not only enhance the performance of human operators but also the reduction of the possibility of a human error through stipulating detailed tasks to be done by human operators. Ironically, it has been emphasized that the performance of human operators could be impaired due to complicated procedures, because procedures directly govern the physical as well as cognitive behavior of human operators by institutionalizing detailed actions. Therefore, it is a prerequisite to develop a systematic framework that properly evaluate the complexity of tasks described in procedures. For this reason, a measure called TACOM (Task Complexity) that can quantify the complexity of emergency tasks described in the emergency operating procedures (EOPs) of NPPs has been developed. In this report, a technical background as well as practical steps to quantify the complexity of tasks were presented with a series of studies that were conducted to ensure the validity of the TACOM measure. As a result of validation studies, since it is shown that the TACOM measure seem to properly quantify the complexity of emergency tasks, it is desirable that the TACOM measure plays an important role in improving the performance of human operators.

SOLVING ENGINEERING OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS WITH THE SWARM INTELLIGENCE METHODS

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V. Panteleev Andrei

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An important stage in problem solving process for aerospace and aerostructures designing is calculating their main charac- teristics optimization. The results of the four constrained optimization problems related to the design of various technical systems: such as determining the best parameters of welded beams, pressure vessel, gear, spring are presented. The purpose of each task is to minimize the cost and weight of the construction. The object functions in optimization practical problem are nonlinear functions with a lot of variables and a complex layer surface indentations. That is why using classical approach for extremum seeking is not efficient. Here comes the necessity of using such methods of optimization that allow to find a near optimal solution in acceptable amount of time with the minimum waste of computer power. Such methods include the methods of Swarm Intelligence: spiral dy- namics algorithm, stochastic diffusion search, hybrid seeker optimization algorithm. The Swarm Intelligence methods are designed in such a way that a swarm consisting of agents carries out the search for extremum. In search for the point of extremum, the parti- cles exchange information and consider their experience as well as the experience of population leader and the neighbors in some area. To solve the listed problems there has been designed a program complex, which efficiency is illustrated by the solutions of four applied problems. Each of the considered applied optimization problems is solved with all the three chosen methods. The ob- tained numerical results can be compared with the ones found in a swarm with a particle method. The author gives recommenda- tions on how to choose methods parameters and penalty function value, which consider inequality constraints.

Self-affirmation improves problem-solving under stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Creswell, J David; Dutcher, Janine M; Klein, William M P; Harris, Peter R; Levine, John M

2013-01-01

High levels of acute and chronic stress are known to impair problem-solving and creativity on a broad range of tasks. Despite this evidence, we know little about protective factors for mitigating the deleterious effects of stress on problem-solving. Building on previous research showing that self-affirmation can buffer stress, we tested whether an experimental manipulation of self-affirmation improves problem-solving performance in chronically stressed participants. Eighty undergraduates indicated their perceived chronic stress over the previous month and were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or control condition. They then completed 30 difficult remote associate problem-solving items under time pressure in front of an evaluator. Results showed that self-affirmation improved problem-solving performance in underperforming chronically stressed individuals. This research suggests a novel means for boosting problem-solving under stress and may have important implications for understanding how self-affirmation boosts academic achievement in school settings.

Molecular computing towards a novel computing architecture for complex problem solving

CERN Document Server

Chang, Weng-Long

2014-01-01

This textbook introduces a concise approach to the design of molecular algorithms for students or researchers who are interested in dealing with complex problems. Through numerous examples and exercises, you will understand the main difference of molecular circuits and traditional digital circuits to manipulate the same problem and you will also learn how to design a molecular algorithm of solving any a problem from start to finish. The book starts with an introduction to computational aspects of digital computers and molecular computing, data representation of molecular computing, molecular operations of molecular computing and number representation of molecular computing, and provides many molecular algorithm to construct the parity generator and the parity checker of error-detection codes on digital communication, to encode integers of different formats, single precision and double precision of floating-point numbers, to implement addition and subtraction of unsigned integers, to construct logic operations...

Innovation and problem solving: a review of common mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, Andrea S; Guez, David

2014-11-01

Behavioural innovations have become central to our thinking about how animals adjust to changing environments. It is now well established that animals vary in their ability to innovate, but understanding why remains a challenge. This is because innovations are rare, so studying innovation requires alternative experimental assays that create opportunities for animals to express their ability to invent new behaviours, or use pre-existing ones in new contexts. Problem solving of extractive foraging tasks has been put forward as a suitable experimental assay. We review the rapidly expanding literature on problem solving of extractive foraging tasks in order to better understand to what extent the processes underpinning problem solving, and the factors influencing problem solving, are in line with those predicted, and found, to underpin and influence innovation in the wild. Our aim is to determine whether problem solving can be used as an experimental proxy of innovation. We find that in most respects, problem solving is determined by the same underpinning mechanisms, and is influenced by the same factors, as those predicted to underpin, and to influence, innovation. We conclude that problem solving is a valid experimental assay for studying innovation, propose a conceptual model of problem solving in which motor diversity plays a more central role than has been considered to date, and provide recommendations for future research using problem solving to investigate innovation. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cognition in the wild. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Balancing Human-machine Interface (HMI) Design in Complex Supervisory Tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha, Junsu; Kim, Arryum; Jang, Inseok; Seong, Poonghyun

2013-01-01

Human performance aspects such as plant performance, personnel task performance, situation awareness, cognitive workload, teamwork, and anthropomorphic/physiological factor are evaluated with the HUPESS. Even though the HUPESS provides evaluation results in each of the performance aspects for the integrated system validation (ISV), additional researches have been needed to develop methods on how to find out design deficiency leading to poor performance and give a solution for design improvement in HMI. The authors have developed a method of HMI design improvement for the monitoring and detection tasks which was named as 'DEMIS (Difficulty Evaluation Method in Information Searching)'. The DEMIS is a HMI evaluation method which bridge poor performance and design improvement. Lessons learned from the existing studies lead to a question about how to optimize the whole HMI design. Human factors principles provide the foundation for guidelines of various codes and standards in designing HMIs. Also in NPPs, a lot of guidelines directly from various codes and standard and derived from various research and development projects are available for designing MCR HMIs. In this study, a balancing principle and relevant two measures for HMI design optimization are proposed to be used in the HMI design of complex supervisory tasks in NPPs. The balancing principle is that a HMI element (e. g., an indicator or a push button) should be designed according to its importance

Balancing Human-machine Interface (HMI) Design in Complex Supervisory Tasks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ha, Junsu [Khalifa Univ. of Science, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Kim, Arryum; Jang, Inseok; Seong, Poonghyun [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-15

Human performance aspects such as plant performance, personnel task performance, situation awareness, cognitive workload, teamwork, and anthropomorphic/physiological factor are evaluated with the HUPESS. Even though the HUPESS provides evaluation results in each of the performance aspects for the integrated system validation (ISV), additional researches have been needed to develop methods on how to find out design deficiency leading to poor performance and give a solution for design improvement in HMI. The authors have developed a method of HMI design improvement for the monitoring and detection tasks which was named as 'DEMIS (Difficulty Evaluation Method in Information Searching)'. The DEMIS is a HMI evaluation method which bridge poor performance and design improvement. Lessons learned from the existing studies lead to a question about how to optimize the whole HMI design. Human factors principles provide the foundation for guidelines of various codes and standards in designing HMIs. Also in NPPs, a lot of guidelines directly from various codes and standard and derived from various research and development projects are available for designing MCR HMIs. In this study, a balancing principle and relevant two measures for HMI design optimization are proposed to be used in the HMI design of complex supervisory tasks in NPPs. The balancing principle is that a HMI element (e. g., an indicator or a push button) should be designed according to its importance.

Mechanical problem-solving strategies in Alzheimer's disease and semantic dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesourd, Mathieu; Baumard, Josselin; Jarry, Christophe; Etcharry-Bouyx, Frédérique; Belliard, Serge; Moreaud, Olivier; Croisile, Bernard; Chauviré, Valérie; Granjon, Marine; Le Gall, Didier; Osiurak, François

2016-07-01

The goal of this study was to explore whether the tool-use disorders observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and semantic dementia (SD) are of the same nature as those observed in left brain-damaged (LBD) patients. Recent evidence indicates that LBD patients with apraxia of tool use encounter difficulties in solving mechanical problems, characterized by the absence of specific strategies. This pattern may show the presence of impaired mechanical knowledge, critical for both familiar and novel tool use. So, we explored the strategies followed by AD and SD patients in mechanical problem-solving tasks in order to determine whether mechanical knowledge is also impaired in these patients. We used a mechanical problem-solving task in both choice (i.e., several tools were proposed) and no-choice (i.e., only 1 tool was proposed) conditions. We analyzed quantitative data and strategy profiles. AD patients but not SD patients met difficulties in solving mechanical problem-solving tasks. However, the key finding is that AD patients, despite their difficulties, showed strategy profiles that are similar to that of SD patients or controls. Moreover, AD patients exhibited a strategy profile distinct from the one previously observed in LBD patients. Those observations lead us to consider that difficulties met by AD patients to solve mechanical problems or even to use familiar tools may not be caused by mechanical knowledge impairment per se. In broad terms, what we call apraxia of tool use in AD is certainly not the same as apraxia of tool use observed in LBD patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Scalable Task Assignment for Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Teams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula García

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This work deals with the development of a dynamic task assignment strategy for heterogeneous multi-robot teams in typical real world scenarios. The strategy must be efficiently scalable to support problems of increasing complexity with minimum designer intervention. To this end, we have selected a very simple auction-based strategy, which has been implemented and analysed in a multi-robot cleaning problem that requires strong coordination and dynamic complex subtask organization. We will show that the selection of a simple auction strategy provides a linear computational cost increase with the number of robots that make up the team and allows the solving of highly complex assignment problems in dynamic conditions by means of a hierarchical sub-auction policy. To coordinate and control the team, a layered behaviour-based architecture has been applied that allows the reusing of the auction-based strategy to achieve different coordination levels.

The effects of monitoring environment on problem-solving performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Laird, Brian K; Bailey, Charles D; Hester, Kim

2018-01-01

While effective and efficient solving of everyday problems is important in business domains, little is known about the effects of workplace monitoring on problem-solving performance. In a laboratory experiment, we explored the monitoring environment's effects on an individual's propensity to (1) establish pattern solutions to problems, (2) recognize when pattern solutions are no longer efficient, and (3) solve complex problems. Under three work monitoring regimes-no monitoring, human monitoring, and electronic monitoring-114 participants solved puzzles for monetary rewards. Based on research related to worker autonomy and theory of social facilitation, we hypothesized that monitored (versus non-monitored) participants would (1) have more difficulty finding a pattern solution, (2) more often fail to recognize when the pattern solution is no longer efficient, and (3) solve fewer complex problems. Our results support the first two hypotheses, but in complex problem solving, an interaction was found between self-assessed ability and the monitoring environment.

Better without (lateral) frontal cortex? Insight problems solved by frontal patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Reverberi, Carlo; Toraldo, Alessio; D'Agostini, Serena; Skrap, Miran

2005-12-01

A recently proposed theory on frontal lobe functions claims that the prefrontal cortex, particularly its dorso-lateral aspect, is crucial in defining a set of responses suitable for a particular task, and biasing these for selection. This activity is carried out for virtually any kind of non-routine tasks, without distinction of content. The aim of this study is to test the prediction of Frith's 'sculpting the response space' hypothesis by means of an 'insight' problem-solving task, namely the matchstick arithmetic task. Starting from Knoblich et al.'s interpretation for the failure of healthy controls to solve the matchstick problem, and Frith's theory on the role of dorsolateral frontal cortex, we derived the counterintuitive prediction that patients with focal damage to the lateral frontal cortex should perform better than a group of healthy participants on this rather difficult task. We administered the matchstick task to 35 patients (aged 26-65 years) with a single focal brain lesion as determined by a CT or an MRI scan, and to 23 healthy participants (aged 34-62 years). The findings seemed in line with theoretical predictions. While only 43% of healthy participants could solve the most difficult matchstick problems ('type C'), 82% of lateral frontal patients did so (Fisher's exact test, P < 0.05). In conclusion, the combination of Frith's and Knoblich et al.'s theories was corroborated.

Convolutional neural networks and face recognition task

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Sochenkova, A.; Sochenkov, I.; Makovetskii, A.; Vokhmintsev, A.; Melnikov, A.

2017-09-01

Computer vision tasks are remaining very important for the last couple of years. One of the most complicated problems in computer vision is face recognition that could be used in security systems to provide safety and to identify person among the others. There is a variety of different approaches to solve this task, but there is still no universal solution that would give adequate results in some cases. Current paper presents following approach. Firstly, we extract an area containing face, then we use Canny edge detector. On the next stage we use convolutional neural networks (CNN) to finally solve face recognition and person identification task.

Thinking processes used by high-performing students in a computer programming task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marietjie Havenga

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Computer programmers must be able to understand programming source code and write programs that execute complex tasks to solve real-world problems. This article is a trans- disciplinary study at the intersection of computer programming, education and psychology. It outlines the role of mental processes in the process of programming and indicates how successful thinking processes can support computer science students in writing correct and well-defined programs. A mixed methods approach was used to better understand the thinking activities and programming processes of participating students. Data collection involved both computer programs and students’ reflective thinking processes recorded in their journals. This enabled analysis of psychological dimensions of participants’ thinking processes and their problem-solving activities as they considered a programming problem. Findings indicate that the cognitive, reflective and psychological processes used by high-performing programmers contributed to their success in solving a complex programming problem. Based on the thinking processes of high performers, we propose a model of integrated thinking processes, which can support computer programming students. Keywords: Computer programming, education, mixed methods research, thinking processes.  Disciplines: Computer programming, education, psychology

Development and evaluation of a specialized task taxonomy for spatial planning - A map literacy experiment with topographic maps

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Rautenbach, Victoria; Coetzee, Serena; Çöltekin, Arzu

2017-05-01

Topographic maps are among the most commonly used map types, however, their complex and information-rich designs depicting natural, human-made and cultural features make them difficult to read. Regardless of their complexity, spatial planners make extensive use of topographic maps in their work. On the other hand, various studies suggest that map literacy among the development planning professionals in South Africa is not very high. The widespread use of topographic maps combined with the low levels of map literacy presents challenges for effective development planning. In this paper we address some of these challenges by developing a specialized task taxonomy based on systematically assessed map literacy levels; and conducting an empirical experiment with topographic maps to evaluate our task taxonomy. In such empirical studies if non-realistic tasks are used, the results of map literacy tests may be skewed. Furthermore, experience and familiarity with the studied map type play a role in map literacy. There is thus a need to develop map literacy tests aimed at planners specifically. We developed a taxonomy of realistic map reading tasks typically executed during the planning process. The taxonomy defines six levels tasks of increasing difficulty and complexity, ranging from recognising symbols to extracting knowledge. We hypothesized that competence in the first four levels indicates functional map literacy. In this paper, we present results from an empirical experiment with 49 map literate participants solving a subset of tasks from the first four levels of the taxonomy with a topographic map. Our findings suggest that the proposed taxonomy is a good reference for evaluating topographic map literacy. Participants solved the tasks on all four levels as expected and we therefore conclude that the experiment based on the first four levels of the taxonomy successfully determined the functional map literacy of the participants. We plan to continue the study for the

Sleep Does Not Promote Solving Classical Insight Problems and Magic Tricks

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Schönauer, Monika; Brodt, Svenja; Pöhlchen, Dorothee; Breßmer, Anja; Danek, Amory H.; Gais, Steffen

2018-01-01

During creative problem solving, initial solution attempts often fail because of self-imposed constraints that prevent us from thinking out of the box. In order to solve a problem successfully, the problem representation has to be restructured by combining elements of available knowledge in novel and creative ways. It has been suggested that sleep supports the reorganization of memory representations, ultimately aiding problem solving. In this study, we systematically tested the effect of sleep and time on problem solving, using classical insight tasks and magic tricks. Solving these tasks explicitly requires a restructuring of the problem representation and may be accompanied by a subjective feeling of insight. In two sessions, 77 participants had to solve classical insight problems and magic tricks. The two sessions either occurred consecutively or were spaced 3 h apart, with the time in between spent either sleeping or awake. We found that sleep affected neither general solution rates nor the number of solutions accompanied by sudden subjective insight. Our study thus adds to accumulating evidence that sleep does not provide an environment that facilitates the qualitative restructuring of memory representations and enables problem solving. PMID:29535620

Peculiarities of solving the problems of modern logistics in high-rise construction and industrial production

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Rubtsov, Anatoliy E.; Ushakova, Elena V.; Chirkova, Tamara V.

2018-03-01

Basing on the analysis of the enterprise (construction organization) structure and infrastructure of the entire logistics system in which this enterprise (construction organization) operates, this article proposes an approach to solve the problems of structural optimization and a set of calculation tasks, based on customer orders as well as on the required levels of insurance stocks, transit stocks and other types of stocks in the distribution network, modes of operation of the in-company transport and storage complex and a number of other factors.

Co-Constructional Task Analysis: Moving beyond Adult-Based Models to Assess Young Children's Task Performance

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Lee, Scott Weng Fai

2013-01-01

The assessment of young children's thinking competence in task performances has typically followed the novice-to-expert regimen involving models of strategies that adults use when engaged in cognitive tasks such as problem-solving and decision-making. Socio-constructivists argue for a balanced pedagogical approach between the adult and child that…

[Interest of complex tasks on laparoscopic virtual reality simulator].

Science.gov (United States)

Valentin, L; Rabischong, B; Compan, C; Botchorichvili, R; Pereira, B; Avan, P

2016-03-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the contribution of complex tasks on virtual reality simulator (VRS) for novice surgeons in laparoscopy learning. Fifty-five medical students were prospectively randomized in two groups (A: basic skills, n=28 and B: basic and complex skills, n=27) and then trained during two sessions on VRS. Evaluations took place before and after each training. These evaluations consisted of the achievement of an intracorporeal suture, recorded on video, with the left then with the right hand. Two independent experts evaluated those gestures blindly. A significant progression in terms of times and technical scores was observed in both groups between the first and the last evaluations (P between 0.001 and 0.04). Students in group B improved slower and longer than those in group A. However, left and right hands results confused did not highlight significant differences between the two groups. At the third session, the first hand to train is significantly faster in group B than in group A (P=0.04). This study found only a late and minimal impact of complex skills to reduce the execution time of intracorporeal suture. It also showed an slower and longer overall progression for those who use them compared to subjects using basic skills only. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Task Phase Recognition for Highly Mobile Workers in Large Building Complexes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stisen, Allan; Mathisen, Andreas; Krogh, Søren

2016-01-01

requirements on the accuracy of the indoor positioning, and thus come with low deployment and maintenance effort in real-world settings. We evaluated the proposed methods in a large hospital complex, where the highly mobile workers were recruited among the non-clinical workforce. The evaluation is based......-scale indoor work environments, namely from a WiFi infrastructure providing coarse grained indoor positioning, from inertial sensors in the workers’ mobile phones, and from a task management system yielding information about the scheduled tasks’ start and end locations. The methods presented have low...... on manually labelled real-world data collected over 4 days of regular work life of the mobile workforce. The collected data yields 83 tasks in total involving 8 different orderlies from a major university hospital with a building area of 160, 000 m2. The results show that the proposed methods can distinguish...

Secondary Teachers’ Mathematics-related Beliefs and Knowledge about Mathematical Problem-solving

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E Siswono, T. Y.; Kohar, A. W.; Hartono, S.

2017-02-01

This study investigates secondary teachers’ belief about the three mathematics-related beliefs, i.e. nature of mathematics, teaching mathematics, learning mathematics, and knowledge about mathematical problem solving. Data were gathered through a set of task-based semi-structured interviews of three selected teachers with different philosophical views of teaching mathematics, i.e. instrumental, platonist, and problem solving. Those teachers were selected from an interview using a belief-related task from purposively selected teachers in Surabaya and Sidoarjo. While the interviews about knowledge examine teachers’ problem solving content and pedagogical knowledge, the interviews about beliefs examine their views on several cases extracted from each of such mathematics-related beliefs. Analysis included the categorization and comparison on each of beliefs and knowledge as well as their interaction. Results indicate that all the teachers did not show a high consistency in responding views of their mathematics-related beliefs, while they showed weaknesses primarily on problem solving content knowledge. Findings also point out that teachers’ beliefs have a strong relationship with teachers’ knowledge about problem solving. In particular, the instrumental teacher’s beliefs were consistent with his insufficient knowledge about problem-solving, while both platonist and problem-solving teacher’s beliefs were consistent with their sufficient knowledge of either content or pedagogical problem solving.

Self-affirmation improves problem-solving under stress.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J David Creswell

Full Text Available High levels of acute and chronic stress are known to impair problem-solving and creativity on a broad range of tasks. Despite this evidence, we know little about protective factors for mitigating the deleterious effects of stress on problem-solving. Building on previous research showing that self-affirmation can buffer stress, we tested whether an experimental manipulation of self-affirmation improves problem-solving performance in chronically stressed participants. Eighty undergraduates indicated their perceived chronic stress over the previous month and were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation or control condition. They then completed 30 difficult remote associate problem-solving items under time pressure in front of an evaluator. Results showed that self-affirmation improved problem-solving performance in underperforming chronically stressed individuals. This research suggests a novel means for boosting problem-solving under stress and may have important implications for understanding how self-affirmation boosts academic achievement in school settings.

Enhancing Problem-Solving Capabilities Using Object-Oriented Programming Language

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Unuakhalu, Mike F.

2009-01-01

This study integrated object-oriented programming instruction with transfer training activities in everyday tasks, which might provide a mechanism that can be used for efficient problem solving. Specifically, a Visual BASIC embedded with everyday tasks group was compared to another group exposed to Visual BASIC instruction only. Subjects were 40…

Differences in problem-solving between canid populations: Do domestication and lifetime experience affect persistence?

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Brubaker, Lauren; Dasgupta, Sandipan; Bhattacharjee, Debottam; Bhadra, Anindita; Udell, Monique A R

2017-07-01

Past research has suggested that a variety of factors, phylogenetic and ontogenetic, play a role in how canines behave during problem-solving tasks and the degree to which the presence of a human influences their problem-solving behaviour. While comparisons between socialized wolves and domestic dogs have commonly been used to tease apart these predictive factors, in many cases a single dog population, often pets, have been used for these comparisons. Less is understood about how different populations of dogs may behave when compared with wolves, or with each other, during an independent problem-solving task. This experiment compared the independent persistence of four populations of canines (two groups of pet domestic dogs, a group of free-ranging domestic dogs, and human-socialized wolves) on an independent problem-solving task in the presence of an on looking human. Results showed that wolves persisted the most at the task while free-ranging dogs persisted the least. Free-ranging dogs gazed at the human experimenter for the longest durations during the task. While further research is needed to understand why these differences exist, this study demonstrates that dogs, even those living outside human homes as scavengers, show comparatively low levels of persistence when confronted with a solvable task in the presence of a human as well as significantly greater duration of human-directed gaze when compared with wolves.

Testing problem-solving capacities: differences between individual testing and social group setting.

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Krasheninnikova, Anastasia; Schneider, Jutta M

2014-09-01

Testing animals individually in problem-solving tasks limits distractions of the subjects during the test, so that they can fully concentrate on the problem. However, such individual performance may not indicate the problem-solving capacity that is commonly employed in the wild when individuals are faced with a novel problem in their social groups, where the presence of a conspecific influences an individual's behaviour. To assess the validity of data gathered from parrots when tested individually, we compared the performance on patterned-string tasks among parrots tested singly and parrots tested in social context. We tested two captive groups of orange-winged amazons (Amazona amazonica) with several patterned-string tasks. Despite the differences in the testing environment (singly vs. social context), parrots from both groups performed similarly. However, we found that the willingness to participate in the tasks was significantly higher for the individuals tested in social context. The study provides further evidence for the crucial influence of social context on individual's response to a challenging situation such as a problem-solving test.

The neural dynamics of stimulus and response conflict processing as a function of response complexity and task demands

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Donohue, Sarah E.; Appelbaum, Lawrence G.; McKay, Cameron C.; Woldorff, Marty G.

2016-01-01

Both stimulus and response conflict can disrupt behavior by slowing response times and decreasing accuracy. Although several neural activations have been associated with conflict processing, it is unclear how specific any of these are to the type of stimulus conflict or the amount of response conflict. Here, we recorded electrical brain activity, while manipulating the type of stimulus conflict in the task (spatial [Flanker] versus semantic [Stroop]) and the amount of response conflict (two versus four response choices). Behaviorally, responses were slower to incongruent versus congruent stimuli across all task and response types, along with overall slowing for higher response-mapping complexity. The earliest incongruency-related neural effect was a short-duration frontally-distributed negativity at ~200 ms that was only present in the Flanker spatial-conflict task. At longer latencies, the classic fronto-central incongruency-related negativity ‘Ninc’ was observed for all conditions, which was larger and ~100 ms longer in duration with more response options. Further, the onset of the motor-related lateralized readiness potential (LRP) was earlier for the two vs. four response sets, indicating that smaller response sets enabled faster motor-response preparation. The late positive complex (LPC) was present in all conditions except the two-response Stroop task, suggesting this late conflict-related activity is not specifically related to task type or response-mapping complexity. Importantly, across tasks and conditions, the LRP onset at or before the conflict-related Ninc, indicating that motor preparation is a rapid, automatic process that interacts with the conflict-detection processes after it has begun. Together, these data highlight how different conflict-related processes operate in parallel and depend on both the cognitive demands of the task and the number of response options. PMID:26827917

Robotic Toys as a Catalyst for Mathematical Problem Solving

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Highfield, Kate

2010-01-01

Robotic toys present unique opportunities for teachers of young children to integrate mathematics learning with engaging problem-solving tasks. This article describes a series of tasks using Bee-bots and Pro-bots, developed as part a larger project examining young children's use of robotic toys as tools in developing mathematical and metacognitive…

Effect of tDCS on task relevant and irrelevant perceptual learning of complex objects.

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Van Meel, Chayenne; Daniels, Nicky; de Beeck, Hans Op; Baeck, Annelies

2016-01-01

During perceptual learning the visual representations in the brain are altered, but these changes' causal role has not yet been fully characterized. We used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to investigate the role of higher visual regions in lateral occipital cortex (LO) in perceptual learning with complex objects. We also investigated whether object learning is dependent on the relevance of the objects for the learning task. Participants were trained in two tasks: object recognition using a backward masking paradigm and an orientation judgment task. During both tasks, an object with a red line on top of it were presented in each trial. The crucial difference between both tasks was the relevance of the object: the object was relevant for the object recognition task, but not for the orientation judgment task. During training, half of the participants received anodal tDCS stimulation targeted at the lateral occipital cortex (LO). Afterwards, participants were tested on how well they recognized the trained objects, the irrelevant objects presented during the orientation judgment task and a set of completely new objects. Participants stimulated with tDCS during training showed larger improvements of performance compared to participants in the sham condition. No learning effect was found for the objects presented during the orientation judgment task. To conclude, this study suggests a causal role of LO in relevant object learning, but given the rather low spatial resolution of tDCS, more research on the specificity of this effect is needed. Further, mere exposure is not sufficient to train object recognition in our paradigm.

Human-Assisted Machine Information Exploitation: a crowdsourced investigation of information-based problem solving

Science.gov (United States)

Kase, Sue E.; Vanni, Michelle; Caylor, Justine; Hoye, Jeff

2017-05-01

The Human-Assisted Machine Information Exploitation (HAMIE) investigation utilizes large-scale online data collection for developing models of information-based problem solving (IBPS) behavior in a simulated time-critical operational environment. These types of environments are characteristic of intelligence workflow processes conducted during human-geo-political unrest situations when the ability to make the best decision at the right time ensures strategic overmatch. The project takes a systems approach to Human Information Interaction (HII) by harnessing the expertise of crowds to model the interaction of the information consumer and the information required to solve a problem at different levels of system restrictiveness and decisional guidance. The design variables derived from Decision Support Systems (DSS) research represent the experimental conditions in this online single-player against-the-clock game where the player, acting in the role of an intelligence analyst, is tasked with a Commander's Critical Information Requirement (CCIR) in an information overload scenario. The player performs a sequence of three information processing tasks (annotation, relation identification, and link diagram formation) with the assistance of `HAMIE the robot' who offers varying levels of information understanding dependent on question complexity. We provide preliminary results from a pilot study conducted with Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) participants on the Volunteer Science scientific research platform.

Automated Cognitive Health Assessment Using Smart Home Monitoring of Complex Tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawadi, Prafulla N; Cook, Diane J; Schmitter-Edgecombe, Maureen

2013-11-01

One of the many services that intelligent systems can provide is the automated assessment of resident well-being. We hypothesize that the functional health of individuals, or ability of individuals to perform activities independently without assistance, can be estimated by tracking their activities using smart home technologies. In this paper, we introduce a machine learning-based method for assessing activity quality in smart homes. To validate our approach we quantify activity quality for 179 volunteer participants who performed a complex, interweaved set of activities in our smart home apartment. We observed a statistically significant correlation (r=0.79) between automated assessment of task quality and direct observation scores. Using machine learning techniques to predict the cognitive health of the participants based on task quality is accomplished with an AUC value of 0.64. We believe that this capability is an important step in understanding everyday functional health of individuals in their home environments.

Care for a Patient With Cancer As a Project: Management of Complex Task Interdependence in Cancer Care Delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Trosman, Julia R; Carlos, Ruth C; Simon, Melissa A; Madden, Debra L; Gradishar, William J; Benson, Al B; Rapkin, Bruce D; Weiss, Elisa S; Gareen, Ilana F; Wagner, Lynne I; Khan, Seema A; Bunce, Mikele M; Small, Art; Weldon, Christine B

2016-11-01

Cancer care is highly complex and suffers from fragmentation and lack of coordination across provider specialties and clinical domains. As a result, patients often find that they must coordinate care on their own. Coordinated delivery teams may address these challenges and improve quality of cancer care. Task interdependence is a core principle of rigorous teamwork and is essential to addressing the complexity of cancer care, which is highly interdependent across specialties and modalities. We examined challenges faced by a patient with early-stage breast cancer that resulted from difficulties in understanding and managing task interdependence across clinical domains involved in this patient's care. We used team science supported by the project management discipline to discuss how various task interdependence aspects can be recognized, deliberately designed, and systematically managed to prevent care breakdowns. This case highlights how effective task interdependence management facilitated by project management methods could markedly improve the course of a patient's care. This work informs efforts of cancer centers and practices to redesign cancer care delivery through innovative, practical, and patient-centered approaches to management of task interdependence in cancer care. Future patient-reported outcomes research will help to determine optimal ways to engage patients, including those who are medically underserved, in managing task interdependence in their own care.

The role of qualitative discussion in problem solving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cerny, V.

1998-01-01

The paper contributes to the methodology of problem solving in physics. We argue that the task of solving a problem does not end by obtaining the result. We claim that a question like 'Why the result came out as it did?' can be meaningfully posed and that deeper understanding of the subject comes out as a result of a discussion on possible answers to such a question (Author)

The appropriateness of TACOM for a task complexity measure for emergency operating procedures of nuclear power plants - A comparison with OPAS scores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jinkyun; Jung, Wondea

2007-01-01

It is well known that complicated procedures frequently cause human performance related problems that can result in a serious consequence. Unfortunately a systematic framework to evaluate the complexity of procedures is very rare. For this reason Park et al. suggested a measure called TACOM (Task Complexity) which is able to quantify the complexity of tasks stipulated in procedures. In addition, it was observed that there is a significant correlation between averaged task performance time data and estimated TACOM scores. In this study, for an additional verification activity, TACOM scores are compared with operators' performance data that are measured by Operator Performance Assessment System (OPAS). As a result, it is believed that TACOM scores seem to be meaningfully correlated with OPAS scores. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that the result of this study can be regarded as a supplementary evidence for supporting the fact that TACOM measure is applicable for quantifying the complexity of tasks to be done by operators

Computation Offloading for Frame-Based Real-Time Tasks under Given Server Response Time Guarantees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anas S. M. Toma

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Computation offloading has been adopted to improve the performance of embedded systems by offloading the computation of some tasks, especially computation-intensive tasks, to servers or clouds. This paper explores computation offloading for real-time tasks in embedded systems, provided given response time guarantees from the servers, to decide which tasks should be offloaded to get the results in time. We consider frame-based real-time tasks with the same period and relative deadline. When the execution order of the tasks is given, the problem can be solved in linear time. However, when the execution order is not specified, we prove that the problem is NP-complete. We develop a pseudo-polynomial-time algorithm for deriving feasible schedules, if they exist.  An approximation scheme is also developed to trade the error made from the algorithm and the complexity. Our algorithms are extended to minimize the period/relative deadline of the tasks for performance maximization. The algorithms are evaluated with a case study for a surveillance system and synthesized benchmarks.

Effects of training on short- and long-term skill retention in a complex multiple-task environment.

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Sauer, J; Hockey, G R; Wastell, D G

2000-12-01

The paper reports the results of an experiment on the performance and retention of a complex task. This was a computer-based simulation of the essential elements of a spacecraft's life support system. It allowed the authors to take a range of measures, including primary and secondary task performance, system intervention and information sampling strategies, mental model structure, and subjective operator state. The study compared the effectiveness of two methods of training, based on low level (procedure-based) and high level (system-based) understanding. Twenty-five participants were trained extensively on the task, then given a 1-h testing session. A second testing session was carried out 8 months after the first (with no intervening practice) with 17 of the original participants. While training had little effect on control performance, there were considerable effects on system management strategies, as well as in structure of operator's mental model. In the second testing session, the anticipated general performance decrement did not occur, though for complex faults there was an increase in selectivity towards the primary control task. The relevance of the findings for training and skill retention in real work environments is discussed in the context of a model of compensatory control.

Linking Complex Problem Solving and General Mental Ability to Career Advancement: Does a Transversal Skill Reveal Incremental Predictive Validity?

Science.gov (United States)

Mainert, Jakob; Kretzschmar, André; Neubert, Jonas C.; Greiff, Samuel

2015-01-01

Transversal skills, such as complex problem solving (CPS) are viewed as central twenty-first-century skills. Recent empirical findings have already supported the importance of CPS for early academic advancement. We wanted to determine whether CPS could also contribute to the understanding of career advancement later in life. Towards this end, we…

The Effects of Pre-Task, On-Line, and Both Pre-Task and On-Line Planning on Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy--The Case of Iranian EFL Learners' Written Production

Science.gov (United States)

Piri, Faramarz; Barati, Hossein; Ketabi, Saeed

2012-01-01

Previous studies on the effect of planning on language production have revealed that planning does have a positive effect on language performance in terms of fluency, complexity, and accuracy. The present study was an attempt to investigate the effects of pre-task, on-line, and both pre-task and on-line planning on fluency, accuracy, and…

Core Self-Evaluations as Causes of Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Seeking Task Complexity

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Srivastava, Abhishek; Locke, Edwin A.; Judge, Timothy A.; Adams, John W.

2010-01-01

This study examined the mediating role of task complexity in the relationship between core self-evaluations (CSE) and satisfaction. In Study 1, eighty three undergraduate business students worked on a strategic decision-making simulation. The simulated environment enabled us to verify the temporal sequence of variables, use an objective measure of…

Heuristic Scheduling Algorithm Oriented Dynamic Tasks for Imaging Satellites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maocai Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Imaging satellite scheduling is an NP-hard problem with many complex constraints. This paper researches the scheduling problem for dynamic tasks oriented to some emergency cases. After the dynamic properties of satellite scheduling were analyzed, the optimization model is proposed in this paper. Based on the model, two heuristic algorithms are proposed to solve the problem. The first heuristic algorithm arranges new tasks by inserting or deleting them, then inserting them repeatedly according to the priority from low to high, which is named IDI algorithm. The second one called ISDR adopts four steps: insert directly, insert by shifting, insert by deleting, and reinsert the tasks deleted. Moreover, two heuristic factors, congestion degree of a time window and the overlapping degree of a task, are employed to improve the algorithm’s performance. Finally, a case is given to test the algorithms. The results show that the IDI algorithm is better than ISDR from the running time point of view while ISDR algorithm with heuristic factors is more effective with regard to algorithm performance. Moreover, the results also show that our method has good performance for the larger size of the dynamic tasks in comparison with the other two methods.

Approaching neuropsychological tasks through adaptive neurorobots

Science.gov (United States)

Gigliotta, Onofrio; Bartolomeo, Paolo; Miglino, Orazio

2015-04-01

Neuropsychological phenomena have been modelized mainly, by the mainstream approach, by attempting to reproduce their neural substrate whereas sensory-motor contingencies have attracted less attention. In this work, we introduce a simulator based on the evolutionary robotics platform Evorobot* in order to setting up in silico neuropsychological tasks. Moreover, in this study we trained artificial embodied neurorobotic agents equipped with a pan/tilt camera, provided with different neural and motor capabilities, to solve a well-known neuropsychological test: the cancellation task in which an individual is asked to cancel target stimuli surrounded by distractors. Results showed that embodied agents provided with additional motor capabilities (a zooming/attentional actuator) outperformed simple pan/tilt agents, even those equipped with more complex neural controllers and that the zooming ability is exploited to correctly categorising presented stimuli. We conclude that since the sole neural computational power cannot explain the (artificial) cognition which emerged throughout the adaptive process, such kind of modelling approach can be fruitful in neuropsychological modelling where the importance of having a body is often neglected.

Using Text Models In Diagnostic Tasks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korostil Yuriy

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper contains developing of a method of solving diagnostic tasks for complex technical objects (STO based on using text models (TMi to describe the functioning of STO. A TMi model is a text description, in normalized form, of all fragments of STO functioning process. The description of TMi is for med using semantic vocabularies of different types, which are generated on the basis of usage of information about all the aspects of STO construction and functioning. Such interpretation description is a subject area for tasks of STO diagnostics. Detection of malfunction and deviations of a functioning process of STO from an established functioning mode is implemented on the basis of analysis of semantic parameters of text description of the STO functioning process in order to determine semantic anomalies which occur in the descriptions of the STO functioning process, as well as in the descriptions of fragments of its functioning. Semantic anomalies occur in case when values of semantic parameters go beyond their established limits.

A framework for the analysis of cognitive reliability in complex systems: a recovery centred approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kontogiannis, Tom

1997-01-01

Managing complex industrial systems requires reliable performance of cognitive tasks undertaken by operating crews. The infrequent practice of cognitive skills and the reliance on operator performance for novel situations raised cognitive reliability into an urgent and essential aspect in system design and risk analysis. The aim of this article is to contribute to the development of methods for the analysis of cognitive tasks in complex man-machine interactions. A practical framework is proposed for analysing cognitive errors and enhancing error recovery through interface design. Cognitive errors are viewed as failures in problem solving which are difficult to recover under the task constrains imposed by complex systems. In this sense, the interaction between context and cognition, on the one hand, and the process of error recovery, on the other hand, become the focal points of the proposed framework which is illustrated in an analysis of a simulated emergency

Errors and Understanding: The Effects of Error-Management Training on Creative Problem-Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Robledo, Issac C.; Hester, Kimberly S.; Peterson, David R.; Barrett, Jamie D.; Day, Eric A.; Hougen, Dean P.; Mumford, Michael D.

2012-01-01

People make errors in their creative problem-solving efforts. The intent of this article was to assess whether error-management training would improve performance on creative problem-solving tasks. Undergraduates were asked to solve an educational leadership problem known to call for creative thought where problem solutions were scored for…

Knowledge to action for solving complex problems: insights from a review of nine international cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, B L; Robinson, K L; Gamble, J; Finegood, D T; Sheppard, D; Penney, T L; Best, A

2015-05-01

Solving complex problems such as preventing chronic diseases introduces unique challenges for the creation and application of knowledge, or knowledge to action (KTA). KTA approaches that apply principles of systems thinking are thought to hold promise, but practical strategies for their application are not well understood. In this paper we report the results of a scan of systems approaches to KTA with a goal to identify how to optimize their implementation and impact. A 5-person advisory group purposefully selected 9 initiatives to achieve diversity on issues addressed and organizational forms. Information on each case was gathered from documents and through telephone interviews with primary contacts within each organization. Following verification of case descriptions, an inductive analysis was conducted within and across cases. The cases revealed 5 guidelines for moving from conceiving KTA systems to implementing them: (1) establish and nurture relationships, (2) co-produce and curate knowledge, (3) create feedback loops, (4) frame as systems interventions rather than projects, and (5) consider variations across time and place. Results from the environmental scan are a modest start to translating systems concepts for KTA into practice. Use of the strategies revealed in the scan may improve KTA for solving complex public health problems. The strategies themselves will benefit from the development of a science that aims to understand adaptation and ongoing learning from policy and practice interventions, strengthens enduring relationships, and fills system gaps in addition to evidence gaps. Systems approaches to KTA will also benefit from robust evaluations.

Solving applied mathematical problems with Matlab

CERN Document Server

Xue, Dingyu

2008-01-01

Computer Mathematics Language-An Overview. Fundamentals of MATLAB Programming. Calculus Problems. MATLAB Computations of Linear Algebra Problems. Integral Transforms and Complex Variable Functions. Solutions to Nonlinear Equations and Optimization Problems. MATLAB Solutions to Differential Equation Problems. Solving Interpolations and Approximations Problems. Solving Probability and Mathematical Statistics Problems. Nontraditional Solution Methods for Mathematical Problems.

A Brighter Side to Memory Illusions: False Memories Prime Children's and Adults' Insight-Based Problem Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Howe, Mark L.; Garner, Sarah R.; Charlesworth, Monica; Knott, Lauren

2011-01-01

Can false memories have a positive consequence on human cognition? In two experiments, we investigated whether false memories could prime insight problem-solving tasks. Children and adults were asked to solve compound remote associate task (CRAT) problems, half of which had been primed by the presentation of Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists…

Rewarding Multitasking: Negative Effects of an Incentive on Problem Solving under Divided Attention

Science.gov (United States)

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…

Conflict Management in "Ad Hoc" Problem-Solving Groups: A Preliminary Investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Les; Baxter, Leslie

Full study of small group communication must include consideration of task and socio-emotional dimensions, especially in relation to group problem solving. Thirty small groups were tested for their reactions in various "ad hoc" conflict resolution situations. Instructions to the groups were (1) no problem-solving instructions (control),…

Entropy-based generating Markov partitions for complex systems

Science.gov (United States)

Rubido, Nicolás; Grebogi, Celso; Baptista, Murilo S.

2018-03-01

Finding the correct encoding for a generic dynamical system's trajectory is a complicated task: the symbolic sequence needs to preserve the invariant properties from the system's trajectory. In theory, the solution to this problem is found when a Generating Markov Partition (GMP) is obtained, which is only defined once the unstable and stable manifolds are known with infinite precision and for all times. However, these manifolds usually form highly convoluted Euclidean sets, are a priori unknown, and, as it happens in any real-world experiment, measurements are made with finite resolution and over a finite time-span. The task gets even more complicated if the system is a network composed of interacting dynamical units, namely, a high-dimensional complex system. Here, we tackle this task and solve it by defining a method to approximately construct GMPs for any complex system's finite-resolution and finite-time trajectory. We critically test our method on networks of coupled maps, encoding their trajectories into symbolic sequences. We show that these sequences are optimal because they minimise the information loss and also any spurious information added. Consequently, our method allows us to approximately calculate the invariant probability measures of complex systems from the observed data. Thus, we can efficiently define complexity measures that are applicable to a wide range of complex phenomena, such as the characterisation of brain activity from electroencephalogram signals measured at different brain regions or the characterisation of climate variability from temperature anomalies measured at different Earth regions.

Internet Computer Coaches for Introductory Physics Problem Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Xu Ryan, Qing

2013-01-01

The ability to solve problems in a variety of contexts is becoming increasingly important in our rapidly changing technological society. Problem-solving is a complex process that is important for everyday life and crucial for learning physics. Although there is a great deal of effort to improve student problem solving skills throughout the…

System Statement of Tasks of Calculating and Providing the Reliability of Heating Cogeneration Plants in Power Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Biryuk, V. V.; Tsapkova, A. B.; Larin, E. A.; Livshiz, M. Y.; Sheludko, L. P.

2018-01-01

A set of mathematical models for calculating the reliability indexes of structurally complex multifunctional combined installations in heat and power supply systems was developed. Reliability of energy supply is considered as required condition for the creation and operation of heat and power supply systems. The optimal value of the power supply system coefficient F is based on an economic assessment of the consumers’ loss caused by the under-supply of electric power and additional system expences for the creation and operation of an emergency capacity reserve. Rationing of RI of the industrial heat supply is based on the use of concept of technological margin of safety of technological processes. The definition of rationed RI values of heat supply of communal consumers is based on the air temperature level iside the heated premises. The complex allows solving a number of practical tasks for providing reliability of heat supply for consumers. A probabilistic model is developed for calculating the reliability indexes of combined multipurpose heat and power plants in heat-and-power supply systems. The complex of models and calculation programs can be used to solve a wide range of specific tasks of optimization of schemes and parameters of combined heat and power plants and systems, as well as determining the efficiency of various redundance methods to ensure specified reliability of power supply.

ERP Measures of Math Anxiety: How Math Anxiety Affects Working Memory and Mental Calculation Tasks?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manousos A. Klados

2015-10-01

Full Text Available There have been several attempts to account for the impact of Mathematical Anxiety (MA on brain activity with variable results. The present study examines the effects of MA on ERP amplitude during performance of simple arithmetic calculations and working memory tasks. Data were obtained from 32 university students as they solved four types of arithmetic problems (one- and two-digit addition and multiplication and a working memory task comprised of three levels of difficulty (1,2,and 3-back task. Compared to the Low-MA group, High-MA individuals demonstrated reduced ERP amplitude at frontocentral (between 180-320 ms and centroparietal locations (between 380-420 ms. These effects were independent of task difficulty/complexity, individual performance, and general state/trait anxiety levels. Results support the hypothesis that higher levels of self-reported MA are associated with lower cortical activation during the early stages of the processing of numeric stimuli in the context of cognitive tasks.

How Stimulus and Task Complexity Affect Monitoring in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koolen, S.; Vissers, C.T.W.M.; Egger, J.I.M.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.

2014-01-01

The present study examined whether individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are able to update and monitor working memory representations of visual input, and whether performance is influenced by stimulus and task complexity. 15 high-functioning adults with ASD and 15 controls were asked to

Performing Task Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elkjaer, Bente; Nickelsen, Niels Christian Mossfeldt

by shared goals and knowledge as well as mutual respect and frequent, timely, accurate and problem-solving ways of communication with the purpose of dealing with the tasks at hand in an integrated way. We introduce and discuss relational coordination theory through a case-study within public healthcare....... Here cross-professional coordination of work was done by scheduled communication twice a day. When we proposed a way for further integration of tasks through an all-inclusive team organization, we were met with resistance. We use the study to discuss whether relational coordination theory is able to do...... away with differences regarding task definitions and working conditions as well as professional knowledge hierarchies and responsibilities for parts and wholes....

Problem-Solving: Scaling the "Brick Wall"

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, Dave

2011-01-01

Across the primary and secondary phases, pupils are encouraged to use and apply their knowledge, skills, and understanding of mathematics to solve problems in a variety of forms, ranging from single-stage word problems to the challenge of extended rich tasks. Amongst many others, Cockcroft (1982) emphasised the importance and relevance of…

Deep Plant Phenomics: A Deep Learning Platform for Complex Plant Phenotyping Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Ubbens, Jordan R.; Stavness, Ian

2017-01-01

Plant phenomics has received increasing interest in recent years in an attempt to bridge the genotype-to-phenotype knowledge gap. There is a need for expanded high-throughput phenotyping capabilities to keep up with an increasing amount of data from high-dimensional imaging sensors and the desire to measure more complex phenotypic traits (Knecht et al., 2016). In this paper, we introduce an open-source deep learning tool called Deep Plant Phenomics. This tool provides pre-trained neural networks for several common plant phenotyping tasks, as well as an easy platform that can be used by plant scientists to train models for their own phenotyping applications. We report performance results on three plant phenotyping benchmarks from the literature, including state of the art performance on leaf counting, as well as the first published results for the mutant classification and age regression tasks for Arabidopsis thaliana. PMID:28736569

Parent–child problem solving in families of children with or without intellectual disability

Science.gov (United States)

Wieland, N.; Green, S.; Ellingsen, R.; Baker, B. L.

2016-01-01

Objective To examine differences in child social competence and parent–child interactions involving children with intellectual disability (ID) or typical development (TD) during a Parent–Child Problem-Solving Task. Design Mothers and their 9-year-old children (n = 122) participated in a problem-solving task in which they discussed and tried to resolve an issue they disagreed about. The interactions were coded on child and mother problem solving and affect behaviours, as well as the dyad’s problem resolution. Results Children with ID (n = 35) were rated lower on expression/negotiation skills and higher on resistance to the task than children with TD (n = 87). Mothers in the ID group (vs. TD group) were more likely to direct the conversation. However, there were no group differences on maternal feeling acknowledgement, engagement, warmth or antagonism. The ID dyads were less likely to come to a resolution and to compromise in doing so than the TD dyads. These group differences were not attributable to differences in children’s behaviour problems. Conclusions Children with ID and their mothers had more difficulty resolving problems, and this increased difficulty was not explained by greater behaviour problems. Additionally, with the exception of directiveness, mothers of children with ID displayed similar behaviours and affect towards their children during problem solving as mothers of children with TD. Results suggest that the Parent–Child Problem-Solving Task is a useful way to assess social skills and associated parental behaviours in middle childhood beyond self-report. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed. PMID:23336566

The cognitive complexity of concurrent cognitive-motor tasks reveals age-related deficits in motor performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oliveira, Anderson Souza; Reiche, Mikkel Staall; Vinescu, Cristina Ioana

2018-01-01

Aging reduces cognitive functions, and such impairments have implications in mental and motor performance. Cognitive function has been recently linked to the risk of falls in older adults. Physical activities have been used to attenuate the declines in cognitive functions and reduce fall incidence......, but little is known whether a physically active lifestyle can maintain physical performance under cognitively demanding conditions. The aim of this study was to verify whether physically active older adults present similar performance deficits during upper limb response time and precision stepping walking...... tasks when compared to younger adults. Both upper limb and walking tasks involved simple and complex cognitive demands through decision-making. For both tasks, decision-making was assessed by including a distracting factor to the execution. The results showed that older adults were substantially slower...

A Novel Connectionist Network for Solving Long Time-Lag Prediction Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Keith; MacNish, Cara

Traditional Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) perform poorly on learning tasks involving long time-lag dependencies. More recent approaches such as LSTM and its variants significantly improve on RNNs ability to learn this type of problem. We present an alternative approach to encoding temporal dependencies that associates temporal features with nodes rather than state values, where the nodes explicitly encode dependencies over variable time delays. We show promising results comparing the network's performance to LSTM variants on an extended Reber grammar task.

Method for Evaluating Information to Solve Problems of Control, Monitoring and Diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Vasil'ev, V. A.; Dobrynina, N. V.

2017-06-01

The article describes a method for evaluating information to solve problems of control, monitoring and diagnostics. It is necessary for reducing the dimensionality of informational indicators of situations, bringing them to relative units, for calculating generalized information indicators on their basis, ranking them by characteristic levels, for calculating the efficiency criterion of a system functioning in real time. The design of information evaluation system has been developed on its basis that allows analyzing, processing and assessing information about the object. Such object can be a complex technical, economic and social system. The method and the based system thereof can find a wide application in the field of analysis, processing and evaluation of information on the functioning of the systems, regardless of their purpose, goals, tasks and complexity. For example, they can be used to assess the innovation capacities of industrial enterprises and management decisions.

Flexibility in Mathematics Problem Solving Based on Adversity Quotient

Science.gov (United States)

Dina, N. A.; Amin, S. M.; Masriyah

2018-01-01

Flexibility is an ability which is needed in problem solving. One of the ways in problem solving is influenced by Adversity Quotient (AQ). AQ is the power of facing difficulties. There are three categories of AQ namely climber, camper, and quitter. This research is a descriptive research using qualitative approach. The aim of this research is to describe flexibility in mathematics problem solving based on Adversity Quotient. The subjects of this research are climber student, camper student, and quitter student. This research was started by giving Adversity Response Profile (ARP) questioner continued by giving problem solving task and interviews. The validity of data measurement was using time triangulation. The results of this research shows that climber student uses two strategies in solving problem and doesn’t have difficulty. The camper student uses two strategies in solving problem but has difficulty to finish the second strategies. The quitter student uses one strategy in solving problem and has difficulty to finish it.

Self Esteem, Information Search and Problem Solving Efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

1979-05-01

Weiss (1977, 1978) has shown that low self esteem workers are more likely to model the role behaviors and work values of superiors than are high self ...task where search is functional. Results showed that, as expected, low self esteem subjects searched for more information, search was functional and low ...situation. He has also argued that high self esteem individuals search for less information on problem solving tasks and are therefore less likely to

Robust visual tracking via multi-task sparse learning

KAUST Repository

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.

Personality-dependent differences in problem-solving performance in a social context reflect foraging strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zandberg, Lies; Quinn, John L; Naguib, Marc; van Oers, Kees

2017-01-01

Individuals develop innovative behaviours to solve foraging challenges in the face of changing environmental conditions. Little is known about how individuals differ in their tendency to solve problems and in their subsequent use of this solving behaviour in social contexts. Here we investigated whether individual variation in problem-solving performance could be explained by differences in the likelihood of solving the task, or if they reflect differences in foraging strategy. We tested this by studying the use of a novel foraging skill in groups of great tits (Parus major), consisting of three naive individuals with different personality, and one knowledgeable tutor. We presented them with multiple, identical foraging devices over eight trials. Though birds of different personality type did not differ in solving latency; fast and slow explorers showed a steeper increase over time in their solving rate, compared to intermediate explorers. Despite equal solving potential, personality influenced the subsequent use of the skill, as well as the pay-off received from solving. Thus, variation in the tendency to solve the task reflected differences in foraging strategy among individuals linked to their personality. These results emphasize the importance of considering the social context to fully understand the implications of learning novel skills. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-layer network utilizing rewarded spike time dependent plasticity to learn a foraging task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavel Sanda

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Neural networks with a single plastic layer employing reward modulated spike time dependent plasticity (STDP are capable of learning simple foraging tasks. Here we demonstrate advanced pattern discrimination and continuous learning in a network of spiking neurons with multiple plastic layers. The network utilized both reward modulated and non-reward modulated STDP and implemented multiple mechanisms for homeostatic regulation of synaptic efficacy, including heterosynaptic plasticity, gain control, output balancing, activity normalization of rewarded STDP and hard limits on synaptic strength. We found that addition of a hidden layer of neurons employing non-rewarded STDP created neurons that responded to the specific combinations of inputs and thus performed basic classification of the input patterns. When combined with a following layer of neurons implementing rewarded STDP, the network was able to learn, despite the absence of labeled training data, discrimination between rewarding patterns and the patterns designated as punishing. Synaptic noise allowed for trial-and-error learning that helped to identify the goal-oriented strategies which were effective in task solving. The study predicts a critical set of properties of the spiking neuronal network with STDP that was sufficient to solve a complex foraging task involving pattern classification and decision making.

The importance of the secure base effect for domestic dogs - evidence from a manipulative problem-solving task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa Horn

Full Text Available It has been suggested that dogs display a secure base effect similar to that found in human children (i.e., using the owner as a secure base for interacting with the environment. In children, this effect influences their daily lives and importantly also their performance in cognitive testing. Here, we investigate the importance of the secure base effect for dogs in a problem-solving task.Using a manipulative task, we tested dogs in three conditions, in which we varied the owner's presence and behavior (Experiment 1: "Absent owner", "Silent owner", "Encouraging owner" and in one additional condition, in which the owner was replaced by an unfamiliar human (Experiment 2: "Replaced owner". We found that the dogs' duration of manipulating the apparatus was longer when their owner was present than absent, irrespective of the owner's behavior. The presence of an unfamiliar human however did not increase their manipulation. Furthermore, the reduced manipulation during the absence of the owner was not correlated with the dog's degree of separation distress scored in a preceding attachment experiment.Our study is the first to provide evidence for an owner-specific secure base effect in dogs that extends from attachment tests to other areas of dogs' lives and also manifests itself in cognitive testing - thereby confirming the remarkable similarity between the secure base effect in dogs and in human children. These results also have important implications for behavioral testing in dogs, because the presence or absence of the owner during a test situation might substantially influence dogs' motivation and therefore the outcome of the test.

Solving peg-in-hole tasks by human demonstration and exception strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abu-Dakka, Fares; Nemec, Bojan; Kramberger, Aljaz

2014-01-01

that the proposed approach combined with exception strategies outperforms traditional approaches for robot-based assembly. Experimental evaluation was carried out on Cranfield Benchmark, which constitutes a standardized assembly task in robotics. This paper also performed statistical evaluation based on experiments...... available robot controller. Originality/value – This paper proposes a new approach to the robot assembly based on the Learning by Demonstration (LbD) paradigm. The proposed framework enables to quickly program new assembly tasks without the need for detailed analysis of the geometric and dynamic...

Using the Wonder of Inequalities between Averages for Mathematics Problems Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Shaanan, Rachel Mogilevsky; Gordon, Moshe Stupel

2016-01-01

The study presents an introductory idea of using mathematical averages as a tool for enriching mathematical problem solving. Throughout students' activities, a research was conducted on their ability to solve mathematical problems, and how to cope with a variety of mathematical tasks, in a variety of ways, using the skills, tools and experiences…

Evaluation of Cognitive Complexity of Tasks for the Topic Hydrogen Exponent in the Solutions of Acids and Bases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saša Horvat

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was evaluation of cognitive complexity of tasks for the topic hydrogen exponent in the solutions of acids and bases and its validation. The created procedure included an assessment of the difficulty of concepts and an assessment of their interactivity. There were 48 freshmen students enrolled in the study program Basic academic studies in chemistry. As a research instrument for assessing performance, test of knowledge was specifically constructed for this research. Each task in the test was followed by a seven-point Likert scale for the evaluation of invested mental effort. The evaluation of cognitive complexity was confirmed by a series of linear regression analysis where high values of correlation coefficients are obtained among the examined variables: student’s performance and invested mental effort (dependent variables and cognitive complexity (independent variable.

EEG Analysis during complex diagnostic tasks in Nuclear Power Plants - Simulator-based Experimental Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ha, Jun Su; Seong, Poong Hyun [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2005-07-01

In literature, there are a lot of studies based on EEG signals during cognitive activities of human-beings but most of them dealt with simple cognitive activities such as transforming letters into Morse code, subtraction, reading, semantic memory search, visual search, memorizing a set of words and so on. In this work, EEG signals were analyzed during complex diagnostic tasks in NPP simulator-based environment. Investigated are the theta, alpha, beta, and gamma band EEG powers during the diagnostic tasks. The experimental design and procedure are represented in section 2 and the results are shown in section 3. Finally some considerations are discussed and the direction for the further work is proposed in section 4.

EEG Analysis during complex diagnostic tasks in Nuclear Power Plants - Simulator-based Experimental Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha, Jun Su; Seong, Poong Hyun

2005-01-01

In literature, there are a lot of studies based on EEG signals during cognitive activities of human-beings but most of them dealt with simple cognitive activities such as transforming letters into Morse code, subtraction, reading, semantic memory search, visual search, memorizing a set of words and so on. In this work, EEG signals were analyzed during complex diagnostic tasks in NPP simulator-based environment. Investigated are the theta, alpha, beta, and gamma band EEG powers during the diagnostic tasks. The experimental design and procedure are represented in section 2 and the results are shown in section 3. Finally some considerations are discussed and the direction for the further work is proposed in section 4

Effect of Passive Hyperthermia on Working Memory Resources during Simple and Complex Cognitive Tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaoua, Nadia; Herrera, Christopher P; Périard, Julien D; El Massioui, Farid; Racinais, Sebastien

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that hyperthermia represents a cognitive load limiting available resources for executing concurrent cognitive tasks. Electroencephalographic activity (EEG: alpha and theta power) was obtained in 10 hyperthermic participants in HOT (50°C, 50% RH) conditions and in a normothermic state in CON (25°C, 50% RH) conditions in counterbalanced order. In each trial, EEG was measured over the frontal lobe prior to task engagement (PRE) in each condition and during simple (One Touch Stockings of Cambridge, OTS-4) and complex (OTS-6) cognitive tasks. Core (39.5 ± 0.5 vs. 36.9 ± 0.2°C) and mean skin (39.06 ± 0.3 vs. 31.6 ± 0.6°C) temperatures were significantly higher in HOT than CON ( p cognitive load. However, this load disappeared during OTS-6 together with an impaired performance, suggesting a potential saturation of the available resources.

Project Scheduling Heuristics-Based Standard PSO for Task-Resource Assignment in Heterogeneous Grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruey-Maw Chen

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The task scheduling problem has been widely studied for assigning resources to tasks in heterogeneous grid environment. Effective task scheduling is an important issue for the performance of grid computing. Meanwhile, the task scheduling problem is an NP-complete problem. Hence, this investigation introduces a named “standard“ particle swarm optimization (PSO metaheuristic approach to efficiently solve the task scheduling problems in grid. Meanwhile, two promising heuristics based on multimode project scheduling are proposed to help in solving interesting scheduling problems. They are the best performance resource heuristic and the latest finish time heuristic. These two heuristics applied to the PSO scheme are for speeding up the search of the particle and improving the capability of finding a sound schedule. Moreover, both global communication topology and local ring communication topology are also investigated for efficient study of proposed scheme. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach in this investigation can successfully solve the task-resource assignment problems in grid computing and similar scheduling problems.

Authentic Performance of Complex Problem-Solving Tasks with an EPSS.

Science.gov (United States)

Leighton, Chet; McCabe, Cynthia

Just-In-Time Learning (JIT Learning) is a semester-long graduate course that teaches corporate trainers and instructional designers how to design performance improvement interventions. This course is part of a Master's program in Instructional Technology at San Francisco State University. The course has been offered three times and has been…

Autistic children and the object permanence task.

Science.gov (United States)

Adrien, J L; Tanguay, P; Barthélémy, C; Martineaú, J; Perrot, A; Hameury, L; Sauvage, D

1993-01-01

Many mentally retarded autistic children can understand the concept of object permanence, but, in comparison to developmental-age matched normal children, the behavioral strategies they employ in carrying out the Casati-Lezine Object Permanence Test are deficient and lead to failure. These deficiencies appear unrelated to interference of stereotypic or other bizarre behavior in task performance. Similar problem-solving deficiencies can be found in mentally retarded children who are not autistic, suggesting that the deficiencies themselves are less related to the social-communication deficits of autistic children, but more to the general problem-solving difficulties found in children with a lower developmental quotient. Nevertheless, the qualitative analysis of results shows a tendency in autistic children, despite their better developmental level, to use less coordinated and regular sequences to solve the task than normal or mentally retarded children.

Solving complex maintenance planning optimization problems using stochastic simulation and multi-criteria fuzzy decision making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tahvili, Sahar; Österberg, Jonas; Silvestrov, Sergei; Biteus, Jonas

2014-01-01

One of the most important factors in the operations of many cooperations today is to maximize profit and one important tool to that effect is the optimization of maintenance activities. Maintenance activities is at the largest level divided into two major areas, corrective maintenance (CM) and preventive maintenance (PM). When optimizing maintenance activities, by a maintenance plan or policy, we seek to find the best activities to perform at each point in time, be it PM or CM. We explore the use of stochastic simulation, genetic algorithms and other tools for solving complex maintenance planning optimization problems in terms of a suggested framework model based on discrete event simulation

Solving complex maintenance planning optimization problems using stochastic simulation and multi-criteria fuzzy decision making

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tahvili, Sahar [Mälardalen University (Sweden); Österberg, Jonas; Silvestrov, Sergei [Division of Applied Mathematics, Mälardalen University (Sweden); Biteus, Jonas [Scania CV (Sweden)

2014-12-10

One of the most important factors in the operations of many cooperations today is to maximize profit and one important tool to that effect is the optimization of maintenance activities. Maintenance activities is at the largest level divided into two major areas, corrective maintenance (CM) and preventive maintenance (PM). When optimizing maintenance activities, by a maintenance plan or policy, we seek to find the best activities to perform at each point in time, be it PM or CM. We explore the use of stochastic simulation, genetic algorithms and other tools for solving complex maintenance planning optimization problems in terms of a suggested framework model based on discrete event simulation.

Team Self-Assessment: Problem Solving for Small Workgroups.

Science.gov (United States)

LoBue, Robert

2002-01-01

Describes team self-assessment, a task force approach involving frontline workers/supervisors in solving problems or improving performance. Provides examples and discusses its theoretical bases: control self-assessment, Belbin's team roles research, and the team climate inventory. (Contains 23 references.) (SK)

Do job demands and job control affect problem-solving?

Science.gov (United States)

Bergman, Peter N; Ahlberg, Gunnel; Johansson, Gun; Stoetzer, Ulrich; Aborg, Carl; Hallsten, Lennart; Lundberg, Ingvar

2012-01-01

The Job Demand Control model presents combinations of working conditions that may facilitate learning, the active learning hypothesis, or have detrimental effects on health, the strain hypothesis. To test the active learning hypothesis, this study analysed the effects of job demands and job control on general problem-solving strategies. A population-based sample of 4,636 individuals (55% women, 45% men) with the same job characteristics measured at two times with a three year time lag was used. Main effects of demands, skill discretion, task authority and control, and the combined effects of demands and control were analysed in logistic regressions, on four outcomes representing general problem-solving strategies. Those reporting high on skill discretion, task authority and control, as well as those reporting high demand/high control and low demand/high control job characteristics were more likely to state using problem solving strategies. Results suggest that working conditions including high levels of control may affect how individuals cope with problems and that workplace characteristics may affect behaviour in the non-work domain.

Teachers’ teaching practices and beliefs regarding context-based tasks and their relation with students’ difficulties in solving these tasks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijaya, Ariyadi; Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M.; Doorman, Michiel

2015-01-01

In this study, we investigated teachers’ teaching practices and their underlying beliefs regarding context-based tasks to find a possible explanation for students’ difficulties with these tasks. The research started by surveying 27 Junior High School teachers from seven schools in Indonesia through

ENGAGE: A Game Based Learning and Problem Solving Framework

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-13

Gamification Summit 2012  Mensa Colloquium 2012.2: Social and Video Games  Seattle Science Festival  TED Salon Vancouver : http...From - To) 6/1/2012 – 6/30/2012 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE ENGAGE: A Game Based Learning and Problem Solving Framework 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER N/A 5b...Popović ENGAGE: A Game Based Learning and Problem Solving Framework (Task 1 Month 4) Progress, Status and Management Report Monthly Progress

On the Efficacy of Solving LWE by Reduction to Unique-SVP

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albrecht, Martin Roland; Fitzpatrick, Robert; Göpfert, Florian

2014-01-01

We present a study of the concrete complexity of solving instances of the unique shortest vector problem (uSVP). In particular, we study the complexity of solving the Learning with Errors (LWE) problem by reducing the Bounded-Distance Decoding (BDD) problem to uSVP and attempting to solve...... such instances using the ‘embedding’ approach. We experimentally derive a model for the success of the approach, compare to alternative methods and demonstrate that for the LWE instances considered in this work, reducing to uSVP and solving via embedding compares favorably to other approaches....

Visual Attention for Solving Multiple-Choice Science Problem: An Eye-Tracking Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Meng-Jung; Hou, Huei-Tse; Lai, Meng-Lung; Liu, Wan-Yi; Yang, Fang-Ying

2012-01-01

This study employed an eye-tracking technique to examine students' visual attention when solving a multiple-choice science problem. Six university students participated in a problem-solving task to predict occurrences of landslide hazards from four images representing four combinations of four factors. Participants' responses and visual attention…

Parent-child problem solving in families of children with or without intellectual disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Wieland, N; Green, S; Ellingsen, R; Baker, B L

2014-01-01

To examine differences in child social competence and parent-child interactions involving children with intellectual disability (ID) or typical development (TD) during a Parent-Child Problem-Solving Task. Mothers and their 9-year-old children (n = 122) participated in a problem-solving task in which they discussed and tried to resolve an issue they disagreed about. The interactions were coded on child and mother problem solving and affect behaviours, as well as the dyad's problem resolution. Children with ID (n = 35) were rated lower on expression/negotiation skills and higher on resistance to the task than children with TD (n = 87). Mothers in the ID group (vs. TD group) were more likely to direct the conversation. However, there were no group differences on maternal feeling acknowledgement, engagement, warmth or antagonism. The ID dyads were less likely to come to a resolution and to compromise in doing so than the TD dyads. These group differences were not attributable to differences in children's behaviour problems. Children with ID and their mothers had more difficulty resolving problems, and this increased difficulty was not explained by greater behaviour problems. Additionally, with the exception of directiveness, mothers of children with ID displayed similar behaviours and affect towards their children during problem solving as mothers of children with TD. Results suggest that the Parent-Child Problem-Solving Task is a useful way to assess social skills and associated parental behaviours in middle childhood beyond self-report. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, MENCAP & IASSIDD.

The effect of a priori probability and complexity on decision making in a supervisory control task

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kerstholt, J.H.; Passenier, P.O.; Houttuin, K.; Schuffel, H.

1996-01-01

In the present study we investigated how monitoring and fault management in a ship control task are affected by complexity and a priori probability of disturbances. Partici-pants were required to supervise four independent shipping subsystems and to adjust the subsystems whenever deviations

How are things adding up? Neural differences between arithmetic operations are due to general problem solving strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Tschentscher, Nadja; Hauk, Olaf

2014-05-15

A number of previous studies have interpreted differences in brain activation between arithmetic operation types (e.g. addition and multiplication) as evidence in favor of distinct cortical representations, processes or neural systems. It is still not clear how differences in general task complexity contribute to these neural differences. Here, we used a mental arithmetic paradigm to disentangle brain areas related to general problem solving from those involved in operation type specific processes (addition versus multiplication). We orthogonally varied operation type and complexity. Importantly, complexity was defined not only based on surface criteria (for example number size), but also on the basis of individual participants' strategy ratings, which were validated in a detailed behavioral analysis. We replicated previously reported operation type effects in our analyses based on surface criteria. However, these effects vanished when controlling for individual strategies. Instead, procedural strategies contrasted with memory retrieval reliably activated fronto-parietal and motor regions, while retrieval strategies activated parietal cortices. This challenges views that operation types rely on partially different neural systems, and suggests that previously reported differences between operation types may have emerged due to invalid measures of complexity. We conclude that mental arithmetic is a powerful paradigm to study brain networks of abstract problem solving, as long as individual participants' strategies are taken into account. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive Task Complexity Effects on L2 Writing Performance: An Application of Mixed-Methods Approaches

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Abdi Tabari, Mahmoud; Ivey, Toni A.

2015-01-01

This paper provides a methodological review of previous research on cognitive task complexity, since the term emerged in 1995, and investigates why much research was more quantitative rather than qualitative. Moreover, it sheds light onto the studies which used the mixed-methods approach and determines which version of the mixed-methods designs…

Impact of Cognitive Abilities and Prior Knowledge on Complex Problem Solving Performance – Empirical Results and a Plea for Ecologically Valid Microworlds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heinz-Martin Süß

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The original aim of complex problem solving (CPS research was to bring the cognitive demands of complex real-life problems into the lab in order to investigate problem solving behavior and performance under controlled conditions. Up until now, the validity of psychometric intelligence constructs has been scrutinized with regard to its importance for CPS performance. At the same time, different CPS measurement approaches competing for the title of the best way to assess CPS have been developed. In the first part of the paper, we investigate the predictability of CPS performance on the basis of the Berlin Intelligence Structure Model and Cattell’s investment theory as well as an elaborated knowledge taxonomy. In the first study, 137 students managed a simulated shirt factory (Tailorshop; i.e., a complex real life-oriented system twice, while in the second study, 152 students completed a forestry scenario (FSYS; i.e., a complex artificial world system. The results indicate that reasoning – specifically numerical reasoning (Studies 1 and 2 and figural reasoning (Study 2 – are the only relevant predictors among the intelligence constructs. We discuss the results with reference to the Brunswik symmetry principle. Path models suggest that reasoning and prior knowledge influence problem solving performance in the Tailorshop scenario mainly indirectly. In addition, different types of system-specific knowledge independently contribute to predicting CPS performance. The results of Study 2 indicate that working memory capacity, assessed as an additional predictor, has no incremental validity beyond reasoning. We conclude that (1 cognitive abilities and prior knowledge are substantial predictors of CPS performance, and (2 in contrast to former and recent interpretations, there is insufficient evidence to consider CPS a unique ability construct. In the second part of the paper, we discuss our results in light of recent CPS research, which predominantly

Impact of Cognitive Abilities and Prior Knowledge on Complex Problem Solving Performance – Empirical Results and a Plea for Ecologically Valid Microworlds

Science.gov (United States)

Süß, Heinz-Martin; Kretzschmar, André

2018-01-01

The original aim of complex problem solving (CPS) research was to bring the cognitive demands of complex real-life problems into the lab in order to investigate problem solving behavior and performance under controlled conditions. Up until now, the validity of psychometric intelligence constructs has been scrutinized with regard to its importance for CPS performance. At the same time, different CPS measurement approaches competing for the title of the best way to assess CPS have been developed. In the first part of the paper, we investigate the predictability of CPS performance on the basis of the Berlin Intelligence Structure Model and Cattell’s investment theory as well as an elaborated knowledge taxonomy. In the first study, 137 students managed a simulated shirt factory (Tailorshop; i.e., a complex real life-oriented system) twice, while in the second study, 152 students completed a forestry scenario (FSYS; i.e., a complex artificial world system). The results indicate that reasoning – specifically numerical reasoning (Studies 1 and 2) and figural reasoning (Study 2) – are the only relevant predictors among the intelligence constructs. We discuss the results with reference to the Brunswik symmetry principle. Path models suggest that reasoning and prior knowledge influence problem solving performance in the Tailorshop scenario mainly indirectly. In addition, different types of system-specific knowledge independently contribute to predicting CPS performance. The results of Study 2 indicate that working memory capacity, assessed as an additional predictor, has no incremental validity beyond reasoning. We conclude that (1) cognitive abilities and prior knowledge are substantial predictors of CPS performance, and (2) in contrast to former and recent interpretations, there is insufficient evidence to consider CPS a unique ability construct. In the second part of the paper, we discuss our results in light of recent CPS research, which predominantly utilizes the

Teachers' Teaching Practices and Beliefs Regarding Context-Based Tasks and Their Relation with Students' Difficulties in Solving These Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Wijaya, Ariyadi; van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Marja; Doorman, Michiel

2015-01-01

In this study, we investigated teachers' teaching practices and their underlying beliefs regarding context-based tasks to find a possible explanation for students' difficulties with these tasks. The research started by surveying 27 Junior High School teachers from seven schools in Indonesia through a written questionnaire. Then, to further examine…

When you have to climb downhill to reach the top: the effect of action versus state orientation on solvinga goal-subgoal conflict in the Tower of Hanoi task.

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Jostmann, Nils B; Gieselmann, Annika

2014-01-01

Complex problems often include a response conflict between a subgoal and a final goal. The present experiment investigated the roles of situational demands and individual differences in self-regulation on solving goal-subgoal conflicts in a computerized Tower of Hanoi task. Action-oriented versus state-oriented individuals were randomly assigned to a demanding condition in which they deliberated about a personal decision problem, or to a nondemanding control condition. In line with expectations state-oriented individuals had greater difficulties to solve goal-subgoal conflicts in the demanding compared to the nondemanding condition. Action-oriented individuals performed well in both conditions. In line with Personality Systems Interactions theory (Kuhl, 2000) the findings show that complex problem solving depends on how well people are able to deal with situational demands.

Parenting Behaviours during Child Problem Solving: The Roles of Child Temperament, Mother Education and Personality, and the Problem-Solving Context

Science.gov (United States)

Neitzel, Carin; Stright, Anne Dopkins

2004-01-01

Child temperament, parent openness to experience, conscientiousness, and education, and parent a priori assessments of the task were examined in relation to parenting behaviours during child problem solving. Mothers and their children (73 dyads) were visited the summer before kindergarten. Mothers' cognitive, emotional, and autonomy support were…

Specification and resolution of complex manipulation tasks. Application to remote robots tele-programming; Specification et resolution de taches de manipulation complexes. Application a la teleprogrammation de robots distants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piccin, O

1995-11-15

The work presented in this thesis comes within the scope of remote manipulation with restricted communication properties between the operator and the remote site. This context renders traditional tele-operation infeasible. To enhance the autonomy of the remote manipulator, it is necessary to reason on a model of the robot and its workspace. However, discrepancies between the real world and its representation require calibration capabilities to identify both position and size of objects interacting with the robot. Moreover, the non-repetitiveness and complexity of the tasks demand that the specification system remains easy to re-program and capable of treating a wide range of problems. The proposed constraint-based approach permits the specification of complex manipulation tasks in which tasks' objectives are expressed in terms of mobilities and contact relationships to achieve or maintain between parts. The resulting constraint relationships are then treated by a numerical solver based on a Newton-Raphson scheme. An enhanced robustness has been achieved through a dynamic management of equations' conditioning. This enables the system to choose automatically for the most appropriate resolution scenario. The first main class of applications is complex motion generation for any kind of robotic mechanisms possibly including redundancy. Constraints setting can also be exploited to realize local obstacle avoidance. The proposed approach makes it possible to deal with calibration tasks within the same framework. This constitutes an essential feature in the context of remote manipulation where models are un-precisely known. Lastly, a weld line inspection experiment performed on a real manipulator allows us to put forward a strategy for robotic task performance at a remote location. (author)

Specification and resolution of complex manipulation tasks. Application to remote robots tele-programming; Specification et resolution de taches de manipulation complexes. Application a la teleprogrammation de robots distants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piccin, O

1995-11-15

The work presented in this thesis comes within the scope of remote manipulation with restricted communication properties between the operator and the remote site. This context renders traditional tele-operation infeasible. To enhance the autonomy of the remote manipulator, it is necessary to reason on a model of the robot and its workspace. However, discrepancies between the real world and its representation require calibration capabilities to identify both position and size of objects interacting with the robot. Moreover, the non-repetitiveness and complexity of the tasks demand that the specification system remains easy to re-program and capable of treating a wide range of problems. The proposed constraint-based approach permits the specification of complex manipulation tasks in which tasks' objectives are expressed in terms of mobilities and contact relationships to achieve or maintain between parts. The resulting constraint relationships are then treated by a numerical solver based on a Newton-Raphson scheme. An enhanced robustness has been achieved through a dynamic management of equations' conditioning. This enables the system to choose automatically for the most appropriate resolution scenario. The first main class of applications is complex motion generation for any kind of robotic mechanisms possibly including redundancy. Constraints setting can also be exploited to realize local obstacle avoidance. The proposed approach makes it possible to deal with calibration tasks within the same framework. This constitutes an essential feature in the context of remote manipulation where models are un-precisely known. Lastly, a weld line inspection experiment performed on a real manipulator allows us to put forward a strategy for robotic task performance at a remote location. (author)

Simon on Problem-Solving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foss, Kirsten; Foss, Nicolai Juul

as a general approach to problem solving. We apply these Simonian ideas to organizational issues, specifically new organizational forms. Specifically, Simonian ideas allow us to develop a morphology of new organizational forms and to point to some design problems that characterize these forms.Keywords: Herbert...... Simon, problem-solving, new organizational forms. JEL Code: D23, D83......Two of Herbert Simon's best-known papers are "The Architecture of Complexity" and "The Structure of Ill-Structured Problems." We discuss the neglected links between these two papers, highlighting the role of decomposition in the context of problems on which constraints have been imposed...

Reconfiguration of Brain Network Architectures between Resting-State and Complexity-Dependent Cognitive Reasoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Hearne, Luke J; Cocchi, Luca; Zalesky, Andrew; Mattingley, Jason B

2017-08-30

Our capacity for higher cognitive reasoning has a measurable limit. This limit is thought to arise from the brain's capacity to flexibly reconfigure interactions between spatially distributed networks. Recent work, however, has suggested that reconfigurations of task-related networks are modest when compared with intrinsic "resting-state" network architecture. Here we combined resting-state and task-driven functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine how flexible, task-specific reconfigurations associated with increasing reasoning demands are integrated within a stable intrinsic brain topology. Human participants (21 males and 28 females) underwent an initial resting-state scan, followed by a cognitive reasoning task involving different levels of complexity, followed by a second resting-state scan. The reasoning task required participants to deduce the identity of a missing element in a 4 × 4 matrix, and item difficulty was scaled parametrically as determined by relational complexity theory. Analyses revealed that external task engagement was characterized by a significant change in functional brain modules. Specifically, resting-state and null-task demand conditions were associated with more segregated brain-network topology, whereas increases in reasoning complexity resulted in merging of resting-state modules. Further increments in task complexity did not change the established modular architecture, but affected selective patterns of connectivity between frontoparietal, subcortical, cingulo-opercular, and default-mode networks. Larger increases in network efficiency within the newly established task modules were associated with higher reasoning accuracy. Our results shed light on the network architectures that underlie external task engagement, and highlight selective changes in brain connectivity supporting increases in task complexity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans have clear limits in their ability to solve complex reasoning problems. It is thought that

Planning and task management in Parkinson's disease: differential emphasis in dual-task performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Bialystok, Ellen; Craik, Fergus I M; Stefurak, Taresa

2008-03-01

Seventeen patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease completed a complex computer-based task that involved planning and management while also performing an attention-demanding secondary task. The tasks were performed concurrently, but it was necessary to switch from one to the other. Performance was compared to a group of healthy age-matched control participants and a group of young participants. Parkinson's patients performed better than the age-matched controls on almost all measures and as well as the young controls in many cases. However, the Parkinson's patients achieved this by paying relatively less attention to the secondary task and focusing attention more on the primary task. Thus, Parkinson's patients can apparently improve their performance on some aspects of a multidimensional task by simplifying task demands. This benefit may occur as a consequence of their inflexible exaggerated attention to some aspects of a complex task to the relative neglect of other aspects.

RATING MODELS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES APPLICATION FOR MANAGEMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE-TERRITORIAL COMPLEXES

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O. M. Pshinko

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The paper aims to develop rating models and related information technologies designed to resolve the tasks of strategic planning of the administrative and territorial units’ development, as well as the tasks of multi-criteria control of inhomogeneous multiparameter objects operation. Methodology. When solving problems of strategic planning of administrative and territorial development and heterogeneous classes management of objects under control, a set of agreed methods is used. Namely the multi-criteria properties analysis for objects of planning and management, diagnostics of the state parameters, forecasting and management of complex systems of different classes. Their states are estimated by sets of different quality indicators, as well as represented by the individual models of operation process. A new information technology is proposed and created to implement the strategic planning and management tasks. This technology uses the procedures for solving typical tasks, that are implemented in MS SQL Server. Findings. A new approach to develop models of analyze and management of complex systems classes based on the ratings has been proposed. Rating models development for analysis of multicriteria and multiparameter systems has been obtained. The management of these systems is performed on the base of parameters of the current and predicted state by non-uniform distribution of resources. The procedure of sensitivity analysis of the changes in the rating model of inhomogeneous distribution of resources parameters has been developed. The information technology of strategic planning and management of heterogeneous classes of objects based on the rating model has been created. Originality. This article proposes a new approach of the rating indicators’ using as a general model for strategic planning of the development and management of heterogeneous objects that can be characterized by the sets of parameters measured on different scales

Working in Dyads and Alone: Examining Process Variables in Solving Insight Problems

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Tidikis, Viktoria; Ash, Ivan K.

2013-01-01

This study investigated the effects of working in dyads and their associated gender composition on performance (solution rate and time) and process variables (number of impasses, number of passed solutions, and number of problem solving suggestions and interactions) in a set of classic insight problem solving tasks. Two types of insight problems…

Advert saliency distracts children's visual attention during task-oriented internet use

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Nils eHolmberg

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The general research question of the present study was to assess the impact of visually salient online adverts on children's task-oriented internet use. In order to answer this question, an experimental study was constructed in which 9-year-old and 12-year-old Swedish children were asked to solve a number of tasks while interacting with a mockup website. In each trial, web adverts in several saliency conditions were presented. By both measuring children's task accuracy, as well as the visual processing involved in solving these tasks, this study allows us to infer how two types of visual saliency affect children's attentional behavior, and whether such behavioral effects also impacts their task performance. Analyses show that low-level visual features and task relevance in online adverts have different effects on performance measures and process measures respectively. Whereas task performance is stable with regard to several advert saliency conditions, a marked effect is seen on children's gaze behavior. On the other hand, task performance is shown to be more sensitive to individual differences such as age, gender and level of gaze control. The results provide evidence about cognitive and behavioral distraction effects in children's task-oriented internet use caused by visual saliency in online adverts. The experiment suggests that children to some extent are able to compensate for behavioral effects caused by distracting visual stimuli when solving prospective memory tasks. Suggestions are given for further research into the interdiciplinary area between media research and cognitive science.

Stimulating Mathematical Reasoning with Simple Open-Ended Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

West, John

2018-01-01

The importance of mathematical reasoning is unquestioned and providing opportunities for students to become involved in mathematical reasoning is paramount. The open-ended tasks presented incorporate mathematical content explored through the contexts of problem solving and reasoning. This article presents a number of simple tasks that may be…

Perceptual Salience and Children's Multidimensional Problem Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Odom, Richard D.; Corbin, David W.

1973-01-01

Uni- and multidimensional processing of 6- to 9-year olds was studied using recall tasks in which an array of stimuli was reconstructed to match a model array. Results indicated that both age groups were able to solve multidimensional problems, but that solution rate was retarded by the unidimensional processing of highly salient dimensions.…

SemEval-2016 task 10

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schneider, Nathan; Hovy, Dirk; Johannsen, Anders Trærup

2016-01-01

This task combines the labeling of multiword expressions and supersenses (coarse-grained classes) in an explicit, yet broad-coverage paradigm for lexical semantics. Nine systems participated; the best scored 57.7% F1 in a multi-domain evaluation setting, indicating that the task remains largely...... unresolved. An error analysis reveals that a large number of instances in the data set are either hard cases, which no systems get right, or easy cases, which all systems correctly solve....

Complex Situational Tasks in Assessment of Educational Outcomes in “Psychological Assessment of Students” Module of the Master’s Programme in School Psychology

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Andruschenko T.Y.,

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the content of midterm performance evaluation of graduate students within the “Psychological Assessment” module of the master’s programme in School Psychology and focuses on the logic of the module’s design in relation to the professional standard in Educational Psychology. Complex situational tasks are considered in the modular program as the main means of assessing educational outcomes. The content of these tasks is determined by a range of diagnostic situations and closely corresponds with the real-life practice of educational psychologists. Setting complex situational tasks is related to a number of components of the educational psychologist’s professional activity in the field of psychological assessment, such as: planning the sequence of professional actions; ensuring the methodological background for assessment; taking into account deontological aspects of communication with assessed individuals; carrying out professional actions; reflecting on the process and outcomes of assessment. The paper analyses the place and role of graduate students’ self-assessment in finding solutions to complex situational tasks and offers a description of one such task that can be used in midterm performance evaluation of graduate students.

Capturing Students' Abstraction While Solving Organic Reaction Mechanism Problems across a Semester

Science.gov (United States)

Weinrich, M. L.; Sevian, H.

2017-01-01

Students often struggle with solving mechanism problems in organic chemistry courses. They frequently focus on surface features, have difficulty attributing meaning to symbols, and do not recognize tasks that are different from the exact tasks practiced. To be more successful, students need to be able to extract salient features, map similarities…

Gender differences in brain activation on a mental rotation task.

Science.gov (United States)

Semrud-Clikeman, Margaret; Fine, Jodene Goldenring; Bledsoe, Jesse; Zhu, David C

2012-10-01

Few neuroimaging studies have explored gender differences on mental rotation tasks. Most studies have utilized samples with both genders, samples mainly consisting of men, or samples with six or fewer females. Graduate students in science fields or liberal arts programs (20 males, 20 females) completed a mental rotation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). When a pair of cube figures was shown, the participant made a keypad response based on whether the pair is the same/similar or different. Regardless of gender, the bilateral middle frontal gyrus, bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS), and the left precuneus were activated when a subject tried to solve the mental rotation task. Increased activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus/middle frontal gyrus, the left precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex/cuneus region, and the left middle occipital gyrus was found for men as compared to women. Better accuracy and shorter response times were correlated with an increased activation in the bilateral intraparietal sulcus. No significant brain activity differences related to mental rotation were found between academic majors. These findings suggest that networks involved in visual attention appear to be more strongly activated in the mental rotation tasks in men as compared to women. It also suggests that men use a more automatic process when analyzing complex visual reasoning tasks while women use a more top-down process.

Relative Effects of Three Questioning Strategies in Ill-Structured, Small Group Problem Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Byun, Hyunjung; Lee, Jung; Cerreto, Frank A.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relative effectiveness of using three different question-prompt strategies on promoting metacognitive skills and performance in ill-structured problem solving by examining the interplay between peer interaction and cognitive scaffolding. An ill-structured problem-solving task was given to three…

Problem-solving deficits in Iranian people with borderline personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Akbari Dehaghi, Ashraf; Kaviani, Hossein; Tamanaeefar, Shima

2014-01-01

Interventions for people suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD), such as dialectical behavior therapy, often include a problem-solving component. However, there is an absence of published studies examining the problem-solving abilities of this client group in Iran. The study compared inpatients and outpatients with BPD and a control group on problem-solving capabilities in an Iranian sample. It was hypothesized that patients with BPD would have more deficiencies in this area. Fifteen patients with BPD were compared to 15 healthy participants. Means-ends problem-solving task (MEPS) was used to measure problem-solving skills in both groups. BPD group reported less effective strategies in solving problems as opposed to the healthy group. Compared to the control group, participants with BPD provided empirical support for the use of problem-solving interventions with people suffering from BPD. The findings supported the idea that a problem-solving intervention can be efficiently applied either as a stand-alone therapy or in conjunction with other available psychotherapies to treat people with BPD.

Factors Influencing Problem-Solving in Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Kesler, Mary S.; And Others

1976-01-01

Groups of middle-aged and elderly men and women were compared on three problem solving tasks, including written problems, the 20-questions procedure, and problems administered on a Heuristic Evaluation Problem Programmer. (MS)

Biomedical applications engineering tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Laenger, C. J., Sr.

1976-01-01

The engineering tasks performed in response to needs articulated by clinicians are described. Initial contacts were made with these clinician-technology requestors by the Southwest Research Institute NASA Biomedical Applications Team. The basic purpose of the program was to effectively transfer aerospace technology into functional hardware to solve real biomedical problems.

Internal representation of task rules by recurrent dynamics: the importance of the diversity of neural responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mattia Rigotti

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Neural activity of behaving animals, especially in the prefrontal cortex, is highly heterogeneous, with selective responses to diverse aspects of the executed task. We propose a general model of recurrent neural networks that perform complex rule-based tasks, and we show that the diversity of neuronal responses plays a fundamental role when the behavioral responses are context dependent. Specifically, we found that when the inner mental states encoding the task rules are represented by stable patterns of neural activity (attractors of the neural dynamics, the neurons must be selective for combinations of sensory stimuli and inner mental states. Such mixed selectivity is easily obtained by neurons that connect with random synaptic strengths both to the recurrent network and to neurons encoding sensory inputs. The number of randomly connected neurons needed to solve a task is on average only three times as large as the number of neurons needed in a network designed ad hoc. Moreover, the number of needed neurons grows only linearly with the number of task-relevant events and mental states, provided that each neuron responds to a large proportion of events (dense/distributed coding. A biologically realistic implementation of the model captures several aspects of the activity recorded from monkeys performing context dependent tasks. Our findings explain the importance of the diversity of neural responses and provide us with simple and general principles for designing attractor neural networks that perform complex computation.

Expert Strategies in Solving Algebraic Structure Sense Problems: The Case of Quadratic Equations

Science.gov (United States)

Jupri, Al; Sispiyati, R.

2017-02-01

Structure sense, an intuitive ability towards symbolic expressions, including skills to interpret, to manipulate, and to perceive symbols in different roles, is considered as a key success in learning algebra. In this article, we report results of three phases of a case study on solving algebraic structure sense problems aiming at testing the appropriateness of algebraic structure sense tasks and at investigating expert strategies dealing with the tasks. First, we developed three tasks on quadratic equations based on the characteristics of structure sense for high school algebra. Next, we validated the tasks to seven experts. In the validation process, we requested these experts to solve each task using two different strategies. Finally, we analyzing expert solution strategies in the light of structure sense characteristics. We found that even if eventual expert strategies are in line with the characteristics of structure sense; some of their initial solution strategies used standard procedures which might pay less attention to algebraic structures. This finding suggests that experts have reconsidered their procedural work and have provided more efficient solution strategies. For further investigation, we consider to test the tasks to high school algebra students and to see whether they produce similar results as experts.

Experimental quantum computing to solve systems of linear equations.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, X-D; Weedbrook, C; Su, Z-E; Chen, M-C; Gu, Mile; Zhu, M-J; Li, Li; Liu, Nai-Le; Lu, Chao-Yang; Pan, Jian-Wei

2013-06-07

Solving linear systems of equations is ubiquitous in all areas of science and engineering. With rapidly growing data sets, such a task can be intractable for classical computers, as the best known classical algorithms require a time proportional to the number of variables N. A recently proposed quantum algorithm shows that quantum computers could solve linear systems in a time scale of order log(N), giving an exponential speedup over classical computers. Here we realize the simplest instance of this algorithm, solving 2×2 linear equations for various input vectors on a quantum computer. We use four quantum bits and four controlled logic gates to implement every subroutine required, demonstrating the working principle of this algorithm.

Distributed Schemes for Crowdsourcing-Based Sensing Task Assignment in Cognitive Radio Networks

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Linbo Zhai

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Spectrum sensing is an important issue in cognitive radio networks. The unlicensed users can access the licensed wireless spectrum only when the licensed wireless spectrum is sensed to be idle. Since mobile terminals such as smartphones and tablets are popular among people, spectrum sensing can be assigned to these mobile intelligent terminals, which is called crowdsourcing method. Based on the crowdsourcing method, this paper studies the distributed scheme to assign spectrum sensing task to mobile terminals such as smartphones and tablets. Considering the fact that mobile terminals’ positions may influence the sensing results, a precise sensing effect function is designed for the crowdsourcing-based sensing task assignment. We aim to maximize the sensing effect function and cast this optimization problem to address crowdsensing task assignment in cognitive radio networks. This problem is difficult to be solved because the complexity of this problem increases exponentially with the growth in mobile terminals. To assign crowdsensing task, we propose four distributed algorithms with different transition probabilities and use a Markov chain to analyze the approximation gap of our proposed schemes. Simulation results evaluate the average performance of our proposed algorithms and validate the algorithm’s convergence.

Environmental problem-solving: Psychosocial factors

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Alan

1982-11-01

This is a study of individual differences in environmental problem-solving, the probable roots of these differences, and their implications for the education of resource professionals. A group of student Resource Managers were required to elaborate their conception of a complex resource issue (Spruce Budworm management) and to generate some ideas on management policy. Of particular interest was the way in which subjects dealt with the psychosocial aspects of the problem. A structural and content analysis of responses indicated a predominance of relatively compartmentalized styles, a technological orientation, and a tendency to ignore psychosocial issues. A relationship between problem-solving behavior and personal (psychosocial) style was established which, in the context of other evidence, suggests that problem-solving behavior is influenced by more deep seated personality factors. The educational implication drawn was that problem-solving cannot be viewed simply as an intellectual-technical activity but one that involves, and requires the education of, the whole person.

Diagrams benefit symbolic problem-solving.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Junyi; Rittle-Johnson, Bethany; Fyfe, Emily R

2017-06-01

The format of a mathematics problem often influences students' problem-solving performance. For example, providing diagrams in conjunction with story problems can benefit students' understanding, choice of strategy, and accuracy on story problems. However, it remains unclear whether providing diagrams in conjunction with symbolic equations can benefit problem-solving performance as well. We tested the impact of diagram presence on students' performance on algebra equation problems to determine whether diagrams increase problem-solving success. We also examined the influence of item- and student-level factors to test the robustness of the diagram effect. We worked with 61 seventh-grade students who had received 2 months of pre-algebra instruction. Students participated in an experimenter-led classroom session. Using a within-subjects design, students solved algebra problems in two matched formats (equation and equation-with-diagram). The presence of diagrams increased equation-solving accuracy and the use of informal strategies. This diagram benefit was independent of student ability and item complexity. The benefits of diagrams found previously for story problems generalized to symbolic problems. The findings are consistent with cognitive models of problem-solving and suggest that diagrams may be a useful additional representation of symbolic problems. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Multi-task feature selection in microarray data by binary integer programming.

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Visuospatial Anatomy Comprehension: The Role of Spatial Visualization Ability and Problem-Solving Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Ngan; Mulla, Ali; Nelson, Andrew J.; Wilson, Timothy D.

2014-01-01

The present study explored the problem-solving strategies of high- and low-spatial visualization ability learners on a novel spatial anatomy task to determine whether differences in strategies contribute to differences in task performance. The results of this study provide further insights into the processing commonalities and differences among…

The impact of perceived self-efficacy on mental time travel and social problem solving.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Adam D; Dorfman, Michelle L; Marmar, Charles R; Bryant, Richard A

2012-03-01

Current models of autobiographical memory suggest that self-identity guides autobiographical memory retrieval. Further, the capacity to recall the past and imagine one's self in the future (mental time travel) can influence social problem solving. We examined whether manipulating self-identity, through an induction task in which students were led to believe they possessed high or low self-efficacy, impacted episodic specificity and content of retrieved and imagined events, as well as social problem solving. Compared to individuals in the low self efficacy group, individuals in the high self efficacy group generated past and future events with greater (a) specificity, (b) positive words, and (c) self-efficacious statements, and also performed better on social problem solving indices. A lack of episodic detail for future events predicted poorer performance on social problem solving tasks. Strategies that increase perceived self-efficacy may help individuals to selectively construct a past and future that aids in negotiating social problems. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Homogeneous Catalysis with Metal Complexes Fundamentals and Applications