Motor Variability in Complex Gesture Learning: Effects of Movement Sonification and Musical Background

2022 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Wanyu Liu ◽  
Michelle Agnes Magalhaes ◽  
Wendy E. Mackay ◽  
Michel Beaudouin-Lafon ◽  
Frédéric Bevilacqua
Keyword(s):  
Direct Action ◽  
Feedback Condition ◽  
Learning Effects ◽  
Specific Design ◽  
Motor Variability ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Musical Background ◽  
Movement Sonification ◽  
Lower Variability ◽  
Action Music

With the increasing interest in movement sonification and expressive gesture-based interaction, it is important to understand which factors contribute to movement learning and how. We explore the effects of movement sonification and users’ musical background on motor variability in complex gesture learning. We contribute an empirical study in which musicians and non-musicians learn two gesture sequences over three days, with and without movement sonification. Results show the interlaced interaction effects of these factors and how they unfold in the three-day learning process. For gesture 1, which is fast and dynamic with a direct “action-sound” sonification, movement sonification induces higher variability for both musicians and non-musicians on day 1. While musicians reduce this variability to a similar level as no auditory feedback condition on day 2 and day 3, non-musicians remain to have significantly higher variability. Across three days, musicians also have significantly lower variability than non-musicians. For gesture 2, which is slow and smooth with an “action-music” metaphor, there are virtually no effects. Based on these findings, we recommend future studies to take into account participants’ musical background, consider longitudinal study to examine these effects on complex gestures, and use awareness when interpreting the results given a specific design of gesture and sound.

scholarly journals Odor-taste interactions in food perception: Exposure protocol shows no effects of associative learning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Fondberg ◽  
Johan N. Lundström ◽  
Janina Seubert
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Sweet Taste ◽  
Mere Exposure ◽  
Learning Effects ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Food Perception ◽  
Equivalence Tests ◽  
Taste And Odor ◽  
Chewing Gums ◽  
Hedonic Experience

Repeated exposure can change the perceptual and hedonic experience of food flavors. Associative learning during which a flavor’s odor component is affected by co-exposure with taste is thought to play a central role in this process. However, changes can also arise due to mere-exposure to the odor in itself. The aim of this study was to dissociate effects of associative learning from effects of mere-exposure by repeatedly presenting one odor together with a sweet taste and another without. Sixty individuals participated in two testing sessions separated by an exposure phase during which the stimuli were presented as flavorants in chewing gums. The gums were chewed three times per day for five days. Ratings of odor sweetness, odor pleasantness, odor intensity enhancement by taste, and odor referral to the mouth were collected at both sessions. Consistent with the idea of mere-exposure, odor pleasantness increased between the sessions independently of whether the odor had been exposed with or without sucrose. However, contrary to expectation, we found no evidence for associative learning effects on any of the outcomes. In addition, exploratory equivalence tests demonstrated that these effects were either absent or insignificant in magnitude. Taken together, our results suggest that associative learning effects on odor-taste interaction are either smaller than previously thought or highly dependent on the experimental setting. Future studies are needed to dissociate these two possibilities and, if experimental settings can be identified that reliably produce such effects, to pinpoint boundary conditions that prevents associative learning from taking place.

Development of A Standard Methodology for Optimizing Remote Visual Displays for Nuclear Maintenance Tasks

1981 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 454-456
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Clarke ◽  
John Garin ◽  
Andrea Preston-Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Television Viewing ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Learning Effects ◽  
Visual Displays ◽  
High Radiation ◽  
Work History ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Visual Motor ◽  
Motor Dexterity

Optimal closed-circuit television viewing is a critical component in the development of remote teleoperator systems for the performance of complex work in high radiation environments. This paper describes the development of a methodology whereby the visual display components of such a system can be optimized from a human factors viewpoint. The following steps were taken: (1) Identification of generic remote tasks using chronology of typical operations, equipment specifications, and projections of maintenance and repair requirements. (2) Specification of task remote visual cue requirements on which experimental remote visual displays (independent variables) were designed. (3) Measurement of subjects’ task-related characteristics: general aptitude, work history, television habits, vision, and visual motor dexterity. (4) Design and implementation of an experiment to identify optimal remote visual displays as related to remote task performance (dependent variable). (5) Treatment of learning effects. The paper concludes with a discussion of the advantages of this method, the incorporation of subjects and experimental observations into future studies, and suggestions for the applicability of this methodology to other related remote visual display areas.

Evaluating the Bottom-Up Method for Functional Decomposition in Product Dissection Tasks

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joran W. Booth ◽  
Abihnav K. Bhasin ◽  
Tahira Reid ◽  
Karthik Ramani
Keyword(s):  
Prior Work ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Specific Design ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Functional Decomposition ◽  
Identification Methods ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Statistical Support ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Function Identification

The purpose of this study is to continue to explore which function identification methods work best for specific design tasks. Prior literature describes the top-down and bottom-up approaches as equivalent methods for functional decomposition. Building on our prior work, this study tests the bottom-up method against the top-down and enumeration methods. We used a 3-factor within-subject study (n=136). While most of our diagram-oriented metrics were not statistically different, we found statistical support that: 1.) students reported that the dissection activity was more useful when using bottom-up, and 2.) that student engineers committed many more syntax errors when using the bottom-up method (by listing parts instead of functions). We believe that both these results are due to the increased focus on individual parts. We do not know if an increased attention to the parts would increase novelty or fixation, and recommend future studies to find out.

Auditory Coding of Human Movement Kinematics

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 533-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pia M. Vinken ◽  
Daniela Kröger ◽  
Ursula Fehse ◽  
Gerd Schmitz ◽  
Heike Brock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Human Movement ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Learning Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Movement Sonification

Although visual perception is dominant on motor perception, control and learning, auditory information can enhance and modulate perceptual as well as motor processes in a multifaceted manner. During last decades new methods of auditory augmentation had been developed with movement sonification as one of the most recent approaches expanding auditory movement information also to usually mute phases of movement. Despite general evidence on the effectiveness of movement sonification in different fields of applied research there is nearly no empirical proof on how sonification of gross motor human movement should be configured to achieve information rich sound sequences. Such lack of empirical proof is given for (a) the selection of suitable movement features as well as for (b) effective kinetic–acoustical mapping patterns and for (c) the number of regarded dimensions of sonification. In this study we explore the informational content of artificial acoustical kinematics in terms of a kinematic movement sonification using an intermodal discrimination paradigm. In a repeated measure design we analysed discrimination rates of six everyday upper limb actions to evaluate the effectiveness of seven different kinds of kinematic–acoustical mappings as well as short term learning effects. The kinematics of the upper limb actions were calculated based on inertial motion sensor data and transformed into seven different sonifications. Sound sequences were randomly presented to participants and discrimination rates as well as confidence of choice were analysed. Data indicate an instantaneous comprehensibility of the artificial movement acoustics as well as short term learning effects. No differences between different dimensional encodings became evident thus indicating a high efficiency for intermodal pattern discrimination for the acoustically coded velocity distribution of the actions. Taken together movement information related to continuous kinematic parameters can be transformed into the auditory domain. Additionally, pattern based action discrimination is obviously not restricted to the visual modality. Artificial acoustical kinematics might be used to supplement and/or substitute visual motion perception in sports and motor rehabilitation.

The 6-Min Walk Test

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen M. Vuckovic ◽  
Anne M. Fink
Keyword(s):  
Functional Capacity ◽  
Stress Testing ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Exercise Stress ◽  
Peak Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Cardiac Resynchronization ◽  
Learning Effects ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Patients With Heart Failure ◽  
History Of

The 6-min walk (6MW) is a self-paced test for measuring functional capacity. Lower 6MW distances have been associated with adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure. The purpose of this article is to describe the history of the 6MW test and to evaluate its reliability, validity, and predictive value as well as the responsiveness of the test to therapies. In the literature we reviewed, reliability was affected by several factors including learning effects and protocol deviations. The 6MW distance was moderately correlated with peak oxygen consumption derived from cardiopulmonary exercise stress testing. In some studies the 6MW distance was predictive of hospitalization and mortality. In pharmacological and cardiac resynchronization trials the 6MW distance did not consistently detect clinical improvements. Despite limitations, the 6MW test is a viable alternative to stress testing for objectively evaluating functional capacity in some settings. We provide recommendations for using the 6MW test in future studies.

scholarly journals Learning With a Double-Edged Sword? Beneficial and Detrimental Effects of Learning Tests—Taking a First Look at Linkages Among Tests, Later Learning Outcomes, Stress Perceptions, and Intelligence

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Wenzel ◽  
Marc-André Reinhard
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Learning Effects ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Lower Stress ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Main Effects

It has often been shown that tests as intentionally hindered and difficult learning tasks increase long-term learning compared to easier tasks. Previous work additionally indicated that higher intelligence might serve as a prerequisite for such beneficial effects of tests. Nevertheless, despite their long-term learning effects, tests were also found to be evaluated as more negative and to lead to more stress and anxiety compared to easier control tasks. Stress and anxiety, in turn, often yield detrimental effects on learning outcomes. Hence, we hypothesized that tests increase later learning outcomes but simultaneously also lead to more stress perceptions. Such increased stress was, in turn, hypothesized to reduce later learning outcomes (thus, stress might serve as a mediator of the beneficial effects of tests on learning). All these assumed effects should further be moderated by intelligence, insofar as that higher intelligence should increase beneficial effects of tests on learning, should decrease stress perceptions caused by tests, and should reduce detrimental effects of stress on learning outcomes. Higher intelligence was also assumed to be generally associated with higher learning. We conducted a laboratory study (N=89) to test these hypotheses: Participants underwent an intelligence screening, then worked on either a test or a re-reading control task, and reported their immediate stress perceptions. Later learning outcomes were assessed after 1week. The results supported all assumed main effects but none of the assumed interactions. Thus, participants using tests had higher long-term learning outcomes compared to participants using re-reading tasks. However, participants using tests also perceived more immediate stress compared to participants that only re-read the materials. These stress perceptions in turn diminished the beneficial effects of tests. Stress was also generally related to lower learning, whereas higher intelligence was linked to higher learning and also to lower stress. Hence, our findings again support the often assumed benefits of tests—even when simultaneously considering learners’ intelligence and and when considering the by tests caused stress perceptions. Notably, controlling for stress further increases these long-term learning benefits. We then discuss some limitations and boundaries of our work as well as ideas for future studies.

An Early Developmental Marker for Radial Glia in Rat Spinal Cord

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 36-37
Author(s):  
V. Kriho ◽  
H.-Y. Yang ◽  
C.-M. Lue ◽  
N. Lieska ◽  
G. D. Pappas
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Intermediate Filament ◽  
Radial Glia ◽  
Rat Spinal Cord ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Spinal Cord Development ◽  
Median Septum ◽  
Differentiation Marker ◽  
Early Developmental ◽  
Developing Rat

Radial glia have been classically defined as those early glial cells that radially span their thin processes from the ventricular to the pial surfaces in the developing central nervous system. These radial glia constitute a transient cell population, disappearing, for the most part, by the end of the period of neuronal migration. Traditionally, it has been difficult to definitively identify these cells because the principal criteria available were morphologic only.Using immunofluorescence microscopy, we have previously defined a phenotype for radial glia in rat spinal cord based upon the sequential expression of vimentin, glial fibrillary acidic protein and an intermediate filament-associated protein, IFAP-70/280kD. We report here the application of another intermediate filament-associated protein, IFAP-300kD, originally identified in BHK-21 cells, to the immunofluorescence study of radial glia in the developing rat spinal cord.Results showed that IFAP-300kD appeared very early in rat spinal cord development. In fact by embryonic day 13, IFAP-300kD immunoreactivity was already at its peak and was observed in most of the radial glia which span the spinal cord from the ventricular to the subpial surfaces (Fig. 1). Interestingly, from this time, IFAP-300kD immunoreactivity diminished rapidly in a dorsal to ventral manner, so that by embryonic day 16 it was detectable only in the maturing macroglial cells in the marginal zone of the spinal cord and the dorsal median septum (Fig. 2). By birth, the spinal cord was essentially immuno-negative for this IFAP. Thus, IFAP-300kD appears to be another differentiation marker available for future studies of gliogenesis, especially for the early stages of radial glia differentiation.

Autophagy and ageing: implications for age-related neurodegenerative diseases

2013 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 119-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette Carroll ◽  
Graeme Hewitt ◽  
Viktor I. Korolchuk
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Energy Availability ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Intracellular Degradation ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Autophagy Induction ◽  
Social Importance ◽  
Cellular Dysfunction ◽  
Autophagy Activity ◽  
Intense Research

Autophagy is a process of lysosome-dependent intracellular degradation that participates in the liberation of resources including amino acids and energy to maintain homoeostasis. Autophagy is particularly important in stress conditions such as nutrient starvation and any perturbation in the ability of the cell to activate or regulate autophagy can lead to cellular dysfunction and disease. An area of intense research interest is the role and indeed the fate of autophagy during cellular and organismal ageing. Age-related disorders are associated with increased cellular stress and assault including DNA damage, reduced energy availability, protein aggregation and accumulation of damaged organelles. A reduction in autophagy activity has been observed in a number of ageing models and its up-regulation via pharmacological and genetic methods can alleviate age-related pathologies. In particular, autophagy induction can enhance clearance of toxic intracellular waste associated with neurodegenerative diseases and has been comprehensively demonstrated to improve lifespan in yeast, worms, flies, rodents and primates. The situation, however, has been complicated by the identification that autophagy up-regulation can also occur during ageing. Indeed, in certain situations, reduced autophagosome induction may actually provide benefits to ageing cells. Future studies will undoubtedly improve our understanding of exactly how the multiple signals that are integrated to control appropriate autophagy activity change during ageing, what affect this has on autophagy and to what extent autophagy contributes to age-associated pathologies. Identification of mechanisms that influence a healthy lifespan is of economic, medical and social importance in our ‘ageing’ world.

Mesophyll conductance: the leaf corridors for photosynthesis

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Gago ◽  
Danilo M. Daloso ◽  
Marc Carriquí ◽  
Miquel Nadal ◽  
Melanie Morales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Mesophyll Conductance ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Cell Structures ◽  
Leaf Tissues ◽  
Change Framework ◽  
Chloroplast Stroma

Besides stomata, the photosynthetic CO2 pathway also involves the transport of CO2 from the sub-stomatal air spaces inside to the carboxylation sites in the chloroplast stroma, where Rubisco is located. This pathway is far to be a simple and direct way, formed by series of consecutive barriers that the CO2 should cross to be finally assimilated in photosynthesis, known as the mesophyll conductance (gm). Therefore, the gm reflects the pathway through different air, water and biophysical barriers within the leaf tissues and cell structures. Currently, it is known that gm can impose the same level of limitation (or even higher depending of the conditions) to photosynthesis than the wider known stomata or biochemistry. In this mini-review, we are focused on each of the gm determinants to summarize the current knowledge on the mechanisms driving gm from anatomical to metabolic and biochemical perspectives. Special attention deserve the latest studies demonstrating the importance of the molecular mechanisms driving anatomical traits as cell wall and the chloroplast surface exposed to the mesophyll airspaces (Sc/S) that significantly constrain gm. However, even considering these recent discoveries, still is poorly understood the mechanisms about signaling pathways linking the environment a/biotic stressors with gm responses. Thus, considering the main role of gm as a major driver of the CO2 availability at the carboxylation sites, future studies into these aspects will help us to understand photosynthesis responses in a global change framework.

An Overview of Facilities Providing Clinical Services for Persons Who Stutter in Kuwait

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-95
Author(s):  
Latifa Alsalmi ◽  
Robert Mayo
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Department Heads ◽  
Clinical Services ◽  
Medical Settings ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Language Services ◽  
Medical Centers ◽  
Clinical Directors

Presently, no clear picture is available about the facilities providing clinical services for persons who stutter (PWS) in Kuwait. This information is crucial for any awareness program to be established in the future. The purpose of this study was to identify clinical facilities and speech-language personnel that provide services for PWS in Kuwait. Participants consisted of 21 clinical directors of governmental medical centers, non-profit clinics, and private clinics as well as department heads of governmental school clinics where speech-language services were provided. Participants were interviewed regarding the availability of speech-language services within their centers and whether or not PWS receive services. The results revealed that four out of five governmental medical centers with a total of 32 speech-language pathologists (SLPs) provided services for PWS. Additionally, 12 schools of special education were found to have 62 SLPs on their staff providing fluency services for students. Finally, two stand-alone private clinics and one non-profit clinic provided services for PWS. Results indicated an overall shortage of SLPs in the country, especially in medical settings. This study sets the foundation for a series of future studies investigating the type and quality of stuttering services provided by the identified facilities in Kuwait.

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