Persistence in memory of the surface organization of simple maps as performance aids

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernst Z. Rothkopf ◽  
Mary E. Koether ◽  
Marjorie J. Billington

The surface organization of performance aids such as maps or diagrams can affect decisions even when the relevant information has been mastered and decisions are made from memory. We tested this conjecture by providing three different types of maps as performance aids for routing decisions. The maps were realistic, straightened, or diagrammatic. Through extensive practice, very accurate performance was achieved even when the performance aid was no longer available. After 200 decisions made from memory, decision time was nearly stable (asymptotic), but diagrammatic map subjects were still about 500 msecs faster than those who used more realistic maps. The observed aftereffects of the structure of performance aids are congruent with the usual conceptions of mental models in that they reflect productive memorial structures. Our findings suggest that inappropriately organized informative materials may exact a toll even after their content is mastered.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 721
Author(s):  
Russell J. Boag ◽  
Niek Stevenson ◽  
Roel van Dooren ◽  
Anne C. Trutti ◽  
Zsuzsika Sjoerds ◽  
...  

Working memory (WM)-based decision making depends on a number of cognitive control processes that control the flow of information into and out of WM and ensure that only relevant information is held active in WM’s limited-capacity store. Although necessary for successful decision making, recent work has shown that these control processes impose performance costs on both the speed and accuracy of WM-based decisions. Using the reference-back task as a benchmark measure of WM control, we conducted evidence accumulation modeling to test several competing explanations for six benchmark empirical performance costs. Costs were driven by a combination of processes, running outside of the decision stage (longer non-decision time) and showing the inhibition of the prepotent response (lower drift rates) in trials requiring WM control. Individuals also set more cautious response thresholds when expecting to update WM with new information versus maintain existing information. We discuss the promise of this approach for understanding cognitive control in WM-based decision making.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
João S. Panero ◽  
Henrique E. B. da Silva ◽  
Pedro S. Panero ◽  
Oscar J. Smiderle ◽  
Francisco S. Panero ◽  
...  

Near Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy technique combined with chemometrics methods were used to group and identify samples of different soy cultivars. Spectral data, collected in the range of 714 to 2500 nm (14000 to 4000 cm-1), were obtained from whole grains of four different soybean cultivars and were submitted to different types of pre-treatments. Chemometrics algorithms were applied to extract relevant information from the spectral data, to remove the anomalous samples and to group the samples. The best results were obtained considering the spectral range from 1900.6 to 2187.7 nm (5261.4 cm-1 to 4570.9 cm-1) and with spectral treatment using Multiplicative Signal Correction (MSC) + Baseline Correct (linear fit), what made it possible to the exploratory techniques Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) to separate the cultivars. Thus, the results demonstrate that NIR spectroscopy allied with de chemometrics techniques can provide a rapid, nondestructive and reliable method to distinguish different cultivars of soybeans.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Guinau ◽  
Gloria Furdada

<p>The pandemic situation we are experiencing has forced us to transform face-to-face teaching into virtual teaching. Digital platforms hinder the interaction, discussion and feedback that naturally occur in a face-to-face class, but at the same time, they provide an opportunity to put the focus on the student’s learning rather than on content delivering. Learning include both, inductive and deductive processes; induction can be effectively acquired by using case studies; then, deduction can be achieved through comparison, analysis, generalisation and synthesis.  Digital platforms appear as an optimal resource to facilitate the individual and collaborative tasks and learning processes. In this work we present our experience on the landslide hazard subject (Master’s level) focussed on the student’s learning through the use of digital media.</p><p>Internet information of undeniable quality that can be easily accessed is basic: The Landslide Blog by Dave Petley (https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/) in Blogosphere hosted by AGU (American Geophysical Union) provides valuable and updated information on landslide events occurring worldwide. The learning activities are structured around several cases selected by the lecturer from the blog to ensure the analysis of the most frequent landslide types. All activities are developed in 8 steps: 1) The teacher presents the learning action (objective, tasks, and assessment guide) using a Genially platform interactive image; 2) Each student selects one of the proposed cases and compile relevant information about it; 3) Each student analyses the landslide characteristics, identifies the landslide type  and classifies it according to Hungr et al., 2014 (available through the educational virtual platform), and recognises the control and triggering factors (one virtual session is programmed and a forum tool is provided to the students to discuss and to solve doubts); 4) Each student selects and organizes the significant information about each case by building an interactive image in Genially; 5) Each student presents each case using his/her interactive image in a virtual session, which is recorded and uploaded to the educational platform; 6) Students peer evaluate the content and design of the interactive images and oral presentations based on the provided assessment guide; 7) During a predetermined time, students collaboratively compile all the information in a Google sheet table to synthesize the geomorphological characteristics, materials involved, mobilization mechanisms and control and triggering factors of the different types of landslides; 8) the synthetic table is discussed and  completed during a virtual session.</p><p>All the knowledge and skills acquired by students with these activities are put into practice in a two-day field trip where students have to identify, characterize and classify different types of landslides as well as their control and triggering factors. The risk situation and the mitigation strategies are discussed in each case and compared to the ones studied through virtual learning. Furthermore, students get used and learn how to clearly present information through virtual tools, as Genially, useful for dissemination purposes.</p><p>Hungr et al. 2014. The Varnes classification of landslide types, an update. Landslides 11(2). DOI: 10.1007/s10346-013-0436-y</p>


Author(s):  
James Kim

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence how people look at objects they will have to act upon while watching others interact with them first. We investigated whether including different types of task-relevant information into an observational learning task would result in participants adapting their gaze towards an object with more task-relevant information. The participant watched an actor simultaneously lift and replace two objects with two hands then was cued to lift one of the two objects. The objects had the potential to change weight between each trial. In our cue condition, participants were cued to lift one of the objects every single time. In our object condition, the participants were cued equally to act on both objects; however, the weights of only one of the objects would have the potential to change. The hypothesis in the cue condition was that the participant would look significantly more at the object being cued. The hypothesis for the object condition was that the participant would look significantly more (i.e. adapt their gaze) at the object changing weight. The rationale behind this is that participants will learn to allocate their gaze significantly more towards that object so they can gain information about its properties (i.e. weight change). Pending results will indicate whether or not this occurred, and has implications for understanding eye movement sequences in visually guided behaviour tasks. The outcome of this study also has implications for the mechanisms of eye gaze with respect to social learning tasks. 


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Ashton ◽  
André Gouws ◽  
Marcus Glennon ◽  
THEODORE ZANTO ◽  
Steve Tipper ◽  
...  

Abstract Our ability to hold information in mind for a short time (working memory) is separately predicted by our ability to ignore two types of distraction: distraction that occurs while we put information into working memory (encoding) and distraction that occurs while we maintain already encoded information within working memory. This suggests that ignoring these different types of distraction involves distinct mechanisms which separately limit performance. Here we used fMRI to measure category-sensitive cortical activity and probe these mechanisms. The results reveal specific neural mechanisms by which relevant information is remembered and irrelevant information is ignored, which contribute to intra-individual differences in WM performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Ozren Rafajac ◽  
Alen Jakupović

An integral communication tool is producing a coherent message while attempting to achieve synergy among different types of communicators. By encouraging a purposeful dialogue and automatic exchange of relevant information, these kinds of tools can improve our mutual understanding, cooperation, collaboration and competitiveness. The main problem in collaboration is finding compatible partners, friends and people (with similar interests) with whom we can build long-term relationships in different fields of life, such as family relations, education and leisure. The same applies to all economic activities. The authors find a solution to this problem in the development of an integral communication tool that has the three main objectives: self-improvement, relationship improvement and qualitative improvement of collaboration. By analyzing the requirements of potential users, the authors have developed a conceptual model of an integral communication tool that explains its basic functions, subsystems and information connections.


Author(s):  
Sue Yi ◽  
Nicole B. Damen ◽  
Christine A. Toh

Abstract Shared mental models have been shown to enhance team performance. However, research has not observed the different types of sharedness of mental models that may uniquely impact the design process. Therefore, this study examines the types of sharedness of mental models that occur in design teams using Conversation Analysis on data collected from two design teams that performed activities in the early design process in a controlled lab environment. Designers were asked to develop an agreed upon list of ranked design principles, and then generate one or two solutions using the list. These design activities allow for the examination of the varying ways that designers share knowledge, negotiate, and reach understanding. Through our analysis, we identify characteristics of conversation that designers used to build shared understanding. Our results also show how team mental models are built from patterns of conversation that are evident during open-ended and unstructured design discussions. This work sets a foundation for future research to gain a deeper understanding of how designer mental models are shared in unstructured conversations that take place during design practice.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Draminsky Petersen ◽  
Benito Morentin

Background: As part of a program by the Basque Government (Spain) and the University of the Basque Country, persons who have alleged exposure to torture and ill-treatment have been examined by psychologists and psychiatrists according to the Istanbul Protocol (IP). Medical examinations of detainees with the aim, inter alia, to document abuses is fundamental for torture prevention. The IP prescribes how this should be done to ensure data collection and prevent reprisals for having reported ill-treatment to the doctor. Objectives: The objectives were to assess detainees' perception of the medical examinations which they underwent at different types of Spanish police institution and to compare practice between institutions; and, to compare information from the period 1969-1991 with that from 1992-2014. Methods: All information about medical examinations of incommunicado detainees from 202 extensive IP reports was analysed according to a 19-item tool developed for the purpose dealing with the doctors' professional performance, the confidence of the detainees in the doctors, reprisals and procedural safeguards (Annex 1). All information was classified as acceptable, unacceptable /insufficient or totally unacceptable. Findings: Very often the detainees perceived the doctors' professional performance as insufficient or totally unacceptable and the doctors did not instil their confidence. Threats of police reprisals and failure to observe procedural safeguards were often reported. There were no differences in the comparison between institutions. When comparing the two study periods an improvement was found over time. However, 64% of the scores came out as totally unacceptable or insufficient for the most recent period indicating that the medical institution in police stations where the detentions had taken place failed to constitute a preventive means against torture and ill-treatment. Limitations: Only 57% of the 202 reports assessed contained relevant information; data was retrieved retrospectively; the interviews were done years after detention without a particular focus on medical examinations.


Author(s):  
Olga V. Petrova

The article discusses the problem of choosing ways and means of pragmatic adaptation in translating a text. The relevance of the topic is due to the necessity to facilitate cross-cultural communication in view of the increased intensity and diversity of forms of international contacts. The definition of pragmatic adaptation as the actions of a translator aimed at adapting the source language text to its perception by a recipient belonging to a different culture, does not answer the questions of when and how a translator can and should change the text in order to preserve the pragmatic potential of the original. The aim of the article is to analyze the problems arising in translating texts requiring pragmatic adaptation and evaluate the impact of different types of pragmatic adaptation on reproducing the pragmatic potential of the original and achieving the possible purposes of translation. In order to do it an experiment was carried out: a text was translated in four different ways with different means used for its pragmatic adaptation, and the translations were compared. The results of the experiment show that the choice of pragmatic adaptation methods and techniques is determined not by the type of text or the type of adaptation, as is usually believed, but by the specific purpose for which the text is translated. Thus, when translating a literary text, which always contains factual, conceptual, emotional, aesthetic, and cultural information, the choice between the naturalness of the text, the preservation of the author’s style, the completeness of the content and the communication of culturally relevant information means, in fact, setting different accents. The means of pragmatic adaptation used by the translator depend entirely on the prioritization of these types of information, in other words, on the purpose of translation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (9) ◽  
pp. 751
Author(s):  
I. Safarik ◽  
J. Prochazkova ◽  
E. Baldikova ◽  
M. Timko ◽  
P. Kopcansky ◽  
...  

Magnetic fluids (ferrofluids) have found many important applications in various areas of biosciences, biotechnology, medicine, and environmental technology. In this review, we have summarized the relevant information dealing with a magnetic modification of diamagnetic materials using different types of ferrofluids. Special attention is focused on a magnetic modification of plant-derived biomaterials, microbial and microalgal cells, eukaryotic cells, biopolymers, inorganic materials, and organic polymers. Derivatization is usually caused by the presence of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles within the pores of treated materials, on the materials surface or within the polymer gels. The obtained smart materials exhibit several types of responses to an external magnetic field, especially the possibility of the selective magnetic separation from difficult-to-handle environments by means of a magnetic separator. The ferrofluid-modified materials have been especially used as adsorbents, carriers, composite nanozymes or whole-cell biocatalysts.


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