Exploring task-based cognitive processes

Author(s):  
Andrea Révész

Abstract This paper argues that TBLT researchers should dedicate more effort to investigating the cognitive processes in which L2 learners engage during task work to facilitate theory-construction and to inform pedagogical practices. To help achieve this, a review follows of various subjective (questionnaires, interviews, think-aloud/stimulated recall protocols) and objective (dual-task methodology, keystroke-logging, eye-tracking) methods that are available to TBLT researchers to examine cognitive processes underlying task-based performance. The paper concludes that, to obtain a more valid understanding of task-generated cognitive processes, it is best to combine various methods to overcome the limitations of each. Finally, some methodological recommendations are provided for future cognitively-oriented TBLT research.

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Prokop ◽  
Ladislav Pilař ◽  
Ivana Tichá

Simulations and games bring the possibility to research complex processes of managerial decision-making. However, this modern field requires adequate methodological procedures. Many authors recommend the use of a combination of concurrent think-aloud (CTA) or retrospective think-aloud (RTA) with eye-tracking to investigate cognitive processes such as decision-making. Nevertheless, previous studies have little or no consideration of the possible differential impact of both think-aloud methods on data provided by eye-tracking. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to compare and assess if and how these methods differ in terms of their impact on eye-tracking. The experiment was conducted for this purpose. Participants were 14 managers who played a specific simulation game with CTA use and 17 managers who played the same game with RTA use. The results empirically prove that CTA significantly distorts data provided by eye-tracking, whereas data gathered when RTA is used, provide independent pieces of evidence about the participants’ behavior. These findings suggest that RTA is more suitable for combined use with eye-tracking for the purpose of the research of decision-making in the game environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinshi Shao ◽  
Yongcan Liu

AbstractThis article reports on a mixed methods study that investigated the extent to which written corrective feedback (WCF) contributes to L2 learners’ acquisition of regular past tense in English and the cognitive processes that underpin the corrective feedback provided. The study adopted a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design and involved 113 intermediate-level Chinese learners of English who were assigned to four conditions: indirect WCF, direct WCF, metalinguistic WCF, and control. A picture description task and a grammaticality judgement test were used to measure gains in the target structure. To explore how learners process feedback, nine learners, three from each treatment group, were selected to produce think aloud protocols. The study found that all three types of WCF had a positive effect on the picture description task, though none of them had a clear impact on the grammaticality judgement test. In addition, indirect WCF was found to have an advantage over direct and metalinguistic WCF on the delayed posttest, when compared to the control group. Think aloud data suggested that indirect WCF induced deeper cognitive processes than the other two kinds of feedback, which may account for the superiority of indirect WCF.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Révész ◽  
Marije Michel ◽  
Minjin Lee

AbstractThis study investigated the cognitive processes underlying pauses at different textual locations (e.g., within/between words) and various levels of revision (e.g., below word/clause). We used stimulated recall, keystroke logging, and eye-tracking methodology in combination to examine pausing and revision behaviors. Thirty advanced Chinese L2 users of English performed a version of the IELTS Academic Writing Task 2. During the writing task, participants’ key strokes were logged, and their eye movements were recorded. Immediately after the writing task, 12 participants also took part in a stimulated recall interview. The results revealed that, when participants paused at larger textual units, they were more likely to look back in the text and engage in higher-order writing processes. In contrast, during pauses at lower textual units, they tended to view areas closer to the inscription point and engage in lower-order writing processes. Prior to making a revision, participants most frequently had viewed the text that they subsequently revised or their eye gazes had been off-screen. Revisions focused more on language- than content-related issues, but there was a smaller difference in the number of language- and content-focused stimulated recall comments when larger textual units were revised.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward J. Lynch ◽  
Lindsay M. Andiola

ABSTRACT Recent advances in technology have increased the accessibility and ease in using eye-tracking as a research tool. These advances have the potential to benefit behavioral accounting researchers' understanding of the cognitive processes underlying individuals' judgments, decisions, and behaviors. However, despite its potential and wide use in other disciplines, few behavioral accounting studies use eye-tracking. The purpose of this paper is to familiarize accounting researchers with eye-tracking, including its advantages and limitations as a research tool. We start by providing an overview of eye-tracking and discussing essential terms and useful metrics, as well as the psychological constructs they proxy. We then summarize eye-tracking research across research domains, review accounting studies that use eye-tracking, and identify future research directions across accounting topics. Finally, we provide an instructional resource to guide those researchers interested in using eye-tracking, including important considerations at each stage of the study. JEL Classifications: M41; C91.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110138
Author(s):  
Yetti Zainil ◽  
Safnil Arsyad

Teachers often code-switch in the EFL classroom, but the question of whether or not they are aware of their code-switching has not been satisfactorily answered. This article presents the study on teachers’ understandings and beliefs about their code-switching practices in EFL classrooms as well as effective language teaching and learning. The participants of this study came from four junior high schools in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia: five teachers with their respective classes. This research used the conversation analysis and stimulated recall interviews to analyze the data which came from the video recording of classroom observations and the audio recording of stimulated recall interviews with teachers. The results revealed the pedagogical functions and affective functions of teacher’s code-switching. The data also showed that the use of stimulated recall interviews helped teachers to be consciously aware of their code-switching as well as of their other pedagogical practices in the language classroom. Therefore, stimulated recall interviews can be a useful tool for teacher self-reflection that they were not aware of their code switch. This awareness could be incorporated into language teacher professional development and in-service teacher professional learning.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 183449092110004
Author(s):  
Jing Yu ◽  
Xue-Rui Peng ◽  
Ming Yan

People employ automatic inferential processing when confronting pragmatically implied claims in advertising. However, whether comprehension and memorization of pragmatic implications differ between young and older adults is unclear. In the present study, we used eye-tracking technology to investigate online cognitive processes during reading of misleading advertisements. We found an interaction between age and advertising content, manifested as our older participants generated higher misleading rates in health-related than in health-irrelevant products, whereas this content-bias did not appear in their younger counterparts. Eye movement data further showed that the older adults spent more time processing critical claims for the health-related products than for the health-irrelevant products. Moreover, the correlations between fixation duration on pragmatic implications and misleading rates showed opposite trends in the two groups. The eye-tracking evidence novelly suggests that young and older adults may adopt different information processing strategies to comprehend pragmatic implications in advertising: More reading possibly enhances young adults’ gist memory whereas it facilitates older adults’ verbatim memory instead.


2020 ◽  
pp. 026765832096315
Author(s):  
Nick Henry ◽  
Carrie N Jackson ◽  
Holger Hopp

This article explores how multiple linguistic cues interact in predictive processing among second language (L2) learners. In a visual-world eye-tracking experiment, we investigated whether learners of German use case and prosody cues together to assign thematic roles and predict post-verbal arguments. During the experiment, participants listened to subject-first and object-first sentences that contained (1) case cues only, or (2) both case and prosody. The results showed that the learners successfully predicted post-verbal arguments on the basis of lexical-semantic information but were less successful in using case cues. However, prediction success increased when both case and prosody were present, suggesting that predictive processing is supported by prosodic cues. Additionally, results show that higher proficiency was associated with faster processing and a greater ability to generate predictions. We conclude that the presence of cue coalitions allows L2 learners to process information more efficiently, and that the L2 processor can exploit the additive use of cues for prediction.


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