Wrapping up Sentence Comprehension: The Role of Task Demands and Individual Differences

Abstract Despite numerous positive findings of explicit instruction, this topic continues to engage scholars worldwide. One issue that may be crucial for the effectiveness of explicit instruction is the interaction between cognitive individual differences (language aptitude and working memory) and types of instruction. In this experiment, 128 learners of Spanish were randomly assigned to four experimental treatments and completed comprehension-based practice for interpreting object-verb and ser/estar sentences in Spanish. Results revealed that the various combinations of rules and practice posed differential task demands on the learners and consequently drew on language aptitude and working memory to a different extent. We argue that not only are rules and practice both necessary, but that their suitable integration ameliorates task demands, reducing the burden on the learner, and accordingly mitigates the role of participants’ individual differences, thus making a substantial difference for the learning of second language grammar.

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Shiftwork and Performance

Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ◽

10.1177/001872087902100410 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 483-492 ◽

Cited By ~ 97

Author(s):

SIMON FOLKARD ◽

TIMOTHY H. MONK

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Time Of Day ◽

Task Type ◽

Task Demands ◽

Descriptive Model ◽

Shift Performance ◽

Technological Advances ◽

And Performance ◽

The Individual

The recent increase in the incidence of shiftwork has been accompanied by a change in the type of task typically performed by the shiftworker. The technological advances which have produced both these effects have meant that the shiftworker is more likely to be engaged in cognitive, mentally taxing tasks than the predominantly perceptual-motor ones typical of earlier times. Contemporary research on time of day effects in performance efficiency has indicated that these task changes may be crucially important in determining on-shift performance, and hence the choice of the individual and shift system that is most suitable. Evidence is reviewed on task demands, the effects of different shift systems, and the role of individual differences. A descriptive model is proposed in which on-shift performance is seen to be dependent on the type of task, type of shift system, and type of person, with the three factors interacting via the worker's various circadian rhythms.

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The effect of video game experience and the ability to handle workload and workload transitions

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1541931218621167 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 62 (1) ◽

pp. 736-740 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shannon P. Devlin ◽

Sara L. Riggs

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Video Game ◽

High Performance ◽

Training Programs ◽

Task Demands ◽

Individual Experience ◽

Aerial Vehicle ◽

Game Players ◽

The Military

Dynamic and complex domains, like those found in the military and healthcare require operators to experience and cope with changes in task demands, i.e. workload transitions. The literature has shown individual differences affect a person’s ability to handle workload transitions, but the role of individual experience has not been thoroughly examined. The focus of this work aims to understand how the role of video game experience, affects an individual’s ability to handle workload transitions in the context of simulated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control. Twenty-one participants completed a UAV simulation under four workload scenarios: low, high, gradual shift from low to high, and sudden shift from low to high. Performance was compared across self-reported video-game players (VGPs) and non-video game players (NVGPs). Overall accuracy for VGPs was higher than NVGPs. This line of work provides the foundation to understand the effect of video game experience, which can help inform training programs and workplace design for operators in various data-rich environments.

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Elaborating the role of reflection and individual differences in the study of folk-economic beliefs

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18000274 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

Author(s):

Kevin Arceneaux

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Behavioral Responses ◽

History Of ◽

Economic Beliefs

AbstractIntuitions guide decision-making, and looking to the evolutionary history of humans illuminates why some behavioral responses are more intuitive than others. Yet a place remains for cognitive processes to second-guess intuitive responses – that is, to be reflective – and individual differences abound in automatic, intuitive processing as well.

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Two Short Tests Fail to Detect Vigilance Decrements

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027//1015-5759.17.1.48 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 48-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Juan Botella ◽

María José Contreras ◽

Pei-Chun Shih ◽

Víctor Rubio

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

High Performance ◽

Selection Process ◽

Vigilance Task ◽

Air Traffic Controllers ◽

Job Selection ◽

Performance Deterioration ◽

Short Test ◽

Psychological Dimensions

Summary: Deterioration in performance associated with decreased ability to sustain attention may be found in long and tedious task sessions. The necessity for assessing a number of psychological dimensions in a single session often demands “short” tests capable of assessing individual differences in abilities such as vigilance and maintenance of high performance levels. In the present paper two tasks were selected as candidates for playing this role, the Abbreviated Vigilance Task (AVT) by Temple, Warm, Dember, LaGrange and Matthews (1996) and the Continuous Attention Test (CAT) by Tiplady (1992) . However, when applied to a sample of 829 candidates in a job-selection process for air-traffic controllers, neither of them showed discriminative capacity. In a second study, an extended version of the CAT was applied to a similar sample of 667 subjects, but also proved incapable of properly detecting individual differences. In short, at least in a selection context such as that studied here, neither of the tasks appeared appropriate for playing the role of a “short” test for discriminating individual differences in performance deterioration in sustained attention.

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Individual Differences in the Name Similarity Effect

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000133 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 111-118

Author(s):

Daniel J. Howard ◽

Roger A. Kerin

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Impression Management ◽

Interactive Effect ◽

Purchase Intentions ◽

Brand Attitude ◽

Self Monitoring ◽

Similarity Effect ◽

And Behavior ◽

Usage Context

The name similarity effect is the tendency to like people, places, and things with names similar to our own. Although many researchers have examined name similarity effects on preferences and behavior, no research to date has examined whether individual differences exist in susceptibility to those effects. This research reports the results of two experiments that examine the role of self-monitoring in moderating name similarity effects. In the first experiment, name similarity effects on brand attitude and purchase intentions were found to be stronger for respondents high, rather than low, in self-monitoring. In the second experiment, the interactive effect observed in the first study was found to be especially true in a public (vs. private) usage context. These findings are consistent with theoretical expectations of name similarity effects as an expression of egotism manifested in the image and impression management concerns of high self-monitors.

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The Role of Distress Disclosure Tendencies in the Experience and Expression of Laboratory-Induced Sadness

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000222 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 55-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jeffrey H. Kahn ◽

Daniel W. Cox ◽

A. Myfanwy Bakker ◽

Julia I. O’Loughlin ◽

Agnieszka M. Kotlarczyk

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Negative Emotion ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Laboratory Research ◽

Emotion Words ◽

Distress Disclosure ◽

Computerized Text Analysis

Abstract. The benefits of talking with others about unpleasant emotions have been thoroughly investigated, but individual differences in distress disclosure tendencies have not been adequately integrated within theoretical models of emotion. The purpose of this laboratory research was to determine whether distress disclosure tendencies stem from differences in emotional reactivity or differences in emotion regulation. After completing measures of distress disclosure tendencies, social desirability, and positive and negative affect, 84 participants (74% women) were video recorded while viewing a sadness-inducing film clip. Participants completed post-film measures of affect and were then interviewed about their reactions to the film; these interviews were audio recorded for later coding and computerized text analysis. Distress disclosure tendencies were not predictive of the subjective experience of emotion, but they were positively related to facial expressions of sadness and happiness. Distress disclosure tendencies also predicted judges’ ratings of the verbal disclosure of emotion during the interview, but self-reported disclosure and use of positive and negative emotion words were not associated with distress disclosure tendencies. The authors present implications of this research for integrating individual differences in distress disclosure with models of emotion.

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Individual Differences in Mental Rotation

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000184 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 164-171 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Peter Khooshabeh ◽

Mary Hegarty ◽

Thomas F. Shipley

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Mental Rotation ◽

Response Times ◽

Task Demands ◽

Mental Rotation Task ◽

Imagery Ability ◽

Alternative Strategies

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that imagery ability and figural complexity interact to affect the choice of mental rotation strategies. Participants performed the Shepard and Metzler (1971) mental rotation task. On half of the trials, the 3-D figures were manipulated to create “fragmented” figures, with some cubes missing. Good imagers were less accurate and had longer response times on fragmented figures than on complete figures. Poor imagers performed similarly on fragmented and complete figures. These results suggest that good imagers use holistic mental rotation strategies by default, but switch to alternative strategies depending on task demands, whereas poor imagers are less flexible and use piecemeal strategies regardless of the task demands.

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