scholarly journals Tracking reading strategy utilisation through pupillometry

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Y. Wong ◽  
Jarrod Moss ◽  
Christian D. Schunn
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Norepinephrine System ◽  
Comprehension Tests

Explicit reading strategies help low-knowledge readers make the inferences necessary to comprehend expository texts. Self-explanation is a particularly effective strategy, but it is challenging to monitor how well a reader is applying self-explanation without requiring the reader to externalise the self-explanations being generated. Studies have shown that different reading strategies vary in the amount of cognitive control required as well as the engagement of brain regions involved in internally-directed attention. Pupil diameter is related to task engagement and cognitive control via the brain’s locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system. Therefore, pupil diameter could be a method to unobtrusively measure a reader’s use of self-explanation. The current study assessed whether pupil diameter can be used to distinguish between the use of different reading strategies and whether it is linked to the quality and effectiveness of the strategy in terms of learning gains. Participants reread, paraphrased, and self-explained texts while pupil diameter was recorded, and completed comprehension tests. Average pupil diameter differed between all three reading strategies, and pupil diameter was related to learning gains and the quality of strategy use. The results suggest that pupil diameter could be used to track effective reading strategy utilisation.

scholarly journals On the interrelation of 1/f neural noise and norepinephrine system activity during motor response inhibition

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 1633-1643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maik Pertermann ◽  
Moritz Mückschel ◽  
Nico Adelhöfer ◽  
Tjalf Ziemssen ◽  
Christian Beste
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Human Information Processing ◽  
System Activity ◽  
Neural Noise ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Norepinephrine System

Several lines of evidence suggest that there is a close interrelation between the degree of noise in neural circuits and the activity of the norepinephrine (NE) system, yet the precise nexus between these aspects is far from being understood during human information processing and cognitive control in particular. We examine this nexus during response inhibition in n = 47 healthy participants. Using high-density EEG recordings, we estimate neural noise by calculating “1/ f noise” of those data and integrate these EEG parameters with pupil diameter data as an established indirect index of NE system activity. We show that neural noise is reduced when cognitive control processes to inhibit a prepotent/automated response are exerted. These neural noise variations were confined to the theta frequency band, which has also been shown to play a central role during response inhibition and cognitive control. There were strong positive correlations between the 1 /f neural noise parameter and the pupil diameter data within the first 250 ms after the Nogo stimulus presentation at centro-parietal electrode sites. No such correlations were evident during automated responding on Go trials. Source localization analyses using standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography show that inferior parietal areas are activated in this time period in Nogo trials. The data suggest an interrelation of NE system activity and neural noise within early stages of information processing associated with inferior parietal areas when cognitive control processes are required. The data provide the first direct evidence for the nexus between NE system activity and the modulation of neural noise during inhibitory control in humans. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first study showing that there is a nexus between norepinephrine system activity and the modulation of neural noise or scale-free neural activity during inhibitory control in humans. It does so by integrating pupil diameter data with analysis of EEG neural noise.

scholarly journals Pupil dilation predicts individual success in emotion regulation and dietary self-control

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Maier ◽  
Marcus Grueschow
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Norepinephrine System ◽  
Individual Success

AbstractMultiple theories have proposed that increasing central arousal through the brain’s locus coeruleus – norepinephrine system may facilitate cognitive control and memory. However, for emotion research this hypothesis poses a puzzle, because conventionally, successful emotion regulation is associated with a decrease in arousal.Pupil diameter is a proxy to infer upon the central arousal state. We employed an emotion regulation paradigm with a combination of design features that allowed us to dissociate regulation- from stimulus-associated arousal in the pupil diameter time course of healthy adults. A pupil diameter increase during regulation predicted individual differences in emotion regulation success beyond task difficulty. Moreover, the extent of this individual arousal boost predicted performance in another self-control task, dietary health challenges. Participants who harnessed more regulation-associated arousal during emotion regulation were also more successful in choosing healthier foods. These results suggest that a common arousal-based facilitation mechanism may support an individual’s self-control across domains.

scholarly journals Inhibitory Control in the Absence of Awareness: Interactions Between Frontal and Motor Cortex Oscillations Mediate Implicitly Learned Responses

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia L. Isabella ◽  
J. Allan Cheyne ◽  
Douglas Cheyne
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Theta Activity ◽  
Theta Oscillations ◽  
Response Preparation ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Theta Power

Cognitive control of action is associated with conscious effort and is hypothesised to be reflected by increased frontal theta activity. However, the functional role of these increases in theta power, and how they contribute to cognitive control remains unknown. We conducted an MEG study to test the hypothesis that frontal theta oscillations interact with sensorimotor signals in order to produce controlled behaviour, and that the strength of these interactions will vary with the amount of control required. We measured neuromagnetic activity in 16 healthy adults performing a response inhibition (Go/Switch) task, known from previous work to modulate cognitive control requirements using hidden patterns of Go and Switch cues. Learning was confirmed by reduced reaction times (RT) to patterned compared to random Switch cues. Concurrent measures of pupil diameter revealed changes in subjective cognitive effort with stimulus probability, even in the absence of measurable behavioural differences, revealing instances of covert variations in cognitive effort. Significant theta oscillations were found in five frontal brain regions, with theta power in the right middle frontal and right premotor cortices parametrically increasing with cognitive effort. Similar increases in oscillatory power were also observed in motor cortical gamma, suggesting an interaction. Right middle frontal and right precentral theta activity predicted changes in pupil diameter across all experimental conditions, demonstrating a close relationship between frontal theta increases and cognitive control. Although no theta-gamma cross-frequency coupling was found, long-range theta phase coherence among the five significant sources between bilateral middle frontal, right inferior frontal, and bilateral premotor areas was found, thus providing a mechanism for the relay of cognitive control between frontal and motor areas via theta signalling. Furthermore, this provides the first evidence for the sensitivity of frontal theta oscillations to implicit motor learning and its effects on cognitive load. More generally these results present a possible a mechanism for this frontal theta network to coordinate response preparation, inhibition and execution.

scholarly journals Selective attention to question-relevant text information precedes high-quality summaries: Evidence from eye movements

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
José A. León ◽  
José David Moreno ◽  
Inmaculada Escudero ◽  
Johanna K. Kaakinen
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Text Information ◽  
Selective Processing

Comprehension and summarizing are closely related. As more strategic and selective processing during reading should be reflected in higher quality of summaries, the aim of this study was to use eye movement patterns to analyze how readers who produce good quality summaries process texts. 40 undergraduate students were instructed to read six expository texts in order to respond a causal question introduced in the end of the first paragraph. After reading, participants produced an oral summary of the text. Based on the quality of the summaries, participants were divided into three groups: High, Medium and Low Quality Summaries. The results revealed that readers who produced High Quality Summaries made significantly more and longer fixations and regressions in the question-relevant parts of texts when compared to the other two summary groups. These results suggest that the summary task performance could be a good predictor of the reading strategies utilized during reading.

• be able to apply a range of methods for breaking into secondary texts; • gain confidence in reading secondary texts. 6.2.1A reading strategy For each text located, decisions have to be made. • Is this text relevant? • Is it necessary to skim read and/or scan, and/or close read? • What is/are the argument(s) of the text? Vital decisions have to be taken about the reading. It is absolutely essential from the outset to have a plan for reading. Reading in the context of studying always implies reading for a purpose. The parameters of the problems before the reader have to be carefully thought out before commencing reading. Students may be given a problem question to research, or an essay to write. With both types of assessment activity, it is vital that the limits of the question are correctly identified by looking for clues in the grammar used to construct the question. For example, the facts of problem cases are often set in the areas between decided cases where there is an area of ‘unknown’, an area that the student is expected to talk about confidently. Competent identification of the issues from the outset often determines the quality of the answer before any creative writing has begun. These matters are explored in greater detail in Chapter 8. The care given to the reading of cases and statutory provisions has also to be brought to the reading of secondary explanatory, interpretative or evaluative texts. Reading with an idea of why the text is being read as well as with a view to what it is hoped to do with the extracted information will enable the student to read with a mixture of skimming strategies, detailed reading strategies and note-taking. The ‘why’ can be as simple as ‘I am reading to find out what this article is about’ through to ‘does this article support the argument that I am trying to construct?’. Many students, however, read blindly—‘This is on the reading list so I have to read it’. They do not fit their reading into a strategy: ‘Am I reading this for description, information or analysis?’ ‘Am I seeking to find out basic things about the topic or am I trying to support propositions in my argument?’ It is essential to develop a reading strategy. There are some basic steps which will be set out below. However, the most important issue to grasp is that reading can never be a purely passive act, because a writer always seeks to engage the reader in active dialogue with the text. No one writes in order not to be read, and no one wishes to be read passively without thought entering into the reading process. It is necessary to become aware of an inner dialogue between self and text as reading progresses, or to acquire an inner dialogue if one is not present! The reader should be continually processing, reflecting, considering, agreeing or disagreeing as reading is in progress. Readers should particularly note if other thoughts enter their head (like ‘what’s on TV?’!). If readers become frustrated with the text, the reading should stop and questions asked. Is the reader scared, threatened, annoyed with the text and, if so,

2012 ◽  
pp. 188-188
Keyword(s):  
Creative Writing ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Reading Process ◽  
Note Taking ◽  
Reading List ◽  
Assessment Activity ◽  
Inner Dialogue

Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel: Development and Testing of an Automated Reading Strategy Detection Algorithm for Postsecondary Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1257-1267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Kucheria ◽  
McKay Moore Sohlberg ◽  
Jason Prideaux ◽  
Stephen Fickas
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Expository Text ◽  
Reading Strategy ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
Expository Texts ◽  
Human Observer ◽  
Behavioral Strategies ◽  
Periodic Review ◽  
Wide Range

PurposeAn important predictor of postsecondary academic success is an individual's reading comprehension skills. Postsecondary readers apply a wide range of behavioral strategies to process text for learning purposes. Currently, no tools exist to detect a reader's use of strategies. The primary aim of this study was to develop Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel, an automated tool designed to detect reading strategy use and explore its accuracy in detecting strategies when students read digital, expository text.MethodAn iterative design was used to develop the computer algorithm for detecting 9 reading strategies. Twelve undergraduate students read 2 expository texts that were equated for length and complexity. A human observer documented the strategies employed by each reader, whereas the computer used digital sequences to detect the same strategies. Data were then coded and analyzed to determine agreement between the 2 sources of strategy detection (i.e., the computer and the observer).ResultsAgreement between the computer- and human-coded strategies was 75% or higher for 6 out of the 9 strategies. Only 3 out of the 9 strategies–previewing content, evaluating amount of remaining text, and periodic review and/or iterative summarizing–had less than 60% agreement.ConclusionRead, Understand, Learn, & Excel provides proof of concept that a reader's approach to engaging with academic text can be objectively and automatically captured. Clinical implications and suggestions to improve the sensitivity of the code are discussed.Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8204786

Musical Anhedonia

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-68
Author(s):  
Sara E. Holm ◽  
Alexander Schmidt ◽  
Christoph J. Ploner
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Brain Damage ◽  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Precise Information ◽  
Exact Localization ◽  
High Prevalence

Abstract. Some people, although they are perfectly healthy and happy, cannot enjoy music. These individuals have musical anhedonia, a condition which can be congenital or may occur after focal brain damage. To date, only a few cases of acquired musical anhedonia have been reported in the literature with lesions of the temporo-parietal cortex being particularly important. Even less literature exists on congenital musical anhedonia, in which impaired connectivity of temporal brain regions with the Nucleus accumbens is implicated. Nonetheless, there is no precise information on the prevalence, causes or exact localization of both congenital and acquired musical anhedonia. However, the frequent involvement of temporo-parietal brain regions in neurological disorders such as stroke suggest the possibility of a high prevalence of this disorder, which leads to a considerable reduction in the quality of life.

scholarly journals Antagonism between brain regions relevant for cognitive control and emotional memory facilitates the generation of humorous ideas

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Bitsch ◽  
Philipp Berger ◽  
Andreas Fink ◽  
Arne Nagels ◽  
Benjamin Straube ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Emotional Memory ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Frontal Brain ◽  
Successful Resolution ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe ability to generate humor gives rise to positive emotions and thus facilitate the successful resolution of adversity. Although there is consensus that inhibitory processes might be related to broaden the way of thinking, the neural underpinnings of these mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a humorous alternative uses task and a stroop task, to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying the emergence of humorous ideas in 24 subjects. Neuroimaging results indicate that greater cognitive control abilities are associated with increased activation in the amygdala, the hippocampus and the superior and medial frontal gyrus during the generation of humorous ideas. Examining the neural mechanisms more closely shows that the hypoactivation of frontal brain regions is associated with an hyperactivation in the amygdala and vice versa. This antagonistic connectivity is concurrently linked with an increased number of humorous ideas and enhanced amygdala responses during the task. Our data therefore suggests that a neural antagonism previously related to the emergence and regulation of negative affective responses, is linked with the generation of emotionally positive ideas and may represent an important neural pathway supporting mental health.

scholarly journals Learning As It Happens: A Decade of Analyzing and Shaping a Large-Scale Online Learning System

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu J. S. Brinkhuis ◽  
Alexander O. Savi ◽  
Abe D. Hofman ◽  
Frederik Coomans ◽  
Han L. J. Van der Maas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Learning Gains ◽  
Online Experimentation ◽  
Quality Of Fit ◽  
Item Reliability ◽  
Made In

With the advent of computers in education, and the ample availability of online learning and practice environments, enormous amounts of data on learning become available. The purpose of this paper is to present a decade of experience with analyzing and improving an online practice environment for math, which has thus far recorded over a billion responses. We present the methods we use to both steer and analyze this system in real-time, using scoring rules on accuracy and response times, a tailored rating system to provide both learners and items with current ability and difficulty ratings, and an adaptive engine that matches learners to items. Moreover, we explore the quality of fit by means of prediction accuracy and parallel item reliability. Limitations and pitfalls are discussed by diagnosing sources of misfit, like violations of unidimensionality and unforeseen dynamics. Finally, directions for development are discussed, including embedded learning analytics and a focus on online experimentation to evaluate both the system itself and the users’ learning gains. Though many challenges remain open, we believe that large steps have been made in providing methods to efficiently manage and research educational big data from a massive online learning system.

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