scholarly journals Interactivity And Mental Arithmetic: Coupling Mind And World Transforms And Enhances Performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa G. Guthrie ◽  
Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau

AbstractInteractivity has been linked to better performance in problem solving, due in part to a more efficient allocation of attentional resources, a better distribution of cognitive load, but perhaps more important by enabling the reasoner to shape and reshape the physical problem presentation to promote the development of the problem solution. Interactivity in solving quotidian arithmetic problems involves gestures, pointing, and the recruitment of artefacts to facilitate computation and augment efficiency. In the experiment reported here, different types of interactivity were examined with a series of mental arithmetic problems. Using a repeated-measures design, participants solved series of five 11-digit sums in four conditions that varied in the type of interactivity: (i) no interactivity (participants solved the problems with their hands on the table top), (ii) pointing (participants could point at the numbers), (iii) pen and paper (participants could note interim totals with a pen), and (iv) tokens (the sums were presented as 11 numbered tokens the arrangement of which participants were free to modify as they proceeded to the solution). Performance in the four conditions was measured in terms of accuracy, calculation error, and efficiency (a ratio composed of the proportion correct over the proportion of time invested in working on the sums). These quantitative analyses were supplemented by a detailed qualitative examination of a participant’s actions in the different conditions. The integration of artefacts, such as tokens or a pen, offered reasoners the opportunity to reconfigure the physical presentation of the problem, enacting different arithmetic strategies: the affordance landscape shifts as the problem trajectory is enacted through interactivity, and this generally produced better “mental” arithmetic performance. Participants also felt more positive about and better engaged with the task when they could reconfigure the problem presentation through interactivity. These findings underscore the importance of engineering task environments in the laboratory that offer a window on how problem solving unfolds through a coalition of mental and physical resources.

2019 ◽  
Vol 170 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-276
Author(s):  
Nicole Ziegler ◽  
Huy Phung

Abstract This exploratory study examines the extent to which mode differentially impacts the quantity and quality of interactional features in second language (L2) task-based interaction. Following a within-subject, repeated measures design, intermediate adult learners (n = 20) completed four (counter-balanced) tasks with a confederate interlocutor in the following conditions: audio-chat, video-chat, text-chat, and multimodal chat (in which participants could interact using more than one form of communication). Quantitative analyses examined the quality of learners’ interactions, including negotiation, recasts, and LREs. Data regarding learners’ perceptions of type of technology were also collected to provide a more holistic perspective. The results demonstrate differences in terms of interactional features and learners’ preference based on mode of technology.


1968 ◽  
Vol 22 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1081-1090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Hoge ◽  
John T. Lanzetta

The experiment was designed to examine the effects on subjective uncertainty of variations in response uncertainty and amount of information and to explore the relationship between two indices of subjective uncertainty, confidence in decision and decision time. 18 Ss were exposed to a 4-factor repeated measures design involving 6 levels of response uncertainty, 2 levels of ‘unknown information’, 2 levels of ‘known information’, and 2 orders of problem presentation. Confidence in decision was significantly affected by response uncertainty, ‘unknown information’, ‘known information’, and the interaction of the 2 information conditions. Decision time was significantly affected by response uncertainty and ‘known information.’


Author(s):  
Fei-Ling Wu ◽  
Chia-Hung Lin ◽  
Chia-Ling Lin ◽  
Jyuhn-Huarng Juang

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a hypoglycemia problem-solving program (HPSP) on problem-solving ability and glycemic control in diabetics with hypoglycemia. This was a prospective, quasi-experimental study with two groups, using a pre- and post-repeated measures design. A total of 71 diabetic patients with hypoglycemia were purposively assigned to an experimental group (n = 34) and a control group (n = 37). The experimental group participated in an 8-week HPSP, and each weekly session lasted approximately 90 min, while the control group received usual care. Participants were assessed at baseline, 1, 3, and 6 months after intervention care. In the experimental group, 6 months after the HPSP intervention, HbA1c was superior to that before the intervention. In both groups, the score obtained using the hypoglycemia problem-solving scale (HPSS) was low before the intervention. In the experimental group, HPSS tracking improved at all stages after the intervention compared to before the intervention. In the control group, the HPSS score improved slightly in the first month and sixth months after usual care. There were significant differences between and within groups in HbA1c levels and HPSS score over time. The intervention based on the HPSP effectively improves HbA1c level and hypoglycemia problem-solving ability in patients with hypoglycemia.


1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Michael Reed ◽  
David B. Palumbo

In this study twelve undergraduate students were exposed to sixteen weeks of BASIC instruction. A repeated measures design was set up to measure changes in problem solving and computer anxiety at the 0-week, 4-week, 9-week, and 16-week intervals. Language competency measures were also collected and related to problem solving. Results include a significant increase in problem-solving skills from pretreatment to posttreatment, with the greatest increase occurring during the 4-week to 16-week interval. Related to this finding was a significant decrease in computer anxiety from pretreatment to posttreatment, with the greatest decrease occurring during the 0-week to 4-week interval. Based on these two findings, we have inferred that student programmers need first to accommodate system-related anxiety before they can adequately learn features of the BASIC programming language that affect problem solving. We also related problem-solving skills and language competency measures and found significant, positive correlations—that is, those who performed better when using the language, via a midterm test on BASIC, an instructional piece of software they developed, and final course grade, also scored higher on the problem-solving instruments. These findings strongly suggest a link between language competency and problem solving.


1994 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Antonietti ◽  
Paola Cerana ◽  
Laura Scafidi

Three experiments were carried out to study the effects on problem solving of visualization when subjects (secondary-school students and undergraduates) were instructed to generate mental images before the problem was presented and when they received such a hint after being given the problem. In each experiment an arithmetic, a geometric, and a practical problem were presented in three different conditions, a control condition, an “imagery-before” condition, and an “imagery-after” condition. Analysis showed that, in general, the “imagery-after” task helps subjects to overcome the misleading or fixating tendencies which interfere with problem solution; in contrast, the “imagery-before” task may enhance such tendencies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wangbing Shen ◽  
Yuan Yuan ◽  
Chaoying Tang ◽  
Chunhua Shi ◽  
Chang Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract. A considerable number of behavioral and neuroscientific studies on insight problem solving have revealed behavioral and neural correlates of the dynamic insight process; however, somatic correlates, particularly somatic precursors of creative insight, remain undetermined. To characterize the somatic precursor of spontaneous insight, 22 healthy volunteers were recruited to solve the compound remote associate (CRA) task in which a problem can be solved by either an insight or an analytic strategy. The participants’ peripheral nervous activities, particularly electrodermal and cardiovascular responses, were continuously monitored and separately measured. The results revealed a greater skin conductance magnitude for insight trials than for non-insight trials in the 4-s time span prior to problem solutions and two marginally significant correlations between pre-solution heart rate variability (HRV) and the solution time of insight trials. Our findings provide the first direct evidence that spontaneous insight in problem solving is a somatically peculiar process that is distinct from the stepwise process of analytic problem solving and can be represented by a special somatic precursor, which is a stronger pre-solution electrodermal activity and a correlation between problem solution time and certain HRV indicators such as the root mean square successive difference (RMSSD).


Methodology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Livacic-Rojas ◽  
Guillermo Vallejo ◽  
Paula Fernández ◽  
Ellián Tuero-Herrero

Abstract. Low precision of the inferences of data analyzed with univariate or multivariate models of the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) in repeated-measures design is associated to the absence of normality distribution of data, nonspherical covariance structures and free variation of the variance and covariance, the lack of knowledge of the error structure underlying the data, and the wrong choice of covariance structure from different selectors. In this study, levels of statistical power presented the Modified Brown Forsythe (MBF) and two procedures with the Mixed-Model Approaches (the Akaike’s Criterion, the Correctly Identified Model [CIM]) are compared. The data were analyzed using Monte Carlo simulation method with the statistical package SAS 9.2, a split-plot design, and considering six manipulated variables. The results show that the procedures exhibit high statistical power levels for within and interactional effects, and moderate and low levels for the between-groups effects under the different conditions analyzed. For the latter, only the Modified Brown Forsythe shows high level of power mainly for groups with 30 cases and Unstructured (UN) and Autoregressive Heterogeneity (ARH) matrices. For this reason, we recommend using this procedure since it exhibits higher levels of power for all effects and does not require a matrix type that underlies the structure of the data. Future research needs to be done in order to compare the power with corrected selectors using single-level and multilevel designs for fixed and random effects.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Resti Tito Villarino ◽  
Christopher Arcay ◽  
Maria Concepcion Temblor

BACKGROUND Hypertension is a serious health issue and a major cardiovascular disease and stroke risk factor. In hypertensive patients, various health educational models have been used to improve their lifestyle, but the findings are inconsistent. OBJECTIVE The study assessed the effects of a lifestyle intervention program using modified Beliefs, Attitude, Subjective Standards, Enabling Factors (BASNEF) model among non-adherent hypertensive respondents in relation to the introduction of a lifestyle intervention program in the management of hypertension. METHODS This is a quantitative quasi-experimental research particularly utilizing a repeated-measures design of within-subjects approach on the 50 non-adherent patients diagnosed with essential hypertension at Moalboal, Cebu, Philippines in 2019. The respondents received five sessions of trainings based on modified BASNEF model. The Morisky Medication Adherence instrument was used. The first phase included a demographic questionnaire and the last phase comprised the evaluation of the program. Frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations for descriptive statistics while t-test, repeated measures, ANOVA, and Pearson product moment correlation for inferential statistics. RESULTS The result indicated that the phase 1 mean (146.5) of the systolic readings differ significantly from the phase 4 mean (134.92) of the systolic readings. However, since these two means came from phases that were not consecutive, the result, as a whole, did not show a significant decrease or change when analyzed chronologically from one phase to the next. CONCLUSIONS The study has established that BASNEF model approach can be an effective BP management technique.


2020 ◽  
pp. 104973152098235
Author(s):  
Kuei-Min Chen ◽  
Hui-Fen Hsu ◽  
Li-Yen Yang ◽  
Chiang-Ching Chang ◽  
Yu-Ming Chen ◽  
...  

Purpose: This study aimed to test the effectiveness of High-Need Community-Dwelling Older Adults Care Delivery Model (HCOACDM) in Taiwan. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial with repeated measures design was conducted in eight community care centers, involving 145 high-need older adults who were assigned to the intervention group or comparison group. The HCOACDM was provided over 6 months. Functional ability, quality of life, depressive symptoms, and health care and social service utilizations were measured at baseline, at 3 months, and 6 months into the intervention. The participants’ satisfaction was measured at the end of 6-month intervention. Results: Positive effects were shown on all variables in the intervention group at both the 3-month and 6-month intervals (all p < .05). The intervention group had a higher satisfaction with care delivery than the comparison group ( p < .05). Discussion: The promising findings supported a long-term implementation of the HCOACDM as applicable and beneficial.


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