Do Real-Time Strategy Video Gamers Have Better Attentional Control?

Objective Do real-time strategy (RTS) video gamers have better attentional control? To examine this issue, we tested experienced versus inexperienced RTS video gamers on multi-object tracking tasks (MOT) and dual-MOT tasks with visual or auditory secondary tasks (dMOT). We employed a street-crossing task with a visual working memory task as a secondary task in a virtual reality (VR) environment to examine any generalized attentional advantage. Background Similar to action video games, RTS video games require players to switch attention between multiple visual objects and views. However, whether the attentional control advantage is limited by sensory modalities or generalizes to real-life tasks remains unclear. Method In study 1, 25 RTS video game players (SVGP) and 25 non-video game players (NVGP) completed the MOT task and two dMOT tasks. In study 2, a different sample with 25 SVGP and 25 NVGP completed a simulated street-crossing task with the visual dual task in a VR environment. Results After controlling the effects of the speed-accuracy trade-off, SVGP showed better performance than NVGP in the MOT task and the visual dMOT task, but SVGP did not perform better in either the auditory dMOT task or the street-crossing task. Conclusion RTS video gamers had better attentional control in visual computer tasks, but not in the auditory tasks and the VR tasks. Attentional control benefits associated with RTS video game experience may be limited by sensory modalities, and may not translate to performance benefits in real-life tasks.

Benchmarking cEEGrid and Solid Gel-Based Electrodes to Classify Inattentional Deafness in a Flight Simulator

Transfer from experiments in the laboratory to real-life tasks is challenging due notably to the inability to reproduce the complexity of multitasking dynamic everyday life situations in a standardized lab condition and to the bulkiness and invasiveness of recording systems preventing participants from moving freely and disturbing the environment. In this study, we used a motion flight simulator to induce inattentional deafness to auditory alarms, a cognitive difficulty arising in complex environments. In addition, we assessed the possibility of two low-density EEG systems a solid gel-based electrode Enobio (Neuroelectrics, Barcelona, Spain) and a gel-based cEEGrid (TMSi, Oldenzaal, Netherlands) to record and classify brain activity associated with inattentional deafness (misses vs. hits to odd sounds) with a small pool of expert participants. In addition to inducing inattentional deafness (missing auditory alarms) at much higher rates than with usual lab tasks (34.7% compared to the usual 5%), we observed typical inattentional deafness-related activity in the time domain but also in the frequency and time-frequency domains with both systems. Finally, a classifier based on Riemannian Geometry principles allowed us to obtain more than 70% of single-trial classification accuracy for both mobile EEG, and up to 71.5% for the cEEGrid (TMSi, Oldenzaal, Netherlands). These results open promising avenues toward detecting cognitive failures in real-life situations, such as real flight.

A Fuzzy Version of the TOPSIS Method in Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Tasks

Choice and decision making are an integral part of the purposeful activities of people in all areas of public and private life. Tasks of multi-criteria decision making are characterised by the fact that alternative decisions are evaluated by a set of criteria and the concept of a decision and its outcome coincide. The defining concept in such problems is the concept of a set of Pareto optimal decisions (Pareto set). This set forms alternative decisions that are not comparable in terms of the set of evaluation criteria. The choice of the optimal decision in the Pareto set can be performed only on the basis of the subjective preferences of the decision maker. In recent decades, extensions of traditional methods of multi-criteria decision making to a fuzzy environment have been proposed. One of the well-known approaches to multi-criteria decision making is the TOPSIS method. In the paper, a fuzzy version of this method is considered in situations where the values of evaluation criteria are set in the form of fuzzy numbers.

Benchmarking cEEGrid and solid gel-based electrodes to classify inattentional deafness in a flight simulator

Transfer from experiments in laboratory to real-life tasks is challenging due notably to the inability to reproduce the complexity of multitasking dynamic everyday life situations in a standardized lab condition, and to the bulkiness and invasiveness of recording systems preventing participants from moving freely and disturbing the environment. Here we used a motion flight simulator to induce inattentional deafness to auditory alarms, a cognitive difficulty arising in complex environments. In addition, we assessed the possibility of two low-density EEG systems (a solid gel-based electrode Enobio (Neuroelectrics, Barcelona, Spain) and a gel-based cEEGrid (TMSi, Oldenzaal, Netherlands)) to record and classify brain activity associated with inattentional deafness (misses vs. hits to odd sounds) with a small pool of expert participants. In addition to inducing inattentional deafness (missing auditory alarms) at much higher rates than with usual lab tasks (34.7% compared to the usual 5%), we observed typical inattentional deafness-related activity in the time domain, but also in the frequency and time-frequency domains with both systems. Finally, a classifier based on Riemannian Geometry principles allowed us to obtain more than 70% of single-trial classification accuracy for both mobile EEG, and up to 72.9% for the cEEGrid (TMSi, Oldenzaal, Netherlands). These results open promising avenue towards detecting cognitive failures in real-life situations, such as real flight.

Using ClassCraft to Improve Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Interest in Sustainable Mobility

Teaching students awareness about sustainable mobility has been lacking to date. There is a need to expand the themes being addressed in order to achieve a change in attitude. Society needs to design a curriculum that teaches about sustainable mobility to guarantee a better environment for future generations. This article presents the most important results of an experiment based on gamification to promote the education of sustainable mobility in primary school classrooms. This new teaching method, aimed at children aged 10–12 years old, applies non-gambling play metaphors to real-life tasks to motivate a change in attitude. The didactic approach was developed using the ClassCraft platform to create specific activities that consider the environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainable mobility. The initial analysis revealed a perception about sustainable mobility that focused on environmental problems with very little input on the economic and social aspects. The experience has shown that by using the gamified ClassCraft tool applying structured activities about all aspects of sustainable mobility, the pupils acquired new concepts that clarified the social and economic components and began to develop a conscience about how to become an active part in behavioural change.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN ACTIVITY-BASED APPROACH TO TEACHING THE PAST TENSE IN MEDICAL ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

The present paper explores the methods for effective mastering the past tense relying on an activity-based approach following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The aim of the research is to facilitate the teaching and revising the grammar material on the past simple (indefinite) tense, the past continuous (progressive) tense, and the past perfect tense in the process of training undergraduates, Ph.D. students, academic and clinical teachers at a medical university. The results of the research have been integrated into the 1st edition of “Medical English for Academic Purposes” (2018) and “Medical English for Public Health Purposes” (2021). The authors developed the methodological mechanisms to support courses in professional English at higher medical educational institutions through an activity-based approach, which ensures the effective acquisition of a foreign language, promotes the formation of a linguistic personality capable not only of communicating in all areas, but also of successful integration into the international community. The paper provides a wide range of scaffolding activities and methods: using visuals (graphic organizers, charts, etc.), selecting historically meaningful texts, peer-to-peer talk, strategic pairings, “real-life tasks” and modelling situations, the “fishbowl” model and others. The suggested methodological algorithm is feasible for both oral and written communication, reading and listening comprehension activities, group work, individual and self-directed work in class, as well as for in-class or self-paced learning, depending on the features of the curriculum and students’ English proficiency. The receptive aspect of teaching is represented by read-and-translate exercises, targeted texts describing significant events in the history of medicine, as well as true-false exercises to check students’ comprehension. Meanwhile, the reproductive aspect of teaching covers exercises involving opening the brackets, filling the blanks, as well as creating negative and interrogative forms of verbs. Eventually, the productive aspect of teaching is ensured by a wide range of creative speaking and writing activities and “real-life tasks”, aimed at developing students’ communicative competence in English for Professional Purposes (in-class speaking activities (peer-to-peer talk, class discussion). In addition, collecting family history is yet another pragmatically feasible task to revise and study past tenses. The application of an activity-based approach to teaching the past tenses at a medical university is highly effective to foster essential job-related skills, experience and professional readiness. The authors believe that this, in turn, will promote academic mobility and scientific cooperation, thus contributing to the development of higher medical education in Ukraine, which renders the research relevant.

Self-Management of Daily Life Tasks for Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Intellectual Disability

Date Presented 04/13/21 The Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory–Computer Adaptive Test-ASD (PEDI): Responsibility Scale targets limitations in managing daily life tasks. Adolescents (ages 14–22) with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability (N = 125) performed below expectations based on their intellectual level on the PEDI. Eighty-six percent of youth demonstrated borderline or significant delays in management of life tasks. If unaddressed, this challenge may create significant barriers to success in work and independent living. Primary Author and Speaker: Elizabeth Munsell Additional Authors and Speakers: Joshua Wenig, Hannah Cooper Contributing Authors: Alexandra Gunther, Julie Russell, Jordan McNamee, and Samantha Martel

Aligning artificial intelligence with human values: reflections from a phenomenological perspective

Artificial Intelligence (AI) must be directed at humane ends. The development of AI has produced great uncertainties of ensuring AI alignment with human values (AI value alignment) through AI operations from design to use. For the purposes of addressing this problem, we adopt the phenomenological theories of material values and technological mediation to be that beginning step. In this paper, we first discuss the AI value alignment from the relevant AI studies. Second, we briefly present what are material values and technological mediation and reflect on the AI value alignment through the lenses of these theories. We conclude that a set of finite human values can be defined and adapted to the stable life tasks that AI systems will be called upon to accomplish. The AI value alignment can also be fostered between designers and users through technological mediation. Upon that foundation, we propose a set of common principles to understand the AI value alignment through phenomenological theories. This paper contributes the unique knowledge of phenomenological theories to the discourse on AI alignment with human values.