The Relationship Between Shape Perception Accuracy and Drawing Ability.

Accurate shape perception is critical for object perception, identification, manipulation, and recreation. Humans are capable of making judgements of both objective (physical) and projective (retinal) shape. Objective judgements benefit from a global approach by incorporating context to overcome the effects of viewing angle on an object’s shape, whereas projective judgements benefit from a local approach to filter out contextual information. Realistic drawing skill requires projective judgements of 3D targets to accurately depict 3D shape on a 2D surface, thus benefiting from a local approach. The current study used a shape perception task that comprehensively tests the effects of context on shape perception, in conjunction with a drawing task and several measures of local processing bias, to show that the perceptual basis of drawing skill in neurotypical adults is not due to a local processing bias but to perceptual flexibility, the ability to process local or global information as needed.

EXPRESS: Drawing Individual Images Benefits Recognition Accuracy in the DRM Paradigm

We examined the effects of drawing on correct and false recognition within the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory paradigm. In Experiment 1, we compared drawing of a word’s referent using either a standard black pencil or colored pencils relative to a read-only control group. Relative to reading, drawing in either black or colored pencil similarly boosted correct recognition and reduced false recognition. Signal-detection analyses indicated that drawing reduced the amount of encoded memory information for critical lures and increased monitoring, indicating that both processes contributed to the false recognition reduction. Experiment 2 compared drawing of individual images of DRM list items relative to drawing integrated images using sets of DRM list items. False recognition was lower for drawing of individual images relative to integrated images—a pattern that reflected a decrease in encoded memory information but not monitoring. Therefore, drawing individual images improves memory accuracy in the DRM paradigm relative to a standard read-control task and an integrated drawing task, which we argue is due to the recruitment of item-specific processing.

Effects of Counter-Stereotypes Cognitive Training on Aging Stereotypes in 12– to 13-Year Olds

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of counter-stereotypes cognitive training on adolescents’ aging stereotypes and to further investigate the best training method to intervene in aging stereotypes by comparing the effect of single and multiple intervention training methods on aging stereotypes and their retention effects. Three experiments examined the different intervention outcomes of different counter-stereotypes cognitive training on adolescent aging stereotypes. The study used a randomized block group experimental design and recruited a total of 183 middle school students for testing. Experiment 1 verified the effect of counter-stereotypes cognitive training by taking a single training task (evaluative conditioning technique), randomly assigning subjects to different conditions (training task or unrelated drawing task), and administering a follow-up test 24h after the posttest. Experiment 2a compared the effects of multiple versus single cognitive training, where we took multiple (adding the counter-stereotypes situational storytelling method) versus single training tasks and administered a follow-up test 72h after the posttest. Experiment 2b increased the number of training sessions based on Experiment 2a, with a second intervention training 72h after the end of the posttest and a follow-up test 72h after the second training. Experimental results suggest that evaluative conditioning techniques are effective in weakening subjects’ aging stereotypes, but are less effective in maintaining them. Compared to a single training task, multi-tasking is more effective and the effects of the intervention are maintained for up to a week by increasing the number of training sessions.

Screening of Parkinson’s Disease Using Geometric Features Extracted from Spiral Drawings

Conventional means of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) screening rely on qualitative tests typically administered by trained neurologists. Tablet technologies that enable data collection during handwriting and drawing tasks may provide low-cost, portable, and instantaneous quantitative methods for high-throughput PD screening. However, past efforts to use data from tablet-based drawing processes to distinguish between PD and control populations have demonstrated only moderate classification ability. Focusing on digitized drawings of Archimedean spirals, the present study utilized data from the open-access ParkinsonHW dataset to improve existing PD drawing diagnostic pipelines. Random forest classifiers were constructed using previously documented features and highly-predictive, newly-proposed features that leverage the many unique mathematical characteristics of the Archimedean spiral. This approach yielded an AUC of 0.999 on the particular dataset we tested on, and more importantly identified interpretable features with good promise for generalization across diverse patient cohorts. It demonstrated the potency of mathematical relationships inherent to the drawing shape and the usefulness of sparse feature sets and simple models, which further enhance interpretability, in the face of limited sample size. The results of this study also inform suggestions for future drawing task design and data analytics (feature extraction, shape selection, task diversity, drawing templates, and data sharing).

Haplets: Finger-Worn Wireless and Low-Encumbrance Vibrotactile Haptic Feedback for Virtual and Augmented Reality

We introduce Haplets, a wearable, low-encumbrance, finger-worn, wireless haptic device that provides vibrotactile feedback for hand tracking applications in virtual and augmented reality. Haplets are small enough to fit on the back of the fingers and fingernails while leaving the fingertips free for interacting with real-world objects. Through robust physically-simulated hands and low-latency wireless communication, Haplets can render haptic feedback in the form of impacts and textures, and supplements the experience with pseudo-haptic illusions. When used in conjunction with handheld tools, such as a pen, Haplets provide haptic feedback for otherwise passive tools in virtual reality, such as for emulating friction and pressure-sensitivity. We present the design and engineering for the hardware for Haplets, as well as the software framework for haptic rendering. As an example use case, we present a user study in which Haplets are used to improve the line width accuracy of a pressure-sensitive pen in a virtual reality drawing task. We also demonstrate Haplets used during manipulation of objects and during a painting and sculpting scenario in virtual reality. Haplets, at the very least, can be used as a prototyping platform for haptic feedback in virtual reality.

Adaptive Coordinated Motion Constraint Control for Cooperative Multi-manipulator Systems

A cooperative multi-manipulator system is a nonlinear, time-varying, strong coupling system with multiple inputs and outputs. Because of external disturbance, load change and other factors, a cooperative multi-manipulator system needs to address the problems of uncertain environment interaction, feasible control methods and coordinated planning. In this study, the coordinated motion of a multi-manipulator is divided into two types: coupling and superposition motions. An adaptive coordinated motion constraint scheme is proposed for the two different motion forms. The coupled and superposition motions were investigated by coordinating a carrying task and a circle drawing task, respectively, and the effectiveness of the adaptive coordinated motion scheme was verified. Based on the adaptive kinematics constraint algorithm of the multi-manipulator, co-simulation analysis of the multi-manipulator coordinated motion is conducted. Simulation results show that the multi-manipulator preserves the coordination relationship at all points of the trajectory planning path and has a good motion effect. Finally, an experimental platform for a cooperative multi-manipulator system was built to conduct experimental research on the coordinated motion of the multi-manipulator. Experimental results show that the proposed adaptive motion constraint control scheme for cooperative multi-manipulator systems has a good coordination effect, strong adaptivity and high-control precision.

Kuhu suundub püsivus? Verbidega jääma ja jätma väljendatud sündmuste kujutamine katses

Kokkuvõte. Uurimus põhineb autorite välja töötatud joonistamise ja häälega mõtlemise katse tulemustel. Katses paluti katseisikutel (21 eesti keelt emakeelena kõnelejat) kujutada ja selgitada katse läbiviijale 24 verbi suunda (näiteks nooltega). Selles artiklis esitame täpsemalt neist kahe – jääma ja jätma – analüüsi. Verb jätma on jääma kausatiivtuletis. See mõjutab ka nende tähenduserinevust – jääma on passiivsem, jätma aga aktiivsem ja agenti rõhutav. Katseisikute kujutiste ja selgituste põhjal kirjeldame, milline oli noolte suund kujutistel ja millistest elementidest koosneb mõlema uuritava verbi skeem. Selgus, et katseisikud kujutasid verbi jätma suunda nooltega, verbi jääma oli kujutatud pigem punktide, täppide, ringide või kaarjate joontega. Kujutistel ja selgitustes avaldusid ka tüüpilised skeemi osalised: JÄÄJA, JÄTJA ja JÄETU. Mõlema verbi tegevuse aega kujutati ja selgitati minevikulisusega. Sarnane on ka nende verbide mõistemetafoorsus: mõlemad kajastavad pigem negatiivset hinnangut. Verbi jääma tähenduses on olulisel kohal see, et potentsiaalne muutus ei toimu. Verb jätma väljendab aga seda, et potentsiaalse muutuse mittetoimumine põhjustatakse. Abstract. Ilona Tragel, Jane Klavan: The direction and participants of the events expressed by the verbs jääma and jätma: a drawing experiment. We use an innovative experimental design to extract the regularities of the general conceptual structure from the speakers’ mind: a drawing task with a thinkaloud protocol. 21 native speakers of Estonian provided schematic representations of 20 experimental verbs and 4 control verbs. Our discussion focuses on jääma ‘stay, remain’ and jätma ‘leave something somewhere’. jääma typically expresses intransitive events and jätma transitive events. We zoom in on the following topics: transitivity and causativity, the positive/negative evaluation of the activity, the schematic representation of the direction of verbs and the elements belonging to the verb schema. Our study shows that the differences in the transitivity of the two verbs are reflected in the drawings and explanations given by the participants. Our results confirm the general prediction that abstract verbs have an image-schematic direction, but the specifics of the direction vary according to the type of verb.

Drawing Direction Effect on a Task’s Performance Characteristics among People with Essential Tremor

Essential tremor (ET) is a common movement disorder affecting the performance of various daily tasks, including drawing. While spiral-drawing task characteristics have been described among patients with ET, research about the significance of the drawing direction of both spiral and lines tasks on the performance process is scarce. This study mapped inter-group differences between people with ET and controls related to drawing directions and the intra-effect of the drawing directions on the tremor level among people with ET. Twenty participants with ET and eighteen without ET drew spirals and vertical and horizontal lines on a digitizer with an inking pen. Time-based outcome measures were gathered to address the effect of the drawing directions on tremor by analyzing various spiral sections and comparing vertical and horizontal lines. Significant group differences were found in deviation of the spiral radius from a filtered radius curve and in deviation of the distance curve from a filtered curve for both line types. Significant differences were found between defined horizontal and vertical spiral sections within each group and between both line types within the ET group. A significant correlation was found between spiral and vertical line deviations from filtered curve outcome measures. Achieving objective measures about the significance of drawing directions on actual performance may support the clinical evaluation of people with ET toward developing future intervention methods for improving their functional abilities.

Clinical Teaching as a Challenge in Transforming the Nursing Profession in Estonia

The changes in European healthcare education, building on the Bologna Process, aimed at the integration of clinical work and teaching and promoted a holistic patient and learner-centred professional paradigm. The article, based on the findings of two qualitative studies (2017–2019), focuses on the transformation of the nursing profession in the context of the Estonian healthcare curriculum reform. Thematic written interviews accompanied by a drawing task were collected from clinical nurse teachers and graduating students. The data was analysed using hermeneutic content and comparative analysis. The findings showed that the students had internalised the patient-centred paradigm and integrated teaching into their clinical work, but their learning was hampered by the institutional atmosphere dominated by clinical values. Among the nurses, only the “ideal clinical teachers” had combined clinical work and teaching in their professional paradigm. The tensions in the clinical internship limit the attainment of the reformed profession.

Map Learning in Aging Individuals: The Role of Cognitive Functioning and Visuospatial Factors

Aging coincides with a decline in map learning ability, but it is unclear to what extent different aspects of the mental representation are susceptible. The present study aimed to investigate knowledge about landmarks, their positions and distances (categorical and distance relations, respectively) in relation to aging as well as cognitive functioning (measured with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment [MoCA]), visuospatial abilities, and self-reported wayfinding inclinations. Thirty young adults and 60 older adults (30 aged 63–74 and 30 aged 75–86) learned a map, freely recalled the landmarks and performed a map drawing task (considering the number of landmarks missing, position accuracy and distance accuracy). Before that, older participants were also assessed regarding their general cognitive functioning (MoCA) and a series of visuospatial measures. The results show age-related differences among adults in recalling landmarks and in both categorical and distance relations, with a worsening of performance of old-olds only in the former. Older adults’ MoCA score related to accuracy in the three measures, and an additional role of spatial anxiety was found for distance accuracy. Above and beyond the age-related decline, the quality of older people’s spatial mental representation is related to higher general cognitive level and lower spatial anxiety.