C.6 Action-Related Fixation in Microsuturing, a New Gaze Behavior Metric to Differentiate the Level of Expertise

Background: Gaze behavior differences between expert and novice surgeons have been established in previous studies mainly from the general surgery field.Limited information is available about surgeon’s visual attention during microsurgery procedures where surgical microscope is used. Methods: 4 experts and 3 novices performed 37 independent sutures under the surgical microscope.Eye movements of surgeons and scene video of the surgical performance were recorded.Total suturing time and subtask times were compared between level of expertise.We defined three discrete surgical actions and examined eye gaze (fixation) directly related to each of these actions.Fixation duration (measured by total,pre-action,and post-action duration) were compared between expert and novice, over 3 subtasks (piercing, exiting and cutting) and between pre- and post-action phases. Results: Expert surgeons completed the suture with shorter total time than novices.On average,expert displayed longer fixation time than novice.Experts also maintained their visual engagement constantly over the 3 level of subtask in comparison to novices who required a longer fixation time for the challenging subtask (piercing).Experts use longer pre- than post-action fixation, and this pattern is distributed over all three subtasks.This gaze engagement strategy was not shown in novices. Conclusions: The action-related fixation can be used to evaluate microsurgeons’ level of expertise and in surgical education for gaze training.

Is Student Dropout at University a Multi-Staged Process? A Phase-Orientated View on Quitting Studies and Changing Majors

Student dropout can be conceptualized as a motivated decision-making process, consisting of different phases. Based on previous literature on student dropout, decision-making, and action-phases, we proposed that the process of developing dropout intentions includes the following phases: non-fit perception, thoughts of quitting, deliberation, information search, and a final decision. In the present study, we empirically investigated if the assumed phases can be distinguished from each other, if the phases follow the presumed order, and whether each phase is associated with certain characteristics. Furthermore, we considered a strict separation between quitting studies completely and changing a major. For this purpose, we analysed data of N = 1,005 students (average age of 23.0 years; 53% female; 47% male) from a German University. By using confirmatory factor analyses, we found the supposed factor structure for the different phases concerning both kinds of dropout, quitting studies and changing majors. In each process, latent mean scores followed the presumed order. The factor values correlated to a substantial amount with an assortment of variables associated with student dropout. On a theoretical level, the conception of different phases of student dropout helps to get a better understanding of regulatory processes in the context of student dropout.

Time and reglamentary analysis during high level wheelchair basketball competition: training conclusions

Uno de los aspectos fundamentales para determinar la exigencia física en un deporte colectivo es el análisis de la duración de las acciones de juego, las pausas reglamentarias y su origen. Por ello, el objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar la incidencia de las fases de juego y de pausa en el baloncesto en silla de ruedas, así como la duración y frecuencia de los eventos que generan dichas pausas. Se realizó una observación sistemática con un instrumento de registro desarrollado ad hoc sobre un total de 24 partidos de BSR de alto nivel, en los que participaron 17 equipos. 56959 s fueron analizados, registrándose de media por partido de 4773±567 s, distribuidos en 80,5±14,2 fases de participación y 77±14,7 fases de pausa, siendo su duración 29±25 s y 30±39 s, respectivamente. El 47,1% de las fases de participación duraron menos de 20 s y solo el 11,8% duró más de 60 s. El 50,1% de las fases de pausa fue menor a 20 s y solo el 9,9% fue superior a 60 s. Las faltas personales y las fueras de banda fueron las incidencias reglamentarias que más pausas desencadenaron (85,4% del total). Estos datos proporcionan información crucial a los entrenadores para encuadrar el entrenamiento físico con el fin de replicar la exigencia específica del deporte del baloncesto en silla de ruedas de élite. One of the key factors while determining physical effort in a collective sport is the analysis of the duration of game actions, reglamentary pauses and their origin. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of the game and pause phases in wheelchair basketball, as well as the duration and frequency of events triggering those pauses. A systematic observation was carried using an ad hoc observational instrument on a total of 24 high level WB matches, where 17 teams participated. 56959 s were analyzed, with an average of 4773±567 s per game, distributed in 80.5±14.2 game action phases and 77±14.7 pause phases, being their duration 29±25 s and 30±39 s, respectively. 47,1% of game situations took less than 20 s and just the 11,8% took more than 60 s. The 50,1 % of the pause phases were shorter than 20 s and just the 9,9% was superior to 60 s. Personal faults and out of bounds were the regulation incidences which developed more pause phases (85,4% of the total). These data provide crucial information to the coaches to frame physical training in order to replicate sport specific exigency of elite wheelchair basketball.

PAG neurons encode a simplified action-selective signal during aggression

SummaryWhile the ventromedial hypothalamus, ventrolateral area (VMHvl) is now well established as a critical locus for the generation of conspecific aggression, its role is complex, with populations of neurons responding during the motivational, sensory, and action phases of aggression, and also during social interactions with the opposite sex. It has been previously unclear how the brain uses this complex multidimensional signal and generates a discrete action: the attack. Here we find that the largest posterior target of the VMHvl, the lateral periaqueductal gray (lPAG) encodes a simplified attack-selective signal during aggression. Single units in the lPAG exhibit greater selectivity for the attack action during aggression than VMHvl neurons and a subpopulation of neurons in the PAG exhibit short-latency, time-locked spiking relative to the activity of jaw muscles for biting during attack. In addition, channelrhodopsin assisted circuit mapping reveals a preferential projection from VMHvl glutamatergic cells to lPAG glutamatergic cells. Using projection-specific fiber photometry, we find that this excitatory projection conveys male-biased signals from the VMHvl to downstream glutamatergic PAG neurons that integrate ongoing male-related activity over several seconds, which suggests that action-selectivity is generated by a combination of both pre and postsynaptic filtering mechanisms.

Building team effectiveness through adaptation: Team knowledge and implicit and explicit coordination

We develop a theory of team adaptation that centers on team knowledge structures and coordination processes. Specifically, we explain that when a team’s task changes, there may be a disruption in the extent to which their team mental model (TMM) fits the current situation. Whether this is the case is likely to depend on team compositional factors, emergent states, and structural characteristics of the team. When there is a lack of correspondence between the TMM and the situation, this then requires a shift in the extent to which the team uses implicit or explicit coordination processes. We also explain that the team performance phase matters, such that during action phases, a prevalence of implicit coordination relative to explicit coordination results in greater effectiveness; during a transition phase, the opposite is likely. In this way, we address central questions in the field: what types of task changes require team adaptive response, what happens during the adaptation process, and how this influences team effectiveness over time.

Allocating moral responsibility to multiple agents

Moral and immoral actions often involve multiple individuals who play different roles in bringing about the outcome. For example, one agent may deliberate and decide what to do while another may plan and implement that decision. We suggest that the Mindset Theory of Action Phases provides a useful lens through which to understand these cases and the implications that these different roles, which correspond to different mindsets, have for judgments of moral responsibility. In Experiment 1, participants learned about a disastrous oil spill in which one company made decisions about a faulty oil rig, and another installed that rig. Participants judged the company who made decisions as more responsible than the company who implemented them. In Experiment 2 and a direct replication, we tested whether people judge implementers to be morally responsible at all. We examined a known asymmetry in blame and praise. Moral agents received blame for actions that resulted in a bad outcome but not praise for the same action that resulted in a good outcome. We found this asymmetry for deciders but not implementers, an indication that implementers were judged through a moral lens to a lesser extent than deciders. Implications for allocating moral responsibility across multiple agents are discussed.

Know Your Preferences: Self-Regulation as Need-Congruent Goal Selection

Theory and research on self-regulation is dominated by a social–cognitive perspective that places an emphasis on postdecisional (i.e., volitional) control processes of goal-maintenance in response to dual-motive conflict. In the current contribution, we focus on research on self-regulation that acknowledges the affective fundamentals of motivated action, and we highlight processes of goal selection as vital parts of self-regulation. From our perspective of motivational competence, affective and cognitive processes work together rather than oppose each other in self-regulation, rendering effortless rather than effortful goal pursuit as the hallmark of efficient human action. A precondition for such motive- and self-congruent goal pursuits is that individuals have insight into their basic preferences and (can) act accordingly. Therefore, we address capacities, such as mindfulness, which may take effect in predecisional (i.e., motivational) action phases, thereby determining all subsequent action processes.