Aspects Of Human Information Processing Research Articles

Cognitive e-learning resources

The article presents an analysis of some of the possibilities of traditional textbooks and e-learning resources. The possibilities of constructing de facto individual educational trajectories of students using traditional textbooks, which are currently absent in e-learning resources, are considered. Some shortcomings of e-learning resources are shown, related to the dominance of the video sequence in e-learning resources over other channels of influence on students and to the exaggeration of the role of interactivity of e-learning resources when they are used in the educational process. On the example of the Stroop test, the obligatory integration of various media, in particular the text and color design of e-learning resources, was noted. Attention is drawn to the effectiveness of the use of e-learning resources in various educational situations.Many mistakes of developers of e-learning resources are based on insufficient interaction between developers and psychologists. The creators of e-learning resources often incorrectly interpret the results obtained by psychologists. The article provides relevant examples, including the use of the mythical number seven (the principle that a person can work simultaneously with no more than seven blocks of information). Developers do not always use in their activities the communicative postulates of G. P. Grice, as well as the theory of cognitive load, according to which the developed e-learning resources should not overload the student’s brain. In psychology, the cognitive resource is more associated with aspects of human information processing. In the article, the concept of “cognitive resource” extends to resources “external” in relation to a person, including e-learning resources. The degree of cognition of the resource characterizes the ease of transferring to the student the information necessary for the educational process and the perception of this information by him.Attention is drawn to the need to use modern usability principles when building “transparent” interfaces of e-learning resources. As a result of the analysis of modern e-learning resources, recommendations are proposed for developers of e-learning resources on the creation of cognitive presentational electronic resources to increase their effectiveness.

Pickin’, singin’, and attendin’: Possible limitations on human processing at the highest level of accomplishment.

Psychologists have long investigated whether humans can carry out more than one task at once. In music, the classic example of a dual-task performance is singing while playing an instrument. That is, if a vocalist accompanies him- or herself on guitar, successful performance requires the simultaneous maintenance of pitch and rhythmic accuracy on two separate instruments. Laboratory studies investigating dual-task performance, though usually involving the tracking of visual stimuli, have found typically that performance on either task can suffer (for review see Pashler, 1998). More recent studies of musicians have shown that there are instances in which complicated tonal and rhythmic processing can be coordinated quite well (Keller & Repp, 2008), but that the coordination of two musical tasks is difficult and relevant to the cognition of human dual-task performance.To account for the difficulty in combining two tasks, theorists have postulated processing limitations of various sorts in human cognition. One such limitation is a bottleneck: a structural limit in the cognitive system. Another processing-limitation view postulates a finite pool of resources available for carrying out cognitive activities. If tasks demand more of those resources than are available, performance on one or more task will suffer. Recent studies have provided support for several different sorts of predictions emanating from the bottleneck and resources views (see Kamienkowski, Pashler, Dahaene, & Sigman, 2011; Levy & Pashler, 2001).The study of dual-task processing has not been without controversy, however. Although the processing-limitation perspective has been dominant, there has been interest in the possibility that humans can carry out multiple tasks concurrently, and without error. Allport, Antonis, and Reynolds (1972) found that music students could accurately sight-read music while shadowing verbal material (see also Shaffer, 1975). The Executive Processing Interaction and Control model of Meyer and Kieras (1997a, b), postulates no structural limitations to human processing (but see Anderson, 2007). Deficits in dual-processing can occur in three ways: (a) interference due to stimulus or response overlap, which can be eliminated by using tasks from different domains; (b) lack of practice in combining tasks, which can be eliminated by practicing tasks conjointly; and (c) participants' strategies, arising from instructions giving one task priority, which can be eliminated by placing emphasis on both tasks. Studies have demonstrated equivalent levels of performance by individuals carrying out two tasks concurrently versus separately (Hazeltine, Teague, & Ivry, 2002; Oberauer & Kliegl, 2004; Schumacher et al., 2001; but see Levy & Pashler, 2001). Hirst, Spelke, Reaves, Caharack, and Neisser (1980) showed that dual-task performance can be increased by practice in carrying out tasks conjointly, although their participants were not able to reach the point of being able to carry out two demanding tasks without error (see also Oberauer & Kliegl, 2004).Understanding multiple-task performance promises to illuminate basic aspects of human information processing, and the findings may facilitate our understanding of situations in which humans try to carry out multiple tasks, beyond musical examples. However, questions can be raised concerning recent studies that have found errorless dual-task performance. First, a number of more recent studies have produced results that can be interpreted as supporting the idea that there are limitations to human processing capacity that may be extremely difficult if not impossible to overcome (Kamienkowski, Pashler, Dahaene, & Sigman, 2011; Levy, Pashler, & Boer, 2006; Pashler, Johnston, & Ruthruff, 2001; Ruthruff, Johnston, & Van Selst, 2001; Van Selst, Ruthrauff, & Johnston, 1999). A second problem with demonstrations of errorless dual-task performance comes from the fact that that conclusion depends on acceptance of the null hypothesis-no differences are found between dual-task versus single-task conditions-which requires that we have confidence in the sensitivity of our design to detect processing limitations. …

Reflections on Morgan and Bachrach’s critique

In their critique of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a model for human fertility, Morgan and Bachrach (2011) raise a number of concerns that reflect fundamental misconceptions regarding the nature of the theory and its objectives. Their points of criticism demand a response not only because they are misguided and misleading but also because Morgan and Bachrach are not alone to voice them. This criticism is raised with some regularity as a challenge to the TPB’s reasoned-action approach (see Philipov 2011). In fact, in our recent book, Martin Fishbein and I (Fishbein and Ajzen 2010) devoted a whole chapter to these challenges. Some of the relevant issues are dealt with effectively in other contributions to the debate published in this volume. I focus my comments on the criticisms that challenge the basic assumptions underlying the TPB. Although acknowledging certain qualifications, Morgan and Bachrach place the TPB squarely in a class of models that conceptualise fertility as a result of a rational decision-making process. I would first like to put this misconception to rest. It is true, of course, that the TPB emphasises the controlled aspects of human information processing and decision making. Its concern is primarily with behaviours that are goal-directed and steered by conscious self-regulatory processes. In my opinion, and evidently in the views of the other contributors to this volume, fertility-related behaviours are precisely of this kind. The decision to use or not use birth control pills or condoms, to have an abortion, or adopt a child, is neither automatic nor can it be characterised as capricious or thoughtless. Instead, we assume that these kinds of decisions are usually quite reasonable, relying on considerations about the likely consequences of the decision, about expectations of significant others and about possible obstacles. The focus on reasoned action should, however, not be misinterpreted to mean that the TPB posits an impassionate, rational actor who reviews all available information in an unbiased fashion to arrive at a behavioural decision. Importantly, there is no assumption in the TPB that behavioural, normative and control beliefs are formed in a rational, unbiased fashion or that they accurately represent reality. Beliefs reflect the information people have in relation to the performance of a given behaviour, but this information is often inaccurate and incomplete; it may rest on faulty or irrational premises and conclusions, it may be biased by selective

Emulation as an integrating principle for cognition

Emulations, defined as ongoing internal representations of potential actions and the futures those actions are expected to produce, play a critical role in directing human bodily activities. Studies of gross motor behavior, perception, allocation of attention, response to errors, interoception, and homeostatic activities, and higher cognitive reasoning suggest that the proper execution of all these functions relies on emulations. Further evidence supports the notion that reinforcement learning in humans is aimed at updating emulations, and that action selection occurs via the advancement of preferred emulations toward realization of their action and environmental prediction. Emulations are hypothesized to exist as distributed active networks of neurons in cortical and sub-cortical structures. This manuscript ties together previously unrelated theories of the role of prediction in different aspects of human information processing to create an integrated framework for cognition.

Informing: A Cognitive Load Perspective

Introduction Informing science investigates how to provide clientele with information in a form, format, and schedule that maximizes its effectiveness (Cohen, 1999; 2009). According to its general, cross-disciplinary definition, information is a feature of objects of different nature that describes their structural aspects represented by patterns attributed to their organization (e.g., Stonier, 1997). Consequently, informing could be regarded as spreading structural patterns (patterns in form) among objects of different nature (Gackowski, 2009). In case of complex information systems such as living organisms (including humans), the aim of informing has been defined as expanding their control over environment (Gackowski, 2009) or, in evolutionary terms, enhancing their chances of survival. When informing is considered at the level of human information processing, the structure and characteristics of human cognitive architecture could have significant implications for the informing process. Cognitive aspects of human information processing may critically affect both the informing (informer) and perceiving (client) ends of the informing process. The intersection of cognitive and informing sciences has been related to the area of cognitive informatics (Cohen, 2009). Cognitive load theory as a branch of instructional psychology (see Sweller, 2003; Sweller, Ayres, & Kalyuga, 2011, for recent overviews) has applied cognitive science to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of instructional design. Since the major aim of instructional design is providing instructional formats and procedures that maximize learning, this could be regarded as a specific area of application of general principles of informing science with learners as clientele. Therefore, instructional and informing sciences are inherently connected. Theoretical frameworks and recommendations of informing science should be applied to instructional design, and established principles of cognitive load theory could also be potentially generalized to advance certain aspects of informing science. This paper explores a possibility of extending the established conceptual framework and principles of cognitive load theory to broader and more general situations than those in teaching and learning with the aim of enhancing the effectiveness of informing. The paper begins with an overview of major assumptions and principles of cognitive load theory based on a recently proposed evolutionary perspective, describes a corresponding model of human cognitive architecture, followed first by general implications of this architecture to informing science, and then by specific recommendations for improving processes of informing. Human Cognitive Architecture Cognitive load theory describes educational implications of human cognitive architecture (Sweller, 2003, 2004). In its basic assumptions, the theory uses the information processing aspects of biological evolution by natural selection as analogical to basic characteristics of human cognition (Sweller & Sweller, 2006). It considers both biological evolution and human cognition as examples of a broader category of natural information processing systems. It is assumed that such systems function based on the following five fundamental principles (Sweller, 2003; for an overview, see Sweller et al., 2011): * The information store principle: natural information processing systems include large stores of information that govern their activities. In human cognitive architecture, long-term memory provides this function. * The borrowing and reorganizing principle: information in the store is mostly borrowed from other information stores; however, it is reorganized in the process rather than copied exactly. For example, humans imitate other people, listen, and read in order to build long-term memory. * The randomness as genesis principle: all truly novel (not borrowed) information is acquired by a random generate-and-test process. …

Models of Aviation Technical Communication with Augmented Reality

A fundamental characteristic of augmented reality (AR) is the overlay of computer graphics (e.g., installation instructions) on views of world objects (e.g., a section of an aircraft wing) and registration of those graphics to features in the world scene. In AR, the mechanisms of information retrieval rely on detection of features of real-world objects, and communication is by way of virtual content in a real world scene; causing information to become a function of the composite scene, where real and virtual elements are interdependent. Various models of technical media communication are made possible by these characteristics and are discussed in this paper, including authoring, where a world object reveals what a planner intends it to reveal; image-based dialog, where substrate video is merged with annotations to communicate about world objects; and seamless collaboration, where attributes of in-person communication are replicated in AR. Familiar communication and information processing models are therefore expanded by AR. Communication and cognition aspects of human information processing are discussed in this paper in light of AR capabilities.

Microwaves emitted by cellular telephones affect human slow brain potentials.

The influence of electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by cellular telephones on preparatory slow brain potentials (SP) was studied in two experiments, about 6 months apart. In the first experiment, a significant decrease of SP was found during exposure to EMF in a complex visual monitoring task (VMT). This effect was replicated in the second experiment. In addition to the VMT, EMF effects on SP were analysed in two further, less demanding tasks: in a simple finger movement task to elicit a Bereitschaftspotential (BP) and in a two-stimulus task to elicit a contingent negative variation (CNV). In comparison to the VMT, no significant main EMF effects were found in BP and CNV tasks. The results accounted for a selective EMF effect on particular aspects of human information processing, but did not indicate any influence on human performance, well-being and health.

Theory of classification of objects by predicates

The forming of classes of similar objects is no trivial matter, and an operation for determining equality is obviously the first step in measurement. Furthermore, from the cognitive aspects of human information processing, it provides the basis of all our categorization and concept formation. The nature of this classification procedure, however, has not so far been examined fully in the context of measurement theory. The present paper picks up this important, though neglected, subject. Within a formal framework we examine the basic nature of classification procedure, regarding it as a form of measurement, introduce some new notions and principles to reveal its so far unknown essential features, and discuss the possibilities of reinterpretation of the nominal scale. Through such a recapitulation of the classification procedure, the scope of measurement theory will be enlarged so as to embrace, for instance, some fundamental problems of knowledge technology, cognitive aspects of human information processing, and a metrical approach to logical and philosophical topics, beyond mere ranking and numericalization.

Human response to traumatic events: an integration of counterfactual thinking, hindsight bias, and attribution theory.

In documenting cognitive processes underlying persons' reactions to negative events, counterfactual thinking, hindsight bias, and attribution theory focus on distinct, although not unrelated, aspects of human information processing. Counterfactual thinking highlights the cognitive processing undertaken when persons imagine different courses of action that lead to alternative outcomes. Hindsight bias describes the inflated retrospective estimates individuals make regarding event probabilities that come with the advantage of knowledge about outcomes. And attribution theory concerns the affective and behavioral consequences that result from the perceived causes of events. This essay argues that a more comprehensive understanding of the processes underlying human response to traumatic events results from the integration of counterfactual thinking, hindsight bias, and attribution theory into a single model.

Applying cognitive psychology to 3-D modelling in CAD

Research into the cognitive aspects of human information processing sometimes seems remote from the world of the software application designer. This paper describes one aspect of the detailed design of A CAD (Computer Aided Design) system and discusses the application of research findings relating to cognitive representation of objects in 3-D space.

Smoking and human information processing.

There is much evidence which indicates that smoking improves various aspects of human information processing (Wesnes 1987). The aim of the present study was to elucidate the stages of human information processing which are improved after cigarette smoking. Twelve regular smokers were tested on three cognitive tasks using a repeated measures design. Tasks used were: rapid visual information processing (RVIP), digit symbol substitution (DSST), and inspection time (IT). Performance parameters derived from these were intended to index different stages of the information processing sequence. Only those measures which involved a motor component were improved after smoking: response time on the RVIP task (P less than 0.025) and DSST performance (P less than 0.1). These findings suggest that central cholinergic pathways are involved in the late, response-related stages of the processing sequence.

Altering information to gain action control: Functional aspects of human information processing in decision making

In recent approaches to social judgment, information distortion has been discussed primarily as a violation of individual rationality, due to unintentionally occurring biases. In contrast to this view, it is argued that frequently individuals make purposive use of selective changes in information processing in order to avoid indecisiveness. In this sense, selective changes in information processing may be considered a functional requirement of a volitional process which protects the current intention (or tentative decision) from being replaced by competing behavioral tendencies. On the basis of J. Kuhl's theory of action control (1981, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 155–170; 1982, in W. Hacker, W. Volpert, & M. von Cranach, Eds., Cognitive and Motivational Aspects of Action, Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1984, in B. A. Maher, Progress in Experimental Personality Research, Vol. 13, New York: Academic Press) it was predicted that subjects having a high score on the action-control scale (i.e., action-oriented subjects) should show a stronger tendency to increase the attractiveness rating of a tentatively preferred decision during the process of decision making than subjects scoring low on that scale (i.e., state-oriented subjects). To test this assumption, students searching for an apartment were offered 16 apartments along with a list containing information about the alternatives. The subjects had to rate the attractiveness of each apartment twice before they were asked to indicate which apartments they would like to rent. The results confirmed the predictions. It was found that action-oriented subjects increased the divergence of their attractiveness ratings from the first to the second point of evaluation, whereas state-oriented subjects did not.

Attending to multiple sources of information: I. The integration of information in decision making

Information relevant to a decision is often available from several sources, such as different sensory modalities or different spatial locations. Processing or utilization of such information is often selective in that some sources seem to have more influence on a decision or response than others. Many different theoretical mechanisms have been proposed to account for such selective (i.e., attentional) aspects of human information processing. This paper considers theoretical mechanisms which operate to integrate separate sources of information in order to make a binary decision. In particular, these mechanisms are studied in simple visual and auditory detection tasks as well as a Bayesian decision problem. Data from these experiments reject the idea that one integrates the relevant information from several sources prior to making a decision. Rather, one seems to form separate decisions about the information from each source and then integrate these decisions in order to select a response.

Conjoint Measurement and the Analysis of Noisy Data: A Comment

In a previous study reported here Moriarity and Barron [1976] used conjoint measurement to model the materiality judgment process of audit partners. They did so following the approach suggested by Krantz and Tversky [1971] in which axiomatic conjoint measurement (ACM) is used to identify the functional form of the decision maker's judgment model, and then numerical conjoint measurement (NCM) is applied to find the best-fitting scale values (part-worth functions).' Shortly thereafter, the American Accounting Association's Committee on Human Information Processing (AAA [1978]) suggested that conjoint measurement would be useful in the study of certain aspects of human information processing in accounting research, particularly for testing alternative composition rules which uses only ordinal properties of the data [1978, p. 32]. Composition rules refer to the functional forms (e.g., additive, multiplicative, etc.) of decision makers' judgment models.2 In a later paper, Moriarity and Barron [1979] examined the preaudit materiality judgments of audit partners, in which they assumed an additive model and used a holistic orthogonal parameter estimation procedure (Barron and Person, [1979]). Swieringa [1979] criticized this