Cognitive Load Research Articles

Too much of a good thing: How varying levels of automation impact user performance in a simulated intrusion detection task

Cyber analysts face a demanding task when prioritizing alerts from intrusion detection systems, balancing the challenge of numerous false positives from rule-based methods with the critical need to detect genuine cyber threats, necessitating unwavering vigilance and imposing a significant cognitive burden. In this field, there exists pressure to incorporate artificial intelligence techniques to enhance the automation of analyst workflows, yet without a clear grasp of how elevating the Level of Automation impacts the allocation of attentional and cognitive resources among analysts. This paper describes a simulated AI-assisted intrusion detection task which varies five degrees of automation as well as the sensitivity of the assistant, evaluating performance-based (e.g., accuracy, response time, sensitivity, response bias) and subjective (e.g., surveys on workload and trust) measures. Participants white-listed a series of time-sensitive alerts in a simulated Snort® environment. Our findings indicate that elevating the level of automation altered participants’ behavior, evident in their tendency to display a response bias towards rejecting hits (reduced hit rate and false alarm rate) when overriding an AI’s decision. Additionally, participants subjectively reported experiencing a decreased cognitive workload with a more precise algorithm, irrespective of any variance in their actual performance. Our findings suggest the necessity for additional research before implementing further automation into analyst workflows, as the demands of tasks evolve with escalating levels of automation.

Operationalizing shared decision making in clinical practice.

Shared decision-making (SDM) requires a clear-eyed view of evidence certainty, context, and equipoise in clinical care. This paradigm of care builds on the foundational ethical principle of patient autonomy, further leveraging beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice to provide bespoke care in the appropriate clinical setting. When evidence is carefully evaluated together with acceptability and feasibility, equity, cost-effectiveness, resources, and patient preferences, an individualized assessment of the trade-off between possible benefits and harms can optimize patient management. In the setting of a conditional recommendation, it is appropriate to engage in SDM with patient partners, to the extent each patient is willing and able to engage in the SDM process. Three conversations inform SDM and include team talk, option talk, and decision talk with discussion of the plan of care. During these conversations, clear communication strategies that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time sensitive, and provide assessment of absolute (not just relative) risk are important to provide necessary education to patient partners. Follow-up is key to ensure that decisions lead to effective treatment. Through this process, it is necessary to minimize cognitive overload and promote a minimally disruptive medicine approach. The acronym "HOW" promotes a holistic appraisal of evidence in context, open-minded teamwork with patients and families, and willingness to be a listening presence while serving as a partner and guide and appreciating the multidimensional and unique nature of each individual. SDM is and will continue to remain a cornerstone of appropriate medical care in settings of clinical equipoise.

Integration of Augmented Reality in Temporal Bone and Skull Base Surgeries.

Augmented reality technologies provide transformative solutions in various surgical fields. Our research focuses on the use of an advanced augmented reality system that projects 3D holographic images directly into surgical footage, potentially improving the surgeon's orientation to the surgical field and lowering the cognitive load. We created a novel system that combines exoscopic surgical footage from the "ORBEYE" and displays both the surgical field and 3D holograms on a single screen. This setup enables surgeons to use the system without using head-mounted displays, instead viewing the integrated images on a 3D monitor. Thirteen surgeons and surgical assistants completed tasks with 2D and 3D graphical surgical guides. The NASA Task Load Index was used to assess mental, physical, and temporal demands. The use of 3D graphical surgical guides significantly improved performance metrics in cochlear implant surgeries by lowering mental, physical, temporal, and frustration levels. However, for Bonebridge implantation, the 2D graphical surgical guide performed better overall (p = 0.045). Participants found the augmented reality system's video latency to be imperceptible, measuring 0.13 ± 0.01 s. This advanced augmented reality system significantly improves the efficiency and precision of cochlear implant surgeries by lowering cognitive load and improving spatial orientation.

Immersive virtual reality for learning exoskeleton-like virtual walking: a feasibility study

PurposeVirtual Reality (VR) has proven to be an effective tool for motor (re)learning. Furthermore, with the current commercialization of low-cost head-mounted displays (HMDs), immersive virtual reality (IVR) has become a viable rehabilitation tool. Nonetheless, it is still an open question how immersive virtual environments should be designed to enhance motor learning, especially to support the learning of complex motor tasks. An example of such a complex task is triggering steps while wearing lower-limb exoskeletons as it requires the learning of several sub-tasks, e.g., shifting the weight from one leg to the other, keeping the trunk upright, and initiating steps. This study aims to find the necessary elements in VR to promote motor learning of complex virtual gait tasks.MethodsIn this study, we developed an HMD-IVR-based system for training to control wearable lower-limb exoskeletons for people with sensorimotor disorders. The system simulates a virtual walking task of an avatar resembling the sub-tasks needed to trigger steps with an exoskeleton. We ran an experiment with forty healthy participants to investigate the effects of first- (1PP) vs. third-person perspective (3PP) and the provision (or not) of concurrent visual feedback of participants’ movements on the walking performance – namely number of steps, trunk inclination, and stride length –, as well as the effects on embodiment, usability, cybersickness, and perceived workload.ResultsWe found that all participants learned to execute the virtual walking task. However, no clear interaction of perspective and visual feedback improved the learning of all sub-tasks concurrently. Instead, the key seems to lie in selecting the appropriate perspective and visual feedback for each sub-task. Notably, participants embodied the avatar across all training modalities with low cybersickness levels. Still, participants’ cognitive load remained high, leading to marginally acceptable usability scores.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that to maximize learning, users should train sub-tasks sequentially using the most suitable combination of person’s perspective and visual feedback for each sub-task. This research offers valuable insights for future developments in IVR to support individuals with sensorimotor disorders in improving the learning of walking with wearable exoskeletons

Do dotted extensions help guide drivers at a transition area of partial-shadowed left-turn lane? An investigation based on eye movement behavior and visual attention

When adding an exclusive left-turn lane at an intersection, a transition area is needed to allow through and left-turn traffic to move into appropriate lanes smoothly. However, whether a dotted extension should be applied at such a transition area remains inconclusive. The need for recommending a dotted extension is further complicated at intersections where an approach taper partially shadows a left-turn lane. This study aims to shed light on whether dotted extensions should be recommended in a transition area and research the impacts of dotted extensions on guiding drivers from their perspectives. Scenarios with and without dotted extensions were created for a video-viewing experiment. Driver eye movement behavior and cognitive load rating served as evaluation indicators in each target scenario. Thirty participants were recruited and randomly assigned to with and without dotted extension groups. Results show that: (1) With the dotted extension, participants could focus on fewer objects and, therefore, would not need to divert their visual attention toward the surrounding vehicles. (2) The dotted extension assists through-traffic drivers in maintaining more focused attention on information critical to their driving task. (3) Dotted extensions help drivers reduce stress, mainly because of clearer indications of lane configuration. Altogether, our findings suggest that a road with dotted extensions provides better guidance in a transition area than one without dotted extensions.

Awareness support in collaborative programming tools: An evaluation based on programmer's perception and eye tracking

Groupware technology is an essential asset for organizations and a successful medium to support social meetings and teacher-learning processes when people are geographically distributed. Computer programming is a domain that can take advantage of the Collaborative Work paradigm and of this technology. However, to be truly effective, groupware systems must provide suitable awareness support, i.e., be capable of informing users of the activity taking place and of the team outcome, so that they can build a setting for their work. The study of awareness mechanisms and their influence on collaborative programming processes is an open research question. In this context, this article contributes an experimental study to evaluate the mechanisms to support coordination, communication, and awareness of COLLECE, a distributed group programming system rich in awareness support. This study brings as a novel approach the combination of subjective and objective information sources, specifically eye tracking techniques, and incorporates a heuristic evaluation of awareness support based on a well-known framework. Thanks to this experiment, we have been able to verify that this blended approach, in which users participate intensively, provides a more comprehensive and deeper assessment of awareness and other coordination and communication mechanisms, and thus a better understanding of how their use can influence the collaborative programming process and outcome (program or piece of software). The study has revealed strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement of the evaluated system, and has yielded concrete results as to which are the most useful awareness components of the user interface not related to the activity supported by the system (programming), these being the traffic lights; the easiest to use, such as the session panel; or the components that impose a greater cognitive load, such as the multi-scrollbar. Regarding the relationship between the supported awareness dimensions and the quality of the collaboration outcome (computer program), the results point to the need to adequately support the What-Artifact dimension, i.e., highlighting in which part of the shared workspace (the source code) the user with floor control is working.

The effect of a neuromuscular-cognitive training program on postural stability, hop performance, and agility in Division-I Women's Tennis athletes: A pilot study

BackgroundSituational awareness and cognitive function are often discounted in sports training programs, potentially limiting their effectiveness. ObjectiveThis research aimed to examine the effect of a six-week neuromuscular-cognitive training program on postural stability, hop performance, and agility with and without perceptual-cognitive challenge in a tennis team. DesignDouble baseline, quasi-experimental pretest-posttest. MethodsTen collegiate female tennis athletes volunteered to participate in this study. Participants completed two baseline testing sessions, a six-week training program, and a post-test session one week after the training program. Participants completed the neuromuscular-cognitive training twice a week for six weeks. The training integrated cognitive load (e.g., working memory and inhibitory control) during exercise (e.g., balance and shuffling). At each data collection session, subjects completed a single-limb stance on a force plate with and without an upper extremity reaction test, single-leg hop, single-leg memory hop, reactive agility, and a lower extremity reaction task. Pre-to post-intervention changes were analyzed using t-tests with corresponding Hedge's g effect sizes. Results were considered significant when p ≤ 0.05 and Hedge's g effect sizes were moderate to strong. ResultsStatistically significant improvements were identified for single and dual-task anteroposterior mean center of pressure velocity (g = −0.684–0.803), single-task time-to-boundary mediolateral mean minima (g = 0.921), and single and dual-task time-to-boundary anteroposterior mean minima (0.708–0.830). Additionally, significant improvements were identified in the upper extremity reaction task during the dual-task static balance (g = −0.795). ConclusionNeuromuscular-cognitive training may be beneficial in improving postural stability outcomes; however, more research is needed to develop this type of training further.

Exploring fonts as retrieval cues in text-based learning

A growing body of research focuses on optimizing retrieval processes to help learners recall information from memory. The context-dependent memory effect suggests that information retrieval is more effective when the retrieval context matches the learning context. This phenomenon has been investigated in a variety of study materials and samples. However, there is a research gap in which this effect has not yet been investigated with font. Therefore, the font may act as a contextual retrieval cue, making it easier for learners to recall the presented information. In this context, the present experiment assumes that a match between the font used during learning (encoding phase) and that used during testing (decoding phase) improves retrieval processes and thus learning performance, while a mismatch has a negative effect. To test this assumption, 130 university students were randomly assigned to one condition of a two (font of learning texts: Haettenschweiler vs. Times New Roman) × two (font of learning questions: Haettenschweiler vs. Times New Roman) between-subjects design. Contrary to expectations, using the same font for encoding and decoding did not improve learning performance. Furthermore, learners did not report higher levels of mental effort when they had to work on learning questions presented in the same font as the learning texts. Although the font of the learning text is the most salient feature, it does not seem to serve as an effective retrieval cue in text-based learning.

Systematic review of cognitive impairment in drivers through mental workload using physiological measures of heart rate variability.

The intricate interplay between driver cognitive dysfunction, mental workload (MWL), and heart rate variability (HRV) provides a captivating avenue for investigation within the domain of transportation safety studies. This article provides a systematic review and examines cognitive hindrance stemming from mental workload and heart rate variability. It scrutinizes the mental workload experienced by drivers by leveraging data gleaned from prior studies that employed heart rate monitoring systems and eye tracking technology, thereby illuminating the correlation between cognitive impairment, mental workload, and physiological indicators such as heart rate and ocular movements. The investigation is grounded in the premise that the mental workload of drivers can be assessed through physiological cues, such as heart rate and eye movements. The study discovered that HRV and infrared (IR) measurements played a crucial role in evaluating fatigue and workload for skilled drivers. However, the study overlooked potential factors contributing to cognitive impairment in drivers and could benefit from incorporating alternative indicators of cognitive workload for deeper insights. Furthermore, investigated driving simulators demonstrated that an eco-safe driving Human-Machine Interface (HMI) significantly promoted safe driving behaviors without imposing excessive mental and visual workload on drivers. Recommendations were made for future studies to consider additional indicators of cognitive workload, such as subjective assessments or task performance metrics, for a more comprehensive understanding.

피아노 교육에서의 인지적 부하 관리 전략

This study aims to explore how piano educators perceive and manage students’ cognitive load and propose effective instructional strategies based on these findings. According to Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), learners experience cognitive load due to the limitations of working memory, and in order to improve learning outcomes, it is essential to effectively manage this cognitive load. Piano learning consists of complex cognitive tasks such as sight-reading, musical interpretation and expression, and technical skill development, which can result in a high cognitive load during the learning process. If this cognitive load is not properly managed, it can hinder learning effectiveness. In this study, focus group interviews (FGI) were conducted with college piano instructors to explore how they perceive students' cognitive load and what strategies they use to reduce it. Semi-structured interviews were employed as the research method, with the main questions focusing on the factors contributing to students' cognitive load during the learning process and the strategies instructors use to reduce cognitive load. The results revealed that instructors use various strategies to reduce students' cognitive load, such as personalized repertoire selection guidance, a step-by-step educational approach, the use of visual aids and digital tools, and promoting students' self-directed learning. The instructors found these strategies to be effective in reducing students' cognitive load during piano learning. This study holds significance by presenting various strategies that can effectively manage cognitive load in piano learning, providing practical insights that can be applied in educational settings.

Patient Perception of Mental Effort in Voice Therapy

ObjectiveOne challenge in voice therapy is that mastering new vocal techniques is inherently cognitively effortful. While effort is critical for learning, it can also lead to frustration and reduced patient engagement. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between patient-perception of voice handicap and mental effort in voice therapy, and to determine if different therapy approaches and stimuli elicit different perceptions of mental effort. MethodsA non-experimental, prospective investigation was conducted with adult patients receiving voice therapy. Prior to therapy initiation, patients completed the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) to quantify perceived severity of their voice disorders. To assess mental effort, a Borg mental effort scale and the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) were administered following each therapy session. Therapy type and treatment stimulus/level of treatment hierarchy was documented for each session. Kruskal-Wallis H-test was used to compare differences in baseline VHI-10 and mental effort among voice disorder diagnoses. Pairwise comparisons, linear random-intercept mixed-effects model, and generalized estimating equation method were used to determine correlation between VHI-10 and mental effort, and therapy type, stimulus, and effort. ResultsTwenty-seven participants (89% female, 60% white) completed the study. There was no significant difference in VHI-10 or baseline perceptions of mental effort between races or among voice disorder diagnoses. There was a significant positive correlation between VHI-10 scores and session 1 mental effort. There was no significant difference in effort ratings among therapy types, but effort was rated as significantly greater for therapy stimuli that involved connected speech practice than other stimuli. Perceived mental effort significantly decreased over time. DiscussionVoice therapy imposes a cognitive load on the patient, and is particularly challenging for individuals with more severely perceived voice disorders. Further, patients think voice treatment approaches that utilize connected speech stimuli are more effortful than those that use simple stimuli, regardless of treatment target (e.g. resonance, flow).

Perceptions of Cognitive Load and Workload in Nurse Handoffs: A Comparative Study Across Differing Patient-Nurse Ratios and Acuity Levels.

Medical errors, often resulting from miscommunication and cognitive lapses during handoffs, account for numerous preventable deaths and patient harm annually. This research examined nurses' perceived workload and cognitive load during handoffs on hospital units with varying patient acuity levels and patient-nurse ratios. Conducted at a southeastern US medical facility, the study analyzed 20 handoff dyads using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index to measure perceived workload and cognitive load. Linear regressions revealed significant associations between patient acuity levels, patient-nurse ratios, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index subscales, specifically mental demand (P = .007) and performance (P = .008). Fisher exact test and Wilcoxon rank sum test showed no significant associations between these factors and nurses' roles (P > .05). The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to manage workload and cognitive load, emphasizing standardized handoff protocols and technological aids. The study underscores the variability in perceived workload and cognitive load among nurses across different units. Medical-surgical units showed higher cognitive load, indicating the need for improved workload management strategies. Despite limitations, including the single-center design and small sample size, the study provides valuable insights for enhancing handoff communications and reducing medical errors.

Relationship Between Work Stress Level and Mental Workload to the Performance of Special School (SLB) Teachers Prof. Dr. Sri Soedewi Masjchun Sofwan, S.H. in Jambi City

The success of teachers in carrying out their duties is measured through performance. The higher the performance given, it means that the teacher is successful during the teaching process. This study aims to determine the relationship between work stress levels and mental workload with teacher performance. Cross-sectional design. The study was conducted at SLB Prof. Dr. Sri Soedewi Masjchun Sofwan, S.H. Jambi City from November to July 2024. The sampling technique was through Total Sampling with a sample size of 63 teachers. The questionnaires used were DASS-42 (work stress), Nasa-TLX (mental workload) and teacher performance questionnaires. Data analysis using the chi-square test (SPSS version 23). Based on the results of the study, it showed that 42.9% of teachers experienced moderate stress, 54.0% of teachers had high mental workload and the average teacher had good performance of 34.9%. The results of the bivariate analysis showed that the variable of work stress level with the category of experiencing stress was 24 (75.0) values (p = 0.000) PR value (4.650, 95% CI: 2.033 - 10.635), mental workload with a heavy category was 24 (70.6%) values (p = 0.000) PR value (4.094, 95% CI: 1.792 - 9.355). There is a relationship between the level of work stress and mental workload with teacher performance

Moral decision making: Explainable insights into the role of working memory in autonomous driving

The intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and moral philosophy presents unique challenges in the development of autonomous vehicles, particularly in scenarios requiring split-second ethical decisions. This study examines the relationship between working memory (WM) and moral judgments in simulated AV scenarios, quantifying the effects of varying cognitive load on utilitarian decision-making under different time constraints. We experimented with 336 participants, each completing 16 simulated driving trials presenting unique ethical dilemmas. Results reveal a complex interplay between cognitive load and ethical choices. Under high temporal pressure (1-second response window), utilitarian decisions decreased significantly from 92.77 % to 70.08 %. Extended time constraints led to increased utilitarian choices. Statistical analyses validated these findings across diverse ethical contexts. Chi-square tests revealed significant associations between WM load and utilitarian decisions in 1-second conditions, particularly for high-stakes scenarios. Logistic regression showed that WM significantly decreased the likelihood of utilitarian decisions in these scenarios. Six supervised machine learning models were employed, with Gaussian Naive Bayes achieving the highest predictive accuracy (82.2 % to 97.0 %) in distinguishing utilitarian decisions. Partial Dependence analysis revealed a strong negative correlation between WM and utilitarian decisions, especially in the 1-second interval. The 2-second interval emerged as potentially optimal for balancing time constraints and cognitive load. These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of ethical decision-making under cognitive load and provide practical insights for developing ethically aligned autonomous systems, with implications for improving safety, optimizing takeover protocols, and enhancing the ethical reasoning capabilities of autonomous driving systems.

I'm a chatbot, ask me anything: using ChatGPT to improve learning experiences

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers substantial opportunities and challenges in higher education. Given the evolving technological landscape, educators must ensure that students acquire a skill set encompassing both AI and traditional academic skills to enable them to succeed in their studies and future careers. We tested two groups of students, who each watched a recorded lecture on an unfamiliar topic. The first group used ChatGPT to ask questions and clarify content during the lecture, while the second group used Google search for the same purpose. We assessed the impact of these tools on the students’ cognitive load (germane and extraneous) and measured active learning through the number of questions students asked. We also used a post-test quiz, covering the breadth of Bloom’s Taxonomy, to evaluate the efficacy of each method. We expected that students using ChatGPT would experience lower extraneous cognitive load, higher germane cognitive load, and would learn content more effectively. Qualitative results demonstrated a notable preference for chatbots over search engines, due to the ease of locating specific information and obtaining insightful responses. Our findings suggest the potential of AI as a transformative tool in education, helping to enhance and deepen learning, while ensuring students retain ownership of their critical and creative processes. Leveraging the potential of AI and large language models may also serve a broader purpose: by personalising learning experiences to match individual students’ language skills, experience levels, and needs, AI may bridge the gap between the tailored support students want and the practical constraints that educators face.

“Hey Genie, You Got Me Thinking about My Menu Choices!” Impact of Proactive Feedback on User Perception and Reflection in Decision-making Tasks

Conversational agents (CAs) that deliver proactive interventions can benefit users by reducing their cognitive workload and improving performance. However, little is known regarding how such interventions would impact users’ reflection on choices in voice-only decision-making tasks. We conducted a within-subjects experiment to evaluate the effect of CA’s feedback delivery strategy at three levels (no feedback, unsolicited and solicited feedback) and the impact on users’ likelihood of changing their choices in an interactive food ordering scenario. We discovered that in both feedback conditions the CA was perceived to be significantly more persuasive than in the baseline condition, while being perceived as significantly less confident. Interestingly, while unsolicited feedback was perceived as less appropriate than the baseline, both types of proactive feedback led participants to relisten and reconsider menu options significantly more often. Our results provide insights regarding the impact of proactive feedback on CA perception and user’s reflection in decision-making tasks, thereby paving a new way for designing proactive CAs.

Ability to Select AAC Graphic Symbols by Severity of Alzheimer’s Disease and Number of Symbols

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the graphic-symbol selection ability of patients with dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) based on the severity of dementia by conducting symbol identification and symbol discrimination tasks with increasing numbers of symbols. These tasks were performed with both normal elderly individuals and DAT patients to explore how cognitive load affects them differently.Methods: A total of 21 normal elderly individuals, 17 mild DAT patients, and 20 moderate to severe DAT patients were assessed. They performed symbol identification and symbol discrimination tasks using the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Symbol Assessment Tool. The number of symbols increased in six steps, from 4 to 72. Accuracy and response time were measured for statistical analysis.Results: In the symbol identification task, there was no significant difference in accuracy among the three groups. However, normal group showed significantly faster responses compared to moderate to severe DAT group. In the symbol discrimination task, normal group showed higher accuracy and significantly faster responses than moderate to severe DAT group. As the number of symbols increased, response times increased across all groups, with more time required for the symbol discrimination task.Conclusion: It was confirmed that the greater the severity of DAT, the more cognitive load and impaired information processing were reflected in symbol selection. Findings suggest that response time is a more sensitive indicator of cognitive decline in DAT patients and highlight the need to adjust the number of symbols and presentation methods according to the severity of the patient’s condition in dementia interventions.

Can AI hear me? Nine facts about the artificial intelligence scribe

This article summarizes important features of artificial intelligence scribe (AIS) and its application as a digital scribe through the utilization of voice recognition as it is integrated into the clinical practice of medicine. This discussion will include 1) digital scribe technology, 2) practical utility, 3) liability, 4) privacy, 5) integration to electronic health records (EHR), 6) technology burden, 7) case use, 8) AIS documentation styles, and 9) cost. The use of AIS technology in healthcare is a promising tool and will result in variability applications requiring healthcare providers to be aware of the complexities of the tool before utilization, during implementation, the effect of it on workflow, and its acceptance by the patients we serve. AIS technology promises to decrease the cognitive workload of the healthcare provider, through application by relieving the ever-increasing burden of documenting the medical record, organizing, and capturing relevant medical data, by improving integration of this data into cumbersome EHRs, thus providing better work life balance. The authors piloted a version of an AIS in a primarily Spanish patient population. This article provides a unique perspective towards the usability of an AIS in a Hispanic patient population.

An analysis of Psychophysiological Responses in the Prefrontal Cortex Depending on the Use of Universal Tools and Traditional Methods During Agricultural Activities by Individuals With Physical Disabilities Using Mobility Aids

Background and objective: Physical disabilities are significant and permanent limitations in physical capabilities, which make routine tasks and participation in various activities increasingly difficult. This study aimed to investigate the effect of different agricultural activities on prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation in individuals with physical disabilities (IWPDs) using mobility aids, by comparing activities with and without the use of universal tools.Methods: The study involved 26 participants aged between the age of 20 and 65 years, with physical disabilities and utilizing mobility aids. It was conducted at a laboratory within the campus of Konkuk University. Participants engaged in six different agricultural activities: soaking (with/without universal tool), sowing (with/without universal tool), and planting (with/without universal tool), performed in a random order for 180 seconds each. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to measure changes in oxyhemoglobin (oxy-HB) concentration in the PFC during each activity.Results: The results indicated that oxy-HB concentration in the overall PFC was significantly lower during planting performed without the use of universal tools (p < .001). During the soaking activity, the use of a universal soaking tool led to lower oxy-HB concentration across the entire PFC (p < .05). During sowing activity performed without universal tools, a lower oxy-HB concentration was observed across the entire PFC (p < .01). Similarly, during planting activity performed without universal tools, a lower concentration of oxy-HB was observed across the entire PFC (p < .01).Conclusion: Overall, engaging in planting without the use of universal tools and utilizing a universal soaking tool can lead to stability through a decrease in oxy-HB concentration. The study concluded that the use of universal tools in agricultural activities affects PFC activation in IWPDs using mobility aids. Specifically, planting without universal tools and soaking with a universal tool led to significantly lower oxy-HB concentrations, indicating potential stability and reduced cognitive load.

Using the ibsr technique as a psychological intervention to alleviate student stress in biology learning: Impacts on motivation, knowledge construction, and cognitive anxiety

Learning difficulties are a common issue faced by students, with stress being a significant contributing factor. One psychological treatment that has been shown to effectively reduce stress is Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR). The objective of this study is to integrate IBSR into a discovery learning strategy in Biology in the classroom, with the aim of increasing students' learning motivation and knowledge construction while reducing their learning difficulties and cognitive anxiety. This is quasi-experimental research that used a post-test non-equivalent control group design. The study involved 72 11th-grade science students from two different classes at one of the public high schools in Bandung City. One class, consisting of 36 students, received IBSR treatment, while the other class, also consisting of 36 students, did not. Both classes used a discovery learning framework for teaching. Data on motivation, learning difficulties, and cognitive anxiety were collected using a rating scale questionnaire with eight scales. Students' ability to construct knowledge was measured using the German Cognitive Load (GCL) instrument in the form of a written test with indicators taken from Mayer's cognitive taxonomy (2002) in the realm of understanding. The study found that incorporating IBSR techniques into learning strategies for the immune system material can reduce student stress and improve learning performance, motivation, and knowledge construction (GCL), while also decreasing learning difficulties and cognitive anxiety.