Complex Task Training Research Articles

Investigating learning efficiency and mental efficiency in a personalized role-playing-game environment

ABSTRACT Being efficient learners is important in the modern workforce, but improved performance and cognitive load do not imply that students are efficient learners. This study investigated the effectiveness of a personalized role-playing game in students’ learning efficiency (LE) and mental efficiency. Results showed that students in the personalized game environment significantly improved LE and mental efficiency compared to the conventional online learning environment. Students were able to achieve higher performance while spending less time and mental effort. Moderate negative relationship was found between performance and mental effort while a strong negative relationship was found between performance and learning time. Learning time might be an indicator of efficient learners when performance is expected at a certain level. This study demonstrated that the personalized game might be an alternative approach to train efficient learners particularly when training time is limited and support complex task training that demands high cognitive investment.

Mechanism Design and Performance Analysis of a Sitting/Lying Lower Limb Rehabilitation Robot

To meet the various need of stroke patients’ rehabilitation training and carry out complex task training in real scenes, the structure of a lower limb rehabilitation robot with movements in the sagittal plane and coronal plane is usually complicated. A new sitting/lying lower limb rehabilitation robot (LOBO) with a simple mechanism form is proposed, which is designed based on a 2-PRR parallel mechanism. First, the kinematics, singularity, and condition number of the 2-PRR parallel mechanism are analyzed, which provides the basis for mechanism parameter design. Then, through the proportional–derivative control principle, real-time tracking of LOBO’s designed trajectory is realized. Finally, the length parameters of volunteers’ lower limbs are collected, and experimental verification is conducted in LOBO’s passive training mode. The experimental results show the feasibility of LOBO’s movement in the human sagittal and coronal planes. LOBO will help human lower limbs realize the synchronous continuous rehabilitation training of hip, knee, and ankle joints spatially, which could drive the rehabilitation movement of patients’ lower limbs in the sagittal plane and coronal plane in future clinical research. LOBO can also be applied to muscle strength training for the elderly to combat the effects of aging.

The Effectiveness of Play Therapy and Complex Task Training on Cognitive Function in Sabacute Post Stroke Patient - Comparative Study

The Effectiveness of Play Therapy and Complex Task Training on Cognitive Function in Sabacute Post Stroke Patient - Comparative Study

An Information Systems Design Theory for an Expert System for Training

The authors developed and evaluated an expert system-based training system using Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT). First, an Expert System for Training (EST) was designed and implemented, and then a version of EST without expertise features, called IST, was also created. In order to evaluate which training system (if any) delivers better training, a three-group quasi-experiment was used. Each group was trained to use Statistical Process Control (SPC). One group was trained using the EST; outcomes for this group were significantly the highest among the three. A second group was trained using the IST; outcomes were not as high as the first group but significantly higher compared with the control group. The control group was trained with traditional means. Results show that the ISDT led to a useful purposely-developed application for enhancing the training of workers who have limited education but need to know about a very specific and complex field where the availability of trainers is limited. The authors call for further research that uses this ISDT to build purposely-developed software to support training of complex tasks.

Complex Versus Simple Ankle Movement Training in Stroke Using Telerehabilitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Telerehabilitation allows rehabilitative training to continue remotely after discharge from acute care and can include complex tasks known to create rich conditions for neural change. The purposes of this study were: (1) to explore the feasibility of using telerehabilitation to improve ankle dorsiflexion during the swing phase of gait in people with stroke and (2) to compare complex versus simple movements of the ankle in promoting behavioral change and brain reorganization. This study was a pilot randomized controlled trial. Training was done in the participant's home. Testing was done in separate research labs involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multi-camera gait analysis. Sixteen participants with chronic stroke and impaired ankle dorsiflexion were assigned randomly to receive 4 weeks of telerehabilitation of the paretic ankle. Participants received either computerized complex movement training (track group) or simple movement training (move group). Behavioral changes were measured with the 10-m walk test and gait analysis using a motion capture system. Brain reorganization was measured with ankle tracking during fMRI. Dorsiflexion during gait was significantly larger in the track group compared with the move group. For fMRI, although the volume, percent volume, and intensity of cortical activation failed to show significant changes, the frequency count of the number of participants showing an increase versus a decrease in these values from pretest to posttest measurements was significantly different between the 2 groups, with the track group decreasing and the move group increasing. Limitations of this study were that no follow-up test was conducted and that a small sample size was used. The results suggest that telerehabilitation, emphasizing complex task training with the paretic limb, is feasible and can be effective in promoting further dorsiflexion in people with chronic stroke.

Learning to multitask: Effects of video game practice on electrophysiological indices of attention and resource allocation

Changes in attention allocation with complex task learning reflect processing automatization and more efficient control. We studied these changes using ERP and EEG spectral analyses in subjects playing Space Fortress, a complex video game comprising standard cognitive task components. We hypothesized that training would free up attentional resources for a secondary auditory oddball task. Both P3 and delta EEG showed a processing trade-off between game and oddball tasks, but only some game events showed reduced attention requirements with practice. Training magnified a transient increase in alpha power following both primary and secondary task events. This contrasted with alpha suppression observed when the oddball task was performed alone, suggesting that alpha may be related to attention switching. Hence, P3 and EEG spectral data are differentially sensitive to changes in attentional processing occurring with complex task training.

Transfer of skill engendered by complex task training under conditions of variable priority

We explored the theoretical underpinnings of a commonly used training strategy by examining issues of training and transfer of skill in the context of a complex video game (Space Fortress, Donchin, 1989). Participants trained using one of two training regimens: Full Emphasis Training (FET) or Variable Priority Training (VPT). Transfer of training was assessed with a large battery of cognitive and psychomotor tasks ranging from basic laboratory paradigms measuring reasoning, memory, and attention to complex real-world simulations. Consistent with previous studies, VPT accelerated learning and maximized task mastery. However, the hypothesis that VPT would result in broader transfer of training received limited support. Rather, transfer was most evident in tasks that were most similar to the Space Fortress game itself. Results are discussed in terms of potential limitations of the VPT approach.

Identification of Skills Common to Renal and Iliac Endovascular Procedures Performed on a Virtual Reality Simulator

There is a learning curve in the acquisition of endovascular skills for the treatment of vascular disease. Integration of Virtual reality (VR) simulator based training into the educational training curriculum offers a potential solution to overcome this learning curve. However evidence-based training curricula that define which tasks, how often and in which order they should be performed have yet to be developed. The aim of this study was to determine the nature of skills acquisition on the renal and iliac modules of a commercially-available VR simulator. 20 surgical trainees without endovascular experience were randomised to complete eight sessions on a VR iliac (group A) or renal (group B) training module. To determine skills transferability across the two procedures, all subjects performed two further VR cases of the other procedure. Performance was recorded by the simulator for parameters such as time taken, contrast fluid usage and stent placement accuracy. During training, both groups demonstrated statistically significant VR learning curves: group A for procedure time (p<0.001) and stent placement accuracy (p=0.013) group B for procedure time (p<0.001), fluoroscopy time (p=0.003) and volume of contrast fluid used (p<0.001). At crossover, subjects in group B (renal trained) performed to the same level of skill on the simulated iliac task as group A. However, those in group A (iliac trained) had a significantly higher fluoroscopy time (median 118 vs 72 secs, p=0.020) when performing their first simulated renal task than for group B. Novice endovascular surgeons can significantly improve their performance of simulated procedures through repeated practice on VR simulators. Skills transfer between tasks was demonstrated but complex task training, such as selective arterial cannulation in simulators and possibly in the real world appears to involve a separate skill. It is thus suggested that a stepwise and hierarchical training curriculum is developed for acquisition of endovascular skill using VR simulation to supplement training on patients.

Characteristics of Fluent Skills in a Complex, Dynamic Problem-Solving Task

We examined critical characteristics of fluent cognitive skills, using the Georgia Tech Aegis Simulation Program, a tactical decision-making computer game that simulates tasks of an anti-air-warfare coordinator. To characterize learning, we adopted the unit-task analysis framework, in which a task is decomposed into several unit tasks that are further decomposed into functional-level subtasks. Our results showed that learning at a global level could be decomposed into learning smaller component tasks. Further, most learning was associated with a reduction in cognitive processes, in which people make inferences from the currently available information. Eye-movement data also revealed that the time spent on task-irrelevant regions of the display decreased more than did the time spent on task-relevant regions. In sum, although fluency in dynamic, complex problem solving was achieved by attaining efficiency in perceptual, motor, and cognitive processes, the magnitude of the gains depended on the preexisting fluency of the component skills. These results imply that a training program should decompose a task into its component skills and emphasize those components with which trainees have relatively little prior experience. Actual or potential applications of this research include learning and training of complex tasks as well as evaluation of performance on those tasks.

Revised Space Fortress: A validation study

We describe briefly the redevelopment of Space Fortress (SF), a research tool widely used to study training of complex tasks involving both cognitive and motor skills, to be executed on current-generation systems with significantly extended capabilities, and then compare the performance of human participants on an original PC version of Space Fortress (SF) with the revised Space Fortress (RSF). Participants trained on SF or RSF for 10 sets of eight 3-min practice trials and two 3-min test trials. They then took tests involving retention, resistance to secondary task interference, and transfer to a different control system. They then switched from SF to RSF or from RSF to SF for 2 sets of final tests and completed rating scales comparing RSF and SE Slight differences were predicted on the basis of a scoring error in the original version of SF used and on slightly more precise joystick control in RSF. The predictions were supported. The SF group started better but did worse when they transferred to RSE Despite the disadvantage of having to be cautious in generalizing from RSF to SF, we conclude that RSF has many advantages, which include accommodating new PC hardware and new training techniques. A monograph that presents the methodology used in creating RSF, details on its performance and validation, and directions on how to download free copies of the system may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive/.

Investigating Individual Differences and Instructional Efficiency in Computer-Based Training Environments

This study assessed the extent to which a guided learner-generated questioning strategy could facilitate the acquisition of task-relevant knowledge and improve the instructional efficiency of a computer-based training program for a complex dynamic distributed decision-making task. This study also investigated how individual differences in verbal comprehension ability may interact with this instructional strategy to impact post-training outcomes. Overall, results highlighted the importance of learner aptitudes in complex task training and also showed that the effect of the instructional strategy on knowledge acquisition and the training programa” instructional efficiency was strongest for learners with low verbal comprehension ability. Implications for the design of adaptive learning systems are discussed

Using Guided Learner-Generated Instructional Strategies to Transform Learning into a Constructive Cognitive and Metacognitive Activity

Successful learning outcomes in learner-controlled, computer-based training environments are inherently dependent upon learners' possession of well-developed metacognitive skills, that is, how well learners are able to accurately monitor and regulate their knowledge acquisition process. The present study explored the effectiveness of embedding a guided learner-generated instructional strategy (query method), designed to support learners' cognitive and metacognitive processes, within the context of computer-based complex task training. In terms of cognitive processes, results showed that incorporating the query method into the training resulted in improved integration and application of task-relevant knowledge, as indicated by greater similarity to an expert model of the domain and better performance on an integrative transfer task. With regard to metacognitive processes, the query method may have also assisted participants in more accurately monitoring their comprehension, as indicated by their significantly lower bias scores. Results are discussed in the context of designing adaptive learning systems.

Fostering constructive cognitive and metacognitive activity in computer-based complex task training environments

In this paper, we describe the results of our programmatic research efforts aimed at investigating the use of interactive computer-based training technology to support knowledge acquisition and integration for complex task training environments. We present the theoretical rationale for our efforts and briefly describe the successive iterations of our investigation. Based upon the significant findings in our studies, we then present, within the following areas, a set of propositions for the design and evaluation of computer-based training programs for complex systems: (1) Diagrams and knowledge integration; (2) Multimedia and training evaluation; (3) Mental model development and training evaluation; (4) Instructional efficiency and training evaluation; (5) Fostering constructive metacognitive processes; (6) Supporting individual differences in ability. These propositions are presented in the context of the related theoretical rationale drawn from the literature and the relevant empirical support from the body of research conducted within our collective research efforts.

Alternating Task Modules in Isochronal Distributed Training of Complex Tasks

Alternating Task Modules in Isochronal Distributed Training of Complex Tasks

Alternating Task Modules in Isochronal Distributed Training of Complex Tasks

We compared an alternating task modules (ATM) protocol—which alternated sessions on Space Fortress, Phoenix (video-game-like tasks), and algebra word problems—with a massed protocol, which blocked sessions on the tasks. The protocols were isochronal (equal in duration), each entailing one week of training and testing. ATM gave the men and women an advantage in learning and retention on Space Fortress and algebra word problems; it did not change their performance on Phoenix. Arousal, not confidence or motivation, was implicated in the ATM advantage. The practical implication of demonstrating and describing ATM benefits is that real-world training often requires minimal durations. This pragmatic constraint favors ATM over frequently investigated anisochronal schedules, in which spacing practice over long durations is more effective than massing practice in short durations. Evaluations of retention, arousal, motivation, and confidence began the process of testing theories that might be expanded to explain and enhance ATM benefits.

Part-Task Training of Complex Tasks: Utility of Backward Transfer

Previous studies using the backward transfer technique identified a set of component tasks that are potentially critical to a complex, desk-top flight simulator task. This study directly tested the importance of these tasks using a part-task training paradigm. One group of subjects received part-task training concentrating on the critical component tasks. A second group received part-task training on non-critical component tasks. The third group received whole-task training. Subjects receiving part-task training on the critical tasks performed as well as subjects in the whole-task condition. Females, but not males, receiving practice on the “non-critical” tasks were worse than females in the other two groups, suggesting an aptitude x treatment interaction. Results were not replicated on a transfer task. These data illustrate the importance of selecting component tasks for part-task training, and the utility of the backward transfer technique in identifying those tasks.

Computers in the Training of Complex Tasks

Computers in the Training of Complex Tasks