Dyadic Training Research Articles

Dyadic Training of Communication Partners for Autistic Students: A Feasibility Study

Access to communication is a primary challenge affecting the education of Autistic students who use augmentative and alternative communication devices. This is compounded by potential communication partners (e.g., teachers and classroom paraeducators) who have insufficient training and skills to meaningfully engage these students in communication. To address these deficits in skills and training, this feasibility study used a multiple probe across participants design to test the effects of using behavioral skills training on dyads of teachers and paraeducators in increasing teacher-delivered opportunities to respond and student communication responses. The results show that after training, teachers’ opportunities to respond and use student-specific strategies increased. Following the teachers’ implementation of the strategies, students’ prompted and unprompted communication increased. These results provide evidence that supports the use of behavioral skills training to support communication partner skill development and student communication needs. These methods showed positive social validity with participants and demonstrate a professional development method that is more feasible for use by school staff than individual training. The results of this study provide initial evidence of the effectiveness of these methods with dyads of participants as well as with licensed teachers, extending the extant research, which often focuses on the individual training of paraeducators.

Embodying Human-Like Modes of Balance Control Through Human-In-the-Loop Dyadic Learning

In this paper, we explore how humans and AIs trained to perform a virtual inverted pendulum (VIP) balancing task converge and differ in their learning and performance strategies. We create a visual analogue of disoriented IP balancing, as may be experienced by pilots suffering from spatial disorientation, and train AI models on data from human subjects performing a real-world disoriented balancing task. We then place the trained AI models in a dyadic human-in-the-loop (HITL) training setting. Episodes in which human subjects disagreed with AI actions were logged and used to fine-tune the AI model. Human subjects then performed the task while being given guidance from pretrained and dyadically fine-tuned versions of an AI model. We examine the effects of HITL training on AI performance, AI guidance on human performance, and the behavior patterns of human subjects and AI models during task performance. We find that in many cases, HITL training improves AI performance, AI guidance improves human performance, and after dyadic training the two converge on similar behavior patterns.

Motor Learning in Robot-Based Haptic Dyads: A Review.

Rehabilitation robots have the potential to alleviate the global burden of neurorehabilitation. Robot-based multiplayer gaming with virtual and haptic interaction may improve motivation, engagement, and implicit learning in robotic therapy. Over the past few years, there has been growing interest in robot mediated haptic dyads, or human-robot-robot-human interaction. The effect of such a paradigm on motor learning in general and specifically for individuals with motor and/or cognitive impairments is an open area of research. We reviewed the literature to investigate the effect of a robot-based haptic dyad on motor learning. Thirty-eight articles met the inclusion criteria for this review. We summarize study characteristics including device, haptic rendering, and experimental task. Our main findings indicate that dyadic training's impact on motor learning is inconsistent in that some studies show significant improvement of motor training while others show no influence. We also find that the relative skill level of the partner and interaction characteristics such as stiffness of connection and availability of visual information influence motor learning outcomes. We discuss implications for neurorehabilitation and conclude that additional research is needed to determine optimal interaction characteristics for motor learning and to extend this research to individuals with cognitive and motor impairments.

Hospital-based caregiver intervention for people following hip fracture surgery (HIP HELPER): multicentre randomised controlled feasibility trial with embedded qualitative study in England

ObjectivesTo assess the feasibility of conducting a pragmatic, multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) to test the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an informal caregiver training programme to support the recovery of...

Reducing alexithymia and increasing interoceptive awareness: A randomized controlled trial comparing mindfulness with dyadic socio-emotional app-based practice

BackgroundEmotion processing deficits of alexithymia are a transdiagnostic risk factor. While such deficits are malleable, the differential efficacy of brief scalable digital mental trainings remains understudied. MethodsThis randomized controlled trial probed the efficacy of mindfulness-based (MB) and partner-based socio-emotional Affect Dyad (SE) practice, both supported by weekly coaching sessions, in reducing alexithymia in 285 adult participants. We investigated the predictive role of interoceptive awareness assessed a) before and after daily practice, b) in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) before and after the intervention, and c) weekly during the 10-week intervention. ResultsBoth interventions reduced emotion processing difficulties on the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Similarly, both interventions improved interoceptive awareness immediately after daily practice and after the intervention period, yet SE outperformed MB training in EMA assessments. Further, only Dyad practice led to increases in body listening and self-regulatory aspects of the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) over time, with the latter explaining a decrease in alexithymia. LimitationsGiven the subclinical study sample, findings are limited in their generalizability to clinical samples. ConclusionsFindings suggest that app-based socio-emotional and mindfulness-based practices, supported by online coaching sessions, are effective in reducing emotion processing deficits. Dyad training showed advantages on some measures of body awareness, which predicted observed changes in alexithymia. This highlights the potential of using app-based dyadic approaches in the development of emotion awareness and regulation.

Laparoscopic training on virtual-reality simulators or live pigs-a randomized controlled trial.

Thirty-six novice surgical residents without independent laparoscopic experience were randomly paired with a peer and randomized into three groups: VR simulator group (dyad training on LapSim VR simulators), pig surgery group (training on live, anesthetized pigs) and control group (training by a lecture on laparoscopic surgery, surgical videos and textbooks). After 6h of training, all participants performed a simulated cholecystectomy procedure using a pig liver with adherent gallbladder working in pairs. All procedures were video-recorded and the recordings were saved on USB-sticks in a blinded fashion identifiable only by the unique participant number. All video-recordings were scored blindly and independently by two expert raters using the Global Operative Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills (GOALS) assessment instrument. The performances in the three groups were significantly different, P less than 0.001. Both the VR simulation training group and the live pigs training group performed significantly better than the control group, both P values less than 0.001. However, there was no significant difference in the performance of the two simulation-based training groups, P=0.66. Novice surgical trainees can benefit from both VR simulator training and pig surgery simulation compared with traditional studying and there was no significant difference between the two modalities. The authors recommend that VR simulators should be used for basic training of laparoscopic skills and surgery on live animals should be reserved for higher-level surgical training.

Dyadic visual perceptual learning on orientation discrimination

The belief that learning can be modulated by social context is mainly supported by high-level value-based learning studies. However, whether social context can even modulate low-level learning such as visual perceptual learning (VPL) is still unknown. Unlike traditional VPL studies in which participants were trained singly, here, we developed a novel dyadic VPL paradigm in which paired participants were trained with the same orientation discrimination task and could monitor each other's performance. We found that the social context (i.e., dyadic training) led to a greater behavioral performance improvement and a faster learning rate compared with the single training. Interestingly, the facilitating effects could be modulated by the performance difference between paired participants. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results showed that, compared with the single training, social cognition areas including bilateral parietal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex displayed a different activity pattern and enhanced functional connectivities to early visual cortex (EVC) during the dyadic training. Furthermore, the dyadic training resulted in more refined orientation representation in primary visual cortex (V1), which was closely associated with the greater behavioral performance improvement. Taken together, we demonstrate that the social context, learning with a partner, can remarkably augment the plasticity of low-level visual information process by means of reshaping the neural activities in EVC and social cognition areas, as well as their functional interplays.

Informal caregiver training for people with chronic pain in musculoskeletal services (JOINT SUPPORT): protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial

IntroductionChronic musculoskeletal (bone, joint or muscle) pain is disabling. People with it frequently have difficulties in managing everyday activities. Individuals may rely on family members or friends to support them....

An innovative approach to teaching cross-cultural communication among dental students.

Introduction There is a lack of concordance in demographics between dental professionals and their patients. Professional organisations have recognised the necessity of cultural competency training in dental education. This study sought to employ and evaluate a novel intervention in cultural competency training on cross-cultural communication for undergraduate dental students.Material and methods The session employed dyad training, roleplaying, Kleinman's Explanatory Model and introduced the new 'Model for Negotiating Across Cultures', applied to patients' cultures. Learners included 24 first-year and 27 third-year dental students. Evaluation compared pre- and post-intervention responses to the modified Health Belief Attitudes Survey (HBAS). Paired t-tests were conducted to determine difference in pre- and post-intervention scores.Results For first-year students, the mean difference improvement between the pre- and post-intervention surveys for each HBAS domain was statistically significant (p <0.05). For the third-year students, improvement was significant in all domains except for quality (p = 0.083).Discussion Dental students were found to have improved cultural competency scores by the HBAS. Implementation of this educational intervention demonstrates a paradigm that could be implemented for cross-cultural communication.Conclusion The intervention can be utilised as a resource for cross-cultural communication education for dental students and could be expanded for all health professional students.

Dyad Training in a Perceptual-Motor Task: “Two Pairs of Eyes Are Better Than One”

The aim of this experiment was to determine if dyad practice helped individuals become aware, use, and retain information in a dynamically changing perceptual-motor task compared with practice alone. We used a computerized perceptual-motor task, where individuals were required to intercept balls that dropped from the top of the screen. A colored line at the top of the screen provided information about the direction of the dropping ball. Participants (N = 24) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: A dyad training group where two participants alternated between physical and observational practice after each block of 20 trials, and they also engaged in dialog about the task, and an individual training group where one participant practiced the task. Both groups improved their accuracy during acquisition. On the retention test, participants in the dyad group caught significantly more balls (73%) than individuals of the alone group (58%). Participants in the dyad group also showed a higher percentage of correctly identified stimuli in the recognition task. Dyad training induced performance advantages in a perceptual-motor task because individuals became aware and used information acquired during observation and/or from the dialog.

Trans-vaginal ultrasound simulation: An exploratory qualitative research study focused on the end-users perception of learning

ObjectiveSimulation has been shown to be beneficial and effective in the intimate educational setting of trans-vaginal ultrasound (TVUS). In addition, quantitative work has shown dyad learning (learning in pairs) to be non-inferior to independent learning simulation in this setting. This study aims to explore trainees’ perceptions of learning in TVUS using qualitative research methods. A second aim was to study trainees’ perceptions of the method of training, (learning in pairs (dyads) or as individuals). Study DesignA three-hour training session using the transvaginal simulator and teaching programme was offered to participants, who either trained individually or as a dyad. Participants were then interviewed using a semi-structured interview technique. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, entered a qualitative research database (NVivo) to allow coding, structured analysis of data and development of themes using Thematic Analysis. ResultsFifteen doctors with no previous experience in TVUS were assigned simulation training either as individuals (n = 7) or dyads (n = 4 pairs, eight people in total). All participants reported the beneficial nature of simulation training and felt they had sufficient time to meet their learning needs. Some frustration was reported with feedback and the repetitive nature of the simulation. For dyad learning, participants perceived the value of the use of a second person to act as a “sound board”, to problem solve and to encourage each other. Independent learners reported frustration and difficulty in understanding if and how something went wrong. However, individual learners had the advantage of being able to go at their own pace. ConclusionPrevious studies have shown that simulation is effective for training in transvaginal ultrasound. This qualitative research study supports findings of previous quantitative studies by showing that participants appreciated the value of simulation and provided feedback for improvement in educational content. Clinicians and educators providing transvaginal simulation training could consider dyad training as an efficient and educational option, with individual training reserved for those who may need more time.

A feasibility study to assess the design of a multicentre randomized controlled trial of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a caregiving intervention for people following hip fracture surgery.

AimsThis study aims to assess the feasibility of conducting a pragmatic, multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an informal caregiver training programme to support the recovery of people following hip fracture surgery.MethodsThis will be a mixed-methods feasibility RCT, recruiting 60 patients following hip fracture surgery and their informal caregivers. Patients will be randomized to usual NHS care, versus usual NHS care plus a caregiver-patient dyad training programme (HIP HELPER). This programme will comprise of three, one-hour, one-to-one training sessions for the patient and caregiver, delivered by a nurse, physiotherapist, or occupational therapist. Training will be delivered in the hospital setting pre-patient discharge. It will include practical skills for rehabilitation such as: transfers and walking; recovery goal setting and expectations; pacing and stress management techniques; and introduction to the HIP HELPER Caregiver Workbook, which provides information on recovery, exercises, worksheets, and goal-setting plans to facilitate a ‘good’ recovery. After discharge, patients and caregivers will be supported in delivering rehabilitation through three telephone coaching sessions. Data, collected at baseline and four months post-randomization, will include: screening logs, intervention logs, fidelity checklists, quality assurance monitoring visit data, and clinical outcomes assessing quality of life, physical, emotional, adverse events, and resource use outcomes. The acceptability of the study intervention and RCT design will be explored through qualitative methods with 20 participants (patients and informal caregivers) and 12 health professionals.DiscussionA multicentre recruitment approach will provide greater external validity across population characteristics in England. The mixed-methods approach will permit in-depth examination of the intervention and trial design parameters. The findings will inform whether and how a definitive trial may be undertaken to test the effectiveness of this caregiver intervention for patients after hip fracture surgery.Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(11):909–920.

Comparison of dyad versus individual simulation-based training on stress, anxiety, cognitive load, and performance: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundDyad learning has been shown to be an effective tool for teaching procedural skills, but little is known about how dyad learning may impact the stress, anxiety, and cognitive load that a student experiences when learning in this manner. In this pilot study, we investigate the relationship between dyad training on stress, anxiety, cognitive load, and performance in a simulated bradycardia scenario.MethodsForty-one fourth-year medical school trainees were randomized as dyads (n = 24) or individuals (n = 17) for an education session on day 1. Reassessment occurred on day 4 and was completed as individuals for all trainees. Primary outcomes were cognitive load (Paas scale), stress (Cognitive Appraisal Ratio), and anxiety levels (abbreviated State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Secondary outcomes were time-based performance metrics.ResultsOn day 1 we observed significant differences for change in anxiety and stress measured before and after the training scenario between groups. Individuals compared to dyads had larger mean increases in anxiety, (19.6 versus 7.6 on 80-point scale, p = 0.02) and stress ratio (1.8 versus 0.9, p = 0.045). On the day 4 post-intervention assessment, no significant differences were observed between groups. Secondary outcomes were significant for shorter time to diagnosis of bradycardia (p = 0.01) and time to initiation of pacing (p = 0.04) in the dyad group on day 1. On day 4, only time to recognizing the indication for pacing was significantly shorter for individual training (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.26, p = 0.02).ConclusionsDyad training results in lower stress and anxiety levels with similar performance compared to individual training.

The Challenges of Dyad Practice in Simulation Training of Basic Open Surgical Skills-A Mixed-Method Study.

Simulation training at home improves access to training, but motivation can be difficult to maintain. Dyad training could keep trainees motivated. This study aimed to examine the effect of self-regulated training of basic surgical skills in pairs versus individually. One hundred one medical doctors were included in this prospective, mixed-method, simulation-based study. Participants were randomized to train individually or in pairs during a 6-week course in open surgical skills, consisting of didactic instructions and self-directed training at home. Trainees kept a training log and filled in a questionnaire. Skills were tested before and after the course. Tests were rated by an expert using the Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills Global Rating Scale. Ninety-seven doctors completed the study. We found no differences in test score between dyad and individual trainees. Dyad trainees compared with individual trainees improved by 7.23 points (intercept estimate) versus 6.94 points, respectively (P = 0.881). Dyad trainees trained less frequently [7.3 times (intercept estimate) vs. 12.1 times, P < 0.001, but for longer intervals compared with individual trainees (68 minutes vs. 38 minutes)]. Dyad trainees reported benefits such as having a sparring partner, receiving feedback, corrections, increased motivation, having fun, and more structured training sessions. However, the coordination of training sessions was difficult. No differences were found between dyad trainees and individual trainees in improvement of surgical skills. Off-site dyad training led to fewer, but longer training sessions, which may have negatively impacted the effectiveness of training. Dyad trainees perceived dyad training beneficial.

Haptic Coupling in Dyads Improves Motor Learning in a Simple Force Field.

In dyadic motor learning, pairs of people learn the same motion while their limbs are loosely coupled together using haptic devices. Such coupled learning has been shown to outperform solo learning (including robot-guided learning) for simple one-degree-of-freedom tasks. However, results from more complex tasks are limited and sometimes conflicting. We thus evaluated coupled learning in a two-degree-of-freedom tracking task where participants also had to compensate for a simple force field. Participant pairs were split into two groups: an experiment group that experienced a compliant haptic coupling between participants' hands and a control group that did not. The study protocol consisted of 70 repetitions of 18.9-second tracking trials: 10 initial solo trials with no coupling, 50 "learning" trials (where participants in the experiment group were coupled), and 10 final solo trials with no coupling. The experiment group (coupled) improved their solo tracking performance both in the presence (p = 0.008) and absence (p <; 0.001) of the force field; however, the control group (no coupling) only improved their solo performance in the absence of the force field (p <; 0.001) but not in the presence of the field (p = 0.81). This suggests that dyadic motor learning can outperform solo learning for two-dimensional tracking motions in the presence of a simple force field, though the mechanism by which learning is improved is not yet clear.Clinical Relevance-As motor learning is critical for applications such as motor rehabilitation, dyadic training could be used to achieve a better overall outcome and a faster learning speed in these applications compared to solo training.

Supporting community-dwelling older people with cognitive impairment to stay at home: A modelled cost analysis.

ObjectiveTo model the potential financial implications of Australian programs supporting cognitively impaired community‐dwelling older people.MethodsMarkov cohort models of (a) an observational study of a residential dyadic training program for carers and people with dementia (GTSAH) and (b) a frailty intervention (FIT) in a cognitively impaired subgroup. Direct health and social welfare costs accrued over 5 years (2018 $AUD prices) were captured. GTSAH costs $3755, FIT costs $1834, and permanent residential aged care (P‐RAC) costs $237 per day.ResultsModelling predicted costs break even in approximately 5 months for GTSAH and 7 months for FIT, after which these interventions saved funds. The primary driver of savings was the P‐RAC cost (discounted at 5%/annum), at $121 030 for GTSAH vs $231 193 for standard care; and $47 857 with FIT vs $111 359 for standard care.ConclusionsPrograms supporting cognitively impaired community‐dwelling older people could be financially beneficial; further evaluation and implementation would be a worthwhile investment.

Dyad training protocols and the development of a motor sequence representation

The purpose of the experiment was to determine the extent to which observation and the inter-trial dialogue in a dyad training protocol enhance the development of a movement sequence representation. The task was to reproduce a 1300ms spatial–temporal pattern of elbow extension/flexion movements. An inter-manual transfer design with a retention test and two effector transfer tests was used. The mirror transfer test required the same motor pattern of homologous muscle activation and a sequence of joint angles as experienced during the acquisition phase, and the non-mirror transfer test required the same visual-spatial pattern as practiced during acquisition. Participants (N=40) were randomly assigned to one of four groups (50 practice acquisition trials): a dyad training group where two participants alternated between physical and observational practice and permitting an inter-trial dialogue, a dyad training group where two participants alternated between physical practice and permitting a dialogue without observation, a dyad training group where two participants alternated between physical and observational practice without a dialogue, and an individual practice control group where one participant learned the movement sequence. The practice duration was for all participants identical. The results indicated that participants involved in the dyad training protocols with either observation and/or the inter-trial dialogue developed a motor representation of the movement sequence.

Comparing Effects of Dyad and Individual Training on Learning in Second and Forth grades Girl Students

Comparing Effects of Dyad and Individual Training on Learning in Second and Forth grades Girl Students

Comparison of dyad training method with cooperative and competitive approach in the learning of Basketball Free Throw

Comparison of dyad training method with cooperative and competitive approach in the learning of Basketball Free Throw

مقایسه تاثیر تمرین دوتایی و انفرادی بر بهبود یادگیری دانشآموزان دختر پایههای دوم و چهارم ابتدایی

یادگیری مشارکتی از انواع یادگیری است که در فراگیری مهارت‌ها، رشد اجتماعی و رشد عاطفی، فراتر از روش یادگیری انفرادی، عمل می کند. روش تمرین دوتایی از روش‌های یادگیری مشارکتی، گزینه مناسبی برای رسیدن به شرایط بهینه یادگیری است. پژوهش حاضر قصد دارد با استفاده از روش نیمه ‌تجربی اثربخشی تاثیر تمرین دوتایی و انفرادی دانش آموزان دو پایه دوم و چهارم دبستان را در یادگیری مهارت حرکتی طناب‌زنی مورد بررسی قرار دهد. برای این منظور 33 دانش‌آموز پایه دوم و 40 دانش‌آموز پایه چهارم با میانگین سنی 8.60 و 10.89 به صورت جداگانه به دو گروه؛ تمرین دوتایی و تمرین انفرادی تقسیم شدند. شرکت‌کنندگان 8 جلسه تمرین کرده و یک هفته پس از پایان مداخله ، آزمون گرفته شد. اندازه‌گیری بر اساس امتیازدهی به برنامه ارائه داده شده به دانش‌آموزان انجام شد. طبق نتایج، گروه تمرین دوتایی در پایه دوم برتری معناداری نسبت به گروه تمرین انفرادی داشت در حالی که در پایه چهارم دو گروه تفاوت معناداری با هم نداشتند. نتیجه ‌گیری این که می‌توان با استفاده از روش تمرینی دوتایی، اثربخشی شرایط تمرین را بالا برده و به یک محیط تمرینی بهینه‌تر نزدیک شد.