Function Of Task Characteristics Research Articles

Online Awareness among Adolescents with Acquired Brain Injury: Preliminary Findings following Performance of Motor, Cognitive and Functional Tasks

Aims: Online awareness is an ongoing ability to monitor performance within the stream of action. It involves the ability to detect errors emerging during actual performance, as well as to anticipate potential problems. This preliminary within-subject study aimed to evaluate emergent and anticipatory online awareness among adolescents with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) during performance of motor, cognitive and functional tasks. Methods: 14 adolescents (11-18 years) following ABI were recruited. Before and after completion of the tasks, participants fulfilled task-related awareness questionnaires. Results: In the motor task, no significant correlations were found between heart rate and the subjective perceived exertion scale (emergent awareness). In the cognitive task, no significant correlations were found between the estimated difficulty before the task (anticipatory awareness) and actual performance, however a significant correlation was found between performance and the self-evaluation of performance (emergent awareness), in the easiest item of the task. In the functional task, two main patterns of online awareness were recognized: accurate and overestimation of performance. Conclusions: Online awareness deficits in adolescents after ABI, vary as a function of task characteristics. Clinicians who aim to improve online awareness should direct interventions to mainly include functional tasks, as compared to cognitive and motor tasks.

Task-related motivation and academic achievement in children and adolescents with ADHD.

Academic impairment in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is in part due to reduced motivation for academic tasks, which is likely to vary as a function of task characteristics. The current study employed a new questionnaire-the Child and Adolescent Motivational Profile (CHAMP)-to examine; (1) which task characteristic participants with ADHD perceive as most motivating relative to typically developing peers (TDP) and (2) whether these differences mediate academic functioning. 34 participants with ADHD and 435 TDP (8-16years) completed the CHAMP. Academic achievement (grade point average) and self-reported positive/negative classroom experiences were recorded. No task characteristics were rated higher in terms of their motivational salience in the ADHD group than in the control sample. Marked/graded, Socially evaluated, Collaborative, Requiring focus and Cognitively challenging task characteristics were rated significantly lower by the ADHD group than controls. The lower rating of Socially evaluated was explained by comorbid ODD symptoms. Cognitively challenging was rated as particularly unmotivating by individuals with ADHD. ADHD was associated with a decreased GPA and a more negative classroom experience. The associations between ADHD and GPA/negative classroom experience were both partially mediated by scores on the Cognitively Challenging scale. For children and adolescents with ADHD tasks that are cognitively challenging were not particularly motivating. To increase task motivation, and improve academic performance of individuals with ADHD, it may be important to include rewarded task elements as they are appraised as particularly motivating by these individuals and this appraisal was similar to that of TDP.

Scaffolding preschool children’s problem solving: A comparison between Chinese mothers and teachers across multiple tasks

This study compared Chinese mothers’ and teachers’ scaffolding of preschool children in different problem solving tasks. Participants were 57 children (including 29 girls) from seven kindergartens in Beijing, their mothers and teachers. Mothers varied in educational levels while all teachers were professionally qualified. Children solved four problems (supermarket, jigsaw puzzle, worksheet, and map) with their mothers and four comparable ones with their teachers. These tasks were appropriate for Chinese five-year-olds and differed in terms of dependence on verbal guidance, explicit learning content, contextual information, and complexity. Twenty-eight children worked with their mothers first; the problems were presented in the same order for both sets of dyads. Problem solving episodes ( n = 228) were videotaped and transcribed. An interaction turn was the unit of analyses. Results indicated that teachers gave higher-level cognitive support and emotional feedback than did mothers. Mothers with more education provided more optimal scaffolding than those with less education; but teachers’ scaffolding for these two groups of children rarely differed. Both mothers and teachers adjusted their scaffolding as a function of task characteristics but teachers were more sensitive to task characteristics than mothers. Possible reasons for these results are discussed.

Age differences in risky choice: a meta‐analysis

Does risk taking change as a function of age? We conducted a systematic literature search and found 29 comparisons between younger and older adults on behavioral tasks thought to measure risk taking (N= 4,093). The reports relied on various tasks differing in several respects, such as the amount of learning required or the choice framing (gains vs. losses). The results suggest that age-related differences vary considerably as a function of task characteristics, in particular the learning requirements of the task. In decisions from experience, age-related differences in risk taking were a function of decreased learning performance: older adults were more risk seeking compared to younger adults when learning led to risk-avoidant behavior, but were more risk averse when learning led to risk-seeking behavior. In decisions from description, younger adults and older adults showed similar risk-taking behavior for the majority of the tasks, and there were no clear age-related differences as a function of gain/loss framing. We discuss limitations and strengths of past research and provide suggestions for future work on age-related differences in risk taking.

Do children profit from looking beyond looks? From similarity-based to cue abstraction processes in multiple-cue judgment.

The authors investigated the ability of 9- to 11-year-olds and of adults to use similarity-based and rule-based processes as a function of task characteristics in a task that can be considered either a categorization task or a multiple-cue judgment task, depending on the nature of the criterion (binary vs. continuous). Both children and adults relied on similarity-based processes in the categorization task. However, adults relied on cue abstraction in the multiple-cue judgment task, whereas the majority of children continued to rely on similarity-based processes. Reliance on cue abstraction resulted in better judgments for adults but not for children in the multiple-cue judgment task. This suggests that 9- to 11-year-olds may have defaulted to similarity-based processes because they were not able to employ a cue abstraction process efficiently.

Cognitive Aging and Adaptive Foraging Behavior

We conducted two experiments comparing younger and older adults' ability to adjust their foraging behavior as a function of task characteristics. Participants foraged for fish in a virtual landscape and had to decide when to move between ponds so as to maximize the number of fish caught. In the first experiment, participants were left to generate their own foraging strategy, whereas in the second experiment, participants were instructed to use an incremental strategy that has been shown to produce optimal performance in this task. Our results suggest that both younger and older adults are adaptive in the sense of adjusting the parameters of their foraging strategy as a function of task characteristics. Nevertheless, older adults show overall poorer performance compared with younger adults even when instructed to use an optimal strategy.

Leren op het werk: Een handelingstheoretisch perspectief

Employee learning and task characteristics: An action-theoretical perspective Employee learning and task characteristics: An action-theoretical perspective Toon Taris, Michiel Kompier & Etty Wielenga-Meijer, Gedrag & Organisatie, Volume 19, Maart 2006, nr. 1, pp. 69-89 This study examines employee learning behavior as a function of task characteristics. Karasek and Theorell's (1990) Demand-Control (DC) model proposes that high levels of learning will occur when both job demands and job control are high. We consider the evidence for this assumption, arguing that the conceptual foundations of the DC model regarding the processes accounting for learning behavior are weak, while interpersonal differences in the learning process are largely neglected. We then discuss the relationship between learning and task characteristics from the perspective of German Action Theory (AT). AT explicitly discusses the mechanisms accounting for the relationship between task characteristics and learning, also assigning a role to interpersonal differences. Finally, we present a model that integrates action-theoretical insights on learning with DC-based empirical results.

The effects of substantive task characteristics on negotiators' ability to reach efficient agreements

The frequent failure of negotiators to achieve efficient agreements has been widely recognized. Research has shown that one reason for this failure is that negotiators often settle by splitting their differences on each issue, when logrolling (i.e., conceding on less important issues in exchange for reciprocal concessions on more important issues) is required to reach efficient agreements. Two studies were conducted to determine whether substantive task characteristics (i.e., different cover stories) would influence the types of agreements that negotiators reached, and, thus, the likelihood that they would achieve an efficient settlement. The first study found that for tasks with identical formal characteristics (i.e., identical payoff tables), negotiators were more likely to logroll, and therefore to reach efficient settlements, for certain substantive task characteristics than for others. The second study demonstrated that the influence of substantive task characteristics on concession patterns begins even before inception of face-to-face negotiations. After simply reading the instructional materials, participants indicated that one substantive version of the negotiation problem was comparatively more likely to be settled by logrolling than was the other version of the problem, even though both had identical payoff structures. The results supported the assumption that negotiation problems typically provide cues to negotiators about what type of strategy is likely to lead to mutually acceptable settlements. We conclude that it may be useful to postulate a hierarchy of negotiating behaviors. The specific behaviors elicited from the hierarchy will be a function of task characteristics and context, as well as the dynamics of the negotiation process itself.

The relationships between dimensions of hostility and cardiovascular reactivity as a function of task characteristics.

The present study examined the independent relationships between dimensions of hostility and cardiovascular responses to a laboratory task with and without harassment. Fifty-three males, aged 18 to 26, with a negative parental history of cardiovascular disease were selected on the basis of their scores on the Cook and Medley Hostility (Ho) scale (greater than 24 or less than 14). Factor-analysis of six separate measures of hostility/anger resulted in a two-factor solution; Factor 1 representing antagonistic hostility and Factor 2 representing neurotic hostility. Results showed that high factor scores on antagonistic hostility were significantly associated with greater systolic blood pressure (SBP) and forearm blood flow (FBF) changes and poorer SBP recovery to harassment. In addition, high factor scores on neurotic hostility significantly predicted greater FBF changes to harassment. Additional correlational analysis showed that cardiovascular responses were positively associated with self-reported negative affects but only for subjects with high scores on either dimension. These results are in agreement with recent evidence suggesting that only antagonistic hostility may be related to increased severity of coronary artery disease and that the degree of interpersonal conflict moderates the association between coronary-prone behaviors and cardiovascular responses.

The rule learning behavior of reading disabled and normal children as a function of task characteristics and instruction

The purpose of this research was to investigate rule learning in reading disabled (RD) and normal children (chronological age and reading age (RA) match) when required to (a) abstract rules independently, and (b) use rules after instruction. Study 1 required the children to solve problems using shapes and letters. Although there was no difference between groups in the rate of problem solving when children were asked to abstract rules independently, the pattern of errors was different. The RD children made a greater proportion of errors on the negative instance for the more complex problems. In particular, this occurred on the letter task which involved psycholinguistic categorization. After instruction, the RA controls made more errors than the other groups. Study 2 was an analogous psuedoword reading task. Even with statistical adjustment for differences in prior grapheme-phoneme (g-p) rule knowledge, the RD children performed less accurately than the RA controls when they had to abstract rules, although this was restricted to the most difficult rule (rule of e). There was no difference after instruction in rule application, although the patttern of errors and post-test results indicated that the RD children continued to experience decoding difficulty. These results suggest a phonologically based productive deficit which interferes with the learning of g-p rules. This may be part of a more general language deficit which includes psycholinguistic categorization. Despite the severity of this handicap, RD children seem responsive to instruction.

Efficacy expectations or response predictions: The meaning of efficacy ratings as a function of task characteristics.

Efficacy expectations or response predictions: The meaning of efficacy ratings as a function of task characteristics.

Efficacy expectations or response predictions: The meaning of efficacy ratings as a function of task characteristics.

Efficacy expectations or response predictions: The meaning of efficacy ratings as a function of task characteristics.

Performance Standards and Reinforcements effects on children's academic performance: A test of social learning theory

Operant conditioning and social learning theory explanations have been offered to explain Kanfer's self-regulation model, and the aim of this study was to place this model within a theoretical framework. A total of 108 schoolchildren (Mage =9.99 years)were assigned randomly to one of four groups in a 2 ×2 (Performance Standards ×Reinforcement)design, with the levels of the independent variables being self- and externally imposed contingencies. Persistence and accuracy of verbal and arithmetic tasks constituted the dependent variables. The results provide some support for social learning theory explanations: (a)Any significant self- versus external reinforcement differences were dependent on prior attributions of the perceived locus of behavior change; (b)stringent standards were more important than lenient standards; (c)differences between self-determined and yoked stringent standards were a function of task characteristics; and (d)the effects of self-regulation were task-specific.

Ingroup bias as a function of task characteristics

Ingroup bias as a function of task characteristics

Policy conflict and policy change as a function of task characteristics. IV. The effect of cue intercorrelations.

Abstract.— The hypothesis that intercorrelations between the cues in the conflict task will inhibit the reduction of the systematic differences in policies in policy conflict as studied in Hammond's “lens model” interpersonal conflict paradigm was tested in two experiments. The results supported the hypothesis, and suggested that the effect was due to the fact that the subjects have greater freedom in developing different policies when the cues are intercorrelated. In addition, the results suggested that the process of policy change when the conflict task has a lower degree of predictability than the original policy learning task might differ from that when the conflict task has the same predictability as the original task.

Reflections on conceptual tempo: Relationship between cognitive style and performance as a function of task characteristics.

Reflections on conceptual tempo: Relationship between cognitive style and performance as a function of task characteristics.

Reflections on conceptual tempo: Relationship between cognitive style and performance as a function of task characteristics.

Reflections on conceptual tempo: Relationship between cognitive style and performance as a function of task characteristics.

Policy conflict and policy change as a function of task characteristics 1. The effects of cue validity and function form

Brehmer, B. & Kostron, L. Policy conflict and policy change as a function of task characteristics. I. The effects of cue validity and function form. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 44–55.‐Policy conflict and policy change in the “lens model” interpersonal conflict paradigm were studied as a function of the distribution of cue validities in a two‐cue task with one linear and one nonlinear cue. Agreement was higher in the conditions where the linear cue was more valid than the nonlinear cue than in the conditions where the nonlinear cue was more valid than the linear cue. This was primarily due to the fact that the subjects' policies were more consistent in predominantly linear conditions. The amount of policy change in the various conditions suggested that the subjects' behavior was the result of a compromise between conflict reduction and task adaptation.

Family interaction Patterns as a Function of Task Characteristics1

Data from two experiments were evaluated to test the widely held assumption that family process remains essentially constant regardless of the conditions under which it occurs. Significant differences and reversals in patterns of dominance between interacting husbands and wives were obtained under different task conditions. In general, stressful tasks and tasks with structured goals elicited paternal dominance, while maternal dominance of more equalitarian patterns resulted from tasks which involved discussion of feelings and opinions. These and other task dimensions were discussed. The findings of this study generate four conclusions: prior studies must be reviewed to evaluate task effects; future researchers must systematically investigate task characteristics; researchers must exercise care in the selection of tasks in future studies; and the relationship between role behaviors and task demands must be understood in order to help meet the increasing stress impinging upon the modern family system.