Increase Task Performance Research Articles

Neural mechanisms associated with sleep-dependent enhancement of motor learning after brain injury.

This study aimed to examine the improvement in performance and functional magnetic resonance imaging correlates of motor learning after a daytime nap versus a period of resting wakefulness among individuals with traumatic brain injury. A sample of 32 individuals with traumatic brain injury was randomly assigned to a Sleep (N = 17) or Wake (N = 15) group after a period of training on a motor sequential learning task. A 45-min nap opportunity was provided for the Sleep group, while the Wake group watched a documentary for 45 min. Performance at the end of training was compared with their performance after the nap or wake intervention. Before and after the intervention, the motor sequential learning task was completed in the magnetic resonance imaging scanner to examine the relationship between change in performance and neural activation. Participants in the Sleep group showed significant gains from the end of training to after the intervention, whereas the Wake group did not. The functional magnetic resonance imaging results showed that relative to the Wake group, the Sleep group showed significantly decreased activation post-intervention in the anterior cingulate/paracingulate, cerebellum, cuneus/precuneus, and inferior parietal lobule including angular and supramarginal gyri. Importantly, across both groups, increased task performance at post-intervention was associated with decreased activation in the anterior cingulate/paracingulate and cerebellum. This study demonstrated the enhancing effect of a nap on motor learning performance in a sample of individuals with traumatic brain injury, with patterns of neural activation suggesting that the sequence was more automatized in the Sleep group. Strategic placement of a nap after an intense period of motor learning in the medical rehabilitation setting may have important implications for maximizing recovery after traumatic brain injury.

Emotional Intelligence as Critical Competence in Nurses' Work Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Emotional intelligence may help nurses to cope with demanding work environments where the need to improve the quality and safety of the care provided, as well as the care of the chronically ill, prevails. Although it is well known that emotional intelligence is positively related to work performance, the literature on nurses is limited. The aim of our study was to examine the impact of emotional intelligence on work performance in a sample of nurses in Greece. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 318 nurses. We collected data from a convenience sample of nurses during January 2024. Since we conducted an online survey through social media, our sample could not be representative of all nurses in Greece. For instance, older nurses may be underrepresented in our study due to limited access on social media. We measured emotional intelligence with the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) and work performance with the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ). We created multivariable linear regression models adjusted for sex, age, educational level, and work experience. We followed the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines. We found that the four streams of emotional intelligence (i.e., well-being, self-control, emotionality, sociability) increased nurses' work performance. In particular, we found a positive relationship between well-being and task performance (adjusted beta = 0.210, 95% CI = 0.140 to 0.281, p-value < 0.001) and contextual performance (adjusted beta = 0.135, 95% CI = 0.050 to 0.221, p-value = 0.002). Similarly, there was a positive relationship between self-control and task performance (adjusted beta = 0.136, 95% CI = 0.030 to 0.241, p-value = 0.012). Additionally, sociability increased task performance (adjusted beta = 0.223, 95% CI = 0.151 to 0.295, p-value < 0.001) and contextual performance (adjusted beta = 0.198, 95% CI = 0.111 to 0.286, p-value < 0.001). Moreover, emotionality (adjusted beta = -0.198, 95% CI = -0.319 to -0.076, p-value = 0.002) and sociability (adjusted beta = -0.133, 95% CI = -0.221 to -0.044, p-value = 0.003) reduced counterproductive work behavior. Our multivariable models identified a positive impact of emotional intelligence on nurses' work performance. Nurse managers and healthcare organizations should adopt appropriate interventions to improve nurses' emotional intelligence. Enhancing emotional intelligence among nurses can improve work performance and, thus, healthcare outcomes. Moreover, higher levels of emotional intelligence may empower nurses' compassion and resilience, fostering a supportive work environment. In this context, the well-being of both nurses and patients may improve.

Benefits of postural sway to succeed in goal-directed visual tasks

When individuals stand, they sway and so have to maintain their balance. It is generally expected that task performance is worse when standing and swaying than when sitting and therefore not swaying. In contrast, we hypothesized that greater sway is associated with better task performance in the absence of external perturbations of posture. Twenty-four healthy, young adults performed two goal-directed, modified Stroop tasks (incongruent and reversed incongruent) in four body position conditions (standing against a vertical surface, and standing freely with a wide, standard or narrow stance). Centre of pressure (COP) sway, head sway, eye movements, visual attention, and task performance were recorded. Partial correlation analyses showed significant positive associations between task performance and some COP and head sway variables, after controlling for the level of visual attention. Analyses of variance with three factors (body position, task difficulty, target distance) also showed significant interaction effects between body position (and therefore postural sway) and the number of accurate target findings. The presence of these interactions showed that narrow stance was both the best body position for performing the incongruent task and the worst body position for performing the reversed incongruent task. Overall, COP sway and head sway can increase task performance. Hence, healthy, young adults in quiet stance appear to use sway to explore their environment more effectively. However, it should be borne in mind that our hypothesis was formulated solely with regard to healthy, young adults standing in quiet stance.

The impact of virtual and augmented reality on presence, user experience and performance of Information Visualisation

The fast growth of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) head-mounted displays provides a new medium for interactive visualisations and visual analytics. Presence is the experience of consciousness within extended reality, and it has the potential to increase task performance. This project studies the impact that a sense of presence has on data visualisation performance and user experience under AR and VR conditions. A within-subjects design recruited 38 participants to complete interactive visualisation tasks within the novel immersive data analytics system for genomic data in AR and VR, and measured speed, accuracy, preference, presence, and user satisfaction. Open-ended user experience responses were also collected. The results implied that VR was more conducive to efficiency, effectiveness, and user experience as well as offering insight into possible cognitive load benefits for VR users.

FAST a Digital Sales Transformation Software for the Real Estate Industry

Nowadays, organisations are encountering ever-more challenging demands, and those that do not adapt risk closure. This trend is particularly notable in small and medium-sized enterprises, where deficits in technology adoption are often particularly conspicuous. Companies that succeed in streamlining their sales process are more likely to enjoy better outcomes, underlining the crucial requirement of implementing technical solutions to tackle these problems with optimal efficiency. Therefore, the aim of this investigation is to deploy a web-based system for the purpose of enhancing sales management in a company operating in the field of real estate and construction. The system was constructed utilising Extreme Programming XP methodology, consisting of four phases: planning (user stories), design (system outline), coding (system programming) and testing (testing). The introduction of a web-based system highly streamlined the company’s sales process, reducing information search times by 64% and decreasing time spent on recording sales data by 62%. The system enabled greater sales activity during the day, resulting in a 72% increase in task performance. It also aided the accounting department in streamlining revenue reporting. This demonstrates that the system is an efficient tool for enhancing the sales process, reducing yearly tasks, and minimizing recording time.

생활지원중심 개별화교육계획(IEP)에 기반한 다요소행동중재가 지적장애학생의 자리이탈행동과 과제수행행동에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of multi-component behavioral interventions based on life support-oriented Individualized Education Plan(IEP) on the out-of-seat and task performance behavior for student with intellectual disabilities. The independent variable in this study was the multi-component behavioral intervention based on a life support-oriented IEP, and the dependent variables were out-of-seat behavior and task performance behavior. The study was conducted using an AB design, consisting of baseline, intervention, and maintenance phases. After establishing a life support-oriented IEP in the research preparation stage, observers were trained, problem behavior selection and functional behavior evaluation (FBA) were conducted, reinforcement evaluation was conducted, and a behavioral intervention plan(BIP) based on life support-oriented IEP was developed. Baseline, intervention, and maintenance phases were conducted in special education classrooms, with data collection occurring from 10 minutes after class started to 30 minutes afterward. Analyses were conducted in terms of level, immediacy, trend, averages and ranges, and Percentage of Non-overlapping Data(PND). Qualitative aspects of the dependent variables were analyzed in-depth through anecdotal analysis. The results showed that the multi-component behavioral intervention based on the life support-oriented IEP was effective in reducing out-of-seat behavior and increasing task performance behavior. These effects were maintained after the intervention ended. Based on the results, implications were discussed with limitations and suggestions for future research.

Systematic Literature Review on Hybrid Robotic Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles are a continuously rising technology in several industry sectors. Examples of these technologies lie in the advances in self-driving cars and can be linked to extraterrestrial exploration, such as NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers. These systems present a leading methodology allowing for increased task performance and capabilities, which are no longer limited to active human support. However, these robotic systems may vary in shape, size, locomotion capabilities, and applications. As such, this report presents a systematic literature review (SLR) regarding hybrid autonomous robotic vehicles focusing on leg–wheel locomotion. During this systematic review of the literature, a considerable number of articles were extracted from four different databases. After the selection process, a filtered sample was reviewed. A brief description of each document can be found throughout this report.

Fading memory as inductive bias in residual recurrent networks

Residual connections have been proposed as an architecture-based inductive bias to mitigate the problem of exploding and vanishing gradients and increased task performance in both feed-forward and recurrent networks (RNNs) when trained with the backpropagation algorithm. Yet, little is known about how residual connections in RNNs influence their dynamics and fading memory properties. Here, we introduce weakly coupled residual recurrent networks (WCRNNs) in which residual connections result in well-defined Lyapunov exponents and allow for studying properties of fading memory. We investigate how the residual connections of WCRNNs influence their performance, network dynamics, and memory properties on a set of benchmark tasks. We show that several distinct forms of residual connections yield effective inductive biases that result in increased network expressivity. In particular, those are residual connections that (i) result in network dynamics at the proximity of the edge of chaos, (ii) allow networks to capitalize on characteristic spectral properties of the data, and (iii) result in heterogeneous memory properties. In addition, we demonstrate how our results can be extended to non-linear residuals and introduce a weakly coupled residual initialization scheme that can be used for Elman RNNs.

Refinement of IntelliCage protocols for complex cognitive tasks through replacement of drinking restrictions by incentive-disincentive paradigms.

The IntelliCage allows automated testing of cognitive abilities of mice in a social home cage environment without handling by human experimenters. Restricted water access in combination with protocols in which only correct responses give access to water is a reliable learning motivator for hippocampus-dependent tasks assessing spatial memory and executive function. However, water restriction may negatively impact on animal welfare, especially in poor learners. To better comply with the 3R principles, we previously tested protocols in which water was freely available but additional access to sweetened water could be obtained by learning a task rule. While this purely appetitive motivation worked for simple tasks, too many mice lost interest in the sweet reward during more difficult hippocampus-dependent tasks. In the present study, we tested a battery of increasingly difficult spatial tasks in which water was still available without learning the task rule, but rendered less attractive either by adding bitter tasting quinine or by increasing the amount of work to obtain it. As in previous protocols, learning of the task rule provided access to water sweetened with saccharin. The two approaches of dual motivation were tested in two cohorts of female C57BL/6 N mice. Compared to purely appetitive motivation, both novel protocols strongly improved task engagement and increased task performance. Importantly, neither of the added disincentives had an adverse impact on liquid consumption, health status or body weight of the animals. Our results show that it is possible to refine test protocols in the IntelliCage so that they challenge cognitive functions without restricting access to water.

Proactive Personality and Task Performance: The Mediating Role of Job Crafting

Purpose –The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of job crafting in the relationship between proactive personality and task performance. Design/methodology/approach–The hypotheses of the study were tested with path analysis in AMOS 17. It is hypothesized that proactive personality traits will lead to an increase in job crafting and consequently increase task performance. The data consists of employees working in theeducation sector. Data were collected from 225 individuals through an online questionnaire. The hypotheses of the study were tested by path analysis. Results –The results show that increasing challenging job demands and increasing structural job resources, which are sub-dimensions of job crafting, partially mediate the relationship between proactive personality and task performance. Discussion –Proactive individuals tend to engage in job crafting behaviors that increase their job demands and job resources, which subsequently contribute to their enhanced task performance. However, it is important to note that the effect of increasing challenging job demands on task performance was found to be negative, suggesting that a certain level of job demands may lead to decreased task performance. As a result of the research, recommendations for managers will be presented.

Seeing eye to eye: trustworthy embodiment for task-based conversational agents.

Smart speakers and conversational agents have been accepted into our homes for a number of tasks such as playing music, interfacing with the internet of things, and more recently, general chit-chat. However, they have been less readily accepted in our workplaces. This may be due to data privacy and security concerns that exist with commercially available smart speakers. However, one of the reasons for this may be that a smart speaker is simply too abstract and does not portray the social cues associated with a trustworthy work colleague. Here, we present an in-depth mixed method study, in which we investigate this question of embodiment in a serious task-based work scenario of a first responder team. We explore the concepts of trust, engagement, cognitive load, and human performance using a humanoid head style robot, a commercially available smart speaker, and a specially developed dialogue manager. Studying the effect of embodiment on trust, being a highly subjective and multi-faceted phenomena, is clearly challenging, and our results indicate that potentially, the robot, with its anthropomorphic facial features, expressions, and eye gaze, was trusted more than the smart speaker. In addition, we found that embodying a conversational agent helped increase task engagement and performance compared to the smart speaker. This study indicates that embodiment could potentially be useful for transitioning conversational agents into the workplace, and further in situ, "in the wild" experiments with domain workers could be conducted to confirm this.

Open-office noise and information processing

PurposeThe authors draw on arousal-based models to develop and test a model of open-office noise and information processing. Specifically, the authors examined whether open-office noise changes how people process information and whether such a change has consequences for task performance.Design/methodology/approachIn a laboratory experiment, the authors randomly assigned participants (107 students at a business school) to either a silent condition or a condition that exposed them to open-office noise (irrelevant speech) while completing a task that requires cognitive flexibility. The authors measured participants' physiological arousal and the extent to which they processed information intuitively and analytically during the task.FindingsOpen-office noise increased urgent processing and decreased analytical processing, which led to a respective decrease and increase in task performance. In line with a neuroscientific account of cognitive processing, an increase in arousal (subjective and physiological) drove the detrimental effect of open-office noise on task performance.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the information-processing consequences of open-office noise can help managers make more informed decisions about workplace environments that facilitate performance.Originality/valueThe study is one of the first to examine the indirect effects of open-office noise on task performance through intuitive and analytical processing, while simultaneously testing and providing support for the accompanying physiological mechanism.

Augmented reality for industrial quality inspection: An experiment assessing task performance and human factors

Augmented reality (AR) technologies promise to increase the flexibility and productivity of the workforce by providing real-time information to workers right where it is needed. Following Cognitive Load Theory and Attention Theory, AR assistance can reduce the burden on workers’ mental capacity while performing a task, thereby improving task performance. The benefits of AR on industrial activities like assembly or maintenance have been investigated extensively, but the literature on AR-assisted quality control, specifically, quality inspection, is scarce. This stands in contrast to the importance of industrial quality inspection and highlights the need for research on the topic. In this work, we develop an AR-based system for head-mounted displays (HMDs) that visualizes product defects directly on physical products. We investigate its effect on task performance and human factors through an experiment. Participants performed multiple quality inspections using real manufacturing products and equipment with the help of an AR HMD, a screen, or no additional help. We find increased task performance using the AR HMD system. In comparison to screen-based assistance, a moderating effect of task difficulty was observed. Specifically, AR was more beneficial to task completion times given a difficult task. Furthermore, the AR HMD system reduced mental workload and received a positive rating regarding user experience. Our work contributes to the research in industrial AR usage through a novel AR HMD system for quality inspection and provides so far missing empirical and theoretically grounded evidence on its benefits with regard to task performance and human factors.

Correlation between Cognitive Performance and Interhemispheric Asymmetry of EEG Alpha Rhythm during Lateralized Presentation of Visual Information against the Background of Optical Stimulation.

The effect of lateralized optical stimulation with a frequency of 10 Hz on the effectiveness of cognitive task performance (n-back test) was studied in 33 healthy subjects (right-handed men). Test visual information was presented to the right or left visual hemifield under normal conditions and against the background of optical stimulation with a frequency of 10 Hz. The absolute values of the spectral power of the high (10-13 Hz) subrange of alpha-rhythm of EEG (SPα2) were calculated. When test information was sent to the right hemisphere against the background of stimulation, an increase in task performance was revealed in subjects with low SPα2. This was accompanied by an increase in SPα2 in some cortical areas of the contralateral (left) hemisphere and, as a result, an increase in left-side dominance of SPα2. The findings indicate the possibility of using lateralized optical stimulation to improve cognitive task performance, in particular, by changing the interhemispheric asymmetry of the EEG alpha2-rhythm.

Contributions of global and local processing on medical image perception.

The influential holistic processing hypothesis attributes expertise in medical image perception to cognitive processing of global gist information. However, it has remained unclear whether or how experts use rapid global impression of images for their subsequent diagnostic decisions based on the focal sign of cancer. We hypothesized that continuous-global and discrete-local processes jointly attribute to radiological experts' detection of mammogram, with different weights and temporal dynamics. We examined experienced versus inexperienced observers' performance at first (500ms) versus second (2500ms) mammogram image presentation in an abnormality detection task. We applied a dual-trace signal detection (DTSD) model of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) to assess the time-varying contributions of global and focal cancer signals on mammogram reading and medical expertise. The hierarchical Bayesian DTSD modeling of empirical ROCs revealed that mammogram expertise (experienced versus inexperienced observers) manifests largely in a continuous-global component for the detection of the gist of abnormality at the early phase of mammogram reading. For the second presentation of the same mammogram images, the experienced participants showed increased task performance that was largely driven by better processing of discrete-local information, whereas the global processing of abnormality remained saturated from the first exposure. Modeling of the mouse trajectory of the confidence rating responses further revealed the temporal dynamics of global and focal processing. These results suggest a joint contribution of continuous-global and discrete-local processes on medical expertise, and these processes could be analytically dissociated.

Prioritizing those who follow: How do Transformational leadership and Servant leadership stimulate on employee outcomes? Using Self-determination Theory

In this modern era of business and competition, no organization can achieve its organizational goals and objectives or success without the role of leaders. Transformational and Servant leadership play an important role in enhancing employee outcomes like engagement, task performance and organizational citizenship behaviour. The current study put forward a theoretical framework and core effect of transformational and Servant leadership on different employee outcomes. We also consider the mediating role of dimensions of self-determination theory. The collection questionnaire method and a non-probability convenient sampling technique were used for data collection. During two and half months, we distributed 540 questionnaires and received 372 questionnaires properly filled. After applying statistical tests using SPSS and Amos, we find that transformational leadership and servant leadership increase employee engagement, task performance and organizational citizenship behaviour. And for leaders, employees' psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) must be fulfilled because psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) significantly affect transformational leadership, Servant leadership and employee outcomes such as employee engagement, task performance and organizational citizenship behaviour.

Cheating in Extensive Reading: Myth or Reality?

This study addresses the question of whether the use of problematic strategies is a threat to the effectiveness of a specific form of extensive reading. Extensive reading has been considered an effective way to receive comprehensible input in second language learning, and its benefits on the development of second language reading skills have been well documented. Meanwhile, it is also common that extensive reading is implemented as a part of existing language courses. In such courses, learners’ performance on comprehension tasks could affect their course grades. A potential concern here is that problematic strategies, including cheating, are employed to increase task performance. Interview and questionnaire surveys were conducted in the English department of a Japanese university, where active efforts are made to realize principle-based extensive reading, and extensive reading performance (i.e., the amount of reading) affects students’ course grades. While there were large individual and group differences in the students’ behavior, the results provide evidence that the use of problematic strategies is a real threat to the effectiveness of extensive reading. Based on our observations, we also propose some possible ways of promoting positive engagement with extensive reading.

Signal denoising through topographic modularity of neural circuits.

Information from the sensory periphery is conveyed to the cortex via structured projection pathways that spatially segregate stimulus features, providing a robust and efficient encoding strategy. Beyond sensory encoding, this prominent anatomical feature extends throughout the neocortex. However, the extent to which it influences cortical processing is unclear. In this study, we combine cortical circuit modeling with network theory to demonstrate that the sharpness of topographic projections acts as a bifurcation parameter, controlling the macroscopic dynamics and representational precision across a modular network. By shifting the balance of excitation and inhibition, topographic modularity gradually increases task performance and improves the signal-to-noise ratio across the system. We demonstrate that in biologically constrained networks, such a denoising behavior is contingent on recurrent inhibition. We show that this is a robust and generic structural feature that enables a broad range of behaviorally relevant operating regimes, and provide an in-depth theoretical analysis unraveling the dynamical principles underlying the mechanism.

The effect of telework on emotional exhaustion and task performance via work overload: the moderating role of self-leadership

PurposeThis study aims to develop a framework that explains how and when telework is related to emotional exhaustion and task performance, by conceiving work overload as a mediator and self-leadership as a moderator. For this purpose, two studies were conducted. Study 1 aims to understand whether telework would be related to emotional exhaustion and task performance and if work overload would mediate such relationships. Study 2 aims to analyze whether self-leadership was a significant moderator of the mediated relations found in Study 1.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested in a sample of 207 (in Study 1) and 272 (in Study 2) participants, which were exclusively teleworking. The results were analyzed using PROCESS macro in SPSS.FindingsThe results of Study 1 showed that telework dimensions were negatively related to work overload, which consequently decreased emotional exhaustion and increased task performance. In Study 2, self-leadership moderated the indirect effect of work overload on the relationship between telework and emotional exhaustion, such that the indirect effect was stronger for those who scored higher in self-leadership. However, it was not significant for task performance.Originality/valueThis paper adds to research on telework by focusing on the employee's mental health and performance, in the context of mandatory confinement. The authors identified telework dimensions that may act as resources to cope with the increased work overload inherent to telework, as well as the importance of personal resources in these relationships.

The Effects of Learning in Morphologically Evolving Robot Systems.

Simultaneously evolving morphologies (bodies) and controllers (brains) of robots can cause a mismatch between the inherited body and brain in the offspring. To mitigate this problem, the addition of an infant learning period has been proposed relatively long ago by the so-called Triangle of Life approach. However, an empirical assessment is still lacking to-date. In this paper, we investigate the effects of such a learning mechanism from different perspectives. Using extensive simulations we show that learning can greatly increase task performance and reduce the number of generations required to reach a certain fitness level compared to the purely evolutionary approach. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the evolved morphologies will be also different, even though learning only directly affects the controllers. This provides a quantitative demonstration that changes in the brain can induce changes in the body. Finally, we examine the learning delta defined as the performance difference between the inherited and the learned brain, and find that it is growing throughout the evolutionary process. This shows that evolution produces robots with an increasing plasticity, that is, consecutive generations become better learners and, consequently, they perform better at the given task. Moreover, our results demonstrate that the Triangle of Life is not only a concept of theoretical interest, but a system methodology with practical benefits.