Kinds Of Tasks Research Articles

Modeling one-choice and two-choice driving tasks.

An experiment is presented in which subjects were tested on both one-choice and two-choice driving tasks and on non-driving versions of them. Diffusion models for one- and two-choice tasks were successful in extracting model-based measures from the response time and accuracy data. These include measures of the quality of the information from the stimuli that drove the decision process (drift rate in the model), the time taken up by processes outside the decision process and, for the two-choice model, the speed/accuracy decision criteria that subjects set. Drift rates were only marginally different between the driving and non-driving tasks, indicating that nearly the same information was used in the two kinds of tasks. The tasks differed in the time taken up by other processes, reflecting the difference between them in response processing demands. Drift rates were significantly correlated across the two two-choice tasks showing that subjects that performed well on one task also performed well on the other task. Nondecision times were correlated across the two driving tasks, showing common abilities on motor processes across the two tasks. These results show the feasibility of using diffusion modeling to examine decision making in driving and so provide for a theoretical examination of factors that might impair driving, such as extreme aging, distraction, sleep deprivation, and so on.

Tasks and learner motivation in learning Chinese as a foreign language

This study focuses on how beginner learners in a task-based teaching and learning (TBTL) environment perceive what is motivating to them in the process of learning Chinese as a foreign language at Aalborg University, Denmark. Drawing upon empirical data from surveys, group interviews and participant observation, this study explores which kinds of tasks are perceived as motivating from the students' perspective and which characteristics the learners associate with motivating tasks. The study indicates that it is important to consider the learners' affective factors and learning situation factors, which can boost learners' intrinsic motivation, when designing a task, especially at a beginning stage of foreign language learning, and to integrate cultural elements into tasks as an added value to motivate learners. Finally, this study identifies challenges and barriers related to TBTL that beginner-level students may find discouraging. It is suggested that motivating learners to continue learning the language and encouraging active participation may be more important than developing their linguistic accuracy and fluency in the given context.

Using Serial Industrial Robots and CAM Techniques for Manufacturing Prosthetic Devices

Serial industrial robots are able to perform point to point movements with a great degree of accuracy and flexibility. Thus, they are mostly used for welding, painting and pick-and-place task. Manufacturing processes require the control of movements on the entire path, so industrial robots are seldom used for this kind of task. The paper presents a research about using industrial robots for manufacturing prosthetic devices. The approach was to build a kinematic model of the robot and to implement it in a commercially available CAM program and to design and manufacture a milling unit as the end-effecter of the robot.

Effects of compression channel number and linked compression on masked lateralization performance in simulated bilateral cochlear implant listening

Bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) are becoming increasingly common. It is hoped for bilateral CI users that audibility in quiet will be complemented by performance benefits in everyday binaural listening tasks, like location-identification of a speech talker presented amid other talkers. While normal-hearing (NH) listeners have typically performed well in such kinds of tasks, bilateral CI users have performed poorly. It is possible that, for bilateral CI users, better performances can be attained through a re-thinking of device signal-processing strategies. In particular, we are interested in evaluating alternatives to single-channel independent compression, as is typically applied at the automatic gain control (AGC) stage. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that for simulated bilateral CI users (listeners with both NH and hearing impairments, HI), lower rms-error in a masked lateralization task will be achieved for multi-channel AGC and linked AGC, than for single-channel independent AGC, with and without pre-emphasis filtering, and for low and high compression thresholds. Preliminary data suggest a lower rms-error for linked compression than for independent compression, in conjunction with no detrimental effect of multi-channel compression. These data support the possibility of linked AGC with multi-channel AGC as an alternative to independent AGC in bilateral CI listening.

Age-prospective memory-paradox: explanatory hypotheses

Prospective memory is a complex cognitive function requiring to remember a planned action. For example, this function is particularly important for elderly people to remember taking medication at the appropriate time. The comparison of the performance of old and young peoples on different prospective memory tasks led to two contradictory results, a configuration that has been dubbed "age-prospective memory-paradox". The first set of results of the age-prospective memory-paradox configuration is in keeping with the effects of aging on cognitive functioning, older peoples generally performing less well than younger peoples on laboratory prospective memory tasks. The second set of results is at odds with the first one, as older peoples generally perform better than younger peoples on naturalistic prospective memory tasks. The aim of the present paper is to expose the main explanatory hypotheses of the age related deficit on laboratory prospective memory tasks in one hand and on the age related benefit on naturalistic prospective memory tasks on the other hand. Concerning laboratory prospective memory tasks, the main hypothesis is that the detrimental effect of age would be principally due to negative influence of age on executive control processes and retrospective memory processes involved in this kind of tasks. With respect to naturalistic prospective memory tasks, a higher motivational level and the fact that older people have more frequently recourse to external memory aids and to compensation strategies could explain the better results of older people.

국내 휴대폰의 진화패턴 규명을 위한 텍스트 마이닝 방안 제안 및 사례 연구

생물의 진화패턴과 원리는 지난 200년간 학문적인 영역에서 활발히 연구되어 왔으며 생명의 진화에 대한 체계적인 이론, 개념 및 방법론이 제시되었다. 그리고 진화경제학, 진화심리학, 진화언어학 등 다양한 분야에 적용되어 큰 연구 성과를 거두고 있다. 이와 더불어 진화생물학 논리를 인간이 만든 제품에 적용하려는 시도도 병행되어 왔다. 기존 연구들이 생물진화 논리를 인공물에 그대로 적용하거나 해당 분야 전문가의 직관에 근거하여 진화 모형을 구축하는 것이어서 진화 모형에 대한 일반화를 시키기에는 한계를 가진다. 또한 생물과 달리 인공물은 인간 의지의 상상력이 반영되기 때문에 생물진화 이론을 곧바로 적용할 수 없다고 알려져 왔다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 특정인의 주관에 벗어나 일반 대중들의 생각을 엿보고 이를 바탕으로 진화 모형을 구축하는 것을 목표로 한다. 이를 위해, 인공물을 계통적으로 분류할 수 있는 체계적인 틀을 제시하는 텍스트 마이닝 방안과 그 결과물을 효과적으로 보여줄 수 있는 시각화 방안을 차례로 제안한다. 특히, 제안방안을 바탕으로 최근 혁신의 아이콘으로 떠오르고 있는 휴대폰과 스마트폰에 대한 사례 연구를 집중적으로 수행한다. 지난 10년간 국내에서 출시된 휴대폰과 스마트폰에 대한 리뷰 포스트들을 수집하고 분석하여, 진화패턴을 발견하고 요약해서 보여주며 그 결과에 대해서 자세히 토의한다. 더욱이 이러한 작업은 소수의 전문가들이 방대한 문헌과 자료를 조사 정리하여, 오랜 시간에 걸쳐 진화계통도를 그리게 되는 매우 지난한 작업이다. 하지만 본 논문에서 제안한 방안은 반자동(semi-automatic) 마이닝 알고리즘으로 인간의 노력을 최소화할 수 있어 그 효용 가치가 높다. 이러한 연구를 통해 인간의 창의력과 상상력이 구현되는 방식을 이해하고 휴대폰의 미래 모습을 전망하는데 있어 유관기업들에게 큰 도움을 줄 것이다. Systematic theory, concepts, and methodology for the biological evolution have been developed while patterns and principles of the evolution have been actively studied in the past 200 years. Furthermore, they are applied to various fields such as evolutionary economics, evolutionary psychology, evolutionary linguistics, making significant progress in research. In addition, existing studies have applied main biological evolutionary models to artifacts although such methods do not fit to them. These models are also limited to generalize evolutionary patterns of artifacts because they are designed in terms of a subjective point of view of experts who know well about the artifacts. Unlike biological organisms, because artifacts are likely to reflect the imagination of the human will, it is known that the theory of biological evolution cannot be directly applied to artifacts. In this paper, beyond the individual's subjective, the aim of our research is to present evolutionary patterns of a given artifact based on peeping the idea of the public. For this, we propose a text mining approach that presents a systematic framework that can find out the evolutionary patterns of a given artifact and then visualize effectively. In particular, based on our proposal, we focus mainly on a case study of mobile phone that has emerged as an icon of innovation in recent years. We collect and analyze review posts on mobile phone available in the domestic market over the past decade, and discuss the detailed results about evolutionary patterns of the mobile phone. Moreover, this kind of task is a tedious work over a long period of time because a small number of experts carry out an extensive literature survey and summarize a huge number of materials to finally draw a diagram of evolutionary patterns of the mobile phone. However, in this work, to minimize the human efforts, we present a semi-automatic mining algorithm, and through this research we can understand how human creativity and imagination are implemented. In addition, it is a big help to predict the future trend of mobile phone in business and industries.

Task-based income inequalities and redistribution preferences: A comparison of China and Japan

To clarify whether a difference exists in the redistribution preferences of Japan and China and to provide insights into the possible causes of this difference, this study conducts an experiment similar to a dictator game but in which both donors and recipients have the chance to redistribute the initial incomes. In the experiment, an initial income gap is caused by one of two kinds of tasks that the subjects performed. One task requires subjects’ innate abilities for better performance, and the other requires simple efforts. This study also explores the effect of subjectively recognized reasons for income gaps on these preferences. The experimental results show the following: (1) Chinese donors are more generous than Japanese donors; (2) both Chinese and Japanese recipients are similarly greedy; (3) the causes of the income gap and subjective recognitions regarding this gap do not affect the redistribution preferences; (4) males are less generous than females in Japan but not in China; and, (5) Japanese donors become more generous when they did not expect to win the higher initial income.

2P1-L07 人間-ロボット協調作業系において摩擦特性を付加した位置決め作業に関する高次脳機能評価

The purpose of this study is to investigate the activation state of the higher brain function about the positioning task added friction properties in the human-robot cooperative task. Experimental conditions are classified into the following three kinds of tasks; (Case1) Positioning task without friction properties, (Case2) Positioning task with friction properties, and (Case3) Positioning task added friction properties with larger frictional force than Case2. The experimental results showed that there were significant differences on the activation of a motor area and a somatosensory area and that there were no significant differences in the higher brain activity level among the three kinds of tasks.

How to Use Blogs in Creating Special Opportunities for Language Learning

Nowadays the need to teach students using Weblogs has become one of the most important issues discussed by teachers and researchers. Information and communication technologies have been an integral part of our life, providing different opportunities in learning English as a second language. The aim of this study is to investigate how it is possible to use Web 2.0. technologies to create additional opportunities for language learning. We overview the benefits of using blogs in a language classroom, possible ways of teaching English to engineering students using Web 2.0. technology as a learning tool. The major findings of this research proved that integration of blogs greatly contributes to the process of foreign language teaching and learning. Finally, practical recommendations, including the information about the blog and some kinds of tasks have been given to educators and researchers. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1p532

Hazard Perception Assessment – How Much Ecological Validity is Necessary?

Hazard perception – the driver's ability to identify road hazards – is one of the few measurable aspects of driving competency that can explain the high accident risk of some groups of drivers [1,2]. Hazard perception tests differ regarding several features. Only a few empirical studies have been conducted to systematically compare different design features of hazard perception tests as e.g. the presentation mode (static vs. dynamic) of the included traffic scenarios [3,4]. Beside the variation of the stimulus material, hazard perception tests differ regarding the kind of task that has to be fulfilled by the participants. In general, experts outperform novices more clearly with increasing ecological validity of a task – its similarity to the demands of a certain domain [5]. As an empirical indicator of validity is a clear difference between experts and novices, ecological valid tasks are expected to increases the quality of a test. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the criterion validity of a hazard perception test can be enhanced by the application of an ecological valid task. 35 learner drivers and 31 experienced drivers were presented 21 animated driving scenarios that did or did not contain a potential hazard. One half of the participants were to react to hazards within the animation (high ecological validity) whereas the others worked on multiple-choice questions provided after the presentation (low ecological validity). The ANOVA revealed a main effect of expertise: experts scored highest. Moreover, a main effect of the task's ecological validity could be found: the multiple-choice task facilitated the test. No interaction between expertise and ecological validity could be found. The results indicate that both tasks lead to valid measures. Contrary to our expectations, the ecological validity of the task did not influence the criterion validity. Further research should be conducted e.g. in order to investigate, whether a further increase of ecological validity – e.g. by simulated driving – results in extended expert-novice differences.

Progesterone After Estradiol Modulates Shuttle-Cage Escape by Facilitating Volition.

In animal models of depression, depression is defined as performance on a learning task. That task is typically escaping a mild electric shock in a shuttle cage by moving from one side of the cage to the other. Ovarian hormones influence learning in other kinds of tasks, and these hormones are associated with depressive symptoms in humans. The role of these hormones in shuttle-cage escape learning, however, is less clear. This study manipulated estradiol and progesterone in ovariectomized female rats to examine their performance in shuttle-cage escape learning without intentionally inducing a depressive-like state. Progesterone, not estradiol, within four hours of testing affected latencies to escape. The improvement produced by progesterone was in the decision to act, not in the speed of learning or speed of escaping. This parallels depression in humans in that depressed people are slower in volition, in their decisions to take action.

Kinematic and Electromyographic Assessment of Upper Limb Repetitive Movements in an Artisanal Pastry Workshop

The aim of the study was to assess, using kinematic and electromyographic equipment, artisanal production of traditional Italian confectionery. Five young male skilled workers, all right-handed, were enrolled in the study. For each worker we did three acquisitions consisting in the production of five pastries. We compared production of custard confectionery using plastic piping bags versus canvas piping bags and the use of canvas piping bags while producing almond confectionery versus custard ones. For both almond cream and custard we used a 16 channel Wi-Fi surface electromyography system (FreeEMG, BTS SpA, Milan, Italy) for sEMG recordings. We investigated the following muscles on the right side of the body: deltoideus anterior, long head of the triceps brachii, short head of the biceps brachii, brachioradialis, flexor carpi radialis and inter osseus. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction from each muscle was performed according to the SENIAM recommendations. The mean activation of each studied muscle was then computed. An optoelectronic motion analysis system (SMART DX6000, BTS, Milan, Italy) was used for kinematic assessment. We investigated neck, trunk, and left and right elbow flexion. The results suggest the use of plastic piping bags rather than canvas piping bags while producing custard confectionery. Furthermore, because of the higher density of almond cream production of almond confectionery showed higher muscle effort with respect to custard processing while using canvas piping bags. Production of almond confectionery using canvas piping bags versus production using plastic piping bags was not investigated because of the breakdown of the plastic piping bags dues to the high density of almond cream. Lastly, on the basis of our experience we suggest the use of electromyography to objectively quantify muscle effort in this kind of task.

Designing Prediction Tasks in a Mathematics Software Environment

There is a recognised need in mathematics teaching for new kinds of tasks which exploit the affordances provided by new technology. This paper focuses on the design of prediction tasks to foster student reasoning about exponential functions in a mathematics software environment. It draws on the first iteration of a design based research study conducted by the authors in collaboration with four upper secondary school teachers. A task sequence was trailed with four 10th grade classes, involving a total of 85 students. The research process pinpointed key didactical variables that proved crucial in designing these tasks. As well as being useful in the task design process, the didactical variables were found to be valuable in the processes of analysis and revision. While the didactical variables identified a priori were informed by the research literature concerning reasoning and functions, those identified a posteriori deal mainly with scaffolding issues that emerged.

Context-aware, Accessibility and Dynamic Adaptation of Mobile Interfaces in Business Environments

Abstract Technology entered in our lives and changed not only the way we communicate and interact with each other, but also our habits and the experiences in the real and digital worlds. However, due to the rapid progress, we use technology in every moment of our day and sometimes this causes some frustration because the way we interact with the applications is not the most effective for the context we are in. This problem is even more significant in the business environments, where effectively the time we take to finish some kind of task can mean profit or loss for the business. The key to these problems can be in the adaptation of the interface to user needs and constrains as it happens in solutions for situational induced impairment and disabilities (SIID). This can be made by inference the context in which the user it is by using different sensors available on mobile platform and different sources of information such as user profile, agenda and usage history. In this paper we propose a review of the main challenges of the dynamic adaptation of interfaces, with a case of application in a business environment.

Non-renewable Recourses Life Cycles Modeling Aspects

Abstract The task of modeling and forecasting non-renewable resources production using bell-shaped curve-fitting models is considered. Identification of model parameters is based on the genetic algorithm. The purpose of this article is to determine the best genetic algorithm configuration for the task of bell-shaped life cycle models parameters identification. We find the initial population optimal size, and find that heuristic function is the best for crossover and adaptive feasible function is the best for mutation. The experience of modeling 235 time series of oil and gas production is summed up. On the basis of it we made the frequency analysis of models using for every kind of task. It allows to select the preferred models for describing oil, gas and shale gas production at the different levels of aggregation: from a country and a region to a single field.

Errors in determination of adverbs

For the purpose of successful adoption of Serbian Language Grammar, students, at a very early age, i.e. during the first and at the beginning of the second cycle of primary school education, adopt knowledge on the parts of speech. This kind of knowledge is checked through different forms of testing, through which students are expected to successfully recognize and make differences among parts of speech. Although most students successfully complete this kind of tasks, a number of students has difficulties and makes mistakes in determination of parts of speech, particularly unchangeable ones The aim of the paper was to show both primary school teachers and Serbian language teachers what the most frequent errors are when determining unchangeable parts of speech, and particularly adverbs. For this purpose, we have conducted the research in which we used Teacher Education Faculty and High School students' tests. Although the results have shown that most of the interviewees identify adverbs easily, there are those who are not successful and this must not be neglected. The aim was to explain why these errors occurred and to offer solutions for avoiding this.

Mobile crowdsourcing: four experiments on platforms and tasks

We study whether the tasks currently proposed on crowdsourcing platforms are adequate to mobile devices. We aim at understanding both (i) which crowdsourcing platforms, among the existing ones, are more adequate to mobile devices, and (ii) which kinds of tasks are more adequate to mobile devices. Results of four diversified experiments (three user studies and one heuristic evaluation) hint that: some crowdsourcing platforms seem more adequate to mobile devices than others; some inadequacy issues seem rather superficial and can be resolved by a better task design; some kinds of tasks are more adequate than others; there might be some unexpected opportunities with mobile devices; and spam on the requester side should be taken into account.

On Darwin's science and its contexts

The notions of 'the Darwinian revolution' and of 'the scientific Revolution' are no longer unproblematic; so this paper does not construe its task as relating these two items to each other. There can be big-picture and long-run history even when that task is declined. Such history has to be done pluralistically. Relating Darwin's science to Newton's science is one kind of historiographical challenge; relating Darwin's science to seventeenth-century finance capitalism is another kind. Relating Darwin's science to long-run traditions and transitions is a different kind of task from relating his science to the immediate short-run contexts.

What Does It Take to Establish that a World Is Uninhabited Prior to Exploitation? A Question of Ethics as well as Science

If we find life on another world, it will be an extremely important discovery and we will have to take great care not to do anything that might endanger that life. If the life we find is sentient we will have moral obligations to that life. Whether it is sentient or not, we have a duty to ourselves to preserve it as a study object, and also because it would be commonly seen as valuable in its own right. In addition to this we would also have a duty to our fellow humans and other earthly life forms not to expose them to danger by advertently or inadvertently exposing them to potentially harmful space organisms. When space exploration turns into exploitation it will therefore be important to be able to show that a world that is up for exploitation is uninhabited before the exploitation starts. Showing that a world is uninhabited is, however, a different kind of task than showing that it is inhabited. The latter task can be accomplished through one positive finding but it is not clear how to go about the former task. In this paper I suggest that it is a gradual process asymptotically approaching certainty rather than a discovery in the traditional sense of the word. It has to be handled in two steps. The first is to connect degree of certainty with research setup. The second is to decide how certain we need to be. The first step is about the number, diversity and quality of observations. The second step is a decision we have to make based on the purpose of the investigation. The purpose and therefore the degree of certainty needed to establish that a world is uninhabited will be different for a world that is up for exploitation than for a world that is not. In the latter case it is only a matter of epistemic values. In the former case also ethical values have to be considered.

Common sense or professional qualifications? Division of labour in kindergartens

ABSTRACTThis article compares the division of labour between kindergarten teachers and assistants in Norwegian kindergartens and discusses the two groups' perceptions of what kind of knowledge is important in order to carry out their tasks. This study is based on a survey representing kindergartens from all over Norway, and is part of a national research project.11The ‘MAFAL'-project. ‘Mastering the role as kindergarten teacher in a field dominated by laymen.' Supported by the Norwegian Council of Research. Responses to the survey show that differences are fewer than expected, both regarding the kind of tasks kindergarten teachers and assistants perform, and the way they see themselves as qualified for their work. Does this imply that kindergarten culture is less dominated by kindergarten teachers' formal qualifications, and characterised more by common sense and popular views on upbringing? The article discusses these questions in the light of empirical data and theoretical perspectives on knowledge and its impact on professional practice.