Manipulation Of Task Complexity Research Articles

An Investigation of the Impact of Manipulation of Task Complexity on Cognitive Processes Into Both NS and Second Language Learners

This study takes as its basis a recognition that task-based learning is now recognized as having major benefits in promoting L2 learning, and how cognitive load affects speech production. In addition, there has been a recent examination of the impact of task complexity, real-world meaning, and the overall cognitive load needed to be expended by students. Different task types have been evaluated in terms of how they improve aspects of language. However, less consideration has been given to the effect on the cognitive load of different task types with the speech production processes (conceptualization, input, output identification, monitoring, and reformulations). Drawing on data collected from 112 participants (56 Native Speakers, 56 Non-Native Speakers) who completed a series of tests of varying complexity and were asked to evaluate on a rating scale, the level of mental effort expended. The results indicated that complexity increases mental effort and thus cognitive load, and that conceptualization appears to be one area where greater effort is required before being able to problems solving. Formulation comments suggest that there was a high level of hesitation, self-checking, and assessment as the level of task complexity increased. The implications for teaching and syllabus design are also considered.

Effect of Task Complexity Manipulation in Writing on EFL Learners' Task Motivation

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners may not appreciate writing and even perform poorly in writing tasks partly due to what feelings they harbor toward such tasks. This study explored the relative effects of three degrees of writing task complexity based on resource directing dimensions of complexity on EFL learners' task motivation. Participants were 64 intermediate EFL learners at a language school in Baneh, Kurdistan, Iran, and were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: low complexity group, medium complexity group, and high complexity group. After completing the tasks, they filled in a task motivation questionnaire. The results showed that perceived relevance as a dimension of task motivation was higher in medium complexity group. With respect to emotional state as another dimension of task motivation, medium complexity task motivated participants more than low and high complexity tasks, because the participants showed a positive emotional state after doing it. Based on the findings and regarding intermediate EFL learners, it is recommended that writing tasks with a medium degree of complexity should be incorporated into task-based syllabuses by EFL teachers because of learners' task motivation toward these tasks.

Combining physiological data and subjective measurements to investigate cognitive load during complex learning

Cognitive load theory is one of the most influential theoretical explanations of cognitive processing during learning. Despite its success, attempts to assess cognitive load during learning have proven difficult. Therefore, in the current study, students’ self-reported cognitive load after the problem- solving process has been combined with measures of physiological data, namely, electrodermal activity (EDA) and skin temperature (ST) during the problem-solving process. Data was collected from 15 students during a high and low complex task about learning and teaching geometry. This study first investigated the differences between subjective and physiological data during the problem- solving process of a high and low complex task. Additionally, correlations between subjective and physiological data were examined. Finally, learning behavior that is retrieved from log-data, was related with EDA. Results reveal that the manipulation of task complexity was not reflected by physiological data. Nevertheless, when investigating individual differences, EDA seems to be related to mental effort.

Comparison of the effects of Written Corrective Feedback and Task-complexity Manipulation on the Grammatical Accuracy of EFL Learners’ Writing

This study compared the effects of teacher-provided written corrective feedback and manipulation of resource-directing dimensions of task cognitive-complexity along +/- Here and Now condition on the grammatical accuracy of Iranian EFL learners’ writing products. There were 45 participants in the study who were randomly assigned to three experimental groups. All the participants were first given a prompt for the pre-test of writing, and then each group received its own intervention (direct written corrective feedback, indirect written corrective feedback, and task manipulation) for four sessions during four weeks. Subsequently, all the groups took the pre-test prompt of writing for their post-test performance after which the data were collected for the statistical analyses and fed into SPSS. The findings of the study confirmed the significant effects of direct written corrective feedback on increasing the grammatical accuracy of learners’ writings. There were implications, then, based on the results, highlighting the role of meaningful context of task application in the classroom.

The Effects of Task Complexity and L2 Proficiency on L2 Written Performance

Although extensive task-based research has focused on how the manipulation of task complexity affects L2 performance, less attention has been paid to its combined effects with those of L2 proficiency. In this study, 41 Korean learners of English carried out a written task with two levels of task complexity, operationalized as number of elements. Participants were divided into three groups, based on their level of L2 proficiency. Performance was assessed by syntactic complexity, lexical diversity, and accuracy measures. Significant interaction effects between L2 proficiency and task complexity were found on lexical diversity and accuracy measures, especially in the high-proficiency group. Findings are discussed in relation to Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis and attentional resources available for task performance.

Developing A Theoretical Framework of Task Complexity for Research on Visualization in Support of Decision Making Under Uncertainty

This paper describes initial validation of a theoretical framework to support research on the visualization of uncertainty. Two experiments replicated and extended this framework, illustrating how the manipulation of task complexity produces differences in performance. Additionally, using a combinatory metric of workload and performance, this framework provides a new metric for assessing uncertainty visualization. We describe how this work acts as a theoretical scaffold for examining differing forms of visualizations of uncertainty by providing a means for systematic variations in task context.

Cognitive task complexity and L2 written syntactic complexity, accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency: A research synthesis and meta-analysis

This study, a research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis, contributes to recent L2 writing research on task complexity and its impact on the syntactic complexity, accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency (CALF) of written L2 production. Through a systematic analysis of task-based L2 writing research from 1998 to the present, the study aimed to better understand (a) how task complexity has been manipulated in previous research, (b) the range of metrics used in previous research to quantify L2 written CALF, and (c) the specific effects of task complexity manipulation on L2 written CALF. The results of the research synthesis indicate that a handful of task complexity features have received a great deal of attention compared to other, less studied task complexity features. Further, the results of the research synthesis suggest that many studies rely on relatively few metrics of CALF, often focusing on metrics of syntactic complexity associated with complex forms more typical of oral language production (Biber, 1988; Biber & Conrad, 2009; Biber & Gray, 2010; Biber, Gray, & Poonpon, 2011, 2013). The results of the quantitative meta-analysis indicate significant effects of increased resource-directing and resource-dispersing features of task complexity on the CALF of written L2 production. The results offer no clear support for the cognition hypothesis (Robinson, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011), but rather suggest that features of task complexity may promote attention to the formulation and monitoring systems of the writing process (Kellogg, 1996; Kellogg, Whiteford, Turner, Cahill, & Mertens, 2013).

Task Complexity Manipulation and Accuracy in Writing Performance

This study aimed to investigate the impact of task sequencing, along +/- reasoning demands dimension, on writing task performance in terms of accuracy. The study was motivated by Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis (CH) as well as previous studies investigating the relationships between task complexity and second language production. The participants of the study were 90 intermediate students at the Islamic Azad University, Shahr-e-Qods Branch, chosen from three classes based on their performance on the Preliminary English Test (PET). The participants in the three classes were assigned to three groups: Experimental 1, Experimental 2, and a Control group. At first, the students in all groups took part in the writing pre-test. Next, the treatment sessions including 8 sessions of picture description task performance began, during which the first experimental group received a series of picture description tasks based on a randomized order of cognitive complexity. The second experimental group received the same tasks, but ordered from simple to complex, based on their required reasoning demands. The control group, however, received some writing activities from the course book. Finally, during the last session, the post- test was administered to all participants. The results of the data analysis showed a significant positive impact for sequencing tasks from simple to complex on accuracy in writing task performance.

English

This study investigates the relationship between the cognitive demands of task complexity and learners’ motivation towards several tasks using task-based instruction during asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) writing tasks. According to Robinson’s Cognition Hypotheses (2001a, 2005, 2007), the production of language would be different when certain manipulation of task complexity was made. The tasks were manipulated following two variables from the Cognition Hypotheses, along resource-directing (+/- causal reasoning demand) and resource-dispersing (+/- task structure) dimensions. Eighty-eight undergraduate students from one of the technical universities in Malaysia were divided into four groups and assigned with a writing task. After the participants have completed the writing tasks, they were interviewed and asked to complete a questionnaire to gauge their motivation towards the tasks. Participants’ written language production was coded and analyzed using syntactic and lexical complexity measures. Further analysis of the data was conducted using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and correlational analysis. Analyses of the results showed that there is a correlation between task complexity and task motivation among learners. However, the correlation is only evident in lexical complexity production and no correlation was found for any of the syntactic complexity measures. This study is significant as it explores the roles of task complexity and task motivation in mediating the production of language. It also highlights how the manipulation of task complexity would encourage the production of the language in terms of its complexity.

Exploring the potential of second/foreign language writing for language learning: The effects of task factors and learner variables

This investigation aimed at examining the potential of second/foreign language (L2/FL) writing for language learning through the manipulation of task complexity and learner-related variables, including L2 proficiency levels and performance levels on task. It focused on task complexity in essay writing and measures of syntactic complexity, linguistic accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Analysis was based on the data from two separate studies the author conducted on this topic with undergraduate FL learners of Spanish in an American university at two distinct levels of language proficiency: advanced and intermediate. Findings indicated that task complexity in L2/FL writing as determined by familiarity of topic, genre, and/or task type, and reasoning demands seemed to have an impact on writing as a possible context for language learning, namely on CAF measures, in two ways: First, within given levels of language proficiency, results showed a tendency towards a trade-off effect among measures of linguistic production in writing affected by task complexity. Second, findings also suggest that the relationship between task complexity in L2/FL writing and the effect on attentional resources and CAF measures may be associated with the language proficiency level (Norris & Ortega, 2009) in conjunction with the level of expertise in writing of the learner. These findings shed further light on the connection between L2/FL writing and task-based language teaching (TBLT) (Byrnes & Manchón, 2014). Limitations of the study as well as suggestions for future research are stated.

The Effects of Task Complexity and Input Frequency on the Acquisition of the Past Counterfactual Construction Through Recasts

This investigation examined two techniques that may help learners focus on second language (L2) constructions when recasts are provided during meaning‐based communicative activities: altering the cognitive complexity of tasks and manipulating the input frequency distributions of target constructions. We first independently assessed the validity of our cognitive task complexity manipulation by means of expert judgments, dual‐task methodology, and eye tracking. Next, in our main study, we employed a pretest‐posttest design with two treatment sessions. The participants were 51 adult English L2 learners, randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups or a control group. All experimental groups received recasts but differed as to whether they carried out simple tasks with lower reasoning demands or complex tasks with higher reasoning demands, and whether they received skewed or balanced input of the linguistic target, the past counterfactual construction. An oral production test and two written receptive tests were utilized to measure changes in participants’ knowledge. Our results revealed no effects for the input frequency manipulations, but participants achieved higher oral production gains under the simple task condition.

Dual task performance in a healthy young adult population: Results from a symmetric manipulation of task complexity and articulation

The ability to execute and maintain gait while performing simultaneous cognitive, verbal, or motor tasks (‘dual-tasking’) is beneficial in many ways. It is well-documented, however, that dual-tasking can result in cognitive or motoric interference that results in diminished gait performance, and impaired secondary task performance. When manipulating cognitive load, it is common to have participants respond verbally to stimuli. While this is an ecologically valid way to measure the effects of cognitive load on gait, it ignores the additional demands inherent in the verbal aspect of the task. In the present study, we manipulated complexity and articulation within a single working memory task, in order to examine their relative impact on continuous spatiotemporal gait parameters. Fourteen healthy young adults (11 women) aged 18–30 ( M = 22.14, S.D. = 2.28) were asked to memorize a random, non-repeating, sequence of three, five, or seven digits. Articulation was manipulated by either having participants rehearse the digits aloud, or rehearse the digits silently during the performance of the gait task. Gait parameters were quantified with a GAITRite instrumented carpet. Velocity, step time, swing time, and stance time demonstrated a significant ( p < 0.05) interaction between complexity and articulation, with articulation having a greater effect at higher levels of complexity. These results suggest that verbal secondary tasks may actually create a ‘triple-task’ in which the cognitive complexity of the task interacts with both the articulatory demands of the response modality, and the motoric demands of the gait task.

Task complexity and measures of linguistic performance in L2 writing

In a study on L2 proficiency in writing, conducted among 84 Dutch university students of Italian and 75 students of French, manipulation of task complexity led in the complex task to a significant decrease of errors, while at the same time a trend for a lexically more varied text was observed (Kuiken and Vedder 2005, 2007, in press). Based on this first analysis in which some global performance measures were used, a more specific analysis was carried out. In the latter analysis, which is reported in this article, accuracy was investigated in more detail according to the type of errors in the L2 texts, while lexical variation was analysed further by distinguishing frequent words from infrequent ones. Results showed that the effect of task complexity could mainly be attributed to lower ratios of lexical errors in the more complex task. With respect to the use of frequent versus infrequent words mixed results were found. On the basis of these findings a number of implications with regard to the operationalisation of task complexity and linguistic performance are discussed.

Aging and selective attention: an issue of complexity or multiple mechanisms?

Previous studies have shown age-associated deficits in selective attention that vary as a function of task demands. The present study was conducted to dissociate the effect of task complexity on age-related performance differences from qualitative differences in cognitive demands. Twenty-four young and 24 older adults were administered two versions of the Stroop Test (Hartley, 1993). The Color-Block version required identifying the color of a box while ignoring the name of a color printed either above or below the box. The Color-Word version required naming the color of a word while ignoring the semantic meaning of the word (a color name). Each version of the task included a two- and four-color choice condition as a manipulation of task complexity. Old and young adults performed comparably on the Color-Block Task, but older adults were significantly impaired on both conditions of the Color-Word Task, particularly in the four-choice condition. Results suggest age-related differences in the distinct attentional processes demanded by each task are not attributable to general slowing.