Mental Information Processing Research Articles

Differences in engineers’ brain activity when CAD modelling from isometric and orthographic projections

A way of presenting information in visual representations of technical systems influences the progress and the outcome of the engineering design process. Consequently, improving the means by and through which information is utilised during the process is one suggested approach to advancing engineering design. Engineers’ interaction with visual representations of technical systems is mainly visual and virtual. Although such interactions are cognitively complex, little is known about cognition (mental information processing) underlying the utilisation of design information during engineering design. To narrow the research gap, this study explores how visual representations of technical systems affect engineers’ brain activity while generating computer-aided design (CAD) models based on them. More precisely, the brain activity of 20 engineers is captured and analysed using electroencephalography (EEG) during the visuospatially-intensive design tasks of CAD modelling in two conditions; when technical systems are presented with orthographic and isometric projections in technical drawings. The results imply the sensitivity of engineers’ brain activity in CAD modelling to the visual representation from which a technical system is interpreted. In particular, significant differences are found in theta, alpha, and beta task-related power (TRP) over the cortex when interpreting the technical drawings and CAD modelling from them. Furthermore, the results reveal significant differences in theta and alpha TRP when considering the individual electrodes, the cortical hemispheres, and the cortical areas. In particular, theta TRP over the right hemisphere and the frontal area seems essential in distinguishing neurocognitive responses to the orthographic and isometric projections. As such, the conducted exploratory study sets the foundations for exploring engineers’ brain activity while performing visuospatially-intensive design tasks, whose segments are relatable to the aspects of visuospatial thinking. Future work will explore brain activity in other design activities that are highly visuospatial, with a larger sample size and an EEG device of a higher spatial resolution.

The language of evaluation: What the evaluation says about the evaluator

The language of evaluation as a subsystem of linguistic means with special pragmatic functions is examined in the context of scientific communication on an interpersonal and personal levels. On the one hand, the role of the evaluation language in reflecting social relationships in the scientific field is emphasized, and on the other hand, the individual characteristics of researchers in establishing professional relationships with their colleagues. It is shown how the participants in the scientific discourse construct their professional identity through the choice of certain types of evaluation resources. Four types of means of evaluation are the focus of consideration, which are central to the evaluative qualification and the evaluative positioning in scientific discourse: evaluative lexemes, modal epistemic words, means of authorization and emphasizing metatextual structures with predicates of mental information processing. It has been noted that different researchers use the same means of evaluation in different ways. The different use of evaluative language can be explained by individual preferences when choosing pragmatic strategies for conducting scientific discussions with other researchers. Accordingly, general professional profiles of the authors of the analyzed articles are distinguished, which reflect their typical language behavior models in interaction with potential communication partners. The description of the profiles is operationalized by metaphorical terms scientistdebater, scientist-diplomat, scientist-didactician. The theoretical articles by three German linguists, who are well-known and authoritative experts in their field, serve as empirical material for the analysis. The methodology is based on the theoretical foundations of language pragmatics, interactional sociolinguistics and discourse analysis.

The main types of mental information processing: a systematic structural method

The article describes the main types of mental information processing in the context of a systematic structural method. The author analyses the semantic theories of information. The author reviews the mechanisms of information processing and its qualitative properties. The article describes the mechanism of textual presupposition accommodation.

Quality of Life in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients with Neuropsychological Deficits.

We investigated: (i) the cognitive performance of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients compared to healthy control participants and (ii) the Health-related Quality of life (HRQOL) of type 2 diabetics with neuropsychological deficits. We conducted a prospective study in (N=44) T2DM patients and (N=28) demographically matched healthy controls. All participants were assessed with a flexible comprehensive neuropsychological battery of tests that have been standardized in Greece and found to be sensitive in detecting cognitive deficits in type 2 diabetics. They were additionally assessed on measures of general intelligence, general mental state, and depression. They were also administered the WHO QOL-BREF self-report questionnaire to evaluate perceived health-related quality of life. Groups were well matched on baseline demographic characteristics and estimated premorbid intelligence. The groups did not differ on general mental state but varied in the encoding of verbal material, total verbal learning, delayed recall of verbal information, mental information processing speed, phonological and semantic verbal fluency and executive functions, set-shifting. Glycosylated hemoglobin levels and an interaction of age, education, and premorbid intelligence were the most important predictors of domain-specific neuropsychological performance. T2DM patients with deficits in verbal learning, executive functions, set-shifting, and semantic verbal fluency, had significantly lower QOL in the domains of psychological and environmental health, social relationships, and general health, respectively. T2DM patients have cognitive deficits on several domains compared to healthy participants. Domain specific neuropsychological deficits in middle aged T2DM patients have a significant impact on HRQOL.

Mental Effort and Information-Processing Costs Are Inversely Related to Global Brain Free Energy During Visual Categorization.

Mental effort is a neurocognitive process that reflects the controlled expenditure of psychological information-processing resources during perception, cognition, and action. There is a practical need to operationalize and measure mental effort in order to minimize detrimental effects of mental fatigue on real-world human performance. Previous research has identified several neurocognitive indices of mental effort, but these indices are indirect measures that are also sensitive to experimental demands or general factors such as sympathetic arousal. The present study investigated a potential direct neurocognitive index of mental effort based in theories where bounded rational decision makers (realized as embodied brains) are modeled as generalized thermodynamic systems. This index is called free energy, an information-theoretic system property of the brain that reflects the difference between the brain’s current and predicted states. Theory predicts that task-related differences in a decision makers’ free energy are inversely related to information-processing costs related to task decisions. The present study tested this prediction by quantifying global brain free energy from electroencephalographic (EEG) measures of human brain function. EEG signals were recorded while participants engaged in two visual categorization tasks in which categorization decisions resulted from the allocation of different levels of mental information processing resources. A novel method was developed to quantify brain free energy from machine learning classification of EEG trials. Participant information-processing resource costs were estimated via computational analysis of behavior, whereas the subjective expression of mental effort was estimated via participant ratings of mental workload. Following theoretical predictions, task-related differences in brain free energy negatively correlated with increased allocation of information-processing resource costs. These brain free energy differences were smaller for the visual categorization task that required a greater versus lesser allocation of information-processing resources. Ratings of mental workload were positively correlated with information-processing resource costs, and negatively correlated with global brain free energy differences, only for the categorization task requiring the larger amount of information-processing resource costs. These findings support theoretical thermodynamic approaches to decision making and provide the first empirical evidence of a relationship between mental effort, brain free energy, and neurocognitive information-processing.

EEG for Diagnosis and Prognosis of Acute Nonhypoxic Encephalopathy: History and Current Evidence.

The term encephalopathy encompasses a wide variety of complex syndromes caused by a large number of different toxic, metabolic, infectious, and degenerative derangements. Acute encephalopathy typically presents with a fluctuating course involving alteration of mental status or confusion and decreased (or rarely increased) motor activity. There usually are lethargy, cognitive impairment, altered memory and mental processing of information, and disturbed sleep-wake cycles. Encephalopathy mainly occurs in the elderly and is frequently encountered in intensive care units and postoperatively. Despite new diagnostic procedures and advances in intensive medical care, acute encephalopathy constitutes a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. EEG enables rapid bedside electrophysiological monitoring providing dynamic real-time information on neocortical brain activity and dysfunction. Hence, EEG complements clinical and neuroimaging assessments of encephalopathic patients. Progressive slowing of EEG background activity with increasing cerebral compromise, the emergence of episodic electrographic transients, seizures, and decreased EEG reactivity to external stimuli provide important diagnostic and prognostic information. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive overview of the current evidence for the diagnostic and prognostic value of EEG in adult intensive care unit patients with acute nonhypoxic encephalopathy.

The Future of Cognitive Science and the Problem of Experience

Since the early 1990s a respectable interdisciplinary study of cognition and mind called cognitive science underwent a series of radical transformations. Perhaps the most dramatic one is concerned with the growing role of neuroscience with its recently announced large-scale ambitious proposals to map and simulate the activity of the whole human brain. Nevertheless it is not clear what such neuroscientific shift might entail both for the eternal questions about cognition and mind and for the cognitive movement itself. The primary aim of the article is to examine the most radical prediction about the role of neuroscience in the future cognitive studies, according to which it may eventually replace any higher-level “soft” approaches to mind and cognition. It will be shown that this scenario is implausible and unpersuasive, because though psychology needs to be grounded in neuroscientific theories and taxonomies, it is actually in no danger of elimination by those lower-level theories and approaches. Moreover, it will be noted that any reductive strategy toward mind and cognition evidently confronts a far more serious challenge of providing a satisfactory explanation for the old and treacherous puzzle of conscious experience. Finally, we will briefly outline two examples of a contemporary non-reductive informational perspective on consciousness and conclude that so as to provide a successful explanation for the whole range of mental information processing phenomena they will need further refinements and specifications. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s2p74

Modeling the effect of driving experience on lane keeping performance using ACT-R cognitive architecture

ACT-R (adaptive control of thought-rational) is a computational cognitive architecture that consists of multiple modules for perception and attention (e.g., a visual module), response making (e.g., a motor module), and mental information processing (e.g., a goal module, declarative memory module, and procedural memory module). The output of an ACT-R model is a time course that shows the coordination of the activation of these modules in solving a cognitive task. The research reported in this paper used a driver performance model developed in ACT-R to examine the effect of driving experience on driversperformance of vehicle lateral position control. First, we compared the lane keeping performance between novice and experienced drivers in a simulated driving experiment with different road, speed, and driving conditions. Behavioral data collected from both groups of drivers were then modeled in the ACT-R driving model to analyze the cognitive mechanisms of the behaviors. The modeling results were similar to the human results. There were two main findings. (1) Novice drivers had poor lateral control skills evidenced by significantly greater lateral deviation compared with experienced drivers. The lack of control was more evident on curved roads than on straight roads. On curved roads, the novice driversdriving paths significantly shifted to the outside of the curve, whereas there was no such shift for experienced drivers. (2) The cognitive-architecture-based modeling in ACT-R revealed the mental processes including parallel processing between modules and serial processing between sub-tasks. One of the factors responsible for the difference in curved-road driving paths between the two groups of drivers may be the location of visual attention focus. Our model showed that the behavioral difference in curved-road driving paths can be modeled by assigning a visual attention focus point to the novice-driver model that is closer than that assigned to the experienced-driver model. The method and results of this study can be used to provide cognitive-psychological bases for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of driver training courses and developing intelligent driving assistance systems. This research also provides an application example and a successful experience of computational cognitive modeling using cognitive architectures such as ACT-R.

Review of Assessing adult attachment: A dynamic-maturational approach to discourse analysis.

Assessing Adult Attachment: A Dynamic-Maturational Approach to Discourse Analysis, by Patricia McKinsey Crittenden and Andrea Landini. New York, NY, W. W. Norton & Co., 2011. 440 Pages (ISBN 978-0-393-70667-3, US $42.40 Hardcover) Reviewed by GENEVIEVE TARDIF DOI: 10.1037 /a00267 52 This book, released in the spring of 201 1, is dedicated to mental health practitioners and researchers who are interested in knowing more about a new way of coding the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) according to Crittenden's dynamic-maturational model (DMM). The AAI (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985, 1996) is a semistructured interview that takes between 60 to 90 minutes to administer and involves about 20 questions about general and specific recollections of childhood relationships with attachment figures. The DDM-AAI method presented here assesses the pattern of attachment of the speaker both in terms of how the individual behaves while considering dangerous topics and the underlying basis of this behaviour in the mental processing of information. To fully understand the reason for such a book, one needs to know that the theoretical model presented by the authors differs in some fundamental ways from the one used as the foundation for the AAI, which affects the goals of assessment and the analysis of transcripts. For example, Crittenden's DMM model puts an emphasis on the effects of danger rather than the benefits of security. Exposure to danger is assumed to be the essential condition that elicits attachment behaviour, and across repeated experiences, leads to organized self-protective (p. 15). What is new in Crittenden model's of discourse analysis is that the tool is not aimed at assessing the patterns of attachment of the speaker to predict infants' patterns of attachment (the intergenerational transmission of attachment), but instead at identifying the strategies used by the individual to face exposure to danger. Finally, the discourse analysis takes into account the distortions of the mental processing of information, especially those related to feelings, thoughts, and behaviour. With this book, Crittenden and Landini first introduce the DMM model and die attachment styles that it comprises. This will help readers understand the general guidelines for the classification of AAI transcripts using Main and Goldwyn's original coding system, which is the most widely used. They then explain their DMM model, which allows for the expansion of the original system into adulthood among people who suffer from different forms of psychopathology. This book suggests ways of making sense of seemingly incomprehensible behaviours, such as pedophilia, familial violence, aggression, and suicide. It helps understand how individuals adapt to danger, and how certain strategies used to protect the individual from danger can lead them to adopt survival behaviours dangerous to themselves and to those around them, especially to their partners and children. The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with the presentation of the analysis model and consists of four chapters. After the overview of the main ideas of the book presented in chapter 1 (Introduction), chapter 2 focuses on the history of the AAI and outlines briefly each of the classifications. In chapter 3, the authors introduce information processing theory, which they then apply to established attachment patterns. In chapter 4 the constructs used in the discourse analysis are presented. Crittenden and Landini's final analysis is based on three components: 1) interpersonal relationships as facilitators of protection and comfort, 2) patterns of mental processing of information about risk, and 3) strategies of self-protection. This second section contains a detailed presentation of the classification system of attachment styles. It defines the three patterns and subpatterns associated with the three major styles. Specifically, the Dynamic-Maturational method uses six compulsive Type A subpatterns (A3- 8) and six obsessive Type C subpatterns (C3-8). …

Integrating Queueing Network and ACT-R Cognitive Architectures

Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R) and Queueing Network (QN) are two complementary but isolated cognitive architectures. The research reported in this paper aims to integrate the two architectures and benefit from their advantages so as to enhance cognitive modeling capabilities. The new combined architecture, named ACTR-QN, represents ACT-R as a QN whose servers are ACT-R modules and buffers and run the corresponding ACT-R functions. Task-specific knowledge and parameters are defined with ACT-R syntaxes. ACTR-QN provides real-time visualization of mental information processing in addition to ACT-R’s text output traces and is verified with 20 tasks that have been modeled by ACT-R. The steps and benefits of further integration are discussed.

Genuine MMN, memory-based comparison, and neural adaptation

Event Abstract Back to Event Genuine MMN, memory-based comparison, and neural adaptation Thomas Jacobsen1* 1 Institut für Psychologie I, Universität Leipzig , Germany Human EEG and MEG recordings have been employed to generate the bulk of research on the Mismatch Negativity (MMN). These non-invasive measures of large-scale neural brain activity are very often used as physiological correlates of mental information processing, as correlates informing cognitive architecture. This presentation will also pursue this venue, and attempt to relate the former measures to the latter cognitive models. The MMN is an electromagnetic response to any detected deviation in regular auditory input. For instance, changes in the pitch of repetitive sounds elicit the MMN. There exist two alternative accounts for this index of automatic change detection in this situation: (1) A sensorial, non-comparator account according to which ERPs in oddball sequences are affected by differential refractory states of frequency-specific afferent cortical neurons. (2) A cognitive, comparator account stating that MMN reflects the outcome of a memory-based comparison between a cognitive regularity representation constructed based on the frequently presented standard sound with the sensory memory representation of the deviating sound. In a series of studies, we had set out to investigate this issue. Using a condition controlling for refractoriness effects, the two contributions to MMN can be disentangled. One of our studies used whole-head MEG to further elucidate the sensorial and cognitive contributions to frequency MMN. Results replicated ERP findings that MMN to pitch change is a compound of the activity reflecting a sensorial, non-comparator mechanism and a cognitive, comparator mechanism when a deviant-minus-standard subtraction is used. Using the controlled protocol these N1 and genuine MMN contributions could be separated in time. The sensorial part of frequency MMN consisting of spatially dipolar patterns was maximal in the late N1 range (105-125 ms), while the cognitive part peaked in the late MMN-range (170-200 ms). Spatial principal component analyses revealed that the early part of the traditionally measured MMN (deviant minus standard) is mainly due to the sensorial mechanism while the later mainly due to the cognitive mechanism. Inverse modeling revealed sources for both MMN contributions in the gyrus temporales transversus, bilaterally. These MEG results suggest temporally distinct but spatially overlapping activities of non-comparator-based and comparator-based mechanisms of automatic frequency change and deviance detection. In addition, the presentation will also touch upon other pieces of empirical evidence suggesting that the genuine MMN and the adaptation account, i.e. the differential activation of the afferent N1 transient detectors, when measured with EEG/MEG and in a suitable way, reflect distinct cognitive mechanisms. Conference: MMN 09 Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications, Budapest, Hungary, 4 Apr - 7 Apr, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Workshop 2: The role of adaptation in deviance detection Citation: Jacobsen T (2009). Genuine MMN, memory-based comparison, and neural adaptation. Conference Abstract: MMN 09 Fifth Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.05.015 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Mar 2009; Published Online: 19 Mar 2009. * Correspondence: Thomas Jacobsen, Institut für Psychologie I, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, jacobsen@uni-leipzig.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Thomas Jacobsen Google Thomas Jacobsen Google Scholar Thomas Jacobsen PubMed Thomas Jacobsen Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Contribuições da psicologia do pensamento e da cognição para os indexadores relacionais de Farradane

Natureza da ligação entre a psicologia do pensamento e a cognição no contexto da indexação relacional, de Farradane. As ciências cognitivas como campo disciplinar novo, originado no século XX, suscitou o desafio de compreender quando se deu a sua ligação com a psicologia do pensamento. O termo psicologia foi cunhado na era moderna, por isso, estudos anteriores usavam termos como organização ou orientação metódica do pensamento. Identifica a menção desse tema ainda na Grécia Antiga, a orientação metódica do pensamento era um recurso utilizado para obtenção mais segura de resultados, uma forma de reduzir a incerteza da busca. Na era moderna a psicologia foi vista como um ramo da filosofia, que estudava a mente e o comportamento. No século XIX, através do esforço persistente de alguns pesquisadores, a psicologia veio a constituir-se como campo disciplinar separado. Através de mais de um século de estudos a área contribuiu em muito para a compreensão de estruturas, processos, funções, processamento de nformações e representações mentais, dentre outros tópicos. No século XX suas descobertas se tornaram a base para a fundação das ciências cognitivas e posterior elaboração dos indexadores relacionais universais de Farradane.

The cognitive effects of oxcarbazepine versus carbamazepine or valproate in newly diagnosed children with partial seizures

To investigate the effect of oxcarbazepine against standard antiepileptic drug therapy (carbamazepine and valproate) on cognitive function in children and adolescents (aged 6 to <17 years) with newly diagnosed partial seizures. A multicentre, open-label, randomised, active-control, three-arm, parallel-group, 6-month study. The primary cognitive variable, the Computerized Visual Searching Task (CVST), assessed mental information processing speed and attention. Secondary variables included additional tests assessing psychomotor speed, alertness, memory and learning, and non-verbal intelligence. Of 112 patients randomised, 99 completed the study. The dropout rate was 11.6%; 13 patients discontinued due to adverse events (n=5) or unsatisfactory therapeutic effect (n=8). Mean CVST time decreased in all groups, indicating an improvement of mental processing speed and no cognitive impairment in any treatment group. No statistically significant difference was observed between oxcarbazepine and combined carbamazepine/valproate. Analysis of secondary variables did not show statistically significant differences between oxcarbazepine, carbamazepine and valproate. Analysis of intelligence test results showed that the number of correct answers increased at end point in all groups. The percentage of patients remaining seizure free throughout treatment was comparable across all groups (oxcarbazepine 58%; carbamazepine 46%; valproate 54%; carbamazepine/valproate 50%). The most common adverse events were fatigue and headache for oxcarbazepine, fatigue and rash for carbamazepine, and headache, increased appetite and alopecia for valproate. Oxcarbazepine treatment over 6 months does not display any differential effects on cognitive function and intelligence in children and adolescents with newly diagnosed partial seizures relative to standard antiepileptic drug therapy. No impairment in cognitive function was observed in any treatment group over a 6-month period.

A note on discreteness and virtuality in analog computing

The need for physically motivated discreteness and finiteness conditions emerges in models of both analog and digital computing that are genuinely concerned with physically realizable computational processes. This is brought out by a critical examination of notional analog superTuring devices which involve physically untenable idealizations about the perfect functioning of analog apparatuses and infinite precision of physical measurements. The capability for virtual behaviour, that is, the capability of interpreting, storing, transforming, creating the code, and thereby mimicking the behaviour of (Turing) machines, is used here to introduce a new dimension in the discussion of the analog–digital watershed. In the light of recent results on the analog simulation of digital computing, we examine the role of virtuality as a discriminating factor between these two species of computing, and immerse this problem in the context of natural computing. Is virtuality instantiated in parts of the natural world other than computer technology? This broad issue is examined in connection with the computational modelling of brain and mental information processing.

Cognitive Biases and their Implications for Price Formation on Financial Markets

Behavioral Finance argues that several anomalies could be explained by relaxing the central proposition of EMH (Efficient Market Hypothesis), that is, investors' rationality. Indeed, recent empirical and experimental work provides additional evidence that human judgment errors may impact financial market price behavior instead of simply canceling each other out. Our work aims to provide a better understanding of several cognitive biases, human judgment errors occurring during mental information processing and decision making. We propose a general mathematical framework of price formation, allowing for subsequent modeling of individual cognitive biases, without affecting the underlying assumptions. Price characteristics, such as expected equilibrium price, volatility but also trading volumes, can be potentially analyzed for each bias' functional form. This theoretical work on some specific cognitive biases allowed for further empirical research, using quarterly earnings estimates, announcements and subsequent price reaction data for listed US companies over the period 1983-1999. We selected events, for which previous earnings information pointed to a highly probable bias; which could be either an anchoring bias to previous earnings values or a representativeness bias given a series of past earnings surprises. We showed that these events exhibit, at the time of the current earnings announcement, important and highly significant abnormal returns, indicating a correction phenomenon of the (assumed) previous under- or over-reaction.

The Categorial Structure of Iconic Languages

Classical theories of cognitive processing have defended a propositional approach to mental information processing. Because not all cognitive processes offer the systematicity proper to these types of languages, other theories have proposed a more iconic or associative approach. These types of representational systems do not seem to possess such a systematic structure. But this is debatable. In a semiotic perspective, it can be shown that these systems can be modelled in a categorial approach and hence render more explicit their underlying systematicity. It then follows that a propositional language is not the only language that offers the systematicity required for coherent information processing.

Catecholamines in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Current Perspectives

To provide an update on the "catecholamine hypothesis" of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Recent work examining the measurement of the norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine systems in ADHD and normal subjects is reviewed and discussed in the context of recent neuroimaging and animal studies. While data clearly indicate a role for all three of the above neurotransmitters in ADHD, a hypothesis suggesting "too much" or "too little" of a single neurotransmitter will no longer suffice. The central norepinephrine system may be dysregulated in ADHD, such that this system does not efficiently "prime" the cortical posterior attention system to external stimuli. Effective mental processing of information involves an anterior "executive" attention system which may depend on dopaminergic input. The peripheral epinephrine system may be a critical factor in the response of individuals with ADHD to stimulant medication. A multistage hypothesis is presented which emphasizes the interaction of norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine in modulation of attention and impulse control.

Experiments on Air Traffic Controller's Representation as Approach to MMS-Design

Due to rising automation in the field of air traffic control, the importance of knowledge about mental information processing is discussed. Based on a brief review of the discussion on mental models, a working definition of the term is given. As part of this definition, the structure of information representation is investigated by an experiment, following the priming paradigm and carried out with experienced controllers. The experiment is reported in detail, including a discussion of the results. The results are set into the broader context of implications for man-machine-system design in air traffic control.

Automated anaesthesia record systems, observations on future trends of development

The introduction of electronic anaesthesia documentation systems was attempted as early as in 1979, although their efficient application has become reality only in the past few years. Today, documentation technology is offered by most of the monitor manufacturers and new systems are being developed by various working groups. The advantages of the electronic protocol are apparent: Continuous high quality documentation, comparability of data due to the availability of a anaesthesia data bank, reduction of the workload of the anaesthesia staff and availability of new additional information. Disadvantages of the electronic protocol have also been discussed. Typically, by going through the process of entering data on the course of the anaesthetic procedure on the protocol sheet, the information is mentally absorbed and evaluated by the anaesthetist. This mental processing of information may, however, be missing when the data are recorded fully automatically--without active involvement on the part of the anaesthetist. It seems that electronic anaesthesia protocols will be required in the near future. The advantages of accurate documentation and quality control in the presence of careful planning will outweight cost considerations. However, at this time, almost none of the commercially available systems have matured to a point where their purchase can be recommended without reservation. There is still a lack of standards for the subsequent exchange of data and a solution to a number of ergonomic problems still remains to be found.

MINDS: Toward a computerized test battery for use in health psychological and neuropsychological assessment

MINDS (Mental Information Processing and Neuropsychological Diagnostic System) was developed with the goal of integrating a number of independent and stand-alone test programs that are used in the diagnosis of psychological and neuropsychological health. The system runs under MS-DOS. The shell program integrates subject information with data obtained through the use of the individual test programs. The current test battery comprises tasks on memory, attention, and motor performance; these tasks require the use of additional peripheral response devices, which are controlled via a multiple I/O interface card. Questionnaires are also included; they have been developed with the author language shell program MicroCAT. MINDS is programmed to allow easy integration of new tests. As an example, the Motor Planning Test is described. The equivalence of the computerized questionnaires with existing tests is also discussed.