Subjective Ratings Research Articles

Effectiveness and Safety of Shorter Incontinence Slings.

Traditional slings, tension-free vaginal tape obturator inside-out (TVT-O) and tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), have well-documented continence outcomes but can cause serious complications. This study was aimed at evaluating whether slings with less synthetic material, Ajust™ and TVT-O Abbrevo™ (TVT-A), have comparable 6- to 12-month failure and complication rates, including risk of prolonged postoperative pain, compared with traditional slings. A registry study from the Norwegian Female Incontinence Registry (NFIR) including 611 Ajust™, 2,772 TVT-A, and 18,612 traditional slings was carried out. Preoperative, surgical, and 6- to 12-month follow-up data from the period 2009-2021 were used. Objective failure was defined as ≥ 1-g leakage on standardized cough-jump stress test. Subjective failure was defined as stress index-score ≥ 3 on a validated questionnaire. Prolonged postoperative pain was defined as lasting > 3months. At first follow-up after 6-12months, the groups differed significantly. Objective failure rates were as follows: Ajust™ 15.4%, TVT-A 13.5%, and traditional slings 7.3%, p < 0.01. Subjective failure rates were as follows: Ajust™ 23.4%, TVT-A 23.8%, and traditional slings 18.8%, p < 0.01. Shorter slings had fewer overall complications (Ajust™ 4.9% vs TVT-A 6.5% vs traditional slings 9.3%, p < 0.01), but did not have less prolonged postoperative pain (TVT-A: 1.4% vs Ajust™ 0.8% vs traditional slings 0.7%, p < 0.01 < 0.01). All presented outcomes remained significant after adjusting for differences at baseline. Shorter slings have inferior subjective and objective continence outcomes at 6-12months, but fewer overall complications except for prolonged postoperative pain.

Sociological education in Russia: content diversity and institutional limitations

Sociological education in Russia continues to develop under the conditions of constant changes occurring both on its external contour and within the sociological educational community. Statistical data allow us to assert that the decline in SCC and the number of students has stopped in the last five years; moreover, there has been an increase in the contingent of sociology students. There has been a sharp decline in sociological education in non-state universities, the share of students studying on a part-time and contractual basis. The ratio of full-time and part-time education in Bachelor’s degree amounted to 86 and 14%, respectively, in Master’s degree 88 and 12%. Special attention is paid to the most acute problem related to the development of draft FSES HE 4 and the probable transition to it in the near future. In the most unfavorable forecasts, sociology education is seriously threatened by the loss of identity. In order to understand the most acute problems that prevent sociological education from being positioned as an integral, established educational process, the curricula of 49 universities that implement sociology training programs were studied. The sample included universities from the RAEX ratings — the subject rating for sociology and the top-100 best universities in Russia, as well as from the Interfax rating of the top-100 universities in Russia. Correlation of the profiles declared by universities with their subject content, as well as blocks of general sociological and special sociological disciplines with blocks of selected instrumental disciplines, practices, socio-humanities and general professional disciplines allowed us to identify a number of features and trends in the implementation of educational programs for training sociologists. As a result, two tendencies were revealed: one is the emergence of signs of the emerging unification of educational programs in sociology, which occurs in the implementation of the profile “Sociology” in classical universities, and the other is the mass implementation of unbalanced educational programs that contain obvious bias towards a certain block of disciplines and do not provide a full-fledged implementation of the declared profile.

Hypervigilance strikes a balance between external and internal attention: behavioral and modeling evidence from the switching attention task.

Hypervigilance involves increased attentional scanning of the environment to facilitate the detection of possible threats. Accordingly, this state is mostly bound to external attention and as a corollary, it might be detrimental to internal attention and further affect attentional balance defined as the ability to switch dynamically between these two domains. In the current study, we aimed to address this question and induced hypervigilance in 49 healthy participants through the presentation of a task-unrelated aversive sound while they performed the switching attention task (SAT), which was previously devised to study attentional balance. The skin conductance response results, as well as subjective sound ratings, confirmed that the hypervigilance manipulation was successful. At the behavioral level, hypervigilance led to a more symmetrical balance between internal and external attention compared to the control and neutral conditions, where it was asymmetrical, replicating previous studies. Moreover, using a drift diffusion model, we found that hypervigilance reduced the drift rate for internal repetition trials, suggesting that hypervigilance possibly caused an impaired shielding of internal attention.

Exploratory analyses of sleep intraindividual variability and fatigue in parents of children on the autism spectrum.

Fatigue is associated with numerous harmful physical and mental health outcomes. Despite research indicating a relationship between fatigue and sleep, there has been a limited focus on how the variability of a person's sleep may be associated with fatigue. In addition, previous studies have not explicitly explored relationships among child sleep, parent sleep, and parent fatigue. Increasing knowledge about this area of research could be particularly relevant for families with autistic children with an increased likelihood of sleep disturbances. The current study used two weeks of objective sleep (actigraphy) data and subjective ratings of parent fatigue from 81 parents and their autistic children to examine associations among child and parent within-person sleep variability regarding average parent fatigue levels. Evidence was assessed for the role of parent sleep variability in hypothesized connections between child sleep variability and parent fatigue. We found that only greater variability in parents' total sleep time was associated with higher levels of parents' average daily fatigue rating over the two weeks. Child sleep variability was not significantly associated with parent sleep variability or average daily fatigue. In addition, average levels of child sleep were unrelated to parent total sleep time variability and fatigue. Although cautious interpretation is required, findings support the idea that variability in total sleep time may be a unique aspect of parental sleep's association with fatigue, independent of child sleep. In addition, sleep variability could be important to consider when examining sleep in addition to average levels of parameters like total sleep time.

EFFECTS OF CONSUMERS’ SENSORY ATTRIBUTES ON THEIR WILLINGNESS TO PAY AND THE OPTIMUM PRICE FOR ICED COFFEE DRINKS

The growing competition among coffee shops demands effective strategies, including the development of optimal pricing. An optimal pricing strategy must account for both changes in coffee ingredients and consumers' willingness to pay (WTP). This study investigated the factors influencing consumers' WTP and determined optimal prices through sensory evaluations of iced coffee. This study explored how demographic factors and sensory characteristics affect consumer WTP. This study involved direct consumer tastings, where participants provided subjective ratings of iced coffee and indicated their WTP. The coffee samples included variations in milk (white and black coffee) and sugar content (granulated sugar, palm sugar, and no sugar). To measure WTP, the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism was employed, while a demand function was used to determine the optimal price. Stepwise backward logistic regression further analyzed the factors affecting WTP. The factors influencing willingness to pay were further analyzed using stepwise backward logistic regression. The findings reveal that optimal pricing varies, with iced coffee that includes both granulated sugar and milk commanding the highest WTP. Consumer WTP is significantly influenced by factors such as gender, frequency of coffee consumption, and individual taste preferences. There was a marked difference in WTP based on the amount of milk and sugar added, with coffee variations containing both granulated sugar and milk achieving the highest WTP. These results can serve as a valuable reference for coffee shops, helping them to determine the ideal product composition and pricing strategies to maximize revenue.

Commentary: Using QbTest for monitoring pharmacological treatment response in ADHD - are we there yet?

Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit varied responses to pharmacological treatments (e.g. stimulants and non-stimulants). Accurately and promptly detecting treatment-related improvements, response failure, or deterioration poses significant challenges, as current monitoring primarily relies on subjective ratings. In this commentary, we critically evaluate the evidence supporting the use of QbTest for objectively monitoring ADHD treatment response in clinical practice. We also offer recommendations for future research, advocating for rigorous clinical trials and longitudinal studies to further explore the potential utilisation of QbTest and other tools for monitoring treatment responses in individuals with ADHD.

Assessment of Salivary Flow Rate and Salivary PH in Subjects with Smoked, Smokeless, and Combined form of Tobacco Habits (Epidemiological-Based Study)

Assessment of Salivary Flow Rate and Salivary PH in Subjects with Smoked, Smokeless, and Combined form of Tobacco Habits (Epidemiological-Based Study)

Exploring the influence of body movements on spatial perception in landscape and interior design

This study investigates the influence of body movements on spatial perception in both landscape and interior design environments, focusing on how physical interactions shape spatial understanding beyond visual perception alone. Grounded in the theory of embodied cognition, the research examines how gait, posture, and movement dynamics affect spatial awareness. The study captures detailed data on movement patterns and visual engagement across different spatial contexts using a combination of real-world observations and Virtual Reality (VR) simulations, motion-tracking systems, wearable sensors, and eye-tracking technology. A total of 157 participants, aged 20 to 65, navigated both outdoor landscapes and indoor environments, with key variables such as surface materials, spatial layout, and lighting conditions manipulated to assess their effects on spatial perception. The study measured gait speed, step frequency, path deviations, time to destination, visual attention, and subjective ratings of perceived openness, ease of movement, and emotional response. Key findings include that surface materials significantly influenced gait speed and step frequency. For example, participants walking on concrete had a significantly faster gait speed (mean difference = 0.5220, p = 0.001) than those walking on gravel. In terms of spatial layout, the two-way Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed that winding paths led to more path deviations (F-statistic = 350.00, p = 3.19 × 10−8) and longer times to destination (F-statistic = 1744.00, p = 2.39 ´ 10−11) compared to straight paths. The environment type (landscape vs. interior) also significantly affected navigation, with landscape participants showing a more significant deviation from direct paths (F-statistic = 19.60, p = 2.37 × 10−3). Visual engagement data, analyzed through a chi-square test, indicated that vertical elements like walls approached significance in attracting visual attention (Chi-square = 2.88, p = 0.0896), while other elements like trees and benches had less impact. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test results showed significant differences between real-world and VR experiences in perceived openness (W-statistic = 0.0, p = 0.001953), ease of movement (W-statistic = 0.0, p = 0.001953), and comfort (W-statistic = 0.0, p = 0.001953), highlighting VR’s limitations in replicating the full embodied experience of physical spaces.

Does affective processing require awareness? On the use of the Perceptual Awareness Scale in response priming research.

Masked priming paradigms are frequently used to shine light on the processes of nonconscious cognition. Introducing a new method to this field, Lähteenmäki et al. (2015) claimed that affective priming requires awareness. Specifically, they administered a subjective rating task after the priming task in each trial to directly assess awareness of the prime. Their main result was a lack of priming for subjectively unaware primes. In four experiments, we compared their method with the traditional paradigm, that is, a single-task priming phase followed by a direct test of prime recognition. We used faces with anger versus sadness expressions as primes and targets; emotion categorization was the task. In contrast to Lähteenmäki et al., primes and targets were drawn from different sets, such that priming effects can be unequivocally attributed to the processing of evaluative features. In Experiments 1a, b, we followed their approach of using different prime durations to produce variance in awareness ratings. With a duration of 40 ms, significant priming effects for subjectively unaware primes were found. This duration was also associated with priming effects in the traditional paradigm with near-zero objective prime categorization, suggesting that priming does not require awareness. In Experiment 2a, employing a constant 40-ms duration, we replicated the traditional effect. However, the parallel Experiment 2b with subjective awareness ratings produced a null result at a sharply increased response time level. We conclude that the claim that affective processing requires awareness is not justified. Subjective trial-by-trial visibility ratings can severely alter processing strategies in response priming paradigms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Multimodal examination of daily stress rhythms in chronic Cannabis users.

Chronic cannabis users frequently report stress relief as their primary reason for use. The endocannabinoid system is involved in the neuroendocrine stress response, and diurnal cortisol rhythms may be disrupted in chronic cannabis users. The objectives were to determine whether cannabis users demonstrate disruptions in diurnal stress rhythms and examine the acute effects of cannabis on stress-related outcomes in cannabis users' natural environments. Eighty-two participants (39 cannabis users, 43 non-users) collected saliva samples to quantify cortisol concentrations and provided subjective stress ratings at 8 time points throughout the day. They wore a medical-grade wearable device for 24h that recorded physiological indicators of stress (heart rate variability, electrodermal activity). Cannabis users collected additional saliva samples before and after cannabis use to examine acute effects of cannabis use. Cannabis users exhibited significant dysregulations in diurnal cortisol rhythms, including a blunted cortisol awakening response, flattened diurnal cortisol slope, and elevated afternoon cortisol concentrations. There were no differences in diurnal heart rate variability or electrodermal activity except for elevated evening heart rate in cannabis users. Finally, there were significant decreases in cortisol, subjective stress, and electrodermal activity following acute cannabis use in cannabis users' natural environment. These results provide evidence of dysregulated diurnal cortisol rhythms in cannabis users that were related to later waking times and acute stress-relieving properties of cannabis use in naturalistic environments. Future research should examine the direction of the relationship between cannabis use and diurnal cortisol rhythms and potential implications for other psychological disorders.

Leveraging textured flickers: a leap toward practical, visually comfortable, and high-performance dry EEG code-VEP BCI.

Reactive Brain-Computer Interfaces (rBCIs) typically rely on repetitive visual stimuli, which can strain the eyes and cause attentional distraction. To address these challenges, we propose a novel approach rooted in visual neuroscience to design visual Stimuli for Augmented Response (StAR). The StAR stimuli consist of small, randomly-oriented Gabor or Ricker patches that optimize foveal neural response while reducing peripheral distraction.&#xD;&#xD;Methods: In a factorial design study, 24 participants equipped with an 8-dry electrode EEG system focused on series of target flickers presented under three formats: traditional Plain flickers, Gabor-based, or Ricker-based flickers. These flickers were part of a five-class Code Visually Evoked Potentials (c-VEP) paradigm featuring low-frequency, short, and aperiodic visual flashes.&#xD;&#xD;Results: Subjective ratings revealed that Gabor and Ricker stimuli were visually comfortable and nearly invisible in peripheral vision compared to plain flickers. Moreover, Gabor and Ricker-based textures achieved higher accuracy (93.6% and 96.3%, respectively) with only 88 seconds of calibration data, compared to plain flickers (65.6%). A follow-up online implementation of this experiment was conducted to validate our findings in naturalistic operations. During this trial, remarkable accuracies of 97.5% in a cued task and 94.3% in an asynchronous digicode task were achieved, with a mean decoding time as low as 1.68 seconds.&#xD;&#xD;Conclusion: This work demonstrates the potential to expand BCI applications beyond the lab by integrating visually unobtrusive systems with gel-free, low-density EEG technology, thereby making BCIs more accessible and efficient. The datasets, algorithms, and BCI implementations are shared through open-access repositories.

Should I Evaluate My Augmented Reality System in an Industrial Environment? Investigating the Effects of Classroom and Shop Floor Settings on Guided Assembly.

Numerous prior studies have investigated real-time assembly instructions using Augmented Reality (AR). However, most such experiments were conducted in laboratory settings with simplistic assembly tasks, failing to represent real-world industrial conditions. To ascertain to what extent results obtained in a laboratory environment may differ from studies in actual industrial environments, we carried out a user study with 32 manufacturing apprentices. We compared assembly task execution results in two settings, a classroom and an industrial workshop environment. To facilitate the experiments, we developed AR-guided manual assembly systems for simple and more complex assets. Our findings reveal a significantly improved task performance in the industrial workshop, reflected in faster task completion times, fewer errors, and subjectively perceived higher flow. This contradicted participants' subjective ratings, as they expected to perform better in the classroom environment. Our results suggest that the actual manufacturing environment is critical in evaluating AR systems for real-world industrial applications.

Weighted Vest Combined With Vibrotactile Stimulations Decrease the Sympathetic Activity: A Repeated Measures Study.

Mental and neurological disorders are a growing global concern, further intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress management techniques, such as deep pressure therapy, have gained attention, with weighted vests commonly used for anxiety relief. However, there is limited scientific evidence supporting their efficacy. This study aimed to rigorously assess the effectiveness of a weighted vest incorporating vibrotactile stimulation in reducing anxiety by measuring physiological indicators-pulse rate and skin conductance (SC)-as well as subjective comfort ratings. A total of 30 final-semester college students participated in the study. Participants wore a vibrotactile-weighted vest, and both pulse rate and skin conductance (SC) were measured to gauge anxiety levels. Additionally, participants rated their comfort using a Comfort Rating Scale (CRS). Changes in pulse rate and SC were statistically analyzed, and effect sizes (Cohen's d) were calculated to assess the magnitude of the intervention's impact. The weighted vest with vibrotactile stimulation resulted in a significant reduction in both pulse rate (dpulse = 0.23-0.62) and SC (dsc = 0.32-0.66), indicating a small to medium effect size in anxiety reduction. Subjective evaluations of the vest using the CRS revealed low scores on discomfort-related items, with participants rating unfavorable statements between 1.5/10 and 4.6/10, suggesting overall comfort during use. This study provides compelling evidence that vibrotactile-weighted vests effectively reduce anxiety, as indicated by both physiological measures and subjective comfort ratings. The findings support the potential of this intervention as a formal therapeutic tool for stress and anxiety reduction. Further research may explore long-term effects and broader applications in clinical settings.

Skin conductance response and habituation to emotional facial expressions and words.

Skin conductance response (SCR) serves as a dependable marker of sympathetic activation used to measure emotional arousal. This study investigates the impact of presentation modality (face or word) on the degree of emotional discrimination elicited by SCR. Facial expressions or words associated with six basic emotions-anger, happiness, disgust, fear, sadness, and surprise-were studied among 102 participants. The amplitude of SCR was accurately predicted by subjective arousal ratings of these stimuli, but not by valence ratings. The habituation process to emotional and neutral stimuli across six successive presentations was characterized by an exponential decay function, capturing the rate at which SCR response diminishes in relation to the preceding trial of the same stimulus. Through the subtraction of the response to neutral stimuli from the emotion-evoked SCR, it was demonstrated that the initial presentation of each emotion elicits a substantial response, particularly attributable to the emotional content. Notably, the initial emotional response to faces expressing happiness, disgust, and sadness surpassed that of words conveying the same emotions. The results indicate that different emotional responses can be quantified using a simple electrical instrument.

Evaluating audio quality ratings and scene analysis performance of hearing-impaired listeners for multi-track music.

This study assessed musical scene analysis (MSA) performance and subjective quality ratings of multi-track mixes as a function of spectral manipulations using the EQ-transform (% EQT). This transform exaggerates or reduces the spectral shape changes in a given track with respect to a relatively flat, smooth reference spectrum. Data from 30 younger normal hearing (yNH) and 23 older hearing-impaired (oHI) participants showed that MSA performance was robust to changes in % EQT. However, audio quality ratings elicited from yNH participants were more sensitive to % EQT than those of oHI participants. A significant positive correlation between MSA performance and quality ratings among oHI showed that oHI participants with better MSA performances gave higher-quality ratings, whereas there was no significant correlation for yNH listeners. Overall, these data indicate the complementary virtue of measures of MSA and audio quality ratings for assessing the suitability of music mixes for hearing-impaired listeners.

Relationship of workload with fatigue and sleep quality in female exercisers

Fatigue is a critical issue for female exercisers that may lead to medical errors, degradation in performance, decreased mental acuity, and social problems. Poor sleep quality is also a contributing factor to the fatigue experienced by female exercisers. Overwork is a factor causing poor sleep quality in female exercisers. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between workload, fatigue, and sleep quality among female exercisers in the Sleman Regency District. A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2023 to March 2024 using a self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire included the Workload questionnaire adapted from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index, the Leeds Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire (LSEQ), and the Subjective Self Rating of Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) from the WHO Quality of Life Assessment Instrument (WHOQOL-EF) with 200 respondents in Sleman Regency. The PLS equation model was used to analyze the relationship between workload, sleep quality, fatigue, and the indicators of each instrument. The results showed that female exercisers who were over 40 years old, had children at home, had informal work, did daily exercise in the evening, and had a work schedule in the night had a higher risk of fatigue and poorer sleep quality than those below 40 years old who didn’t have children at home, had formal work, did daily exercise in the morning, and had a work schedule in the morning. A subjective self-rating test was used to measure fatigue, sleep quality, and workload. The training load and intensity of exercise programs influenced fatigue levels, which affected sleep quality. Female exercisers may face challenges balancing exercise with other commitments, such as family responsibilities, leading to overtraining and fatigue. The PLS model test showed a significant relationship between sleep quality and the level of perceived fatigue (p-value = 0.000). Workload significantly impacts sleep quality and fatigue risk in female exercisers. Therefore, managing workload is crucial to improving sleep quality and reducing fatigue risk.

Diminished negative emotion regulation through affect labeling and reappraisal: insights from functional near infrared spectroscopy on lateral prefrontal cortex activation

BackgroundReappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy, includes reinterpretation and affect labeling involving verbalizing emotions. In general, reappraisal is supported by lateral prefrontal cortical regions, which are also known to underlie cognitive regulation. Other research has shown that affect labeling combined with reappraisal of negative emotions increases lateral prefrontal cortex activity more than reappraisal alone does, suggesting that affect labeling facilitates emotional regulation. However, the influence of affect labeling on the efficacy of reappraisal in reducing subjective negative emotions has not been determined.MethodsIn the experiment, 35 participants (mean age = 28.2 years (SD = 9.63); 12 women and 23 men) viewed vignettes that aroused negative emotion. Then, they rated subjective negative emotions as baseline values. Following the baseline rating, the task branched into four conditions, combining affect labeling and emotion regulation factors. In the affect-labeling factor, participants selected emotional labels consistent with their own emotions or not. Regarding the emotion regulation factor, participants engaged in reappraisal to regulate their negative emotions. Throughout the experiment, the intensity of negative emotions was measured three times, mirroring the baseline measurement. Oxyhemoglobin (OxyHb) signal values in prefrontal cortex regions during tasks were measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy.ResultsDifferences between the subjective negative emotion ratings at baseline and after reappraisal indicated that reappraisal significantly reduced negative emotion with and without affect labeling (t (1173.05) = 29.97, p < 0.001), and the combination of affect labeling and reappraisal was less effective in regulating negative emotions at the subjective level than reappraisal without affect labeling (t (1172.03) = 3.15, p < 0.01). Additionally, there was an increase in OxyHb signal in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal and right ventral prefrontal cortices while participants performed reappraisal with affect labeling.ConclusionOur findings suggest that affect labeling, when performed prior to cognitive reappraisal, may influence the process of negative emotion regulation in complex ways. The interaction between affect labeling and reappraisal appears to modulate prefrontal cortex activity, potentially reflecting changes in cognitive processing during emotion regulation attempts. These results highlight the need for further investigation into the intricate relationship between different emotion regulation strategies.

Combining visual cues with relaxing music, perfume and ventilation to reduce passenger car sickness: An experimental study

The autonomous, digital, and electric transformation of passenger vehicles is projected to elevate the incidence of motion sickness among occupants. This study investigates the effectiveness of an “anti-motion sickness” system that features dynamic light stimuli to support visual perception of longitudinal motion, combined with relaxing music, perfume and ventilation pulses to enhance user wellbeing. In an experimental design aimed at replicating a realistic passenger drive, fifty-three subjects were tested as front passengers engaged in a gaming activity. Subjective motion sickness ratings were collected throughout the drive, and the development of symptoms was monitored through in-ear physiological measurements, including RR-intervals, core temperature, and oxygen saturation. Post hoc analyses indicated non-significant improvement in subjective assessments of motion sickness. Similarly, physiological measurements did not demonstrate any significant difference across conditions. The tested system was however more effective in mitigating car sickness for low susceptible than for mid-to-high susceptible individuals.

Factors Influencing Sustained Use of Shared E-Scooter Services in Urban Taiwan

This study investigates the factors that drive users to sustain their usage of shared electric scooter (e-scooter) services in Taiwan, distinguishing itself from the conventional focus on predicting consumers’ initial adoption and behavioural intentions. It employs subjective rating questions, incorporating constructs related to user acceptance, attitudes and user experience (UX). Through hierarchical regression analysis of quantitative survey data, the study identifies key factors such as users’ modes of transportation, environmental attitudes, acceptance of shared services, attitudes towards private scooters, UX, total usage instances and age. However, reliance on private scooters as a mode of transportation and frequent usage of shared e-scooters negatively impact the sustained usage of these services. The research further highlights early development challenges in shared vehicle services, including concerns over personal data security, user-unfriendly system designs, lack of convenience, inadequate parking infrastructure and ineffective financial incentives. Based on these findings, the study provides recommendations for service providers and government entities to enhance service design and proactively address these challenges. Implementing these recommendations is expected to mitigate the impact of these challenges and potentially improve user acceptance, UX, and the overall sustainability of shared vehicle services.

Physiological Predictors of Operator Performance: The Role of Mental Effort and Its Link to Task Performance.

The present study investigated how pupil size and heart rate variability (HRV) can contribute to the prediction of operator performance. We illustrate how focusing on mental effort as the conceptual link between physiological measures and task performance can align relevant empirical findings across research domains. Physiological measures are often treated as indicators of operators' mental state. Thereby, they could enable a continuous and unobtrusive assessment of operators' current ability to perform the task. Fifty participants performed a process monitoring task consisting of ten 9-minute task blocks. Blocks alternated between low and high task demands, and the last two blocks introduced a task reward manipulation. We measured response times as primary performance indicator, pupil size and HRV as physiological measures, and mental fatigue, task engagement, and perceived effort as subjective ratings. Both increased pupil size and increased HRV significantly predicted better task performance. However, the underlying associations between physiological measures and performance were influenced by task demands and time on task. Pupil size, but not HRV, results were consistent with subjective ratings. The empirical findings suggest that, by capturing variance in operators' mental effort, physiological measures, specifically pupil size, can contribute to the prediction of task performance. Their predictive value is limited by confounding effects that alter the amount of effort required to achieve a given level of performance. The outlined conceptual approach and empirical results can guide study designs and performance prediction models that examine physiological measures as the basis for dynamic operator assistance.