Task Engagement Research Articles

Understanding and optimising gratitude interventions: the right methods for the right people at the right time

Objective Gratitude has consistently been associated with various beneficial health-related outcomes, including subjective wellbeing, positive mental health, and positive physical health. In light of such effects, positive psychology researchers and practitioners have often implemented gratitude interventions in an attempt to build individuals’ orientations toward appreciation and thankfulness. Recent meta-analyses and reviews have revealed, however, that these interventions often have mixed effects on gratitude or other health outcomes. With this issue in mind, we aimed to identify (a) contextual considerations that may impact the effectiveness of these approaches, and (b) recommendations for the optimisation of gratitude interventions. Methods and Measures Seventeen mental health professionals or experienced health psychology researchers engaged in semi-structured interviews to address the research questions. Results Thematic analysis of the data resulted in three contextual themes—cultural considerations, personal characteristics, and life experience—that were discussed as factors likely to influence intervention effectiveness. With respect to recommendations, participants highlighted the importance of encouraging deep engagement in gratitude tasks, consistent repetition of those tasks, and the value of interpersonal expressions of gratitude. Conclusion Discussion is centred on suggestions for future research on gratitude and on implications for the implementation of gratitude interventions.

Virtual Reality Adaptive Training for Personalized Stress Inoculation.

To evaluate a personalized adaptive training program designed for stress prevention using graduated stress exposure. Astronauts in the high-risk space mission environment are prone to performance-impairing stress responses, making preemptive stress inoculation essential for their training. This work developed an adaptive virtual reality-based system that adjusts environmental stressors based on real-time stress indicators to optimize training stress levels. Sixty-five healthy subjects underwent task training in one of three groups: skill-only (no stressors), fixed-graduated (prescheduled stressor changes), and adaptive. Psychological (subjective stress, task engagement, distress, worry, anxiety, and workload) and physiological (heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure, and electrodermal activity) responses were measured. The adaptive condition showed a significant decrease in heart rate and a decreasing trend in heart rate variability ratio, with no changes in the other training conditions. Distress showed a decreasing trend for the graduated and adaptive conditions. Task engagement showed a significant increase for adaptive and a significant decrease for the graduated condition. All training conditions showed a significant decrease in worry and anxiety and a significant increase in the other heart rate variability metrics. Although all training conditions mitigated some stress, the preponderance of trial effects for the adaptive condition supports that it is more successful at decreasing stress. The integration of real-time personalized stress exposure within a VR-based training program not only prepares individuals for high-stress situations by preemptively mitigating stress but also customizes stressor levels to the crew member's current state, potentially enhancing resilience to future stressors.

Improved Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand scores after myoelectric arm orthosis use at home in chronic stroke: A retrospective study.

Most stroke survivors have persistent upper limb impairments after completing standard clinical care. The resulting impairments can adversely affect their quality of life and ability to complete self-care tasks and remain employed, leading to increased healthcare and societal costs. A myoelectric arm orthosis can be used effectively to support the affected weak arm and increase an individual's use of that arm. The study objective was to retrospectively evaluate the outcomes and clinical benefits provided by the MyoPro® orthosis in individuals 65 years and older with upper limb impairment secondary to a stroke. The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire was administered to individuals who have chronic stroke both before and after receiving their myoelectric orthosis. A Generalized Estimating Equation model was analyzed. After using the MyoPro, 19 individuals with chronic stroke had a mean improvement (decrease) in DASH score of 18.07, 95% CI = (-25.41, -10.72), adjusted for 8 covariates. This large change in DASH score was statistically significant and clinically meaningful as participants self-reported an improvement with engagement in functional tasks. Use of the MyoPro increases independence in functional tasks as reported by the validated DASH outcome measure for older participants with chronic stroke.

Nostalgia, Ritual Engagement, and Meaning in Life.

Rituals are pervasive and beneficial. Little is known, however, about causes or antecedents of ritual engagement. We hypothesized that nostalgia-a sentimental longing for one's past-promotes ritual engagement, which in turn augments meaning in life. We tested this hypothesis in five methodologically diverse studies. In Study 1 (N = 311), nostalgia was positively associated with ritual engagement. In Study 2 (N = 188), nostalgia promoted ritual engagement, and in Study 3 (N = 296), it did so over engagement in a neutral task. In Study 4 (N = 252), nostalgia predicted later ritual engagement but not vice versa, convergent with Studies 2 and 3. Furthermore, nostalgia prospectively predicted meaning in life through specific ritualistic behaviors during a traditional festival. Finally, in Study 5 (N = 166), experimentally manipulated ritual engagement augmented meaning in life. As hypothesized, nostalgia advances ritual engagement, contributing to a meaningful life.

Task persistence through a dynamic lens: Understanding temporal-behavioral dynamics in kindergarten children

Most research approaches operationalize persistence through a static index, neglecting that persistence is inherently dynamic. The study aimed to analyze persistence as a dynamic process through a real-time modeling approach. More specifically, we computed a latent profile analysis to examine temporal-behavioral dynamics in a persistence task. The Swiss sample consisted of N = 241 children (Mage = 71.8 months, 52.3% female, 21% migration background). During a persistence task, task engagement was repeatedly coded in 10-s intervals, yielding 18 indicators of persistence. The results revealed three behavioral profiles: a highly persistent profile (70%), a declining persistence profile (19%), and a low persistence profile (11%). Furthermore, covariate analyses revealed profile differences in terms of executive functions and behavioral problems.

Neural timescales reflect behavioral demands in freely moving rhesus macaques

Previous work demonstrated a highly reproducible cortical hierarchy of neural timescales at rest, with sensory areas displaying fast, and higher-order association areas displaying slower timescales. The question arises how such stable hierarchies give rise to adaptive behavior that requires flexible adjustment of temporal coding and integration demands. Potentially, this lack of variability in the hierarchical organization of neural timescales could reflect the structure of the laboratory contexts. We posit that unconstrained paradigms are ideal to test whether the dynamics of neural timescales reflect behavioral demands. Here we measured timescales of local field potential activity while male rhesus macaques foraged in an open space. We found a hierarchy of neural timescales that differs from previous work. Importantly, although the magnitude of neural timescales expanded with task engagement, the brain areas’ relative position in the hierarchy was stable. Next, we demonstrated that the change in neural timescales is dynamic and contains functionally-relevant information, differentiating between similar events in terms of motor demands and associated reward. Finally, we demonstrated that brain areas are differentially affected by these behavioral demands. These results demonstrate that while the space of neural timescales is anatomically constrained, the observed hierarchical organization and magnitude is dependent on behavioral demands.

Early engagement: The value of MRIT student externs in supporting recruitment, retention, and the future of the medical imaging professions

The healthcare system faces critical challenges in recruitment and retention due to increased patient volumes, post-pandemic recovery needs, and a departing experienced workforce. The concept of an ‘extern’ role, increasingly explored in professions such as nursing, allows healthcare students to take on paid employment in assistive roles in settings relevant to their future profession. The cornerstone of such an initiative is to bridge academic learning with practical clinical support, engaging the future of the workforce in a safe and meaningful way. MethodsAn extern program was piloted at a major urban multi-site medical imaging department beginning in 2022. Over three cohort years, it has explored two types of extern roles (junior and clinical) across three entry-to-practice MRIT disciplines – radiological technology, nuclear medicine and molecular imaging, and ultrasound. In developing roles, compliance with legislative regulations, considerations in defining roles and eligibility criteria, and aligning work commitment with student learning schedules were paramount in informing the program's structure and success.Seventy-three candidates applied to related roles and 34 externs were hired. Benefits/ChallengesBenefits to the program include engagement in clinical and administrative tasks, facilitation of departmental efficiency, and support for the existing workforce. Specific tasks for clinical externs included supporting staff in patient transfers and positioning, cleaning and restocking rooms, triaging patients and demands, calling inpatients and coordinating porters, and monitoring patients and schedules. For junior externs, tasks involved record-keeping, curating teaching cases, and supporting billing code reviews and quality control exercises like lead apron testing. Impacts/OutcomesThe program's value in shaping the future of healthcare professions has been recognized, particularly in enhancing student transition into practice and increasing recruitment opportunities for the host site. Staff overtime hours were reduced, and new graduates who had worked as externs were more quickly able to work autonomously following hire. The program was mutually beneficial to existing staff and future professionals, reinforcing the workforce without sacrificing the higher level learning achieved through university-based preparation for practice.

Behavioral strategy shapes activation of the Vip-Sst disinhibitory circuit in visual cortex

In complex environments, animals can adopt diverse strategies to find rewards. How distinct strategies differentially engage brain circuits is not well understood. Here, we investigate this question, focusing on the cortical Vip-Sst disinhibitory circuit between vasoactive intestinal peptide-postive (Vip) interneurons and somatostatin-positive (Sst) interneurons. We characterize the behavioral strategies used by mice during a visual change detection task. Using a dynamic logistic regression model, we find that individual mice use mixtures of a visual comparison strategy and a statistical timing strategy. Separately, mice also have periods of task engagement and disengagement. Two-photon calcium imaging shows large strategy-dependent differences in neural activity in excitatory, Sst inhibitory, and Vip inhibitory cells in response to both image changes and image omissions. In contrast, task engagement has limited effects on neural population activity. We find that the diversity of neural correlates of strategy can be understood parsimoniously as the increased activation of the Vip-Sst disinhibitory circuit during the visual comparison strategy, which facilitates task-appropriate responses.

Practice With Less AI Makes Perfect: Partially Automated AI During Training Leads to Better Worker Motivation, Engagement, and Skill Acquisition

The increased prevalence of human-AI collaboration is reshaping the manufacturing sector, fundamentally changing the nature of human work and training needs. While high automation improves performance when functioning correctly, it can lead to problematic human performance (e.g., defect detection accuracy, response time) when operators are required to intervene and assume manual control of decision-making responsibilities. As AI capability reaches higher levels of automation and human–AI collaboration becomes ubiquitous, addressing these performance issues is crucial. Proper worker training, focusing on skill-based, cognitive, and affective outcomes, and nurturing motivation and engagement, can be a mitigation strategy. However, most training research in manufacturing has prioritized the effectiveness of a technology for training, rather than how training design influences motivation and engagement, key to training success and longevity. The current study explored how training workers using an AI system affected their motivation, engagement, and skill acquisition. Specifically, we manipulated the level of automation of decision selection of an AI used for the training of 102 participants for a quality control task. Findings indicated that fully automated decision selection negatively impacted perceived autonomy, self-determined motivation, behavioral task engagement, and skill acquisition during training. Conversely, partially automated AI-enhanced motivation and engagement, enabling participants to better adapt to AI failure by developing necessary skills. The results suggest that involving workers in decision-making during training, using AI as a decision aid rather than a decision selector, yields more positive outcomes. This approach ensures that the human aspect of manufacturing work is not overlooked, maintaining a balance between technological advancement and human skill development, motivation, and engagement. These findings can be applied to enhance real-world manufacturing practices by designing training programs that better develop operators’ technical, methodological, and personal skills, though companies may face challenges in allocating substantial resources for training redevelopment and continuously adapting these programs to keep pace with evolving technology.

Spectral Slope and Lempel-Ziv Complexity as Robust Markers of Brain States during Sleep and Wakefulness.

Nonoscillatory measures of brain activity such as the spectral slope and Lempel-Ziv complexity are affected by many neurological disorders and modulated by sleep. A multitude of frequency ranges, particularly a broadband (encompassing the full spectrum) and a narrowband approach, have been used especially for estimating the spectral slope. However, the effects of choosing different frequency ranges have not yet been explored in detail. Here, we evaluated the impact of sleep stage and task engagement (resting, attention, and memory) on slope and complexity in a narrowband (30-45 Hz) and broadband (1-45 Hz) frequency range in 28 healthy male human subjects (21.54 ± 1.90 years) using a within-subject design over 2 weeks with three recording nights and days per subject. We strived to determine how different brain states and frequency ranges affect slope and complexity and how the two measures perform in comparison. In the broadband range, the slope steepened, and complexity decreased continuously from wakefulness to N3 sleep. REM sleep, however, was best discriminated by the narrowband slope. Importantly, slope and complexity also differed between tasks during wakefulness. While narrowband complexity decreased with task engagement, the slope flattened in both frequency ranges. Interestingly, only the narrowband slope was positively correlated with task performance. Our results show that slope and complexity are sensitive indices of brain state variations during wakefulness and sleep. However, the spectral slope yields more information and could be used for a greater variety of research questions than Lempel-Ziv complexity, especially when a narrowband frequency range is used.

Fostering student agency and motivation: co-creation of a rubric for self-evaluation in an ungraded course

No one enjoys grading, neither instructors nor students. The idea is that grades provide the required incentive to learn and act as an “objective” form of evaluation. This view is especially prevalent in STEM, where practitioners pride themselves in quantitative and objective measurements. However, the science of learning tells us that grades and ranking increase competition and stress, pushing learners to engage in tasks regardless of their effectiveness. Grades have been shown to suppress interest in learning, incentivize engagement in easier tasks, and produce shallower thinking. If wanting to learn is something students and faculty can agree on, how do we get there without grading? From psychology research, we know that feedback, separated from grades, along with opportunities to reattempt work without negative consequence, are powerful drivers of the intrinsic motivation to learn. In fact, feedback loops—trying something new, getting feedback, and making changes based on feedback - are a known developmental pathway to authentic learning. In this article, I describe an experiment with a form of ungrading that involves students in the co-creation of self-assessment criteria. The goal is to create learning feedback loops, incentivize learning for learning’s sake, and give students some agency in the process of evaluation. This was conducted in an upper division Immunology course at a small liberal arts college. This paper outlines an iterative and dialogical process between students and instructional staff to craft a holistic set of criteria for the evaluation of learning. These criteria became the foundation for regular one-on-one conversations with students and a means to track progress over the semester. End-of-semester student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, citing increased motivation to learn, lower levels of anxiety, a less competitive environment, and growth as a learner. Among the few disadvantages cited were anxieties from grade ambiguity, fears about the process, and extra time, especially for the instructor. This paper highlights the ways in which this system aligns with psychosocial theories of learning, fostering an intrinsic motivation to learn utilizing principles of critical pedagogy and students as partners. It concludes with lessons learned from both the student and instructor viewpoint.

Location-based electrotactile feedback localizes hitting point in virtual-reality table tennis game.

Learning new motor skills is often challenged by sensory mismatches. For reliable sensory information, people have actively employed sensory intervention methods. Visual assistance is the most popular method to provide sensory information, which is equivalent to the knowledge of performance (KP) in motor tasks. However, its efficacy is questionable because of visual-proprioceptive mismatch as well as heavy intrinsic visual and cognitive engagement in motor tasks. Electrotactile intervention is a promising technique to address the current limitations, as it provides KP using tactile feedback that has a close neurophysiological association with proprioception. To test its efficacy, we compared the effects of visual and electrotactile assistance on hitting point localization of the table-tennis racket during virtual-reality table-tennis game. Experimental results suggest that location-based electrotactile feedback outperforms visual assistance in localizing the hitting point on a table-tennis racket during virtual-reality table-tennis game. Our study showed the potential of electrotactile intervention for improving the efficacy of new motor skill training.

Displays of co-constructed content knowledge using translanguaging in breakout and main sessions of online EMI classrooms

There is a growing research interest in the dynamics of English Medium Instruction (EMI) university classroom interactions in non-Anglophone contexts. In the present study, we track the procedural unfolding of content knowledge co-construction across multiple online activities in an online EMI university classroom. Using Multimodal Conversation Analysis to examine the screen recordings of an undergraduate course on Educational Sciences at a state EMI university in Türkiye, we show how translanguaging plays a central role in enabling the participants’ displays of content knowledge by deploying multilingual (English, Turkish, the focal EMI university jargon) and multimodal (i.e., coordinating verbal and multimodal materials on the screen) resources across four phases of the online class, namely (i) lecturer talk, (ii) pre-task, (iii) task engagement in breakout rooms, and (iv) sharing outputs in the main room. The study brings implications for higher education EMI classroom interactions by describing the multilingual, multifaceted, multimodal, and sequential organization of screen-recorded online environments.

Does emotional intelligence influence employee creativity? The moderating role of job complexity

This study investigates the impact of emotional intelligence on employee creativity, considering the moderating effect of job complexity. The research aims to comprehend how emotional intelligence influences employee creativity and how job complexity moderates this relationship. Employing a causal research design, the study utilizes questionnaires to collect primary data. Confirmatory factor analysis confirms the validity and reliability of the measurement model. Descriptive statistics, regression models, and t-tests are employed for data analysis and hypothesis testing. Findings indicate that emotional intelligence significantly and positively affects employee creativity by facilitating effective emotion management, empathy, self-control, and collaboration. While job complexity does not significantly moderate this relationship, engagement in complex tasks may hinder creativity and impact positive emotions in the workplace. Strategies to foster emotional intelligence include training, fostering supportive cultures, and assembling diverse teams. Promoting creativity in organizations entails collaborative efforts, recognition of innovation, and effective task management through workload management and problem-solving training initiatives.

Post-encoding task engagement not attentional load is detrimental to awake consolidation

The fate of new memories depends partly on the cognitive state experienced immediately following encoding. Wakeful rest, relative to task engagement, benefits retention and this effect is typically explained through a consolidation account: rest is theorised to provide a state of minimal interference, which would otherwise disrupt consolidation. Yet, the determinants of consolidation interference, notably the contribution of attention, remain poorly characterised. Through a repeated measures design, we investigated attention load’s impact on consolidation. In three phases, participants encountered a set of nonwords and underwent immediate recognition testing, experienced a 5-min delay condition, and completed a delayed recognition test for the nonwords. This cycle repeated for each phase before proceeding to the next. Delay conditions comprised of wakeful rest and two sustained attention to response tasks (SART) that were of low (SART-fixed) and high (SART-random) attention load. Immediate memory was matched across conditions, but delayed recognition was poorer after completing the SART-fixed and SART-random conditions, relative to rest. There was no difference between the two SART conditions. These data provide insights into the factors that contribute to the success of consolidation and indicate that the attention load of a task does not determine the magnitude of consolidation interference and associated forgetting.

Real-time estimation of EEG-based engagement in different tasks

Objective. Recent trends in brain–computer interface (BCI) research concern the passive monitoring of brain activity, which aim to monitor a wide variety of cognitive states. Engagement is such a cognitive state, which is of interest in contexts such as learning, entertainment or rehabilitation. This study proposes a novel approach for real-time estimation of engagement during different tasks using electroencephalography (EEG). Approach. Twenty-three healthy subjects participated in the BCI experiment. A modified version of the d2 test was used to elicit engagement. Within-subject classification models which discriminate between engaging and resting states were trained based on EEG recorded during a d2 test based paradigm. The EEG was recorded using eight electrodes and the classification model was based on filter-bank common spatial patterns and a linear discriminant analysis. The classification models were evaluated in cross-task applications, namely when playing Tetris at different speeds (i.e. slow, medium, fast) and when watching two videos (i.e. advertisement and landscape video). Additionally, subjects’ perceived engagement was quantified using a questionnaire. Main results. The models achieved a classification accuracy of 90% on average when tested on an independent d2 test paradigm recording. Subjects’ perceived and estimated engagement were found to be greater during the advertisement compared to the landscape video (p = 0.025 and p < 0.001, respectively); greater during medium and fast compared to slow Tetris speed (p < 0.001, respectively); not different between medium and fast Tetris speeds. Additionally, a common linear relationship was observed for perceived and estimated engagement (r rm = 0.44, p < 0.001). Finally, theta and alpha band powers were investigated, which respectively increased and decreased during more engaging states. Significance. This study proposes a task-specific EEG engagement estimation model with cross-task capabilities, offering a framework for real-world applications.

Voices from Transit Zones: A Study of Humanitarian Interpreting Challenges

This paper presents findings derived from interviews encompassing representatives of NGOs and public service institutions as well as trained and untrained interpreters within the ReTrans partner countries Austria, Slovenia, the Republic of North Macedonia and Greece. The study’s aim was to gain comprehensive insights into the specific requirements of humanitarian interpreters and service users. Additionally, it sought to illuminate the dilemmas they routinely face. The findings have shown that humanitarian interpreting frequently involves the participation of untrained interpreters, with the essential role played by cultural knowledge. Additionally, the use of a pivot language, thematic preparation, and engagement in additional tasks beyond traditional interpretation roles, such as gathering information about financial support or assisting in finding accommodation, emerge as crucial aspects of humanitarian interpreting. However, due to the scope of this paper, we will focus on specific elements within this broader context

Performance and symptom validity indicators among children undergoing cognitive surveillance following treatment for craniopharyngioma.

Performance validity tests (PVTs) and symptom validity tests (SVTs) are essential to neuropsychological evaluations, helping ensure findings reflect true abilities or concerns. It is unclear how PVTs and SVTs perform in children who received radiotherapy for brain tumors. Accordingly, we investigated the rate of noncredible performance on validity indicators as well as associations with fatigue and lower intellectual functioning. Embedded PVTs and SVTs were investigated in 98 patients with pediatric craniopharyngioma undergoing proton radiotherapy (PRT). The contribution of fatigue, sleepiness, and lower intellectual functioning to embedded PVT performance was examined. Further, we investigated PVTs and SVTs in relation to cognitive performance at pre-PRT baseline and change over time. SVTs on parent measures were not an area of concern. PVTs identified 0-31% of the cohort as demonstrating possible noncredible performance at baseline, with stable findings 1 year following PRT. Reliable digit span (RDS) noted the highest PVT failure rate; RDS has been criticized for false positives in pediatric populations, especially children with neurological impairment. Objective sleepiness was strongly associated with PVT failure, stressing need to consider arousal level when interpreting cognitive performance in children with craniopharyngioma. Lower intellectual functioning also needs to be considered when interpreting task engagement indices as it was strongly associated with PVT failure. Embedded PVTs should be used with caution in pediatric craniopharyngioma patients who have received PRT. Future research should investigate different cut-off scores and validity indicator combinations to best differentiate noncredible performance due to task engagement versus variable arousal and/or lower intellectual functioning.

The relationship between intensity of Facebook use, employee effort at work, and counterproductive behaviors

The study explores the interaction between the intensity of Facebook use, the effort exerted by employees in the professional activity and counterproductive behaviors in the workplace. The main aim is to identify if and how frequent use of Facebook during working hours influences employee performance and behavior. By analyzing data collected through questionnaires and interviews, the research aims to determine correlations between the time spent on Facebook and thelevel of employee engagement in work tasks, as well as the occurrence of possible counterproductive behaviors such as procrastination or neglect of responsibilities. The results could provide important insights for managers and human resource specialists in order to develop effective strategies formanaging time and human resources in the work environment, taking into account the impact of social networks. Also, the study could contribute to the academic literature by bringing new insights into the dynamics between online social environments and organizational behavior.

Metamotivation: Self-regulating task–motivation fit

Regulating one’s motivation contributes to well-being and success across various domains, including language learning. For example, activating a promotion versus prevention regulatory focus orientation is generally more compatible with tasks requiring creativity and innovation (e.g., brainstorming) versus tasks requiring vigilance (e.g., proofreading), respectively. Metamotivation represents awareness of such task–motivation fit. This article reports a study involving Saudi language learners of English (N = 311) who were presented with language-related tasks requiring two different motivational orientations (e.g., brainstorming vs. proofreading) and were asked to indicate their preferred incentive structure (inducing eagerness vs. vigilance) under two contexts (independent vs. interdependent). The results showed that the participants exhibited metamotivational awareness in terms of promotion, but not prevention, orientation. Female participants displayed a marked overgeneralization bias, clearly favoring a promotion-inducing incentive structure even for vigilance tasks. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to task engagement and persistence and to expanding the scope of language motivation theory, paving the way for a new line of research into language learning metamotivation.