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Verwey WB. C-SMB 2.0: Integrating over 25 years of motor sequencing research with the Discrete Sequence Production task. Psychon Bull Rev 2024; 31:931-978. [PMID: 37848660 PMCID: PMC11192694 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02377-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
An exhaustive review is reported of over 25 years of research with the Discrete Sequence Production (DSP) task as reported in well over 100 articles. In line with the increasing call for theory development, this culminates into proposing the second version of the Cognitive framework of Sequential Motor Behavior (C-SMB 2.0), which brings together known models from cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and motor learning. This processing framework accounts for the many different behavioral results obtained with the DSP task and unveils important properties of the cognitive system. C-SMB 2.0 assumes that a versatile central processor (CP) develops multimodal, central-symbolic representations of short motor segments by repeatedly storing the elements of these segments in short-term memory (STM). Independently, the repeated processing by modality-specific perceptual and motor processors (PPs and MPs) and by the CP when executing sequences gradually associates successively used representations at each processing level. The high dependency of these representations on active context information allows for the rapid serial activation of the sequence elements as well as for the executive control of tasks as a whole. Speculations are eventually offered as to how the various cognitive processes could plausibly find their neural underpinnings within the intricate networks of the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Willem B Verwey
- Department of Learning, Data-Analytics and Technology, Section Cognition, Data and Education, Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social sciences, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, the Netherlands.
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Wang S, Gu H, Yao Q, Yang C, Li X, Ouyang G. Task-independent auditory probes reveal changes in mental workload during simulated quadrotor UAV training. Health Inf Sci Syst 2023; 11:12. [PMID: 36910421 PMCID: PMC9992679 DOI: 10.1007/s13755-023-00213-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective The event-related potential (ERP) methods based on laboratory control scenes have been widely used to measure the level of mental workload during operational tasks. In this study, both task difficulty and test time were considered. Auditory probes (ignored task-irrelevant background sounds) were used to explore the changes in mental workload of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operators during task execution and their ERP representations. Approach 51 students participated in a 10-day training and test of simulated quadrotor UAV. During the experiment, background sound was played to induce ERP according to the requirements of oddball paradigm, and the relationship between mental workload and the amplitudes of N200 and P300 in ERP was explored. Main results Our study shows that the mental workload during operational task training is multi-dimensional, and its changes are affected by bottom-up perception and top-down cognition. The N200 component of the ERP evoked by the auditory probe corresponds to the bottom-up perceptual part; while the P300 component corresponds to the top-down cognitive part, which is positively correlated with the improvement of skill level. Significance This paper describes the relationship between ERP induced by auditory probes and mental workload from the perspective of multi-resource theory and human information processing. This suggests that the auditory probe can be used to reveal the mental workload during the training of operational tasks, which not only provides a possible reference for measuring the mental workload, but also provides a possibility for identifying the development of the operator's skill level and evaluating the training effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaodi Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 People’s Republic of China
| | - Heng Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 People’s Republic of China
| | - Qunli Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 People’s Republic of China
| | - Chao Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiaoli Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 People’s Republic of China
| | - Gaoxiang Ouyang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 People’s Republic of China
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Gu H, Yao Q, Chen H, Ding Z, Zhao X, Liu H, Feng Y, Li C, Li X. The effect of mental schema evolution on mental workload measurement: an EEG study with simulated quadrotor UAV operation. J Neural Eng 2022; 19. [PMID: 35439750 DOI: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac6828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Mental workload is the result of the interactions between the demands of an operation task and the skills, behavior and perception of the performer. Working under a high mental workload can significantly affect an operator's ability to choose optimal decisions. However, the effect of mental schema, which reflects the level of expertise of an operator, on mental workload remains unclear. Here, we propose a theoretical framework for describing how the evolution of mental schema affects mental workload from the perspective of cognitive processing. APPROACH we recruited 51 students to participate in a 10-day simulated UAV flight training. The EEG PSD metrics were used to investigate the changes in neural responses caused by variations in the mental workload at different stages of mental schema evolution. MAIN RESULTS It was found that mental schema evolution influenced the direction and change trends of the frontal theta PSD, parietal alpha PSD, and central beta PSD. Initially, before the mental schema was formed, only the frontal theta PSD increased with increasing task difficulty; when the mental schema was initially being developed, the frontal theta PSD and the parietal alpha PSD decreased with increasing task difficulty, while the central beta PSD increased with increasing task difficulty. Finally, as the mental schema gradually matured, the trend of the three indicators did not change with increasing task difficulty. However, differences in the frontal PSD became more pronounced across task difficulty levels, while differences in the parietal PSD narrowed. SIGNIFICANCE Our results describe the relationship between the EEG power spectrum and the mental workload of UAV operators as the mental schema evolved. This suggests that EEG indicators can not only provide more accurate measurements of mental workload but also provide insights into the development of an operator's skill level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100875, CHINA
| | - Qunli Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100875, CHINA
| | - He Chen
- Beijing Normal University, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100875, CHINA
| | - Zhaohuan Ding
- Beijing Normal University, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100875, CHINA
| | - Xiaochuan Zhao
- Institute of Computer Applied Technology of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100089, CHINA
| | - Huapeng Liu
- Institute of Computer Applied Technology of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100089, CHINA
| | - Yunduo Feng
- Institute of Computer Applied Technology of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100089, CHINA
| | - Chen Li
- Institute of Computer Applied Technology of China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100089, CHINA
| | - Xiaoli Li
- Beijing Normal University, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Beijing, 100875, CHINA
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Verwey WB, Glinski B, Kuo MF, Salehinejad MA, Nitsche MA. Consolidation of motor sequence learning eliminates susceptibility of SMAproper to TMS: a combined rTMS and cTBS study. Exp Brain Res 2022; 240:1743-1755. [PMID: 35389072 PMCID: PMC8988106 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-022-06358-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Earlier research suggested that after 210 practice trials, the supplementary motor area (SMA) is involved in executing all responses of familiar 6-key sequences in a discrete sequence production (DSP) task (Verwey, Lammens, and van Honk, 2002). This was indicated by slowing of each response 20 and 25 min after the SMA had been stimulated for 20 min using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). The present study used a similar approach to assess the effects of TMS to the more posterior SMAproper at the end of practice and also 24 h later. As expected stimulation of SMAproper with 20 min of 1 Hz rTMS and 40 s of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) immediately after practice slowed sequence execution relative to a sham TMS condition, but stimulation on the day following practice did not cause slowing. This indicates that offline consolidation makes learning robust against stimulation of SMAproper. Execution of all responses in the sequence was disrupted 0, 20, and 40 min after rTMS, but after cTBS, this occurred only after 40 min. The results suggest that it is implicit sequence knowledge that is processed by the SMAproper and that consolidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Willem B Verwey
- Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences, Department of Learning, Data-Analytics and Technology, Cognition, Data and Education Section, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands.
- Department of Kinesiology, Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Laboratory, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
| | - Benedikt Glinski
- Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences, Department of Learning, Data-Analytics and Technology, Cognition, Data and Education Section, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Min-Fang Kuo
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Mohammad Ali Salehinejad
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Michael A Nitsche
- Department of Psychology and Neurosciences, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors, Dortmund, Germany
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bochum, Germany
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Verwey WB, Wright DL, Immink MA. A multi-representation approach to the contextual interference effect: effects of sequence length and practice. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 86:1310-1331. [PMID: 34136942 PMCID: PMC9090686 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01543-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
The present study investigated the long-term benefit of Random-Practice (RP) over Blocked-Practice (BP) within the contextual interference (CI) effect for motor learning. We addressed the extent to which motor sequence length and practice amount factors moderate the CI effect given that previous reports, often in applied research, have reported no long-term advantage from RP. Based on predictions arising from the Cognitive framework of Sequential Motor Behavior (C-SMB) and using the Discrete Sequence Production (DSP) task, two experiments were conducted to compare limited and extended practice amounts of 4- and 7-key sequences under RP and BP schedules. Twenty-four-hour delayed retention performance confirmed the C-SMB prediction that the CI-effect occurs only with short sequences that receive little practice. The benefit of RP with limited practice was associated with overnight motor memory consolidation. Further testing with single-stimulus as well as novel and unstructured (i.e., random) sequences indicated that limited practice under RP schedules enhances both reaction and chunking modes of sequence execution with the latter mode benefitting from the development of implicit and explicit forms of sequence representation. In the case of 7-key sequences, extended practice with RP and BP schedules provided for equivalent development of sequence representations. Higher explicit awareness of sequence structures was associated with faster completion of practiced but also of novel and unstructured sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Willem B Verwey
- Department of Learning, Data-Analytics and Technology Cognition, Data and Education Section, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands. .,Department of Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
| | - David L Wright
- Department of Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Maarten A Immink
- Sport, Health, Activity, Performance and Exercise Research Centre Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
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Verwey WB. Isoluminant stimuli in a familiar discrete keying sequence task can be ignored. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 85:793-807. [PMID: 31811366 PMCID: PMC7900095 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01277-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Motor sequencing models suggest that when with extensive practice sequence representations have developed, stimuli indicating the individual sequence elements may no longer be used for sequence execution. However, it is not clear whether participants can at all refrain from processing these stimuli. Two experiments were performed in which participants practiced two 7-keypress sequences by responding to isoluminant key-specific stimuli. In the mixed condition of the ensuing test phase, the stimuli were displayed only occasionally, and the question was whether this would make participants stop processing these stimuli. In Experiment 1, the benefit of displaying stimuli was assessed after substantial practice, while Experiment 2 examined development of this benefit across practice. The results of Experiment 1 showed that participants rely a little less on these stimuli when they are displayed only occasionally, but Experiment 2 revealed that participants quickly developed high awareness, and that they ignored these stimuli already after limited practice. These findings confirm that participants can choose to ignore these isoluminant stimuli but tend to use them when they are displayed. These and other findings show in some detail how various cognitive systems interact to produce familiar keying sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Willem B Verwey
- Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Cognitive Psychology and Ergonomics, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands.
- Human Performance Laboratories, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
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The Simon effect in a discrete sequence production task: Key-specific stimuli cannot be ignored due to attentional capture. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2020; 205:103044. [PMID: 32146318 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Revised: 02/17/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Two experiments examined whether practicing discrete key pressing sequences eventually leads to a disregard of the key-specific stimuli, as suggested by sequence learning models, or whether these stimuli continue to be relied upon because the associated luminance increase attracts visuospatial attention. Participants practiced two sequences by reacting to two fixed series of seven letter stimuli, each displayed at a location that did or did not correspond with the required response location. Stimulus use was indicated by a Simon effect in that key presses were slowed when stimulus and key locations did not correspond. Experiment 1 demonstrated that letter stimuli continued to be used as the Simon effect occurred with each sequence element, and this remained quite stable across practice and did not differ for familiar and unfamiliar sequences. Experiment 2 showed that the Simon effect remained present even with meaningless stimuli that were often even harmful. These findings suggest that even in motor sequences that can be executed without element-specific stimuli attention attraction enforces stimulus use. The data further supported the assumptions that S-R translation and sequencing systems are racing to trigger individual responses, and that explicit sequence representations include spatial and verbal knowledge.
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