Expert vs. novice differences in the detection of relevant information during a chess game: evidence from eye movements

Long-Term Bridge Training Induces Functional Plasticity Changes in the Brain of Early-Adult Individuals

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of extended bridge expertise on rapid perceptual processing and brain functional plasticity in early adulthood, utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In this investigation, we compared 6 high-level college bridge players with 25 college students lacking bridge experience, assessing their intelligence and working memory. Additionally, we scrutinized behavioral performance and whole-brain activation patterns during an image perceptual judgment task. Findings indicated significant group and interaction effects at the behavioral level. Bridge players exhibited prolonged reaction times and enhanced accuracy on card tasks. At the neural level, the activation level of bridge players in the occipital lobe exceeded that of ordinary college students, with more pronounced group effects in the motor area and inferior parietal lobule during card tasks. This implies that bridge expertise in early adulthood induces functional plasticity changes in regions associated with visual processing and automated mathematical computation.

Cues for predictive eye movements in naturalistic scenes

We previously compared following of the same trajectories with eye movements, but either as an isolated targets or embedded in a naturalistic scene-in this case, the movement of a puck in an ice hockey game. We observed that the oculomotor system was able to leverage the contextual cues available in the naturalistic scene to produce predictive eye movements. In this study, we wanted to assess which factors are critical for achieving this predictive advantage by manipulating four factors: the expertise of the viewers, the amount of available peripheral information, and positional and kinematic cues. The more peripheral information became available (by manipulating the area of the video that was visible), the better the predictions of all observers. However, expert ice hockey fans were consistently better at predicting than novices and used peripheral information more effectively for predictive saccades. Artificial cues about player positions did not lead to a predictive advantage, whereas impairing the causal structure of kinematic cues by playing the video in reverse led to a severe impairment. When videos were flipped vertically to introduce more difficult kinematic cues, predictive behavior was comparable to watching the original videos. Together, these results demonstrate that, when contextual information is available in naturalistic scenes, the oculomotor system is successfully integrating them and is not relying only on low-level information about the target trajectory. Critical factors for successful prediction seem to be the amount of available information, experience with the stimuli, and the availability of intact kinematic cues for player movements.

Don't overthink it: The paradoxical nature of expertise for the detection of errors in conceptual business process models

Business process models are widely used artifacts in design activities to facilitate communication about business domains and processes. Despite being an extensively researched topic, some aspects of conceptual business modeling are yet to be fully explored and understood by academicians and practitioners alike. We study the attentional characteristics specific to experts and novices in a semantic and syntactic error detection task across 75 Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) models. We find several intriguing results. Experts correctly identify more error-free models than novices, but also tend to find more false positive defects. Syntactic errors are diagnosed faster than semantic errors by both groups. Both groups spend more time on error-free models. Our findings regarding the ambiguous differences between experts and novices highlight the paradoxical nature of expertise and the need to further study how best to train business analysts to design and evaluate conceptual models.

Expertise-dependent perceptual performance in chess tasks with varying complexity

Perceptual performance, anticipating opponents' strategies, and judging chess positions especially in subliminal processing is related to expertise level and dependent on chunking processes. It becomes obvious that chess expertise is a multidimensional phenomenon related predominantly to experience. Under consideration of chess expertise categorization, we conducted two priming experiments expanding existing designs by gradually increasing the target and task complexity. The main aim was the evaluation of potential visuocognitive limitations. The results reveal experts' perceptual superiority manifested by their faster reaction times in settings with increased stimulus and task complexity. Further, experts' priming effects seem to be affected by the target content and/ or priming duration. For short prime duration, experts show priming effects only for less complex prime-target content. Interestingly, for longer prime duration and more complex prime-target content, all participants reveal priming effects. In summary, we argue that experts' visuocognitive processing (i.e., detecting or anticipating potential threats to the king) is rooted in a more efficient visuocognition due to stored chunks of checking and mating constellations. We suggest that visuocognitive limitations are related also to the prime-target complexity as well as to the task. Further investigations must be conducted in order to elucidate the factors with an increased impact on chess players' performance.

A Meta-analysis on the Effect of Expertise on Eye Movements during Music Reading

The current meta-analysis was conducted on 12 studies comparing the eye movements of expert versus non-expert musicians and attempted to determine which eye movement measures are expertise dependent during music reading. The total dataset of 61 comparisons was divided into four subsets, each concerning one eye-movement variable (i.e., fixation duration, number of fixations, saccade amplitude, and gaze duration). We used a variance estimation method to aggregate the effect sizes. The results support the robust finding of reduced fixation duration in expert musicians (Subset 1, g = -0.72). Due to low statistical power because of limited effect sizes, the results on the number of fixations, saccade amplitude, and gaze duration were not reliable. We conducted meta-regression analyses to determine potential moderators of the effect of expertise on eye movements (i.e., definition of experimental groups, type of musical task performed, type of musical material used or tempo control). Moderator analyses did not yield any reliable results. The need for consistency in the experimental methodology is discussed.

Teachers' visual processing of children's off-task behaviors in class: A comparison between teachers and student teachers

As teachers are responsible for responding instantaneously to students' statements and actions, the progress of the class, and their teaching purpose, they need to be able to engage in responsive teaching. Teachers obtain information about students' learning by observing them in the classroom, and subsequently make instructional decisions based on this information. Teachers need to be sensitive to student behaviors and respond accordingly, because there are students who follow the teacher's instructions and those who do not in every classroom. Skilled teachers may distribute their gaze over the entire class and discover off-task behaviors. So how does a teacher's visual processing and noticing ability develop? It is important to clarify this process for both experienced teachers and student teachers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in visual processing and the ability to notice off-task behaviors in class between teachers and student teachers through gaze analysis. Using an eye tracking device, 76 teachers and 147 student teachers were asked to watch a video, and gaze measurements were collected. In the video, students exhibiting off-task behaviors in class were prompted by their classroom teacher to participate in the lesson. After the video, the participants were asked if they could identify the students who had displayed off-task behaviors and whom the teachers had warned. The results showed that teachers gazed at students engaging in off-task behaviors in class more often and noticed them at a higher rate than student teachers did. These results may be attributed to differences in the experiences of visual processing of relevant information in the classroom between teachers and student teachers. Thus, the findings on teachers' visual processing by direct measurement of gaze will be able to contribute to teachers' development.

Uncertainty in experts' judgments exposes the vulnerability of research reporting anecdotes on animals' cognitive abilities

Expertise in science, particularly in animal behaviour, may provide people with the capacity to provide better judgments in contrast to lay people. Here we explore whether experts provide a more objective, accurate and coherent evaluation of a recently reported anecdote on Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) “tool use” (recorded on video) which was published in a major scientific journal but was received with some scepticism. We relied on citizen science and developed a questionnaire to measure whether experts in ethology and ornithology and lay people agree or disagree on (1) the description of the actions that they observe (the bird takes a stick in its beak), (2) the possible goal of the action (nest-building or grooming) and (3) the intentional component of the action (the bird took the stick into its beak in order to scratch itself). We hypothesised that contrary to the lay people, experts are more critical evaluators that is they are more inclined to report alternative actions, like nest building, or are less likely to attributing goal-directedness to the action in the absence of evidence. In contrast, lay people may be more prone to anthropomorphise utilising a teleological and intentional stance. Alternatively, all three groups of subjects may rely on anthropomorphism at similar levels and prior expertise does not play a significant role. We found that no major differences among the evaluators. At the group levels, respondents were relatively uncertain with regard to the action of the bird seen on the video but they showed some individual consistency with regard to the description of the action. Thus, we conclude that paradoxically, with regard to the task our experts are typically not experts in the strict sense of the definition, and suggest that anecdotal reports should not be used to argue about mental processes.

The effect of expertise, target usefulness and image structure on visual search

Experts outperform novices on many cognitive and perceptual tasks. Extensive training has tuned experts to the most relevant information in their specific domain, allowing them to make decisions quickly and accurately. We compared a group of fingerprint examiners to a group of novices on their ability to search for information in fingerprints across two experiments-one where participants searched for target features within a single fingerprint and another where they searched for points of difference between two fingerprints. In both experiments, we also varied how useful the target feature was and whether participants searched for these targets in a typical fingerprint or one that had been scrambled. Experts more efficiently located targets when searching for them in intact but not scrambled fingerprints. In Experiment 1, we also found that experts more efficiently located target features classified as more useful compared to novices, but this expert-novice difference was not present when the target feature was classified as less useful. The usefulness of the target may therefore have influenced the search strategies that participants used, and the visual search advantages that experts display appear to depend on their vast experience with visual regularity in fingerprints. These results align with a domain-specific account of expertise and suggest that perceptual training ought to involve learning to attend to task-critical features.

Testing a Strategy-Disruption Account of the List-Strength Effect

Presenting items multiple times on a study list increases their memorability, a process known as item strengthening. The list-strength effect (LSE) refers to the finding that, compared to unstrengthened (pure) lists, lists for which a subset of the items have been strengthened produce enhanced memory for the strengthened items and depressed memory for the unstrengthened items. Although the LSE is found in free recall (Tulving & Hastie, 1972), it does not occur in recognition (Ratcliff et al., 1990). In free recall, the LSE in mixed lists is attributed to a sampling bias promoting priority recall of strong items and consequent output interference affecting weak items. We suggest that, in recognition, the disruption of this pattern through the randomization of test probes is responsible for the null LSE. We present several pilot experiments consistent with this account; however, the registered experiment, which had more statistical power, did not support this account.

Expertise effects on attention and eye-movement control during visual search: Evidence from the domain of music reading

Experts in many domains use their domain-specific knowledge to rapidly locate relevant information. To explore this ability in music reading, we contrasted the eye movements of 30 expert musicians (with at least 10 years of music reading training) and 30 non-musicians (who could not read music) while they completed a visual search task that required them to match a section of a complex piano music score (i.e., the search template) to its identical counterpart within a larger music score (i.e., the search array). Critically, both the search template and array were presented simultaneously throughout each trial in the experiment, which allowed for visual comparisons between the search template and the array. Relative to the non-musicians, the experts had higher accuracy and also spent more time looking at the relevant regions and less time looking at irrelevant regions. Also, as evidence that the experts and non-musicians adopted qualitatively different search strategies, the experts spent more time than non-musicians looking at the search template at the beginning of the trial, and the experts returned to this region less often than non-musicians. Taken together, our results indicate that experts use domain-specific knowledge in the form of "chunks" (Chase & Simon, 1973a, 1973b) and "templates" (Gobet & Simon, 1996b, 2000) to acquire accurate representations of highly complex search templates.

Validating Test Score Interpretations Using Time Information

A validity approach is proposed that uses processing times to collect validity evidence for the construct interpretation of test scores. The rationale of the approach is based on current research of processing times and on classical validity approaches, providing validity evidence based on relationships with other variables. Within the new approach, convergent validity evidence is obtained if a component skill, that is expected to underlie the task solution process in the target construct, positively moderates the relationship between effective speed and effective ability in the corresponding target construct. Discriminant validity evidence is provided if a component skill, that is not expected to underlie the task solution process in the target construct, does indeed not moderate the speed-ability relation in this target construct. Using data from a study that follows up the German PIAAC sample, this approach was applied to reading competence, assessed with PIAAC literacy items, and to quantitative reasoning, assessed with Number Series. As expected from theory, the effect of speed on ability in the target construct was only moderated by the respective underlying component skill, that is, word meaning activation skill as an underlying component skill of reading competence, and perceptual speed as an underlying component skill of reasoning. Accordingly, no positive interactions were found for the component skill that should not underlie the task solution process, that is, word meaning activation for reasoning and perceptual speed for reading. Furthermore, the study shows the suitability of the proposed validation approach. The use of time information in association with task results brings construct validation closer to the actual response process than widely used correlations of test scores.

Special series on "effects of board games on health education and promotion" board games as a promising tool for health promotion: a review of recent literature

Board games are played by moving game pieces in particular ways on special boards marked with patterns. To clarify the possible roles of board game use in psychosomatic medicine, the present review evaluated studies that investigated the effects of this activity on health education and treatment. A literature search conducted between January 2012 and August 2018 identified 83 relevant articles; 56 (67%) targeted education or training for health-related problems, six (7%) examined basic brain mechanisms, five (6%) evaluated preventative measures for dementia or contributions to healthy aging, and three (4%) assessed social communication or public health policies. The results of several randomized controlled trials indicated that the playing of traditional board games (e.g., chess, Go, and Shogi) helps to improve cognitive impairment and depression, and that the playing of newly developed board games is beneficial for behavioral modifications, such as the promotion of healthy eating, smoking cessation, and safe sex. Although the number of studies that have evaluated board game use in terms of mental health remains limited, many studies have provided interesting findings regarding brain function, cognitive effects, and the modification of health-related lifestyle factors.

Super-Memorizers Are Not Super-Recognizers

Humans have a natural expertise in recognizing faces. However, the nature of the interaction between this critical visual biological skill and memory is yet unclear. Here, we had the unique opportunity to test two individuals who have had exceptional success in the World Memory Championships, including several world records in face-name association memory. We designed a range of face processing tasks to determine whether superior/expert face memory skills are associated with distinctive perceptual strategies for processing faces. Superior memorizers excelled at tasks involving associative face-name learning. Nevertheless, they were as impaired as controls in tasks probing the efficiency of the face system: face inversion and the other-race effect. Super memorizers did not show increased hippocampal volumes, and exhibited optimal generic eye movement strategies when they performed complex multi-item face-name associations. Our data show that the visual computations of the face system are not malleable and are robust to acquired expertise involving extensive training of associative memory.