Chunking in recall of symbolic drawings

Chunking as a rational solution to the speed-accuracy trade-off in a serial reaction time task

When exposed to perceptual and motor sequences, people are able to gradually identify patterns within and form a compact internal description of the sequence. One proposal of how sequences can be compressed is people's ability to form chunks. We study people's chunking behavior in a serial reaction time task. We relate chunk representation with sequence statistics and task demands, and propose a rational model of chunking that rearranges and concatenates its representation to jointly optimize for accuracy and speed. Our model predicts that participants should chunk more if chunks are indeed part of the generative model underlying a task and should, on average, learn longer chunks when optimizing for speed than optimizing for accuracy. We test these predictions in two experiments. In the first experiment, participants learn sequences with underlying chunks. In the second experiment, participants were instructed to act either as fast or as accurately as possible. The results of both experiments confirmed our model's predictions. Taken together, these results shed new light on the benefits of chunking and pave the way for future studies on step-wise representation learning in structured domains.

A tutorial on capturing mental representations through drawing and crowd-sourced scoring

When we draw, we are depicting a rich mental representation reflecting a memory, percept, schema, imagination, or feeling. In spite of the abundance of data created by drawings, drawings are rarely used as an output measure in the field of psychology, due to concerns about their large variance and their difficulty of quantification. However, recent work leveraging pen-tracking, computer vision, and online crowd-sourcing has revealed new ways to capture and objectively quantify drawings, to answer a wide range of questions across fields of psychology. Here, I present a tutorial on modern methods for drawing experiments, ranging from how to quantify pen-and-paper type studies, up to how to administer a fully closed-loop online experiment. I go through the concrete steps of designing a drawing experiment, recording drawings, and objectively quantifying them through online crowd-sourcing and computer vision methods. Included with this tutorial are code examples at different levels of complexity and tutorials designed to teach basic lessons about web architecture and be useful regardless of skill level. I also discuss key methodological points of consideration, and provide a series of potential jumping points for drawing studies across fields in psychology. I hope this tutorial will arm more researchers with the skills to capture these naturalistic snapshots of a mental image.

Effect of warning placement on the information processing of college students reading an OTC drug facts panel

OBJECTIVE

To compare three over-the-counter (OTC) Drug Facts panel versions for information processing optimization among college students.

PARTICIPANTS

University of Houston students (N = 210) participated in a cross-sectional survey from January to May 2010.

METHODS

A current FDA label was compared to two experimental labels developed using the theory of CHREST to test information processing by re-positioning the warning information within the Drug Facts panel. Congruency was defined as placing like information together. Information processing was evaluated using the OTC medication Label Evaluation Process Model (LEPM): label comprehension, ease-of-use, attitude toward the product, product evaluation, and purchase intention.

RESULTS

Experimental label with chunked congruent information (uses-directions-other information-warnings) was rated significantly higher than the current FDA label and had the best average scores among the LEPM information processing variables.

CONCLUSION

If replications uphold these findings, the FDA label design might be revised to improve information processing.

J. From Cognitive Load Theory to Collaborative Cognitive Load Theory

Cognitive load theory has traditionally been associated with individual learning. Based on evolutionary educational psychology and our knowledge of human cognition, particularly the relations between working memory and long-term memory, the theory has been used to generate a variety of instructional effects. Though these instructional effects also influence the efficiency and effectiveness of collaborative learning, be it computer supported or face-to-face, they are often not considered either when designing collaborative learning situations/environments or researching collaborative learning. One reason for this omission is that cognitive load theory has only sporadically concerned itself with certain particulars of collaborative learning such as the concept of a collective working memory when collaborating along with issues associated with transactive activities and their concomitant costs which are inherent to collaboration. We illustrate how and why cognitive load theory, by adding these concepts, can throw light on collaborative learning and generate principles specific to the design and study of collaborative learning.

Skill in Map Reading and Memory for Maps

Studies of expertise have typically shown that experts have better memory for materials from their fields than do novices. However, previous research on memory for maps has not shown the expected effect of expertise. The present study differed from previous studies by using contour maps as well as planimetric maps. In Experiment 1 the expected superiority in memory performance was found for skilled map readers when contour maps were used, but not when planimetric maps were used.

In Experiment 2, the main results of Experiment 1 were replicated, and, in addition, process tracing data were obtained during both study and test phases of contour map learning. Objective measures of attentional and retrieval focussing revealed almost no differences between the skilled and unskilled subjects. However, analyses of verbal protocols showed that the skilled subjects made more use of specialist schemata, whereas the unskilled subjects spent more time in reading place names. During recall, the skilled subjects made more use of both specialist and “lay” schemata, whereas the unskilled retrieved more place-name information.

The results are interpreted in terms of a schema-based approach to expertise.

The effect of badminton training on the ability of same-domain action anticipation for adult novices: Evidence from behavior and ERPs

Many transverse studies have found that athletes can better anticipate the outcome of sequential actions belonging to their domain of motor expertise than non-athletes. However, few studies have causally investigated this issue. Using badminton training as an example, the present study attempted to explore whether sports training affected the same-domain action anticipation ability of adult novices and the related neural mechanisms. To address this issue, participants in the training group attended a 12-week badminton training course (1h/time, 3 times/week). Both the training and control groups were asked to view badminton video clips and predict the landing position of a shuttle before and after 12 weeks. Compared to the control group, the training group showed a decrease in the inverse efficiency score, indicating that badminton training did improve trainees' action anticipation ability. Furthermore, the training group produced larger N2 and P3 components of event-related potential after the training. These findings suggest that sport training may affect inhibitory processes and memory encoding during same-domain action anticipation.

Pilot evaluation of a method to assess prescribers' information processing of medication alerts

BACKGROUND

Prescribers commonly receive alerts during medication ordering. Prescribers work in a complex, time-pressured environment; to enhance the effectiveness of safety alerts, the effort needed to cognitively process these alerts should be minimized. Methods to evaluate the extent to which computerized alerts support prescribers' information processing are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

To develop a methodological protocol to assess the extent to which alerts support prescribers' information processing at-a-glance; specifically, the incorporation of information into their working memory. We hypothesized that the method would be feasible and that we would be able to detect a significant difference in prescribers' information processing with a revised alert display that incorporates warning design guidelines compared to the original alert display.

METHODS

A counterbalanced, within-subject study was conducted with 20 prescribers in a human-computer interaction laboratory. We tested a single alert that was displayed in two different ways. Prescribers were informed that an alert would appear for 10s. After the alert was shown, a white screen was displayed, and prescribers were asked to verbally describe what they saw; indicate how many total warnings; and describe anything else they remembered about the alert. We measured information processing via the accuracy of prescribers' free recall and their ability to identify that three warning messages were present. Two analysts independently evaluated participants' responses against a comprehensive catalog of alert elements and then discussed discrepancies until reaching consensus.

RESULTS

This feasibility study demonstrated that the method seemed to be effective for evaluating prescribers' information processing of medication alert displays. With this method, we were able to detect significant differences in prescribers' recall of alert information. The proportion of total data elements that prescribers were able to accurately recall was significantly greater for the revised versus original alert display (p=0.006). With the revised display, more prescribers accurately reported that three warnings were shown (p=0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

The methodological protocol was feasible for evaluating the alert display and yielded important findings on prescribers' information processing. Study methods supplement traditional usability evaluation methods and may be useful for evaluating information processing of other healthcare technologies.

Clinical Reasoning, Part 1: The Nature of Problem Solving, a Literature Review

The information-processing literature has been reviewed to identify the component parts of problem solving. The difference between the problem representation and the subsequent solving process is highlighted, as is the role of memory within problem solving. The techniques for searching data and novice/expert differences are outlined. Finally, a model of problem solving in occupational therapy is proposed. The implications of this model for student education will be discussed in part 2 of this article.

Clinical Reasoning, Part 2: Novice/Expert Differences

In part 1, a model of problem solving in occupational therapy was presented; the problem-representation component of this has now been developed to depict the differences between student and clinician in problem representation. This new model illustrates that both students and clinicians have access to the same information but that this is more clearly defined and organised in the clinician. The abstract, unlinked data of the student are ultimately transformed by concrete experience to a rich supply of schemata, which then become the basis for further development of problem representations in a particular area of practice. Clinicians frequently weave a human perspective into their understanding of the client whereas students, although able to note the client's concerns, are more likely to treat this information as another piece of data than to integrate it into treatment planning. A number of educational strategies are discussed.

Cognitive Knowledge and Soccer Performance

This study tested the proposition that experienced soccer players exhibit greater task-specific cognitive knowledge than novice players. 12 experienced and 12 inexperienced subjects viewed structured and unstructured soccer action sequences on a 3.65-m2 video projection screen. In recalling specific player positions following brief 10-sec. film clips, inexperienced players had larger recall of errors than the experienced players on structured trials only. This indicated that experienced players' cognitive knowledge permitted more meaningful associations between players' positions resulting in more efficient retrieval. When recognition of previously viewed film clips was examined, experienced subjects were more accurate in recognising structured trials only. Experienced soccer players seem to have a more complex and discriminating organisation of long-term memory which facilitates the encoding of task-specific information.

Teaching Experience in Recall of Typical and Atypical Protocols

First- ( n = 11) and fourth-year education students ( n = 6) and experienced teachers ( n = 6) were asked to read and recall typical and atypical case studies (protocols) to investigate the hypothesis that experienced teachers, because they have superior ability to pattern the information, would recall more of the typical cases than inexperienced subjects. Analysis of variance indicated that there was a significant main effect and a significant interaction, although these effects were not as hypothesized. The results are discussed with reference to previous research on information processing.

Researching for better instructional methods using AB experiments in MOOCs: results and challenges

We conducted two AB experiments (treatment vs. control) in a massive open online course. The first experiment evaluates deliberate practice activities (DPAs) for developing problem solving expertise as measured by traditional physics problems. We find that a more interactive drag-and-drop format of DPA generates quicker learning than a multiple choice format but DPAs do not improve performance on solving traditional physics problems more than normal homework practice. The second experiment shows that a different video shooting setting can improve the fluency of the instructor which in turn improves the engagement of the students although it has no significant impact on the learning outcomes. These two cases demonstrate the potential of MOOC AB experiments as an open-ended research tool but also reveal limitations. We discuss the three most important challenges: wide student distribution, "open-book" nature of assessments, and large quantity and variety of data. We suggest possible methods to cope with those.

Understanding How Prior Knowledge Influences Memory in Older Adults

Older adults have a harder time than younger adults remembering specific events and experiences (episodic memory), whereas the ability to use one's general knowledge either improves or remains stable over the life span. Our focus is on the sometimes overlooked but critical possibility that this intact general knowledge can facilitate older adults' episodic memory performance. After reviewing literature that shows how prior knowledge can support remembering in aging as well as lead it astray, we consider open questions including whether prior knowledge is used only to fill in the gaps after a memory failure and when older adults might need to be instructed to apply their prior knowledge. Overall, we situate our claims within theories of cognitive aging, arguing that prior knowledge is a key factor in understanding older adults' memory performance, with the potential to serve as a compensatory mechanism.

In Academe, What Is Learned, and How Is It Learned?

Academic learning is different from much of the learning engaged in by humans functioning in the natural world. It differs in terms of the cognitive systems that have evolved to assimilate new information. Academic learning requires specific teaching and learning procedures that occur only occasionally outside of academic contexts. The manner in which humans process the categories of information used in academic learning mirrors the processes by which biological evolution processes genetic information. Based on knowledge of human cognition, cognitive load theory was devised to facilitate academic learning by developing appropriate instructional procedures.

The role of chunking in drawing Rey complex figure

The study investigated the effects of chunking and perceptual patterns that guide the drawings of Rey complex figure. Ten adult participants (M age=22.2 yr., SD=4.1) reproduced a single stimulus in four drawing modes including delayed recall, tracing, copying, and immediate recall across 10 sessions producing a total of 400 trials. It was hypothesized that the effect of chunking is most obvious in the free recall tasks than in the tracing or copying tasks. Measures such as pauses, patterns of drawings, and transitions among patterns of drawings suggested that participants used chunking to aid rapid learning of the diagram. The analysis of the participants' sequence of chunk production further revealed that they used a spatial schema to organize the chunks. Findings from this study provide additional evidence to support prior studies that claim graphical information is hierarchically organized.

Cognitive Load Theory: implications for medical education: AMEE Guide No. 86

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) builds upon established models of human memory that include the subsystems of sensory, working and long-term memory. Working memory (WM) can only process a limited number of information elements at any given time. This constraint creates a "bottleneck" for learning. CLT identifies three types of cognitive load that impact WM: intrinsic load (associated with performing essential aspects of the task), extraneous load (associated with non-essential aspects of the task) and germane load (associated with the deliberate use of cognitive strategies that facilitate learning). When the cognitive load associated with a task exceeds the learner's WM capacity, performance and learning is impaired. To facilitate learning, CLT researchers have developed instructional techniques that decrease extraneous load (e.g. worked examples), titrate intrinsic load to the developmental stage of the learner (e.g. simplify task without decontextualizing) and ensure that unused WM capacity is dedicated to germane load, i.e. cognitive learning strategies. A number of instructional techniques have been empirically tested. As learners' progress, curricula must also attend to the expertise-reversal effect. Instructional techniques that facilitate learning among early learners may not help and may even interfere with learning among more advanced learners. CLT has particular relevance to medical education because many of the professional activities to be learned require the simultaneous integration of multiple and varied sets of knowledge, skills and behaviors at a specific time and place. These activities possess high "element interactivity" and therefore impose a cognitive load that may surpass the WM capacity of the learner. Applications to various medical education settings (classroom, workplace and self-directed learning) are explored.

Is the Relationship between Pattern Recall and Decision-Making Influenced by Anticipatory Recall?

The present study compared traditional measures of pattern recall to measures of anticipatory recall and decision-making to examine the underlying mechanisms of expert pattern perception and to address methodological limitations in previous studies where anticipatory recall has generally been overlooked. Recall performance in expert and novice basketball players was measured by examining the spatial error in recalling player positions both for a target image (traditional recall) and at 40-ms increments following the target image (anticipatory recall). Decision-making performance was measured by comparing the participant's response to those identified by a panel of expert coaches. Anticipatory recall was observed in the recall task and was significantly more pronounced for the experts, suggesting that traditional methods of spatial recall analysis may not have provided a completely accurate determination of the full magnitude of the experts' superiority. Accounting for anticipatory recall also increased the relative contribution of recall skill to decision-making accuracy although the gains in explained variance were modest and of debatable functional significance.

Memorability of Visual Features in Network Diagrams

We investigate the cognitive impact of various layout features-symmetry, alignment, collinearity, axis alignment and orthogonality - on the recall of network diagrams (graphs). This provides insight into how people internalize these diagrams and what features should or shouldn't be utilised when designing static and interactive network-based visualisations. Participants were asked to study, remember, and draw a series of small network diagrams, each drawn to emphasise a particular visual feature. The visual features were based on existing theories of perception, and the task enabled visual processing at the visceral level only. Our results strongly support the importance of visual features such as symmetry, collinearity and orthogonality, while not showing any significant impact for node-alignment or parallel edges.

Classical pattern recall tests and the prospective nature of expert performance

It is well established that experts are particularly adept at recalling and/or recognizing the key features of domain-relevant patterns. We compared the recall performance of expert and novice basketball players when viewing static and moving patterns. A novel method of analysis was used where the accuracy of the participants in recalling player positions was compared to actual player positions both at the final frame of pattern presentation and at 50 successive 40 ms increments thereafter. Experts encoded the locations of the players in both the static and moving patterns significantly further in advance of their actual finishing point than did nonexperts. Experts' use of an anticipatory encoding process, which was of a magnitude unmatched by nonexperts, suggests that many previous investigations may have underestimated the extent of the expert advantage in pattern recall.

Effect of training, education, professional experience, and need for cognition on accuracy of exposure assessment decision-making

Results are presented from a study that investigated the effect of characteristics of occupational hygienists relating to educational and professional experience and task-specific experience on the accuracy of occupational exposure judgments. A total of 49 occupational hygienists from six companies participated in the study and 22 tasks were evaluated. Participating companies provided monitoring data on specific tasks. Information on nine educational and professional experience determinants (e.g. educational background, years of occupational hygiene and exposure assessment experience, professional certifications, statistical training and experience, and the 'need for cognition (NFC)', which is a measure of an individual's motivation for thinking) and four task-specific determinants was also collected from each occupational hygienist. Hygienists had a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds for tasks across a range of industries with different workplace and task characteristics. The American Industrial Hygiene Association exposure assessment strategy was used to make exposure judgments on the probability of the 95th percentile of the underlying exposure distribution being located in one of four exposure categories relative to the occupational exposure limit. After reviewing all available job/task/chemical information, hygienists were asked to provide their judgment in probabilistic terms. Both qualitative (judgments without monitoring data) and quantitative judgments (judgments with monitoring data) were recorded. Ninety-three qualitative judgments and 2142 quantitative judgments were obtained. Data interpretation training, with simple rules of thumb for estimating the 95th percentiles of lognormal distributions, was provided to all hygienists. A data interpretation test (DIT) was also administered and judgments were elicited before and after training. General linear models and cumulative logit models were used to analyze the relationship between accuracy of judgments and the various characteristics describing the participants. Data interpretation training (P < 0.0001), the company that the hygienist worked for (P < 0.0001), the total number of years hygienists had experience doing exposure assessments (P < 0.0001), and professional certifications (P < 0.0001) held by hygienists were found to be significant determinants of accurately predicting the correct exposure category for DITs as well as for task-specific judgment accuracy. Years of experience with a particular task (P < 0.0001), task evaluated, and the number of datapoints used for making judgments were found to be significant predictors of task-specific judgment accuracy. The NFC score was a predictor of the improvement in task judgment accuracy after training. The NFC score was itself predicted by determinants, such as company, years on current job, years of exposure assessment experience, and professional certifications. The results of this study are relevant not only for the case of industrial hygienists making exposure judgments prospectively but also possibly for those hygienists engaged in retrospective exposure assessments for epidemiological studies.

Self-assessed tactical skills in elite youth soccer players: a longitudinal study

Self-assessed tactical skills were investigated among 191 youth soccer players from ages 14 through 18 playing in different field positions. On a yearly basis, all players completed the Tactical Skills Inventory for Sports with scales for attacking and defensive situations and for declarative and procedural knowledge. A model to assess whether tactical skills change over time in each field position was developed using multilevel analysis. The models indicated that defenders and midfielders did not improve their tactical skills, whereas attackers increased their tactical skills from ages 14 to 18 years. The representing part of tactical skills for defenders is Acting in Changing Situations, for midfielders Positioning and Deciding, whereas Knowing About Ball Actions was the qualifying factor for attackers. Possible explanations for these differences in tactical skills among elite youth soccer players are the selection procedures at a younger age and task-specific experiences.

Perceptual learning modules in mathematics: enhancing students' pattern recognition, structure extraction, and fluency

Learning in educational settings emphasizes declarative and procedural knowledge. Studies of expertise, however, point to other crucial components of learning, especially improvements produced by experience in the extraction of information: perceptual learning (PL). We suggest that such improvements characterize both simple sensory and complex cognitive, even symbolic, tasks through common processes of discovery and selection. We apply these ideas in the form of perceptual learning modules (PLMs) to mathematics learning. We tested three PLMs, each emphasizing different aspects of complex task performance, in middle and high school mathematics. In the MultiRep PLM, practice in matching function information across multiple representations improved students' abilities to generate correct graphs and equations from word problems. In the Algebraic Transformations PLM, practice in seeing equation structure across transformations (but not solving equations) led to dramatic improvements in the speed of equation solving. In the Linear Measurement PLM, interactive trials involving extraction of information about units and lengths produced successful transfer to novel measurement problems and fraction problem solving. Taken together, these results suggest (a) that PL techniques have the potential to address crucial, neglected dimensions of learning, including discovery and fluent processing of relations; (b) PL effects apply even to complex tasks that involve symbolic processing; and (c) appropriately designed PL technology can produce rapid and enduring advances in learning.

Cognitive expertise research and knowledge engineering

This paper is a review of research into cognitive expertise. The review is organized in terms of a simple model of the knowledge and cognitive processes that might be expected to be enhanced in experts relative to non-experts. This focus on cognitive competence underlying expert performance permits the identification of skills and knowledge that we might wish to capture and model in expert systems. The competence perspective also indicates areas of weakness in human experts. In these areas, we might wish to support or replace the expert with, for example, a normative system rather than attempting to model his or her knowledge.

Perceptual learning and human expertise

We consider perceptual learning: experience-induced changes in the way perceivers extract information. Often neglected in scientific accounts of learning and in instruction, perceptual learning is a fundamental contributor to human expertise and is crucial in domains where humans show remarkable levels of attainment, such as language, chess, music, and mathematics. In Section 2, we give a brief history and discuss the relation of perceptual learning to other forms of learning. We consider in Section 3 several specific phenomena, illustrating the scope and characteristics of perceptual learning, including both discovery and fluency effects. We describe abstract perceptual learning, in which structural relationships are discovered and recognized in novel instances that do not share constituent elements or basic features. In Section 4, we consider primary concepts that have been used to explain and model perceptual learning, including receptive field change, selection, and relational recoding. In Section 5, we consider the scope of perceptual learning, contrasting recent research, focused on simple sensory discriminations, with earlier work that emphasized extraction of invariance from varied instances in more complex tasks. Contrary to some recent views, we argue that perceptual learning should not be confined to changes in early sensory analyzers. Phenomena at various levels, we suggest, can be unified by models that emphasize discovery and selection of relevant information. In a final section, we consider the potential role of perceptual learning in educational settings. Most instruction emphasizes facts and procedures that can be verbalized, whereas expertise depends heavily on implicit pattern recognition and selective extraction skills acquired through perceptual learning. We consider reasons why perceptual learning has not been systematically addressed in traditional instruction, and we describe recent successful efforts to create a technology of perceptual learning in areas such as aviation, mathematics, and medicine. Research in perceptual learning promises to advance scientific accounts of learning, and perceptual learning technology may offer similar promise in improving education.

Recent advances in scenario-based training for medical education

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To summarize recent thinking about how to best design simulations and other virtual environments in medical education and training.

RECENT FINDINGS

On the basis of work done in a military context, I describe an approach to scenario-based training and provide a conceptual framework in which developmental activities can be organized. This approach emphasizes the linkages among learning objectives, scenario events, performance measures, instructional strategies and feedback in creating effective scenario-based training.

SUMMARY

In presenting this framework, I hope that medical educators and practitioners can have a deeper appreciation for how to best design and implement scenario-based training.

Dynamic perception in chess

The present study examines the dynamic aspects of perceptual processes in expert chess players. This topic is approached in terms of the anticipation processes carried out by experienced players during the encoding of chess positions. The aim of the first experiment, which used a short-term comparison task, was to stress the role of anticipation, which allows expert players to focus their attention on the area of the studied position where they expect the likely standard move to occur. The second experiment used a long-term recognition task. The results showed that expert players made many false recognitions on the new positions that could be expected from the positions presented in the preliminary study phase. Taken together, the results of the two experiments highlight the anticipatory component of expert perception.

Guidelines for cognitively efficient multimedia learning tools: educational strategies, cognitive load, and interface design

The field of medical education has consistently embraced new technologies in an attempt to improve the training process of our nation's doctors. There are thousands of available multimedia learning tools (MMLTs), but no quantitative scale exists to assess their efficiency and overall educational value. The authors review existing literature and suggest guidelines for creating cognitively efficient medical MMLTs. In 2004, the authors searched PubMed to identify articles regarding mutimedia learning, including educational strategies and existing MMLTs. The primary search terms included "multimedia learning," "cognitive load," and "surgical education." The resulting articles were evaluated and reviewed for educational and interface design techniques, and a list of common features was generated. The authors cross-referenced these features with extensive theories of cognitive load to create a list of methods that demonstrated improved learning. Techniques common to existing MMLTs often neglect to account for theories of cognitive load and may be detrimental to the learning process. The authors outlined important educational considerations and guidelines for the design of effective MMLTs. With large resources being spent to produce MMLTs, more research is necessary to establish successful design techniques. The authors summarized existing research, outlined educational issues in multimedia design, and proposed future directions for study.