Context (computing)

About: Context (computing) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3210 publications have been published within this topic receiving 50462 citations. The topic is also known as: ContextPath & ctx.

The Influence of Planning and Task Type on Second Language Performance

Abstract: This study focuses on the impact of different variables on the nature of language performance in the context of task-based instruction. Characteristics of tasks are discussed, and then a framework is offered that can organize the nature of task-based instruction and relevant research. The framework is used to generate predictions regarding the effects of three different tasks (Personal Information Exchange, Narrative, and Decision-Making) and three different implementation conditions for each task (unplanned, planned but without detail, detailed planning) on the variables of fluency, complexity, and accuracy. The study reports strong effects of planning on fluency and clear effects also on complexity, with a linear relationship between degree of planning and degree of complexity. However, a more complex relationship was discovered between planning and accuracy, with the most accurate performance produced by the less detailed planners. In addition, interactions were found between task type and planning conditions, such that the effects of planning were greater with the Narrative and Decision-Making tasks than with the Personal Information Exchange task. The results are discussed in terms of an attentional model of learning and performance and highlight the importance of tradeoff effects between the goals of complexity and accuracy in the context of the use of limited capacity attentional resources. The study contributes to the development of cognitive models of second language performance and addresses a number of pedagogic issues.

The measurement of drivers' mental workload

Abstract: Driving a vehicle may seem to be a fairly simple task. After some initial training many people are able to handle a car safely. Nevertheless, accidents do occur and the majority of these accidents can be attributed to human failure. At present there are factors that may even lead to increased human failure in traffic. Firstly, owing in part to increased welfare, the number of vehicles on the road is increasing. Increased road intensity leads to higher demands on the human information processing system and an increased likelihood of vehicles colliding. Secondly, people continue to drive well into old age. Elderly people suffer from specific problems in terms of divided attention performance, a task that is more and more required in traffic. One of the causes of these increased demands is the introduction of new technology into the vehicle. It began with a car radio, was followed by car-phones and route guidance systems, and will soon be followed by collision avoidance systems, intelligent cruise controls and so on. All these systems require drivers’ attention to be divided between the system and the primary task of longitudinal and lateral vehicle control. Thirdly, drivers in a diminished state endanger safety on the road. Longer journeys are planned and night time driving increases for economic purposes and/or to avoid congestions. Driver fatigue is currently an important factor in accident causation. But not only lengthy driving affects driver state, a diminished driver state can also be the result of the use of alcohol or (medicinal) sedative drugs. The above-mentioned examples have in common that in all cases driver workload is affected. An increase in traffic density increases the complexity of the driving task. Additional systems in the vehicle add to task complexity. A reduced driver state affects the ability to deal with these demands. How to assess this, i.e. how to assess driver mental workload is the main theme of this thesis. In chapter 1, the theoretical aspects of mental workload are introduced. The difference between task demand, i.e. the external demand, the goals that have to be reached, and (work)load, i.e. the individual reaction to these demands, receive attention in this chapter. Mental workload is defined as a relative concept; it is the ratio of demand to allocated resources. Task difficulty is explicitly separated from task complexity. Task complexity would have been an objective property of the task that is related to demand on computational processes, were it not dependent upon individual goal setting. Task difficulty is very much dependent upon the context and the individual. Applied strategies may affect resource allocation or task complexity and thus difficulty and mental workload.

Task switching: interplay of reconfiguration and interference control.

Abstract: The task-switching paradigm is being increasingly used as a tool for studying cognitive control and task coordination. Different procedural variations have been developed. They have in common that a comparison is made between transitions in which the previous task is repeated and transitions that involve a change toward another task. In general, a performance switch cost is observed such that switching to a new task results in a slower and more error-prone execution of the task. The present article reviews the theoretical explanations of the switch cost and the findings collected in support of those explanations. Resolution and protection from interference by previous events explain part of the switching cost, but processes related to task setting and task preparation also play a prominent role, as testified by faster execution and lower switch costs when the preparation time is longer. The authors discuss the evidence in favor of each of these sets of accounts and raise a number of questions that situate task switching in a broader context of cognitive control processes. The role of several aspects of the task set, including task variations, task-set overlap, and task-set structure, is addressed, as is the role of knowledge about probability of task changes and about the structure of task sequences.

Out of context: computer systems that adapt to, and learn from, context

Abstract: There is a growing realization that computer systems will need to be increasingly sensitive to their context. Traditionally, hardware and software were conceptualized as input/output systems: systems that took input, explicitly given to them by a human, and acted upon that input alone to produce an explicit output. Now, this view is seen as being too restrictive. Smart computers, intelligent agent software, and digital devices of the future will have to operate on data that are not explicitly given to them, data that they observe or gather for themselves. These operations may be dependent on time, place, weather, user preferences, or the history of interaction. In other words, context. But what, exactly, is context? We look at perspectives from software agents, sensors, and embedded devices, and also contrast traditional mathematical and formal approaches. We see how each treats the problem of context and discuss the implications for design of context-sensitive hardware and software.

Using task context to improve programmer productivity

Abstract: When working on a large software system, a programmer typically spends an inordinate amount of time sifting through thousands of artifacts to find just the subset of information needed to complete an assigned task. All too often, before completing the task the programmer must switch to working on a different task. These task switches waste time as the programmer must repeatedly find and identify the information relevant to the task-at-hand. In this paper, we present a mechanism that captures, models, and persists the elements and relations relevant to a task. We show how our task context model reduces information overload and focuses a programmer's work by filtering and ranking the information presented by the development environment. A task context is created by monitoring a programmer's activity and extracting the structural relationships of program artifacts. Operations on task contexts integrate with development environment features, such as structure display, search, and change management. We have validated our approach with a longitudinal field study of Mylar, our implementation of task context for the Eclipse development environment. We report a statistically significant improvement in the productivity of 16 industry programmers who voluntarily used Mylar for their daily work.