Distraction

About: Distraction is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3542 publications have been published within this topic receiving 97969 citations. The topic is also known as: diversion & getting sidetracked.

The tension-stress effect on the genesis and growth of tissues: Part II. The influence of the rate and frequency of distraction.

Abstract: To assess the influence of both the rate and the frequency of distraction on osteogenesis during limb elongation, a canine tibia was used with various combinations of distraction rates (0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, or 2.0 mm per day) and distraction frequencies (one step per day, four steps per day, 60 steps per day). The distractions were performed after both open osteotomy and closed osteoclasis. Histomorphic and biochemical studies were conducted on the elongated osseous tissue, fascia, skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, blood vessels, nerves, and skin. It was determined that distraction at a rate of 0.5 mm per day often led to premature consolidation of the lengthening bone, while a distraction rate of 2.0 mm per day often resulted in undesirable changes within elongating tissues. A distraction rate of 1.0 mm per day led to the best results. It was also observed that the greater the distraction frequency, the better the outcome. With optimum preservation of periosseous tissues, bone marrow, and blood supply at the time of osteotomy, stability of external fixation, and 1.0 mm per day of distraction in four steps, osteogenesis within the distraction gap of an elongating bone takes place by the formation of a physislike structure, in which new bone forms in parallel columns extending in both directions from a central growth zone. The growth plate that forms under the influence of tension-stress has features of both physeal and intramembranous ossification, yet is neither; instead, the distraction regenerated bone is unique, providing numerous applications in clinical traumatology, orthopedics, and other medical disciplines.

Driven to Distraction: Dual-Task Studies of Simulated Driving and Conversing on a Cellular Telephone

Abstract: Dual-task studies assessed the effects of cellular-phone conversations on performance of a simulated driving task. Perfor- mance was not disrupted by listening to radio broadcasts or listening to a book on tape. Nor was it disrupted by a continuous shadowing task using a handheld phone, ruling out, in this case, dual-task inter- pretations associated with holding the phone, listening, or speaking. However, significant interference was observed in a word-generation variant of the shadowing task, and this deficit increased with the diffi- culty of driving. Moreover, unconstrained conversations using either a handheld or a hands-free cell phone resulted in a twofold increase in the failure to detect simulated traffic signals and slower reactions to those signals that were detected. We suggest that cellular-phone use disrupts performance by diverting attention to an engaging cognitive context other than the one immediately associated with driving. crease in the likelihood of getting into an accident, and that this increased risk was comparable to that found for driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. In addition, these authors found no reliable safety advantages for those individuals who used a hands-free cellular device. The authors concluded that the interference associated with cell-phone use was due to attentional factors rather than to pe- ripheral factors such as holding the phone. The field studies of Redelmeier and Tibshirani (1997) establish a correlation between cell-phone use and motor-vehicle accidents, but they do not necessarily imply that use of cell phones causes an increase in accident rates. There may be self-selection factors creating an asso- ciation between cell-phone use and accidents. For example, people who drive and use their cell phone may be more likely to engage in risky behavior, and this increase in risk taking may underlie the corre- lation. Similarly, being in a highly emotional state may increase one's likelihood of driving erratically and may also increase one's likelihood of talking on the cell phone. In order to assess the possible causal rela- tionship between cell-phone use and automobile accidents, carefully controlled experiments, such as the ones described in this report, are needed.

Cell phone-induced failures of visual attention during simulated driving.

Abstract: This research examined the effects of hands-free cell phone conversations on simulated driving. The authors found that these conversations impaired driver’s reactions to vehicles braking in front of them. The authors assessed whether this impairment could be attributed to a withdrawal of attention from the visual scene, yielding a form of inattention blindness. Cell phone conversations impaired explicit recognition memory for roadside billboards. Eye-tracking data indicated that this was due to reduced attention to foveal information. This interpretation was bolstered by data showing that cell phone conversations impaired implicit perceptual memory for items presented at fixation. The data suggest that the impairment of driving performance produced by cell phone conversations is mediated, at least in part, by reduced attention to visual inputs.

Project Aura: toward distraction-free pervasive computing

Abstract: The most precious resource in a computer system is no longer its processor, memory, disk, or network, but rather human attention. Aura aims to minimize distractions on a user's attention, creating an environment that adapts to the user's context and needs. Aura is specifically intended for pervasive computing environments involving wireless communication, wearable or handheld computers, and smart spaces. Human attention is an especially scarce resource in such environments, because the user is often preoccupied with walking, driving, or other real-world interactions. In addition, mobile computing poses difficult challenges such as intermittent and variable-bandwidth connectivity, concern for battery life, and the client resource constraints that weight and size considerations impose. To accomplish its ambitious goals, research in Aura spans every system level: from the hardware, through the operating system, to applications and end users. Underlying this diversity of concerns, Aura applies two broad concepts. First, it uses proactivity, which is a system layer's ability to anticipate requests from a higher layer. In today's systems, each layer merely reacts to the layer above it. Second, Aura is self-tuning: layers adapt by observing the demands made on them and adjusting their performance and resource usage characteristics accordingly. Currently, system-layer behavior is relatively static. Both of these techniques will help lower demand for human attention.