Showing papers on "Task analysis published in 2009"

Conducting the train of thought: working memory capacity, goal neglect, and mind wandering in an executive-control task.

Abstract: On the basis of the executive-attention theory of working memory capacity (WMC; e.g., M. J. Kane, A. R. A. Conway, D. Z. Hambrick, & R. W. Engle, 2007), the authors tested the relations among WMC, mind wandering, and goal neglect in a sustained attention to response task (SART; a go/no-go task). In 3 SART versions, making conceptual versus perceptual processing demands, subjects periodically indicated their thought content when probed following rare no-go targets. SART processing demands did not affect mind-wandering rates, but mind-wandering rates varied with WMC and predicted goal-neglect errors in the task; furthermore, mind-wandering rates partially mediated the WMC–SART relation, indicating that WMC-related differences in goal neglect were due, in part, to variation in the control of conscious thought.

The CoNLL-2009 Shared Task: Syntactic and Semantic Dependencies in Multiple Languages

Abstract: For the 11th straight year, the Conference on Computational Natural Language Learning has been accompanied by a shared task whose purpose is to promote natural language processing applications and evaluate them in a standard setting. In 2009, the shared task was dedicated to the joint parsing of syntactic and semantic dependencies in multiple languages. This shared task combines the shared tasks of the previous five years under a unique dependency-based formalism similar to the 2008 task. In this paper, we define the shared task, describe how the data sets were created and show their quantitative properties, report the results and summarize the approaches of the participating systems.

Cognitive task analysis

Abstract: This chapter presents an overview of the current state of cognitive task analysis (CTA) in research and practice. CTA uses a variety of interview and observation strategies to capture a description of the explicit and implicit knowledge that experts use to perform complex tasks. The captured knowledge is most often transferred to training or the development of expert systems. The first section presents descriptions of a variety of CTA techniques, their common characteristics, and the typical strategies used to elicit knowledge from experts and other sources. The second section describes research on the impact of CTA and synthesizes a number of studies and reviews pertinent to issues underlying knowledge elicitation. In the third section, we discuss the integration of CTA with training design. Finally, in the fourth section, we present a number of recommendations for future research and conclude with general comments.

The Differential Effects of Three Types of Task Planning on the Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy in L2 Oral Production

Abstract: The main purpose of this article is to review studies that have investigated the effects of three types of planning (rehearsal, pre-task planning, and within-task planning) on the fluency, complexity, and accuracy of L2 performance. All three types of planning have been shown to have a beneficial effect on fluency but the results for complexity and accuracy are more mixed, reflecting both the type of planning and also the mediating role of various factors, including task design and implementation variables and individual difference factors. A secondary purpose is to outline a theory that can account for the role that planning plays in L2 performance. The article concludes with a list of limitations in the research to date.

Aerobic Fitness and Cognitive Development: Event-Related Brain Potential and Task Performance Indices of Executive Control in Preadolescent Children

Abstract: The relationship between aerobic fitness and executive control was assessed in 38 higher- and lower-fit children (M-sub(age) = 9.4 years), grouped according to their performance on a field test of aerobic capacity. Participants performed a flanker task requiring variable amounts of executive control while event-related brain potential responses and task performance were assessed. Results indicated that higher-fit children performed more accurately across conditions of the flanker task and following commission errors when compared to lower-fit children, whereas no group differences were observed for reaction time. Neuroelectric data indicated that P3 amplitude was larger for higher- compared to lower-fit children across conditions of the flanker task, and higher-fit children exhibited reduced error-related negativity amplitude and increased error positivity amplitude compared to lower-fit children. The data suggest that fitness is associated with better cognitive performance on an executive control task through increased cognitive control, resulting in greater allocation of attentional resources during stimulus encoding and a subsequent reduction in conflict during response selection. The findings differ from those observed in adult populations by indicating a general rather than a selective relationship between aerobic fitness and cognition.

Musical expertise, bilingualism, and executive functioning.

Abstract: The authors investigated whether intensive musical experience leads to enhancements in executive processing, as has been shown for bilingualism. Young adults who were bilinguals, musical performers (instrumentalists or vocalists), or neither completed 3 cognitive measures and 2 executive function tasks based on conflict. Both executive function tasks included control conditions that assessed performance in the absence of conflict. All participants performed equivalently for the cognitive measures and the control conditions of the executive function tasks, but performance diverged in the conflict conditions. In a version of the Simon task involving spatial conflict between a target cue and its position, bilinguals and musicians outperformed monolinguals, replicating earlier research with bilinguals. In a version of the Stroop task involving auditory and linguistic conflict between a word and its pitch, the musicians performed better than the other participants. Instrumentalists and vocalists did not differ on any measure. Results demonstrate that extended musical experience enhances executive control on a nonverbal spatial task, as previously shown for bilingualism, but also enhances control in a more specialized auditory task, although the effect of bilingualism did not extend to that domain.

Handbook of Cognitive Task Design

Abstract: Offers the theories, models, and methods related to cognitive task design. This work summarizes the extensive, worldwide experience with cognitive task design since the 1980s. It defines the state ...

Speaker Variability Augments Phonological Processing in Early Word Learning.

Abstract: Infants in the early stages of word learning have difficulty learning lexical neighbors (ie word pairs that differ by a single phoneme), despite their ability to discriminate the same contrast in a purely auditory task While prior work has focused on top-down explanations for this failure (eg task demands, lexical competition), none has examined if bottom-up acoustic-phonetic factors play a role We hypothesized that lexical neighbor learning could be improved by incorporating greater acoustic variability in the words being learned, as this may buttress still-developing phonetic categories, and help infants identify the relevant contrastive dimension Infants were exposed to pictures accompanied by labels spoken by either a single or multiple speakers At test, infants in the single-speaker condition failed to recognize the difference between the two words, while infants who heard multiple speakers discriminated between them

Measuring Situation Awareness in complex systems: Comparison of measures study

Abstract: Assessing operator situation awareness is a key component of sociotechnical system design and evaluation. This article describes a study that was undertaken in order to compare two different situation awareness measures (a freeze probe recall approach and a post trial subjective rating approach) when used to assess participant situation awareness during a military planning task. The results indicate that only the participant situation awareness scores derived via the freeze probe recall method produced a statistically significant correlation with performance on the planning task and also that there was no significant correlation between the two methods, which suggests that they were measuring different aspects of participant situation awareness during the trials. In conclusion, the findings, whilst raising doubts over the validity of the post trial subjective rating approach, offer validation evidence for the use of freeze probe recall approaches to measure situation awareness during simulated tasks. The findings are subsequently discussed with regard to their wider implications for the future measurement of situation awareness in complex collaborative systems. Relevance to industry Situation Awareness is a critical commodity for teams working in industrial systems. Accordingly, designers and analysts require reliable and valid methods for assessing the impact of new systems, interfaces, training programs and procedures on the level of situation awareness held by operators. This article presents a review and comparison of situation awareness measurement approaches for use in complex industrial systems and provides recommendations on the types of methods to use during future situation awareness assessments.

Method and apparatus for automated assistance with task management

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for assisting with automated task management In one embodiment, an apparatus for assisting a user in the execution of a task, where the task includes one or more workflows required to accomplish a goal defined by the user, includes a task learner for creating new workflows from user demonstrations, a workflow tracker for identifying and tracking the progress of a current workflow executing on a machine used by the user, a task assistance processor coupled to the workflow tracker, for generating a suggestion based on the progress of the current workflow, and a task executor coupled to the task assistance processor, for manipulating an application on the machine used by the user to carry out the suggestion

Schedulability Analysis for Real-Time Systems with EDF Scheduling

Abstract: Real-time scheduling is the theoretical basis of real-time systems engineering. Earliest deadline first (EDF) is an optimal scheduling algorithm for uniprocessor real-time systems. Existing results on an exact schedulability test for EDF task systems with arbitrary relative deadlines need to calculate the processor demand of the task set at every absolute deadline to check if there is an overflow in a specified time interval. The resulting large number of calculations severely restricts the use of EDF in practice. In this paper, we propose new results on necessary and sufficient schedulability analysis for EDF scheduling; the new results reduce, exponentially, the calculation times, in all situations, for schedulable task sets, and in most situations, for unschedulable task sets. For example, a 16-task system that in the previous analysis had to check 858,331 points (deadlines) can, with the new analysis, be checked at just 12 points. There are no restrictions on the new results: each task can be periodic or sporadic, with relative deadline, which can be less than, equal to, or greater than its period, and task parameters can range over many orders of magnitude.

Conventional Expressions as a Pragmalinguistic Resource: Recognition and Production of Conventional Expressions in L2 Pragmatics

Abstract: This study investigates the source of second language (L2) learners' low use of conventional expressions—one part of pragmalinguistic competence—by investigating the relationship between recognition and production of conventional expressions in L2 pragmatics. Two tasks—an aural recognition task and an oral production task—were completed by 122 learners of English as a second language with mixed-language backgrounds and 49 native speakers of English divided among peers and teachers. The aural recognition task presented 60 expressions to which participants responded with one of three levels of self assessed familiarity, operationalized as an estimate of how often they hear a given expression (I often/sometimes/never hear this). The computer-delivered production task included 32 scenarios to which participants responded orally. Results show that recognition of conventional expressions is a necessary condition for production but not sufficient. Lower use of conventional expressions by learners may have multiple sources: lack of familiarity with some expressions; overuse of familiar expressions, which subsequently reduces the opportunity to use more targetlike expressions; level of development; and sociopragmatic knowledge.

Task complexity, focus on form, and second language development

Abstract: Tasks have received increased attention in SLA research for the past decade, as has the role of focus on form. However, few empirical studies have investigated the relationship among tasks, focus-on-form techniques, and second language (L2) learning outcomes. To help address this gap, the present study examined how the task variable +/−contextual support combined with the focus-on-form technique known as recasting affects L2 morphosyntactic development. The participants were 90 adult learners of English as a foreign language, randomly assigned to one of fi ve groups: four comparison groups and a control group. The comparison groups differed as to (a) whether they received recasts while describing photos and (b) whether they could see the photos while describing them. The control group only participated in the testing sessions. A pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design was employed to detect any improvement in participants’ ability to use the linguistic target, which was the past progressive form. Results from multifaceted Rasch measurement yielded two main findings. First, learners who received recasts but did not view photos outperformed learners who received recasts while viewing photos. Second, the group that viewed photos but did not receive recasts achieved greater L2 gains than the group who neither viewed photos nor received recasts.

Rational adaptation under task and processing constraints: Implications for testing theories of cognition and action

Abstract: The authors assume that individuals adapt rationally to a utility function given constraints imposed by their cognitive architecture and the local task environment. This assumption underlies a new approach to modeling and understanding cognition—cognitively bounded rational analysis—that sharpens the predictive acuity of general, integrated theories of cognition and action. Such theories provide the necessary computational means to explain the flexible nature of human behavior but in doing so introduce extreme degrees of freedom in accounting for data. The new approach narrows the space of predicted behaviors through analysis of the payoff achieved by alternative strategies, rather than through fitting strategies and theoretical parameters to data. It extends and complements established approaches, including computational cognitive architectures, rational analysis, optimal motor control, bounded rationality, and signal detection theory. The authors illustrate the approach with a reanalysis of an existing account of psychological refractory period (PRP) dual-task performance and the development and analysis of a new theory of ordered dual-task responses. These analyses yield several novel results, including a new understanding of the role of strategic variation in existing accounts of PRP and the first predictive, quantitative account showing how the details of ordered dual-task phenomena emerge from the rational control of a cognitive system subject to the combined constraints of internal variance, motor interference, and a response selection bottleneck.

Task‐Based Teaching and Testing

Abstract: Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an approach to second or foreign language education that integrates theoretical and empirical foundations for good pedagogy with a focus on tangible learning outcomes in the form of “tasks” – that is, what learners are able to do with the language. Task-based practice draws on diverse sources, including philosophy of education, theories of second language acquisition, and research-based evidence about effective instruction. Equally important, TBLT acts on the exigencies of language learning in human endeavors, and the often ineffectual responses of language education to date, by providing a framework within which educators can construct effective programs that meet the language use needs of learners and society. Though there is global interest in the value of TBLT to foster worthwhile language learning, there is also diversity in the educational scope, practical applications, and research associated with the name. Certainly, TBLT remains a contested domain of inquiry and practice, though much of the debate surrounding TBLT results from incomplete understandings of precisely what this educational approach comprises. In the following, I review key underpinnings of task-based instruction, its emergence within language education, and its component parts. I then highlight the fundamental processes of teaching and testing, outlining a task-based approach to each and posing questions in need of inquiry. I conclude by forecasting several challenges that will condition the ultimate contribution of TBLT to language education.

Manipulating cognitive complexity across task types and its impact on learners' interaction during oral performance

Abstract: The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of manipulating the cognitive complexity of three different types of oral tasks on interaction. The study first considers the concepts of task complexity and interaction and then examines the specific studies that have looked at the effects of increasing task complex- ity on conversational interaction. In the experiment, learners of English as a foreign language organized into 27 dyads carry out three different types of tasks: a narrative reconstruction task, an instruction-giving map task, and a decision-making task. Two different versions of each task, one simple and one complex, are presented to learners in different sequences. Task complexity is manipulated along the degree of displaced, past time reference, the number of elements, and the reasoning demands. Audio recordings are transcribed and coded for interactional feedback, which is measured in terms of negotiation of meaning (i.e., confirmation checks, clarification requests, and comprehension checks), recasts, language-related episodes (LREs), and repairs, all of which have been described in the literature as being conducive to acquisition. Both parametric and non-parametric statistical tests are used. Results are discussed in the light of previous studies that have looked at the specific relationship between task complexity and interaction, attention models (Robinson 2001a, 2003, 2005, 2007b; Skehan and Foster 2001), and how different task types may variously affect the way interaction proceeds during task performance.

Oral interaction in task-based EFL learning: The use of the L1 as a cognitive tool

Abstract: The role of the first language (L1) in the learning of a second language (L2) has been widely studied as a source of cross-linguistic influence from the native system (Gass and Selinker 1992). Yet, this perspective provides no room for an understanding of language as a cognitive tool (Vygostsky 1978), that is, language as a mediating tool in all forms of higher-order mental processing. Recent findings in both foreign language classrooms (Anton and DiCamilla 1999; Brooks and Donato 1994) and immersion classrooms (Swain and Lap-kin 2000) suggest that the L1 may be a useful tool for learning the L2. This line of research argues that an L1 shared by learners provides cognitive support that allows them to work at a higher level than that which would be possible if they were just using the L2. This paper reports the findings of a study which analyses the use of the L1 and its functions in the oral interaction of twelve pairs of undergraduate EFL learners with low proficiency in the target language while engaged in three collaborative tasks (jigsaw, text reconstruction and dictogloss). Our findings indicate that the L1 is an important tool for these learners and that there is task-related variation in its use.

The syntax–discourse interface in near-native L2 acquisition: Off-line and on-line performance

Abstract: This study investigates ultimate attainment at the syntax–discourse interface in adult second-language (L2) acquisition. In total, 91 L1 (first-language) English, L1 Dutch and L1 Russian advanced-to-near-native speakers of German and 63 native controls are tested on an acceptability judgement task and an on-line self-paced reading task. These centre on discourse-related word order optionality in German. Results indicate that convergence at the syntax–discourse interface is in principle possible in adult L2 acquisition, both in off-line knowledge and on-line processing, even for L1 English speakers, whose L1 does not correspond to L2 German in discourse-to-syntax mappings. At the same time, non-convergence of the L1 Dutch groups and differences in the L2 groups' performance between tasks suggest that asymmetries in L1–L2 discourse configurations and computational difficulties in mapping discourse onto syntax constrain L2 performance.

A quick, gradient Bilingual Dominance Scale

Abstract: The lack of consistency in how bilingual language dominance is assessed currently impedes cross-experiment comparisons (Grosjean, 1998). We present a paper-and-pencil dominance scale that can be used to quantify the language dominancy of bilingual participants. The scale targets three main criteria important in gauging dominance (Grosjean, 1998; Flege, Mackay & Piske, 2002): percent of language use for both languages, age of acquisition and age of comfort for both languages, and restructuring of language fluency due to changes in linguistic environments. Reaction times from a Spanish/English lexical translation task and filler rates and elongation rates from a Spanish/English sentence translation task support the validity of the scale. The scale can be adapted for nonliterate populations by asking questions verbally and recording responses.

Learning L2 German vocabulary through reading: the effect of three enhancement techniques compared

Abstract: This study investigated three techniques designed to increase the chances that second language (L2) readers look up and learn unfamiliar words during and after reading an L2 text. Participants in the study, 137 college students in Belgium (L1 = Dutch, L2 = German), were randomly assigned to one of four conditions, forming combinations of two between-subject factors: ± prereading test announcement and ± postreading vocabulary task. Comprehension questions were used to direct participants' attention to half of the 16 target words in this study, creating the within-subject factor (word relevance). Participants accomplished the experimental tasks at computers. They could look up the meaning of unfamiliar words in an online dictionary. The dependent variables are the following: use of online dictionary during reading, performance on a word-form recognition test, and performance on two word-meaning recall tests (immediate and delayed). Test announcement and word relevance substantially prompted participants to use the online dictionary more. Only test announcement and vocabulary task (not word relevance) affected performance in the word recognition test positively. Both word relevance and postreading vocabulary task substantially affected word retention in the recall posttests. These findings, together with those of the studies reviewed, provide robust evidence that the low incidence of vocabulary acquisition through reading ("input only") can be substantially boosted by techniques that make students look up the meaning of unknown words, process their form-meaning relationship elaborately, and process them again after reading ("input plus").

Predicting vigilance: A fresh look at an old problem

Abstract: Individual differences in vigilance are ubiquitous and relevant to a variety of work environments in industrial, transportation, medical and security settings. Despite much previous work, mostly on personality traits, it remains difficult to identify vigilant operators. This paper reviews recent research that may point towards practically useful predictor variables for vigilance. Theoretical approaches to identifying predictors that accommodate the heterogeneous nature of vigilance tasks are compared. The article surveys recent empirical studies using personality measures, ability tests and scales for stress and coping as predictors of vigilance. Promising new constructs include trait scales linked to fatigue, abnormal personality and the stress state of task engagement. Implications of the data reviewed for occupational selection are discussed. Selection should be based on a multivariate assessment strategy, cognitive task analysis of the operational vigilance task and use of work sample measures to capture typical stress responses to the task. This review paper surveys recent research that may point towards practically useful predictor variables for vigilance. The article surveys recent empirical studies using personality measures, ability tests and scales for stress and coping as predictors of vigilance. Selection should be based on a multivariate assessment strategy.

Distinguishing Response Conflict and Task Conflict in the Stroop Task: Evidence From Ex-Gaussian Distribution Analysis

Abstract: It has been suggested that performance in the Stroop task is influenced by response conflict as well as task conflict. The present study investigated the idea that both conflict types can be isolated by applying ex-Gaussian distribution analysis which decomposes response time into a Gaussian and an exponential component. Two experiments were conducted in which manual versions of a standard Stroop task (Experiment 1) and a separated Stroop task (Experiment 2) were performed under task-switching conditions. Effects of response congruency and stimulus bivalency were used to measure response conflict and task conflict, respectively. Ex-Gaussian analysis revealed that response conflict was mainly observed in the Gaussian component, whereas task conflict was stronger in the exponential component. Moreover, task conflict in the exponential component was selectively enhanced under task-switching conditions. The results suggest that ex-Gaussian analysis can be used as a tool to isolate different conflict types in the Stroop task.