No description available.

O objetivo desse estudo foi investigar os efeitos do fornecimento de dicas visual, cinestésica, separadamente e em conjunto, na aprendizagem de habilidades motoras por indivíduos surdos. A tarefa utilizada foi o arremesso de dardo de salão. A amostra foi composta por 99 indivíduos do ensino fundamental, de ambos os sexos, sendo 62 com surdez neurossensorial bilateral (de moderadamente severa a anacusia) e 37 ouvintes, com idade média de 10,4 anos (±1,5) e 10,8 anos (±1,4), respectivamente. O estudo constou de três grupos experimentais de indivíduos surdos: dica visual (SV); dica cinestésica (SC) e dica visual e cinestésica (SVC). Para cada um destes grupos foi composto um grupo de ouvintes pareado por idade. O delineamento compreendeu: pré-teste (1 bloco de 5 arremessos); fase de aquisição (6 blocos de 10 arremessos); pós-teste (1 bloco de 5 arremessos) seguido de teste de transferência (1 bloco de 10 arremessos). Somente na fase de aquisição, a cada bloco de 10 tentativas, a dica \"cotovelo flexionado em 90º\" foi fornecida de acordo com a condição, por meio de figura (dica visual), manipulação (dica cinestésica) ou figura e manipulação (dica visual/cinestésica). As análises foram realizadas separadamente para os participantes que aprenderam (PA) e que não aprenderam (PNA) a habilidade. A identificação de indicativo de aprendizagem ocorreu mediante análise descritiva dos desempenhos individuais em relação ao erro radial absoluto. Foram consideradas para a análise não-paramétrica as variáveis precisão e consistência do desempenho (erro radial), respectivamente, erros absoluto e variável e, a tendência direcional através do erro constante; duas variáveis que expressam o padrão de resposta (temporais) e 14 variáveis que correspondem ao padrão de movimento (espaço-temporais). Os indivíduos surdos também foram avaliados quanto ao domínio da língua de sinais brasileira (LIBRAS) por meio da TVRSL 1.3. As medidas de erro, de padrão de resposta e de movimento foram obtidas através dos softwares Launcher Tracker e Kinovea. Os resultados dos PA mostraram que, com a prática, todos os grupos (surdos e ouvintes) diminuíram os erros radiais, absoluto e variável; ou seja, em termos de precisão e consistência do arremesso, aprenderam a habilidade. Na comparação entre os grupos experimentais, os resultados mostraram que o grupo SV obteve desempenho superior ao SC e ao SVC. Não foi detectada diferença na comparação entre os grupos de ouvintes em função da dica fornecida. A confirmação do melhor aproveitamento da dica visual pelos aprendizes surdos também foi verificada nos resultados relativos ao padrão de movimento. A dica visual possibilitou um melhor posicionamento do braço de arremesso, o que interferiu nas variáveis de ângulo, tempo e velocidade, resultando em maior precisão e consistência do arremesso. Estes resultados permitem concluir que: (1) A dica visual é mais eficiente em promover a aprendizagem motora dos surdos do que a dica cinestésica e a visual associada à cinestésica; (2) os efeitos da dica visual são específicos à aprendizagem dos surdos; e (3) o nível de domínio da LIBRAS dos aprendizes surdos - no caso, abaixo do esperado para a idade e escolaridade - não determina a ocorrência ou a não-ocorrência de aprendizagem de uma habilidade motora / The aim of this study was to investigation the effects of providing visual kinesthetic cues, separately and in combination, on the learning of motor skills by deaf individuals. The task used in this study was the dart throwing. The sample consisted of 99 subjects of elementary education, of both sexes, as follows: 62 with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (from moderate/severe to anacusis) and 37 listeners, with an average age of 10.4 years (± 1.5) and 10.8 years (± 1.4), respectively. The study consisted of three experimental groups of deaf individuals: visual cue (SV); kinesthetic cue (SC) and visual and kinesthetic cue (SVC). For each of these groups, an age-matched group of listeners was composed. The project comprised: pre-test (1 block of 5 throws); acquisition phase (6 blocks of 10 throws); post-test (1 block of 5 throws) followed by transfer test (1 block of 10 throws). Only in the acquisition phase, in each block of 10 attempts, the cue \"elbow flexed at 90º\" was supplied according to the condition, by means of figure (visual cue), manipulation (kinesthetic cue) or figure and manipulation (visual-kinesthetic cue). The analysis was performed separately for the participants who learned (PA) and did not learn (PNA) of motor skill. The identification of learning occurred through a descriptive analysis of the individual performances in relation to the absolute radial error. For the non-parametric analysis, we considered the variables accuracy and consistency of performance (radial error), respectively, absolute and variable errors, and the directional trend through constant error; two variables which express the response pattern (temporal) and 14 variables that correspond to the movement pattern (spatiotemporal). Deaf individuals were evaluated concerning the mastery of the Brazilian sign language (LIBRAS) through the TVRSL 1.3. The measurements of error, standard response and motion were obtained through the software programs Launcher Tracker and Kinovea, respectively. The results of PA showed that, with practice, all groups (deaf and hearing) decreased radial errors, absolute and variable; that is, in terms of accuracy and consistency of the throw, they learned the skill. In the comparison between the experimental groups, the results showed that the SV group performed better than SC and SVC. No difference was detected in the comparison between the groups of listeners, depending on the provided cue. The confirmation of the best use of the visual cue by the deaf learners was also verified in the results related to the movement pattern. The visual cue provided a better positioning of the throwing arm, which interfered in the variables of angle, time and speed, resulting in greater precision and consistency of the throw. These results allow to conclude that: (1) the visual cue is more efficient to promote the motor learning of the deaf individuals than the kinesthetic and visual-kinesthetic cues; (2) the effects of the visual cue are specific to the learning of the deaf individuals; and (3) the mastery level of LIBRAS in deaf learners - in this case, lower than expected for their age and schooling - does not determine the occurrence or failure of a motor skill learning

<p>Substance use disorders are one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses among adolescents; marijuana is the illicit drug used most frequently by youth. Treatment dropout and relapse following treatment are common; innovative strategies are needed to improve treatment outcomes for youth substance abusers. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the feasibility of a virtual reality (VR) cue reactivity paradigm for adolescent cannabis abusers and to compare it to a video cue reactivity paradigm. Forty-two treatment-seeking youth with a cannabis use disorder completed the study, which incorporated three parts. During Part 1, drug and neutral video clips were shown to 11 youth and five substance-abuse experts who provided craving/usefulness ratings for each video clip. During Part 2, five youth met in a focus group and then individually to provide input on the development of the VR paradigm. During Part 3, 26 youth completed a laboratory procedure involving neutral and drug-related video clips and VR presentations. Heart rate, skin conductance, and skin temperature were measured as well as craving. Higher levels of craving and skin conductance were observed during drug-related presentations. The presentations did not significantly differ in their ability to elicit craving and arousal. Results suggest that youth can experience subjective and physiological reactivity to VR drug cues warranting further study with a larger, more diverse sample. Implications are discussed.</p> / Dissertation

Using an allergist task, Uengoer, Lotz and Pearce (2013) found that in a design A+/AX+/BY+/CY-, the blocked cue X was indicated to cause the outcome to a greater extent than the uncorrelated cue Y. This finding has been termed “the redundancy effect” by Pearce and Jones (2015). According to Vogel and Wagner (2017), the redundancy effect “presents a serious challenge for those theories of conditioning that compute learning through a global error-term” (p. 119). One such theory is the Rescorla-Wagner (1972) model, which predicts the opposite result, that Y will have a stronger association with the outcome than X. This thesis explored the basis of the redundancy effect in human causal learning. Evidence from Chapter 2 suggested that the redundancy effect was unlikely to have been due to differences in attention between X and Y. Chapter 3 explored whether differences in participants’ certainty about the causal status of X and of Y contributed to the redundancy effect. Manipulations aimed at disambiguating the effects that X had on the outcome, including outcome-additivity training and low outcome rate, resulted in lower ratings for this cue and a smaller redundancy effect. However, the redundancy effect was still significant with both manipulations, suggesting that while participants’ uncertainty about the causal status of X contributed to it, there may have been other factors. Chapter 4 investigated whether another factor was a lack of inhibition for cue C. In a scenario where inhibition was more plausible than in an allergist task, a negative correlation between causal ratings for C and for Y, and a positive correlation between ratings for C and the magnitude of the redundancy effect, were found. In addition, establishing C as inhibitory resulted in a smaller redundancy effect than establishing C as neutral. Overall, findings of this thesis suggest that the redundancy effect in human causal learning is the result of participants’ uncertainty about the causal status of X, and a lack of inhibition for C. Further work is recommended to explore whether combining manipulations targeting X and Y would reverse the redundancy effect, whether effects of outcome additivity and outcome rate on X are the result of participants’ uncertainty about this cue, and the extent to which participants rely on single versus summed error.

O objetivo desse estudo foi investigar os efeitos do fornecimento de dicas visual, cinestésica, separadamente e em conjunto, na aprendizagem de habilidades motoras por indivíduos surdos. A tarefa utilizada foi o arremesso de dardo de salão. A amostra foi composta por 99 indivíduos do ensino fundamental, de ambos os sexos, sendo 62 com surdez neurossensorial bilateral (de moderadamente severa a anacusia) e 37 ouvintes, com idade média de 10,4 anos (±1,5) e 10,8 anos (±1,4), respectivamente. O estudo constou de três grupos experimentais de indivíduos surdos: dica visual (SV); dica cinestésica (SC) e dica visual e cinestésica (SVC). Para cada um destes grupos foi composto um grupo de ouvintes pareado por idade. O delineamento compreendeu: pré-teste (1 bloco de 5 arremessos); fase de aquisição (6 blocos de 10 arremessos); pós-teste (1 bloco de 5 arremessos) seguido de teste de transferência (1 bloco de 10 arremessos). Somente na fase de aquisição, a cada bloco de 10 tentativas, a dica \"cotovelo flexionado em 90º\" foi fornecida de acordo com a condição, por meio de figura (dica visual), manipulação (dica cinestésica) ou figura e manipulação (dica visual/cinestésica). As análises foram realizadas separadamente para os participantes que aprenderam (PA) e que não aprenderam (PNA) a habilidade. A identificação de indicativo de aprendizagem ocorreu mediante análise descritiva dos desempenhos individuais em relação ao erro radial absoluto. Foram consideradas para a análise não-paramétrica as variáveis precisão e consistência do desempenho (erro radial), respectivamente, erros absoluto e variável e, a tendência direcional através do erro constante; duas variáveis que expressam o padrão de resposta (temporais) e 14 variáveis que correspondem ao padrão de movimento (espaço-temporais). Os indivíduos surdos também foram avaliados quanto ao domínio da língua de sinais brasileira (LIBRAS) por meio da TVRSL 1.3. As medidas de erro, de padrão de resposta e de movimento foram obtidas através dos softwares Launcher Tracker e Kinovea. Os resultados dos PA mostraram que, com a prática, todos os grupos (surdos e ouvintes) diminuíram os erros radiais, absoluto e variável; ou seja, em termos de precisão e consistência do arremesso, aprenderam a habilidade. Na comparação entre os grupos experimentais, os resultados mostraram que o grupo SV obteve desempenho superior ao SC e ao SVC. Não foi detectada diferença na comparação entre os grupos de ouvintes em função da dica fornecida. A confirmação do melhor aproveitamento da dica visual pelos aprendizes surdos também foi verificada nos resultados relativos ao padrão de movimento. A dica visual possibilitou um melhor posicionamento do braço de arremesso, o que interferiu nas variáveis de ângulo, tempo e velocidade, resultando em maior precisão e consistência do arremesso. Estes resultados permitem concluir que: (1) A dica visual é mais eficiente em promover a aprendizagem motora dos surdos do que a dica cinestésica e a visual associada à cinestésica; (2) os efeitos da dica visual são específicos à aprendizagem dos surdos; e (3) o nível de domínio da LIBRAS dos aprendizes surdos - no caso, abaixo do esperado para a idade e escolaridade - não determina a ocorrência ou a não-ocorrência de aprendizagem de uma habilidade motora / The aim of this study was to investigation the effects of providing visual kinesthetic cues, separately and in combination, on the learning of motor skills by deaf individuals. The task used in this study was the dart throwing. The sample consisted of 99 subjects of elementary education, of both sexes, as follows: 62 with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (from moderate/severe to anacusis) and 37 listeners, with an average age of 10.4 years (± 1.5) and 10.8 years (± 1.4), respectively. The study consisted of three experimental groups of deaf individuals: visual cue (SV); kinesthetic cue (SC) and visual and kinesthetic cue (SVC). For each of these groups, an age-matched group of listeners was composed. The project comprised: pre-test (1 block of 5 throws); acquisition phase (6 blocks of 10 throws); post-test (1 block of 5 throws) followed by transfer test (1 block of 10 throws). Only in the acquisition phase, in each block of 10 attempts, the cue \"elbow flexed at 90º\" was supplied according to the condition, by means of figure (visual cue), manipulation (kinesthetic cue) or figure and manipulation (visual-kinesthetic cue). The analysis was performed separately for the participants who learned (PA) and did not learn (PNA) of motor skill. The identification of learning occurred through a descriptive analysis of the individual performances in relation to the absolute radial error. For the non-parametric analysis, we considered the variables accuracy and consistency of performance (radial error), respectively, absolute and variable errors, and the directional trend through constant error; two variables which express the response pattern (temporal) and 14 variables that correspond to the movement pattern (spatiotemporal). Deaf individuals were evaluated concerning the mastery of the Brazilian sign language (LIBRAS) through the TVRSL 1.3. The measurements of error, standard response and motion were obtained through the software programs Launcher Tracker and Kinovea, respectively. The results of PA showed that, with practice, all groups (deaf and hearing) decreased radial errors, absolute and variable; that is, in terms of accuracy and consistency of the throw, they learned the skill. In the comparison between the experimental groups, the results showed that the SV group performed better than SC and SVC. No difference was detected in the comparison between the groups of listeners, depending on the provided cue. The confirmation of the best use of the visual cue by the deaf learners was also verified in the results related to the movement pattern. The visual cue provided a better positioning of the throwing arm, which interfered in the variables of angle, time and speed, resulting in greater precision and consistency of the throw. These results allow to conclude that: (1) the visual cue is more efficient to promote the motor learning of the deaf individuals than the kinesthetic and visual-kinesthetic cues; (2) the effects of the visual cue are specific to the learning of the deaf individuals; and (3) the mastery level of LIBRAS in deaf learners - in this case, lower than expected for their age and schooling - does not determine the occurrence or failure of a motor skill learning

Dog trainers sometimes teach verbal cues by saying the cue as the dog is performing the desired behavior. However, there is disagreement about when to say the cue. In this study, a pet dog was trained to go to three different apparatus, the cue for each of which was given at a different time, in a multi-element design. The cue "hoop" was given just as the dog began to move to the hoop apparatus. The cue "carrier" was given as the dog was stepping into the carrier apparatus. The cue "platform" was given after the dog was sitting on the platform apparatus. To test if the dog had learned the cues, the trainer had the dog sit and gave the cue. During testing, if only the correct apparatus was present, the dog responded to all three cues. However, when all three apparatus were present, the dog only responded correctly to the "hoop" cue. This suggests that giving the cue just as the learner is beginning to perform the desired behavior is the most effective teaching method.

No description available.

Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) present with motor and non-motor symptoms, including in the visuospatial domain. Correction of walking abnormalities through application of visual cues in the environment has been reported in PD, but the mechanisms of action are poorly understood. The present project examined competing explanations of the effects of visual guidance on multiple aspects of gait in PD. Comfortable over-ground walking was performed by 9 participants with left-side motor onset (LPD), 11 with right-side motor onset (RPD), and 13 age-matched normal control participants (NC). Study 1 examined whether veering in PD is predominantly induced by asymmetrical perception of the visual environment or by motor asymmetry between relatively affected and relatively non-affected body side. Walking conditions were eyes-open, vision-occluded, and egocentric reference point (walk toward the perceived center of a distant target). The visual hypothesis predicted that LPD, with a known tendency toward left spatial hemineglect, would veer rightward, whereas RPD would veer leftward. The motor hypothesis predicted the opposite pattern of results because the more affected body side has shorter step length. The results supported the visual hypothesis. In Study 2, visually-cued gait was examined to establish whether the key variable to improvement is attention to pattern rhythmicity, or instead if improvement may arise from perception of dynamic flow. Floor patterns included transverse lines (attention; 3 frequencies) and randomly-placed squares (dynamic; 3 densities). Relative to baseline, both transverse lines and random squares, especially at higher frequency/density, resulted in gait improvements and induced more stable interlimb coordination, especially for LPD, the subgroup known to have greater visual dependence. Effects lasted after the cues were removed. The success of the random-squares cuing indicates that the mechanism of improvement may be dynamic flow of visual texture rather than attention, and further suggests that vision-based interventions need not be restricted to transverse lines. Taken together, the studies lay the foundation for the development of treatments for walking disturbances in PD by addressing critical issues that could influence the outcomes of therapeutic interventions, including the role of visual input and the differential effects on PD subgroups. / 2017-07-01T00:00:00Z

No description available.

When examining objects using tactile senses, individuals often incorporate multiple sources of haptic sensory information to estimate the object’s properties. How do our brains integrate various cues to form a single percept of the object? Previous research has indicated that integration from cues across sensory modalities is optimally achieved by weighting each cue according to its variance, such that more reliable cues have more weight in determining the percept. To explore this question in the context of a within-modality haptic setting, we assessed participants’ perception of edges that cross the index, middle, and ring fingers of the right hand. We used a 2-interval forced choice (2IFC) task to measure the acuity of each digit individually, as well as the acuity of all three digits working together, by asking participants to distinguish the locations of two closely spaced plastic edges. In examining the data, we considered three perceptual models, an optimal (Bayesian) model, an unweighted average model, and a winner-take-all model. The results indicate that participants perceived sub-optimally, such that the acuity of the three digits together did not exceed that of the best individual digit. We further investigated our question by having participants unknowingly undergo a 2IFC cue conflict condition, where they thought they were touching a straight edge which was actually staggered and thus gave each digit a different positional cue. Our analyses indicate that participants did not undertake optimal cue combination but are inconclusive with respect to which suboptimal strategy they employed. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / This thesis investigates the neural mechanisms behind tactile perception, specifically how the brain combines multiple sensory cues to construct a unified percept when interacting with objects through touch. Typically, optimal sensory integration involves assigning more weight to more reliable cues. Our research focused on tactile integration by examining participants’ ability to perceive the positions of edges crossing their index, middle, and ring fingers simultaneously. The results indicated that, contrary to predictions, participants exhibited various sub-optimal cue integration strategies. Their ability to perceive the combined positions of all three fingers was not superior to that of the best-performing individual finger. We also explored cue conflict situations, where the locations of the tactile cues were no longer from a straight edge, unbeknown to participants, and the results here reinforced the finding that participants did not consistently employ optimal cue combination strategies. This research offers valuable insights into how the brain processes tactile information.