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Working in noisy environments can be detrimental to cognitive performance. In order to perform well people have to find a way to attenuate distraction. This thesis aimed to study the balance between distractibility and task demands in the context of office-related tasks as a means by which to better understand how people in the work environment are influenced by environmental noise. In Report 1, 2 and 3 higher focal-task difficulty was achieved by manipulating the readability of the text that participants were asked to read (i.e. either displaying the text in hard-to-read font or by masking it with static visual noise). The results of Report 1 and Report 2 showed that background speech impaired performance on proofreading and memory for written stories respectively compared to silence, but only when the focaltask difficulty was low, not when it was high. In Report 3 it was shown that background speech, road traffic noise, and aircraft noise impaired performance on text memory compared to silence, but again, only when focal-task difficulty was low. In Report 4 it was tested whether higher cognitive load on the focal task would reduce peripheral processing of a to-be-ignored background story. The results of Report 4 showed that participants in the low-load condition recalled more of the information conveyed in the to-be-ignored background story compared to participants in the high-load condition. It was also investigated whether individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) would influence participants’ memory for written stories (Report 2) and incidental memory of the to-background story (Report 4) differently depending on task demand. The results showed that individuals scoring high on the WMC-test were less distracted by background speech in the easy-to-read font condition (Report 2), and recalled less of the information in the to-be-ignored background story in the low-cognitive load condition (Report 4) compared to individuals that scored lower on the WMC-test. These relationships were not found in the hard-to-read font condition in Report 2, or in the high-cognitive load condition in Report 4. Taken together, these results indicate that higher focal-task difficulty can shield against the detrimental effect environmental noise on performance on office-related tasks. Moreover, it shows that higher focal-task difficulty can help individuals with low-WMC to reach a level of performance that is similar to that of high-capacity individuals. / Människor som arbetar inom den byggda miljön (t.ex. kontor eller skolor) är ofta exponerade för olika typer av miljöljud (t.ex. bakgrundsprat, vägtrafiks- eller flygplansbuller) som kan ha en negativ inverkan på deras förmåga att prestera på kognitiva uppgifter (t.ex. läs- eller skrivuppgifter). För att kunna prestera behöver de som arbetar inom den byggda miljön hitta ett sätt att minska hur distraherade de blir av bakgrundsbuller när de arbetar med kontorsrelaterade uppgifter (t.ex. korrekturläsning eller minne för text). Syftet med denna avhandling var att studera balansen mellan distraktion och koncentrationskrav på arbetsuppgiften som ett sätt att undersöka vilken inverkan bakgrundsbuller i arbetsmiljön har på människors förmåga att prestera på kontorsrelaterade uppgifter. I Rapport 1, 2 och 3 manipulerades koncentrationskravet på arbetsuppgiften genom att göra texten mer svårläslig (d.v.s. antingen använda ett mer svårläsligt teckensnitt eller genom att maskera texten med ett visuellt brus). Resultaten på Rapport 1 och 2 visade att bakgrundsprat försämrade prestationen på ett korrekturläsningstest och ett textminnestest jämfört med en tyst betingelse, men bara när texten var lättläslig och inte när den var svårläslig. Rapport 3 visade att bakgrundsprat, vägtrafikbuller och flygplansbuller försämrade prestationen på ett textminnestest jämfört med tystnad, men återigen, bara när texten var lättläslig och inte när den var svårläslig. I Rapport 4 undersöktes om ökad kognitiv belastning på en arbetsuppgift skulle minska hur mycket information av ett bakgrundsprat (d.v.s. en berättelse om en fiktiv kultur) som deltagarna kunde återge trots att de blivit instruerade att ignorera det som sades i bakgrunden. Resultatet visade att deltagarna i betingelsen med låg kognitiv belastning kom ihåg mer av informationen från bakgrundsberättelsen jämfört med deltagarna med hög kognitiv belastning. Denna avhandling undersökte också sambandet mellan individuella skillnader i arbetsminneskapacitet och storleken på hur distraherad individen var av bakgrundsprat (Rapport 2), samt sambandet mellan arbetsminneskapacitet och hur mycket individen mindes av det bakgrundsprat de blivit instruerade att ignorera (Rapport 4), och om dessa samband influerades olika beroende på koncentrationskravet på arbetsuppgiften. Resultatet i Rapport 2 visade att individer med hög arbetsminneskapacitet blev mindre distraherade av bakgrundspratet jämfört med individer med låg arbetsminneskapacitet på prosaminnestestet, men bara när texten var lättläslig, inte när den var svårläslig. Rapport 4 visade att i betingelsen med låg kognitiv belastning kom de med hög arbetsminneskapacitet ihåg mindre av bakgrundsberättelsen jämfört med individerna med låg arbetsminneskapacitet, men när den kognitiva belastningen var hög var det ingen skillnad i hur mycket deltagarna kom ihåg av bakgrundsberättelsen mellan individer med hög och låg arbetsminneskapacitet. Sammanfattningsvis visar resultaten att ökat koncentrationskrav på en arbetsuppgift, genom att öka svårighetsgraden (t.ex. genom att använda ett mer svårläsligt teckensnitt), kan skydda mot den negativa inverkan som bakgrundsbuller har på arbetsuppgifter som liknar de människor arbetar med på kontor. Vidare visade resultaten att ökade koncentrationskrav på arbetsuppgiften kan hjälpa individer med låg arbetsminneskapacitet att prestera i paritet med individer med hög arbetsminneskapacitet när arbetsuppgiften utförs i bakgrundsprat.

There is much research conducted on training teachers to use the evidence-based teaching strategies known as system of least prompts. However, there is little research conducted on using a modified system of least prompt. This study examined the fidelity of implementation by two early childhood teachers using a modified system of least prompts with preschool aged children. A multiple-probe design across participants was used to determine the effect of fidelity of implementation of a modified system of least prompts strategy on the level of on-task student engagement. The results showed that early childhood teachers could implement the modified teaching strategy with fidelity while also increasing the level of on-task engagement.

In the organizational domain, it is well established that a significant relationship exists between cognitive ability and job performance (e.g., Hunter, 1986); however, there is less research surrounding the relationship between how intelligent people think they are and expectations of job performance. Although self-estimates have been used in the educational domain since the early 1900s (e.g., self-estimates of ability; Koerth & Rush, 1923; Schutte, 1929; personality traits; Cogan, Conklin, & Hollingworth, 1915; Shen, 1925) they have only recently been applied to the workplace as predictors of job search behavior and occupational choice (e.g., Prediger, 1994; Tracey & Hopkins, 2001). As a result of changing technologies and organizational structures, an employee's ability to learn new job skills is critical to his/ her continued success in the workplace. However, an employee's perception of his/ her learning potential may be as informative as or more informative than objectively measured ability for subsequent decision making (e.g., job choice). The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective estimates of job performance and learning potential, including gender differences in self-estimates, the determinants of self-estimates, and the predictive validity of self-estimates for decisions about engaging in career-related tasks. The goal of the current study was to evaluate self-estimates of job performance and learning potential for 20 jobs. A total of 153 participants watched short video clips depicting each of the 20 jobs and answered a series of questionnaires, assessing future-oriented estimates of job performance, estimates of learning potential, task interest, task value, task experience, and task engagement. Significant gender differences were found in estimates of job performance across job domains, as well as interactions of gender and self-estimates of job performance over anticipated time-on-task. Some significant relations were found between non-ability traits and self-estimates of job performance and learning potential, while significant relations were found between prior job experience and decisions about task engagement. The practical utility of this research is an understanding of how individual differences in non-ability traits such as personality, interest, and motivation may impact an individual's expectations of future job performance, and consequently, an individual's career choice decisions and job pursuits.

This study investigated the effects of a standing desk on academically engaged time during instruction. The study was conducted with two male students with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The first participant was in first grade and the second was in eighth grade. The target behaviors for these participants were on-task engagement with academic content during instructional periods in the classroom. The intervention took place in the students’ general education classrooms by introducing a standing desk into the classroom. A traditional ABAB reversal intervention design was used for the first grader, while the eighth grade participant had an alternating treatments design. The results of the study show the standing desk had a mild effect for the first grade student while it had a more positive effect on the eight grade student. Social Validity indicates that the intervention was well received by teachers but slightly less by students

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:30:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6382.pdf: 5681895 bytes, checksum: 392cae29d834b75a278e647e0ce77447 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-10-17 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The individualized teaching program for elemental reading and writing skills Learning to Read and Write in Small Steps has been systematically developed and improved for the last 25 years. Anecdotal observations suggested a reduction on the engagement of children in the program, indicating need to study motivational‟ variables in this context. The purpose of the present study was to analyze learning and task engagement of children during the application of Module 1 of the Program: 1) in its standard version (Standard-Procedure) and 2) in a token version, where points were added to a counter in correct trials exchanged for video access as supplementary consequences (Token- Procedure). Two experiments were conducted in an elementary public school with 21 children without or with incipient reading repertoire. In the Experiment 1, participants were nine boys and four girls with 8-10 years of age of the 3rd and 4th grade. Some participants were exposed to Standard-Procedure and others to Token-Procedure. Learning measures provided by the program and systematic observational measures (ten seconds partial interval recording) assessed performance. On-Task and Off-Task behaviors (participants‟) and Task Assistance and On-Task Request behaviors (experimenter‟s) were recorded in five sessions per participant. Results showed that all participants had meaningful gains in reading, spelling and equivalence performance, with teaching and recombination words, and the advancement in the procedure occurred within a number of sessions similarly to programmed teaching steps. An overall reduction trend of average latency to perform task along units was observed. The average latency in Token-Procedure was significantly lower than in Standard- Procedure. More promptness to perform task was interpreted as evidence of its greater evocative effectiveness, probably due its correlation with a more effective consequence. It suggests that the effects of standard consequences were supplemented by the introduction of points. All participants systematically engaged in the task during the teaching sessions and Off-Task behaviors occurred more variably and apparently without interfering in task performance, except in some cases. Off-task behaviors appeared to be mostly an artifact of the discrete-trial procedure, in which the task cannot occur continuously. The results of Experiment 1 led to Experiment 2, in which the parameters of point accumulation and of its exchange were adjusted (Token‟- Procedure). Participants were six boys and two girls, with 6-9 years, of 2nd or 3rd grade, with lower initial repertoire and were only partially exposed to Token‟- Procedure. Their performance differ significantly in relation to other participants, such as a higher number of repetitions of teaching steps and less gains of target repertoires, which impaired the observation of possible effects of Token‟-Procedure. Despite of the limitations of this study, its results indicate important directions for future studies on the determinants of task engagement of children in this Program. / O programa de ensino individualizado Aprendendo a Ler e a Escrever em Pequenos Passos vem sendo sistematicamente desenvolvido e aprimorado ao longo de 25 anos. Observações anedóticas sugeriram uma redução do engajamento de crianças, apontando-se a necessidade de se investigar aspectos motivacionais desse contexto. O presente estudo teve como objetivo analisar a aprendizagem e o engajamento de crianças durante a aplicação do Módulo 1 do Programa de Leitura: 1) em sua versão padrão (Procedimento-Padrão) e 2) em uma versão com a produção de pontos trocados por acesso a vídeos como consequência suplementar às consequências de acerto padrão (Procedimento-Ponto ou Ponto‟). Foram conduzidos dois experimentos em uma escola municipal de ensino fundamental com 21 crianças com repertório ausente ou incipientes em leitura. Participaram do Experimento 1 nove meninos e quatro meninas com 8 a 10 anos, do 3º ou 4 ano. Um conjunto de participantes foi exposto ao Procedimento-Padrão e outro conjunto ao Procedimento-Ponto. Analisou-se o desempenho com medidas de aprendizagem fornecidas pelo programa e medidas de observação sistemáticas (registro parcial a intervalos de dez segundos). Foram registrados comportamentos dos participantes de Executar Tarefa e Dispersar-se da Tarefa e comportamentos da Experimentadora de Auxiliar Tarefa e Solicitar Execução da Tarefa em cinco sessões de ensino por participante. Os resultados mostraram que todos os participantes obtiveram ganhos significativos em leitura, ditado e equivalência, com palavras de ensino e palavras novas e que o avanço no procedimento ocorreu em uma quantidade de sessões próxima ao número de passos de ensino programados. Observou-se uma tendência geral à redução da latência média para a execução da tarefa ao longo das unidades. A latência média apresentada no Procedimento-Ponto foi significativamente inferior àquela no Procedimento-Padrão. A maior prontidão na tarefa no Procedimento-Ponto foi interpretada como uma evidencia de sua maior efetividade evocativa, provavelmente decorrente de sua correlação com uma consequência mais eficaz. Isso sugere indícios de que o efeito de consequências padrão foi suplementado pela introdução de pontos. Todos os participantes engajaram-se sistematicamente na tarefa durante as sessões de ensino observadas e comportamentos chamados de dispersão ocorreram de maneira variável e, aparentemente, sem interferir no fluxo de execução da tarefa, exceto em alguns casos. Comportamentos de dispersão pareceram ser, em sua maioria, um artefato do procedimento por tentativas discretas, no qual a execução da tarefa não pode ocorrer continuamente. Os resultados do Experimento 1 levaram à condução do Experimento 2, no qual os parâmetros de acúmulo e troca de pontos foram ajustados (Procedimento- Ponto‟). Participaram seis meninos e duas meninas, com 6 a 9 anos, do 2º ou 3º ano, os quais apresentavam repertórios de entrada mais reduzidos do que os participantes do Experimento 1 e, além disso, foram expostos a apenas uma parte do procedimento. Isso gerou diferenças importantes entre seus desempenhos em relação aos demais participantes, como um número muito elevado de repetições de passos de ensino e a obtenção ganhos menos expressivos dos repertórios-alvo, o que interferiu na observação de possíveis efeitos do Procedimento-Ponto‟. Apesar das limitações do presente estudo, seus resultados sugerem diretivas importantes para a condução de novos estudos sobre os determinantes do engajamento de crianças no Programa de Leitura.

Distracted driving involving secondary tasks is known to lead to an increased likelihood of being involved in motor vehicle crashes. Some secondary tasks are unnecessary and should never be performed. But other secondary tasks, e.g., operating the defroster, are critical to safe driving. Ideally, the driver should schedule when to perform the critical tasks such that the likelihood of a hazard materializing is relatively small during the performance of the secondary task. The current study evaluates a training program -- STRAP (Secondary Task Regulatory & Anticipatory Program) -- which is designed to make drivers aware of latent hazards in the hope that they regulate engagement in secondary tasks which they are performing at the time the latent hazard appears. The secondary tasks include both tasks that require drivers to take their eyes off the road (e.g., operating the defroster) and those which do not (e.g., cell phone use). Participants were assigned either to STRAP or placebo training. After training, the groups navigated eight different scenarios on a driving simulator and were instructed to engage during the drive in as many secondary tasks as possible as long as they felt safe to do so. Secondary task engagement was fully user paced. It is important to note that drivers receiving STRAP training were never instructed directly to either disengage from or not engage in secondary tasks when encountering latent hazards. The results show that STRAP trained drivers were more likely to detect latent hazards and associated clues than placebo trained drivers. With regards to secondary task engagement, STRAP trained drivers chose to limit their in-vehicle and cell phone task engagement by focusing on the forward roadway rather than the task at hand. STRAP training holds out the promise of providing individuals with the necessary skills and proactive awareness to make safe decisions regarding the non-performance or interruption of a secondary task in the presence of a potential latent hazard.

La fatigue mentale est un état complexe qui résulte d'une activité cognitive prolongée. Les symptômes de la fatigue mentale inclus des changements d'humeur, de motivation et une détérioration temporaire de diverses fonctions cognitives. Plusieurs recherches approfondies ont été menées pour développer des méthodes de reconnaissance des signes physiologiques et psychophysiologiques de la fatigue mentale. Les signes psychophysiologiques concernent principalement signaux d'activité cérébrale et leur relation avec la psychologie et la cognition. Celles-ci ont permise le développement de nombreux modèles basés sur l'IA pour classer différents niveaux de fatigue, en utilisant des données extraites d'un appareil eye-tracking, d'un électroencéphalogramme (EEG) pour mesurer l’activité cérébrale ou d'un électrocardiogramme (ECG) pour mesurer l’activité cérébrale. Dans cette mémoire, nous présentons le protocole expérimental et développé par mes directeurs de recherche et moi-même, qui vise à la fois à générer et mesurer la fatigue mentale, et à proposer des stratégies efficaces de récupération via des séances de réalité virtuelle couplées à des dispositifs EEG et eye tracking. Réussir à générer de la fatigue mentale est nécessaire pour générer un ensemble de données suivant l’évolution de la fatigue et de la récupération au cours de l’expérience, et sera également utilisé pour classer différents niveaux de fatigue à l’aide de l’apprentissage automatique. Cette mémoire fournit d'abord un état de l'art complet des facteurs prédictifs de la fatigue mentale, des méthodes de mesure et des stratégies de récupération. Ensuite, l'article présente un protocole expérimental résultant de l'état de l'art pour (1) générer et mesurer la fatigue mentale et (2) évaluer l'efficacité de la thérapie virtuelle pour la récupération de la fatigue, (3) entrainer un algorithme d'apprentissage automatique sur les données EEG pour classer 3 niveaux de fatigue différents en utilisant un environnement simulé de réalité virtuelle (VR). La thérapie virtuelle est une technique favorisant la relaxation dans un environnement simulé virtuel et interactif qui vise à réduire le stress. Dans notre travail, nous avons réussi à générer de la fatigue mentale en accomplissant des tâches cognitives dans un environnement virtuel. Les participants ont montré une diminution significative du diamètre de la pupille et du score thêta/alpha au cours des différentes tâches cognitives. Le score alpha/thêta est un indice EEG qui suit les fluctuations de la charge cognitiveet de la fatigue mentale. Divers algorithmes d'apprentissage automatique ont été formés et testés sur des segments de données EEG afin de sélectionner le modèle qui s'ajuste le mieux à ces données en ce qui concerne la métrique d'évaluation "précision équilibrée" et "f1". Parmi les 8 différents classificateurs, le SVM RBF a montré les meilleures performances avec une précision équilibrée de 95 % et une valeur de mesure f de 0,82. La précision équilibrée fournit une mesure précise de la performance dans le cas de jeu de données déséquilibrées, en tenant compte de la sensibilité et de la spécificité, et le f-score est une mesure d'évaluation qui combine les scores de précision et de rappel. Finalement, nos résultats montrent que le temps alloué à la thérapie virtuelle n'a pas amélioré le diamètre pupillaire en période post-relaxation. D'autres recherches sur l'impact de la thérapie devraient consacrer un temps plus proche du temps de récupération standard de 60 min. / Mental fatigue is a complex state that results from prolonged cognitive activity. Symptoms of mental fatigue can include change in mood, motivation, and temporary deterioration of various cognitive functions involved in goal-directed behavior. Extensive research has been done to develop methods for recognizing physiological and psychophysiological signs of mental fatigue. Psychophysiological signs are mostly concern with patterns of brain activity and their relation to psychology and cognition. This has allowed the development of many AI-based models to classify different levels of fatigue, using data extracted from eye-tracking devices, electroencephalogram (EEG) measuring brain activity, or electrocardiogram (ECG) measuring cardiac activity. In this thesis, we present the experimental protocol developed by my research directors and I, which aims to both generate/measure mental fatigue and provide effective strategies for recuperation via VR sessions paired with EEG and eye-tracking devices. Successfully generating mental fatigue is crucial to generate a time-series dataset tracking the evolution of fatigue and recuperation during the experiment and will also be used to classify different levels of fatigue using machine learning. This thesis first provides a state-of-the-art of mental fatigue predictive factors, measurement methods, and recuperation strategies. The goal of this protocol is to (1) generate and measure mental fatigue, (2) evaluate the effectiveness of virtual therapy for fatigue recuperation, using a virtual reality (VR) simulated environment and (3) train a machine learning algorithm on EEG data to classify 3 different levels of fatigue. Virtual therapy is relaxation promoting technique in a virtual and interactive simulated environment which aims to reduce stress. In our work, we successfully generated mental fatigue through completion of cognitive tasks in a virtual simulated environment. Participants showed significant decline in pupil diameter and theta/alpha score during the various cognitive tasks. The alpha/theta score is an EEG index tracking fluctuations in cognitive load and mental fatigue. Various machine learning algorithm candidates were trained and tested on EEG data segments in order to select the classifier that best fits EEG data with respect to evaluation metric ‘balanced accuracy’ and 'f1-measures'. Among the 8 different classifier candidates, RBF SVM showed the best performance with 95% balanced accuracy 0.82 f-score value and on the validation set, and 92% accuracy and 0.90 f-score on test set. Balanced accuracy provides an accurate measure of performance in the case of imbalanced data, considering sensitivity and specificity and f-score is an evaluation metric which combines precision and recall scores. Finally, our results show that the time allocated for virtual therapy did not improve pupil diameter in the post-relaxation period. Further research on the impact of relaxation therapy should allocate time closer to the standard recovery time of 60 min.