Reality-based interaction affecting mental workload in virtual reality mental arithmetic training

ABSTRACT

The concept of digital game-based learning (DGBL) evolves rapidly together with technological enhancements of virtual reality (VR) and smart phones. However, the mental workload (MWL) that VR-training applications demand and motivational qualities originating from user experience (UX) should be identified in order to create effective and enjoyable training/learning challenges that fit with individual users’ capabilities. This study examined the effects of reality-based interaction (RBI) and VR on measures of student motivation and MWL, in a mental arithmetic game for secondary school pupils. In a randomised controlled trial with sixty school children, a mental arithmetic game was tested with three different interaction and two different presentation methods – VR RBI, VR head-mounted-display tapping and tablet flick-gesture. Results found a significant effect of RBI on MWL but no differences in enjoyment of training were found between VR-experience and tablet training-experience. In fact, adding the gaming-context to the mental arithmetic task created an enjoyable, motivating experience regardless of presentation or interaction-style.     

Hemodialysis in the United Kingdom

Hemodialysis was a neglected aspect of nephrology in the UK. At the request of the Renal Association, the first UK Haemodialysis Masterclass was organized in 2007. The articles in this supplement arose from that meeting. Here, an overview of UK hemodialysis services and nephrology training is presented as background. Government‐funded dialysis should be provided to all UK citizens who require it. In 2005, there were 17,645 patients receiving hemodialysis, 5057 on peritoneal dialysis and 19,074 with kidney transplants, looked after by 359 nephrologists working in 73 National Health Service renal units. Renal replacement therapy incidence and prevalence remain comparatively low, at 108 and 694 per million population, respectively. Whether this represents inadequate provision or genuinely lower need remains unclear. The Renal Association sets clinical practice guidelines for dialysis, and audits performance via the UK Renal Registry. Postgraduate medical education is undergoing radical change in the UK. This is driven by the reduction in trainee doctors' working hours to 48 hr/week (mandated by the European Working Time Directive), and the governments' wish to reduce the duration of training, but also by a desire to formalize training, Our challenge is to continue to produce talented clinical nephrologists educated in breadth and depth, despite the reduced emphasis on clinical experience and omission of period of scientific research. The future for hemodialysis services in the UK is, however, promising with an expansion in the number of specialists and dialysis centers, and a growing interest in dialysis practice and research.     

Bilateral stimulus presentation in memory scanning.

24 18–40 yr olds performed a memory-scanning task (S. Sternberg, 1966, 1969) in which probe letters were displayed unilaterally or bilaterally after sets of 2, 4, or 6 letters were memorized. The mean response time (RT) to bilateral presentations was significantly longer than the mean RT to unilateral presentations, but the slope of the set-size function was not affected, suggesting that presenting stimuli bilaterally affected stages other than memory scanning. There were no significant visual-field effects in either the bilateral or unilateral conditions, suggesting that memory scanning is not a lateralized process. There was no evidence that bilateral presentation increased visual-field differences. This is not consistent with D. B. Boles' (1983, 1990) hypothesis that visual-field asymmetry effects are more pronounced with bilateral than with unilateral presentation of stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hemispheric priming by meaningful and nonmeaningful symbols in language-trained chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Further evidence of a left hemisphere advantage.

Hemispheric priming was examined in 3 language-trained chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) using a simple reaction time (RT) paradigm. Ss were required to hold down a response button until the occurrence of a response cue. A warning stimulus was presented to either the left visual field or the right visual field (RVF) before the response cue occurred. No warning stimulus was presented on control trials. The warning stimuli were geometric communicative symbols from 2 semantic categories: food and tools. A 3rd set of warning stimuli were familiar geometric symbols. Dependent measures included RT and the number of false-positive responses. RT data indicated an RVF advantage in priming when the warning stimuli were food or tool symbols. No significant visual half-field differences were found for familiar symbols, but a trend toward an RVF advantage was observed. These effects were enhanced when Ss responded with their left hand. False-positive data also indicated an RVF advantage for the food and tool warning stimuli. The data indicate that hemispheric asymmetries for processing communicative symbols are present in language-trained chimpanzees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Strategic Control of Multiple Routes in Imitation of Actions.

The aim of this study was to bring to the surface the strategic use of imitative processes in the context of a 2-route model: (a) direct imitation, used in reproducing new, meaningless actions, and (b) imitation based on stored semantic knowledge of familiar meaningful actions. Three experiments were carried out with healthy participants who reproduced meaningful and meaningless actions within an established time limit. The study investigated 3 factors that could potentially affect the selection of processes used for imitation: (a) the composition of the experimental list (blocked or mixed presentation), (b) the presence-absence of instructions (Experiments 1 and 2), and (c) the relative proportions of the stimuli (Experiment 3). Overall, the results suggest that each of these factors influences the selection of imitative strategies in healthy individuals with temporarily reduced capacities, as happens in the case of brain-damaged patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognizing, assessing, and intervening with problems of professional competence.

Working collaboratively, psychologist educators and trainers at the doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral levels; credentialers; practitioners; and students offer 8 proposals for psychologists to consider in recognizing, assessing, and intervening with problems of professional competence in students and practicing professionals. In the proposals, the authors address the following topics: definitions and categories; preparing the system; self-assessment; remediation; diversity; communication across various levels of the system; confidentiality; and ethical, regulatory, and legal underpinnings. They also propose future directions for the assessment of problems in professional competence in both students and practicing psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ground antennas in NASA's deep space telecommunications

Ground antennas are the major visible components of NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). The role, key characteristics, and performance of these antennas in deep-space telecommunications are described. The system analyses and tradeoffs to optimize the overall ground-to-spacecraft link and to define future missions are elaborated from an antenna perspective. Overall performance of receiving systems is compared using the widely accepted G/T figure-of-merit, i.e., net antenna gain divided by the operating system noise temperature. Performance of past, present, and future antennas and receiving systems is discussed, including the planned development of a world-wide network of 34-m diameter beam-waveguide antennas. The need for multifrequency operation, presently in the S- and X-bands, and in the future in the Ka-band, is discussed. The resulting requirements placed on antenna technology are highlighted. Beam-waveguide antenna performance to further improve performance and operational advantages is discussed