The initial effect of noise on a simple vibrotactile learning task

This study tested the extent to which the presence and relevance of interactive features influence toddlers’ visual attention and learning from videos. Two-year-olds (N = 88) watched an animated bear hide on video and then searched for a bear sticker on a corresponding felt board. To watch the bear hide, toddlers watched without touching the screen (non-interactive condition), touched a relevant part of the screen (the bear; relevant condition), or touched an irrelevant part of the screen (a star; irrelevant condition). A subset of 60 children (68%) wore a head-mounted eye-tracker to record their eye movements while watching the bear hide. A relevant touchscreen feature did not increase toddlers’ learning compared to non-interactive video, despite increasing toddlers’ visual attention to target information. Conversely, the irrelevant touchscreen feature had a positive effect on learning, particularly on later search trials. The findings are discussed with respect to toddlers’ mental representations of on-screen versus real-life events and implications for the design of touchscreen media for children. IMPACT SUMMARY a. Prior State of Knowledge: Toddlers learn less from video than from real-life experiences. It is widely believed that interactive media support toddlers’ learning, but research is mixed, sometimes finding neutral or even negative effects of interactivity compared to noninteractive video. b. Novel Contributions: A simple, relevant touchscreen feature increased toddlers’ encoding of target information but did not improve learning. Conversely, an irrelevant touchscreen feature improved toddlers’ learning, perhaps by increasing slightly the effort required to complete an otherwise simple task. c. Practical Implications: Interactive media do not always increase toddlers’ learning. Simple learning tasks may not benefit from simple interactivity. Instead, media creators may be able to maximize educational value by balancing the difficulty of the lesson with the complexity of media features.

Effect of noise on higher nervous activity

Carbon disulfide potentiates the effects of impulse noise on the organ of Corti

A synthetic-work approach was employed in an investigation of the effects of 90-dB continuous and periodic 96-dB intermittent broad-band noise on human performance. Ten Navy and Air Force ROTC cadets worked the tasks of a multiple-task performance battery (MTPB) 12 h a week (in three, 4-h sessions) during a 4-week training period. Subsequently, they were required to work 4 days, 8 h per day on a split-shift schedule during the presence of noise, and finally, work 2 additional days on the same split-shift schedule under quiet conditions. Mean percentage of baseline performance (a composite index of performance) was enhanced by a periodic 96-dB intermittent noise, and the extent of the effect varied as a function of the number of tasks concurrently performed in the work situation. On the other hand, 90-dB continuous noise neither enhanced nor degraded performance. [Research supported by the U. S. Army Behavior and Systems Research Laboratory, Army THEMIS Contract; and by U. S. Army Medical Research and Development Command.]

Drawing by learners can be an effective way to develop memory and generate visual models for higher-order skills in biology, but students are often reluctant to adopt drawing as a study method. We designed a nonclassroom intervention that instructed introductory biology college students in a drawing method, minute sketches in folded lists (MSFL), and allowed them to self-assess their recall and problem solving, first in a simple recall task involving non-European alphabets and later using unfamiliar biology content. In two preliminary ex situ experiments, students had greater recall on the simple learning task, non-European alphabets with associated phonetic sounds, using MSFL in comparison with a preferred method, visual review (VR). In the intervention, students studying using MSFL and VR had ∼50-80% greater recall of content studied with MSFL and, in a subset of trials, better performance on problem-solving tasks on biology content. Eight months after beginning the intervention, participants had shifted self-reported use of drawing from 2% to 20% of study time. For a small subset of participants, MSFL had become a preferred study method, and 70% of participants reported continued use of MSFL. This brief, low-cost intervention resulted in enduring changes in study behavior.

Too much noise disturbs sleep, as well known. The number of persons affected by community noise is estimated to be huge. This paper summarizes the recommendation by WHO (1999) and the following international documents, and introduce new data and debate. First, we should choose noise descriptors to study and to regulate noise-induced sleeplessness taking account of (1) whether we want to focus on continuous noise or intermittent noise, and (2) whether we want to focus on noise prediction or ecological measurement. LAeq (A-weighted sound equivalent level) at sleep period well predicts sleep disturbance in general. Since intermittent noise is more likely to disturb sleep than continuous noise, even if their LAeq is the same, LAmax and LAE are also used. Second, we should determine sleep descriptors such as EEG, actigraphy, and questionnaires. The descriptors should be chosen, in consideration of burdens to subjects and time-scale that should be matched with noise assessment. Based on the dose–response relationship between community noise and sleep disturbance, WHO (1999) recommended that indoor sound level should be LAeq of 35 dB or below for the general population from the aspect of health sciences. WHO Regional Office for Europe (2004), however, proposed much more strict guidelines, taking the recent studies on community noise and cardiovascular diseases in the general population. Most of the data were, however, cross-sectionally obtained, and causality cannot be determined. As a result, intensive debate emerged whether or not the reported effects are meaningful and all the effects are impermissible, reflecting the difference between European view of health and US pragmatic position. On the other hand, effects of ultra-low-frequency sound from wind turbine plants on sleep and health seem negligible, although audible noise from wind turbine can disturb sleep among residents. Individual difference in sensitivity to noise and effects of daytime noise on night/shift-workers should be further investigated. If they can be clarified, this should be systematically reflected to the exposure assessment.

Auditory temporal processing frequently appears more affected in old subjects than would be predicted by the degree of peripheral hearing loss, pointing to an age-dependent central processing deficit. In parallel, an age-dependent decline of inhibitory function has been demonstrated in the auditory pathway, suggesting a causal relationship between temporal processing and inhibition. Gabapentin has been specifically synthesized as a potential gamma-amino-butyric-acid (GABA) mimetic with the capability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Gabapentin treatment ameliorated tinnitus in a rat model and improved tinnitus annoyance in humans with acoustic trauma. Consequently, the present study evaluated the effect of gabapentin on auditory temporal processing in the gerbil model. Psychometric functions were collected for different test paradigms. (A) "Gap detection": The detection of a gap in the middle of a 800 msec broadband noise pulse was determined either at 15 or at 30 dB SL. (B) "Forward masking": The detection of a 20 msec probe stimulus following 2.5 msec after a 400 msec 40 dB SPL masker was determined with masker and probe frequency at 2.85 kHz. The effect of gabapentin was evaluated by collecting gap detection and forward masking functions before, during, and after treating gerbils with gabapentin doses of 115 or 350 mg/kg/day administered via drinking water. Data under different experimental conditions were collected for groups of 3 to 5 young (<2 years) and 6 to 10 old (>2 years) gerbils. Two-way analyses of variance for the factors age groups and treatment groups with subsequent pairwise comparisons for significant effects were used for the statistical evaluation of the data. For gap detection, mean thresholds were significantly increased in the group of old as compared with the young gerbils at 30 dB SL (young 2.0 msec; old 3.2 msec) and at 15 dB SL (young 2.9 msec; old 9.1 msec). Gabapentin had no significant effect on gap detection, and there was no significant interaction between age group and gabapentin treatment. Mean thresholds in the forward masking paradigm were significantly elevated in old (45.5 dB SPL) as compared with young (35.0 dB SPL) gerbils. Overall, gabapentin had no significant effect on masked thresholds; however, there was a significant interaction between treatment and age. Subsequent pairwise comparisons revealed no significant effect on masked thresholds in old gerbils but showed significantly elevated thresholds of young gerbils during 350 mg/kg gabapentin (38.3 dB SPL) compared with thresholds obtained in young gerbils before (32.3 dB SPL) and after (33.5 dB SPL) treatment. Gabapentin did not exert a therapeutic effect on impaired gap detection and forward masking in old gerbils. The lack of an effect of gabapentin on impaired auditory temporal processing in old gerbils and the finding of elevated masked thresholds in young gerbils can be reconciled with reports of only moderate GABAergic effects compared with other drugs (e.g., comparing elevation of GABA levels in the brain by gabapentin and vigabatrin) and effects due to binding of gabapentin to alpha-2-delta units of voltage-gated calcium channels.

In experiment I, DLFs were measured in four conditions: (1) in quiet with the level fixed at 70 dB SPL; (2) in quiet with the level of each tone varied randomly over a 6-dB range around 70 dB SPL; (3) as 1, but with a continuous bandpass noise designed to mask the upper side of the excitation pattern; and (4) with bandpass noise and with the level of the signal randomized over a 6-dB range. Center frequencies from 0.5–6.5 kHz were used. Except at 6.5 kHz, the results were not consistent with the assumption that the DLFs were based on the detection of changes in excitation level on the low-frequency side of the excitation pattern. Experiment II was like experiment I, except that FMDLs (4-Hz rate) were measured, and, in conditions 2 and 4, a 4-Hz amplitude modulation (AM) with a peak-to-valley ratio of 6 dB was imposed on all signals; the phase of the AM relative to the FM was random. The results were generally not inconsistent with the assumption that the FMDLs were based on the detection of changes in excitation level on the low-frequency side of the excitation pattern. However, neither a single-band nor a multiple-band excitation-pattern model was able to account for the effect of the bandpass noise of the FMDLs. [Work supported by MRC, U.K.]

Associative Learning![Figure][1] Nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans PHOTO: SINCLAIR STAMMERS/SCIENCE SOURCE In associative learning, you link potentially unrelated things because you are exposed to them at the same time. Ohno et al. studied a simple associative learning task in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans . They presented the worms with a taste substance while withholding food. After starving in the presence of the taste substance, the animals switched their behavior from being attracted to the taste to finding it aversive. A specific isoform of the insulin receptor is critical for this type of associative learning—at least in worms. Science , this issue p. [313][2] [1]: pending:yes [2]: /lookup/volpage/345/313?iss=6194

Many decades after the introduction of ICT into classrooms there are still unanswered questions about the impact of technology in the long and short term on students' learning, and how it has affected simple and complex learning tasks. These are important for (a) forming government policies; (b) directing teacher education programmes: (c) advancing national curricula; (d); designing or reforming classroom implementation and (e) analysing costs and benefits. While a plethora of studies has been conducted on the effects of ICT in education, major policy and methodological problems have precluded an unambiguous answer to such questions as:--"Does the way in which ICT is implemented have a major/minor impact on students' knowledge and understanding?" and "Does the impact affect the surface or deep structure of students' thinking and acting?" To date we have had no large-scale longitudinal studies of ICT's impact in education such as we have in the form of studies of earlier major curriculum development projects. Nor have we had many comprehensive studies of the complex interactions between various types of ICT implementation and the effects of other factors such as school-based interventions, socio-economic status and school expenditures which have been shown to have a greater impact on education compared with other previous innovations in education. Furthermore we do not know if previous research studies have used research methods that matched learning objectives to instruments/procedures. Many previous studies are vague as to the actual measures used but we can infer that standardized tests were a frequent measure. In other instances, ad hoc analyses, with criteria that may have varied from analyst to analyst and were not "blind" analyses were certainly used to measure "success." All of these limitations and uncertainties and many more point to the need for a thorough, rigorous, and multifaceted approach to analysing the impact of ICT on students' learning. This paper draws on previous research evidence to identify relevant research strategies to address the gaps in our knowledge about ICT and students' learning explained above.

It has been suggested that people and nonhuman animals protect their knowledge from interference by shifting attention toward the context when presented with information that contradicts their previous beliefs. Despite that suggestion, no studies have directly measured changes in attention while participants are exposed to an interference treatment. In the present experiments, we adapted a dot-probe task to track participants’ attention to cues and contexts while they were completing a simple category learning task. The results support the hypothesis that interference produces a change in the allocation of attention to cues and contexts.

P.6.a.001 The difference of decision-making pattern under ambiguity and risk between alcohol dependence and schizophrenia

It has long been known that in some relatively simple reinforcement learning tasks traditional strength-based classifier systems will adapt poorly and show poor generalisation. In contrast, the more recent accuracy-based XCS, appears both to adapt and generalise well. In this work, we attribute the difference to what we call strong over general and fit over general rules. We begin by developing a taxonomy of rule types and considering the conditions under which they may occur. In order to do so an extreme simplification of the classifier system is made, which forces us toward qualitative rather than quantitative analysis. We begin with the basics, considering definitions for correct and incorrect actions, and then correct, incorrect, and overgeneral rules for both strength and accuracy-based fitness. The concept of strong overgeneral rules, which we claim are the Achilles' heel of strength-based classifier systems, are then analysed. It is shown that strong overgenerals depend on what we call biases in the reward function (or, in sequential tasks, the value function). We distinguish between strong and fit overgeneral rules, and show that although strong overgenerals are fit in a strength-based system called SB-XCS, they are not in XCS. Next we show how to design fit overgeneral rules for XCS (but not SB-XCS), by introducing biases in the variance of the reward function, and thus that each system has its own weakness. Finally, we give some consideration to the prevalence of reward and variance function bias, and note that non-trivial sequential tasks have highly biased value functions.

The amount of feedback needed to learn a new task has long been debated ( cf. Schmidt &amp; Bjork, 1992; Van Merrienboer &amp; Sweller, 2005). One potential answer to the amount of feedback required is that feedback should be contingent upon the learner's cognitive resources and demands imposed by the task (McLaughlin, Rogers, &amp; Fisk, 2006). To test this model, a study is proposed that accounts for the learner's cognitive resources by comparing samples of populations with known differences, older and younger adults (Horn &amp; Cattell, 1967; Salthouse &amp; Babcock, 1991). To account for task demands, a simple rule-based cue learning task has been created. Participants will be provided with varying levels of feedback specificty while learning the task. We predict younger adults will benefit from less feedback support while older adults benefit from more feedback support. Theoretical and applied contributions are also discussed.

Some neurons have stimulus responses that are stable over days, whereas other neurons have highly plastic stimulus responses. Using a recurrent network model, we explore whether this could be due to an underlying diversity in their synaptic plasticity. We find that, in a network with diverse learning rates, neurons with fast rates are more coupled to population activity than neurons with slow rates. This plasticity-coupling link predicts that neurons with high population coupling exhibit more long-term stimulus response variability than neurons with low population coupling. We substantiate this prediction using recordings from the Allen Brain Observatory, finding that a neuron's population coupling is correlated with the plasticity of its orientation preference. Simulations of a simple perceptual learning task suggest a particular functional architecture: a stable 'backbone' of stimulus representation formed by neurons with low population coupling, on top of which lies a flexible substrate of neurons with high population coupling.