We present a novel multimodal dataset for Cognitive Load Assessment in REal-time (CLARE). The dataset contains physiological and gaze data from 24 participants with self-reported cognitive load scores as ground-truth labels. The dataset consists of four modalities, namely, Electrocardiography (ECG), Electrodermal Activity (EDA), Electroencephalogram (EEG), and Gaze tracking. To map diverse levels of mental load on participants during experiments, each participant completed four nine-minutes sessions on a computer-based operator performance and mental workload task (the MATB-II software) with varying levels of complexity in one minute segments. During the experiment, participants reported their cognitive load every 10 seconds. For the dataset, we also provide benchmark binary classification results with machine learning and deep learning models on two different evaluation schemes, namely, 10-fold and leave-one-subject-out (LOSO) cross-validation. Benchmark results show that for 10-fold evaluation, the convolutional neural network (CNN) based deep learning model achieves the best classification performance with ECG, EDA, and Gaze. In contrast, for LOSO, the best performance is achieved by the deep learning model with ECG, EDA, and EEG.

Paradigms used to examine attentional capture are limited by the presentation of stimuli that are not entirely task irrelevant. Moreover, attentional capture has rarely been studied in the context of continuous task performance. Consequently, it is not possible to measure the duration of the distractor interference effect while participants are continuously engaging in a task. These limitations represent important obstacles to existing paradigms as they do not reflect the type of entirely irrelevant, spontaneous distraction that occurs when individuals are continuously engaging in daily life tasks. To address these limitations, we implemented a new methodology based on a paradigm designed by Forster and Lavie (2011). Participants worked through a 12-item circular array making consecutive forced choice responses as to whether the identity of an item was a letter or a digit. On thirty percent of the trials, a distracting colorful cartoon character image was presented in the center of the circular display. Participants were instructed to respond as quickly and accurately as possible to the identity of the items until they had responded to the last item in the array. Moreover, we tracked the participants’ eye movements throughout the entirety of the task. Response times (RTs) to the items immediately following the presentation of a distractor were significantly slower than RTs to items when no distractor was presented. Importantly, the distractor’s effect on RTs was maintained over three responses following distractor presentation, providing evidence for lasting attentional capture by entirely irrelevant distractors. Despite this prolonged interference effect, there was no evidence of overt oculomotor capture over these three responses, suggesting that distraction by entirely irrelevant distractors is covert. These findings are important as they provide further evidence for the ability of distractors presented with abrupt onsets to capture attention despite participants having no attentional set for these distractor stimuli.

BACKGROUND:In resuscitation medicine, effectively managing cognitive load in high-stakes environments has important implications for education and expertise development. There exists the potential to tailor educational experiences to an individual's cognitive processes via real-time physiologic measurement of cognitive load in simulation environments.OBJECTIVE:The goal of this research was to test a novel simulation platform that utilized artificial intelligence to deliver a medical simulation that was adaptable to a participant's measured cognitive load.METHODS:The research was conducted in 2019. Two board-certified emergency physicians and two medical students participated in a 10-minute pilot trial of a novel simulation platform. The system utilized artificial intelligence algorithms to measure cognitive load in real time via electrocardiography and galvanic skin response. In turn, modulation of simulation difficulty, determined by a participant's cognitive load, was facilitated through symptom severity changes of an augmented reality (AR) patient. A postsimulation survey assessed the participants' experience.RESULTS:Participants completed a simulation that successfully measured cognitive load in real time through physiological signals. The simulation difficulty was adapted to the participant's cognitive load, which was reflected in changes in the AR patient's symptoms. Participants found the novel adaptive simulation platform to be valuable in supporting their learning.CONCLUSION:Our research team created a simulation platform that adapts to a participant's cognitive load in real-time. The ability to customize a medical simulation to a participant's cognitive state has potential implications for the development of expertise in resuscitation medicine.

Attribute amnesia (AA) describes a phenomenon whereby observers fail a surprise memory test which asks them to report an attribute they had just attended and used to fulfil a task goal. This finding has cast doubt on the prominent theory that attention results in encoding into working memory (WM), to which two competing explanations have been proposed: (1) task demands dictate whether attended information is encoded into WM, and (2) attended information is encoded in a weak state that does not survive the demands of the surprise memory test. To address this debate our study circumvented the limitations of a surprise memory test by embedding a second search task within a typical color-based AA search task. The search task was modified so that the attended attribute would reappear in the second search as either the target, a distractor, or not at all. Critically, our results support encoding of the attended attribute in WM though to a weaker extent than the attribute that is required for report. A second experiment confirmed that WM encoding only occurs for the attended attribute, though distractor attributes produce a bias consistent with negative priming. Our data provide novel support for a theory of memory consolidation that links the strength of a memory’s representation with expectations for how it will be used in a task. Implications for the utility of this procedure in future investigations previously limited by single trial data (i.e., surprise question methodology) are discussed.

Recent advances in our understanding of working memory (WM) suggest that performance on tasks that assess WM confound an individual’s maximum WM capacity with trial-to-trial variations in their attentional control. This limitation regarding one of the most commonly assessed cognitive constructs in clinical psychology raises important questions regarding the true locus of performance deficits found in the assessment of clinical populations such as Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD). Fortunately, new methodologies have been developed which can isolate and measure these two cognitive traits independently within a single task referred to as a discrete whole-report WM task. Within the task, participants are presented with six colored squares during the initial memory array and must make responses about each item. This design allows for a more detailed assessment of memory performance (0-6 items recalled correctly) which can be used to determine an individual’s complete memory performance on every trial. From this data, a computational model described in Hakim et al., (2020) determines an individual’s maximum WM capacity and their sustained attention capacity, a measure of the probability with which a participant achieves their maximum WM capacity throughout the experiment. The present study administered a whole-report WM task to 26 individuals, 15 with SSD and 11 healthy age-matched controls. Our results suggest participants with SSD were significantly impaired in both sustained attention capacity and maximum WM capacity, though to a larger extent in their sustained attention capacity. Moreover, removing trials where participants reported only 0 or 1 squares correctly significantly reduced differences in performance across the two groups in the whole report task. These results indicate that tracking and removing trials that reflect complete attentional lapses may provide more sensitive indices that better reflect true cognitive deficits.

Despite the substantial evidence highlighting the role of selective rehearsal in item-method directed forgetting, recent work has suggested that forgetting may occur as a function of an active inhibitory mechanism that is more effortful than elaborative rehearsal processes. In the present work, we test this hypothesis by implementing a double-item presentation within the item-method directed forgetting paradigm. Participants studied two unrelated items at a time. Some words were followed by the same cue, and participants were instructed to remember or forget both items (pure condition). On other trials, participants were to remember one but forget the other word (mixed condition). Selective rehearsal and inhibition accounts make distinct predictions regarding memory performance in the double-item presentation. In Experiment 1, we compared recognition performance in the pure and mixed conditions, while in Experiment 2, we included a neutral baseline condition to further distinguish between the selective rehearsal and inhibition accounts. Contrary to the inhibition account but consistent with selective rehearsal, we found for both remember and forget items that recognition was greater in the mixed than in the pure condition. Recognition for forget items also did not differ from neutral items. We conclude that selective rehearsal, not inhibition, is responsible for item-method directed forgetting.

In visual search, there is a confirmation bias such that attention is biased towards stimuli that match a target template, which has been attributed to covert costs of updating the templates that guide search [Rajsic, Wilson, & Pratt, 2015. Confirmation bias in visual search. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/xhp0000090]. In order to provide direct evidence for this speculation, the present study increased the cost of inspections in search by using gaze- and mouse-contingent searches, which restrict the manner in which information in search displays can be accrued, and incur additional motor costs (in the case of mouse-contingent searches). In a fourth experiment, we rhythmically mask elements in the search display to induce temporal inspection costs. Our results indicated that confirmation bias is indeed attenuated when inspection costs are increased. We conclude that confirmation bias results from the low-cost strategy of matching information to a single, concrete visual template, and that more sophisticated guidance strategies will be used when sufficiently beneficial. This demonstrates that search guidance itself comes at a cost, and that the form of guidance adopted in a given search depends on a comparison between guidance costs and the expected benefits of their implementation.

In this article, we demonstrate limitations of accessibility of information in visual working memory (VWM). Recently, cued-recall has been used to estimate the fidelity of information in VWM, where the feature of a cued object is reproduced from memory (Bays, Catalao, & Husain, 2009; Wilken & Ma, 2004; Zhang & Luck, 2008). Response error in these tasks has been largely studied with respect to failures of encoding and maintenance; however, the retrieval operations used in these tasks remain poorly understood. By varying the number and type of object features provided as a cue in a visual delayed-estimation paradigm, we directly assess the nature of retrieval errors in delayed estimation from VWM. Our results demonstrate that providing additional object features in a single cue reliably improves recall, largely by reducing swap, or misbinding, responses. In addition, performance simulations using the binding pool model (Swan & Wyble, 2014) were able to mimic this pattern of performance across a large span of parameter combinations, demonstrating that the binding pool provides a possible mechanism underlying this pattern of results that is not merely a symptom of one particular parametrization. We conclude that accessing visual working memory is a noisy process, and can lead to errors over and above those of encoding and maintenance limitations.

Common-onset masking (COM) refers to a methodology where a mask can impair awareness of an object if the mask’s offset is delayed relative to the offset of the object. This method has classically been used to understand how discontinuities in visual input lead to the discrete removal of object representations before they reach conscious awareness. However, COM has recently been shown to reduce the precision of conscious object representations (Harrison, Rajsic, & Wilson, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review , 23 (1), 180–186, 2016 ). As a result, Harrison et al. proposed that COM shortens the temporal window for perceptual sampling of an object’s representation, an account consistent with interruption-based theories of masking. In the present study we modified the standard COM methodology to assess the impact of a delayed mask offset on the temporal perception of an object’s representation. Across two experiments we provide novel evidence that a delayed mask offset can impair temporal perception of a conscious percept, such that it reduces the percept’s perceived duration (Experiment 1 ), and prematurely terminates updating of the percept’s dynamic orientation (Experiment 2 ). We refer to these results as temporal trimming, and suggest that the mechanism responsible for COM operates during the sustained perception of an object.

Visual working memory (VWM) plays a central role in visual cognition, and current work suggests that there is a special state in VWM for items that are the goal of visual searches. However, whether the quality of memory for target templates differs from memory for other items in VWM is currently unknown. In this study, we measured the precision and stability of memory for search templates and accessory items to determine whether search templates receive representational priority in VWM. Memory for search templates exhibited increased precision and probability of recall, whereas accessory items were remembered less often. Additionally, while memory for Templates showed benefits when instances of the Template appeared in search, this benefit was not consistently observed for Accessory items when they appeared in search. Our results show that becoming a search template can substantially affect the quality of a representation in VWM.

An emerging framework suggests that visual working memory (WM) representations rely on the same representational resources as those used to process external visual input. Kiyonaga and Egner (2014) provided support for this claim by demonstrating with a modified WM Stroop task that an irrelevant color word held in WM produces the same Stroop interference patterns on a perceptual color target as that seen in a classic perceptual Stroop task. However, there is evidence that perceptual and WM representations differ in terms of their spatial representation. Specifically, unlike visually perceived stimuli, the representation of information in WM might be spatially global rather than tied to any specific retinotopic location (Ester, Serences, & Awh, 2009). To test the spatial specificity of WM representations, we compared a classic perceptual Stroop task with a WM version in which the color word and color patch appeared either in the same or a different spatial location. In Experiment 1, for the perceptual version, we found a spatial effect such that spatial separation eliminated Stroop interference. However, in the WM Stroop task, robust Stroop interference was demonstrated in both the spatially overlapping and spatially separated conditions. In Experiment 2, we ensured location of the color word was encoded into WM by only testing memory for the color word's location. At test, the color word either appeared in the same spatial location or at a spatially displaced location—the extent of which was modified throughout the task to ensure motivated encoding. Replicating the results of Experiment 1, spatial separation eliminated Stroop interference for the perceptual task, but was present for both spatially overlapping and spatially separated conditions of the WM Stroop task. These experiments support the conclusion that at least in terms of spatial information, perceptual and WM representations do not rely on the same neural machinery. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2016

25 In a series of experiments, we investigated the ubiquity of confirmation bias in cognition 26 by measuring whether visual selection is prioritized for information that would confirm a 27 proposition about a visual display. We show that attention is preferentially deployed to stimuli 28 matching a target template, even when alternate strategies would reduce the number of searches 29 necessary. We argue that this effect is an involuntary consequence of goal-directed processing, 30 and show that it can be reduced when ample time is provided to prepare for search. These results 31 support the notion that capacity-limited cognitive processes contribute to the biased selection of 32 information that characterizes confirmation bias. 33

Object-substitution masking (OSM) is a unique paradigm for the examination of object updating processes. However, existing models of OSM are underspecified with respect to the impact of object updating on the quality of target representations. Using two paradigms of OSM combined with a mixture model analysis we examine the impact of post-perceptual processes on a target’s representational quality within conscious awareness. We conclude that object updating processes responsible for OSM cause degradation in the precision of object representations. These findings contribute to a growing body of research advocating for the application of mixture model analysis to the study of how cognitive processes impact the quality (i.e., precision) of object representations.

In visual search, attention is biased towards stimuli that confirm a target's presence. Although advantageous in present/absent target searches, we have shown that search can be arbitrarily biased towards one of two target stimuli, indicating a confirmation bias for the target conjunction framed as the search template. This conclusion, however, assumes that participants performed a simple, serial visual search in our task. To test this assumption, we measured behavioral and oculomotor performance in standard and gaze-contingent versions of our dual-target search task. Searches consisted of eight colored circles, seven containing distractor letters, and one with a target letter. Participants were instructed to press one key if the target letter appeared on a circle with a specified color, and to press another key if the target letter appeared on a circle in the non-specified color. We varied the number of circles that matched the specified color and the color that the target letter appeared on. We predicted that circles matching the specified color would be attended first, as these circles would confirm the presence of the target conjunction. In the standard condition, eye positions were simply recorded to measure spontaneous search patterns. In the gaze contingent condition, letters were only shown when circles were fixated. This allowed us to assess search strategy when searches were necessarily serial. The results of the standard search demonstrated confirmation bias in oculomotor selection; both search time and number of fixations increased as more circles in the specified color were present on a trial. However, the gaze contingent condition did not exhibit confirmation bias, either in total fixations or search time. We conclude that gaze contingent search leads to different selection dynamics than search when all stimuli are visible, weakening the bias towards confirmatory stimuli. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.

International Journal of Developmental NeuroscienceVolume 47, Issue Part_A p. 68-68 Article ISDN2014_0226: Antisaccade saccadic reaction time after completion of videogame training program for individuals with autism spectrum disorder Layla Hall, Corresponding Author Layla Hall n/a@.dne Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorElizabeth Kelley, Elizabeth Kelley Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorDaryl Wilson, Daryl Wilson Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorJason Rajsic, Jason Rajsic Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorElena Ladwig, Elena Ladwig Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorRosaria Furlano, Rosaria Furlano Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author Layla Hall, Corresponding Author Layla Hall n/a@.dne Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorElizabeth Kelley, Elizabeth Kelley Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorDaryl Wilson, Daryl Wilson Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorJason Rajsic, Jason Rajsic Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorElena Ladwig, Elena Ladwig Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this authorRosaria Furlano, Rosaria Furlano Queen's University, CanadaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 05 November 2015 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2015.04.188Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume47, IssuePart_AISDN 2014 AbstractsDecember 2015Pages 68-68 RelatedInformation

Object substitution masking (OSM) describes a decrease in the ability to accurately report the identity of an object (the target) when a surrounding four-dot mask (4DM) remains on the screen after the offset of the target. Current theories propose that OSM results from the visual system updating the initial target plus mask representation in favor of the later mask only representation. Notably, object updating theories of OSM are underspecified with regard to the temporal dynamics of the updating process. To examine the possibility that OSM results in the reduction of a target's perceived duration, two experiments combined a temporal order judgement task with an OSM paradigm. In Experiment 1, eight objects (two targets and six distractors) were presented along with two 4DMs which either overlapped the two targets or two distractors. On every trial, the presentation duration of the distractors and one of the targets were equivalent (100 ms) whereas the other target's duration was varied (25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 or 175 ms). Participants made a forced choice judgement of the relative duration of the two targets. Accuracy was used to generate psychometric curves representing perceived durations of targets. Critically, the offset of one of the masks was always simultaneous with its associated object, whereas the offset of the other mask was delayed by 300 ms. When masks overlapped the targets, there was a shift in the psychometric curve indicating that the delayed mask reduced the perceived duration of its associated target. Experiment 2 extended the standard presentation duration of all the objects to 500 ms and used a blocked design in which the masks either overlapped the targets, or were radially displaced from them. Both experiments provide novel evidence that OSM can reduce the perceived duration of supra-threshold objects without affecting detection accuracy. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.

Research has demonstrated that, despite difficulties in multiple domains, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show a lack of awareness of these difficulties. A misunderstanding of poor competencies may make it difficult for individuals to adjust their behaviour in accordance with feedback and may lead to greater impairments over time. This study examined self‐perceptions of adolescents with ASD ( n = 19) and typically developing (TD) mental‐age‐matched controls ( n = 22) using actual performance on objective academic tasks as the basis for ratings. Before completing the tasks, participants were asked how well they thought they would do (pre‐task prediction). After completing each task, they were asked how well they thought they did (immediate post‐performance) and how well they would do in the future (hypothetical future post‐performance). Adolescents with ASD had more positively biased self‐perceptions of competence than TD controls. The ASD group tended to overestimate their performance on all ratings of self‐perceptions (pre‐task prediction, immediate, and hypothetical future post‐performance). In contrast, while the TD group was quite accurate at estimating their performance immediately before and after performing the task, they showed some tendency to overestimate their future performance. Future investigation is needed to systematically examine possible mechanisms that may be contributing to these biased self‐perceptions. Autism Res 2015, 8: 761–770 . © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.