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School of Psychology

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https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70756

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College of Sciences

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Work Science Center

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https://finding-aids.library.gatech.edu/agents/corporate_entities/1133

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 31

Supporting Feedback Loop Reasoning in Simulated Systems with Computer-Based Scaffolding

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-04-12) Dunbar, Terri

Feedback loops are a critical part of systems and a frequent source of misconceptions. These misconceptions are thought to occur because people inappropriately apply their everyday experiences of causality to the types of causal feedback loops present in systems. Feedback loop reasoning can improve with training; however, misconceptions such as failing to close the loop are particularly resistant to change. Two experiments investigated whether factors known to improve positive transfer with other cognitive skills could overcome learners’ misconceptions about feedback loops during simulation training, including learning from multiple examples, similarity to the training context, scaffolding, and desirable difficulties. Results revealed that similarity and potentially cognitive load had the largest impacts on transfer, and the type of scaffolding used or how it was sequenced over training had little effect. Near transfer only occurred for participants who learned from balance systems where the goal is to maintain system equilibrium by counterbalancing relationships, and not with pattern systems where the goal is to determine how spatial patterns emerge from local interactions. There was no evidence of far transfer. Across both experiments, participants also closed the loop more frequently when learning from balance systems. Overall, the current studies suggest that researchers need to carefully consider the type of system used during simulation training because subtle manipulations can lead to different learning experiences. Existing theories of system misconceptions are unable to satisfactorily explain why these performance differences occurred. Instead, the results and their implications are discussed using cognitive load theory.
Subgoal Level Feedback Benefits Novel Problem Solving

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021-12-14) Schaeffer, Laura May

The present study combined subgoal learning and feedback frameworks to further improve problem solving performance and demonstrated that subgoal level feedback resulted in better learning outcomes over step level feedback, first in a lab environment and then in an online-only environment. Feedback is an essential part of learning that tells the learners what they are doing correctly as well as where they can improve. Feedback can be provided at different levels such as the solution level, step level, and sub-step level. Previously, feedback at the step level had shown to be as effective as sub-step level feedback while requiring less time and fewer resources to create. Subgoals are components of a problem solution that transfer across problems in a given domain. Subgoal level feedback has several advantages over step level feedback that cause it to be more effective for learners. Subgoals help learners identify the structure of the problem, chunk steps together (thereby reducing extraneous load), and encourage self-explanations. The present study combined subgoal learning and feedback frameworks to further improve problem solving performance. Learners who received subgoal level feedback correctly completed more steps of novel problem solving tasks and were better able to explain problem solving solutions than learners who received step level feedback. The results suggest that subgoal level feedback leads to better transfer on novel tasks because the subgoal framework helps learners better understand and apply general procedures.
Impacts on performance effectiveness, processing efficiency, and subjective experience by music listening in extraverts and introverts

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021-12-14) Levy, Laura

The present study evaluates the utility of a new model based on attentional control theory (ACT) in a music psychology study. This new model seeks to provide a mechanism to explain impacts of concurrent-task music listening on performance effectiveness, processing efficiency, and subjective experience of work by level of extraversion. After nearly 100 years of music psychology research, the literature is difficult to reconcile for whether listening to music while completing a cognitive task exerts a negative, positive, or null effect on performance. The Personality, Anxiety, and Musical Impacts (PAMI) model incorporates theories of arousal and anxiety as a mechanism that impinges on the cognitive functions of shifting and inhibition, as well as introduces a critical dependent variable of processing efficiency, and seeks to provide further understanding for the interaction of music listening, cognitive tasks, and individual differences. Two experiments were conducted in this study to assess the impacts on performance effectiveness and processing efficiency for inhibition and shifting tasks for extraverts and introverts in silence, low beats per minute (bpm), and high bpm conditions. Music exerted impacts on performance effectiveness for the Stroop task, on processing efficiency for both Stroop and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, as well as altered the subjective experience of tasks by level of extraversion making the tasks more enjoyable but seemingly more challenging and stressful. These findings suggest the PAMI model provides value in explaining the differing impacts concurrent task and music listening can have on individual differences, and move towards a prescriptive model of identifying the appropriate acoustic environments for certain kinds of people for specific kinds of work.
Individual Differences in Deepfake Detection: Mindblindness and Political Orientation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021-01-14) Tidler, Zachary R.

The proliferation of the capability for producing and distributing deepfake videos threatens the integrity of systems of justice, democratic processes, and the general ability to critically assess evidence. This study sought to identify individual differences that meaningfully predict one’s ability to detect these forgeries. It was hypothesized that measures of affect detection (theory of mind ability) and political orientation would correlate with performance on a deepfake detection task. Within a sample (N = 173) of college undergraduates and participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform, affect detection ability was shown to correlate with deepfake detection ability, r(171) = .73, p < .001, and general orientation to the political left was shown to correlate with deepfake detection ability, r(171) = .42, p < .001. Stronger correlations with deepfake detection ability were observed among specific facets of political orientation: economic liberalism, r(171) = .40, p < .001, and social progressivism, r(171) = .57, p < .001. Political orientation was shown to add incrementally predictivity in a model that included both, political orientation and affect detection as predictors of deepfake detection ability. The deepfake detection task was also assessed as a predictor of an autism spectrum disorder screening instrument, r(171) = -.23, p < .001. The results of this study serve to identify populations who are particularly susceptible to deception via deepfake video and to inform the development of interventions that may help defend the vulnerable from nefarious attempts to influence them.
An investigation of pedagogical interventions within the productive failure methodology

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2018-03-12) Chen, Dar-Wei

The assistance dilemma asks how learning environments should “balance information or assistance giving and withholding” (Koedinger & Aleven, 2007, p. 239). Minimal guidance (MG) methods posit that students learn best when exploring problems freely, while direct instruction (DI) methods provide canonical solutions early on to streamline students’ efforts (problems later). Each method type provides unique benefits, but both are important (Schwartz & Martin, 2004) and not easily delivered together. A relatively new MG-based method called “productive failure” (PF) is hypothesized to capture both sets of benefits by requiring students to struggle through problems early on and only revealing canonical solutions afterward (Kapur, 2008). Students using PF are hypothesized to more effectively transfer and retain information because balancing heuristics and formal knowledge produces diverse solution attempts (diSessa & Sherin, 2000) and struggling during exploration pushes students to identify and fill knowledge gaps (Kulhavy & Stock, 1989). In the present studies, participants learned to perform tasks in two domains, cryptarithmetic (more traditional) and Rubik’s Cube (psychomotor, less traditional) while using either PF or DI methods. General linear models revealed that A) PF participants did not outperform DI participants on either immediate post-tests or retention tests, although they did report being more exploration-oriented during problem-solving and trying more unique solution strategies, B) subgoal labels increased learning, but only for the relatively novel Rubik’s Cube domain (and they sometimes increased workload in the cryptarithmetic domain, in fact), C) the effects of subgoal labels did not change with instruction type, D) “testing effect” did not change across instruction type, but did change across domain. Future research is needed to determine how PF methods can be modified and/or scaffolded so that exploration mindsets and diverse solutions attempts help learners transfer and retain knowledge.
Gender differences in verbal, mathematical, and overall academic self-concept: a meta-analytic review

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-12-07) Velez, Chelsea Vance

The literature provides many examples suggesting that males have, on average, higher academic self-concept levels when compared to females, especially in mathematical domains. Three meta-analyses were conducted to examine the magnitude of differences in overall academic, verbal, and mathematical self-concept. For all three constructs, males scored significantly higher than females on measures of self-concept, with weighted mean effect sizes from d = 0.13 to d = 0.41. Additionally, moderator variables such as the publication year of the study, were examined in an attempt to identify potential sources of gender differences in academic self-concept domains. The results of moderator analyses were varied across overall academic, verbal, and mathematical self-concept.
Emotional and cognitive interest: How creating situational interest affects learning with multimedia

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-12-09) Yoo, Angela

There is disagreement in scientific literature over the educational benefits of generating situational interest (Rey, 2012). Situational interest refers to the positive affect and sustained attention triggered by features of a particular context (Hidi & Renninger, 2006). Some studies show that interesting information can be highly motivating, thus enhancing learning. but other studies find it can hinder learning. There is some limited evidence that the seductive detail effect is due to additional cognitive load, disruption of meaningful information pathways, or the priming of inappropriate schema. Therefore, this effect may be weakened if the emotionally interesting information is relevant to the main idea. The findings from the following research show that irrelevant interesting material can produce the seductive detail effect only under certain conditions. No effects were found due to relevant and interesting details. Harp & Mayer (1997) had proposed that creating cognitive interest, rather than emotional interest, is a more effective strategy for engaging students and improving learning because the material can cue the relationships among concepts for easier processing. Hidi & Renninger (2006) argue that the distinction between emotional and cognitive dimensions is artificial and faulty. This research was able to replicate beneficial results from cognitive interest studies but did not find any evidence as to whether emotional and cognitive interests are the same or separate constructs. The problem was due to the operationalization of cognitive interest in previous studies, as well as the lack of validation for the strategies utilized to manipulate levels of cognitive interest.
Using subgoal learning and self-explanation to improve programming education

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-04-04) Margulieux, Lauren Elizabeth

The present study combined subgoal learning and self-explanation frameworks to improve problem solving performance. Subgoal learning has been used to promote retention and transfer in procedural domains, such as programming. The primary method for learning subgoals, however, has been through passive learning methods, and passive learning methods are typically less effective than constructive learning methods. To promote constructive methods of learning subgoals, a subgoal learning framework was used to guide self-explanation. Self-explanation is an effective method for engaging learners to make sense of new information based on prior knowledge and logical reasoning. Self-explanation is typically more effective when learners receive some guidance, especially if they are novices, because it helps them to focus their attention on relevant information. In the present study, only some of the constructive learning methods produced better problem solving performance than passive learning methods. Learners performed best when they learned constructively and either received hints about the subgoals of the procedure or received feedback on the self-explanations that they constructed, but not when they received both hints and feedback. When students received both types of guidance, they did not perform better than those who learned subgoals through passive learning methods. These findings suggest that constructive learning of subgoals can further improve the benefits of learning subgoals, but there is an optimal level of guidance for students engaging in constructive learning. Providing too much guidance can be as detrimental as providing too little. This nuance is important for educators who engage their students in constructive learning and self-explanation to recognize and promote the best results.
The effects of background music on video game play performance, behavior and experience in extraverts and introverts

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-12-04) Levy, Laura M.

For many, listening to music is an enjoyable experience pursued throughout one’s lifetime. Nearly 200 years of music psychology research has revealed the various ways music listening can impact human emotional states, as well as cognitive and motor performance. Music in video games has come a long way from the first chiptunes of 1978 to the full scores written specifically for games today. However, very little is understood of how background game music impacts game performance, behavior and experience. Even less is known for how music variables might affect performance, behavior and experience by individual differences, such as personality type. In this study, 78 participants scoring in the top 30% for their age range of either extraversion or introversion played a cognitive-training game in four music conditions (silence, low tempo, medium tempo, and high tempo). Performance, game play behavior, and flow experience scores were analyzed for each music condition by level of extraversion. While no statistically significant differences were found in game performance scores by level of extraversion, there were statistically significant differences found for play behavior (physical mouse motions) and flow experience for the music conditions. These results suggest that music can both alter the nature of physical game inputs and also provide a more engaging game experience, while not necessarily impacting one’s ability to perform in a game.
Interaction of instructional material order and subgoal labels on learning in programming

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015-12-04) Schaeffer, Laura M.

Expository instructions, worked examples, and subgoal labels have all been shown to positively impact student learning and performance in computer science education. This study examined whether learning and problem solving performance differed based on the sequence of the instructional materials (expository and worked examples) and the presence of subgoal labels within the instructional materials. Participants were 138 undergraduate college students, age 17-25, who watched two instructional videos on creating an application in the App Inventor programming language before completing several learning assessments. A significant interaction showed that when learners were presented with the worked example followed by the expository instructions containing subgoal labels, the learner was better at outlining the procedure for creating an application. These manipulations did not affect cognitive load, novel problem solving performance, explanations of solutions, or the amount of time spent on instructions and completing the assessments. These results suggest that the order instructional materials are presented have has little impact on problem solving, although some benefit can be gained from presenting the worked example before the expository instructions when subgoal labels are included. This suggests the order the instructions are presented to learners does not impact learning. Previous studies demonstrating an effect of subgoal labels used text instructions as opposed to the video instructions used in the present study. Future research should investigate how these manipulations differ for text instructions and video instructions.