Computer Monitoring of Work Performance: Extending the Social Facilitation Framework to Electronic Presence1

This study demonstrated the utility of employing a social facilitation framework to the study of computer monitoring of work performance. The physical presence of an observer watching a subject work on a complex task (as a supervisor might “look over an employee's shoulder“) was contrasted with four conditions involving the electronic presence of computer-based work monitoring (as a supervisor might monitor an employee's work remotely via computer) and a control condition of subjects working alone without any monitoring of their work. Task performance was severely impaired for participants who were monitored electronically as well as for those who were monitored “in person.” Two interventions, providing participants with a sense of control over their work conditions and monitoring participants as a group rather than as individuals, each reduced the negative impact of monitoring on task performance by almost 40%. Results also indicated that individuals with an external locus of control (who believe reinforcements received are primarily determined by factors outside of themselves, e. g., other people) experience greater anxiety than those with an internal locus of control under monitoring conditions. Implications of these findings for social facilitation and the rapidly expanding use of computer-based work monitoring are discussed.     

The Effects of Monitoring Individual and Group Performance on the Distribution of Effort Across Tasks1

This study was concerned with the mechanism(s) via which performance monitoring affects task performance. To investigate whether an individual's concerns over the evaluation of his or her performance underlie the effects of performance monitoring (independent of contingent consequences) on the distribution of effort across tasks, the study examined whether the way in which individuals performed two tasks was differentially affected by the way in which supervisors monitored performance on those tasks. Subjects working in a group setting performed two different tasks for 90 minutes, their instructions being to perform as well as possible on each task. When supervisors periodically monitored the work output of each individual within the group on one of the two tasks, subjects perceived that the supervisor was evaluating and comparing individual performance, and produced more on the monitored task at the expense of the unmonitored task. When, however, the supervisor's monitoring focused on group rather than individual products, subjects perceived that the supervisor was less likely to be able to evaluate and to compare individual performance, and their performance on the two tasks was the same, regardless of which task was monitored. Path analysis supported the interpretation that the effects of monitoring on performance were mediated by evaluation concerns associated with performance on each task.     

Manual performance in the cold with gloves and bare hands

Previous research aimed at quantifying and reducing the decrements encountered in performing manual tasks in cold weather has not described the relationships between task characteristics and cold-induced impairments. The amount of decrement and, often times, the optimal means for reducing the decrement, appear to be task-specific. The research reported here is one in a series of studies formulated to explore those relationships. The strategy is to use tasks from the battery developed by Fleishman (1967) to measure the factorially 'pure' abilities needed to perform all manual tasks. 24 U.S. Marines performed this battery of nine tasks across a range of cold temperatures. To determine if the decrement due to wearing gloves might be less than the decrement due to cold hands as the air temperature decreased, performance on the battery of tasks was measured with and without gloves. Only three of the tasks (abilities) were affected by cold temperatures, and the amount of decrement increased as the air temperature decreased. Three tasks deteriorated due to wearing of gloves, two of those affected by cold and one other. Temperature affected performance independently of the glove effect. Half of the subjects did not complete bare-handed testing at -18 degrees C (approximately 20 min.), indicating this is the lower end of the temperature range in which bare-handed performance for more than a few minutes is practical.     

Dissociations between word priming effects in normal subjects and patients with memory disorders: Multiple memory systems or retrieval?

Repetition priming was measured in two different tasks within a single experiment--one in which subjects named briefly (tachistoscopically) presented words, and one requiring naming of visually fragmented/degraded words. Thirteen amnesic patients, 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 15 normal control subjects were tested under 4 experimental conditions involving the factorial combination of two variables: delay of test (10 minutes and 24 hours), and number of prior occurrences of the primed items (1 and 4). The two tasks produced very different patterns of priming effects, despite the fact that common study phases were employed. In one task the priming effect showed no decay and virtually no effect of the number of prior occurrences of the primed items, whereas both these variables affected priming in the other task. The AD patients evidenced impaired priming in both tasks. However, in the degraded-word-naming task the deficit was only apparent under some experimental conditions. The amnesics produced priming effects that in absolute terms were similar to those produced by control subjects. However, when group differences in overall performance level were taken into account in the tachistoscopic task, these patients also showed clear evidence of impaired priming. It is argued that the complex pattern of priming effects obtained is best explained by the characteristics of the retrieval cues provided in the tasks, and, generally, that such characteristics may determine whether or not experimental variables will affect measured priming.     

Grasp force control in older adults

Diminished tactile sensibility and impaired hand dexterity have been reported for elderly individuals. Reports that younger adults with severely impaired tactile sensibility use excessive grasp force during routine grasp and manipulation tasks raise the possibility that elderly persons likewise produce large grasp forces that may contribute to impaired dexterity. Impaired pseudomotor functioning also occurs in elderly subjects and may yield a slipperier skin surface that enhances the possibility for excessive grasp force. The present study measured grasp force in 10 elderly and 9 young adult individuals, during grasp and vertical lift of a small object, using a precision (pinch) grip of the thumb and index finger. The slipperiness of the object's gripped surfaces was unexpectedly varied. Skin slipperiness was estimated by also measuring the grasp force at which the object slipped from grasp. The older subjects employed grasp forces that were, on average, twice as large as those of the young subjects, with some producing forces many times greater than the young subjects' average grip force. Grip forces also were significantly more variable across trials in older subjects. This increased variability was not caused simply by the elderly subjects' increased grip force. A portion of the increased force was due to increased skin slipperiness. The grip force that the elderly subjects produced in excess of the slip force (the "margin of safety" against object slippage) was larger than would have been predicted from their skin slipperiness, however. It is suggested that, in part, the excessive grasp forces represent a strategic response to tactile sensibility impairment. Twopoint discrimination limina in the older subjects averaged about four times greater than in the younger subjects. Increased grasp forces in elderly persons may result from other factors, such as increased variability in grip force production. The contributions of excessive grasp forces to impaired dexterity in older persons still need to be addressed experimentally.     

Competing with reasoning: A test of the working memory hypothesis

An experiment is reported in which subjects attempted conditional reasoning problems while concurrently articulating a series of digits, with or without memory load. Logical performance was not impaired by the competing tasks and the latency of responding was actually faster under concurrent articulation, without memory load, than in a control group. The results are discussed with reference to the Baddeley and Hitch (1974) model of working memory.     

Domain-general contributions to social reasoning: theory of mind and deontic reasoning re-explored

Using older adults and dual-task interference, we examined performance on two social reasoning tasks: theory of mind (ToM) tasks and versions of the deontic selection task involving social contracts and hazardous conditions. In line with performance accounts of social reasoning, evidence from both aging and the dual-task method suggested that domain-general resources contribute to performance of these tasks. Specifically, older adults were impaired relative to younger adults on all types of social reasoning tasks tested; performance varied as a function of the demands these tasks placed on domain-general resources. Moreover, in younger adults, simultaneous performance of a working memory task interfered with younger adults' performance on both types of social reasoning tasks; here too, the magnitude of the interference effect varied with the processing demands of each task. Limits placed on social reasoning by executive functions contribute a great deal to performance, even in old age and in healthy younger adults under conditions of divided attention. The role of potentially non-modular and modular contributions to social reasoning is discussed.     

Computer-Based Performance Monitoring and Productivity in a Multiple Task Environment

Computer-based performance monitoring (CPM) provides managers with the ability to continuously, and unobtrusively, monitor the work performed by their employees. This paper examines the impact that CPM has on productivity when people are monitored on only a portion of the work that they perform. In a simulated work setting, subjects worked on two computerized tasks, and were led to believe that their work on one, both, or none of the tasks would be electronically monitored. People who were monitored only on a relatively simple task tended to work at a faster rate on both their monitored and non-monitored tasks, in comparison to people who were not monitored at all. People who were monitored only on a task that was more moderate in level of difficulty did not work any faster or more accurately than people who were not monitored. The results of the current study suggests that under certain conditions, employees may not discriminate between monitored and non-monitored work. Recommendations are offered to managers who are considering implementing CPM in their workplace.     

Relations between visceral and behavioral function in men at bedrest

Multiple physiological measurements as well as a self-assessment of arousal was made in eight men on the first, third, and fifth days of bedrest. On the third day, additional measurements of performance on memory and dexterity tasks were made. Univariate analysis did not reveal any physiological variable to either predict subsequent performance well or to co-vary acutely with it; however, self-rating scores did prove to be useful predictors of subsequent performance. Principal components analysis suggested an“alertness” factor comprised of physiological measures as well as selfratings which helped in predicting better performance. Although the individual patterns of correlations between variables on each of the three test days was variable, even more variability between subjects was found on the performance testing day. We believe this effect of behavioral activation may be due to the injection of common, slow temporal trends into many of the different data sets.     

There are stable individual differences in performance variability, both from moment to moment and from day to day

Individual differences in decision speed have been regarded as direct reflections of a "primitive" functional neurophysiological characteristic, which affects performance on all cognitive tasks and so may be regarded as the "biological basis of intelligence", or of age-related changes in mental abilities. More detailed analyses show that variability within an experimental session (WSV) is a stable individual difference characteristic and that mean choice reaction times (CRTs) are gross summary statistics that reflect variability, rather than maximum speed of performance. A total of 98 people aged from 60 to 80 years completed 36 weekly sessions on six different letter categorization tasks. After effects of practice and of circadian variability had been eliminated, individuals with lower scores on the Cattell Culture Fair intelligence test had slower CRTs and greater WSV on all tasks. A simulation study showed that the greater WSVs of low Cattell scorers led directly to the significantly greater variability of their mean CRTs from session to session. However because CRTs on tasks co-varied from session to session it was apparent that, besides being affected by WSV, individuals' between-session variabilities (BSVs) also vary because of state changes that affect their performance from day to day. It seems that both variability in performance from trial to trial during a session and variability in average performance from day to day are correlated, stable, individual difference characteristics that vary inversely with intelligence test performance. Methodological consequences of these results for interpretations of age-related cognitive changes, for variability between as well as within individuals, for individual differences in decision speed, and for circadian variability in performance are discussed.     

A Dissociation Between Simple and Complex Span Impairment in Alcoholics

We investigated whether the surprisingly good memory performance of alcoholics may result from simple memory performance being spared while performance in complex memory tasks is impaired. Simple word span was contrasted with a complex word span task involving concurrent monitoring and re-organisation of items for recall. To control for disruption of rehearsal in the complex word span task, performance on two additional tasks with disrupted rehearsal but no additional processing components was studied. As hypothesised, the alcoholics showed a deficit in the complex but not the simple word span task. They were also impaired, compared to controls, on both tasks with disrupted rehearsal. The difference between groups remained in the complex span task when scores in simple span and either of the two other tasks were used as covariates. Thus, both executive processes necessary for coping with disrupted rehearsal and additional processes scheduling processing and storage in a complex task may play a role in accounting for working memory deficits found in alcoholics.     

Aging neuromodulation impairs associative binding: a neurocomputational account

Relative to young adults, older adults are particularly impaired in episodic memory tasks requiring associative binding of separate components into compound episodes, such as tasks requiring item-context and item-item binding. This associative-binding deficit has been attributed to senescent changes in frontal-hippocampal circuitry but has not been formally linked to impaired neuromodulation involving this circuitry. Previous neurocomputational work showed that impaired neuromodulation could result in less distinct neurocognitive representations. Here we extend this computational principle to simulate aging-related deficits in associative binding. As expected, networks with simulated deficiency in neuromodulation resulted in less distinct internal representations than did networks simulating the processing and performance of young adults, and were also more impaired under task conditions that required associative binding. The findings suggest that senescent changes in neuromodulatory mechanisms may play a basic role in aging-related impairment in associative binding by reducing the efficacy of distributed conjunctive coding.     

Working memory and the control of action: evidence from task switching.

A series of 7 experiments used dual-task methodology to investigate the role of working memory in the operation of a simple action-control plan or program involving regular switching between addition and subtraction. Lists requiring switching were slower than blocked lists and showed 2 concurrent task effects. Demanding executive tasks impaired performance on both blocked and switched lists, whereas articulatory suppression impaired principally the switched condition. Implications for models of task switching and working memory and for the Vygotskian concept of verbal control of action are discussed.     

Consistently Inconsistent Working Memory Performance Among Children with ADHD: Evidence of Response Accuracy Variability (RAV)

Heterogeneity in cognitive performance, once regarded as noise, is now considered a causal mechanism or core deficit of ADHD and its related symptoms in most etiological models of the disorder. Previous research on cognitive performance variability has documented increased heterogeneity in response latencies using reaction time data. In contrast, variability in response accuracy remains understudied. The present study is the first to examine Response Accuracy Variability (RAV) among children with ADHD. Children with ADHD (N?=?54) and typically developing children (N?=?50) completed phonological working memory tasks with four set size conditions. RAV was calculated for each set size using the adjusted coefficient of variation (ζ). Results from a mixed model ANOVA indicated that children with ADHD evinced significantly greater variation in working memory performance relative to typically developing children when engaged in tasks within their cognitive capacity (i.e., set sizes 3 and 4), whereas all children exhibit similar, high levels of variability on tasks that exceeded their cognitive capacity (i.e., set sizes 5 and 6). Findings are aligned with the extant literature in documenting consistently inconsistent cognitive performance among children ADHD.

     

Effects of Domain,Retention Interval,and Information Load on Young and Older Adults’ Visuospatial Working Memory

Age-related differences in visuospatial working memory were examined in 69 young adults and 49 older adults exposed to three pairs of tasks. Each pair consisted of one task involving information about the form or appearance of items and another task involving information about item locations. The first pair of tasks manipulated retention interval and required maintaining information about one item. The second pair also manipulated retention interval and required maintaining information about multiple items presented simultaneously. The third pair manipulated the number of sequentially presented items. Analyses of the first two pairs of tasks revealed significant age deficits in working memory for spatial locations but not in working memory for visual features. Notably, there were no age differences in the effect of retention interval on any of the four tasks, suggesting that visuospatial information is lost at similar rates in older and young adults. Analyses of the third pair of tasks revealed that, regardless of domain, increasing the amount of information impaired older adults’ memory performance to a greater extent than young adults’ performance. Thus, the present results suggest differences in basic working memory capacity in both domains, but a lack of age differences in rates of forgetting from working memory, and greater age-related deficits in the spatial domain than in the object domain.     

Observational learning of two visual discriminations by pigeons: a within-subjects design.

Pigeon's observational learning of successive visual discrimination was studied using within-subject comparisons of data from three experimental conditions. Two pairs of discriminative stimuli were used; each bird was exposed to two of the three experimental conditions, with different pairs of stimuli used in a given bird's two conditions. In one condition, observers were exposed to visual discriminative stimuli only. In a second condition, subjects were exposed to a randomly alternating sequence of two stimuli where the one that would subsequently be used as S+ was paired with the operation of the grain magazine. In a third experimental condition, subjects were exposed to the performance of a conspecific in the operant discrimination procedure. After exposures to conspecific performances, there was facilitation of discriminative learning, relative to that which followed exposures to stimulus and reinforcement sequences or exposures to stimulus sequences alone. Exposure to stimulus and food-delivery sequences enhanced performance relative to exposure to stimulus sequences alone. The differential effects of these three types of exposure were not attributable to order effects or to task difficulty; rather, they clearly were due to the type of exposure.     

Behavioral sequelae of long-term self-attributed success and failure: an attribution theory analysis

Starting from earlier results that self-caused long-term failure improved performance, this experiment tested the effect of "working conditions" as well as successes and failures succeeding the experience of long-term success and long-term failure. 64 subjects participated in recognition tests, composed of 9 tasks (with 42 stimuli each), to be solved within five different experimental sessions. Subjects received false feedback concerning each judgement. The feedback was designed to correspond to Kelley's informational requirements for self-attributions. Results clearly show an impairment of performances within new "working conditions" if successes succeed long-term failure or long-term success. Failure succeeding long-term failure in new "working conditions", on the other hand, improves performance. Different attribution theories' capacity to explain these results is discussed.     

Impact of Tactile Sensation on Dexterity: A Cross-Sectional Study of Patients With Impaired Hand Function After Stroke

The authors sought to explore the impact of tactile sensation on manual dexterity and the validity of the strength-dexterity test in subjects with chronic impairments after stroke in a cross-sectional study of 24 patients with impaired hand function after stroke. Dexterity was assessed by the strength-dexterity test, Box and Blocks, and Nine-Hole Peg Test, and the ABILHAND questionnaire. Sensation was measured by pinprick, cotton-wool, graphesthesia, and 2-point discrimination tests. Sensation in the paretic hand had strong association with paretic hand performance in the strength-dexterity test and Nine-Hole Peg Test and explained 13% of the variance. Sensation in the nonparetic hand was associated with the results of the ABILHAND questionnaire. Among sensory tests, 2-point discrimination had the strongest association with dexterity tests. No significant correlations between sensation, pinch force, and dexterity tests were found for the nonparetic hand. The strength-dexterity test exhibited strong correlations with the other dexterity measures and with pinch force. There is an association between tactile sensation and dexterous performance in the paretic hand; activity level performance is associated with sensation in the nonparetic hand. The study supports the validity of the strength-dexterity test when applied in subjects in the chronic stage after stroke.     

Short-term memory performances during sustained wakefulness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome

Both working and immediate memories were assessed every 4h by specific short-term memory tasks over sustained wakefulness in 12 patients with obstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and 10 healthy controls. Results indicated that OSAHS patients exhibited lower working memory performances than controls on both backward digit span and complex Sternberg tasks. Speed and accuracy on Sternberg tasks were affected by memory load in both groups. However, immediate memory was not impaired in OSAHS patients. Diurnal and nocturnal SaO(2) were correlated with speed and accuracy high-speed memory scanning performance on Sternberg tasks in patients. These results suggest specific working memory deficits associated with OSAHS over sustained wakefulness with a possible deficiency in the central executive responsible for the higher information processing, in addition to a potentially insufficient storage capacity. Among OSAHS patients, working memory ability involved in high-speed memory scanning may be impaired by chronic hypoxemia.     

Assessment of cognitive domains during treatment with OROS methylphenidate in adolescents with ADHD

Aim: To psychometrically assess cognitive domains in adolescents with ADHD during long-term open treatment with robust dosing of extended-release methylphenidate (OROS MPH).

Methods: Data were derived from a prospective clinical study of adolescent ADHD, employing the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), before and after up to one year of treatment with OROS MPH. In the absence of placebo control, a similar age and gender group of youth without ADHD served as comparators.

Results: During the course of treatment with OROS MPH, ADHD youth’s performance significantly improved across multiple CANTAB tasks, including spatial working memory, rapid visual processing, verbal recognition memory, set shifting, and inhibition/vigilance. ADHD subjects’ scores in several CANTAB tasks, including spatial working memory, planning, and set shifting, were significantly more impaired at baseline compared to the non-ADHD comparison group; these significant differences were no longer seen at endpoint.

Conclusions: Statistically significant improvements in multiple cognitive domains were observed in a sample of adolescents with ADHD over the course of 12 months of robust treatment with extended-release methylphenidate. Rigorous, monitored stimulant treatment may be associated with objectively determined cognitive benefits; however, practice effects in this open trial cannot be ruled out. Further study on this important topic is warranted.