The effect of behavioral skills training on shot performance in field hockey

Behavior analysis procedures have been used to improve sports performance and enhance player safety across a wide variety of sports. The current study evaluated the effects of behavioral skills training on three common field hockey shots, a slap shot, drive, and sweep for young field hockey players. The procedures were evaluated in a multiple baseline across behaviors for three players. Results showed increases in each type of shot once intervention was implemented.     

A multi-modal approach to cognitive training and assistance in minimally invasive surgery

Minimally-invasive surgery (MIS) offers many benefits to patients, but is considerably more difficult to learn and perform than is open surgery. One main reason for the observed difficulty is attributable to the visuo-spatial challenges that arise in MIS, taxing the surgeons’ cognitive skills. In this contribution, we present a new approach that combines training and assistance as well as the visual and the auditory modality to help surgeons to overcome these challenges. To achieve this, our approach assumes two main components: An adaptive, individualized training component as well as a component that conveys spatial information through sound. The training component (a) specifically targets the visuo-spatial processes crucial for successful MIS performance and (b) trains surgeons in the use of the sound component. The second component is an auditory display based on a psychoacoustic sonification, which reduces and avoids some of the commonly experienced MIS challenges. Implementations of both components are described and their integration is discussed. Our approach and both of its components go beyond the current state of the art in important ways. The training component has been explicitly designed to target MIS-specific visuo-spatial skills and to allow for adaptive testing, promoting individualized learning. The auditory display is conveying spatial information in 3-D space. Our approach is the first that encompasses both training for improved mastery and reduction of cognitive challenges in MIS. This promises better tailoring of surgical skills and assistance to the needs and the capabilities of the surgeons and, thus, ultimately, increased patient safety and health.     

Toward ethical cognitive architectures for the development of artificial moral agents

New technologies based on artificial agents promise to change the next generation of autonomous systems and therefore our interaction with them. Systems based on artificial agents such as self-driving cars and social robots are examples of this technology that is seeking to improve the quality of people’s life. Cognitive architectures aim to create some of the most challenging artificial agents commonly known as bio-inspired cognitive agents. This type of artificial agent seeks to embody human-like intelligence in order to operate and solve problems in the real world as humans do. Moreover, some cognitive architectures such as Soar, LIDA, ACT-R, and iCub try to be fundamental architectures for the Artificial General Intelligence model of human cognition. Therefore, researchers in the machine ethics field face ethical questions related to what mechanisms an artificial agent must have for making moral decisions in order to ensure that their actions are always ethically right. This paper aims to identify some challenges that researchers need to solve in order to create ethical cognitive architectures. These cognitive architectures are characterized by the capacity to endow artificial agents with appropriate mechanisms to exhibit explicit ethical behavior. Additionally, we offer some reasons to develop ethical cognitive architectures. We hope that this study can be useful to guide future research on ethical cognitive architectures.     

Socially emotional brain-inspired cognitive architecture framework for artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence of the next generation needs to interact with users socially, convincing them in its ability to understand human minds, including emotions. For this to happen, an artificial emotional intelligence is needed, capable of adequate, believable behavior in social emotional interactions. Building on previous developments, the present work extends the general framework of emotional Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architecture (eBICA: Samsonovich, 2013, 2018), endowing it with fluents describing, in addition to appraisals, somatic markers, feelings, emotions, moods, emotional reactions and biases. Key building blocks that integrate them are moral schemas and semantic maps. The model describes interaction of three factors: plans and commitments, moral and ethical values, and somatic comfort. Learning in this framework includes self-organization of semantic maps that in turn may provide guidance for active humanlike learning. Implications for empirical studies and practical applications are discussed together with the expected impact.     

The TROCA Project: An autonomous transportation robot controlled by a cognitive architecture

Autonomous mobile robots emerged as an important kind of transportation system in warehouses and factories. In this work, we present the use of MECA cognitive architecture in the development of an artificial mind for an autonomous robot responsible for multiple tasks, including transportation of packages along a factory floor, environment exploration, warehouse inventory, its internal energy management, self-monitoring and dealing with human operators and other robots. The present text provides a detailed specification for the architecture and its software implementation. Future work will present the simulation results under different configurations, together with a detailed analysis of the architecture performance and its generalization for autonomous robot control.     

Life skills development in physical education: A self-determination theory-based investigation across the school term

ObjectivesGrounded in self-determination theory (SDT), the main aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal associations between teacher autonomy support, students’ basic psychological need satisfaction and life skills development in physical education (PE).DesignThis study employed a two-wave longitudinal research design.MethodStudents (N = 266, Mage = 12.94 years, SD = 0.70) completed measures assessing perceived autonomy-supportive teaching, need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and life skills development in PE (teamwork, goal setting, social skills, problem solving and decision making, emotional skills, leadership, time management, and interpersonal communication). Data collections took place during week 6 (timepoint 1; T1) and week 15 (timepoint 2; T2) of the autumn school term.ResultsCross-lagged panel analyses showed that T1 teacher autonomy support did not significantly predict students’ three basic psychological needs, total need satisfaction or life skills development at T2. Students’ T1 total need satisfaction positively predicted their development of all eight life skills at T2. Additionally, students’ T1 autonomy satisfaction positively predicted their teamwork, social skills, emotional skills, leadership, and interpersonal communication skills at T2, T1 competence satisfaction positively predicted students’ teamwork skills at T2, and students’ T1 relatedness satisfaction positively predicted their social skills at T2.ConclusionsProviding partial support for SDT, the findings highlighted that satisfaction of students’ three basic psychological needs had some positive effects on students’ life skills development in PE. As such, a climate that satisfies students’ basic psychological needs should help to develop their life skills in PE.     

Efficacy of a 7-week dance (RCT) PE curriculum with different teaching pedagogies and levels of cognitive challenge to improve working memory capacity and motor competence in 8–10 years old children

ObjectivesThis study examined how learning a dance choreography with different teaching pedagogies and different cognitive challenge influenced the development of working memory capacity and motor competence in primary school children.DesignRandomised-controlled trial.MethodsEighty primary school children (8.8 ± 0.7 years old; 61% females) were recruited and randomly assigned to two experimental groups – a high-cognitive and a low-cognitive group – and a control group. The two experimental groups practiced dance for 7 weeks, twice a week, learning a choreography, while the control group participated in the school standard PE curriculum. In the high-cognitive group, the dance teachers limited visual demonstrations and encouraged children to memorise and recall movement sequences to increase the cognitive challenge.ResultsWhile the pre-to post-test improvements did not statistically differ between experimental groups, the analysis showed that the high-cognitive group statistically improved their working memory capacity (p < 0.01; d = 0.51), while the low-cognitive (p = 0.04; d = 0.48) and control groups did not (p = 0.32; d = 0.17). All three groups improved their motor competence from pre-to post-test, and there was a significant group*time effect (p < 0.01, η_p² = 0.13) with the high-cognitive group showing larger improvement than the control.ConclusionsThe results of this study provide initial support that dance practice coupled with a high cognitive challenge could improve working memory capacity and motor competence in children; however, the difference between groups was not statistically significant, and future research is necessary to examine the generalization of this finding.     

非正式学习环境中幼儿的自发数量聚焦

大量从“能力”角度来探讨个体早期数学发展的研究仅专注于儿童早期的数学知识和技能, 而忽略了可能与儿童早期数学能力相关的方面。近年来, 数学认知发展研究者逐渐开始关注自发数量聚焦(Spontaneous focusing on numerosity, SFON), 即个体对环境中数量相关信息自发注意的认知倾向。SFON被视为其他数学聚焦倾向概念的基础, 但与自发数字聚焦(SAN)、自发阿拉伯数字聚焦(SFONS)和自发数量关系聚焦(SFOR)之间的联系仍需进一步明晰。作为数学表现的领域特异预测因子, 个体SFON的发展轨迹和作用机制是当前研究的重点所在。未来可从数学动机、数学焦虑等角度进一步探讨SFON的作用机制, 改良与创新SFON测量工具, 同时需深入推进家庭和学校场合的SFON干预研究。     

音乐训练对大学生执行功能的影响

近年来大量研究发现音乐训练对认知能力的具有积极影响,一些理论认为音乐训练的广泛迁移效应是通过执行功能起中介作用,但音乐训练与执行功能的关系至今仍存争议。研究将执行功能分为抑制控制、工作记忆和认知灵活性三个子成分,并将抑制控制进一步细分为注意抑制和反应抑制,同时区分工作记忆中主动性控制和反应性控制两种认知过程。通过对比音乐组和控制组在执行功能各任务（Go/No-go, Stroop, AX-CPT, Task-switching）上的行为表现来系统考察音乐训练与执行功能的关系。结果表明音乐训练对执行功能不同子成分的影响具有差异性,其促进效应主要体现在抑制控制中的注意抑制和工作记忆中的主动性控制,对抑制控制中的反应抑制、工作记忆中的反应性控制和认知灵活性影响较小。