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• We investigate the effects of robot exposure on worker flows in 16 European countries between 2000 and 2017, and the role of labour costs in this context. • Robots have small beneficial effects on job separations and no effect on job findings. • There are large cross-country heterogeneities that depend on initial labour costs: in countries with relatively low or average levels of labour costs, higher robot exposure led to lower job separation rates, and, thus, improved job stability, to a much larger extent than in countries with high levels of labour costs. In countries with relatively low or average levels of labour costs, higher levels of robot exposure led to increased job findings. • There are important differences between workers performing different job tasks, with generally more beneficial effects for routine workers than for non-routine workers. Our results point to the importance of labour costs for the substitutability of workers performing different job tasks by robots. • The effects of robots on worker flows had important implications for employment rates. Rising robot exposure increased employment, particularly in countries with low or average labour costs. These aggregate results were mainly due to reduced separations rather than increased hirings. We study the effects of robot exposure on worker flows in 16 European countries between 2000 and 2017. Overall, we find small negative effects on job separations and no effects on job findings. We detect significant cross-country differences and find that labour costs are a major driver: the effects of robot exposure are generally larger in absolute terms in countries with relatively low or average levels of labour costs than in countries with high levels of labour costs. These effects are particularly pronounced for workers in occupations intensive in routine manual or routine cognitive tasks but are insignificant in occupations intensive in non-routine cognitive tasks. A counterfactual analysis suggests that robot adoption increased employment and reduced unemployment, especially in European countries with relatively low or average levels of labour costs, and that these effects were driven mainly by lower job separations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School leadership plays a crucial role to quality education. Social changes have led to an increase in school principals' competencies, responsibilities, and demands. There are significant gaps in the literature on school leadership and limitations in the study of principals' responsibilities. This study aimed to analyse whether principals consider the competencies assigned to them by educational legislation to be within their scope. Participants were 394 principals from state-owned schools in Andalusia, southern Spain. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses were performed. We identified four competencies that the principals believed they were unable to effectively assume within the Andalusian educational context: (1) awarding contracts for construction, services, or supplies; (2) authorising expenditures, arranging payments, and preparing the school budget; (3) promoting the qualifications and training of teaching staff; and (4) supervising non-teaching staff in the school. This study emphasises the need of a comprehensive reevaluation of how competencies assigned to school principals are managed, highlighting the significance of incorporating principals' perspectives. For future research, we recommend exploring alternative approaches in competency management to enhance their effectiveness and relevance in the educational context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning vocabulary is a central and time-consuming endeavour for a language learner and it has thus been suggested that the foreign language classroom has to supply explicit support for students' vocabulary development. A major source of explicit word focus is vocabulary exercises in teaching materials and students' learning can be facilitated if they are designed in a way that is conducive to learning. Few studies have so far sought to establish what learning opportunities tasks in materials provide. The present study reports an analysis of the vocabulary exercises in three series of Swedish intermediate EFL materials, focusing on target vocabulary and learning conditions. The target vocabulary was analysed in terms of frequency distribution in general English and the learning conditions provided were studied using a modified version of the Involvement Load Hypothesis. The results indicate that learning is facilitated through extensive retrieval opportunities in the material. However, it was also found that the exercises seldom require students to use the target vocabulary and that it comprises primarily high-frequency words, that is, words that the learners are likely to already know. It is therefore concluded that a more systematic approach to vocabulary has to be adopted by materials developers to ensure that word-focused tasks contribute significantly to students' learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Design Methods Results Conclusion Impact Patient or Public Contribution To assess the level of mental workload (MWL) of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses in performing different human‐machine tasks and examine the predictors of the MWL.A cross‐sectional questionnaire study.Between January and February 2021, data were collected from ICU nurses (n = 427) at nine tertiary hospitals selected from five (east, west, south, north, central) regions in China through an electronic questionnaire, including sociodemographic questions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index, General Self‐Efficacy Scale, Difficulty‐assessing Index System of Nursing Operation Technique, and System Usability Scale. Descriptive statistics, t‐tests, one‐way ANOVA and multiple linear regression models were used.ICU nurses experienced a medium level of MWL (score 52.04 on a scale of 0–100) while performing human‐machine tasks. ICU nurses' MWL was notably higher in conducting first aid and life support tasks (using defibrillators or ventilators). Predictors of MWL were task difficulty, system usability, professional title, age, self‐efficacy, ICU category, and willingness to study emerging technology actively. Task difficulty and system usability were the strongest predictors of nearly all typical tasks.ICU nurses experience a medium MWL while performing human‐machine tasks, but higher mental, temporal, and effort are perceived compared to physical demands. The MWL varied significantly across different human‐machine tasks, among which are significantly higher: first aid and life support and information‐based human‐machine tasks. Task difficulty and system availability are decisive predictors of MWL.This is the first study to investigate the level of MWL of ICU nurses performing different representative human‐machine tasks and to explore its predictors, which provides a reference for future research. These findings suggest that healthcare organizations should pay attention to the MWL of ICU nurses and develop customized management strategies based on task characteristics to maintain a moderate level of MWL, thus enabling ICU nurses to perform human‐machine tasks better.No patient or public contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we identify a process of "entrainment" around open source software (OSS) development release cycles to capture patterns of self-organized task allocation among developers. We conducted an abductive, computationally intensive study of eight OSS projects, using relational event modeling to analyze 1,169,489 actions covering 93 major software releases. The process of entrainment that we identify involves three task allocation mechanisms: (1) developer-issue inertia, (2) developer contribution frequency, and (3) issue popularity. Our analysis demonstrates that these mechanisms and the phases of the release cycle entrain each other. Before a major release, developers engage in a concentrated mobilization phase, whereby they democratize development activity and increasingly allocate community contributions to the set of issues related to the release. After a major release, the extended cleanup phase garners a greater share of development work from recently highly active developers and dilutes the activity of these developers across a wider range of issues. Our theorizing suggests that major releases constitute important events around which OSS communities self-organize and we characterize how this occurs. Our research contributes to theorizing on organizing in OSS communities by explaining how self-organizing task allocation interacts with release cycles through the mechanism of entrainment. We also contribute to the literature on entrainment by showing how it may unfold in the context of online peer production communities such as OSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to introduce the task-based approach to language learning and teaching. It comes in two parts: the first is theoretical and it provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for this approach; starting with its various definitions and their diversity according to the the point of view which each researcher looks at the concept of the task, and then distinguishing between the important terms task in this field, and explaining the subtle differences between them, they are: the task, the exercise the activity, and then explaining the characteristics of the task, and presenting the three stages that each task goes through, while explaining the role of both the teacher and the learner in each of these stages. The study addressed the criteria for task construction, outlined the fundamental principles for selection, and subsequently highlighted the primary obstacles associated with this form of education. In the second part of the study, three models of educational tasks were presented at different levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. These models Target speaking, writing, and reading comprehension skills. Then, it explains how to plan, prepare, and apply them among non-Arabic speakers. The significance of this study lies in its provision of an allencompassing theoretical framework for language learning and task-based teaching, especially considering the absence of both theoretical and applied Arabic studies. on this approach. From a practical perspective, it offers tangible models for linguistic tasks that can be utilized by Arabic teachers and curriculum designers. These models serve as valuable resources for teaching and curriculum development. The researcher suggests the necessity for additional experimental studies on this approach and emphasizes the importance of developing task-based educational curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in the twenty-first century has witnessed several changes, which have sparked tremendous changes in the teachers' standpoints and the conceptualizations of professionalism. In this context, this study explored the stakeholders' perceptions of EFL teacher professionalism. For this, the phenomenological research design was adopted. The study site was a Bachelor's Programme on a community campus in Nepal. The informants comprised the real stakeholders of the programme that comprised three EFL teachers, nine students, two administrators, and one member of the campus management committee. To collect the informants' lived experiences, the researcher used an unstructured interview in a naturalistic setting. The results revealed that EFL teachers' professionalism can be measured by their roles and skills; teacher-student relationships; and teachers as administrators and change agents. This implies that EFL teachers, like the teachers of other subjects, should be loyal, committed, accountable, and responsible as the success or failure of the autonomous programmes mainly depends on the teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of controlled studies found that consumers counter-normatively prefer something nearly complete over something complete. We call this phenomenon the "one-away effect" because we find that when consumers are, for example, one stamp away from completing a punch card loyalty program, they value the card more than a completed card. This is because their valuation of the one-away card is influenced by their anticipation of merely completing the card, which generates its own utility, apart from the card's end-reward (a free coffee). To wit, the prospective utility of performing the final action that fulfills completion increases consumers' valuation of the one-away card. Our findings suggest that consumers are motivated to complete goals, tasks, and sets not only to obtain their end-rewards, but also because merely completing things is intrinsically motivating and can be a goal in and of itself. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the one-away effect, as well as the general notion of mere completion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aimed to analyse personality disorders among patients in the early phase of psychotherapy as a source of variance in the quality of the emerging alliance. Methods: The sample consisted of 131 individual psychotherapy patients with borderline (BPD), narcissistic (NPD), dependent (DPD) and obsessive–compulsive (OCPD) personality disorders and 131 psychotherapists. Different sources of alliance estimation were included. Therapeutic alliance was operationalized on several dimensions. The hypothesis was tested using an independent samples one‐way analysis of variance. Results: The study revealed a significant effect of personality disorder type on early therapeutic alliance quality. BPD patients rated their early alliance the lowest compared to NPD, DPD and OCPD patients. This trend was dominant and replicated regardless of who rated the alliance and which dimension of alliance was estimated. Conclusions: NPD, DPD and OCPD patients have better initial therapeutic alliances than BPD patients, and their alliances do not differ significantly. BPD patients build weaker alliances, and what poses a challenge for them is not only developing a strong and close bond but also conceptualizing goals and reaching agreement on tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational tasks and processes are preconditions for organizing professional learning teams but are often neglected in research. In nine schools, we examined which organizational tasks and processes were set up for lesson study, a form of a professional learning team, and in what way. Schools set up three organizational tasks and processes: recruiting participants, giving credit for time-investment, and scheduling meetings. Recruitment of participants was sometimes difficult when potential participants worked autonomously within their departments or teams. Credit for time-investment was often constrained as schools gave credit in a way that made lesson study an additional workload. Scheduling meetings was very challenging. The scheduled meetings were considered satisfactory in only one school. Here, the school leader collaborated and communicated with her teachers to plan useful and uninterrupted meetings in the timetable. Our results show that organizational work is not mundane and simple but complex and vital for embedding professional development in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Patients with ovarian cancer and their spousal caregivers report similarities in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and experiences throughout the cancer process. Previous research has reflected these shared experiences, demonstrating caregivers' capacity to accurately rate their patient-partner's HRQoL as a proxy. In response, this study examines associations between caregivers' perceptions of their patient-partner's HRQoL and their own caregiving responsibilities, consequences to well-being, and desired assistance from the healthcare system. This study will be beneficial when developing supports to assist caregivers throughout the cancer journey. Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey design, spousal caregivers (N = 82) of patients with ovarian cancer completed measures on perceived patient HRQoL and caregiver experiences. Correlation analyses determined medical and sociodemographic covariates. A multivariate multiple regression was conducted using four proxy HRQoL functioning subscales and three factors of reported experiences as caregivers in cancer. Post-hoc univariate regression analyses were run on significant factors to assess the associations that exist. Results: Caregiver-perceived patient physical functioning was significantly associated with more caregiving tasks after controlling for education, age, and stage of ovarian cancer, but no other HRQoL functioning scale (i.e., role, emotional, social) was associated with caregiver experiences. Conclusion: The study provides a unique perspective into the caregiver experience by attending to interpersonal factors in relation to caregiver experiences. Results may be able to guide interventions aimed at supporting caregivers through the cancer process by offering more assistance with tasks as their partner's physical condition worsens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using households survey microdata from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, we characterize changes in employment and wages between the mid-2000s and the late-2010s emphasizing the gender dimension from the viewpoint of the task-based approach. We employ surveys from PIAAC-OECD to study the task content of jobs and create an index of routine task content (RTC) of occupations. We document five facts: (i) The proportion of routine tasks is currently higher for women than for men. (ii) The employment structure is considerably more biased towards high-RTC jobs in Latin America than in OECD countries, for both genders. (iii) There was an increase in the employment participation of low-RTC jobs during the period under study, mainly driven by movements in the occupational structure of women, especially the young and middle-aged. (iv) Wage gains were relatively higher in high-RTC occupations, with this pattern more pronounced for men than for women. (v) While there was a modest reduction in the gender wage gap, the decline was stronger in computer-intensive occupations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based in a case study, we seek to understand to what extent a teacher's participation in lesson studies influences her teaching practice. Data collection included participant observation (doing a research journal and audio/video recording), document collection (tasks and lesson plans) and interview. The results suggest that participating in several lesson studies, planning whole-class discussions from the students' answers, influenced the teachers' practice. She proposed a task that allowed students to make connections between representations, as in the lesson studies, and, in the whole-class discussion, she encouraged several students to participate and challenged them to go beyond the task, which she did not do in the lesson studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Preschoolers are being increasingly exposed to social robots. • Preschoolers can successfully participate in different tasks with a social robot. • Preschooler behavioural engagement was greater with a human instructor than a social robot. Young children are exposed to new digital technologies, such as social robots. Limited research exists on how children engage with social robots and their role in the preschool classroom. This study observed 35 English-speaking children (M age = 4.60 years) participating in two tasks (Simon Says and iPad drawing) under the guidance of a social robot or human instructor. Children's engagement was measured across behavioural, emotional, and verbal domains. Results showed higher behavioural and positive emotional engagement with a human instructor than a social robot instructor across both tasks. Children uttered more words with the human instructor than the social robot instructor for the iPad drawing task, although there were no differences for the Simon Says task. Children's engagement and utterances were positively correlated during the social robot and human instructor conditions. The findings suggest that child engagement was overall higher with a human than with a social robot and such differences may be important for teachers to consider when using social robots in the preschool classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow is an intrinsic motivational state associated with full task engagement, positive affect, and enhanced performance. While research has examined how different language tasks interact with flow experiences, no study has examined learner flow experiences in a wide range of tasks using an experience sampling method to determine how universal basic task features (e.g., modality, participant structure, information distribution, and targeted skills) interact with flow. The present study aims to respond to this gap in the research. Participants were 13 teachers and 327 students from 18 intact French L2 classes in a Canadian postsecondary school. Teachers selected and implemented an average of six tasks from their personal repertoires at random moments throughout the semester. Immediately following each task, learners anonymously completed a flow experience questionnaire (N = 1408; α = 0.91), and teachers a task description questionnaire containing 17 basic task features (N = 81). Statistical analyses show that 10 of the 17 variables significantly interacted with learners' flow experiences. The results not only validate a frequently used flow measurement and establish norms for future research but also outline a framework language teachers can use to evaluate and modify practices to improve learners' subjective classroom experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, about half of the school-leavers – irrespective of their school-leaving certificate – start an apprenticeship instead of entering the labour market or university. Firms act as gatekeepers who influence which school-leavers start an apprenticeship. Previous studies have provided important information on the reasons firms train. By analysing tasks, I consider an additional characteristic that probably influences firms' training decisions. The aim of my study is twofold: I examine whether tasks performed in a firm first correlate with the decision to provide apprenticeship training and second with the school-leaving certificate of newly hired apprentices. I use the BIBB Establishment Panel on Training and Competence Development to estimate hybrid models with the task shares of firms as the main independent variables. The results suggest that firms' task composition affects their decisions concerning vocational education and training (VET). Firms with a high share of routine or manual tasks are more likely to be involved in VET. Moreover, high shares of manual and routine tasks are accompanied by a higher demand for apprentices with lower secondary certificates, and high shares of interactive tasks by a high demand for apprentices with the highest secondary school-leaving certificate (i.e. the Abitur). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The study aimed to explore six public service users’ perspectives on the impact their upper limb injury or condition has on their everyday lives while receiving occupational therapy intervention at a public hospital in the context of the Northern Cape of South Africa. An interpretivist phenomenological approach was employed. Data was collected using reflexive photography and semi-structured interviews. Three main themes were generated during inductive reasoning, namely the impact on role fulfillment, change in occupational task performance and the factors impacting performance in preferred occupations. Participants confirmed that to present a contextually relevant and responsive service, Occupation-Based Hand Therapy (OBHT) approaches must be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In classrooms that use small‐group tasks, some groups may finish earlier than others and there may be concern that early finishers will become disengaged. However, early finishing remains relatively under‐examined. This paper uses conversation analysis to investigate how EFL students in a Japanese university finish tasks early. It describes a set of practices students use to finish tasks and reveals how students orient to the achievement of task outcomes. The study finds that students may have more to say on task topics than a task allows, and early finishers may develop these topics in post‐task talk in the target language. The paper argues that early finishing may lead to useful language practice and teachers should therefore be cautious when assigning extra work to early finishers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three experiments examined students' calibration in physical education in relation to task characteristics. Participants in the 3 experiments were 388 students. Calibration accuracy and bias were calculated based on students' predicted and actual performance in tests including variations of a sport task (basketball shooting) and tasks from different sports (basketball and soccer). An overconfidence effect was found in all experiments, and evidence regarding the hard–easy effect emerged. High compared with low performers were more accurate, and some variations with respect to gender also emerged. The magnitude of calibration error was similar across tasks, whereas approximately half of the students were consistent in the direction of calibration (most of them were overestimators). Results are discussed with reference to theoretical and empirical evidence associated with performance calibration and self-regulated learning in physical education. Methodological issues, practical implications, and future directions are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines what it takes for a state of knowledge-how to be extended (i.e. partly constituted by entities external to the organism) within an anti-intellectualist approach to knowledge-how. I begin by examining an account of extended knowledge-how developed by Carter, J. Adam, and Boleslaw Czarnecki. 2016 ["Extended Knowledge-How." Erkenntnis 81 (2): 259–273], and argue that it fails to properly distinguish between cognitive outsourcing and extended knowing-how. I then introduce a solution to this problem which rests on the distribution of tasks between agent and non-biological entity. On closer inspection, I show that this solution is ultimately unsatisfactory, though its failure is instructive as it illuminates the important role played by an agent's skilled interaction with an external entity. Drawing on key anti-intellectualist ideas, as well as on insight from cognitive psychology, I propose an account according to which what ultimately matters for extending knowledge-how is whether a hybrid ability is self-regulated. In closing, I illuminate the practical value of extended knowledge-how vis-à-vis cognitive outsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to examine the relationship of executive processes through verbal and non-verbal tasks of set-switching with cognitive flexibility. For achieving the aim, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)-a measure of cognitive set-switching (non-verbal task), Anagram solution task following rule switching (verbal task), and ColorWord Stroop test-a measure of cognitive flexibility was administered to 296 school adolescents with an age range between 12 to 15 years. Results revealed a significant correlation between verbal and non-verbal measures of set switching and cognitive flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the relationship between unemployment and the supply of online labor for microtasking. Using detailed U.S. data from a large microtasking platform between 2011 and 2015, we study the participation and the number of hours supplied by workers in the U.S. We found that more individuals registered on the platform and completed microtasks as the unemployment level in the commuting zone increased. This effect was strongest in regions with a high share of low-skilled workers. Our analyses of the intensive margin, wage elasticity, and temporal work patterns suggest that the increased participation was likely motivated by an effort to substitute income. Our findings suggest that microtasking platforms are an interesting online labor market for less educated workers. However, we also observed very low retention rates, indicative of a solely transient participation effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological change has two first-order effects on the nature of work. First, new technologies can cause changes within workers' occupations, and second, it can push workers to move between occupations. To quantify these effects, we match detailed occupational data from the 2006 and 2016 Canadian censuses to detailed data that associates each occupation with sets of tasks, activities, and skills required for that occupation. Our results show that the importance of attributes related to social interactions and non-routine cognitive tasks has increased significantly. Moreover, most of the increase occurred within narrowly defined occupations. Men were more affected by the observed changes than women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While task repetition is effective for improving oral fluency, some teachers are reluctant to use it in their classrooms due to the alleged negative perceptions of learners toward repetitive practice. To address this concern, the participants in the current study completed a posttask questionnaire probing their perceptions toward task repetition practice, focusing on metacognitive judgment (i.e., the number of task repetitions considered effective) and emotional engagement (i.e., enjoyment and concentration). Prior to taking the survey, 64 second language learners individually performed the same picture‐description task six times under one of the three repetition schedules (massed, short‐spaced, and long‐spaced condition). Their posttask questionnaire results indicated that task repetition was perceived as an effective and engaging activity (about four to five performances were deemed to be most optimal). Relative to massed task repetition, short‐ and long‐spaced schedules led to higher perceived effectiveness and emotional engagement. Moreover, while the short‐spaced group made accurate metacognitive judgment of their fluency gains, learners in the massed practice condition overestimated their fluency gains, possibly due to enjoyment and illusion of high competence. These findings indicate that spacing between task repetitions can influence learners' engagement in the task, which can impact their fluency development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher education in Germany has been significantly upgraded and developed over the past two decades, partly due to national programs such as the Quality Campaign Teacher Education. While specific, institutional and organizational features of teacher education continue to exist, tasks and demands have expanded considerably : in addition to studying and teaching, further tasks, such as research, promotion of young researchers, and transfer have been added. The article analyzes the organizational and institutional shape of teacher education and the question of how, in view of the governance-related restrictions, the central institutions are able to distinguish themselves and to cope with their tasks. In essence, given the fundamental cross-structure of teacher education, the article points to the need to successfully conduct interface-related negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to identify and understand the mathematics teachers' geometric knowledge, when addressing geometry concepts for students at Middle School. For this purpose, the theoretical tool Knowledge Quartet (KQ) is used to identify and analyze the dimensions of knowledge that are revealed in the actions triggered by two teachers in the classroom. The research context took place in a process of continuing education in geometry, in a group with collaborative characteristics. The data were produced through audio and video recording and later transcribed. Critical events were selected of the investigated environment. In addition to being a theoretical tool that identifies the teacher's mathematical and didactic knowledge in practice, according to the results, the KQ contributed to identify gaps associated with the teacher's difficulties in face of the contingencies that present themselves in the context of geometry teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A time interval can be presented as a duration (e.g., 10 days) or a calendar date (e.g., May 10). This study examines the influence of time descriptions on task scheduling. Results of 10 studies (N = 2,129) present evidence that people tend to schedule their tasks earlier when the time interval is described as a duration than a date. This time description effect is accounted for by different mindsets. People tend to have an implemental mindset when time is described as a duration (vs. date) because of stronger feelings of being inside the time frame. This mindset affects decisions on scheduling when to initiate future tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do we divide ('chunk') long tasks into a series of shorter subtasks? A popular view is that limits in working memory (WM) prevent us from simultaneously maintaining all task relevant information in mind. We therefore chunk the task into smaller units so that we only maintain information in WM that is relevant to the current unit. In contrast to this view, we show that long tasks that are not constrained by WM limits are nonetheless chunked into smaller units. Participants executed long sequences of standalone but demanding trials that were not linked to any WM representation and whose execution was not constrained by how much information could be simultaneously held in WM. Using signs well-known to reflect beginning of new task units, we show that such trial sequences were not executed as a single task unit but were spontaneously chunked and executed as series smaller units. We also found that sequences made of easier trials were executed as longer task units and vice-versa, further suggesting that the length of task executed as one unit may be constrained by cognitive limits other than WM. Cognitive limits are typically seen to constrain how many things can be done simultaneously e.g., how many events can be maintained in WM or attended at the same time. We show a new aspect of these limits that constrains the length of behaviour that can be executed sequentially as a single taskunit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article briefly discusses the notion of input in a study abroad perspective, situating it against how input is treated in second language acquisition (SLA) more broadly, with a focus on methodological issues, operationalizations, and measurements. It further introduces three studies that examine input as studied in 'the real wild', and two studies that instead focus on 'the digital wild'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Prolonged low-frequency force depression (PLFFD) occurs following both dynamic and static fatiguing tasks, but it has been assessed predominately using measures of isometric torque. However, it is unknown whether PLFFD induced during dynamic tasks is adequately characterized by isometric torque, which excludes velocity and power. The purpose of this study was to compare PLFFD assessed using isometric torque and isotonic power following a concentric fatiguing task. Methods: Young (18–31 years) males (n = 9) and females (n = 4) performed isotonic plantar flexion contractions until a ~ 75% reduction in peak power. Isotonic and isometric contractions were electrically evoked at 10 Hz and 50 Hz via tibial nerve stimulation. Isotonic and isometric PLFFD was assessed as the ratio of 10 to 50 Hz for power and torque, respectively. Recovery was assessed immediately, and at 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 30 min after task termination. Results: Relative to baseline, 10:50 Hz ratio assessed using isotonic power was reduced more than isometric torque (30 min 41 ± 17 vs. 25 ± 12% reduction, p = 0.001); however, both contraction modes displayed similar trajectories throughout recovery (p = 0.906). The larger reduction in isotonic 10:50 Hz ratio was due to greater impairments in 10 Hz power compared to 10 Hz isometric torque (30 min 38 ± 20 vs. 21 ± 11% reduction, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The similar trajectories of 10:50 Hz ratios throughout recovery indicate that PLFFD can be adequately characterized using either isometric torque or isotonic power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current experiment examined the effect of task demands on attention to emotional images. Eighty participants viewed pairs of images, with each pair consisting of an emotional (negative or positive) and a neutral image, or two neutral images. Participants' eye movements were recorded during picture viewing, and participants were either asked (1) which picture contains more colour? (colour task), (2) are the images equally pleasant? (pleasantness task), (3) which picture do you prefer? (preference task), or (4) were given no task instructions (control task). Although the results did not suggest that emotional images strongly captured attention, emotional images were looked at earlier than neutral images. Importantly, the pattern of results was dependent on the task instructions; while the preference and colour task conditions showed early attentional biases to emotional images, only positive images were looked at earlier in the pleasantness task condition, and no early attentional biases were observed in the control task. Moreover, total fixation duration was increased for positive images in the preference task condition, but not in the other task conditions. It was concluded that attention to emotional stimuli can be modified by the demands of the task during viewing. However, further research should consider additional factors, such as the cognitive load of the viewing tasks and the content of the images used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few-shot segmentation aims to learn a segmentation model that can be generalized to novel classes with only a few training images. In this paper, we propose a Cross-Reference and Local–Global Conditional Networks (CRCNet) for few-shot segmentation. Unlike previous works that only predict the query image's mask, our proposed model concurrently makes predictions for both the support image and the query image. Our network can better find the co-occurrent objects in the two images with a cross-reference mechanism, thus helping the few-shot segmentation task. To further improve feature comparison, we develop a local-global conditional module to capture both global and local relations. We also develop a mask refinement module to refine the prediction of the foreground regions recurrently. Experiments on the PASCAL VOC 2012, MS COCO, and FSS-1000 datasets show that our network achieves new state-of-the-art performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphs offer a natural way to formulate Multiple Object Tracking (MOT) and Multiple Object Tracking and Segmentation (MOTS) within the tracking-by-detection paradigm. However, they also introduce a major challenge for learning methods, as defining a model that can operate on such structured domain is not trivial. In this work, we exploit the classical network flow formulation of MOT to define a fully differentiable framework based on Message Passing Networks. By operating directly on the graph domain, our method can reason globally over an entire set of detections and exploit contextual features. It then jointly predicts both final solutions for the data association problem and segmentation masks for all objects in the scene while exploiting synergies between the two tasks. We achieve state-of-the-art results for both tracking and segmentation in several publicly available datasets. Our code is available at https://github.com/ocetintas/MPNTrackSeg [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource contentions and performance interferences can lead to workload performance degradation in mixed-workload deployment clusters. Previous work guarantees the resource requirements of latency-sensitive tasks and reduces performance losses to batch jobs by reclaiming surplus resources from over-provisioned tasks. While the fragmentation of resources leads to a mismatch between provisioned resources and task requirements, resulting in high operation overheads and losses of task fairness. This paper proposes TERMS , the task management policies based on task relevance, resource distribution, and task fairness to achieve efficient and low-cost task management. TERMS mainly includes three types of management policies. The task scheduling policy can schedule new tasks according to task relevance. Task selection strategies select tasks for resource provisioning and task resumption based on resource requirements and task fairness. If necessary, the node selection strategy can be used to choose befitting target nodes based on task relevance and node resource information for task migration when eliminating straggler tasks. Evaluation results show that TERMS can further improve the performance of latency-sensitive services and batch jobs, reduce management overheads, and avoid operation failures. • Place latency-sensitive new tasks in the queue according to task relevance. • Select batch tasks to provision resources for latency-sensitive new tasks. • Select batch tasks to provision resources for latency-sensitive straggler tasks. • Ensure task fairness when tasks are preempted or resumed. • Choose befitting target nodes for latency-sensitive straggler task migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of embedded real-time systems (RTS) is challenging due to the criticality of the timing constraints of these systems. Various informal and formal methods for RTS design have been proposed, both in the design space and the real-time execution at the hardware level, but many of these methods are not effective when the complexity of the system scales up. Here, we discuss a new method to integrate a modeling (and simulation) formalism that allows designing complex systems specifications for real-time constraints called Imprecise-DEVS (I-DEVS), and the mapping of such high-level models into a real-time task model. This method allows analyzing real-time constraints both at the high level of modeling as well as the low level of the tasks executed by the processing units and the Operating System. A new method to study the schedulability of the task models is proposed. The method provides a design analysis space from the model level, up to the individual tasks, with a focus on the schedulability of real-time constraints under transient overloading conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In crowd sensing systems, mobile users provide requesters with access to the resources of their mobile devices, such as the core processor, memory, and camera, to execute tasks in return for monetary payment. Existing works consider the offline setting where information about mobile users and requesters is publicly known. However, this assumption does not hold for crowd sensing systems in the real world, where mobile users and requesters can arrive and leave at any time. We address the problem of online task allocation and pricing in crowd sensing systems without making any assumptions about the future information of mobile users and requesters. We formulate this problem in an auction-based online setting and propose a feasible and online double auction mechanism. The proposed online mechanism considers one-to-many mapping, which permits multiple mobile devices to work together to complete the same task at different times in order to improve resource utilization. In addition, we show that the proposed mechanism maintains individual rationality, budget-balance, and computational tractability. Furthermore, we analyze the approximation ratio of the proposed approximation algorithm. The experimental results show that a user cannot increase her utility by untruthful declaration, and the proposed mechanism brings more economic benefit for the auctioneer and stimulates users to join the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to further improve the enthusiasm of spatial crowdsourcing workers, considering the service quality of workers, different incentive strategies are proposed and tasks are assigned. Firstly, the incentive model is constructed from the unit time revenue of task and online idle time, and the evaluation function of the evaluation model is constructed; Secondly, the task allocation is transformed into a combinatorial optimization problem by delay matching, and an improved glowworm swarm algorithm is proposed to solve the problem by discrete coding, introducing six kinds of mobile modes, adaptive probability matching and infeasible solution processing; Finally, the algorithm is used to solve the task allocation. The experimental results show that compared with the travel cost minimization strategy and random allocation strategy, the positive incentive index of the proposed strategy is improved by 11.79% and 14.60% respectively, and the fair incentive index is improved by 0.83% and 0.22% respectively, which can effectively improve the positive incentive range and incentive fairness of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there has been a shift in the perception of tasks. Tasks are no longer viewed as 'one-off' activities, and the importance of studying the role of task repetition has been increasingly addressed (Bygate, 2018). However, the way task repetition effects are mediated by other instructional conditions such as corrective feedback has not been widely researched. The current study examined the effects of task repetition and indirect synchronous written corrective feedback (WCF) during collaborative writing on the quality of students' written task performance and the learning of Korean grammar. Fifty-four Korean as a foreign language learners completed a pretest, two collaborative writing tasks, and two posttests over 10 weeks. Their task performance was analysed in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency, and the pretest and posttest results were scored for both suppliance and accuracy of the production of target grammatical features. The findings showed that task repetition improved writing fluency, and while synchronous WCF negatively impacted fluency during collaborative writing, it facilitated accuracy in students' writing. In terms of the learning of target grammatical features, no significant benefit of synchronous WCF was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though impaired visuospatial abilities can negatively affect daily functioning, there are very few training programs that attempt to improve visuospatial abilities. The purpose of this study was to examine if a single training session with a computerized version of the Corsi Block Tapping Task could improve mental rotation skills. Fifty-three young adults were assigned to one of two groups: (1) control group (mean age = 21.4; 10 females), who had 20 min of rest after their baseline assessment, or (2) training group (mean age = 21.5; 17 females), who had 20 min of training on the Corsi Block Tapping Task after their baseline assessment. The primary outcome was reaction time on a computer-based mental rotation task, and it was assessed both before and after the rest or training. There was a significant interaction between time (pre vs. post) and group (control vs. training) on mental rotation performance (p = 0.04), with the training group performing on average 124 ms faster on accurate trials than the control group at post-test. This preliminary study suggested that improving mental rotation may be feasible through targeted cognitive training. Future studies will consider multiple sessions of Corsi Block Tapping Task training to maximize training benefits (i.e., dose–response), as well as longer term retention in cognitively intact and impaired individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various behavioural tasks measure response inhibition encompassing the ability to cancel unwanted actions, evaluated via stop signal reaction time (SSRT). It is unclear whether SSRT is an unchangeable inherent measure of inhibitory network integrity or whether it can improve with repetition. The current study explored if and how SSRT changed over two sessions for the Anticipatory Response Inhibition Task (ARIT), and how this compared with the Stop Signal Task (SST). Forty-four participants repeated the ARIT and SST over two sessions. SSRT and its constituent measures (Go trial reaction time, stop signal delay) were calculated. SSRT reflecting non-selective response inhibition was consistent between sessions in the ARIT and SST (both p > 0.293). Reaction time and stop signal delay also remained stable across sessions in the ARIT (all p > 0.063), whereas in the SST, reaction time (p = 0.013) and stop signal delay (p = 0.009) increased. SSRT reflecting behaviourally selective stopping on the ARIT improved (p < 0.001) over two sessions, which was underpinned by changes to reaction time (p < 0.001) and stop signal delay (p < 0.001). Overall, the maximal efficiency of non-selective inhibition remained stable across two sessions in the ARIT. Results of the SST confirmed that non-selective inhibition can, however, be affected by more than inhibitory network integrity. Behaviourally selective stopping on the ARIT changed across sessions, suggesting the sequential neural process captured by the SSRT occurred more quickly in session two. These findings have implications for future studies that necessitate behavioural measures over multiple sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relations between two forms of joint action (JA)—movement coordination (MC) and goal attainment—and theory of mind (ToM), contrasting the interactionist and traditional cognitivist views. A custom task was carried out to measure the properties of the JAs between children and their parents, while classical tasks were performed to measure first‐ and second‐order ToM. Thereafter, cross‐recurrence quantification analysis was applied to quantify participants' movements. The children were from Poland and were aged 42, 66, and 78 months (N = 297, 133 girls, White, from a large city). The results suggested that the characteristics of dyad MC influence goal attainment and are related to children's first‐order ToM (R2 =.447) but not to their second‐order ToM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robotic systems are usually controlled to repetitively perform specific actions for manufacturing tasks. The traditional control methods are domain-dependent and model-dependent with cost of much human efforts. They cannot meet the new requirements of generality and flexibility in many areas such as intelligent manufacturing and customized production. This paper develops a general model-free approach to enable robots to perform multi-step object sorting tasks through deep reinforcement learning. Taking projected heightmap images from different time steps as input without extra high-level image analysis and understanding, critic models are designed to produce a pixel-wise Q value map for each type of action. It is a new trial to apply pixel-wise Q value-based critic networks to solve multi-step sorting tasks that involve many types of actions and complex action constraints. The experimental validations on simulated and realistic object sorting tasks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Qualitative results (videos), code for simulated and realistic experiments, and pre-trained models are available at https://github.com/JiatongBao/DRLSorting [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deficits in spatial memory, orientation, and navigation are often early or neglected signs of degenerative and vestibular neurological disorders. A simple and reliable bedside test of these functions would be extremely relevant for diagnostic routine. Pointing at targets in the 3D environment is a basic well-trained common sensorimotor ability that provides a suitable measure. We here describe a smartphone-based pointing device using the built-in inertial sensors for analysis of pointing performance in azimuth and polar spatial coordinates. Interpretation of the vectors measured in this way is not trivial, since the individuals tested may use at least two different strategies: first, they may perform the task in an egocentric eye-based reference system by aligning the fingertip with the target retinotopically or second, by aligning the stretched arm and the index finger with the visual line of sight in allocentric world-based coordinates similar to using a rifle. The two strategies result in considerable differences of target coordinates. A pilot test with a further developed design of the device and an app for a standardized bedside utilization in five healthy volunteers revealed an overall mean deviation of less than 5° between the measured and the true coordinates. Future investigations of neurological patients comparing their performance before and after changes in body position (chair rotation) may allow differentiation of distinct orientational deficits in peripheral (vestibulopathy) or central (hippocampal or cortical) disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To use eye tracking to understand the effects of interruptions in different workload conditions as part of a monitoring and change detection task. Background: Interruptions are detrimental to performance in complex, multitasking domains. There is a need for better display design techniques that help users overcome interruptions regardless of their workload level. This requires understanding a user's attentional state immediately after an interruption in order to determine what type of display adjustments are most suitable. Method: An emergency dispatching simulator was developed with a visual primary task and auditory interruptive task. Two levels of workload were induced by varying the number of emergency vehicles to monitor for changes and the rate of changes to monitor. Eye tracking, performance, and subjective measures (NASA-Task Load Index) were collected and analyzed for 41 participants. Results: As expected, high workload interacted with interruptions to further degrade primary task performance and alter participants' attention allocation immediately after the interruption. Participants in the high workload condition had more narrowed, slower scan patterns immediately after the interruption as compared to before the interruption, as evidenced by lower scanpath length per second and mean saccade amplitude. However, this change was not observed in low workload. Conclusion: High workload modulates the effects of interruptions on performance and eye movements. Users in the high workload condition struggle to quickly scan the display in the seconds following an interruption. Application: The results can provide insight into the type of display adjustments needed right after an interruption in a high-workload environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the argued benefits of passenger comfort, cost savings, and road safety, the bus sector is showing increasing interest in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). Despite this growth of interest in ADAS and the fact that work tasks are sometimes complicated (especially docking at bus-stops which may occur several hundred times per shift), there has been little research into ADAS in buses. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop further knowledge of how professional bus drivers experience and accept an ADAS which can help them dock at bus-stops. The study was conducted on a public route in an industrial area with five different bus-stops. Ten professional bus drivers got to use a narrow navigation system (NNS) that could dock automatically at bus-stops. The participants' experience and acceptance were investigated using objective as well as subjective data (during and after the test-drive) and data were collected using interviews, questionnaires, and video recordings. The participants indicated high levels of trust in and acceptance of the NNS and felt that it had multiple benefits in terms of cognitive and physical ergonomics, safety, and comfort. However, the relatively slow docking process (which was deemed comfortable) was also expected to negatively affect, e.g., timetabling, possibly resulting in high stress levels. Therefore, when investigating users' acceptance of ADAS in a work context, it is important to consider acceptance in terms of the operation, use, and work system levels and how those levels interact and affect each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]