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Decision making is a vital aspect of our everyday functioning, from simple perceptual demands to more complex and meaningful decisions. The strategy adopted to make such decisions is often viewed as balancing elements of speed and caution, i.e. making fast or careful decisions. Using sequential sampling models to analyse decision making data can allow us to tease apart strategic differences, such as being more or less cautious, from processing differences, which would otherwise be indistinguishable in behavioural data. Our study used a multiple object tracking task where student participants and a highly skilled military group were compared on their ability to track several items at once. Using a mathematical model of decision making (the linear ballistic accumulator), we show the underpinnings of how two groups differ in performance. Results showed a large difference between the groups on accuracy, with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) group outperforming students. An interaction effect was observed between groups and level of difficulty in response times, where RAAF response times slowed at a greater rate than the student group as difficulty increased. Model results indicated that the RAAF personnel were more cautious in their decisions than students, and had faster processing in some conditions. Our study shows the strength of sequential sampling models, as well as providing a first attempt at fitting a sequential sampling model to data from a multiple object tracking task.

Objective: To test the effects of enhanced display information ("symbology") on cognitive workload in a simulated helicopter environment, using the detection response task (DRT). Background: Workload in highly demanding environments can be influenced by the amount of information given to the operator and consequently it is important to limit potential overload. Methods: Participants (highly trained military pilots) completed simulated helicopter flights, which varied in visual conditions and the amount of information given. During these flights, participants also completed a DRT as a measure of cognitive workload. Results: With more visual information available, pilots' landing accuracy was improved across environmental conditions. The DRT is sensitive to changes in cognitive workload, with workload differences shown between environmental conditions. Increasing symbology appeared to have a minor effect on workload, with an interaction effect of symbology and environmental condition showing that symbology appeared to moderate workload. Conclusion: The DRT is a useful workload measure in simulated helicopter settings. The level of symbology-moderated pilot workload. The increased level of symbology appeared to assist pilots' flight behavior and landing ability. Results indicate that increased symbology has benefits in more difficult scenarios. Applications: The DRT is an easily implemented and effective measure of cognitive workload in a variety of settings. In the current experiment, the DRT captures the increased workload induced by varying the environmental conditions, and provides evidence for the use of increased symbology to assist pilots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present research applied a well-established measure of cognitive workload in driving literature to an in-lab paradigm. We then extended this by comparing the in-lab version of the task to an online version. Background: The accurate and objective measurement of cognitive workload is important in many aspects of psychological research. The detection response task (DRT) is a well-validated method for measuring cognitive workload that has been used extensively in applied tasks, for example, to investigate the effects of phone usage or passenger conversation on driving, but has been used sparingly outside of this field. Method: The study investigated whether the DRT could be used to measure cognitive workload in tasks more commonly used in experimental cognitive psychology and whether this application could be extended to online environments. We had participants perform a multiple object tracking (MOT) task while simultaneously performing a DRT. We manipulated the cognitive load of the MOT task by changing the number of dots to be tracked. Results: Measurements from the DRT were sensitive to changes in the cognitive load, establishing the efficacy of the DRT for experimental cognitive tasks in lab-based situations. This sensitivity continued when applied to an online environment (our code for the online DRT implementation is freely available at https://osf.io/dc39s/), though to a reduced extent compared to the in-lab situation. Conclusion: The MOT task provides an effective manipulation of cognitive workload. The DRT is sensitive to changes in workload across a range of settings and is suitable to use outside of driving scenarios, as well as via online delivery. Application: Methodology shows how the DRT could be used to measure sources of cognitive workload in a range of human factors contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is used in a wide range diseases and disorders. • Identification of DBS areas rely on insights gained from primate and rodent work. • Large-scale automatic meta-analysis for 21 DBS areas cross-species. • Probabilistic topic models used to investigate the structure-function association. • Functional association for the majority of the 21 areas is conserved cross-species. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is an effective neurosurgical treatment to alleviate motor symptoms of advanced Parkinson's disease. Due to its potential, DBS usage is rapidly expanding to target a large number of brain regions to treat a wide range of diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. The identification and validation of new target regions heavily rely on the insights gained from rodent and primate models. Here we present a large-scale automatic meta-analysis in which the structure-function associations within and between species are compared for 21 DBS targets in humans. The results indicate that the structure-function association for the majority of the 21 included subcortical areas were conserved cross-species. A subset of structures showed overlapping functional association. This can potentially be attributed to shared brain networks and might explain why multiple brain areas are targeted for the same disease or neuropsychiatric disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint modeling of decisions and neural activation poses the potential to provide significant advances in linking brain and behavior. However, methods of joint modeling have been limited by difficulties in estimation, often due to high dimensionality and simultaneous estimation challenges. In the current article, we propose a method of model estimation that draws on state-of-the-art Bayesian hierarchical modeling techniques and uses factor analysis as a means of dimensionality reduction and inference at the group level. This hierarchical factor approach can adopt any model for the individual and distill the relationships of its parameters across individuals through a factor structure. We demonstrate the significant dimensionality reduction gained by factor analysis and good parameter recovery, and illustrate a variety of factor loading constraints that can be used for different purposes and research questions, as well as three applications of the method to previously analyzed data. We conclude that this method provides a flexible and usable approach with interpretable outcomes that are primarily data-driven, in contrast to the largely hypothesis-driven methods often used in joint modeling. Although we focus on joint modeling methods, this model-based estimation approach could be used for any high dimensional modeling problem. We provide open-source code and accompanying tutorial documentation to make the method accessible to any researchers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Abstract: FluTracking provided evidence for an early, long, but moderate influenza season in the Australian community compared to prior years. Influenza-like illness (ILI) activity in 2019 peaked earlier (week ending 16 June) than any season on record in FluTracking data. ILI attack rates were above average early in the 2019 season (peak of 2.2%), and the duration of peak activity was longer than most prior years. However, ILI attack rates were lower than the five-year average in the latter half of the season. FluTracking participants reported higher vaccination coverage in 2019 (73.3%) compared with 2018 (65.7%), with the most notable increase in children aged less than five years (69.3% in 2019, compared to 55.6% in 2018). The total 2019 count of laboratory notifications (312,945) was higher than prior years (2007 onwards), and the peak weekly count of 18,429 notifications in 2019 was also higher than all prior years, except 2017. FluTracking makes a comparison to another surveillance system each year. The peak weekly percentage of calls to HealthDirect that were influenza-related was higher in 2019 (12.8%) than for 2014-2018 (range of 8.2-11.4% for peak week of activity each year). FluTracking participants reported a 2.5 times increase in influenza testing from 2018 to 2019 and a 1.5 times increase from 2017. Although 2019 was of higher activity and severity than 2018, Flutracking data indicates that 2019 was a lower activity and severity season than 2017, and notifications and influenza-related calls were heightened by increased community concern and testing., (© Commonwealth of Australia CC BY-NC-ND.)