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Project management is used to coordinate effort during tasks, such as new product design, software engineering, and supply chain improvement. An essential component of project management is the communication plan that directs team members in their use of communication channels for information sharing during the project. Yet, few decision-making tools exist that can help project managers understand the tradeoffs of different communication plans. Herein we connect theory and practice to advance a computational model that provides objective-based assessments of communication plans and helps managers weigh tradeoffs of cost, time, and quality in the use of communication channels across the project. We draw on adaptive structuration theory to understand the impetus to utilize technology in group settings and media richness to explain the capabilities of channels that offer rich synchronous platforms (for e.g., phone, face-to-face, and web conference) and asynchronous lean approaches (for e.g., email, message board, and archive). We describe the tool based on a multiple-criteria decision making model. This model contributes a theoretically based decision support tool for project communication plans.

Two experiments were designed to determine response biases resulting from production of force in the contralateral limb and head position. Participants were required to react with one limb while tracking a sinewave template by generating a pattern of force defined by the sinewave with the contralateral limb or watching a cursor move through the sinewave. In Experiment 1, participants had to react with their right or left limb while their head was in a neutral position. In Experiment 2, participants had to react with their left limb while their head was turned 60° to the left or right. A color change of the waveform signaled participants to produce an isometric contraction with the reacting limb. Reaction time was calculated as the time interval between the color change of the waveform and the initiation of the response. The results indicated mean reaction time for the left limb was significantly influenced by force production in the right limb. During left limb reactions, reaction time was faster for trials in which both limbs initiated force simultaneously as compared to trials in which the left limb initiated force while the right limb was producing force. Mean reaction time for the right limb was not influenced by force production in the contralateral limb. The results are consistent with the notion that crosstalk can influence the time required to react to stimuli but this influence occurs at the point of force initiation and is asymmetric in nature with the dominant limb exerting a stronger influence on the non-dominant limb than vice versa. However, we did not find a similar effect for head position via the tonic neck response.

Highlights • A susceptible, unsusceptible, exposed, infected, hospitalized, critical, dead, and recovered (SUEIHCDR) epidemiological compartmental model was used to simulate social distancing scenarios in the United States. • The model results provide specific guidelines to increase the probability of containing the pandemic at manageable levels with minimal impact on human life. • If people exercise caution while in public by protecting themselves (e.g., wearing a facemask, proper hand hygiene, avoiding agglomerations) the magnitude and duration of social distancing necessary to maintain control over the pandemic can be reduced. • Our models suggest that the most effective way to reduce SD over a two-year period is a stepping-down approach with steps every 80 days., Objectives To model the effects of continuous, intermittent, and stepping-down social distancing (SD) strategies and personal protection measures on COVID-19 transmission dynamics. Methods Constant, intermittent, and stepping-down SD strategies were modeled at 4 mean magnitudes (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%), 2 time windows (40-days, 80-days), and 2 levels of personal caution (30% and 50%). Results The stepping-down strategy was the best long-term SD strategy to minimize the peak number of active COVID-19 cases and associated deaths. The stepping-down strategy also resulted in a reduction in total time required to SD over a two-year period by 6.5% compared to an intermittent or constant SD strategy. An 80-day SD time-window was statistically more effective in maintaining control over the COVID-19 pandemic than a 40-day window. However, the results were dependent upon 50% of people being cautious (engaging in personal protection measures). Conclusion If people exercise caution while in public by protecting themselves (e.g., wearing a facemask, proper hand hygiene and avoid agglomeration) the magnitude and duration of SD necessary to maintain control over the pandemic can be reduced. Our models suggest that the most effective way to reduce SD over a two-year period is a stepping-down approach every 80 days. According to our model, this method would prevent a second peak and the number of intensive care units needed per day would be within the threshold of those currently available.

Whether a team is tasked with a developing a new product, incrementally improving an existing situation, or reacting to an emergency, all members of the project team must collectively discuss what they need to be doing, how they will do it, and when it will happen. To understand how these conversations may transpire, we use network pictographs and basic statistics to examine communication timing and pacing in this chapter. Timing identifies what topics a team may benefit from discussing early versus those that may be more appropriately considered later. Pacing will help team leaders consider when and how frequently teams may need to iterate among topics at various times over their lifecycles. The specific topics, timing, and pacing may differ depending upon the conditions under which the team is working. Planning the timing and pacing of conversations are rarely considered explicitly; yet, giving these communication aspects some consideration may facilitate more efficient interactions among team members.

Limited team research has focused on how communication evolves over time. To showcase what has been accomplished, a structured literature review was conducted and is described in this chapter. The purpose of the review is to (1) highlight the variety of approaches available for researchers to gather, code, analyze, and visualize longitudinal communication data and (2) demonstrate the breadth of knowledge about team interactions that can be obtained by implementing such approaches.

Teams are ubiquitous in organizations. Yet, little is known about their dynamic team processes. One particular gap in our understanding is when and how often these types of processes are necessary. To address this gap, we examine longitudinal team communication exchanged among team members collaborating under different working conditions. In this chapter, we begin by summarizing what is known about longitudinal team communication. We then introduce the two theoretical frameworks used to guide our research, namely Marks et al. (2001) recurring phase model of team processes and Bartunek and Woodman’s (2015) temporal dimensions of organizational change. As well, we acknowledge that teams collaborate within a variety of contexts. Herein, we describe two aspects of context upon which we focus: communication media and time availability. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book and rationale for why researchers and practitioners may find value in reading it.

Team conversations ebb and flow as members collaborate to complete their tasks. This ebb and flow may be characterized as having varying degrees of stability, predictability, and complexity. In this chapter, we examine these characteristics to understand the rhythm of communication using recurrence quantification analysis, including constructing recurrence plots that facilitate visualizing the communication rhythm. Our results underscore when teams may benefit from focused versus cyclic conversations, whether those conversations should follow predictable patterns or be seemingly random, and if the time spent talking about specific topics should be consistent or vary over time. These insights may be dependent upon a variety of issues including where in the lifecycle the teams are, how much time they have to complete their task, and what media is available for communicating.

In this chapter, we examine communication sequences to identify different types of communication behaviors that may be most advantageous to teams. Specifically, we investigate how teams converse about our topics of interest by classifying both the topic (e.g., tactical strategy, mission analysis) and purpose (e.g., clarify, suggest, inform) of each exchanged message. We examine the sequential order in which these messages are transmitted and determine if any differences in sequence are attributable to the conditions under which the team is working or their performance on the assigned task. This investigation is accomplished using hierarchical cluster analysis and dendrograms that facilitate visualizing the results. Capturing how team communication unfolds at this level of detail highlights the types of messages or ordering of messages that may facilitate or impede team progress, thereby offering guidance about why seemingly similar teams often have varying performance.

Throughout this book, we have examined longitudinal team communication to glimpse into the inner workings of teams. Our efforts provide insights into what, when, how, and why team communication changes over time, including any corresponding impact on performance. Further, we have shown that conditions under which teams are collaborating matter. In this chapter, we bring these insights together to look holistically at what has been learned from this research. In particular, we translate the research findings into specific research recommendations and on-the-ground managerial implications. We then articulate the theoretical contributions that may be derived from our efforts and the value of expanding team researchers’ methodological toolboxes. While acknowledging the limitations of our study, we advance opportunities for new research in this area. We end with concluding thoughts about longitudinal team communication and the importance of considering it to be an integral component of a team’s journey worthy of focused consideration.

To better manage behavioral operations in project management, we demonstrate the value of quantitative model-based approaches in examining behaviors and generating insights for managerial research and practice. We focus on organizational members’ behaviors and interactions on large-scale projects using multi-team systems (MTS). While MTS invoke different behaviors than simpler team systems, research insights have lagged on MTS due to the complexity and resource intensity of capturing the multitude of behaviors and interactions by human subjects in real-world situations. Thus, MTS provides an apt context to demonstrate the mechanics of mathematically modeling human behavior and conducting virtual experiments via mixed-integer linear optimization to understand the way to meet operational objectives. Virtual experimentation is used to explore communication behaviors that unfold under different levels of project complexity and interdependence when time, cost, and quality operational objectives are considered independently or collectively. The results suggest that the type of communication plan set by project managers needs to change according to project attributes and objectives (maximize quality, minimize cost or minimize time). Moreover, this paper demonstrates the benefits of using operations research methods to assess behavioral patterns in an operational setting and establish propositions for targeted research in the field. In conclusion, benefits and limitations are put forth about the way Behavioral OR expands the traditional toolkit of human subject researchers in operations and beyond.

In the focal article, Britt, Shen, Sinclair, Grossman, and Klieger (2016) are rightfully concerned that the topic of resilience may become a “quicksand” term that is used by different audiences in different manners. However, we are more optimistic than the authors of the focal article, as several researchers at the team level of analysis have outlined frameworks that have attempted to tease apart team resilience from related constructs such as adaptation. Likewise, such work has also provided a deeper understanding of the factors that serve as antecedents to team resilience and adaptation, as well as how both constructs can shape subsequent team outcomes. Accordingly, the “sand” is starting to congeal at the team level of analysis, and we bring in these insights to extend the conversation about resilience.

An experiment by Boyle, Kennedy, and Shea (2012) demonstrated that practice tracking a template created from a sine wave results in enhanced performance and transfer on a reciprocal aiming task with an index of difficulty (ID) of 6. An experiment was conducted to determine whether tracking a template constructed from recorded participants' performance with ID = 6 would provide the same benefit. Participants were assigned to one of four groups (Fitts–master, Fitts–yoked, sine–master, and sine–yoked). After acquisition, visual templates were constructed for the Fitts–yoked and sine–yoked conditions. The templates were generated from the unique displacement data of the Fitts– and sine–master participants. These made up the training template for the Fitts– and sine–yoked participants. After acquisition, all participants were asked to perform test trials under their respective acquisition conditions (Test 1) and test trials under ID = 6 reciprocal aiming conditions (Test 2). Results indicated faster movement times in the sine-wave training groups on Test 2 than in both Fitts groups. These results indicate that the presentation of a tracking template can result in lower dwell times in the Fitts–yoked pairing on Test 2. However, the findings indicate the need to use templates that guide the movement in a way that promotes an equal acceleration–deceleration profile paired with smooth target reversal.

For nearly four decades bimanual coordination, "a prototype of complex motor skills" and apparent "window into the design of the brain," has been intensively studied. Past research has focused on describing and modeling the constraints that allow the production of some coordination patterns while limiting effective performance of other bimanual coordination patterns. More recently researchers have identified a coalition of perception-action constraints that hinder the effective production of bimanual skills. The result has been that given specially designed contexts where one or more of these constraints are minimized, bimanual skills once thought difficult, if not impossible, to effectively produce without very extensive practice can be executed effectively with little or no practice. The challenge is to understand how these contextual constraints interact to allow or inhibit the production of complex bimanual coordination skills. In addition, the factors affecting the stability of bimanual coordination tasks needs to be re-conceptualized in terms of perception-related constraints arising from the environmental context in which performance is conducted and action constraints resident in the neuromotor system.

Purpose On the path to accomplishing task work, teams may face disruptive events like budget issues, equipment failures, and membership change that trigger adaptation. While recently researchers have clarified the team adaptation nomological network, our objective is to extend theory by providing a roadmap about various ways in which temporal considerations may complicate the impact of adaptation triggers on team adaptation and in turn adaptive outcomes. Methodology/approach We present three adaptation temporal considerations (i.e., timing, duration, and frequency) that may change the way team adaptation unfolds in response to a given adaptation trigger. We further explore and offer propositions about how the impact of adaptation timing, adaptation duration, and adaptation frequency differ by the type of adaptation trigger (i.e., task-based or team-based) experienced by the team. Research implications By examining adaptation to task-based or team-based triggers from a temporal perspective researchers may better explain why the timing of when the team adapts across its lifecycle (adaptation timing), how long the team takes to adapt (adaptation duration), and the recurrent need to adapt (adaptation frequency) is more or less likely to lead to positive adaptive performance outcomes. Practical implications Organizations may benefit from setting up teams for success by helping members understand that there are inherent differences in the adaptation triggers they face including temporal expectations. Organizations may see value in providing initial and on-going support to teams so they are better able to adapt when needed and mitigate negative effects due to adaptation timing, adaptation duration, and adaption frequency.

Some examinations of group processes may require intensive data collection to answer initial research questions. Findings, however, often lead to more research questions that could be answered if additional data were available. In cases where collecting additional data is cost prohibitive, researchers may benefit from formulating “what-if” questions that can be answered via simulation and virtual experimentation. This chapter presents a step-by-step guide to demonstrate (1) how simulation procedures can be developed and validated with existing empirical data and (2) how these procedures can be executed to conduct virtual experiments. To demonstrate these steps, we provide a tutorial based on potential what-if questions about two different aspects of the relationship between team cohesion and team effectiveness using continuous and discrete empirical data, respectively, along with Matlab code for the simulation, validation, and virtual experimentation. We then present two more complex examples from our own published papers.

Practice tracking a sine wave template has been shown (J. B. Boyle, D. Kennedy, & C. H. Shea, 2012) to greatly enhance performance on a difficult Fitts task of the same amplitude. The purpose of the experiment was to replicate this finding and determine whether enhancements related to the sine wave practice are specific to the amplitude experienced during the sine wave practice. Following sine wave or Fitts task practice with amplitudes of 16° or 24°, participants were tested under the conditions they had practiced under (Test 1) and then all groups were tested under Fitts task conditions (Test 2; ID = 6, amplitude = 16°). Participants who practiced with the sine wave templates were able to move faster on Test 2 where a 16° amplitude Fitts task was used than participants that had practiced either the 16° or 24° amplitude Fitts tasks. The movements produced by the sine groups on Test 2 were not only faster than the movements of the Fitts groups on Test 2, but dwell time was lower with percent time to peak velocity and harmonicity higher for the Sine groups than for the Fitts groups. The decreased movement times for the sine groups on Test 2 were accomplished with hits or endpoint variability similar to that of the Fitts group.

A recent experiment by Boyle et al. (Exp Brain Res 223:377-387, 2012a) demonstrated that providing a sine-wave template for participants to follow enhances performance and transfer on difficult (ID = 6) Fitts tasks. Another experiment (Fernandez and Bootsma in Acta Psychol 129:217-227, 2008) demonstrated the effectiveness of applying a nonlinear transformation of the visual feedback provided to participants executing difficult aiming movements. The present experiment was designed to determine whether these two enhancements when used together would provide further enhancements to difficult aiming movements. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three acquisition conditions. Participants in the Fitts and Fittslog condition were asked to flex/extend their arm in the horizontal plane at the elbow joint (wrist stabilized) in an attempt to move back and forth between two targets as quickly and accurately as possible. In the Sinelog condition, participants were asked to track a sine-wave pattern. The timing for Sinelog conditions was set to result in total times (movement time + dwell time) similar to that anticipated for the Fittslog condition. The feedback displays for Fittslog and Sinelog groups were subjected to a nonlinear transformation, but not for the Fitts group. Following 54 acquisition trials (17.5 s each) under their assigned condition, Test 1 was conducted under the same conditions as the participant experienced during the acquisition trials and Test 2 was conducted under Fitts conditions with the nonlinear transformation of the display data. Test 3 was conducted under typical Fitts conditions with no transformation of the display data. The results for Tests 1 and 2 indicated that total time and movement time for the Fittslog and Sinelog groups were reduced relative to the Fitts condition. In addition, dwell time was significantly lower, a larger proportion of movement time was spent in the acceleration portion of the movement, and normalized peak velocity was significantly lower for the participants in the Sinelog condition than for participants in the Fittslog condition. On Test 3, an untransformed Fitts condition was imposed; the Sinelog group outperformed the Fittslog condition on all variables except hits, endpoint variability, and peak velocity where the Fittslog and Sinelog groups performed similarly.

This crowdsourced project introduces a collaborative approach to improving the reproducibility of scientific research, in which findings are replicated in qualified independent laboratories before (rather than after) they are published. Our goal is to establish a non-adversarial replication process with highly informative final results. To illustrate the Pre-Publication Independent Replication (PPIR) approach, 25 research groups conducted replications of all ten moral judgment effects which the last author and his collaborators had 'in the pipeline' as of August 2014. Six findings replicated according to all replication criteria, one finding replicated but with a significantly smaller effect size than the original, one finding replicated consistently in the original culture but not outside of it, and two findings failed to find support. In total, 40% of the original findings failed at least one major replication criterion. Potential ways to implement and incentivize pre-publication independent replication on a large scale are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)

How can firms price their products and services, as their ecosystems get smarter? In order to answer this question, this paper provides a stylized model and its expansion to characterize industries that have become smarter and connected through the introduction of smart devices, a.k.a. the Internet of Things. First, we propose a basic model for a duopolistic multi-sided market with externality effects. Next, we expand this model to a case that considers cross-market network externalities. Our results reveal that, even if Internet of Things technologies facilitate complex multi-sided markets, there is a strategic pricing solution for firm profits. Moreover, a strategic firm can benefit from aforementioned cross-market externalities in terms of higher market share and equilibrium prices. This study not only contributes to the theories of pricing information goods, but also provides a guideline for practitioners who make pricing and other strategic decisions for the Internet of Things enabled goods and services.

An experiment was designed to determine the degree to which instruction and visual display influence participants' performance and control characteristics when executing difficult reciprocal aiming movements. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three acquisition conditions (Fitts, Impulse and Sine). Participants in the Fitts condition were asked to flex/extend their limb/lever in the horizontal plane at the elbow joint (wrist stabilized) in an attempt to move back and forth between two targets as quickly and accurately as possible. In the Impulse condition, participants moved between two target lines paced by a metronome, and in the Sine condition, participants were asked to track a sine wave pattern. The timing for the Impulse and Sine conditions was set to result in total times (movement time + dwell time) similar to that observed in our previous experiments using the same Fitts conditions. The respective display and current position of the limb were projected on the screen in front of the participant. Following nine acquisition trials (15 s each) under their assigned condition, Test 1 was conducted under the same conditions as the participant experienced during the acquisition, and then, Test 2 was conducted for all participants under the Fitts' conditions. The results for Test 1 indicated that total time and movement time for the three groups did not differ. However, dwell time was significantly lower, a larger proportion of movement time was spent in the acceleration portion of the movement, and peak velocity was significantly lower for the participants in the Sine condition than for participants in the Fitts condition. On Test 2, where Fitts conditions were imposed, the Sine group outperformed the Fitts condition on all variables except hits and endpoint variability where the Fitts and Sine groups performed similarly.

Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) are documents describing the characteristics and intended usage of proposed and existing systems. They provide information about the requirements and future desired states the project aims to achieve. We reviewed 22 recent CONOPS from government and private sector institutions to ascertain the current approach to CONOPS development. Based on the CONOPS review and research literature, we highlight three key areas, stakeholder involvement, shared mental models, and visualization, through which the development process may be improved. Moreover, we suggest that the development process itself may be transformed into an agile process that addresses current shortcomings in the key areas. To do so, we propose an agile CONOPS development process conducted through three iteration-driven phases and present corresponding research and commercial tools that may be leveraged at each phase. As such, putting this agile process into effect may reduce development time, improve effectiveness, and change the perception of the CONOPS from a burdensome documentation procedure to an invaluable resource throughout the system lifecycle. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The success of teams working together over multiple meetings may depend on how processes develop at initial meetings. Computer-mediated tools, in particular, may hinder team process development which may set the stage for shortcomings later. One recommendation is to hold the initial team meeting face to face. Herein, we examine social processes over time and whether computer-mediated teams completing their first session face to face can offset the shortcomings in process development and outcomes in their second session. Using longitudinal data we test the differences in, and relationships among, processes and outputs across teams that met twice as computer mediated, twice as face to face, or as mixed media (first as face to face and second as computer mediated). Results indicate computer-mediated teams reported lower participative decision making than face-to-face teams after the first session and the disparity continued at the second session. Mixed-media teams, however, had improved participative decision making over pure computer-mediated teams in the long run. Further, mixed-media teams reported team satisfaction similar to pure face-to-face teams and delivered a task performance between that of pure computer-mediated and pure face-to-face teams. Interestingly, mixed-media teams experienced increased conflict over time, while conflict in pure media teams decreased. Our results suggest that practitioners may want to require an initial face-to-face session (i.e., more than just a meet and greet) to prepare members to work together in the future.

Objective: Our objective is to capture temporal patterns in mental model convergence processes and differences in these patterns between distributed teams using an electronic collaboration space and face-to-face teams with no interface. Background: Distributed teams, as sociotechnical systems, collaborate via technology to work on their task. The way in which they process information to inform their mental models may be examined via team communication and may unfold differently than it does in face-to-face teams. Method: We conducted our analysis on 32 three-member teams working on a planning task. Half of the teams worked as distributed teams in an electronic collaboration space, and the other half worked face-to-face without an interface. Results: Using event history analysis, we found temporal interdependencies among the initial convergence points of the multiple mental models we examined. Furthermore, the timing of mental model convergence and the onset of task work discussions were related to team performance. Differences existed in the temporal patterns of convergence and task work discussions across conditions. Conclusion: Distributed teams interacting via an electronic interface and face-to-face teams with no interface converged on multiple mental models, but their communication patterns differed. In particular, distributed teams with an electronic interface required less overall communication, converged on all mental models later in their life cycles, and exhibited more linear cognitive processes than did face-to-face teams interacting verbally. Application: Managers need unique strategies for facilitating communication and mental model convergence depending on teams’ degrees of collocation and access to an interface, which in turn will enhance team performance.

Launching and supporting successful maintenance projects is an overlooked aspect of maintenance management research. This paper examines the effects of four important factors on project success: resource allocation, team leader authority, significant project objectives, and top management involvement. Additionally, we investigate the moderating effects of top management involvement on the relationship between inputs and team performance. By examining the responses from 60 industrial teams we found that a project team's ability to function efficiently is positively related to resource allocation and significant project objectives and negatively related to team leader authority and top management involvement. A project team's ability to achieve its business goals was positively related to significant project objectives. Moreover, the relationship was stronger for significant project objectives and project efficiency when top management was involved. The moderator also enhanced the team leader authority–goal...

While the topic of team adaptation is gaining in prominence within the broader team effectiveness literature, there remain numerous unanswered questions about the way it affects, and is affected by, team dynamics over time. In particular, within this chapter, we seek to more fully examine the relationship between team adaptation and team cohesion to set the stage for additional investigations of team adaptation – team emergent state relationships. However, beyond merely suggesting that a linear relationship exists between team adaptation and cohesion, we envision the relationship as likely being curvilinear as well as reciprocal in nature. Additionally, we consider how temporal factors may shape this relationship by considering how the team’s performance on prior disruptions may influence the link between team cohesion and different adaptive outcomes (i.e., meritorious, maintenance, or maladaptation) as well as flowing along a feedback loop to affect team adaptation processes and team adaptability. By theorizing about these underexamined relationships, our intent is to introduce a framework that can be utilized as a foundation upon which future team adaptation research can build. Finally, we discuss how practitioners can leverage our thoughts in order to more effectively manage adaptation and cohesion within their teams.

Bimanual 1:1 coordination patterns other than in-phase (0°) and anti-phase (180°) have proven difficult to perform even with extended practice. The difficulty has traditionally been attributed to phase attraction that draws the coordination between the limbs towards the bimanual patterns of in-phase and anti-phase and variability associated with the activation and associated proprioceptive signals of non-homologous muscles via crossed and uncrossed cortical pathways. However, recent experiments have demonstrated that a wide range of relative phase and multi-frequency coordination patterns can be effectively produced with only a few minutes of practice when Lissajous or online relative phase information is provided. The present experiment was designed to determine if participants provided Lissajous feedback comprised of continuously transitioning relative phase goals could be effectively performed as the participant navigates through the attractor landscape. The results clearly indicated that participants can effectively produce a large range of supposedly unstable coordination patterns (between 0° and 180° in 1° increments) after only a few minutes of practice. These findings clearly indicate that the perception-action system is fully capable of effectively producing and transitioning through a wide range of bimanual coordination patterns and that the reason for the failure to produce these patterns in previous experiments resides in the perceptual information and attentional requirements typically found in experimental testing environments.

Internet of Things has the potential to disrupt industries through changing products, services, and business models just as the Internet did in the '90s. Machine-to-machine communication is at the core of Internet of Things. Machines that we interact with in everyday life will start interacting with each other, collect data, and even use advances in data technologies to make decisions for us. Organizations, in order to achieve the highest profit, should also redesign their business service models conscientiously around externalities across markets that link through platforms and be specific about which markets to serve. In this research, we aim to build business ownership strategies to further two-sided markets and platforms literature. Herein, we focus on a number of business service models that link four sides of a market, and compare the advantages and disadvantages of network externalities generated by Internet of Things in each model.

Three experiments were designed to determine the level of cooperation or interference observed from the forces generated in one limb on the forces exhibited by the contralateral limb when one or both limbs were producing a constant force (Experiment 1), one limb was producing a dynamic force while the other limb was producing a constant force (Experiment 2), and both limbs were producing dynamic force patterns (Experiment 3). The results for both Experiments 1 and 2 showed relatively strong positive time series cross correlations between the left and right limb forces indicating increases or decreases in the forces generated by one limb resulted in corresponding changes in the forces produced by the homologous muscles of the contralateral limb. Experiment 3 required participants to coordinate 1:1 and 1:2 rhythmical bimanual force production tasks when provided Lissajous feedback. The results indicated very effective performance of both bimanual coordination patterns. However, identifiable influences of right limb forces on the left limb force time series were observed in the 1:2 coordination pattern but not in the 1:1 pattern. The results of all three experiments support the notion that neural crosstalk is partially responsible for the stabilities and instabilities associated with bimanual coordination.

Both discrete and continuous bimanual coordination patterns are difficult to effectively perform when the two limbs are required to perform different movements patterns, move at different velocities and/or move different amplitudes unless some form of integrated feedback is provided. The purpose of the present experiment was to determine the degree to which a complex bimanual coordination pattern could be performed when integrated feedback and movement template are provided. The complex bimanual coordination pattern involved reciprocal movements of the two limbs under different difficulty requirements. As defined by Fitts' index of difficulty (ID), the left arm (ID = 3, A = 16°, W = 4°) task was of lower difficulty than the right arm task (ID = 5, A = 32°, W = 2°). Note that the left and right limb movements are also different in terms of movement time, movement velocity, accuracy requirements and amplitude as well as one movement was continuous and the other intermittent. Participants were provided 2 blocks of 9 trials in the bimanual condition (30 s/trial). Following the bimanual phase, participants performed two unimanual test trials-one with each limb. The results demonstrated that the performance for each limb in the bimanual condition was similar to the performance for the same limb and conditions in the unimanual control conditions. The similarity was indicated by the same movement speed, movement structure, endpoint variability and hit rates for the bimanual and unimanual conditions. The results support our hypothesis that people can overcome the intrinsic difficulties associated with performing complex bimanual coordination patterns when provided appropriate perceptual information feedback that allows them to detect and correct coordination errors.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether older adults compared with young adults exhibit impaired end-point accuracy during a two-finger task due to altered activation of the contributing synergistic muscles. Nine young (21.3 years ± 1.6 years, 4 men) and 9 older (73.1 years ± 6.4 years, 5 men) were instructed to accurately match the center of a target with concurrent abduction of the index and little fingers (synergistic two-finger task). The target comprised of 20% MVC and 200 ms. Visual feedback of the force trajectory and target was provided 1s after each trial. Subjects completed 40 trials and the last 10 were used for analysis. Endpoint accuracy was quantified as the normalized deviation from the target in terms of peak force (peak force error), time-to-peak force (time-to-peak force error), and a combination of the two (overall error). Motor output variability was quantified as the standard deviation and coefficient of variation (CV) of peak force and time to peak force. The neural activation of the involved synergist muscles (first dorsal interosseus (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM)) was quantified with the electromyography (EMG) amplitude (root mean square) and its frequency structure (wavelet analysis). Older adults exhibited significantly greater peak force (46.7 ± 10% vs. 24.9 ± 3.2%) and overall endpoint error (68.5 ± 9.7% vs. 41.7 ± 4.3%), whereas the time to peak force error was similar for the two age groups. Older adults also exerted greater peak force variability than young adults, as quantified by the CV of peak force (34.3 ± 3.5% vs. 24.1 ± 2.3%). The greater peak force error in older adults was associated with changes in the activation of the ADM muscle but not the FDI. Specifically, greater peak force error was associated with greater power from 13-30 Hz and lesser power from 30-60 Hz. These results, therefore, suggest that older adults compared with young adults exhibit impaired endpoint force accuracy during a two finger task because of altered activation of one of the synergist muscles.

Past research suggests that knowledge diversity is utilized during creative processes, divergent and convergent thinking, to come up with novel and useful solutions. Whereas research examining the relationship between knowledge diversity and process outcomes has been mixed, differentiating knowledge into mental models may help explain team creative processes and outcomes. Herein, two types of mental models, complementary and shared mental models, are related to team creative processes. Complementary mental models are those knowledge structures held by team members that have unique role-specific task-relevant content. Shared mental models are those knowledge structures held by team members that contain similar content. These mental models provide a finer-grained perspective of knowledge and show how each team member's knowledge may contribute to divergent and convergent creative processes and outcomes. Further, a framework relating mental models and creative processes is presented and potential facilitation approaches are discussed.