Dr. Steven J Kass

We conducted a cognitive task analysis to provide input on the curriculum and technology currently used to train parachute descent procedures in the Naval Aviation Survival Training Program. Subject matter experts provided insight into the correct decision-making thought processes used in parachute descent. Techniques for analysis included focus groups, interviews, and a think-aloud procedure involving a parachute descent simulator at a Naval Aviation Survival Training Center. Results and findings inform the instructional design process to improve the training pipeline’s development, implementation, and evaluation.

Virtual reality (VR) allows users to experience highly immersive, simulated events that would otherwise be too dangerous, expensive, or just impossible to achieve in a real environment. While VR was once only available to a handful of researchers, commercialization and decreased costs have greatly increased its accessibility to all. Because it provides the capability to precisely control the virtual world, VR has become an increasingly popular tool for use by psychological researchers and therapists, alike. The vast growing literature on VR documents how it has been used for such purposes as gaming and entertainment, knowledge elicitation, training and education, exposure therapy, and physical rehabilitation. However, though the use of VR holds great potential, it may not be suitable for everyone. Many factors must be considered before adopting this technology. This article reviews some of the many uses for VR, as well as its strengths and limitations when used for research and therapy.

Current trends point towards the development and implementation of augmented reality (AR) navigation assistance systems for drivers. Previous research has found augmented reality can benefit driving performance, but the impact of AR on route learning (spatial knowledge acquisition) has received less attention. The current study used simulated driving scenarios to determine how the type of navigation aid device used (i.e., paper map, electronic map, and AR system) affected driving performance and route learning of 62 driving adults. Route learning was examined at landmark, route, and survey levels. The hypotheses tested were that AR would improve driving performance but diminish route learning compared to paper map use; and that AR would outperform electronic map use in both driving performance and route learning. Results indicated that paper map use led to poorer driving performance and greater route learning. However, map recognition may have been a confounding factor in higher level spatial knowledge acquisition with paper map use. Driving performance and route learning were similar for drivers using the electronic map and AR, but some differences suggested that drivers have reduced uncertainty and hesitation while using AR to navigate in unfamiliar areas.

The present study examines the effects of mobile phone dependency and passive mobile phone interaction on situation awareness and driving performance. A total of 37 participants drove in a fixed-base driving simulator that included rural roads followed by typical city roads with light traffic. As participants were driving, they received an audible text message notification to which they were unable to respond. After receiving the text message, participants' situation awareness was assessed via the situation awareness global assessment technique (SAGAT). SAGAT probes occurred at 30 s and 10 s after the text message was delivered to determine the effect of text message delay on situation awareness. Results indicate that situation awareness is negatively affected for at least 10 s after the text message alert but not longer than 30 s. In addition to lowered situation awareness, participants' mean speed increased during periods of distraction in the 10 s following a mobile phone notification. Low mobile phone dependency did not serve as a protective factor against distraction in that participants were similarly distracted irrespective of dependency level. The implications of passive mobile phone interaction, as well as possible solutions are discussed.

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a workshop designed to provide nurses (n = 6) with the means to improve their situation awareness. The nurses participated in a full-day workshop in which their situation awareness performance was measured before and after using the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique. Following the workshop, nurses demonstrated improvement in their perception of relevant cues, comprehension of what the combination of cues means, and projection of the patient's future status. The implications of situation awareness education for health-care professionals are discussed.

In this study, we examined how spatially informative auditory and tactile cues affected participants' performance on a visual search task while they simultaneously performed a secondary auditory task. Visual search task performance was assessed via reaction time and accuracy. Tactile and auditory cues provided the approximate location of the visual target within the search display. The inclusion of tactile and auditory cues improved performance in comparison to the no-cue baseline conditions. In comparison to the no-cue conditions, both tactile and auditory cues resulted in faster response times in the visual search only (single task) and visual-auditory (dual-task) conditions. However, the effectiveness of auditory and tactile cueing for visual task accuracy was shown to be dependent on task-type condition. Crossmodal cueing remains a viable strategy for improving task performance without increasing attentional load within a singular sensory modality.
Practitioner Summary: Crossmodal cueing with dual-task performance has not been widely explored, yet has practical applications. We examined the effects of auditory and tactile crossmodal cues on visual search performance, with and without a secondary auditory task. Tactile cues aided visual search accuracy when also engaged in a secondary auditory task, whereas auditory cues did not.

Objective: Identifying Department of Defense (DoD) occupations affected by injuries to the head and sensory systems. Methods: We explored the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database to identify occupations with the highest incidence of injured personnel, then ranked how frequently they occurred in a top 10 list for each of four injury categories (head/brain, visual, auditory, vestibular) encompassing 25 injury codes. Across all four categories, the most affected occupations were identified, among which we chose three Army combat-related military occupational specialties (MOSs) for detailed study. We identified skills needed to perform these MOSs and explored whether MOS-critical deficits could be expected following the injuries. Results: Some DoD occupations are more likely to suffer from these injuries, including Infantry, Combat Operations Control, Artillery/Gunnery, Motor Vehicle Operator, Combat Engineering, and Armor/Amphibious. Within these DoD occupations, we explored three Army combatant MOSs: Infantry (11B), Cavalry Scout (19D), and Artillery (13B), confirming that these jobs are likely to be disrupted by injuries within the four categories. Conclusions: Head and sensory injuries disproportionately affect certain military occupations. Relatively few injuries disrupt combat-related abilities that are job critical (e.g., firearms operation) and job specific (e.g., Artillery gunnery problems); these should be the focus of efforts to improve rehabilitation and RTD outcomes.

Change detection across disruptions of visual scenes is typically studied using brief durations of the interstimulus interval (ISI) (i.e., up to 300 ms). We investigated change detection across durations that approximate longer, voluntary glances away from a visual scene (i.e., 500-2,000 ms), which are often actualized in driving situations. Experiment 1 found that in nondriving scenarios, change detection performance, as measured by accuracy and response time, decreased as ISI increased. Experiment 2 found that in driving scenarios, change detection for plausible changes also decreased as the ISI increased, but there was no similar decrease in performance for implausible changes. Both Experiments 1 and 2 showed that the necessary number of exposures to the change decreased as ISIs approximated voluntary glances, suggesting that change detection strategies may be modified at longer ISI durations.

Performance on a decision-making task and cohesion were examined in dyadic (two-person) teams. A total of 118 university students in the United States and Japan participated in the study and were placed in either homogeneous (American–American or Asian–Asian) or heterogeneous (American–Asian) teams, based on whether they were raised in the United States or in an Asian country. Teams worked either face-to-face or via videoconferencing (i.e., virtual teams) and performed a hidden profile task simulating a personnel selection process (i.e., ranking candidates). American–American teams and American–Asian teams outperformed Asian–Asian teams regardless of whether they worked face-to-face or virtually. Team cohesion results mirrored the performance results. The findings suggest that individuals from Asian cultures may require more time to form a cohesive and high-performing team.

Boredom is one of the most common complaints among university students, with studies suggesting its link to poor grades, drop out, and behavioral
problems. Principles borrowed from industrial-organizational psychology may help prevent boredom and enrich the classroom experience. In the current study, we applied the core dimensions of the job characteristics model to the university classroom. In a survey of 293 students, significant relationships emerged between the five core dimensions (i.e., skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) and various affective (e.g., satisfaction) and behavioral (e.g., absenteeism) outcomes. Boredom proneness was found to be significantly and negatively related to course grade and measures of satisfaction. We conclude with suggestions for enriching the classroom experience.