Dissertations / Theses: 'Self-paced'

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Braet, David Christopher. "Principles for designing online self-paced corporate training." [Ames, Iowa : Iowa State University], 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:1473185.

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Bashashati, Hossein. "A user-customized self-paced brain computer interface." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/61248.

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Much attention has been directed towards synchronous Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs). For these BCIs, the user can only operate the system during specific system-defined periods. Self-paced BCIs, however, allow users to operate the system at any time he/she wishes. The classification of Electroencephalography (EEG) signals in self-paced BCIs is extremely challenging, as the BCI system does not have any clue about the start time of a control task. Also, the data contains a large number of periods during which the user has no intention to control the BCI. For sensory motor self-paced BCIs (focus of this thesis), the brain of a user goes through several well-defined internal state changes while performing a mental task. Designing classifiers that exploit such temporal correlations in EEG data can enhance the performance of BCIs. It is also important to customize these BCIs for each user, because the brain characteristics of different people are not the same. In this thesis, we first develop a unified comparison framework to compare the performance of different classifiers in sensory motor BCIs followed by rigorous statistical tests. This study is the largest of its kind as it has been performed on 29 subjects of synchronous and self-paced BCIs. We then develop a Bayesian optimization-based strategy that automatically customizes a synchronous BCI based on the brain characteristics of each individual subject. Our results show that our automated algorithm (which relies on less sophisticated feature extraction and classification methods) yields similar or superior results compared to the best performing designs in the literature. We then propose an algorithm that can capture the time dynamics of the EEG signal for self-paced BCI systems. We show that this algorithm yields better results compared to several well-known algorithms, over 13 self-paced BCI subjects. Finally, we propose a fully automatic, scalable algorithm that customizes a self-paced BCI system based on the brain characteristics of each user and at the same time captures the dynamics of the EEG signal. Our final algorithm is an important step towards transitioning BCIs from research environments to real-life applications, where automatic, scalable and easy to use systems are needed.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of
Graduate

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Jackson, Robin C. "A behavioural analysis of 'choking' in self-paced skills." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3714.

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This thesis is about 'choking' in self-paced skills. Choking refers to 'the occurrence of inferior performance despite striving and incentives for superior performance' (Baumeister and Steinhilber, 1986, p. 361). Self-paced skills are skills in which performance is initiated by the athlete. This research set out to investigate the cause of choking in self-paced skills within the theoretical framework of behaviour analysis. The main focus of the research relates to the distinction between behaviour under the control of verbal antecedents (rule-governed behaviour) and behaviour that is shaped by its consequences (contingency-shaped behaviour). It was originally hypothesised that the insensitivity of rule-governed behaviour to changes in the contingencies of reinforcement could he beneficial in situations where these changes led to greater performance pressure. Specifically, it was predicted that performance under the control of verbal antecedents would be less susceptible to choking. In the first experiment, no support was found for the hypothesis and, furthermore, rule-governed performance appeared to be inferior to contingency-shaped performance in the early stages of acquisition. In light of these results, and after a detailed examination of the behaviour analysis distinction between these two forms of behaviour, evidence was presented which suggested that verbal control of the topography, or form, of behaviour would be likely to disrupt performance in self-paced skills. In subsequent experiments, it was found that using simple verbal cues was an effective means of preventing choking under pressure. It was hypothesised that the function of these cues was in preventing reinvestment of too many technical instructions in the moments before performance initiation. The assumptions upon which the reinvestment theory of choking is based were also examined with results providing general support for the theory but also suggesting that it needs to be refined to account for verbal antecedents that do not disrupt performance.

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Thomas, Kevin. "Regulation of power output during self-paced cycling exercise." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2013. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/15122/.

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Fatigue is a universal phenomenon with functional and perceptual consequences. The study of fatigue in the exercise sciences has historically focussed on factors that limit performance during exercise. More recent proposals have shifted the focus of this understanding to examine how intensity is regulated during exercise through the study of the pacing strategy, which has both physiological and practical consequences. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the biological basis of self-pacing and the optimum pacing strategy for endurance time-trial events. Study 1 assessed the reproducibility of the pacing strategy and the consistency of the performance, perceptual and physiological response during self-paced time-trial exercise in well-trained cyclists. This study demonstrated the existence of a global pacing strategy that was reproducible on repeat 20 km cycling time-trials (TTs), and consistent between 4, 20 and 40 km TTs. The performance, perceptual and physiological response was also reproducible, confirming the feasibility of studying manipulations of the self-pacing strategy and the subsequent impact on these variables. Studies 2 and 3 adopted a model whereby participant’s best self-paced TT performance was used to set time- and work-matched exercise bouts to study the effect of even- and variable-pacing. These studies revealed that a variable-pacing strategy that contains frequent periods of high-intensity exercise resulted in an augmented physiological response and higher perception of exertion compared to time- and work-matched even- and self-paced exercise. Conversely, even-pacing resulted in attenuation in the metabolic and perceptual cost of the bout, but only when the self-selected pacing strategy was sub-optimal. When self-pacing was optimal, time- and work-matched even-pacing resulted in cumulative metabolic stress that caused early exercise termination. In study 4 the biological basis to fatigue during 4, 20 and 40 km TTs was assessed. This study demonstrated that the contribution of central and peripheral mechanisms of fatigue during self-paced exercise is task-dependent. Specifically, the shorter, higher intensity 4 km time-trials were characterised by a greater degree of peripheral fatigue and less central fatigue compared to longer, lower intensity 20 and 40 km time-trials where less peripheral and more central fatigue was observed. The supraspinal contribution to fatigue was alsomgreater during longer TT exercise. These studies have provided novel insight in to the biological factors that underpin the regulation of self-paced exercise, and the optimum pacing strategy for endurance TT events.

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Tsui, Chun Sing Louis. "Adaptive Self-paced Brain-Actuated Control of Mobility Devices." Thesis, University of Essex, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.504838.

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Flaherty, Michelle A. "The effects of Sopite Syndrome on self-paced airsickness desensitization program." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 1998. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA354296.

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Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research) Naval Postgraduate School, September 1998.
"September 1998." Thesis advisor(s): John K. Schmidt, Robert R. Read. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-59). Also available online.

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Katomeri, Magdalena. "Acute effects of self-paced walking on smoking withdrawal and cravings." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/2537.

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High relapse rates among smokers attempting to quit have been linked with failure to cope with cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Smoking cravings and withdrawal behavior is known to be influenced by stress and exposure to smoking cues. Exercise appears to reduce cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms. However no study has investigated the effects of exercise on cue-elicited cravings and withdrawal symptoms, or on ad libitum smoking behavior. Aim: Four experimental studies were designed to examine the effects of exercise on smoking behavior. Initial studies focused on the effects of a single session of brisk walk on cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptom. Further research examined the effects of the walk on withdrawal symptoms and cravings and response to smoking cues and time spent on ad libitum smoking. Methods: All studies examined the effects of a short bout of brisk walking (15- 20 minutes) versus a passive control condition. For the purposes of the experiments, participants were temporarily smoking abstinent or non-abstinent. Multiple and single item measures of cravings and withdrawal, as well as different experimental designs were used in order to enhance the reliability of the findings. In Studies 2,3, and 4 after the exercise (or the control) participants were exposed to smoking cues. In these studies after the laboratory session, ad libitum smoking was determined from the subject's cell phone text message. Results: Cigarette cravings, withdrawal symptoms and negative affect decreased rapidly during exercise and remained reduced for 20-50 minutes after exercise. This pattern was robust across the four studies, across different abstinent periods, across single and multiple measures of cravings and withdrawal symptoms, across experimental designs and across samples. Furthermore, it was shown that exercise attenuated increases in cue elicited cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Results also indicated a two- to threefold longer time to the next cigarette following exercise. Exercise produced these effects by mimicking the relaxing effects of smoking. Conclusions: Short bouts of brisk walk are recommended as an aid to managing cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

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Faradji, Farhad. "Design of a self-paced brain-computer interface based on mental tasks." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42330.

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People with very severe motor-disabilities have to accept a much-reduced quality of life. Unfortunately, these people cannot use assistive devices as present devices require motor activities. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) provide an alternative means of communication between the brain and assistive devices. There are two types of BCIs, synchronous and self-paced. Self-paced BCIs are more practical as they can be used at any time. The vast majority of existing self-paced BCIs are activated by real, attempted, or imagined movements. Few are activated by mental tasks. The high false positive rates (FPRs) of existing self-paced BCIs render them impractical. There are no self-paced BCIs based on motor movements that have low FPRs. However, self-paced BCIs with low FPRs based on mental tasks have been proposed. Designing a self-paced mental task-based BCI with a zero or near zero FPR and a reasonable true positive rate (TPR) is the goal of this thesis. We investigated the feasibility of having a self-paced mental task-based BCI with a zero or near zero FPR. The EEG signals from 6 electrodes of 4 subjects performing 4 mental tasks are used. Features were extracted using autoregressive modeling. Different classifiers were tested. The results were promising in that zero FPRs were obtained. The data used, however, had not been collected in a self-paced paradigm. We then collected the EEG signals from 29 channels of 4 subjects performing 4 mental tasks in a self-paced paradigm. We evaluated the performance of our BCI using this dataset. It yielded an average TPR of 67.26% and zero FPR. To make the system practical, we decrease the number of channels from 29 to 7 and 5, using 2 approaches that yield local optimal results. The average TPR is sufficiently high (54.60% and 59.98% for systems with 5 and 7 channels) while the FPRs remain zero. We also study the effects on the performance, as the segment length is varied. For the 7-channel BCIs, the optimum length is between 1 and 2.5 sec. The average TPR is improved to 63.47%. The FPRs are zero. We also show that our BCIs are robust to artifacts.

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Satti, Abdul Rehman. "Fast adaptive signal processing for intelligent multistate self-paced brain-computer interfaces." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.530506.

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Peterson, Rex H. "Self-paced instruction in the U.S. Army : a boon or a dilemma." Virtual Press, 1992. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/833007.

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The study reviews how self-paced training programs were developed by the U.S. Army for Initial Entry Training (IET), and conducted at the various service schools. In early 1975, after a long validation effort, the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) published guidance to the service schools and training centers to begin self-paced training. Most service schools sought to follow this guidance in one form or another which demanded a job analysis, systematic development, and tryouts on typical soldiers. Through the years 1975-78, the service schools worked diligently to develop, evaluate and implement self-paced instruction in most of the job specialties of the U.S Army. Around 1978, complaints from field units began to find their way to the Department of the Army and TRADOC. The units complained that they were receiving too many unqualified soldiers from the advanced individual training courses. In response to these complaints, an in depth study was conducted at many of the schools and training centers. As a result of this study, in June 1983, the TRADOC Commander of TRADOC directed the service schools to move from their self-pace efforts toward group-pace.Contributing factors that caused the U.S Army to move away from self-paced instruction were: inherent lack of reenforcement training for the students in skills they had learned in basic training (soldierization skills); students entering the U.S. Army had poor reading skills, lack of motivation, and little formal education; there were problems in scheduling students through the school's "pipeline" and on to their first unit of assignment; and a shortage of properly trained developers and instructors.The U.S. Army's decision to introduce self-paced instruction, although not successful, was not wasted time and resources. It laid out a course that has led to group-paced instruction. The victory, called "Desert Storm", has proven the United States has been very successful with its training stratagem and has a well trained military force.This study was prepared as a historiography, and as such, recorded events as they occurred along a time continuum, and analyzed, correlated, and drew conclusions from those events.3
Department of Educational Leadership

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Hu, Ying. "Motivation, Usability and Their Interrelationships in a Self-paced Online Learning Environment." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/28856.

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This study addressed how usability improvement and motivational design affect learners' motivation and learning performance in a self-paced, online learning environment. The study also investigated the interrelationships between commonly-used usability measures and the motivation measures based on Keller's ARCS model. A two-phase study approach was used. In Phase I, an existing self-paced, online safety training tutorial was used as the baseline. Two alternative designs were developed with improved usability and motivational design based on the ARCS model. In Phase II, the effects of the three interface designs were evaluated through a three-group, generalized randomized block covariate design experiment. A total of seventy-two college students (48 males and 24 females) participated in the usability testing and the online training session using one of the interface designs. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Results suggested a significant interface design effect on learner motivation. Learners who used the interface design with both usability improvement and motivational design applied (the UM group) showed the highest level of motivation. In particular, the attention level of the learners in the UM group was significantly higher than the baseline group. Results also indicated motivation differences between genders. Females showed higher scores than males in overall motivation score and in each of the four subscales of attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. No significant difference in learning performance was found among the three treatment groups using different interface designs. None of the usability or motivation measures was a significant predictor of learning performance. Small to medium positive correlations were found between usability satisfaction and three motivation measures, i.e., attention, relevance and satisfaction. Content analysis identified a number of interface design components to be relevant to learners' motivation components: overall appearance, graphics/multimedia, text appearance, page layout, navigation, and paging/scrolling. Implications and design recommendations for online tutorial interface design were discussed. Additional discussion was provided regarding the online learning environment and the integration of usability, motivation, and instructional design and technology.
Ph. D.

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Bashashati, Ali. "Towards development of a 3-state self-paced brain computer interface system." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/31213.

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Brain computer interface (BCI) systems aim at helping individuals with motor disabilities by providing them the ability to control devices such as wheelchairs and computers, using their brain activity only. The majority of BCI research to-date has focused on developing technology for "synchronous" BCIs. These systems allow the user to affect control during specified time periods only. Self-paced (asynchronous) BCIs on the other hand, are designed to respond whenever the user intends to control the system, otherwise they remain in the so called "inactive output state". This dissertation pursues two main objectives: (1) improving the performance of the existing 2-state self-paced BCI system developed at the Neil Squire Society, Vancouver, Canada (initial evaluations of this system on eight subjects showed mean true positive (TP) rates of 51.3% and 27.5% at false positive (FP) rates of 2% and 1%, respectively.) and (2) designing the first 3-state self-paced BCI. At first, a comprehensive survey of signal processing algorithms in BCI systems is conducted. This survey is the first comprehensive review that covers more than 300 BCI published papers and introduces a taxonomy for signal processing in BCI systems. To achieve the first objective, four separate studies related to the feature extraction and feature classification blocks of the 2-state self-paced BCI are conducted. These studies increase the mean TP rate of the existing system to 73.5% and 47.3% at the FP rates of 2% and 1%, respectively. In these studies, the users were not allowed to control the BCI in 15-34% of the time due to the presence of eye blinks. Thus, another study is also conducted to evaluate the system when the users were allowed to control the output even during eye blinks. Results show slight decrease in TP rates (mean TP rates of 68.0% and 40.6% at the FP rates of 2% and 1%, respectively) with the advantage of providing full control of the system. To achieve the second objective, two new set of movements (right and left hand extension movements) which have not been previously used in the context of BCI systems are used to control the new 3-state self-paced BCI. Results on four able-bodied subjects show significant improvements in detecting the presence of a movement when the system is used in the context of a 2-state self-paced BCI. The mean TP rate is 73.4% at the FP rate of 1%. Initial evaluations of the proposed 3-state self-paced BCI show promise with mean right and left true positive rates of 42.2% and 51.9% at a false positive rate of 1%.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of
Graduate

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Awwad, Shiekh Hasan Bashar. "Adaptive methods exploiting the time structure in EEG for self-paced brain-computer interfaces." Thesis, University of Essex, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.536980.

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Drown, Michael R. "Transforming from instructor led to self paced training delivery a case study in learning /." Online version, 1998. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/1998/1998drownm.pdf.

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Silkwood, Michael N. "Traditional lecture and demonstration vs. modular self-paced instruction in technology education middle school." Online version, 2000. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2000/2000silkwoodm.pdf.

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Hogg, James. "The use of the self-paced exercise test in assessing cardiorespiratory fitness in runners." Thesis, University of Kent, 2018. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/68563/.

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The aim of this thesis was to investigate the utility of the self-paced exercise test (SPXT) in assessing the cardiorespiratory fitness of runners. Traditionally, cardiorespiratory fitness is assessed via an open-ended graded exercise test (GXT) which utilises fixed increments of work-rate and involves the participant continuing until volitional exhaustion. The SPXT is a closed-looped 10 minute (min) test which is made up of 5 x 2 min stages in which intensity is clamped by ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). The test starts at RPE 11, and this increases in an incremental fashion to encompass RPE 13, 15, 17, and finally 20. The test is more time-efficient than traditional protocols due to not requiring a known starting speed. Additionally, the SPXT may be more valid for runners compared to the GXT in which test duration is unknown. In study one, gradient and speed-based SPXT protocols were compared to a laboratory based GXT to investigate the validity of the SPXT in producing maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2max). The gradient-based SPXT [which has not previously been investigated] produced higher V̇O2max than the GXT (71 ± 4.3 vs. 68.6 ± 6.0 mL·kg-1·min-1, P = .03, ES = .39) but the speed-based SPXT produced similar V̇O2max to the GXT (67.6 ± 3.6 vs. 68.6 ± 6.0 mL·kg-1·min-1, P = .32, ES = .21). Results also demonstrated that the oxygen (O2) cost of ventilation may differ between the SPXT and GXT (26.4 ± 2.8 vs. 28.2 ± 2.8 mL.min-1, respectively) (P = .02). In study two, the oxygen cost of breathing during the SPXT was investigated. When assessed via separate ventilation trials, there were no differences in the oxygen cost of breathing between the SPXT and GXT (26.1 ± 5.3 vs. 26.9 ± 4.2 mL.min-1, respectively) (t7 = -1.00, P = .34,), and V̇O2max was again similar between the SPXT and GXT (Z = -.43, P = .67,). The mean velocity at RPE20 (vRPE20) measured via the SPXT was also similar to the maximal velocity (Vmax) derived from the GXT (t8 = .74, P = .48). In study three, the ability of the SPXT to provide novel parameters that could be used to prescribe six-weeks of running training for recreationally active runners was investigated. Results demonstrated that vRPE20 was effective in improving V̇O2max (6 ± 6 %), critical speed (3 ± 3 %) and lactate threshold (7 ± 8%) and these improvements were similar to a separate group who trained using GXT-derived parameters including Vmax (4 ± 8, 7 ± 7, 5 ± 4 %, for V̇O2max, critical speed, and lactate threshold, respectively). Prescribing training via the SPXT may be beneficial as it does not require additional testing that is usually associated with the GXT. In study four, the ability of the SPXT to accurately determine ventilatory thresholds (VT) was investigated. The first and second VT (VT1 and VT2, respectively) were not significantly different when measured as V̇O2 between the SPXT (4.03 ± 0.5 and 4.37 ± 0.6 L.min-1, for VT1 and VT2, respectively) and GXT (4.18 ± 0.5 and 4.54 ± 0.7 L.min-1, respectively) in highly trained runners. In recreationally trained runners VT1 was significantly different when measured via the SPXT and GXT (2.78 ± 0.5 vs. 2.99 ± 0.5 L.min-1, respectively) (t23 = -4.51, P < .01, ES = .42) whilst VT2 was also significantly different (3.10 ± 0.6 vs. 3.22 ± 0.6 L.min-1) (t21 = -2.35, P = .03, ES = .20). However, when calculated using different variables such as velocity, RPE, and HR, VT1 and VT2 were similar between protocols. This demonstrated that the SPXT can provide valid VT for runners. The conclusion from this thesis is that the SPXT is a valid protocol for measuring V̇O2max and can also be used to prescribe a programme of endurance training, and provide an accurate marker of VT.

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Richbourg, John Allen. "Concept Mapping as a Tool for Enhancing Self-Paced Learning in a Distance Scenario." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/599.

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Researchers have determined that concept maps serve as effective tools in the traditional science classroom. The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate concept mapping as a tool for student knowledge acquisition in 10th grade science for students in distance learning situations. Research questions were designed to investigate the influence of concept mapping on rate and quality of student knowledge acquisition and retention. This study was a pretest-posttest 2-group comparison study, constructivist in nature and based on the theory of cognitive learning. Participants included 36 students in the 10th grade at an inner-city school in the United States. Control and treatment groups participated in completing pre and posttesting to establish standards for initial understanding and knowledge acquired. Pretest scores were used in a 2-tailed t test to establish equivalence between groups at the beginning of the study. ANOVA was used with test gains to determine differences between treatment and control groups. Cronbach's alpha was conducted to test for concept map interrater reliability. A 2-tailed t test for matched groups was used with concept map scores and treatment group test gains to determine any relationship. No statistically significant relationship between the use of concept maps and distance learning was found. Recommendations for future research include a wider age range for participants and investigations of academic areas such as reading, writing, mathematics, and language acquisition, native and foreign. Implications for positive social change include research with altered parameters to identify an existing tool that may be used by students in the traditional classroom as well as in distance-learning scenarios.

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Song, Youngjae. "Sound-production related cognitive tasks for onset detection in self-paced brain-computer interfaces." Thesis, University of Essex, 2017. http://repository.essex.ac.uk/20755/.

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Objective. The main goal of this research is proposing a novel method of onset detection for Self-Paced (SP) Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) to increase usability and practicality of BCIs towards real-world uses from laboratory research settings. Approach. To achieve this goal, various Sound-Production Related Cognitive Tasks (SPRCTs) were tested against idle state in offline and simulated-online experiments. An online experiment was then conducted that turned a messenger dialogue on when a new message arrived by executing the Sound Imagery (SI) onset detection task in real-life scenarios (e.g. watching video, reading text). The SI task was chosen as an onset task because of its advantages over other tasks: 1) Intuitiveness. 2) Beneficial for people with motor disabilities. 3) No significant overlap with other common, spontaneous cognitive states becoming easier to use in daily-life situations. 4) No dependence on user’s mother language. Main results. The final online experimental results showed the new SI onset task had significantly better performance than the Motor Imagery (MI) approach. 84.04% (SI) vs 66.79% (MI) TFP score for sliding image scenario, 80.84% vs 61.07% for watching video task. Furthermore, the onset response speed showed the SI task being significantly faster than MI. In terms of usability, 75% of subjects answered SI was easier to use. Significance. The new SPRCT outperforms typical MI for SP onset detection BCIs (significantly better performance, faster onset response and easier usability), therefore it would be more easily used in daily-life situations. Another contribution of this thesis is a novel EMG artefact-contaminated EEG channel selection and handling method that showed significant class separation improvement against typical blind source separation techniques. A new performance evaluation metric for SP BCIs, called true-false positive score was also proposed as a standardised performance assessment method that considers idle period length, which was not considered in other typical metrics.

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Baxter, Lynn Z. (Lynn Zander). "The Association of Self-Directed Learning Readiness, Learning Styles, Self-Paced Instruction, and Confidence to Perform on the Job." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1993. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc935689/.

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Learning styles and readiness for self-directed learning were identified for 125 adult employees enrolled in self-paced training courses. The success of the self-paced instruction was measured by confidence to perform learned skills on the job. Confidence scores were compared across learning style types and self-directed learning readiness. It was concluded that self-paced training programs can be effective for a variety of learning style preferences. Additionally, adult employees who are highly self-directed will experience greater success in self-paced instruction than those less self-directed. The implication for businesses and academic institutions seeking to employ technology based, self-instructional programs is that a return on investment can be maximized by an examination of the target audience. Training programs which are self-paced may not generate the desired success which will translate into effective job performance for those adults who are not ready for self-directed learning.

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Price, Jodi L. "Examining metacognitive control are there age-related differences in item selection during self-paced study? /." Diss., Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/24781.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008.
Committee Chair: Hertzog, Christopher; Committee Member: Dunlosky, John; Committee Member: Engle, Randall; Committee Member: Rogers, Wendy; Committee Member: Smith, Anderson

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Chau, Yat Kwong. "What predicts workplace self-paced e-learning outcomes? : an exploratory study of motivation, self-regulated learning characteristics, and organisational contextual factors." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2018. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51641/.

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Organisations today are investing significant amounts of time, money, and resources on workplace self-paced e-learning, yet employees seem to be having problems even getting these e-learning courses completed, bringing into question the true value of workplace self-paced e-learning. In an attempt to improve understanding of factors contributing to success in workplace self-paced e-learning, this study investigated how employee learners’ motivation, self-regulated learning, and organisational contextual factors affected outcomes in workplace self-paced e-learning. A quantitative study was conducted to investigate the research questions. Participants of the study were 119 employees enrolled in workplace self-paced e-learning courses provided by Hong Kong organisations. Data were collected using online questionnaires and analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique. Findings revealed significant relationships between learners’ motivation, self-regulated learning, organisational contextual factors, and training outcomes in workplace self-paced e-learning. Motivation to learn, time management, metacognitive self-regulation, perceived choice, workload, and organisational support were found to positively correlate with training outcomes as expressed in terms of course completion rate, learner satisfaction, and perceived learning performance in workplace self-paced e-learning. Findings also revealed learners’ autonomy in learning participation, level of workload (negative), and supervisor support (negative) moderate the relationship between learners’ time management strategy use and completion rate of workplace self-paced e-learning courses. Unfortunately, the results failed to support the expected relationship between supervisor support and training outcomes. The significance of the findings is discussed, along with implications for researchers and practitioners, limitations of the current study, and opportunities for future research.

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Fatourechi, Mehrdad. "Design of a self-paced brain computer interface system using features extracted from three neurological phenomena." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/302.

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Self-paced Brain computer interface (SBCI) systems allow individuals with motor disabilities to use their brain signals to control devices, whenever they wish. These systems are required to identify the user’s “intentional control (IC)” commands and they must remain inactive during all periods in which users do not intend control (called “no control (NC)” periods). This dissertation addresses three issues related to the design of SBCI systems: 1) their presently high false positive (FP) rates, 2) the presence of artifacts and 3) the identification of a suitable evaluation metric. To improve the performance of SBCI systems, the following are proposed: 1) a method for the automatic user-customization of a 2-state SBCI system, 2) a two-stage feature reduction method for selecting wavelet coefficients extracted from movement-related potentials (MRP), 3) an SBCI system that classifies features extracted from three neurological phenomena: MRPs, changes in the power of the Mu and Beta rhythms; 4) a novel method that effectively combines methods developed in 2) and 3 ) and 5) generalizing the system developed in 3) for detecting a right index finger flexion to detecting the right hand extension. Results of these studies using actual movements show an average true positive (TP) rate of 56.2% at the FP rate of 0.14% for the finger flexion study and an average TP rate of 33.4% at the FP rate of 0.12% for the hand extension study. These FP results are significantly lower than those achieved in other SBCI systems, where FP rates vary between 1-10%. We also conduct a comprehensive survey of the BCI literature. We demonstrate that many BCI papers do not properly deal with artifacts. We show that the proposed BCI achieves a good performance of TP=51.8% and FP=0.4% in the presence of eye movement artifacts. Further tests of the performance of the proposed system in a pseudo-online environment, shows an average TP rate =48.8% at the FP rate of 0.8%. Finally, we propose a framework for choosing a suitable evaluation metric for SBCI systems. This framework shows that Kappa coefficient is more suitable than other metrics in evaluating the performance during the model selection procedure.

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Warner, Sally Marlene. "Students' perceptions of learning experience and learning environment in a computer-managed self-paced mathematics curriculum." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/mq24265.pdf.

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Worman, Terri. "Developing a virtual world and self-paced course to prepare adult novices for immersive virtual experiences." Thesis, State University of New York Empire State College, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10140409.

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In today’s global world, higher educational institutions and businesses are increasingly making use of virtual world learning environments to foster collaborative opportunities for adult students and employees across geographic boundaries, space, and time. Often, however, organizations place the responsibility for learning new skill sets on their adult learners. As a consequence, educators and employers alike argue this new, more complex virtual environment can create a steep learning curve for novice adult learners, causing frustration at the increased time it takes for novices to acquire necessary skills and confidence within the environment. This paper documents the ongoing creation and design of a new adult learner-focused, self-paced, structured skills-based curriculum and virtual world learning environment with situated, virtual world activities for novice adult learners. The primary focus of this project is to move the adult learner from novice to a more experienced user of virtual world environments.

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Shimshock, Taylor A. "The Effects of Music Choice on Perceptual and Physiological Responses to Treadmill Exercise." Scholar Commons, 2018. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7230.

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This study investigated the effects of music choice on the ratings of attentional focus, affective valence, perceived exertion, and enjoyment during and after self-paced treadmill exercise of varied intensities. Thirty-four college-aged, healthy, active males and females volunteered to participate in the study. Participants completed 6 visits to the laboratory: the first visit was a medical screening to ensure safety of the participants. For the second visit, participants completed a maximal treadmill exercise test. On the third visit, participants completed the Brunel Music Rating Inventory-2 to determine their preferred and non-preferred music genres, and to self-select the low, moderate and high intensity exercise speeds that would be used in the experimental trials. During the last three visits, participants completed each of the three (preferred, non-preferred, no music) randomized and counterbalanced experimental trials. The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale and the Feeling Scale were used to measure baseline and post-exercise ratings of enjoyment and affective valence. During exercise, the single-item Attentional Focus Scale, Feeling Scale, Borg 6-20, and Exercise Enjoyment Scale were used to measure attentional focus, affective valence, perceived exertion, and enjoyment, respectively. Results revealed a main effect for condition for affective valence and enjoyment (p < 0.001 for both interactions). A main effect was also found for intensity for attentional focus (p = 0.002) and perceived exertion (p < 0.001). Lastly, there was a main effect for activity revealed for affective valence (p = 0.047) and enjoyment (p = 0.012). Moreover, tests of between and within subjects factors revealed an interaction effect for condition by intensity for affective valence (p = 0.019) and for condition by intensity by activity for perceived exertion (p = 0.005). There was a general trend for thoughts to be more associative as intensity increased in both groups. In addition, there was a general trend for thoughts to be more dissociative during the preferred music condition compared to the non-preferred and no music trial. However, these differences were only found to be significant in the active group. Furthermore, there was a general trend in the active group for affective valence to be more positive regardless of exercise intensity or music condition when compared to the inactive group. Both groups showed the highest ratings of affective valence during the preferred music condition, followed by the non-preferred and no music condition. In-task enjoyment ratings were highest during the preferred music condition when compared to the non-preferred and no music condition regardless of exercise intensity or activity status. The results did not reveal significant differences for ratings of exertion across music conditions, which does not support previous findings. In conclusion, the perceptual responses in this study, which represent affective valence, attentional focus, and enjoyment, were generally more favorable during the preferred music condition and in the active participants. These results support previous findings to suggest exercising while listening to preferred music may lead to an increase in physical activity adherence.

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Abad, Catalina. "COMPARISON OF VARIABILITY IN TREADMILL RUNNING VS OVERGROUND RUNNING." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1565870473460403.

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Yong, Xinyi. "The design of a hybrid text-entry system using a self-paced brain-computer interface and an eye-tracker." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42786.

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This thesis proposes a hybrid brain-computer interface (BCI) system that consists of a self-paced BCI (SBCI) and an eye-tracker to operate a virtual keyboard. The design aims to overcome the difficulties encountered by individuals with disabilities that prohibit them from using a standard keyboard and a mouse. To make a text-entry of a letter/word, the user of the proposed system should gaze at the target for at least a specific period of time (called the dwell time) and then attempt a hand extension movement that activates the SBCI. Although the SBCI is available for use at any time, a built-in sleep mode is activated when the user is not looking at a letter/word or when the user gazes at a letter/word for less than the dwell time. Such a design has the advantage of greatly minimizing the false positive (FP) outcomes compared to state-of-the-art SBCIs. While operating a pure or a hybrid BCI, artefacts such as ocular and muscle artefacts frequently contaminate the EEG signals and subsequently the BCI's performance is degraded. To overcome this problem, the thesis proposes two algorithms for detecting and removing various types of artefacts. Both algorithms are fully automatic and do not use additional electrooculogram, electromyogram or frontal/temporal EEG channels. They also allow real-time processing. The proposed artefact removal algorithm does not require long data segments and reduces the signal distortion. When the artefact detection and removal algorithms are applied to our hybrid BCI, we demonstrate that for dwell time threshold of 0.0s, the number of FPs/minute is two and the true positive rate (TPR) is 44.7%, which is more than 15.0% higher compared to other state-of-the-art artefact handling methods. As the dwell time increases to 1.0s, the TPR increases to 73.1%. Finally, an algorithm that adaptively updates the classifier of the hybrid BCI during online operation is proposed. This allows the system to adapt to changes in the properties of EEG signals and improves its performance. We show that in our application, the proposed algorithm successfully reduces the number of FPs generated per minute. It also outperforms other state-of-the-art adaptive classifiers used in this study.

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Shaker, T. (Tharwat). "Promoting engagement in self-paced online language courses:a case study in the context of a MOOC for Learning Arabic." Master's thesis, University of Oulu, 2018. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201811103018.

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Student academic engagement is a very essential aspect of learning and is known to have a direct positive influence on the quality of learning outcomes as well as performance and retention. Thus, promoting opportunities for better engagement in online learning can potentially lead to increased learning. The concept of engagement in the literature overlaps with other concepts such as motivation, self-efficacy, and self-regulation which has some commonalities and differences. Engagement is an immensely complicated phenomenon incorporating students’ emotions, cognition, and behaviors, and is largely influenced by contextual factors. Irrespective of the problematic issues in the clarity of concept, it has a potential as a multidimensional or meta-construct to provide a deeper understanding of how students learn in comparison to relying on a single construct. The aim of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the factors affecting engagement in a self-paced online language learning context. The research questions are centered on three key variables which are the subject of investigation in this study: student engagement, the self-paced approach of learning, and online language learning. Using a sample of 33–60 participants on a course made up of 19 lessons while following an exploratory approach, semi-structured interviews were carried out as the main source of data in this study and analayzed using qualitative content analysis. Also complemented with a questionnaire survey and learning analytics results in order to ensure data triangulation using multiple sources. Student engagement was investigated both at the lecture and the course level during the progress and completion phases of the students’ learning path, and further analyzed utilizing quantitative statistical tests in the survey, and learning analytics data. The results of this investigation showed that engagement of students in some parts of the course was very high due to the topics being covered, and thus course content was ranked as a top factor promoting engagement. Two more factors, namely the course structure followed by the methods of teaching also engendered positive emotions and raised motivation in students while facilitating cognitive engagement. In addition, video and graphics quality followed by the students’ background and mode of delivery of instruction came in fourth and fifth places respectively in terms of factors affecting engagement in this context. The results of this study have been discussed from a theoretical as well as a practical standpoint in terms of the implications for Instructional Designers, Course Developers and Online Instructors who aim at promoting and enhancing student engagement. The study is valuable because it provides a deeper insight into student engagement in a self-paced online language learning context and the reasons behind individual student’s engagement (or disengagement) as they relate to specific contextual factors. The findings of this study can help in the design of more engaging language learning courses.

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Witzel, Jeffrey D. "Backwards and forwards: Behavioral and neurophysiological investigations into dependency processing." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/195182.

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This dissertation examines the processing of sentences involving long-distance linguistic dependencies, or sentences containing elements that must be linked across intervening words and phrases. Specifically, both behavioral (self-paced reading and eye tracking) and neurophysiological (electroencephalography) methods were used (a) to evaluate the relative importance of backward- and forward-looking dependency satisfaction processes in the comprehension of sentences involving wh-dependencies and (b) to determine the extent to which common neurocognitive mechanisms are involved the processing of wh- and anaphoric dependencies. With respect to the first issue, both behavioral andneurophysiological results indicated a core role for forward-looking, expectancy-based processes in the comprehension of wh-dependency sentences. Regarding the latter issue, despite considerable overlap in the reading patterns associated with wh-dependencies and (at least some types of) anaphora, the neurophysiological responses related to these dependency types indicated that their processing draws on distinct neurocognitive mechanisms.

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Frassinelli, Diego. "The effect of context on the activation and processing of word meaning over time." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/10508.

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The aim of this thesis is to study the effect that linguistic context exerts on the activation and processing of word meaning over time. Previous studies have demonstrated that a biasing context makes it possible to predict upcoming words. The context causes the pre-activation of expected words and facilitates their processing when they are encountered. The interaction of context and word meaning can be described in terms of feature overlap: as the context unfolds, the semantic features of the processed words are activated and words that match those features are pre-activated and thus processed more quickly when encountered. The aim of the experiments in this thesis is to test a key prediction of this account, viz., that the facilitation effect is additive and occurs together with the unfolding context. Our first contribution is to analyse the effect of an increasing amount of biasing context on the pre-activation of the meaning of a critical word. In a self-paced reading study, we investigate the amount of biasing information required to boost word processing: at least two biasing words are required to significantly reduce the time to read the critical word. In a complementary visual world experiment we study the effect of context as it unfolds over time. We identify a ceiling effect after the first biasing word: when the expected word has been pre-activated, an increasing amount of context does not produce any additional significant facilitation effect. Our second contribution is to model the activation effect observed in the previous experiments using a bag-of-words distributional semantic model. The similarity scores generated by the model significantly correlate with the association scores produced by humans. When we use point-wise multiplication to combine contextual word vectors, the model provides a computational implementation of feature overlap theory, successfully predicting reading times. Our third contribution is to analyse the effect of context on semantically similar words. In another visual world experiment, we show that words that are semantically similar generate similar eye-movements towards a related object depicted on the screen. A coherent context pre-activates the critical word and therefore increases the expectations towards it. This experiment also tested the cognitive validity of a distributional model of semantics by using this model to generate the critical words for the experimental materials used.

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Mathew, Norman F. "The development and implementation of Web-based instruction to create a self-paced learning environment in career and technology studies." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/nq39614.pdf.

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Jenkins, Lauren A. "The use of a self-paced cardiopulmonary exercise test in the pre and post-operative care of patients with cardiovascular disease." Thesis, University of Kent, 2017. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/62551/.

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The aim of this thesis was to assess the ability of a self-paced (SPV) cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) in assessing patient fitness prior to elective surgery, and its ability to predict postoperative outcomes. The SPV is a 10 minute test which is comprised of 5 × 2 minute stages. Each stage is fixed to a level on the ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, in an incremental format (RPE: 11, 13, 15, 17 and 20). This test eliminates the need of practitioners having to choose the most appropriate work rate increments to ensure a patient reaches volitional exhaustion within the recommended time period (8-12 min). Study 1 aimed to assess the reliability of the maximal exercise test parameters obtained from the SPV. Twenty-five (12 females, 13 males) healthy participants completed three SPV tests on three separate occasions. Results demonstrated a coefficient of variation (CV) for V̇O2peak (ml·kg-1·min-1) of 4.2% (95% CI: 3.4-5.6%) for trials 2-1, and 5.1% (95% CI: 4.2-6.8%) for trials 3-2. Repeated measures ANOVA analysis demonstrated no significant difference in V̇O2peak across the repeated tests (p > 0.05). The limits of agreement (LOA) were ± 5.59 ml·kg-1·min-1 for trials 2-1, and ± 5.86 ml·kg-1·min-1 for trials 3-2. The mean intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.95, which represents good reproducibility. It was concluded that the SPV is a reliable indicator of the main CPET derived variables in a healthy population, with comparable values to previous work on standard CPET protocols. Study 2 investigated the physiological responses between the SPV and a standard CPET (sCPET) protocol between a young (18-30 years) and a middle aged to older adult (50-75 years) population. This was in the attempt to gain an understanding of the response to the protocol and whether these responses differ with age. Expired gases, Q, SV, muscular deoxyhaemoglobin (deoxyHb) and electromyography (EMG) at the vastus lateralis were recorded throughout both tests. Results demonstrated a significantly higher V̇O2max in the SPV (49.68 ± 10.26 ml·kg-1·min-1) vs. a sCPET (47.70 ± 9.98 ml·kg-1·min-1) in the young, but no differences in the middle aged to older adult group (> 0.05). Q and SV were significantly higher in the SPV vs. a sCPET in the young (< 0.05) but no differences in the middle aged to older adult group (> 0.05). No differences were seen in both age groups in the deoxyHb and EMG response (> 0.05). Findings from this study suggest that in the young group, the SPV produces higher V̇O2max values as a result of an increase in oxygen delivery (enhanced Q). However, likely due to age-related differences, particularly in the cardiovascular response to exercise, the middle aged to older adult group achieved similar V̇O2max values regardless of them reaching a higher physiological workload. Study 3 aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the SPV in post myocardial infarction (post-MI) patients, this was the first study to assess the use of the SPV in a clinical population. Twenty-eight post-MI patients completed one sCPET and two SPVs in a randomised, counterbalanced crossover design. Each patient completed one sCPET and two SPVs. Results demonstrated the SPV to have a coefficient of variation for V̇O2peak of 8.2%. The limits of agreement were ± 4.22 ml·kg-1·min-1, with intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.89. There was a significantly higher V̇O2peak achieved in the SPV (23.07 ± 4.90 ml·kg-1·min-1) against the sCPET (21.29 ± 4.93 ml·kg-1·min-1). It was concluded that the SPV is a safe and valid test of exercise capacity in post-MI patients, with acceptable levels of reliability when compared to previous work on sCPET protocols. Study 4 aimed to determine if the SPV can assess patient's preoperative risk similar to sCPET and if exercise variables obtained from the test can accurately predict post-operative outcome. Fifty patients with cardiovascular related co-morbidities completed one sCPET and one SPV, although only thirty of those patients when ahead with surgery. Post-surgery, patients were monitored for incidence of morbidity on postoperative days 3 and 5, length of hospital stay, and incidence of mortality in the 30 days after surgery. Patients achieved a significantly higher V̇O2peak, HR, V̇E, peak PO and TTE in the SPV compared to the sCPET (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that for the thirty patients who had surgery, none of the CPET variables were associated with postoperative morbidity at either day 3 or 5 (P > 0.05). Although when combining postoperative morbidity at days 3 and 5, logistic regression analysis showed that oxygen pulse at AT obtained from the SPV was significantly related to postoperative complications (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis demonstrated oxygen pulse at AT to provide an AUC of 0.72 a.u. (95%CI 0.51 to 0.92), with an optimal cut-off point of 8.5 ml/beat-1 which provided 72.7% sensitivity and 71.4% specificity. It was concluded that the SPV was able to assess preoperative fitness comparable to the sCPET. Although none of the CPET variable from either test were associated with postoperative morbidity, which is likely a result of the small sample size. The conclusion for this thesis is that a self-paced CPET test is able to reliably assess cardiovascular patient's fitness comparable to traditional methods. This type of test may be seen as advantageous, this is because the SPV takes away the need of clinicians having to choose the most appropriate work rate increments, it allows patients to have full control over the test, and it ensures that regardless of fitness all patients will be exercise for the recommended test time. The fixed test duration of 10 minutes may also help to improve the efficiency of running busy CPET clinics. There are clear benefits to using the SPV, although further research is required first to assess its ability of predicting postoperative outcome in a much larger sample, and to determine if it can be used to the same advantages sCPET protocols have previously demonstrated.

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Lorentzen, Line Harboe, and Lisbeth Dauerhøj Fleckner. "The effect on the self-selected gait velocity caused by the subjects’ position when walking on a self-paced dual-belt treadmill in a virtual reality environment while performing a color-word Stroop task: a pilot study." Thesis, Hälsohögskolan, Högskolan i Jönköping, HHJ. Ortopedteknisk plattform, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-40691.

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Background: When people walk while performing a cognitive dual-task, a decrease in gait velocity will occur because of the demand for some of the same cognitive resources. However, in a previous study they found an increase instead of a decrease in gait velocity when subjects walked on a self-paced treadmill while performing a color-word Stroop task. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine if the increase found in gait velocity in the previous study was a consequence of the subjects’ position. Additionally, it was investigated whether real-time feedback about the subjects’ position could substitute the lack of a reference point. Method: Position and gait velocity was measured in twelve healthy subjects during a trial consisting of eight control conditions and eight different interventions. Results: A significant difference was found in gait velocity between the interventions where the accelerations-line was moved furthest to the front and back (IzerolineA, IzerolineB) and in position between the original intervention and one with a neutral zone (Iorginal1, Ineutralzone). No differences were found in position or velocity with any of the feedback systems. Conclusion: From the results it could be concluded that the increase in gait velocity was a consequence of the subjects positioning themselves further in the forward direction on the treadmill. No conclusions could be drawn with the feedback systems.

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Lundell, Sydney M. "Human Machine Interfacing With A Variable Speed Treadmill During Sensory Perturbation." University of Dayton / OhioLINK, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1628159259434526.

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Soon, Chun Siong. "The Unconscious Formation of Motor and Abstract Intentions." Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2017. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-223474.

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Three separate fMRI studies were conducted to study the neural dynamics of free decision formation. In Study 1, we first searched across the brain for spatiotemporal patterns that could predict the specific outcome and timing of free motor decisions to make a left or right button press (Soon et al., 2008). In Study 2, we replicated Study 1 using ultra-high field fMRI for improved temporal and spatial resolution to more accurately characterize the evolution of decision-predictive information in prefrontal cortex (Bode et al., 2011). In Study 3, to unequivocally dissociate high-level intentions from motor preparation and execution, we investigated the neural precursors of abstract intentions as participants spontaneously decided to perform either of two mental arithmetic tasks: addition or subtraction (Soon et al., 2013). Across the three studies, we consistently found that upcoming decisions could be predicted with ~60% accuracy from fine-grained spatial activation patterns occurring a few seconds before the decisions reached awareness, with very similar profiles for both motor and abstract intentions. The content and timing of the decisions appeared to be encoded in two functionally dissociable sets of regions: frontopolar and posterior cingulate/ precuneus cortex encoded the content but not the timing of the decisions, while the pre-supplementary motor area encoded the timing but not the content of the decisions. The choice-predictive regions in both motor and abstract decision tasks overlapped partially with the default mode network. High-resolution imaging in Study 2 further revealed that as the time-point of conscious decision approached, activity patterns in frontopolar cortex became increasingly stable with respect to the final choice.

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Worlikar, Poonam. "An Interactive Digital Manual For Safety Around Conveyor Belts In Surface Mining." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/33074.

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Belt conveyor accidents are mainly attributed to negligence of safety procedures during maintenance work. Entanglement, falling from heights, & collapse of structure or loose materials are the main cause of accidents. While performing maintenance tasks such as cleaning, installation and repair, belt alignment and so on (Lucas et. al. 2007).

Current industry safety programs provide general guidelines for safety training, but do not require any specific training program structure (Shultz, 2002 and Shultz, 2003). For example MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) only requires 24 hours of training. Typically this training is broken down into four hours of training before the employee starts work, the remaining 20 hours has to be performed within the first sixty days of work (Goldbeck, 2003). The information collected through site visits showed that in addition to completing MSHA safety training requirements companies try to reinforce safety issues through daily and weekly safety meetings on job sites. Due to lack of a required safety training structure, every company is independent in terms of their training format that they follow to train their new and experienced work force. As a result, safety engineers depend heavily on in-house safety programs (e.g. audio-video presentations) to deliver the required training hours specified by MSHA for miners.

Based on a review of current training methods this research identifies four problems; existing training methods to educate miners about dangers involved in conveyor belt environments are mainly passive, safety related information in scattered in various media such as images, videos, paper manuals, etc., access to information in current format is difficult, and updating information is difficult.

This research addressed these identified problems by devising a new approach of learning to augment existing methods of training and evaluate the potential of this concept as a safety-training tool. Research has shown that individuals have their own learning style in which they can increase their retention and stimulate their cognitive learning. The proposed work addresses issues relative to passive vs. active learning and classroom-based vs. self-paced training by developing and implementing an interactive multimedia-based safety-training tool called the Digital Safety Manual (DSM). After the DSM was developed it was put through a series of usability evaluation and subjective analysis to measure the potential of the concept. The evaluation and subjective analysis involved both the novice and expert users.

The results that were yield after the evaluations and subjective analysis shows that the DSM has more learning advantages than the typical training methods and it can be used as a supplementary training method to complement the current approaches of training.
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Sinitski, Emily H. "Transtibial Amputee and Able-bodied Walking Strategies for Maintaining Stable Gait in a Multi-terrain Virtual Environment." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/31515.

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The CAREN-Extended system is a fully immersive virtual environment (VE) that can provide stability-challenging scenarios in a safe, controlled manner. Understanding gait biomechanics when stability is challenged is required when developing quantifiable metrics for rehabilitation assessment. The first objective of this thesis was to examine the VE’s technical aspects to ensure data validity and to design a stability-challenging VE scenario. The second and third objectives examined walking speed changes and kinematic strategies when stability was challenged for able-bodied and unilateral transtibial amputees. The results from this thesis demonstrated: 1) understanding VE operating characteristics are important to ensure data validity and to effectively design virtual scenarios; 2) self-paced treadmill mode for VEs with multiple movement scenarios may elicit more natural gait; 3) gait variability and trunk motion measures are useful when quantitatively assessing stability performance for people with transtibial amputations.

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Enzinna, Naomi R. "The Processing of Preposition-Stranding Constructions in English." FIU Digital Commons, 2013. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/889.

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One of the prominent questions in modern psycholinguistics is the relationship between the grammar and the parser. Within the approach of Generative Grammar, this issue has been investigated in terms of the role that Principles of Universal Grammar may play in language processing. The aim of this research experiment is to investigate this topic. Specifically, this experiment aims to test whether the Minimal Structure Principle (MSP) plays a role in the processing of Preposition-Stranding versus Pied-Piped Constructions. This investigation is made with a self-paced reading task, an on-line processing test that measures participants’ unconscious reaction to language stimuli. Monolingual English speakers’ reading times of sentences with Preposition-Stranding and Pied-Piped Constructions are compared. Results indicate that neither construction has greater processing costs, suggesting that factors other than the MSP are active during language processing.

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Carlier, Mauraine. "Profiling individuals for pleasurable physical exercise : the neuropsychology of tolerance of exercise intensity." Thesis, Lille 3, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017LIL30039/document.

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Les ressentis affectifs lors d’un exercice physique ont été révélés comme prédicteurs de l’engagement dans une pratique régulière (Mohiyeddini, Pauli, & Bauer, 2009). Toutefois, alors que certains ont la possibilité d’expérimenter positivement une séance, d’autres ne le sont pas (Van Landuyt, Ekkekakis, Hall , & Petruzzello, 2000). Une des explications avancées par la théorie du double mode (Ekkekakis, 2003) est que les différences observées entre les individus sont dues à l'interaction existante entre leurs capacités physiques et leurs caractéristiques psychologiques. Dans ce contexte, mon travail de thèse visait à comprendre comment une caractéristique psychologique telle que la tolérance à l'effort peut impacter les réponses affectives d’un individu lors de la réalisation d'un exercice physique modéré. La tolérance est définie comme un trait qui influence la capacité de l'individu à continuer à s'exercer à un niveau d'intensité imposé même si l'activité devient inconfortable ou désagréable (Ekkekakis, Hall et Petruzzello, 2005). À ce jour, mon travail a révélé que le concept de tolérance semble être un concept valable dans un échantillon européen francophone (étude I) et ce quelle que soit la pratique physique hebdomadaire auto-déclarée par les individus. Mon travail montre également que la tolérance à l’effort impacte effectivement les ressentis durant un exercice physique modéré (études II et IV). De plus, il semblerait que plus les individus sont tolérants à l'effort, plus ils sont capables de produire un exercice physique intense (études III et IV). Fait intéressant, les résultats ont révélé que le niveau de tolérance semble être associé à l'efficacité du fonctionnement cognitif. Plus précisément, plus les individus possèdent des fonctions exécutives efficaces, plus ils possèdent un niveau élevé de tolérance à l'effort (étude III). Enfin, l'effet positif d'un environnement de distraction musicale sur la perception de la difficulté de l'exercice physique n'a été révélé que chez les personnes très tolérantes (étude IV); suggérant que la musique peut ne pas être adaptée à tous. En conclusion, à travers la réalisation d'une évaluation psychométrique de la version francophone (étude I), d'un paradigme dual (étude II) et d'une évaluation neuropsychologique des capacités cognitives des individus (étude III), mon travail de thèse a révélé que la tolérance à l’effort semble être un concept francophone valide prédisant la réponse affective positive ou négative à l'exercice physique ; et ce que l’exercice se réalise dans le silence ou en la musique (Études II et IV)
Affective responses to physical exercise have been reported as predictors of the degree of engagement a personis ready to set in regular practice (Mohiyeddini, Pauli, & Bauer, 2009). According to the dual mode theory, theindividuals’ differences occurring during the exercise are due to the interplay between one’s physical abilitiesand one’s psychological characteristics (Ekkekakis, 2003) with some experiencing positively the session whileothers do not (Van Landuyt, Ekkekakis, Hall, & Petruzzello, 2000). Hence, my thesis work targeted the betterunderstanding of the effect of one of the psychological characteristics, the Tolerance to effort, on one’saffective responses during moderate physical exercise. Furthermore, I tried to reveal that a neuropsychologicaldefinition of the Tolerance to effort can be possible, even required for prescribing exercise program. Toleranceis defined as a trait that influences one’s ability to continue exercising at an imposed level of intensity even ifthe activity becomes uncomfortable or unpleasant (Ekkekakis, Hall, & Petruzzello, 2005). To date, my workhas revealed that the concept of Tolerance seems to be a valid concept in a French-speaking European sample(Study I). Interestingly, the results were revealed whatever the individuals’ self-reported weekly physicalpractice. My work also shows that the way one experiences a physical exercise depends on one’s tolerancelevel (Studies II and IV). Furthermore, the more individuals were tolerant to effort, the more they were able toproduce intense physical exercise (Studies III and IV). Interestingly, results revealed that one’s tolerance levelseems to be associated with one’s efficiency of cognitive functioning. More specifically, the more individualspossess efficient executive functions, the more they possess high level of Tolerance to effort (Study III).Finally, the positive effect of a musical distracting environment on one’s perception of physical exercisedifficulty was revealed only in high tolerant individuals (Study IV); suggesting that music may not be adaptedto all. To conclude, through the conduction of a psychometric assessment of the French-speaking version(Study I), a dual task paradigm (Study II) and a neuropsychological assessment of individuals cognitiveabilities (Study III), my thesis work has revealed that one’s tolerance level seems to be a French-speaking validconcept predicting the positive or negative affective response to physical exercise either in silence or in music(Studies II and IV) and defining one’s tolerance to effort from a cognitive standpoint

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Alamry, Ali. "Grammatical Gender Processing in Standard Arabic as a First and a Second Language." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/39965.

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The present dissertation investigates grammatical gender representation and processing in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as a first (L1) and a second (L2) language. It mainly examines whether L2 can process gender agreement in a native-like manner, and the extent to which L2 processing is influenced by the properties of the L2 speakers’ L1. Additionally, it examines whether L2 gender agreement processing is influenced by noun animacy (animate and inanimate) and word order (verb-subject and subject-verb). A series of experiments using both online and offline techniques were conducted to address these questions. In all of the experiments, gender agreement between verb and nouns was examined. The first series of experiments examined native speakers of MSA (n=49) using a self-paced reading task (SPR), an event-related potential (ERP) experiment, and a grammaticality judgment (GJ) task. Results of these experiments revealed that native speakers were sensitive to grammatical violations. Native speakers showed longer reaction times (RT) in the SPR task, and a P600 effect in the ERP, in responses to sentences with mismatched gender agreement as compared to sentences with matched gender agreement. They also performed at ceiling in the GJ task. The second series of experiments examined L2 speakers of MSA (n=74) using an SPR task, and a GJ task. Both experiments included adult L2 speakers whom were divided into two subgroups, -Gender and +Gender, based on whether or not their L1s has a grammatical gender system. The results of both experiments revealed that both groups were sensitive to gender agreement violations. The L2 speakers showed longer RTs, in the SPR task, in responses to sentences with mismatched gender agreement as compared to sentences with matched gender agreement. No difference was found between the L2 groups in this task. The L2 speakers also performed well in the GJ task, as they were able to correctly identify the grammatical and ungrammatical sentences. Interestingly in this task, the -Gender group outperformed +Gender group, which could be due to proficiency in the L2 as the former group obtained a better score on the proficiency task, or it could be that +Gender group showed negative transfer from their L1s. Based on the results of these two experiments, this dissertation argues that late L2 speakers are not restricted to their L1 grammar, and thus, they are able to acquire gender agreement system of their L2 even if this feature is not instantiated in their L1. The results provide converging evidence for the FTFA rather than FFFH model, as it appears that the -Gender group was able to reset their L1 gender parameter according to the L2 gender values. Although the L2 speakers were advanced, they showed slower RTs than the native speakers in the SPR task, and lower accuracy in the GJT. However, it is possible that they are still in the process of acquiring gender agreement of MSA and have not reached their final stage of acquisition. This is supported by the fact that some L2 speakers from both -Gender and +Gender groups performed as well as native speakers in both SPR and GJ tasks. Regarding the effect of animacy, the L2 speakers had slower RT and lower accuracy on sentences with inanimate nouns than on those with animate ones, which is in line with previous L2 studies (Anton-Medez, 1999; Alarcón, 2009; Gelin, & Bugaiska, 2014). The native speakers, on the other hand, showed no effect of animacy in both SPR task and GJT. Further, no N400 effect was observed as a result of semantic gender agreement violations in the ERP experiment. Finally, the results revealed a potential effect of word order. Both the native and L2 speakers showed longer RTs on VS word order than SV word order in the SPR task. Further the native speakers showed earlier and greater P600 effect on VS word order than SV word order in the ERP. This result suggests that processing gender agreement violation is more complex in the VS word order than in the SV word order due to the inherent asymmetry in the subject-verb agreement system in the two-word orders in MSA.

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Engquist, Malin. "Kommunikation i storskaliga internetbaserade kurser : En kvalitativ studie om karaktären av den sociala interaktionen i diskussionsforum i xMOOCar." Thesis, KTH, Lärande, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-234304.

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Storskaliga, öppna, internetbaserade kurser (MOOCar) introducerades år 2008 av George Siemens och Stephen Downes och deras popularitet har ökat ända sedan dess. Förespråkare av MOOCar påstår att de har en potential att möjliggöra livslångt lärande för människor från hela världen. Sedan de första kurserna har två olika former av MOOCar utvecklats, cMOOCar som har utvecklats utifrån lärandeteorin konnektivismen och xMOOCar som är relativt lika vanliga internetbaserade kurser med den skillnad att antalet kursdeltagare är mer eller mindre obegränsat. År 2016 anslöt sig MOOC initiativet från KungligaTekniska högskolan (KTHx) till edX, en undervisningsplattform för xMOOCar. Möjlighet till social interaktion med andra kursdeltagare och lärare erbjuds på edX i form av asynkrona diskussions forum. Forskning om hur den sociala interaktionen ter sig i diskussionsforumen och dess potential för att främja lärande är i dagsläget knapp. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka den sociala interaktionenskaraktär i två olika xMOOCar, en med självstyrd studietakt och en lärarledd. En ökad förståelse för den sociala interaktionen som för nuvarande äger rum i diskussionsforumen kan vara behjälplig för lärare vid utformningen av undervisningen i xMOOCar. Diskussionsforumen för två kurser av respektive kategori av xMOOC från KTHx om matematik och programmering ingår i denna undersökning. Både en konventionell innehållsanalys och en riktad innehållsanalys baserad på lärandeteorin undersökande gemenskap (CoI) har genomförts för att belysa olika aspekter av den sociala interaktionens karaktär och främjande av lärande i diskussions forumen. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att den sociala interaktionen är opersonlig och att kursdeltagarna initierar interaktionen för att få svar på frågor som huvudsakligen lärare besvarar genom att instruera eller informera. Det bildas ingen gemenskap och det uppvisas lägre nivåer av kognitiv närvaro i diskussionsforumen. För att främja lärande skulle diskussionsforumen istället kunna användas för att engagera de aktiva kursdeltagarna i diskussioner och lärarnas fokus kan förflyttas från att instruera och informera till att etablera en trygg miljö för interaktion.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) were introduced in 2008 by George Siemens and Stephen Downes and their popularity has increased ever since. Advocates of MOOCs claim that they have the potential to enable lifelong learning for people all over the world. Since the first MOOC, two kinds of MOOCs have developed, cMOOCs that developed from the theory of learning, connectivism, and xMOOCs, which are relatively similar to usual online courses, with the difference that the number of participants is more or less unlimited. In 2016, the MOOC initiative from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTHx) joined edX, a teaching platform for xMOOCs. Opportunity for social interaction with other course participants and teachers is offered on edX in the form of asynchronous discussion forums. Research on the characterof the social interaction in the discussion forums and its potential for promoting learning in xMOOCs is currently limited. The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the nature of social interaction in two different xMOOCs, one self-paced and one instructor-paced. An increased understanding of the current social interaction that is taking place in the discussion forums can be helpful to teachers in the design of teaching in xMOOCs. In this master thesis two discussion forums from courses of the respective categories of xMOOCs have been studied. Both a conventional content analysis and a directed contentanalysis based on the learning theory Community of Inquiry (CoI) have been conducted to highlight different aspects of the nature of the social interaction and how one may promote learning in the discussion forums. The result of the analysis shows that the social interaction in the discussion forums is impersonal and that the participants initiate the interaction by asking questions that are mainly answered by the teachers, by either instructing or informing. No community is formed and the discussion forums show lower levels of cognitive presence. In order to promote learning, discussion forums may be used to engage the active participants in discussions and it might be benificial if the teachers focused on establishing a safe environment for interaction, as opposed to focusing on instruction and informing.

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Correia, Débora Vasconcelos. "Relações entre memória procedimental e linguagem em pessoas que gaguejam: um estudo com base no processamento da correferência anafórica em português brasileiro." Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 2014. http://tede.biblioteca.ufpb.br:8080/handle/tede/6426.

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Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:43:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1310227 bytes, checksum: 04da33952d4cd23496fa53ef618ff840 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-26
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This dissertation aims to explain how is the processing of coreference in people who stutter (PWS), reflecting on the possibility of an association between stuttering and the presence of difficulties in procedural memory, from the relationship between Alm's Dual Premotor Model (2005) and Ullman´s Declarative/Procedural Model (2001). It is proposed, then, a hypothesis about the connection between the presence of dysfunctions in procedural memory and the linguistic processing of PQG, which was investigated through the ASRT test (Alternating Serial Reaction Time) of procedural memory and two experiments of self-paced reading to the investigation of the phenomenon of inter and intrasentential coreference. In the ASRT test (experiment 1) performed to measure the degree of implicit learning of the participants, the findings suggested a tendency of the groups (PQC and FF) to behave distinctively. PQG showed a pattern of ascending curve, with a positive Spearman's coefficient for the variable cycle, expressing an increase in time of reaction as it increased the number of cycles (stimuli). Which we interpreted as a possible difficulty in the PQG in implicit learning of motor sequences. And the FF showed a descending curve, confirmed by a negative Spearman's coefficient for the variable cycle. Demonstrating that the procedural learning for this group occurred quickly, i.e., the reaction time of the FF reduced as there was an increase in the number of cycles. With these indications that PQG present difficulties in procedural memory, which could interfere in the processing of grammatical aspects according to our hypothesis, we set out to the investigation of the linguistic processing. In experiment 2, the intersentential coreference, performed with the aim at investigating the processing of lexical pronoun (PR) and the repeated name (NR) in the object position between FF and PQC, the results showed that there is no difference in this type of processing between FF and PQC, since both groups showed similar patterns in the average reading time of the critical segment. However, there were a significant effect for the variable tipo de retomada, showing that PR are processed faster than the NR, as previously found by Leitão (2005). Thus, in order to investigate how was grammar functioning in PQG and to attest the hypothesis defended in this dissertation, we set out to the analysis of the phenomenon of coreference in the intrassentential level, in order to isolate the grammatical aspect and eliminate possible interference from the pragmatic and contextual factors. The results pointed to the absence of main effect for the variable group, however, we found a marginally significant interaction effect between the variables group and type of sentence. This interaction can be explained by the fact that the groups react differently to the conditions, departing from the observation that there is an inverse behavior between them, i.e., to the extent that FF are faster in the grammatical condition and slower in agramatical condition, PQG show the opposite pattern. Which corroborates our hypothesis that PQG would have difficulties in perception of breach of grammatical principle. This possibility, confirmed by the statistical evidence foreseen for our findings with the increase of sample, that it directs our search for rejecting the null hypothesis.
Esta dissertação tem por objetivo explanar como se dá o processamento da correferência em pessoas que gaguejam (PQG), refletindo sobre a possibilidade de associação entre a gagueira e a presença de dificuldades na memória procedimental, a partir da relação entre o Modelo Pré-Motor Duplo de Alm (2005) e o Modelo Declarativo/Procedimental de Ullman (2001). Lança-se, então, uma hipótese acerca da conexão entre a presença de disfunções na memória procedimental e o processamento linguístico das PQG, investigada por meio do teste ASRT (Alternating Serial Reaction Time) de memória procedimental e dois experimentos de leitura automonitorada para a investigação do fenômeno da correferência inter e intrassentencial. No teste ASRT (experimento 1) realizado para medir o grau de aprendizagem implícita dos participantes, os resultados encontrados apontaram para uma tendência dos grupos (PQG e FF) a comportarem-se de maneira distinta. As PQG evidenciaram um padrão de curva ascendente, com coeficiente de Spearman positivo para a variável ciclo, expressando um aumento do tempo de reação à medida que se aumentava o número de ciclos (estímulos). O que interpretamos como uma possível dificuldade das PQG na aprendizagem implícita das sequências motoras. E os FF evidenciaram uma curva descendente, confirmada pelo coeficiente de Spearman negativo para a variável ciclo. Demonstrando que a aprendizagem procedimental para este grupo ocorreu de maneira mais rápida, ou seja, o tempo de reação dos FF reduzia à medida que se aumentava o número de ciclos. De posse desses indícios de que as PQG apresentam dificuldades na memória procedimental, o que poderia interferir no processamento dos aspectos gramaticais de acordo com a nossa hipótese, partimos para a investigação do processamento linguístico. No experimento 2, de correferência intersentencial, realizado com o intuito de investigar o processamento do pronome lexical (PR) e do nome repetido (NR) em posição de objeto entre FF e PQG, os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que não há diferença nesse tipo de processamento entre FF e PQG, uma vez que ambos os grupos apresentaram padrões semelhantes no tempo médio de leitura do segmento crítico. No entanto, houve efeito significativo para a variável tipo de retomada, constatando que os PR são mais rapidamente processados do que o NR, conforme já encontrado em Leitão (2005). Dessa forma, a fim de investigar como se dava o funcionamento da gramática nas PQG e atestar de modo mais categórico a hipótese defendida nesta dissertação, partimos para a análise do fenômeno da correferência em nível intrassentencial, objetivando isolar o aspecto gramatical e eliminar as possíveis interferências dos fatores pragmáticos e contextuais. Os resultados obtidos apontaram a ausência de efeito principal para a variável grupo, no entanto, constatou-se um efeito de interação marginalmente significativo entre as variáveis grupo e tipo de sentença. Essa interação pode ser explicada pelo fato de os grupos reagirem diferentemente às condições, partindo da observação que há um comportamento invertido entre eles, ou seja, na medida em que os FF s são mais rápidos na condição gramatical e mais lentos na condição agramatical, as PQG apresentam o padrão oposto. O que corrobora com a nossa hipótese de que as PQG teriam dificuldades na percepção da violação do princípio gramatical. Possibilidade essa, confirmada por meio das evidências estatísticas previstas para os nossos resultados com o aumento da amostra, que direciona a nossa pesquisa para a rejeição da hipótese nula.

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Järnefelt, Pia. "Nog är ju viktigt : The role of modal particles nog and ju in responsibility attribution in L1 and L2 speakers." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Centrum för tvåspråkighetsforskning, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-172769.

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The present study investigates whether advanced adult L2 speakers comprehend the subtle linguistic cues that modal particles entail and seek to find if modal particles affect them in their responsibility attribution. Two groups of advanced L2 speakers of Swedish were tested; one group of L1 German speakers and one group of L1 English speakers. In an experiment that investigated responsibility attribution, participants read short stories that were manipulated with the modal particles nog and ju, to see if the use of these modal particles affected how they attributed responsibility to a character in the short story. The L2 learners were tested to see if L1 background affects the L2 acquisition of modal particles. A control group of native Swedish speakers were also tested. As an exploratory and complementary measure, reading times were recorded for the critical sentences modified with ju and nog. The results show a main effect of group and a main effect of condition, but no interaction between the two. However, upon closer inspections of the numerical values in the groups, possible trends and curious directions are seen. The results yielded no significant differences between groups and conditions, and are presented as possible trends, and discussed. Contrary to the hypotheses, these trends are indicative of the English speakers being affected by the modal particles in the way that natives were expected to, while Germans showed a pattern that was different from native speakers. The results show no significant differences for the different conditions in the native control group. The results show no support for L1 transfer facilitation in the acquisition of modal particles.

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Roussey, Gilles. "Optimisation des stratégies d’acclimatation à la chaleur : impact sur les réponses psychophysiologiques à l’exercice." Thesis, Université Côte d'Azur (ComUE), 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018AZUR4224/document.

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De multiples événements sportifs majeurs vont se dérouler prochainement dans des environnements chauds voire tropicaux, justifiant l’intérêt scientifique actuel pour les questions associées à l’effet de la chaleur sur la performance en endurance. Il est admis que l’effort est subjectivement perçu comme plus difficile, en parallèle de la dégradation de la performance, à mesure que la température ambiante s’élève au cours d’une épreuve prolongée. Contrecarrer les effets délétères de la chaleur passe notamment par une exposition répétée dans des conditions écologiques ou simulées d’exercice (i.e. stratégie d’acclimatation). Toutefois, le décalage actuel entre les recommandations d’application issues d’études scientifiques et les conditions réelles de préparation et d’organisation des athlètes de haut niveau est à l’origine d’un faible engouement actuel pour de telles méthodes. Par conséquent, ce travail de thèse a eu pour ambition de répondre à certaines inconnues relatives à l’application de contenus d’entraînement classiques en ambiance chaude, en particulier (i) leur conséquence sur la capacité de performance de l’athlète et (ii) les moyens d’optimiser le contrôle et la régulation de la charge d’entraînement. Dans ce contexte, nous avons proposé à des sujets entraînés de soutenir la production de seuils de RPE (i.e. exercice à RPE fixe) dans un cadre expérimental puis d’entraînement. Au-delà de la validité de ce modèle, nous soutenons que la régulation volontaire de l’intensité dépend, au-delà de la perception de l’effort, de l’état émotionnel et de la motivation de l’individu. Lors d’une première étude, nous avons recherché à comparer les performances de solutions techniques pour le suivi de la température centrale en conditions écologiques (i.e. température gastro-intestinale vs. température frontale par capteur à annulation de flux). Les résultats obtenus ont validé l’usage du capteur à annulation de flux comme alternative pendant l’exercice, en dépit de l’absence de corrélation avec les mesures gastro-intestinales. Ceci suggère d’éventuelles perspectives en matière de contrôle de la température corporelle pendant l’exercice. La seconde étude s’est intéressée aux possibles conséquences de la répétition de sessions d’entraînement exigeantes et des contraintes logistiques d’un stage d’acclimatation (i.e. accumulation de fatigue mentale) sur la perception de l’effort et la performance. En dépit de l’absence d’effets combinés de la tâche cognitive préexercice et de la chaleur ambiante, les résultats tendent à démontrer le rôle-clé de la température cutanée et de la sensation de chaleur sous-jacente dans la régulation de la puissance soutenue à RPE-15 (chaud vs. tempéré : -0,022 vs. -0,008 W.kg-1.min-1). Enfin, la troisième étude suggère un potentiel intérêt de l’application de hautes intensités autorégulées, associée à une diminution du volume d’entraînement (-23%), lors d’une période d’acclimatation de courte durée (i.e. 5 jours). Le moindre effet observé, en comparaison d’un protocole à intensité fixe, sur la performance au cours d’un exercice de contre-la-montre (i.e. expérimental vs. fixe : 1,4 vs. 2,8 %) soulève toutefois l’importance du rapport volume-intensité dans la construction d’un protocole d’acclimatation. De manière générale, l’ensemble des résultats de cette thèse offrent des perspectives pour une individualisation et une adaptation spécifique à l’activité sportive des protocoles d’acclimatation à la chaleur
The increasing number of major sport events that will take place in hot and/or tropical environments justify the current scientific interest in the effects of heat strain on endurance performance. During a prolonged self-paced exercise, it is well known that the subjectively perceived effort is higher as the ambient temperature increases and the performance level decreases. A repeated exposure to the heat in ecological and/or simulated exercise conditions may counteract the subsequent deleterious effects. However, the discrepancy between guidelines from scientific research and training priorities of well-trained athletes causes a lack of interest in these methods. Therefore, we aimed through the current thesis work to improve the current knowledge about heat acclimation strategies, more precisely about i) its effects on athlete’s performance capacity and ii) the optimization of training load monitoring and building. To shed light on these issues, we proposed to our trained and/or well-trained subjects to cycle at a fixed RPE first in an experimental framework, and then during a training program. We submit that the self-regulation of fixed-RPE exercise work rate depends not only of perceived exertion but also on emotional and motivational parameters. The first study aimed to compare the performance of technical devices for core temperature monitoring in ecological conditions (i.e. gastrointestinal point vs. forehead point from a zero-heat-flux sensor). Results showed that zero-heat-flux measurements might be considered as relevant during exercise. In this way, some opportunities may be considered for the monitoring of body temperature during field-based exercise. The second study investigated the subsequent effects of repeated strenuous training sessions and logistical constraints during a heat camp (i.e. higher mental fatigue) on perceived exertion and endurance performance. Despite the lack of combined effects from the prior cognitive task and the ambient condition during exercise, skin temperature and underlying heat sensation impact the linear decrease of power output at RPE-15 (hot vs. neutral: -0,022 vs. -0,008 W.kg-1.min-1). Lastly, the third study suggested an interest for self-regulated high intensities, associated with a decrease of the total exposure duration (-23%), during a short-term heat acclimation protocol (i.e. 5 days). However, the slighter effect on the improvement of performance in comparison with a classic constant-power training program, (HIT vs. constant-power: 1,4 vs. 2,8 %) provides scope for the building of training load (i.e. volume vs. intensity) in this context. In summary, the overall results of this thesis work open some perspectives for individualizing or adapting heat acclimation strategies to sport-specific conditions

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Hörberg, Thomas. "Probabilistic and Prominence-driven Incremental Argument Interpretation in Swedish." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för lingvistik, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-129763.

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This dissertation investigates how grammatical functions in transitive sentences (i.e., `subject' and `direct object') are distributed in written Swedish discourse with respect to morphosyntactic as well as semantic and referential (i.e., prominence-based) information. It also investigates how assignment of grammatical functions during on-line comprehension of transitive sentences in Swedish is influenced by interactions between morphosyntactic and prominence-based information. In the dissertation, grammatical functions are assumed to express role-semantic (e.g., Actor and Undergoer) and discourse-pragmatic (e.g., Topic and Focus) functions of NP arguments. Grammatical functions correlate with prominence-based information that is associated with these functions (e.g., animacy and definiteness). Because of these correlations, both prominence-based and morphosyntactic information are assumed to serve as argument interpretation cues during on-line comprehension. These cues are utilized in a probabilistic fashion. The weightings, interplay and availability of them are reflected in their distribution in language use, as shown in corpus data. The dissertation investigates these assumptions by using various methods in a triangulating fashion. The first contribution of the dissertation is an ERP (event-related brain potentials) experiment that investigates the ERP response to grammatical function reanalysis, i.e., a revision of a tentative grammatical function assignment, during on-line comprehension of transitive sentences. Grammatical function reanalysis engenders a response that correlates with the (re-)assignment of thematic roles to the NP arguments. This suggests that the comprehension of grammatical functions involves assigning role-semantic functions to the NPs. The second contribution is a corpus study that investigates the distribution of prominence-based, verb-semantic and morphosyntactic features in transitive sentences in written discourse. The study finds that overt morphosyntactic information about grammatical functions is used more frequently when the grammatical functions cannot be determined on the basis of word order or animacy. This suggests that writers are inclined to accommodate the understanding of their recipients by more often providing formal markers of grammatical functions in potentially ambiguous sentences. The study also finds that prominence features and their interactions with verb-semantic features are systematically distributed across grammatical functions and therefore can predict these functions with a high degree of confidence. The third contribution consists of three computational models of incremental grammatical function assignment. These models are based upon the distribution of argument interpretation cues in written discourse. They predict processing difficulties during grammatical function assignment in terms of on-line change in the expectation of different grammatical function assignments over the presentation of sentence constituents. The most prominent model predictions are qualitatively consistent with reading times in a self-paced reading experiment of Swedish transitive sentences. These findings indicate that grammatical function assignment draws upon statistical regularities in the distribution of morphosyntactic and prominence-based information in language use. Processing difficulties in the comprehension of Swedish transitive sentences can therefore be predicted on the basis of corpus distributions.

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Prawatmuang, Woramon. "Effects of positive evidence, indirect negative evidence and form-function transparency on second language acquisition : evidence from L2 Chinese and L2 Thai." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/270338.

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This study investigates second language (L2) acquisition of word orders and markers of collectivity in Chinese and Thai. One of the differences between Chinese and Thai is that Chinese nominal phrases appear with a “numeral + classifier + noun” word order while Thai phrases appear as “noun + numeral + classifier”. Another difference is that men, the Chinese collective marker, cannot be used with nouns referring to animals or indefinite nouns, while phûak, the Thai collective marker, can do so. Based on the cross-linguistic differences, an empirical study was conducted to answer whether Thai learners of Chinese and Chinese learners of Thai would be able to acquire target language (TL) structures that are different from those in their native language (L1) and whether they could reject incorrect TL structures. One hundred and forty-four participants were recruited to complete an acceptability judgment task and a self-paced reading task. It is found that both Chinese and Thai learners could perform native-like in their acceptance of TL word orders since early stages of acquisition. However, it took them until an advanced level to be able to completely reject incorrect TL word orders that resembled structures in their L1. Thai learners also faced difficulty rejecting the use of men with animal and indefinite nouns in their L2 Chinese. In contrast, Chinese learners tended to be successful in their acquisition of phûak. The results are interpreted in terms of roles of positive evidence and form-function transparency. In general, L2 learners tend to acquire a TL structure earlier when they can receive positive evidence in TL input and when a form-function connection of the structure is transparent. Nonetheless, these factors do not have an absolute effect on acquisition outcome since some learners may be able to use a probabilistic learning strategy to successfully acquire L2 knowledge even when positive evidence is unavailable.

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Czypionka, Anna. "The interplay of object animacy and verb class in representation building." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philosophische Fakultät II, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/16999.

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Bei der Verarbeitung transitiver Sätze verwendet der Parser verschiedene Informationen, wie die Wortstellung, die Belebtheit und die Kasusmarkierung der Argumente, um eine Repräsentation der im Satz beschriebenen Situation aufzubauen. Frühere psycholinguistische Arbeiten zeigen, dass zwei belebte Argumente in einem Satz zusätzliche Verarbeitungskosten verursachen, außer wenn andere Informationen die Zuweisung der grammatischen und thematischen Rollen an die Argumente erlauben. In kasusmarkierenden Sprachen wie Deutsch ist einer dieser Hinweise die morphologische Kasusmarkierung. Die meisten zweistelligen deutschen Verben weisen ihren Argumenten das kanonische Nominativ-Akkusativ-Kasusmuster zu. Eine kleine Gruppe von zweistelligen Verben weist jedoch das nichtkanonische Nominativ-Dativ-Muster zu. Diese Verben unterschieden sich in ihrer Syntax und Semantik von kanonisch transitiven Verben und verursachen beim Satzverstehen höhere Verarbeitungskosten. In dieser Dissertation wird untersucht, wie die Verarbeitung von Argumentbelebtheitskontrasten während der Satzverarbeitung vom verbalen Kasuszuweisungsmuster moduliert wird. Ich stelle die Ergebnisse vier verschiedener Experimente vor (selbstgetaktetes Lesen, Blickbewegungsmessungen und EKP-Messungen). Alle experimentellen Methoden zeigen, dass der Effekt der Argumentbelebtheitskonstraste mit dem Effekt des verbalen Kasuszuweisungsmusters interagiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen ein detaillierteres Bild der Satzverarbeitung und tragen zur Vereinigung der Transitivätsbegriffe in theoretischer Linguistik und Psycholinguistik bei.
During the comprehension of transitive sentences, the parser uses different kinds of information like word order, the arguments'' animacy status and case marking to build a representation of the situation the sentence describes. Previous research in psycholinguistics has shown that two animate arguments in a sentence cause additional processing costs, unless other cues allow the assignment of grammatical and thematic roles to the arguments. In case-marking languages like German, one of these cues is morphological case marking. While most German verbs assign the canonical nominative-accusative case pattern to their arguments, a small group of verbs assign noncanonical nominative-dative. These verbs differ from standard transitive verbs both in their syntax and their semantics, and are known to cause higher processing cost during comprehension. This dissertation examines how the processing of argument animacy contrasts during sentence comprehension is modulated by the verbal case marking pattern. I report the results of four different experiments, using self-paced reading time measurements, eyetracking and ERP measurements. All experimental methods show that the effect of argument animacy contrasts interacts with the effects of the verbal case marking pattern. The findings add further details to the existing knowledge about sentence comprehension, and combine perspectives on transitivity from theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics.

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Martin, Marilyn Ann. "The effect of individualized self-paced single-gender classrooms on reading and math scores at the mclennan county challenge academy in Waco, Texas." 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2337.

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The intent of this study is to determine the effects on the reading and math scores of females segregated into single-gender alternative classrooms that had the benefit of an individualized, self-paced curriculum. The Challenge Academy testing clerk, using the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement in the areas of reading and math, collected data on the students’ first and last days of enrollment. Significant main effects for gender, time, educational status, age, and ethnicity were probed using a general linear model of repeated measures. This quantitative model was used because it provided more flexibility to describe the relationship between a dependent variable and a set of independent variables, manipulated one at a time. Comparisons of between-subject effects and within-subject effects were made using a summary ANOVA followed by ad hoc testing when significance was found when there were three factors being tested, such as school age group and ethnicity. Significance was set at 0.025. Of the 500 students enrolled over the seven-year existence of the program, only students who had been pre and post tested were included in this research. After removing students who did not meet the criteria, a sample of 150 students remained. This resulted in small and non-existent cell sample sizes, and adjustments were made to the original intent of the study. The findings observed in this body of research suggest that the gains achieved by males in reading surpassed those of females. Both genders achieved equally in math. A statistical comparison based on gender in special education, school age group, or ethnicity could not be made due to small cell size. Recommendations for further studies include: (1) a study using a larger sample size allowing for greater numbers in each category; (2) longitudinal studies in elementary, middle, and high schools using annual TAKS scores as the data source; (3) a study considering the gender of the instructor; (4) a study comparing high schools whose majority school population represented each of the three ethnic groups; (5) a study of private schools with single-gender populations.

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"Predicting Student Success in a Self-Paced Mathematics MOOC." Doctoral diss., 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.44250.

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abstract: While predicting completion in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has been an active area of research in recent years, predicting completion in self-paced MOOCS, the fastest growing segment of open online courses, has largely been ignored. Using learning analytics and educational data mining techniques, this study examined data generated by over 4,600 individuals working in a self-paced, open enrollment college algebra MOOC over a period of eight months. Although just 4% of these students completed the course, models were developed that could predict correctly nearly 80% of the time which students would complete the course and which would not, based on each student’s first day of work in the online course. Logistic regression was used as the primary tool to predict completion and focused on variables associated with self-regulated learning (SRL) and demographic variables available from survey information gathered as students begin edX courses (the MOOC platform employed). The strongest SRL predictor was the amount of time students spent in the course on their first day. The number of math skills obtained the first day and the pace at which these skills were gained were also predictors, although pace was negatively correlated with completion. Prediction models using only SRL data obtained on the first day in the course correctly predicted course completion 70% of the time, whereas models based on first-day SRL and demographic data made correct predictions 79% of the time.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2017

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Zhao, Xueyan active 21st century. "Regulating stepping during fixed-speed and self-paced treadmill walking." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/26386.

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Background: Treadmill walking should closely simulate overground walking for research validation and optimal skill transfer. Traditional fixed-speed treadmill (FS) walking may not simulate natural walking because of the fixed belt speed and lack of visual cues. Self-paced (SP) treadmill walking, especially feedback controlled SP treadmill walking, enables close-to-real-time belt speed changes with users' speed changes. Different sensitivity levels of SP treadmill feedback determine how fast the treadmill respond to user's speed change. Few studies have examined the differences between FS and SP treadmill walking, or the difference between sensitivity levels of SP treadmills, and their methods were questionable because of averaging kinematics and kinetics parameters, and failing to examine directly treadmill and subjects' speed data. This study compared FS with two SP modes with variation of treadmill speed and user's speed as dependent variables. Method: Thirteen young healthy subjects participated. Subjects walked on a motorized split-belt treadmill under FS, high sensitivity SP (SP-H) and low sensitivity SP (SP-L) conditions at normal walking speed. Root mean square error (RMSE) for subject's pelvis global speed (Vpg), pelvis speed with respect to treadmill speed (Vpt), and treadmill speed (Vtg) data were collected for all trials. Results: Significant condition effects were found between FS and the two SP modes in all RMSE values (p < 0.001). The two sensitivity levels of SP had similar speed patterns. Large subject × condition interaction effects were found for all variables (p < 0.001). Only small subject effects were found. Conclusions: The results of the study reveal different walking patterns between FS and SP. However, the two sensitivity levels failed to differ much. More habituation time may be needed for subjects to learn to optimally respond to the SP algorithm. Future work should include training subjects for more natural responses, applying a feed-forward algorithm, and testing the effect of optic flow on FS and SP speed variation.
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