Jaime C. Auton

The merits of measuring challenge and hindrance appraisals

Background and Objectives: The challenge–hindrance framework has shown that challenge stressors (work characteristics associated with potential personal gain) tend to have positive outcomes, whereas hindrance stressors (those which obstruct goals) have negative outcomes. However, typical research methods assume that stressors allocated to these categories are appraised consistently by different people and across different situations. We validate new measures of challenge and hindrance appraisals and demonstrate their utility in stress research. Design and Methods: We used a cross-sectional survey of American employees (Study 1, n = 333), a diary survey of Australian employees (Study 2, n = 241), and a survey of Australian college students whose performance was evaluated independently (Study 3, n = 350). Results: Even after accounting for the effects of stressors, challenge and hindrance appraisals consistently explained unique variance in affective states, with indications that stressors have indirect effects via appraisals. Such effects were seen within- as well as between-participants (Study 2). Appraisals also had expected associations with specific coping behaviors (Study 1), while challenge appraisal was associated with task performance (Study 3). Conclusions: The scales of challenge and hindrance appraisals were psychometrically sound across multiple contexts. Results highlight the merit of considering appraisal in stress research.

Cue Utilization Predicts Resource Allocation during Rail Control Simulations: A NIRS Study

This study was designed to examine whether cue utilization differentiates performance and resource allocation during simulated monitoring and process control tasks. The experiment involved the completion of a 45-minute rail control simulation that required participants to re-route trains either infrequently (monitoring task) or periodically (process control task). Implicit patterns of train movement were incorporated into the rail control task. Measures of participants’ response latency, fixation rates and cerebral blood flow were taken. Participants with higher cue utilization demonstrated greater decreases in fixation rates, smaller changes in cerebral oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex, and smaller increases in response latencies. The results provide support for the assertion that a relatively greater capacity for cue utilization is associated with the allocation of fewer cognitive resources during sustained attention tasks.

The Effects of Cue Utilization and Target-Related Information on Target Detection during a Simulated Drone Search and Rescue Task

Remotely piloted vehicles or ‘drones’ have become ubiquitous both privately and commercially. One of the numerous applications for drones involves the search and rescue for specified targets. The use of ‘cues’ during target detection has been shown to improve performance and reduce cognitive demands in many environments. This study examined the relationship between cue utilization and level of target detail during a high-fidelity simulated drone search and rescue task. Seventy-six undergraduate students from an Australian University operated a payload (long range camera) to detect a ‘target’ (a bus driver stranded in the Utah desert) while flying on a pre-programmed flight path. The results indicated that the provision of detailed target information was associated with greater rates of target detection. Further, participants with higher cue utilization were more likely to locate the target. Finally, participants with higher cue utilization, and provided with basic target information, were more likely to locate the target than participants with lower cue utilization. The practical and theoretical implications of the outcomes are discussed.

Postgraduate training in audiology improves clinicians’ audiology-related cue utilisation

Abstract Objective: This study was designed to test whether cue utilisation might be employed as a tool to assess the diagnostic skills of audiologists. The utilisation of cues is a characteristic of expertise and critical for successful diagnoses in clinical settings. However, neither in training nor in practice, is there a means by which the diagnostic skills of audiologists can be assessed objectively and reliably. Design: The study comprised a pre-post training evaluation, controlling for prior exposure to the diagnostic testing tool. Study sample: Three cohorts of trainee audiologists were evaluated, one of which was tested prior to, and following a two-year training programme (16 participants), while the other two groups acted as controls (23 participants and 20 participants, respectively). Results: Consistent with expectations, cue utilisation increased from the initial to the final stages of training and this effect could not be attributed to cohort nor learning effects. Conclusions: At an applied level, the outcomes provide the basis for a cue-based diagnostic assessment tool that can provide both trainee and practising audiologists with detailed feedback concerning their diagnostic skills.

Cue utilisation reduces effort but increases arousal during a process control task

Process control environments are characterised by rapid changes in work demands, the successful response to which is dependent upon the availability of cognitive resources. Since high cue utilisation is associated with a reduction in cognitive load and a consequent release of residual resources, it was hypothesised that participants with high cue utilisation would experience lower subjective arousal and lower physiological effort in response to increases in the work demands associated with a simulated rail control task. A total of 41 participants completed a 10 min, low work demand period, followed by a 10 min, high work demand condition. High cue utilisation was associated with a reduction in systolic blood pressure and the maintenance of sustained, superior performance in response to high work demands. However, an increase in subjective arousal was also evident. The outcomes have implications for the selection and assessment of operators of high reliability, dynamic, process control environments.

Applicants to medical school: if at first they don’t succeed, who tries again and are they successful?

This study compared the profile of those who, after initial failure to be selected, choose to reapply to study medicine with those who did not reapply. It also evaluates the chance of a successful outcome for re-applicants. In 2013, 4007 applicants to undergraduate medical schools in the largest state in Australia were unsuccessful. Those who chose to reapply (n = 665) were compared to those who did not reapply (n = 3342). Results showed that the odds of re-applying to medicine were 55% less for those from rural areas, and 39% more for those from academically-selective schools. Those who had higher cognitive ability and high school academic performance scores in 2013 were also more likely to re-apply. Socioeconomic status was not related to re-application choice. Re-applicants’ showed significant improvements in selection test scores and had a 34% greater probability of selection than first-time applicants who were also interviewed in the same selection round. The findings of this study indicate that re-testing and re-application improves one’s chance of selection into an undergraduate medical degree, but may further reduce the diversity of medical student cohorts in terms of rural background and educational background.

Utilization of prosodic and linguistic cues during perceptions of nonunderstandings in radio communication

The readback/hearback loop is a communicative protocol used in many high-risk environments to ensure that a verbal instruction has been heard correctly by a receiver. However, it does not necessarily ensure that an instruction has been understood. Using an international sample of hydroelectric power generation controllers, this study examined whether particular linguistic (complete and partial readbacks) and prosodic (final intonation, filler, and interturn delay) cues contained within a readback response could signal to listeners the extent to which speakers had understood an instruction. The results indicated that different prosodic cues are used to detect nonunderstandings, depending upon the linguistic content of the readback. The results have implications for training and system design in distributed environments.

The importance of intonation during perceptions of non-understanding during full and partial readback responses in radio communication

The readback/hearback protocol is a communicative procedure used to minimize the risk of communication errors over the radio or telephone in high-risk environments. This protocol requires the receiver of a verbal instruction to repeat or ‘read back’ the instruction to the sender to ensure it has been heard correctly. It is a common assumption that a correct readback confirms that a receiver has understood an instruction. However, an operator can accurately repeat an instruction while concealing their lack of understanding of the instruction. Previous research has highlighted the importance of intonation as a prosodic cue to aid in the detection of non-understandings during readback/hearback exchanges over the radio. As deviations from the standard readback procedure occur frequently, it is unclear whether intonation is equally as useful in the detection of non-understandings when contained within a partial readback response. Using an international sample of hydroelectric power generation operators, the current study assessed whether the use of a full readback leads to a greater perception that the receiver has understood the instruction compared to a partial readback. It also examined the utility of intonation during perceptions of non-understanding upon hearing a full readback versus partial readback response. The results indicated that full readback responses attracted a greater assumption of understanding compared to partial readback responses (but only for native English speakers), and that intonation was only used to detect non-understandings during partial readback responses that lacked the semantic information contained within a full readback. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Prosodic cues that signal non-understandings to power control operators during radio communication

The readback/hearback procedure is a radio protocol implemented in many technical environments to minimize communication errors. This protocol requires the receiver of a verbal instruction to repeat or read back the instruction to the sender, allowing the sender to monitor and remedy any inaccuracies if required. Although this protocol ensures that the receiver has accurately heard the instruction, it does not ensure that the receiver has necessarily understood the instruction. Using a sample of Australian power control operators, the present research investigated whether the prosodic cues that listeners attend to when judging levels of uncertainty, are also used by power control operators when judging the degree to which a receiver has understood an instruction during a simulated readback/hearback radio exchange. Intonation, inter-turn delays and fillers were identified as important prosodic cues that allow listeners to detect different levels of understanding of a receiver during a readback response. The practical and theoretical implications of the outcomes are discussed.