Frontline Learning Research (E-Journal - EARLI, European Association for Research on Learning)
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Neural correlates of visual perceptual expertise: Evidence from cognitive neuroscience using functional neuroimaging
Full text linkFunctional neuroimaging is a useful approach to study the neural correlates of visual perceptual expertise. The purpose of this paper is to review the functional-neuroimaging methods that have been implemented in previous research in this context. First, we will discuss research questions typically addressed in visual expertise research. Second, we will describe which kinds of stimuli are employed and which functional-neuroimaging techniques are implemented in this kind of research, with a special focus on electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Third, we will summarize the outcomes of recent studies that addressed the neural correlates of visual expertise and will particularly focus on studies that examined the neural correlates of visual expertise in medical image diagnosis. Finally, the review closes with a discussion of the benefits, caveats, and future directions of cognitive-neuroscience research for studying visual expertise
Diagrams support revision of prior belief in primary-school children
Full text linkThe reluctance of children to revise their prior beliefs is a prominent phenomenon in the reasoning literature. One way to facilitate belief change is offering explanations, and this study examined whether highlighting (counter)evidence with diagrams leads to belief revision to the same extent. Altogether 134 preschoolers and second-graders (5- and 7-year-olds, respectively) were presented with either counterintuitive data or explanations, both refuting a strong commonly held belief concerning the relation between two variables (e.g. eating carrots improves vision). In the explanation condition, we presented children with an explanatory underlying mechanism for the unexpected causal relation (e.g. spinach and carrots contain the same amount of vitamin A, with both improving vision). In the diagram condition, children were presented with empirical data displayed in a bar graph (non-covariation), which also disconfirmed the initial belief. In both age groups and both conditions we found significant numbers of belief revision with high certainty ratings concerning the new belief. Belief change was more pronounced in second-graders, who in addition showed significantly more changes in the diagram condition than in the explanation condition. These findings suggest that the perceptual saliency of (counter)evidence helps children to correctly evaluate hypotheses, which supports changes in their prior belief
Relationship between the social participation and social skills of pupils with an intellectual disability: A study in inclusive classrooms
Full text linkResearchers claim that a lack of social skills might be the main reason why pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in inclusive classrooms often experience difficulties in social participation. However, studies that support this assumption are scarce, and none include pupils with intellectual disability (ID). This article seeks to make an important contribution to this discussion. The social skills and social participation of pupils with ID and their typically developing (TD) peers in 38 general education classrooms were assessed with multidimensional instruments. The analyses indicate that the majority of pupils with ID were not popular but were socially accepted and had friends. Additionally, no significant relationship was found between social skills and the social participation of pupils with ID, although such pupils had lower levels of social skills compared with their TD peers. Thus, it appears that pupils with ID do not require high levels of social skills to be befriended or accepted by classmates. In contrast, social skills were associated with popularity and social acceptance within the group of TD pupils. In fact, popular TD pupils had the highest level of social skills. These findings support the assumption that in addition to low levels of social skills, there must be other mechanisms that influence the social participation of pupils with an ID in inclusive classrooms
The interplay between methodologies, tasks and visualisation formats in the study of visual expertise
Full text linkThe author examines the methodological contributions of the ten unique reviews developed in this special issue on the methodologies for studying visual expertise. Opportunities, research results and lessons, offered by each methodology are analyzed according to four dimensions criteria: (i) The different levels of visual and cognitive processes targeted in the different methods; (ii) The effect of the task gaols and task design on the outcomes; (iii) The potential effect of the format (dynamic versus static) of the visual material and the interactive features provided in previous studies (iv) The potential modulating effect of learners individual differences. Concluding comments are developed about the limitations of each method but also about the challenge and promises of designing and using combined and synchronized methods
Unboxing the black box of visual expertise in medicine
Full text linkVisual expertise in medicine has been a subject of research since many decades. Interestingly, it has been investigated from two little related fields, namely the field that focused mainly on the visual search aspects whilst ignoring higher-level cognitive processes involved in medical expertise, and the field that mainly focused on these higher-level cognitive processes largely ignoring the relevant visual aspects. Consequently, both research lines have traditionally used different methodologies. Recently, this gap is being increasingly closed and this special issue presents methods to investigate visual expertise in medicine from both research lines, namely those investigating vision (eye tracking, pupillometry, flash preview moving window paradigm), verbalisations, brain activity, and performance measures (ROC analysis, gesture coding, expert performance approach). We discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each method and suggest directions for future research that could help to unbox the black box of visual expertise in medicine
Visual expertise as embodied practice
Full text linkThis study looks at the practice of thoracic radiology and follows a group of radiologists and radiophysicists in their efforts to find, discuss, and formulate issues or troubles ensuing the implementation of a new radiographic imaging technology. Based in the theoretical tradition of ethnomethodology it examines the local endogenous practices pertaining to the radiologists’ expertise in the interpretation of visual representations and tries to explicate the ways in which they draw upon various resources in order to accomplish their professional tasks. As the study is addressing the topic of visual expertise it also aims to do so in terms that acknowledge that all expertise is rooted in embodied practices. The analysis follows a case of what is called the enacted production of radiological reasoning. One of the central features of the described work is the manner in which it is carried out by way of the living present body of an expert. The experienced radiologist interweaves anatomical and technological terminology with visual representations and gestures in such a way that none of these components can be said to be superfluous to the argumentation. As a consequence, we should appreciate gestures and embodied actions as important means through which expertise become organised. These are parts of a repertoire of methods through which the experts learn their profession. In addition, gestures can also become enrolled in the re-negotiation of expertise in the face of new challenges
Theorizing space-time relations in education: the concept of chronotope
Full text linkDue to ongoing cultural-historical transformations, the space-time of learning is radically changing, and theoretical conceptualizations are needed to investigate how such evolving space-time frames can function as a ground for learning. In this article, we argue that the concept of chronotope – from Greek chronos and topos, meaning time and place/space – lends itself well to reach this aim. In particular, we outline three features of chronotope: 1) its analytical focus includes the examination of the potential interdependency between space and time; 2) it allows us to examine space and time as social constructions, negotiated in dialogical interaction; 3) it involves the analysis of both the material organization and the discursive negotiation of space and time. We use examples from our own studies and from relevant literature to illustrate how these features of the concept allow us to examine the role that space-time relations play in educational practice. Finally, we draw our conclusions and briefly introduce the theoretical and methodological challenges to be addressed for a full development of the concept.
Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Analysis
Full text linkVisual expertise covers a broad range of types of studies and methodologies. Many studies incorporate some measure(s) of observer performance or how well participants perform on a given task. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis is a method commonly used in signal detection tasks (i.e., those in which the observer must decide whether or not a target is present or absent; or must classify a given target as belonging to one category or another), especially those in the medical imaging literature. This frontline paper will review some of the core theoretical underpinnings of ROC analysis, provide an overview of how to conduct an ROC study, and discuss some of the key variants of ROC analysis and their applications
Eye-Tracking in the Study of Visual Expertise: Methodology and Approaches in Medicine
Full text linkEye-tracking is the measurement of eye motions and point of gaze of a viewer. Advances in this technology have been essential to our understanding of many forms of visual learning, including the development of visual expertise. In recent years, these studies have been extended to the medical professions, where eye-tracking technology has helped us to understand acquired visual expertise, as well as the importance of visual training in various medical specialties. Medical decision-making involves a complex interplay between knowledge and sensory information, and the study of eye-movements can reveal the mechanisms involved in acquiring the visual component of these skills. Eye-tracking studies have even been extended to develop computational models of procedures for “expert” skill assessment, and to eliminate potential sources of error in image-based diagnostics. This review will examine the current eye-tracking frontier for the study of visual expertise, with specific application to medical professions