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Attentional Demand: validazione di un nuovo paradigma per la quantificazione dell’impiego delle risorse attentive
No full textThis work explores the interaction between two attentional processes, selective attention, and divided attention, while also assessing the cognitive costs associated with their switching in different contexts. Despite the number of studies on task-switching, there is no data in the literature concerning the cognitive impact of switching between components of the same domain.
In this study, therefore, an attempt was made to fill this gap by developing and validating the Attentional Demands Task (AD-Task). The instrument proved effective in measuring selective and divided attention, given the high correlations with established paradigms such as the Oddball task for selective attention and the Dual-Task task for divided attention. Initial results from the application of the instrument confirmed that divided attention leads to slower reaction times and less attention than selective attention due to a saturation of perceptual resources due to the concurrent processing of multiple stimuli. The innovative aspect of this research, the investigation of switching costs between different attentional states, showed that selective attention tasks, contrary to what might be expected, involve higher switching costs.
Within the same work, the Revised Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Mood Questionnaire (rSCRAM) was validated to give more consistency in the assessment of the different samples under study, to allow reliable measurement of participants' sleep quality, chronotype, and mood by greatly reducing the battery of questionnaires.
Evaluation of circadian and homeostatic variables revealed that attention is particularly vulnerable to these factors. Selective attention is more susceptible to circadian phenomena and shows greater deterioration in performance throughout the day. Divided attention and switching, on the other hand, are more vulnerable to homeostatic effects. Sleep deprivation amplifies the cognitive costs of switching, leading to prolonged reaction times and reduced accuracy, probably because prolonged wakefulness causes impairments in the functioning of the prefrontal cortex and executive processes.
In addition, age-related changes in attentional capacity, a decline in attention, and greater divided attention tasks due to the increased cognitive load these tasks impose have been shown and confirmed in comparison with previous findings in the literature. This decline is related to reduced prefrontal cortex function and weakened brain connection.
Overall, the results of this work contribute to the study of aging-related processes and circadian and homeostatic rhythms in the modulation of attentional components and switching ability, highlighting their impact on both short-term and long-term cognitive performance
Development of a revised version of the SCRAM questionnaire to evaluate sleep, circadian rhythms, and mood characteristics
No full textSleep quality, chronotype, and mood may be closely interconnected processes. Typically, such constructs are measured independently, leaving out important information regarding their intrinsic relationships. The Sleep, Circadian Rhythms, and Mood (SCRAM) questionnaire is a promising tool for measuring sleep, chronotype, understood as diurnal preference, and depressive symptomatology, and the interrelationships between them. Anxiety has also been linked to sleep quality, chronotype, and depression, but there is currently no scale that measures these constructs together. This study aims to validate a revised version of the SCRAM questionnaire (rSCRAM), incorporating items to measure anxious mood. 486 Italian participants were involved in two studies. In Study 1, principal component analysis (PCA) identified representative anxiety elements from validated questionnaires. In Study 2, after adding the anxiety elements, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) established a 4-factor, 16-item model. The rSCRAM demonstrated excellent psychometric properties: high internal consistency (α = 0.72–0.90) and a strong test-retest reliability of the scales over 2 weeks (r = 0.73–0.82), a high correlation for convergent validity, and low correlations for divergent validity. The rSCRAM questionnaire measures the constructs for which it was created and revised. Including the anxiety scale enhances its utility in assessing mental health constructs within a single instrument
Assessing the attentional demand: improvements to the experimental protocol and possible learning effects
Get PDFIntroductionAttention control is a fundamental component of cognitive functioning and involves the ability to selectively process relevant stimuli, divide attention across tasks, and flexibly switch between attention demands. The present study describes the development and validation of the Attentional Demands Task (AD-Task), a new paradigm designed to measure selective attention, divided attention, and the cognitive costs associated with switching between these attentional processes. Based on and expanded upon the Switching Attentional Demands Task (SwAD-Task), the AD-Task introduces increased stimulus complexity, optimized temporal dynamics, and enhanced ecological validity.MethodsForty-one healthy young adults (age: 21.0 ± 2.25; 33 F) completed the AD-Task along with established attentional paradigms (Oddball Task for selective attention, Dual-Task for divided attention). In a second experimental phase, the potential effects of practice were evaluated through an intensive training protocol involving 22 participants (age: 22.5 ± 2.89; 16 F).ResultsPerformance indices demonstrated strong convergent validity, with significant correlations in reaction times and accuracy measures across tasks. As expected, divided attention was associated with slower response times and reduced accuracy compared to selective attention, reflecting the increased cognitive load of processing multiple stimuli within a single modality. Analysis of switching costs revealed asymmetries, with selective attention displaying greater vulnerability to Task switching effects. No significant differences emerged between trained and untrained groups in overall task performance, aside from a modest improvement in target discrimination accuracy under switching conditions in the trained group.DiscussionThese findings support the AD-Task as a sensitive, reliable, and repeatable measure of attentional control and flexibility. The AD-Task advances current methodologies by addressing previous limitations related to sensory modality interference and limited task complexity
From Gaze to Game: A Systematic Review of Eye-Tracking Applications in Basketball
Get PDFBackground/Objectives: Eye-tracking technology has gained increasing attention in sports science, as it provides valuable insights into visual attention, decision-making, and motor planning. This systematic review examines the application of eye-tracking technology in basketball, highlighting its role in analyzing cognitive and perceptual strategies in players, referees, and coaches. Methods: A systematic search was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Studies published up until December 2024 were retrieved from PubMed and Web of Science using keywords related to basketball, eye tracking, and visual search. The inclusion criteria focused on studies using eye-tracking technology to assess athletes, referees, and coaches. A total of 1706 articles were screened, of which 19 met the eligibility criteria. Results: Eye-tracking studies have shown that expert basketball players exhibit longer quiet eye (QE) durations and more efficient gaze behaviors compared to novices. In high-pressure situations, skilled players maintain more stable QE characteristics, leading to better shot accuracy. Referees rely on efficient gaze strategies to make split-second decisions, although less experienced referees tend to neglect key visual cues. In coaching, eye-tracking studies suggest that guided gaze techniques improve tactical understanding in novice players but have limited effects on experienced athletes. Conclusions: Eye tracking is a powerful tool for studying cognitive and behavioral functioning in basketball, offering valuable insights for performance enhancement and training strategies. Future research should explore real-game settings using mobile eye trackers and integrate artificial intelligence to further refine gaze-based training methods
Lifestyle and Environment Influence the Psychological Well-Being of Elderly Subjects in Italy
Get PDFBackground/Objective: Aging is associated with both cognitive and physical decline. Some factors, such as lifestyle and environment, can significantly contribute to accelerating or slowing down the decline processes. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of lifestyle (active vs. non-active) and environmental context (institutionalized vs. non-institutionalized) on the cognitive functioning, psychological well-being, sleep quality, and daily living skills of elderly people. Methods: Our sample consisted of 182 subjects divided into active and non-active groups (subjects who engage or not in physical and social activities, respectively; mean age in years: 67.19 vs. 68.75) and 245 subjects divided into institutionalized and non-institutionalized groups (i.e., living in a nursing home or not, respectively; mean age in years: 79.49 vs. 71.72). Participants were enrolled voluntarily and randomly in the city of L’Aquila. A battery of psychological instruments was administered to evaluate general cognitive decline, depressive symptoms, self-assessed sleep quality, and daily living skills. Results: Regarding lifestyle, the active group exhibited significantly lower levels of depression, better sleep quality, and daily living skills with respect to the non-active group. Regarding environmental context, institutionalized subjects showed higher levels of depression and reduced cognitive functioning, which were linked to reduced sleep quality and worsened daily living skills. When comparing the non-active with the institutionalized group, the latter showed higher levels of depression and reduced cognitive functioning, more sleep complaints, and reduced daily living skills. Conclusions: Our study highlights that an active lifestyle and a non-institutionalized environment, both allowing greater mobility and autonomy, are two factors that positively contribute to the mental and physical well-being of elderly individuals. Furthermore, the healthcare institution context appears to have a greater negative impact on the psycho-physical well-being of the subjects involved compared to a non-active lifestyle
AI-Powered Analysis of Eye Tracker Data in Basketball Game
Get PDFThis paper outlines a new system for processing of eye-tracking data in basketball live games with two pre-trained Artificial Intelligence (AI) models. blueThe system is designed to process and extract features from data of basketball coaches and referees, recorded with the Pupil Labs Neon Eye Tracker, a device that is specifically optimized for video analysis. The research aims to present a tool useful for understanding their visual attention patterns during the game, what they are attending to, for how long, and their physiological responses, blueas is evidenced through pupil size changes. AI models are used to monitor events and actions within the game and correlate these with eye-tracking data to provide understanding into referees’ and coaches’ cognitive processes and decision-making. This research contributes to the knowledge of sport psychology and performance analysis by introducing the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based eye-tracking analysis in sport with wearable technology and light neural networks that are capable of running in real time
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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