Cognitive and Learning Sciences News

Hunter Malinowski, 2023 Department Scholar

Published March 20, 2023

The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences (CLS) has selected Hunter Malinowski for the 2023 Department Scholar Award. This award, presented to a student entering their senior year, who best represents scholarship at Michigan Tech and is considered excellent not only by academic standards, but also for participation in research scholarship activity, levels of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and communication skills. All department scholars are also nominated for the Provost’s Award for Scholarship to be selected later this spring.

In Hunter’s nomination to the Provost, CLS chair Kelly Steelman wrote, “Hunter is well respected among department faculty for her creativity and problem solving skills that have made her an excellent student and scholar. Her research experience has involved three major projects. During our standard PSY 3000/3001 coursework, she conducted a research project that combined her interests in psychology and computer science by testing and evaluating a scale about AI and machine learning understanding. Following that, she took research credit in Professor Shane Mueller’s laboratory, contributing to a number of research projects on human-AI interaction and explainable AI. Hunter co-authored a Human Factors and Ergonomics Society proceedings paper based on the results of this work¹ which contributed to a larger project funded by DARPA. Following this, Hunter was supported through the URIP program to explore how different XAI feature visualization approaches interacted with example-based explanations–two distinct and popular forms of algorithmic explanation of AI that have not been fully combined.

Hunter’s accomplishments extend beyond the department and campus. She completed two internships with Ford Motor Company and received the award for Most Viable and Top Achiever in their 2022 Intern Innovation Challenges.”

Hunter, along with all 2023 department scholars, will be recognized at the Annual Student Leadership Awards Celebration on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Congratulations Hunter and best wishes for your senior year!

1 Mamun, T. I., Baker, K., Malinowski, H., Hoffman, R. R., & Mueller, S. T. (2021, September). Assessing collaborative
explanations of AI using explanation goodness criteria. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 988-993). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Bettin paper in SIGCSE 2023 Proceedings

Published March 16, 2023

By Lisa Hitch

Briana Bettin’s (CLS/CS) paper, “Challenges, Choice, & Change: Experiences and Reflections from the First Semester of a Technology and Human Futures Course,” was recently published in the SIGCSE 2023 Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium, March 2023.

The paper explores survey responses from graduate students who completed Bettin’s newly designed course, “Reimagining Technofuturism” during spring 2022. The course explored facets of human identity and societal systems in order to understand technology’s role, how technology impacts our human futures and how we might design differently in order to arrive at future technologies that better center human identities and futures.

In the paper Bettin discusses the general design of the course as well as literature background that suggests courses like this are novel but growing in presence nationwide. In addition to the overall value of the course—exploring how design choices, emphasizing computing technology design, impact society and the ways identity can alter those impacts for individuals and groups.

The paper contains student quotes that Bettin pulled together with a narrative thread. Bettin closed the paper with her own quote as she reflected on the outcomes of the course:

“I expected some level of general interest and engagement, but marvel at how much the students consistently exceeded my expectations. From diverse discussion examples to a breadth of project directions—the students not only grappled with the complex and vast space, but seemed to enjoy “tackling” such depth in some meaningful way.”

The ACM Technical Symposium is SIGCSE’s flagship conference. It has been held annually in the United States since 1970. This year, for the first time, the conference is being held in Toronto, Canada, March 15-18, 2023.

Briana Bettin is an assistant professor in the departments of computer science and cognitive and learning sciences (psychology and human factors). She received her master’s in human-computer interaction from Iowa State University and her bachelor’s and PhD in computer science from Michigan Tech. Her research work broadly centers computing education with focus on human interests, impacts, and learning within our increasingly technological society. Her goal is to help us all learn to better live with, work with, (re)imagine with, and be represented equitably within the increasingly digital landscape of our world.

Water and Well-being

Published March 15, 2023

By Lisa Hitch

This month, students in Dr. Samantha Smith’s Environmental Psychology class will examine natural environments and how they play a key role in our overall well-being. What better time than during World Water Day, observed each year on March 22.

Water is not only essential for life, but psychological research shows that water is one of the features found in both natural and built environments that can help reduce stress and autonomic arousal due to our innate connection to the natural world (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Ulrich, 1981; Ulrich et al., 1991; White et al., 2010). There is also evidence that living closer to “blue spaces” (e.g., rivers, lakes, oceans) is associated with lower psychological distress (Nutsford et al., 2016).

During the semester, students will discuss how water features can be incorporated into built environments such as mental health care facilities, providing restorative benefits to both patients and healthcare workers. The course will also give students the opportunity to experience the calming effects of a stream, lake, or waterfall out in the local natural environment.

PSY3800 Environmental Psychology will be offered again this summer (Track B) and has been added to the General Education (HASS) list effective summer 2023.

The focus of this year’s World Water Day is on accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. The global campaign, called “Be the change” encourages people to take action in their own lives to change the way we use, consume and manage water. Every action—no matter how small—will make a difference.

ACSHF Forum: Paul Ward

Published March 15, 2023

By Breanne Carne

The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences will host Dr. Paul Ward at the next Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors forum.

The presentation, “Beyond Academia: From Adaptivity to Augmented Decision Making and Back Again”, will be from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Monday March 20 via Zoom.

Abstract:

In this presentation, I will provide an overview of my research conducted on both sides of the research
isle—as a university academic and as a scientist supporting government sponsors. This overview will
span a range of topics from expertise and adaptive skill to technology-enabled decision superiority to
human-centered AI assurance. Specifically, I will summarize a handful of research projects examining
the training principles required to develop expert levels of adaptive skill, the impact of providing humans
with more AI-enabled courses of action than they could generate without technological support,
considerations for supporting human-machine teams, and end with a discussion of what it means to assure
human-centered AI. A common theme throughout this research is that context matters, irrespective of
whether we are concerned with developing expertise or human-centered systems, improving system
performance, or empowering humans to achieve their goals. As part of this talk, I will provide a brief
overview of MITRE, the capabilities we offer, and a description of my journey from University Professor
to Chief Scientist. I will end by posing some questions about the pressing future challenges where
transdisciplinary teams, including Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Scientists, could be leveraged to
produce more robust outcomes for a safer, more secure, and more equitable world.

BIO:

Dr. Paul Ward is Chief Scientist for the Social and Behavioral Sciences and Principal Cognitive Scientist
at The MITRE Corporation—a not-for-profit organization based in McLean VA that runs multiple
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers whose aim is to solve problems to create a safer
world. Since joining MITRE in 2019, Dr. Ward’s research has focused on issues related to decision
making, sensemaking, and adaptivity, and on using cognitive science and cognitive engineering methods
to address tough human-in-the-loop problems, such as human-machine teaming, artificial intelligence-
(AI-)enabled decision support, and human-centered AI. In his current role he is responsible for supporting
innovative Department- and Division-level research and developing transdisciplinary and transformative
research priorities, especially those related to enhancing and augmenting human cognition in complex
sociotechnical systems.
Dr. Ward is internationally known for his pioneering research on how expert decision makers think and
adapt to real-world complexity and uncertainty. He has published three books, including The Oxford
Handbook of Expertise, Accelerated Expertise, over 200 scientific papers and book chapters on related
topics, and received grant funding from a range of agencies internationally, including National Science
Foundation, US Office of Naval Research, UK Department for Transport, and UK Ministry of Defense. In
addition, he has also provided expert consultation on related topics to multiple agencies, including the
U.S. Olympic Committee, UK Sport, English Institute of Sport, US Soccer, New York Police
Department, Police Federation of England and Wales, and Norwegian Defence Cyber Academy.
Prior to joining MITRE, Dr. Ward held various university faculty appointments worldwide, including as
Professor of Applied Cognitive Science in the UK and USA. He has taught undergraduate and graduate
level courses in Cognition, Cognitive Task Analysis, Human Factors, Work Psychology, Expertise,
Research Methods, and Statistics. He currently holds an adjunct appointment at Michigan Technological
University as Professor of Psychology, serves on numerous editorial boards and, previously, served as
associate editor for the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making and the Journal of
Expertise. Dr. Ward received his PhD in Applied Experimental Psychology in the UK and subsequently
completed two postdoctoral fellowships in Human Factors and Cognitive Science in the USA.

Hungwe Awarded Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship

Published March 9, 2023

By Lisa Hitch

We are excited to announce that Kedmon Hungwe, a professor in the Department of Cognitive & Learning Sciences, has been awarded a fellowship by the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program. Professor Hungwe will be collaborating with Rhodes University and Dr. Clement Simuja on the project “Co-Developing and Designing a Digital Literacy Curriculum for Pre-Service Teachers in a Developing Country University” in South Africa.

The project will focus on designing and developing a digital literacy curriculum for pre-service teachers based on South Africa’s Department of Basic Education Digital Learning Framework and the UNESCO global framework. The project will run for 90 days during the summer of 2023 and will include curriculum co-development, research collaboration, and graduate student teaching and mentoring.

The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program provides funding and structure for African-born academics at accredited higher education institutions in the United States and Canada to collaborate with colleagues at accredited higher education African institutions on capacity-building projects. The program is designed to strengthen capacity at host institutions and develop long-term, mutually beneficial collaborations between universities in Africa and the United States and Canada. The fellowship is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and managed by the Institute of International Education in collaboration with the Association of African Universities.

This project is a great opportunity for Professor Hungwe to use his expertise and knowledge in STEM Education to help develop a curriculum that will benefit pre-service teachers in South Africa. We wish Professor Hungwe all the best on this exciting venture and look forward to hearing about the outcomes of this project.

See a full list of newly selected projects, hosts and scholars.

ACSHF Forum: Jason Archer

Published January 31, 2023

By Breanne Carne

The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences will host MTU Humanities Assistant Professor Jason Archer at the next Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors forum.

The presentation, “The Embrace of the Surgical Machine: Touch, Practice, and Power in the Operating Room”, will be from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Monday (February 6) in Meese 109 and via Zoom

In this presentation, Jason Archer will talk about his work in the area of Human Machine Communication, focusing on research related to the da Vinci Surgical System (dVSS), a system widely used in robotic-assisted surgery. Dr. Archer will discuss how concerns with touch-oriented media sparked his investigation of the dVSS, explain the challenges of doing research in a surgical setting, and share stories from interviews with robotic surgeons, and observations from the OR, that help highlight some of his findings.

ACSHF Forum: Grad Student Presentations

Published January 19, 2023

By Breanne Carne

The Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences will host ACSHF PhD Students Lauren Sprague and Brandon Woolman at the next Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors forum. Their presentations will be from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Monday (January 23) in Meese 109 and via Zoom.

Sprague will present “Pilot test of critical flicker fusion in combination with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in order to accurately measure cognitive workload during a visuospatial vigilance task.”

Abstract:
Vigilance tasks are largely considered to be stressful to perform, difficult to stay on task, and cognitively draining due to the mental demands of sustaining attention. These tasks, which involve the monitoring of an environment for critical signals while avoiding more frequent neutral signals, induce what has been dubbed the vigilance decrement. The vigilance decrement typically involves a decline in performance as well as an increase in response time. During the investigation of this decrement, some tools need to be validated before they should be used to investigate it. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy is a non-invasive brain imaging technique that provides real-time data on changes in light absorption caused by the hemodynamic activity of the brain region in question. This hemodynamic activity provides information about cognitive effort. The flicker fusion threshold is the frequency at which an observer perceives a flickering light as static. This threshold can provide information about cortical arousal, alertness, fatigue, and cognitive workload. This study seeks to determine if these two methods, utilized alongside the NASA-TLX a measure of mental workload, can provide detailed information about the cognitive effort of a task as well as any decline in mental resources due to the mental effort of a visuospatial vigilance task.

Woolman will present “Assessing Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer’s Disease Using a Reverse Visually Guided Reaching Task.”

Abstract:
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, which is known for its impacts on cognitive functions, especially memory. Early signs of AD can be difficult to diagnose (Porsteinsson et al., 2021), neuropsychological test batteries designed for dementia are only moderately reliable. Recent findings in the field of motor behavior have show novel motor tasks to be sensitive to cognitive differences between younger and older adults. Some motor tasks have shown to be more sensitive to cognitive deficits compared to neuropsychological test batteries (Watral & Trewartha, 2021). For example, tasks like the visuomotor rotation task, where participants adapt to a visuomotor perturbation, have been identified as a means for assessing cognition (Buch, Young & Contreras-Vidal, 2003). Recent work by Tippet and Sergio (2006) developed a reverse visually guided reaching task (rVGR) in which participants make a series of aimed movements toward a target. During the rVGR task, the visual cursor moves in the opposite direction of the physical reach, forcing the participant to correct their movements by reversing the reaching direction. Measures of performance in this task, such as movement speed and inconsistency of movements, have been shown to change in preclinical Alzheimer’s populations (Hawkins & Sergio, 2014). The current investigation seeks to further characterize rVGR performance differences between younger adults, older adults, and individuals with early AD (diagnosed with MCI or mild AD). For this purpose, we are recruiting 20 younger adults, 20 healthy older adults, and 20 early AD patients. We are testing the prediction that participants with AD should perform similarly to the controls on a VGR task but show significant deficits on the rVGR task. Additionally, correlations will be examined between performance on a neuropsychological battery and the rVGR task performance to test the prediction that performance on the motor task are related to changes in cognition in AD. This work may provide the foundation for using motor tasks as a diagnostic tool for cognitive impairments in preclinical stages of MCI and Alzheimer’s Disease. Early diagnosis of cognitive impairments due to MCI and AD could allow physicians to maximize the effectiveness of available treatment methods for slowing the progression of the disease.

CLS Faculty Receive Exceptional Teaching Score

Published January 13, 2023

By Lisa Hitch

photos of Amber Bennett, Kelly Steelman, Linda Wanless, and Destaney Sauls — Clockwise starting top left: Amber Bennett, Kelly Steelman, Linda Wanless, and Destaney Sauls

Cognitive and Learning Sciences’ faculty Amber Bennett, Destaney Sauls, Kelly Steelman, and Linda Wanless (CTL) have been identified as four of only 70 instructors who received an exceptional “Average of 7 Dimensions” student evaluation score for fall semester 2022.

Each of their scores were in the top 10% of similarly sized sections university-wide that had at least a 50% response rate and a minimum of 5 responses. Only 91 sections out of more than 1,379 surveyed were rated this highly by students.

Andrew Storer, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, recently congratulated the faculty stating, “On behalf of Michigan Tech’s students, I want you to know that I am aware of your accomplishment. I know that exceptional teaching takes a great deal of time and effort, and I appreciate your commitment to the success of our students. Providing excellent learning opportunities is an important part of Michigan Tech’s mission.”

Michigan Tech’s Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences offers bachelor of science degrees in Psychology and Human Factors, along with a Minor in Psychology. We also offer an Accelerated Masters degree in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF), which typically requires only one additional year of course work. Our graduate program includes masters and doctoral degrees in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF).

Questions? Contact us at cls@mtu.edu. And follow us @clsmtu on Instagram and Facebook for the latest happenings.

ACSHF Forum: Destaney Sauls

Published January 5, 2023

By Breanne Carne

Destaney Sauls, Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences (CLS) Visiting Instructor, will kick off the spring semester forums for Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF) with her presentation, “Tried and True: The Role of Perceived Loyalty in Friendship Functioning,” from 2-3 p.m. Monday (January 9) in Meese 109 and via Zoom.

Abstract: Research concerning social relationships has often suggested that loyalty is an important feature of a wide variety of relationships – however, this research has also produced inconsistent results regarding the actual impact of loyalty. Generally speaking, much of the research concerning social relationships has focused on romantic relationships, rather than platonic. The current research utilizes the context of a platonic friendship to examine the possibility that perceived loyalty may be more impactful on a relationship than actual loyalty – essentially, how loyal someone is might matter, but what might matter more is how loyal their friend “thinks” they are.

Alexandra Watral Awarded Doctoral Finishing Fellowship

Published December 14, 2022

By Lisa Hitch

photo of Alexandra Watral — Alexandra Watral, ACSHF PhD Candidate

Each semester, the Michigan Tech Graduate School awards Finishing Fellowships that provide support to PhD candidates who are close to completing their degrees. These fellowships are available through the generosity of alumni and friends of the University. They are intended to recognize outstanding PhD candidates who are in need of financial support to finish their degrees and are also contributing to the attainment of goals outlined in The Michigan Tech Plan.

This spring’s 2023 Doctoral Finishing Fellowship recipients include Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF) PhD candidate Alexandra (Alex) Watral. Alex is advised by Dr. Kevin Trewartha and her research involves motor learning as a sensitive behavioral marker of early Alzheimer’s Disease. Read on for more details of Alex’s research in her personal statement as follows.

My interests lie at the intersection of accessibility and efficiency. For this reason, I transitioned away from clinical work and started my PhD in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors in January 2019 under the guidance of Dr. Kevin Trewartha. From day one, my research has focused on developing new tools for assessing cognitive decline in older adults through the study of motor skill learning using a specialized robotic device.

My dissertation research focuses on the use of two novel motor skill learning tasks to distinguish between healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment, and the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s is typically measured using neuropsychological tests that lack sensitivity and specificity to subtle changes in cognitive function associated with disease progression. As such, these tests struggle to correctly diagnoses patients with pre-clinical dementia symptoms (such as mild cognitive impairment) or the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Recent research, however, has shown that the ability to adapt our movements to learn a new motor skill may relate to changes in learning and memory that occur early in the development of the disease. My dissertation will explore the relationship between data collected from two motor learning tasks and data collected through a typical battery of neuropsychological tests to diagnose Alzheimer’s-type dementia. We expect that these motor learning tasks can go above and beyond the ability of the neuropsychological battery to detect changes in cognitive functioning. Importantly, these motor learning tasks take about half the time to complete compared to the standard diagnostic procedures. By showing that these tasks are sensitive to subtle changes in cognitive decline, we can increase certainty in the proper diagnosis while minimizing the time and costs associated with the diagnostic procedure. This could lead to earlier and more efficient diagnoses and subsequent earlier treatment to slow the progression of cognitive decline, thereby improving patient and caregiver quality of life.

I would like to thank the Graduate School Awards Advisory Panel for this fellowship, and my advisor, Dr. Kevin Trewartha, for his consistent support and guidance over the last four years.

Michigan Tech’s Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences offers bachelor of science degrees in Psychology and Human Factors, along with a Minor in Psychology. We also offer an Accelerated Masters degree in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF), which typically requires only one additional year of course work. Our graduate program includes masters and doctoral degrees in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors (ACSHF).

Questions? Contact us at cls@mtu.edu. And follow us @clsmtu on Instagram and Facebook for the latest happenings.