When two individuals perform a task together, they combine their individual skills to achieve a joint goal. Previous research has shown that interindividual skill differences predict a group’s collective benefit in joint perceptual decision-making. In the present study, we tested whether this relationship also holds for other task domains, using a dynamic object control task in which two partic...

Spatial language has been shown to be an important predictor of spatial development. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms through which language facilitates spatial development. The current study examines how the selectivity and flexibility by which preschool aged children use spatial language is related to their spatial skills. Children were asked to describe the location o...

Agility is important for sport performance and potentially injury risk; however, factors affecting this motor skill remain unclear. Here, we evaluated the extent to which lower extremity dexterity (LED) and muscle performance were associated with agility. Fourteen male and 14 female soccer athletes participated. Agility was evaluated using a hopping sequence separately with both limbs and with ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The importance of patient safety is growing worldwide, and every day, health care professionals face various challenges in how to provide safe care for their patients. Patient safety skills are one of the main tools to ensure safe practice. This study looks to describe health care professionals' skills regarding patient safety. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data were collecte...

Climate field reconstructions (CFRs) of the global annual surface air temperature (SAT) field and associated global area-weighted mean annual temperature (GMAT) are derived in a collection of pseudoproxy experiments for the past millennium. Pseudoproxies are modeled from temperature (T), precipitation (P), T + P, and VS-Lite (VSL), a nonlinear and multivariate proxy system model for tree ring w...

We present a computational model of mental rotation and shape comparison. The model posits that spatial abstraction, in which spatial details are removed to simplify a representation, is a key skill underlying spatial ability. Shapes are represented as collections of two-dimensional parts, and abstraction is applied by merging parts or ignoring certain part features. Using the model, we simulat...

We introduce CST, an algorithm for constructing skill trees from demonstration trajectories in continuous reinforcement learning domains. CST uses a changepoint detection method to segment each trajectory into a skill chain by detecting a change of appropriate abstraction, or that a segment is too complex to model as a single skill. The skill chains from each trajectory are then merged to form ...

BACKGROUND A competitive Carrick Institute Competitive Grant (CG7-523) was obtained to explore what skills were taught and what assessment of practice approaches were used in nursing programmes in Australia. The intention was twofold; firstly to identify what skills were being taught which would contribute to the development of an assessment of practice toolkit for eligibility to practice progr...

We tested the assumptions of Attentional Control Theory (ACT) by examining the impact of anxiety on anticipation using a dynamic, time-constrained task. Moreover, we examined the involvement of high- and low-level cognitive processes in anticipation and how their importance may interact with anxiety. Skilled and less-skilled tennis players anticipated the shots of opponents under low- and high-...