Cognition and Construction

Cognitive Distraction

In the second and third trials on the cognitive distraction test, my reaction time decreased from the baseline test, and on the fourth trial, it increased slightly.

On the sensory distraction test, I originally predicted that my reaction would increase with the introduction of visual distractors. However, my reaction time decreased on the second and third tasks. I think that the data shows that as I practiced the task, my reaction time decreased. Even with the horrible introduction of pictures of snakes, I was still able to attend to the task at hand.

On the fourth task, with the introduction of math problems, my reaction time increased. The distractor on this task, the math problems, required more attention- in this task I was forced to attend to the distractors, whereas in the 2nd and 3rd task, I did not have to. In addition  there was the added component of not hitting the space bar when a problem was incorrect. These factored into my increase in reaction time.

Measuring Learning

This first test was an opportunity to both learn how to do task and learn to do the skill. In talking about this with my boyfriend, we came up with an analogy for this task: finding Waldo in a "Where's Waldo" book- a book I actually loaned out to a student this week. The more you look for Waldo, the faster you are able to find him because you learn what to look for, and through practice, become better and more efficient at scanning. An improvement in either the process or engaging with the content will result in a decrease in time.

After completing the sharp set, I think that if the test continued, and there were more items, the blue line (repeated) will continue to drop, and, eventually, the new and repeated lines would come together. 50 items probably does not produce enough test data to have the sets resolve themselves.[say why]

In addition, this graph does show a faster improvement, in both new and repeated items simultaneously, than the first one.

Before the blurred set task I, made the comment that I thought this task would be more difficult because blurry images on computer screens usually hurt my eyes. However, it was noticeably easier for me to find the "T" within the blurred image- there was more of a contrast between the “T” and image it was contained in. The physical act of engaging with the image and focusing seemed to make the cognitive task easier.

My immediate reaction after the abstract set was that this task was the longest, and the most challenging  There was a trade off between learning on the repeated items and fatigue, and the graph reflects this. This task required a lot more focus and concentration due to both the length and the image set the "T" was placed in. Because the image distinction was more subtle, this task was harder and required more trials to show that I learned. On this task, unlike the others, I did develop/learned a strategy: around item 60, I realized that I did not need to focus on images with line on bottom because the “T” never appeared upside down.

Even though my time increased on the 4th task, my longest time remained the first test. In addition, the slope of the first graph is significantly steeper than on next three, demonstrating that I was able to learn quickly, and that my times on the first trial show a lack of practice.