Biobehavioural markers of skill development and their applications to occupational training

A key aspect of human behaviour is the ability to flexibly interact with our dynamic environment. From a baby learning to walk, to a pilot flying a plane, humans rely on their ability to acquire relevant information from the environment, integrate that information into their planning and decision making, and generate the necessary actions successfully. Previous work has studied these processes separately under controlled laboratory paradigms. However, the development of high-quality, wearable sensor technology allows for the collective tracking of such processes out in the real world. The aim of the current research is to use portable sensors that assess eye movements and limb motion in a fully immersive flight simulator environment to establish objective biological and behavioural indicators of cognitive load (i.e., high mental workload) and level of expertise that are valid in real-world contexts. Based on previous work that has characterized cognitive load and expertise via eye movements, we propose to develop and integrate a method of tracking specific eye movement events in real time during a typical aviation search task. A follow-up study in which we gather and analyze eye movement and motion tracking data alongside subjective measures of mental workload will be conducted to validate the developed methods in a real-world environment. The overall benefits include the development of objective, real-time indicators of cognitive load and expertise, which will lead to greater adoption of training platforms that offer objective insights into trainee skill assessment and monitoring of training outcomes using eye movement and motion capture sensors.

Faculty Supervisor:

Michael Barnett-Cowan

Student:

Partner:

Exo Insights Corp

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Waterloo

Program: