• School Mathematics
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.489-508
• /
• 2000

With the increased use of computational technology, many educators question about spending large amount of class time for dealing with computational algorithms in elementary school math classroom at the expense of more holistic aspects of mathematics such as number sense, spatial sense, problem solving and data management. This paper introduce the new method for learning addition and subtraction so called ‘Mrs. Weill’s Hill’, which is believed as a suitable remedial method for children with mathematical learning disabilities, with perceptual problems, or with limited working memory capacities. This method provides children with external memory strategies by allowing them to solve the addition and subtraction problems in a stage by stage fashion with as many steps as they require. It also gives the child greater flexibility in the solution process and thus helps reduce anxiety.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.43-48
• /
• 2015

Objectives : The aim of this study was to investigate the memory enhancing properties of extract of Hoelen Cum Radix (HCR) and its possible mechanism in mice of normal condition. Methods : We evaluated the effects of HCR on cognitive function and memory enhancement in normal mice. Male ICR mice were orally administrated with HCR 100 mg/kg for 7 days and equal volume of saline was administrated to the control group in the same condition. We conducted two behavioral tests which measure the spatial working memory (Y-maze test) and cognitive fear memory (passive avoidance test). We also investigated whether HCR affects the hippocampal neurogenesis in the brain. To assess the effects of HCR on neural progenitor cell differentiation and neurite outgrowth in the early stage of hippocampal neurogenesis, we performed doublecortin (DCX), a direct neurogenesis marker, immunohistochemical analysis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the mouse hippocampus. Results : HCR significantly enhanced memory and cognitive function as determined by the Y-maze test (p<0.05) and passive avoidance test (p<0.001). Moreover, HCR increased DCX positive cells (p<0.01) and neurite length (p<0.01) compared to the control group. These results indicated that HCR stimulates differentiation of neural progenitor cells and promotes neurite outgrowth in hippocampal DG of the mice. Conclusion : We concluded that HCR shows memory enhancing effects through the stimulation of hippocampal neurogenesis as a consequence of accelerated neuronal differentiation and neurite outgrowth in the DG of the hippocampus after HCR treatment.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.355-376
• /
• 2016

We used holes defined by color similarity (Experiment 1) and binocular disparity (Experiment 2) to study how the inner contour of an object (i.e., boundary of a hole in it) is encoded in visual working memory. Many studies in VWM have shown that an object's boundary properties can be integrated with its surface properties via their shared spatial location, yielding an object-based encoding benefit. However, encoding of the hole contours has rarely been tested. We presented objects (squares or circles) containing a bar under a change detection paradigm, and relevant features to be remembered were the color of objects and the orientation of bars (or holes). If the contour of a hole belongs to the surrounding object rather than to the hole itself, the object-based feature binding hypothesis predicts that the shape of it can be integrated with color of an outer object, via their shared spatial location. Thus, in the hole display, change detection performance was expected to better than in the conjunction display where orientation and color features to be remembered were assigned to different parts of a conjunction object, and comparable to that in a single bar display where both orientation and color were assigned into a single bar. However, the results revealed that performance in the hole display did not differ from that in the conjunction display. This suggests that the shape of holes is not automatically encoded together with the surface properties of the outer object via object-based feature binding, but encoded independently from the surrounding object.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.317-332
• /
• 2012

We investigated brain activity during the performance of the intelligence task by a science high school student group (n=8) and a foreign language high school student group (n=5). Both groups scored in the top 1% on intelligence tests (science high school group: RAPM mean score=34.0, WAIS mean IQ=139.6; foreign language high school group: RAPM mean score=33.8, WAIS mean IQ=147.2). Analysis of brain activity during the performance of the intelligence task showed that both groups had brain activity in certain areas, including the left and right prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, and anterior cingulate. The science high school group showed the highest activity in the right parietal cortex, which is related to visuo-spatial working memory, whereas the foreign language high school group showed the highest activity in the left prefrontal cortex, which is related to verbal working memory. The foreign language high school group showed higher brain activity than the science high school group in the left precentral gyrus which is related to the motion of the tongue and lips. These results show that the science high school group utilized the visuo-spatial area, whereas the foreign language high school group utilized the verbal area during the performance of the intelligence task. This suggests that the major thinking process differs depending on the gifted students' primary field of study, although they are doing the same task.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.559-602
• /
• 2010

This study examines the concepts and functional characteristics of consciousness in comparison of memory and attention from the perspective of information processing. It also provides an understanding of the relationships between the three as hypothetical constructs. Consciousness is regarded as too ambiguous a concept to be understood and accepted as a mental construct without the inclusion of memory and attention in any conceptualization. We need one criterion to count satisfactorily as an explanation of consciousness in information processing. Consciousness would be a subjective awareness of momentary experience and also have the characteristic of an operating system performing control and consolidation in information processing. This could be called cognitive consciousness which refers to a subjective awareness and an executive control system, even though those are not equivalent concepts. Consciousness, memory and attention, three mental constructs could operate dependently or independently depending on the specific tasks conditioned in many information processing levels whose modules with three mental constructs could operate in hierarchy. In this premise, working memory could not be a unitary system, contrary to those of Baddeley and Hitch(1974) and Baddeley(1992, 2000), just being a mental workplace consisting of two components: the phonological loop, and the visual-spatial sketchpad without the episodic buffer and a central executive which are the characteristics of consciousness. In the continuum of information processing, the conscious processes and the unconscious processes seem not to be totally different and contrasting processes.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Cognitive Science Conference
• /
• 2005.05a
• /
• pp.244-253
• /
• 2005

사람에게 행동의 개인차가 있듯이 rat이나 mouse에 있어서도 행동의 차이를 발견할 수 있다. Rat의 행동성향에 따른 (1)학습 및 기억 능력의 차이, (2)기억과 해마의 관계, (3)치매유발단백질의 하나로 알려진 아밀로이드 베타($A{\beta}$ )및 수종의 항 치매 약물효과를 알아보는 것이 본 실험의 목적이다. Rat의 행동관찰을 통해 두 가지 행동패턴을 관찰할 수 있었는데, 이러한 rat의 행동 특성은 심리학자 Jung이 심리유형으로 설명하고 있는 extraversion, introversion의 행동성향과 유사할 것이라는 가정 하에 실험을 계획, 실시하였다. Rat에 water maze test를 실시하여 공간 기억의 단기, 장기 기억을 분석하였는데 그 결과 두 가지 행동 성향을 가진 rat은 서로 다른 학습 및 기억 능력의 특성을 보였다. 즉, extraversion은 단기 기억의 향상을 보인 반면에, introversion은 장기 기억의 향상을 보였다. Rat을 대상으로 water maze test 외에 Y-maze, passive avoidance test를 실시하여 공간 기억(spatial memory), 작동 기억(working memory), passive avoidance memory, 그리고 단기, 장기 기억의 관계를 종합적으로 분석해 보았다. 그 결과 두 가지 행동성향에 따라 서로 영향을 미치는 기억의 종류 및 관계에 차이가 있음을 발견할 수 있었다. 또한 두 가지 행동성향을 가진 rat에 약물을 투여했을 때, 서로 다른 약물 효과를 보였으며, $A{\beta}$ 를 주입했을 때, 기억(memory) 및 해마(hippocampus) 세포 사멸(cell death)에 서로 상반된 결과를 보여주었다. 이러한 연구 결과는 개체의 행동성향에 따라 학습 및 기억의 효과가 다를 수 있음을 보여주는 결과라 할 수 있고, 개인의 적성과 소질의 인식 및 개발의 중요성에 시사하는 바가 크다. 또한 개개인의 행동과 학습 및 기억 능력의 차이를 두뇌과학적으로 이해하여, 두뇌의 장점은 살리고 단점을 보완할 수 있는 이론적 토대를 세우는데 이러한 동물실험이 그 기초를 제공해 줄 수 있을 것이다. 또한 행동성향 및 기억의 종류에 따른 약물효과의 차이는 기억과 관련된 질병인 알츠하이머 환자에 있어 개개인에게 맞는 적절한 특징적인 치료약물이 존재할 것이라는 가능성을 제공해줄 뿐만 아니라 학습과 기억력 증진 효과를 기대해 볼 수 있을 것이라고 생각된다.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
• /
• 2022.06a
• /
• pp.877-885
• /
• 2022

Vision-based activity recognition has been widely attempted at construction sites to estimate productivity and enhance workers' health and safety. Previous studies have focused on extracting an individual worker's postural information from sequential image frames for activity recognition. However, various trades of workers perform different tasks with similar postural patterns, which degrades the performance of activity recognition based on postural information. To this end, this research exploited a concept of human-object interaction, the interaction between a worker and their surrounding objects, considering the fact that trade workers interact with a specific object (e.g., working tools or construction materials) relevant to their trades. This research developed an approach to understand the context from sequential image frames based on four features: posture, object, spatial features, and temporal feature. Both posture and object features were used to analyze the interaction between the worker and the target object, and the other two features were used to detect movements from the entire region of image frames in both temporal and spatial domains. The developed approach used convolutional neural networks (CNN) for feature extractors and activity classifiers and long short-term memory (LSTM) was also used as an activity classifier. The developed approach provided an average accuracy of 85.96% for classifying 12 target construction tasks performed by two trades of workers, which was higher than two benchmark models. This experimental result indicated that integrating a concept of the human-object interaction offers great benefits in activity recognition when various trade workers coexist in a scene.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.41 no.5
• /
• pp.371-390
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study is to develop a neuropsychological model for the spatial ability factor and to divide the brain active area involved in the light & shadow problem solving process into the domain-general ability and the domain-specific ability based on the neuropsychological model. Twenty-four male college students participated in the study to measure the synchronized eye movement and electroencephalograms (EEG) while they performed the spatial ability test and the light & shadow tasks. Neuropsychological model for the spatial ability factor and light & shadow problem solving process was developed by integrating the measurements of the participants' eye movements, brain activity areas, and the interview findings regarding their thoughts and strategies. The results of this study are as follows; first, the spatial visualization and mental rotation factors mainly required activation of the parietal lobe, and the spatial orientation factor required activation of the frontal lobe. Second, in the light & shadow problem solving process, participants use both their spatial ability as a domain-general thought, and the application of scientific principles as a domain-specific thought. The brain activity patterns resulting from a participants' inferring the shadow by parallel light source and inferring the shadow when the direction of the light changed were similar to the neuropsychological model for the spatial visualization factor. The brain activity pattern from inferring an object from its shadow by light from multiple directions was similar to the neuropsychological model for the spatial orientation factor. The brain activity pattern from inferring a shadow with a point source of light was similar to the neuropsychological model for the spatial visualization factor. In addition, when solving the light & shadow tasks, the brain's middle temporal gyrus, precentral gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus were additionally activated, which are responsible for deductive reasoning, working memory, and planning for action.

• Korean Journal of Cognitive Science
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.159-219
• /
• 2016

Mathematical ability is important for academic achievement and technological renovations in the STEM disciplines. This study concentrated on the relationship between neural basis of mathematical cognition and its mechanisms. These cognitive functions include domain specific abilities such as numerical skills and visuospatial abilities, as well as domain general abilities which include language, long term memory, and working memory capacity. Individuals can perform higher cognitive functions such as abstract thinking and reasoning based on these basic cognitive functions. The next topic covered in this study is about individual differences in mathematical abilities. Neural efficiency theory was incorporated in this study to view mathematical talent. According to the theory, a person with mathematical talent uses his or her brain more efficiently than the effortful endeavour of the average human being. Mathematically gifted students show different brain activities when compared to average students. Interhemispheric and intrahemispheric connectivities are enhanced in those students, particularly in the right brain along fronto-parietal longitudinal fasciculus. The third topic deals with growth and development in mathematical capacity. As individuals mature, practice mathematical skills, and gain knowledge, such changes are reflected in cortical activation, which include changes in the activation level, redistribution, and reorganization in the supporting cortex. Among these, reorganization can be related to neural plasticity. Neural plasticity was observed in professional mathematicians and children with mathematical learning disabilities. Last topic is about mathematical creativity viewed from Neural Darwinism. When the brain is faced with a novel problem, it needs to collect all of the necessary concepts(knowledge) from long term memory, make multitudes of connections, and test which ones have the highest probability in helping solve the unusual problem. Having followed the above brain modifying steps, once the brain finally finds the correct response to the novel problem, the final response comes as a form of inspiration. For a novice, the first step of acquisition of knowledge structure is the most important. However, as expertise increases, the latter two stages of making connections and selection become more important.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.122-132
• /
• 2005

Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess cognitive functions and their relationship with sleep symptoms in young narcoleptic patients. Methods: Eighteen young narcolepsy patients and 18 normal controls (age: 17-35 years old) were recruited. All narcolepsy patients had HLA $DQB_1$ *0602 allele and cataplexy. Several important areas of cognition were assessed by a battery of neuropsychological tests consisting of 13 tests: executive functions (e.g. cognitive set shifting, inhibition, and selective attention) through Wisconsin card sorting test, Trail Making A/B, Stroop test, Ruff test, Digit Symbol, Controlled Oral Word Association and Boston Naming Test; alertness and sustained attention through paced auditory serial addition test; verbal/nonverbal short-term memory and working memory through Digit Span and Spatial Span; visuospatial memory through Rey-Osterrieth complex figure test; verbal learning and memory through California verbal learning test; and fine motor activity through grooved pegboard test. Sleep symptoms in narcolepsy patients were assessed with Epworth sleepiness scale, Ullanlinna narcolepsy scale, multiple sleep latency test, and nocturnal polysomnography. Relationship between cognitive functions and sleep symptoms in narcolepsy patients was also explored. Results: Compared with normal controls, narcolepsy patients showed poor performance in paced auditory serial addition (2.0 s and 2.4 s), digit symbol tests, and spatial span (forward)(t=3.86, p<0.01; t=-2.47, p=0.02; t=-3.95, p<0.01; t=-2.22, p=0.03, respectively). There were no significant between-group differences in other neuropsychological tests. In addition, results of neuropsychological test in narcolepsy patients were not correlated with Epworth sleepiness scale score, Ullanlinna narcolepsy scale score and sleep variables in multiple sleep latency test or nocturnal polysomnography. Conclusion: The current findings suggest that young narcolepsy patients have impaired attention. In addition, impairment of attention in narcolepsy might not be solely due to sleep symptoms such as excessive daytime sleepiness.