Cognitive modeling for understanding interactions between people and decision support tools in complex and uncertain environments: A study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in Computational Intelligence Tools and the escalating need for decision-making in the face of complex and uncertain phenomena like pandemics, climate change, and geopolitics necessitate understanding the interaction between these tools and human behavior. It is crucial to efficiently utilize the decision-makers cognitive resources in addressing specific problems. METHODS: The main goal of this present protocol is to describe the effect that CITs (Computational Intelligence Tools) have on decisions made during complex and uncertain situations. It is an exploratory study with a mixed methodology. Solomon's group experiment design includes a narrative analysis of cognitive features such as integrative complexity (IC), cognitive flexibility (CF), and fluid intelligence (FI). Additionally, measures of neural activity (NA), physiological measures (PM), and eye-tracking data (ET) will be collected during the experimental session to examine the marginal impact of these processes on decision outcomes (DO) and their relation to CIT capabilities. To achieve this objective, 120 undergraduate and graduate students involved in decision-making will participate as subjects. The approximate duration of the study will be 2 years. Strict adherence to the relevant ethical considerations will be maintained during the performance of the experimental tasks. DISCUSSION: The study will provide valuable information on CITs' effect on decision-making under complex and uncertain contexts. This will help to better understand the link between technology and human behavior, which has important implications. CIT designers can use future results and at the same time, it will be possible to understand cognitive, behavioral, physiological processes, and even the subjective assessment of individuals when they use technological tools to solve a problem.

Comparación de Tres Procedimientos de Extinción de la Evitación Discriminada en Humanos / Comparison of Three Extinction Procedures on Discriminated Avoidance Learning in Humans

Resumen En la evitación discriminada, una respuesta emitida durante la señal impide la aparición de un estímulo aversivo. La extinción de las respuestas de evitación se ha estudiado como la terminación de la relación instrumental entre la respuesta y el estímulo aversivo. Su compresión ha sido primordial para comprender el mantenimiento de la respuesta de evitación en humanos. Se compararon tres procedimientos de extinción de la respuesta de evitación en humanos. Veintisiete participantes, aprendieron una tarea de evitación discriminada dividida en dos fases: Pavloviana, con apareamientos de dos señales (Estímulo Condicionados; EC 1 y EC2) con un sonido (90 dB, 60 Hz), e Instrumental, donde la respuesta R1 ante el EC1 o la respuesta R2 ante el EC2 evitaba el sonido. Posterior a estas fases, fueron asignados a tres grupos, cada grupo experimentó diferentes procedimientos de extinción; (Estímulo Incondicionado, EI) donde R1 no termino con la señal, pero si con el sonido, (EC) donde R1 termino con la señal, pero no con el sonido, y (EC/EI) donde R1 no termino con ninguno de los estímulos (señal, sonido). En todos los grupos R2 continuó evitando el sonido. Los resultados mostraron que las respuestas de evitación R1 disminuyeron en los grupos EC y EC/EI, y no se extinguieron en el grupo EI. Estos resultados enfatizan la importancia de la terminación de la señal en el mantenimiento del aprendizaje de evitación discriminada.

Abstract In discriminated avoidance, a response emitted during the signal prevents the appearance of an aversive stimulus. The extinction of avoidance responses has been studied as the termination of the instrumental relationship between the response and aversive stimulus. Its understanding has been essential to understand the maintenance of the avoidance response in humans. Three procedures of avoidance response extinction in humans were compared. Twenty-seven participants learned a discriminated avoidance task divided into two phases: Pavlovian, with pairings of two signals (Conditioned Stimulus (EC) 1, EC2) with a sound (90 dB, 60 Hz), and Instrumental, in which R1 response to the EC1 or R2 response to EC2 prevented sound. After these phases, participants were assigned to three groups, each group experienced different extinction procedures; (Unconditioned Stimulus, EI) where R1 did not end with the signal, but with the sound, (EC) where R1 ended with the signal, but not with the sound, and (EC / EI) where R1 did not end with any of the stimuli (signal, sound). In all groups R2 continued avoiding sound. Results show that R1 responses decreased (were extinguished) in the EC and EC / EI groups, but didn't in the EI group. These results emphasize the importance of signal termination in maintaining discriminated avoidance learning.