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Mental disorders among children and adolescents pose a significant global challenge. The exposome framework covering the totality of internal, social and physical exposures over a lifetime provides opportunities to better understand the causes of and processes related to mental health, and cognitive functioning. The paper presents a conceptual framework on exposome, mental health, and cognitive development in children and adolescents, with potential mediating pathways, providing a possibility for interventions along the life course. The paper underscores the significance of adopting a child perspective to the exposome, acknowledging children's specific vulnerability, including differential exposures, susceptibility of effects and capacity to respond; their susceptibility during development and growth, highlighting neurodevelopmental processes from conception to young adulthood that are highly sensitive to external exposures. Further, critical periods when exposures may have significant effects on a child's development and future health are addressed. The paper stresses that children's behaviour, physiology, activity pattern and place for activities make them differently vulnerable to environmental pollutants, and calls for child-specific assessment methods, currently lacking within today's health frameworks. The importance of understanding the interplay between structure and agency is emphasized, where agency is guided by social structures and practices and vice-versa. An intersectional approach that acknowledges the interplay of social and physical exposures as well as a global and rural perspective on exposome is further pointed out. To advance the exposome field, interdisciplinary efforts that involve multiple scientific disciplines are crucial. By adopting a child perspective and incorporating an exposome approach, we can gain a comprehensive understanding of how exposures impact children's mental health and cognitive development leading to better outcomes. • Conceptual framework of a child perspective for the exposome and mental health. • Framework combines child development, life-course perspective and vulnerability. • Social practice theory integrates multiple exposures articulating relevant concepts. • Mediating pathways provides the base for interventions. • Framework based on interdisciplinary efforts for comprehensive understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Comparative research on the origins of human language often focuses on a limited number of language-related cognitive functions or anatomical structures that are compared across species. The underlying assumption of this approach is that a single or a limited number of factors may crucially explain how language appeared in the human lineage. Another potentially fruitful approach is to consider human language as the result of a (unique) assemblage of multiple cognitive and anatomical components, some of which are present in other species. This paper is a first step in that direction. It focuses on the baboon, a non-human primate that has been studied extensively for years, including several brain, anatomical, cognitive and cultural dimensions that are involved in human language. This paper presents recent data collected on baboons regarding (1) a selection of domain-general cognitive functions that are core functions for language, (2) vocal production, (3) gestural production and cerebral lateralization, and (4) cumulative culture. In all these domains, it shows that the baboons share with humans many cognitive or brain mechanisms which are central for language. Because of the multidimensionality of the knowledge accumulated on the baboon, that species is an excellent nonhuman primate model for the study of the evolutionary origins of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The exposome approach can be a powerful tool for understanding the intertwining of social, physical, and internal influences that shape mental health and cognitive development throughout childhood. To distil conceptual models for subsequent analyses, the EU-funded project Early Environmental quality and Life-course mental health effects (Equal-Life) has conducted literature reviews on potential mediators linking the exposome to these outcomes. We report on a scoping review and a conceptual model of the role of restorative possibilities and physical activity. Methods Peer-reviewed studies published since the year 2000 in English, on the association between the exposome and mental health/cognition in children/adolescents, and quantitatively investigating restoration/restorative quality as a mediating variable were considered. Database searches were last updated in December 2022. We used an unstructured expert-driven approach to fill in gaps in the reviewed literature. Results Five records of three distinct studies were identified, indicating a scarcity of empirical evidence in this newly developing research area. Not only were these studies few in numbers, but also cross-sectional, lending only tentative support to the idea that perceived restorative quality of adolescent's living environment might mediate the association between greenspace and mental health. Physical activity emerged as a mediator leading to better psychological outcomes in restorative environments. We provide a critical discussion of potential caveats when investigating the restoration mechanism in children and propose a hierarchical model including restoration, physical activity, and relational dynamics between children and their environment, including social context, as well as restorative environments other than nature. Conclusions It is justified to further explore the role of restoration and physical activity as mediators in the association between early-life exposome and mental health/cognitive development. It is important to consider the child perspective and specific methodological caveats. Given the evolving conceptual definitions/operationalizations, Equal-Life will attempt to fill in a critical gap in the literature. • We report on a review of children/adolescent mental health/cognition. • This paper was produced in the Equal-Life exposome project. • We investigate restoration and physical activity as mechanistic pathways. • Limited body of evidence suggesting that exploring these mediators is justified. • We propose a conceptual model for empirical testing in the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Exploration of cognitive load estimation techniques on real-world dataset. • Cognitive load classifiers built from speech that was self-labelled during tasks. • Exploration of speaker dependence for addressing speaker variability within tasks. • Demonstration of technique robustness by evaluating benchmarked lab-based dataset. Abstract Speech-enabled applications are becoming prevalent, providing opportunities for real-time detection of speaker characteristics. Estimation of cognitive load from speech is one type of speaker characteristic that can provide insight into the human state in complex, highly dynamic human-machine teaming scenarios and be used to adapt interaction with the user to their current cognitive state. Cognitive load estimation from speech experiments are typically performed on speech gathered in laboratory settings. By contrast, this research is performed on a real-life dataset that was not created for the purpose of cognitive load assessment. Speech was extracted from recordings of a military simulation exercise in which air battle managers communicated with pilots flying simulated aircraft. This paper assesses whether cognitive load can be estimated from speech self-labelled by exercise participants and collected in a realistic setting, and examines how well cognitive load estimation methods translate from the laboratory setting to the real-world. Analysis suggests that participants' self-assessment of workload at periodic intervals can be used to label speech to create 2-class cognitive load classifiers. The analysis also shows that including some target speaker speech in speaker independent training data results in higher classification accuracy than when classifiers are built solely from speaker dependent data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed-reality environments introduce innovative human-computer interaction paradigms assisted by enhanced visual content presentation which require from end-users to perform excessive cognitive tasks related to visual attention, search, processing, and comprehension. In such visually enriched interaction realms, individual differences in perception and visual information processing might affect users’ behaviour and immersion, given that such effects are known to exist in conventional computer environments, like desktop or mobile. In an attempt to shed light on whether, how, and why such effects persist within mixed-reality contexts, we conducted a between-subjects eye-tracking study (N=73) in which users interacted within either a conventional or a mixed-reality technological context, and adopted an accredited cognitive style theory to interpret the derived results. Analysis of results yielded that mixed-reality interaction realms amplified the effects of human cognitive style towards game-specific interaction behaviour and visual behaviour. Findings further support the added value of incorporating human cognitive factors in both design and run-time, aiming to provide adaptive and personalised features to end-users within mixed-reality interaction contexts. Such practical implications are also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In order to design computer systems that are intuitive to use, the way humans reason about their “real world” surroundings needs to be taken into consideration. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) focus on spatial reasoning. Over the last decades, many advances have been made in GIS interfaces and functionality; however the concept of proximity or nearness, which is essential in many forms of human reasoning, is still being addressed insufficiently. This paper provides a thorough and comprehensive synthesis of the disparate literature that pertains to the subject of proximity. It offers insights into why existing methods for reasoning with proximity work, or do not work, and analyses their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the paper provides the derivation of new proximity measures, and their evaluation, backed by experiments and reflections. New measures are formally described in a unifying and compelling framework. This framework acknowledges that while distance is one factor that influences proximity perception, proximity is much more than just a distance measure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, the concept of distributed cognition is used to inform the design, development and trialling of technologies to support Crime Scene Examination is reported. A user trial, with trainee Crime Scene Examiners, was conducted to compare the ways in which evidence search and recovery could be combined with the production of a crime scene report (that must be written at the scene). Participants completed the crime scene report using either the conventional paper form, an electronic form on a tablet computer (to represent the current trend in digitisation of crime scene reports), or a wearable computer (with speech input). While both computer conditions (tablet and wearable) led to faster performance, when compared with the paper condition, there was no difference in content or quality of the reports produced in any of the three conditions; thus, the computer conditions produced acceptable reports in much faster time when compared to conventional practice. Furthermore, activity sampling analysis showed that participants found it much easier to integrate the wearable computer (than either paper forms or tablet computer) into their search and recovery activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper addresses the spatial and temporal dimensions of knapping routines through analysis of refit data. Many reconstructions of lithic tool production utilising refit data concentrate upon ‘how’ a piece of stone is taken apart, and less often consider the ‘when’ and ‘where’. Lower Palaeolithic artefacts are frequently viewed as belonging to simplistic technical systems in which tools were made and used as and when required, showing little temporal depth. Modern knappers can replicate the components of the Acheulean toolkit, such as a biface, in around 15 minutes. The predominant use of local raw materials and the relatively simple reduction sequences observed on many Middle Pleistocene sites has given rise to the view that Acheulean hominins possessed an immediate approach to technology, and that artefacts did not stay in the technological system very long. In contrast, other researchers have stressed the increased planning abilities of hominins in relation to their stone tool-making and using routines. Increased planning abilities are often cited as a diagnostic feature of modern human cognition. As such, tracing the emergence of these abilities is an important avenue of research in human evolution. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the process of lithic production was organised on several Middle Pleistocene sites in northwest Europe. By comparing refitting sequences from several primary context sites, the different stages of reduction present at these locations can be reconstructed. Since refit sets record the work carried out in one place and time by an individual, they can be used to reconstruct the spatial and temporal dimension of these past technological activities. The analysis shows fragmentation of reduction sequences was a common occurrence, suggesting a more dynamic approach to tool-making and using activities than has previously been recognised. The analysis provides a description of these artefact dynamics, and discusses the underlying cognitive mechanisms of this behaviour. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An electronic book is a new means of presenting text, allowing downloading of documents and multiple readings on a portable computer. On the basis of an ecological and functional analysis of paper and electronic books with the Abstraction Hierarchy method, we tested the ability of a mobile e-book device to be an external memory trigger, assisting the recall of information content through its presence as a contextual index. In contrast to the classical experimental approach for research on reading and comprehension, we consider screen and paper as relevant cognitive tools per se. Specifically, we compare a book on a pocket computer and a paper book. Hypothesising that the physical reading support could serve as a contextual cue for memory, we experimented with groups of participants who could or could not see the support during recall. We measured the reading time, and the material later recalled was classified according to its cognitive nature. After recall, participants had to assess the sensory–motor properties of the reading support with the Osgood semantic differential and to note the humour level of the text. Results show that the e-book presence hinders recall of assimilated information whilst the presence of the paper support tends to facilitate it. Finally, we observed some correlation between sensory–motor assessment of the support and certain aspects of text cognitive processing: humour scoring, reading time and recall performance. These results lead us to conclude there is a critical relation between the sensory–motor experience of the support and the cognitive processing of the text content. This relationship might explain the positive or negative contextual effect of the support on recall performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Handheld devices like smartphones and tablets have emerged as one of the most promising platforms for Augmented Reality (AR). The increased usage of these portable handheld devices has enabled handheld AR applications to reach the end-users; hence, it is timely and important to seriously consider the user experience of such applications. AR visualizations for occluded objects enable an observer to look through objects. AR visualizations have been predominantly evaluated using Head-Worn Displays (HWDs), handheld devices have rarely been used. However, unless we gain a better understanding of the perceptual and cognitive effects of handheld AR systems, effective interfaces for handheld devices cannot be designed. Similarly, human perception of AR systems in outdoor environments, which provide a higher degree of variation than indoor environments, has only been insufficiently explored. In this paper, we present insights acquired from five experiments we performed using handheld devices in outdoor locations. We provide design recommendations for handheld AR systems equipped with visualizations for occluded objects. Our key conclusions are the following: (1) Use of visualizations for occluded objects improves the depth perception of occluded objects akin to non-occluded objects. (2) To support different scenarios, handheld AR systems should provide multiple visualizations for occluded objects to complement each other. (3) Visual clutter in AR visualizations reduces the visibility of occluded objects and deteriorates depth judgment; depth judgment can be improved by providing clear visibility of the occluded objects. (4) Similar to virtual reality interfaces, both egocentric and exocentric distances are underestimated in handheld AR. (5) Depth perception will improve if handheld AR systems can dynamically adapt their geometric field of view (GFOV) to match the display field of view (DFOV). (6) Large handheld displays are hard to carry and use; however, they enable users to better grasp the depth of multiple graphical objects that are presented simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early detection of cognitive decline involved in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) in older adults living alone is essential for developing, planning, and initiating interventions and support systems to improve users' everyday function and quality of life. In this paper, we explore the voice commands using a Voice-Assistant System (VAS), i.e., Amazon Alexa, from 40 older adults who were either Healthy Control (HC) participants or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) participants, age 65 or older. We evaluated the data collected from voice commands, cognitive assessments, and interviews and surveys using a structured protocol. We extracted 163 unique command-relevant features from each participant's use of the VAS. We then built machine-learning models including 1-layer/2-layer neural networks, support vector machines, decision tree, and random forest, for classification and comparison with standard cognitive assessment scores, e.g., Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Our classification models using fusion features achieved an accuracy of 68%, and our regression model resulted in a Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE) score of 3.53. Our Decision Tree (DT) and Random Forest (RF) models using selected features achieved higher classification accuracy 80%–90%. Finally, we analyzed the contribution of each feature set to the model output, thus revealing the commands and features most useful in inferring the participants' cognitive status. We found that features of overall performance, features of music-related commands, features of call-related commands, and features from Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) were the top-four feature sets most impactful on inference accuracy. The results from this controlled study demonstrate the promise of future home-based cognitive assessments using Voice-Assistant Systems. • Collect 1685 Alexa commands from 18 Healthy and 22 MCI older adults. • Extract 163 unique command features and build classification and regression models. • Classification achieves 68% accuracy and regression results in an RMSE score of 3.53. • Decision Tree and Random Forest using selected features achieve accuracy 80%-90%. • Music, call, and ASR features are the top features most impactful on accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Schematic maps are an important component of assistance for navigating transport networks worldwide. By showing routes as simple straight lines, they reduce the cognitive load of journey planning, and by revealing the underlying structure of networks, they make their key features easier to identify and learn. However, although there are many suggestions for optimizing schematic maps so as to maximize these benefits, to date these have not been directly supported by published usability studies or psychological theory. In this paper, we suggest that there are circumstances in which conventional schematic maps fail to yield benefits, and we compare journey planning using the current official RATP Paris Metro map with an all-curves design which replaces straight lines and corners with gentle curves. Three separate usability studies with slightly different methodologies showed that the journey planning time for the all-curves map was better than the RATP version, with effect sizes ranging from 0.48 to 1.12. Subjective usability ratings were derived from questionnaires, and user preferences, but neither were correlated with objective usability measures. We conclude that (1) in terms of designing schematics, there is no evidence to suggest that any rule-set can be claimed to be a gold-standard, and it is important to match the design rules to the properties of the network, (2) in some circumstances, radical departures from traditional ideas can yield usability benefits, and (3) map usability appears to be distinct from map engagement, although the latter is undoubtedly important in encouraging people fully to make use of navigation aides. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines shape and size variability in Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition (MTA) handaxes and compares the observed patterns to those in the Lower Paleolithic Acheulian, both to better understand variability in MTA handaxes and to test whether or not this variability, particularly as it relates to resharpening and reduction, is structured similarly to that in the Acheulian. The Acheulian data set is based on previously published data with the addition here of a study of the handaxes from the site of Boxgrove, England. The MTA data set is based on four classic sites from southwest France with large handaxe collections. Both standard caliper-based morphometrics and Elliptical Fourier Analysis applied to coordinate data taken from digitized images of handaxes are used to assess shape. The result is that, contrary to expectations based on assumptions of evolving technological skill, handaxes in the MTA are as or more variable in shape than Acheulian ones. This variation is allometric in Acheulian handaxes, and is linked to resharpening from the tip down to the base, but is not related to size in the MTA samples. These results suggest that the goals and constraints of handaxe manufacture, but particularly handaxe reduction as a result of reworking during use, were quite different in the MTA and Acheulian, implying that conclusions about hominin cognition drawn from patterns in shape variability in handaxes must be understood in the context of artifact life histories. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates patterns of scraper retouch at the Lower Palaeolithic site of High Lodge, England. The unifacial scrapers from High Lodge are intensively retouched tools with regular and complex shapes that have been routinely interpreted as evidence of intentional design. The primary aim is to determine whether the different scraper types identified in the assemblage represent discrete and discontinuous implement categories made according to fixed designs, or rather, points or stages along one or more reduction continuums. To achieve this, we apply a range of quantitative measures of artifact reduction to all complete single, double, convergent, and transverse scrapers from the site (n =165). Our results indicate that morphological and typological diversity in the High Lodge scraper assemblage can be parsimoniously explained as a result of both the extent to which implements were resharpened during use and subtle variability in the nature of blank forms selected for retouch. Accordingly, we critique the notion that high levels of morphological complexity in retouched Lower Palaeolithic tool types necessarily reflect the imposition of preconceived forms on stones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Managing the layout of multi-dimensional visualizations is a crucial concern for the development of effective visual analytic interfaces. In these environments, heterogeneous and multi-dimensional information must be structured and combined into data representations that demand low cognitive resources but yield accurate mental models and insights. In this paper, we use Information-Rich Virtual Environments (IRVE) to articulate crucial tradeoffs in the use of Depth and Gestalt cues in text label layouts. We present a design space and evaluation methodology to explore the usability effects of these tradeoffs and collect results from a series of user studies. These lessons are posed as a set of design guidelines to aid developers of new, advantageous interfaces and specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Affective states and their non-verbal expressions are an important aspect of human reasoning, communication and social life. Automated recognition of affective states can be integrated into a wide variety of applications for various fields. Therefore, it is of interest to design systems that can infer the affective states of speakers from the non-verbal expressions in speech, occurring in real scenarios. This paper presents such a system and the framework for its design and validation. The framework defines a representation method that comprises a set of affective-state groups or archetypes that often appear in everyday life. The inference system is designed to infer combinations of affective states that can occur simultaneously and whose level of expression can change over time. The framework considers also the validation and generalisation of the system. The system was built of 36 independent pair-wise comparison machines, with average accuracy (tenfold cross-validation) of 75%. The accumulated inference system yielded total accuracy of 83% and recognised combinations for different nuances within the affective-state groups. In addition to the ability to recognise these affective-state groups, the inference system was applied to characterisation of a very large variety of affective state concepts (549 concepts) as combinations of the affective-state groups. The system was also applied to annotation of affective states that were naturally evoked during sustained human–computer interactions and multi-modal analysis of the interactions, to new speakers and to a different language, with no additional training. The system provides a powerful tool for recognition, characterisation, annotation (interpretation) and analysis of affective states. In addition, the results inferred from speech in both English and Hebrew, indicate that the vocal expressions of complex affective states such as thinking, certainty and interest transcend language boundaries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes the integration of cognitive analysis into the early stages of design of a new, large-scale system—a next generation US Navy Surface combatant. Influencing complex system designs in ways cognizant of human–system integration principles requires work products that are timely and tightly coupled to other elements of the design process. Because analyses were conducted simultaneously with the design processes regarding ship functionality and staffing, it was necessary to select and adapt cognitive work analysis methods to fit the demands of a time pressured and information-limited design situation. Interviews were conducted and analyzed based on aspects of an abstraction hierarchy and control task models. An abstraction hierarchy, a series of cross-linked matrices, and a set of decision ladder models were developed to provide a principled mapping between system function decompositions produced by system engineering teams and cognitive tasks, information needs, automation requirements, and concepts for displays. Cross-referencing the matrices supported design traceability and facilitated the integration of cognitive analyses with functional analyses being performed by other design teams. Results fed into design recommendations with respect to level of automation, human roles and initial display prototypes for the ship combat command center. The case study illustrates the utility of cognitive work analysis models (specifically, abstraction hierarchies and decision-ladder models) in the design of large-scale, first-of-a-kind systems, and presents new design artifacts that link concepts used in cognitive analyses to those used in systems engineering for more effective integration within the systems engineering process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Structural brain networks constructed from diffusion MRI are important biomarkers for understanding human brain structure and its relation to cognitive functioning. There is increasing interest in learning differences in structural brain networks between groups of subjects in neuroimaging studies, leading to a variable selection problem in network classification. Traditional methods often use independent edgewise tests or unstructured generalized linear model (GLM) with regularization on vectorized networks to select edges distinguishing the groups, which ignore the network structure and make the results hard to interpret. In this paper, we develop a symmetric bilinear logistic regression (SBLR) with elastic-net penalty to identify a set of small clique subgraphs in network classification. Clique subgraphs, consisting of all the interconnections among a subset of brain regions, have appealing neurological interpretations as they may correspond to some anatomical circuits in the brain related to the outcome. We apply this method to study differences in the structural connectome between adolescents with high and low crystallized cognitive ability, using the crystallized cognition composite score, picture vocabulary and oral reading recognition tests from NIH Toolbox. A few clique subgraphs containing several small sets of brain regions are identified between different levels of functioning, indicating their importance in crystallized cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]