How to measure cognitive load can increase trainee performance (Q&A)

Proper training is essential for success in almost every job. This is even more true in complex and stressful environments.

How much the brain can face at any time, or ‘cognitive load’ is an important part of the process. We talked to Nial Campion, co -founder of Virtual Reality Training Specialist Vrai, who believes that cognitive load management is essential for the development of the skills and resistance needed for effective performance in high stress environments.

BN: Can you explain what is meant by the term ‘cognitive load’ and how differs from person to person?

NC: Cognitive load refers to the mental effort required to process information, make decisions and execute tasks. Cognitive load varies from person to person. According to the National Library of Medicine, the cognitive load of an individual results from their genetics. Genetics are the main contributors to individual changes to the functions of higher brain order, including attention, recognition, language and visual processing. Consequently, everyone’s individual cognitive load is different and understanding to what extent an individual can learn enables the distribution of personalized, personalized learning.

For teachers, especially those who offer roles training that require high performance in high stress environments, understanding a savings cognitive load is extremely useful. Take, for example, the rapid training of aircraft pilots, optimizing a cursor’s cognitive load is essential to ensure that they can absorb complex information, develop awareness of the situation, and respond to rapidly changing scenarios. They should be stressed enough, without overloading if they are to develop, grow and prepare adequately for real -life demands.

BN: How can modern technology evaluate an individual’s cognitive load?

NC: Modern virtual reality technology (VR) is enabling an individual’s cognitive load to be appreciated. A VR headset, for example, can record a user’s head movements and eye movements. This information provides contextual life data on instructors in action reviews – they can understand what a student was looking at, when and for as long as. Some manufacturers improve the sensor offer on their headphones by adding additional biometric sensors such as heartbeat monitors to improve cognitive load calculations. By capturing and storing this data, an individual’s cognitive load can be better understood. An algorithm that evaluates the data in real time and presents a result to an instructor in a dashboard enables coach to maximize the data.

BN: Within a military context, how can an improved understanding of an individual’s cognitive burden benefit in the wider strength?

NC: The benefits of assessing cognitive load in a military context are widely similar to the benefits of measuring it in any area where high intensity teaching is taking place. Assessing a pilot’s cognitive load will enable instructors to choose their training and avoid cognitive overload and overload among students, which would lead to mistakes, decreased performance and potentially long -term learning and confidence influences. This can lead to a decision -making breakdown and failure to execute the tasks correctly. Understanding this distinction is important for instructors, as it will help them push trainees to their borders without exceeding them, and provide a progressive and sustainable learning curve.

One of the main reasons why this is important, especially when it comes to military pilot training, is about the high costs made during the training process. It can cost over $ 10 million to train a modern fast plane pilot and this cost has become cumulative during the training period. If a pilot fails to reach the end of a training program as it may happen, a considerable loss becomes a significant loss. Identifying weaknesses early through data and training them can provide considerable savings.

BN: Does this technology have any app in areas beyond the army?

NC: There are uses for measuring cognitive load throughout the training spectrum, especially for those roles that require high pressure performance, such as surgeons, air traffic controllers and emergency responders. Understanding an individual’s ability to acquire information at any given moment can allow teachers and coaching to adapt personal learning trips to those individuals.

BN: You have said that data is currently a ‘unused source’ in training. Can you explain what you understand with this?

NC: When we in Vrais talk about data that is an unused source, we are referring to hundreds and thousands of hours of simulation training that is delivered worldwide every day. These simulators have the ability to generate individual performance data, but currently this valuable set of information is not gathering for a number of reasons, the main thing is complexity. That is why we have developed heat – a product that uses and gives actual knowledge from the back of the training simulation data.

BN: Looking forward, what are some of the other technologies you think will be involved in training over the next 10-20 years?

NC: I would be reluctant to anticipate too far for the future. However, as a general tendency, I predict more personalized learning, not only throughout the military, but also on the wider spectrum of training. While organizations try to choose the performance of staff, understanding the strong and weak points of an individual will become increasingly important, and providing personalized learning trips will become standard practice. This is likely to replace the traditional class training system that includes a range of individuals with different skill levels.

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