Todd Seech - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Todd Seech

Sleep advances, Jan 29, 2024

Psychological Services, Dec 10, 2023

Psychological Services, Sep 3, 2023

Scientific Reports

While some theoretical perspectives imply that the context of a virtual training should be custom... more While some theoretical perspectives imply that the context of a virtual training should be customized to match the intended context where those skills would ultimately be applied, others suggest this might not be necessary for learning. It is important to determine whether manipulating context matters for performance in training applications because customized virtual training systems made for specific use cases are more costly than generic “off-the-shelf” ones designed for a broader set of users. Accordingly, we report a study where military cadets use a virtual platform to practice their negotiation skills, and are randomly assigned to one of two virtual context conditions: military versus civilian. Out of 28 measures capturing performance in the negotiation, there was only one significant result: cadets in the civilian condition politely ask the agent to make an offer significantly more than those in the military condition. These results imply that—for this interpersonal skills a...

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2022

Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, 2021

INTRODUCTION: Hypoxia is an ever-present threat in tactical aviation and gained recent attention ... more INTRODUCTION: Hypoxia is an ever-present threat in tactical aviation and gained recent attention due to its putative role in physiological episodes. Previous work has demonstrated that hypoxia negatively impacts a variety of sensory, cognitive, and motor systems. In particular, the visual system is one of the earliest systems affected by hypoxia. While the majority of previous studies have relied on self-report and behavioral testing, the use of event-related potentials as a novel tool to monitor responses to low oxygen in humans has recently been investigated. Specifically, ERP components that are evoked passively in response to unattended changes in background sensory stimulation have been explored.METHOD: Subjects (N 28) completed a continuous visuomotor tracking task while EEG was recorded. During the tracking task, a series of standard color checkerboard patterns were presented in the periphery while occasionally a deviant color checkerboard was presented. The visual mismatch n...

2019 Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium (SIEDS), 2019

As virtual reality and artificial intelligence technologies continue to advance, the United State... more As virtual reality and artificial intelligence technologies continue to advance, the United States Military is quickly integrating these capabilities into initial flight training through efforts like the Air Force's Pilot Training Next (PTN) program. A persistent issue, however, has been a lack of data guiding (1) the ideal degree of integration into traditional pilot training and (2) the optimal amount of structure for student pilots' training experience. The goal of this study was to evaluate the aforementioned PTN model when applied to the U.S. Air Force Academy's flight training program with special emphasis on the ideal degree of structure for airmanship success. To this end, a quasi-experimental approach was utilized, which included 60 USAFA cadets enrolled in the Powered Flight Program who were pseudo-randomly assigned to three independent groups with varying degrees of structure. The groups (i.e., High Structured, Scaffolded, and Low Structured Groups) represented a spectrum of VR-training curriculum structure ranging from a rigid, lineal objective-completion model (akin to traditional flight training) to an unguided, Montessori-like model. With group assignment as the independent variable, live-flight performance was used as the dependent variable, which was quantified using flight grade cards, number of “landing tabs” (i.e., modified solos) awarded, and a subjective Instructor Pilot rating. Subjective feedback was also obtained from students in each condition. Initial effectiveness data indicated an increased level of perceived self-efficacy in coordination with increased virtual reality simulator time as well as an accelerated rate of positive transfer to real aircraft from the strictly structured and scaffolded groups. The results of this study allow for initial recommendations for forthcoming airmanship training and undergraduate pilot training augmentation efforts across the Department of Defense.

This report is published in the interest of scientific and technical information exchange, and it... more This report is published in the interest of scientific and technical information exchange, and its publication does not constitute the Government's approval or disapproval of its ideas or findings.

Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2020

The ability to detect novelty in our environment is a critical sensory function. A reliable set o... more The ability to detect novelty in our environment is a critical sensory function. A reliable set of event-related potentials (ERP), known as the auditory deviance response (ADR), are elicited in the absence of directed attention and indexes functionally relevant networks. The ADR consists of three peaks: mismatch negativity (MMN), P3a, and reorienting negativity (RON) that are sequentially evoked in response to unattended changes in repetitive background stimulation. While previous studies have established the ADR's sensitivity to a range of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions and are leading candidate biomarkers of perturbations of the central nervous system (CNS), here we sought to determine if ADR peaks are sensitive to decreases in breathable oxygen. Participants performed a visuomotor tracking task while EEG was recorded during two 27-min sessions. The two sessions differed in the amount of environmental oxygen available: 10.6% O 2 (hypoxia) versus 20.4% O 2 (normoxia). ERPs were measured while a series of identical, or "standard," tones combined with occasional "oddball," tones, were presented. MMN, P3a, and RON were assessed in response to the oddball compared to the standard stimuli. Behavioral impairment during hypoxia was demonstrated by a deficit in tracking performance compared to the normoxia condition. Whereas no changes were detected in the MMN or RON, the amplitude of the P3a component was significantly reduced during hypoxia compared to normoxia, within the first 9 min of exposure. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the effect of low oxygen exposure on passively elicited neural measures of early sensory processing. This study demonstrates that passively elicited EEG measures, reflecting preattentive auditory processing, are disrupted by acute hypoxia. Results have implications for the development of biomarkers for the noninvasive assessment of CNS perturbations.

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2015

From the handheld tools of the first humans to the latest computer interfaces, technology has aug... more From the handheld tools of the first humans to the latest computer interfaces, technology has augmented our perceptions and interactions with each other and the world around us. Each new generation is born into its own evolution of technological advancements with seemingly preprogrammed literacy in the scientific innovation of the day. These novel technologies are examples of science's fluid nature and linear progression, which drive researchers to produce the next life-changing advancement as quickly as possible. However, rapid and unbridled scientific advancement can veil unacceptable ethical pitfalls. Therefore, the speed with which technology advances must be matched with complementary development of ethical principles. The present paper applies this concept to a handful of modern and near-future technologies that represent paradigm changes to science as well as to everyday life. The paper then explores ethical issues that may arise from these technologies and presents an outline for a new ethical framework.

Current Review of Pain, 2000

Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 2012

Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) is a significant burden for chronic pain sufferers, their medi... more Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) is a significant burden for chronic pain sufferers, their medical and allied health treatment providers, and the U.S. medical system. The U.S. military has seen a significant increase in CMP with increased injuries stemming from military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and advances in care for CMP are sorely needed. Poor chronic pain treatment in the military has led to high levels of costly health care utilization with related costs estimated in billions of dollars. The functional occupational restoration treatment (FORT) trial, funded by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (Department of Defense), was the first formal, randomized trial of a novel interdisciplinary management program for CMP among active duty service members. Excellent clinical outcomes at posttreatment and long‐term follow‐up have been reported elsewhere. This paper examined patterns of health care utilization among FORT study participants for a period of 1...