Response Time Adjustment in the Stop Signal Task: Development in Children and Adolescents

Adjusting speed to maintain fast and accurate performance is critical to goal-directed behavior. This study examined development of response time adjustments in the stop signal task in 13,709 individuals aged 6–17 years (49.0% Caucasian) across four trial types: correct and incorrect go, successful (stop-inhibit), and failed (stop-respond) trials. People sped more after correct than incorrect go responses and slowed more after failed than successful stop trials. Greater slowing after stop-respond but less slowing after stop-inhibit trials was associated with better response inhibition. Response time adjustments were evident in children as young as age 6, developed throughout childhood, and plateaued by age 10. Results were consistent with the predictions of the error detection and shifting goal priority hypotheses for adjustments.     

Idea generation in biomedical engineering courses using Design Heuristics

ABSTRACT

With increasing demand for improved medical equipment and healthcare, next-generation biomedical engineers need strong design skills. Equipping biomedical engineering students with tools for idea generation and development can increase student design success. Design Heuristics are an ideation tool developed through empirical studies of product designs. While identified in the mechanical engineering space, Design Heuristics may be applicable in biomedical engineering design. In our study, we implemented a Design Heuristics session during upper-level undergraduate and first-year graduate biomedical engineering design courses. We examined the applicability of Design Heuristics within individual and team concept generation contexts. The findings demonstrated that biomedical engineering students were able to use Design Heuristics to generate multiple concepts, and that initial concepts produced using Design Heuristics were carried over into final team design. The results support the applicability of Design Heuristics to student idea generation in biomedical engineering design.