Researchers are using new technology to predict, in advance, when people will make a mistake. They have been testing subjects taking the SAT exam in math. Our bodies and brains tend to give us good cues about when we are becoming stressed, fatigued or overwhelmed. But what if, with near exact precision, you could predict when heightened levels of fatigue were about to cause you to make a mistake? University of Arizona researchers believe they found a way – and with about 80 percent accuracy. They have been working on the Animal Watch tutoring program with researchers in the UA's School of Information: Science, Technology and Arts, or SISTA.
Noticing English language learners were having more difficulty answering problems, researchers set out on an investigation for their research. Using electroencephalography, or EEG, technology, researchers began studying specific brain wave activity in students taking the math portion of the popular, but challenging, SAT exam. Measuring the activity, they were able to detect with 80 percent accuracy whether a student – all of them university students – would answer a question incorrectly about 20 seconds after they began the question. The findings have important implication for students and educators. With the findings, EEG estimates of engagement and cognitive workload predict math problem solving outcomes.
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