Cognitive Issues

Introduction:

This ADE will provide you with a quick experience and introduction to the issues surrounding specific learning disabilities. At the end of this ADE, you will relate to these cognitive disabilities and you should be able to discuss the impact of these disabilities on software design decisions.

Cognitive Issues are often referred to and dealt with as learning disabilities. It affects much more than learning. Since there are many different kinds of cognitive issues, the background area for each topic will be provided by the videos below.

What to Do:

• On the Misunderstood Minds web site, now go to the Writing page.
  
  1. Watch the Writing video: Making Writing Automatic.
     
  2. Follow the instructions in the Composition Activity: Putting Ideas in Sequence based on the following nursery rhyme instead of the photograph.
     Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
     How I wonder what you are!
     Up above the world so high,
     Like a diamond in the sky!
     Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
     How I wonder what you are!
     
     1. Were you able to understand the meaning of the resulting prose?
     2. How did the exercise make you feel?
        
        
• On the Misunderstood Minds web site, now go to the Reading page.
  
  1. Watch the Reading video: Remembering What is Read.
  2. Try the Memory Activity: Recalling and Understanding.
     1. What was your score on the test?
     2. How many of the answers do you think you were able to get correct because you had prior knowledge of the topic area?
     3. Do you think your score would be the same if the topic of the reading material was something you had little or no knowledge of?
        That is, if you could only get your information from the reading, would you still have the same score? (For example, what if the topic was the Riemann hypothesis, or the Poincaré conjecture?).
        
        
  3. Now try the Decoding Activity: Recognizing Phonemes.
     1. On the Decoding Activity, how long did it take you to read the passage?
     2. Did you find yourself referring to the code or were you able to memorize the code and use it as you read along?
        
        
• Go to the Misunderstood Minds web site, Attention Page.
  
  1. Watch the Attention video: Too Much Attention?.
  2. For the unsighted and hearing, read the problem description in the Auditory Activity: Listening to Directions. Instead of executing that activity, listen to the following audio clip and transcribe the story.
     1. How much of story were you able to hear?
        
     2. Compare your transcript with the original. Approximately how much was transcribed correctly?
        

What to Hand-in:

Submit a written report with your answers to the following questions. Be sure to copy the questions in your report.

For the Writing activity:

1. How can software support the writing process? What tools currently exist to support the process?
2. How can software be harmful to the writing process?
   

For the Reading activities:

1. How might memory recall be a problem in using software user interfaces?
2. What might a designer do to help?
3. What does the decoding activity have to do with software user interface design?
   

For the Attention activities:

1. Describe an instance where an individual's inability to focus on the task at hand might make it difficult for someone to use a software user interface?
2. What could you do to improve the user interface you chose in Question 1 to make it more user-friendly for someone who has difficulty focusing their attention?
   

Feedback

1. What were your expectations of this ADE?
2. Did this ADE meet your expectations? Provide a rating between 1 and 7, where 1 means not at all, 4 means somewhat, and 7 means absolutely. Please explain your choice.
3. Did you feel that the video(s) for this ADE was appropriate? Why or why not? Provide a rating between 1 and 7, where 1 means not at all, 4 means somewhat, and 7 means absolutely. Please explain your choice.
4. Do you have any suggestions for other possible videos?
5. Did you feel that the questions above got you to think about the real and serious issues regarding this ADE? Provide a rating between 1 and 7, where 1 means not at all, 4 means somewhat, and 7 means absolutely. Please explain your choice.
6. If you have any suggestions on how to improve this ADE, please include it here.

What Else You Can Do (optional - not required):