Peter Kay Chai Tay

Ministry of Education, 3^rd Science of Learning Grant Call (S$246,168.00)

As education progressively moves away from direct instruction towards more reflective, experiential type of learning, it is necessary to examine whether our cognitive strategies align with these new forms of learning. While traditional classrooms put much emphasis on remembering information, we argue that forgetting is, counter-intuitively, of relevance to Experiential Learning (EL) as this type of learning includes a concurrent exposure to irrelevant, unimportant, biased and sometimes inaccurate information alongside the information which should be remembered. Research shows that forgetting is essential for learning and as cognitive capacity is limited, the brain would have to make only relevant memories accessible, while leaving irrelevant information more elusive. Thus, it is important to understand the nature of cognitive processing for knowledge acquisition in the context of EL, by identifying which kind of information should be remembered and forgotten and investigate how learners can remember and forget the information accordingly. In this study, we hypothesise that integrating adaptive forgetting and remembering contributes to effective knowledge acquisition in the mental health education domain, guided by the following research questions (RQs): (RQ1) Which information is considered peripheral (e.g., irrelevant, unimportant) and central (e.g., relevant, important)? (RQ2) Are we able to forget what should be forgotten, (RQ3) Does adaptive forgetting and remembering enhance knowledge acquisition, i.e., forgetting peripheral information facilitates remembering central information?

We will answer the research questions through a two-stage design that includes a Delphi study followed by an experiment. In the Delphi study, we build a corpus of central and peripheral knowledge items by using the Delphi method to elicit experts’ opinions and reach consensus on core knowledge associated with psychosocial interventions. This corpus informs the list which will be used in the experiment. In the experiment, we will use the directed forgetting paradigm to test our hypothesis that directed forgetting and remembering enhances the recall of central information. The experimental participants will be instructed to selectively forget peripheral items on a list while the control participants will either not receive this instruction during this study period or told to forget the central items. Everyone will then be tested after this study period on an immediate recall task and a 48-hr delayed recall task. The result of this experiment will answer our research question on the role of directed forgetting and remembering during the study phase in enabling better recall during the recall phase. Our project is, therefore, a use-inspired applied research study that addresses Challenge Statement #3 in leveraging SoL in the area of cognitive science to enhance knowledge acquisition in the context of EL. Our project will make a significant contribution to the scientific development of adaptive memory and its potential integration into applied learning to enhance knowledge acquisition in other domains. Our project’s deliverables – both the corpus and the model – have strong pedagogical values for application in teaching and learning. 
 

Industry funded, The TENG Company Ptd (S$30,000.00)

Grief is a complex emotional response to the loss of a loved one or a significant life event and grief can manifest as various psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety. Finding effective interventions to alleviate grief and its associating symptoms is crucial for supporting individuals who are experiencing this challenging emotional state. Sound therapy such as monaural beats (MB) shows promise in altering perception of grief. Thus, the current research aims to investigate the potential of MB overlaid with TENG music as a therapeutic tool for relieving grief-related symptoms. This study employs a randomized controlled trial design with two experimental conditions: the MB stimulation group and a control group. The MB stimulation group will receive auditory stimulation with a 40 Hz MB overlaid with TENG instrumental music, while the control group will receive a placebo auditory stimulus consisting of only the TENG instrumental music. Up to one hundred participants between the age of 21-59 will be recruited for this study and randomised into one of the two conditions. The participants will be assessed for their grief symptoms and emotions, anxiety, and cognitive processing of emotional stimuli. We predict that that participants who listened to the soundtrack containing MB will report lower grief symptoms and emotions, lower state anxiety, and exhibit more effective processing of emotionally positive stimuli in terms of better accuracy and faster reaction time compared to participants who listened to the soundtrack without MB.

Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award (HLCA), Singapore, Ministry of Health and National Research Foundation of Singapore (SGD55,200)

Being alone can be a negative or positive experience and little is known about the health benefits associated with solitary experiences involving positive emotions, spiritual or mental renewal. This research aims to delineate solitary and loneliness experiences among older adults in the context of eating, working, physical and recreational activity participation. Effectiveness of health messaging relating to solitary and social activities will also be investigated. Approximately three hundred older Singaporeans will be recruited for a survey eliciting the amount of time they spent alone and with others for the activities. In addition, they will report whether they have any medical conditions and mental disorders, their satisfaction with life and quality of life. They will then be randomised into one of four experimental conditions to determine which method of health messaging aimed to promote solitary and social activities is most effective. Each health promotional advertisement is rated for affective quality, meaningfulness, and persuasiveness. Multiple linear regression analyses will be conducted to examine the correlations between perceived solitude and loneliness, and the health correlates; and the effectiveness of varied health messaging will be examined. The findings provide insights on the qualitative differences between solitude and loneliness experiences among older adults and their health outcomes. The effectiveness of health messaging through visual advertisement will also be assessed. Findings can inform policymakers, and healthcare and social care professionals in terms of the activities that could support and promote positive solitude experiences and potentially better health.

Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS)

To examine the role of social connectedness in predicting outcomes in successful ageing among older people in Singapore.