PhD, Associate Professor M.Y. Ababkova¹
PhD, Associate Professor V.L. Leontyeva¹
PhD, Associate Professor O.E. Piskun^1
1Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg

 

Keywords: biological feedback, current mental state, emotional sphere, improvement, educational process.

 

Background. National and international research communities give special attention to the biofeedback (BFB) prioritizing research projects since the BFB is now ranked among the most promising neuro-technologies applicable in the education sector [12] for the cognitive ability training and testing purposes. Some experts estimate the market of BFB technologies at USD5.7 billion as of 2018 [1]. Presently the educational BFB-prioritizing methods are commonly used to:

• Secure high performance standards for the student groups by the adaptability and mental comfort rating tests in the interactive academic training process [3, 6];

• Rate and mitigate the students’ mental discomfort and anxiety in the educational/ examination processes [2, 5, 10, 7];

• Optimize the physical and intellectual performance of the students and faculty by the target initiatives to improve and harmonize the nervous/ cardiovascular system functionalities and help them relax, develop effective success motivations and correct speaking deficiencies [8, 9]; and

• Correct the addictive behavior and hyper-activity in schoolchildren and university students [11].

• Objective of the study was to analyze correlations of the educational material presentation formats with the students’ mental comfort rates.

Methods and structure of the study. The biofeedback method testing experiment was completed under the joint research project of the HR and Advertisement Department and Physical Education and Adaptation Department of Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University. The experiment was designed to rate the second-year students mental states in practical academic training process. We applied a computerized Current Mental State (CMS) Test System [13] to rate the mental and physiological aspects in the Experimental Group (EG) versus the Reference Group (RG) of 12 people each, with the both groups being similar in the age and gender compositions and the primary mental states – rated by the PEN questionnaire method that gives the nervous-psychical mobility (lability), extraversion and neuroticism rates [4].

Prior to the biofeedback method testing experiment, the group mental states were tested by the CMS test method. The RG was then trained as required by the valid theoretical academic curriculum using exclusively standard textual materials; and the EG was trained with a special priority to the self-reliant studies supported by comprehensive graphical presentations and illustrations of the educational materials. The theoretical studies in the both groups included 45-minute self-reliant training sessions. The both groups were tested again after the biofeedback method testing experiment to obtain 19 test rates including the general adaptability, nervous process mobility (lability), neuroticism, and mental comfort test rates.

Study findings and discussion. The students’ adaptability, concentration, and the realistic and practical aspects of the thinking process were tested to improve in the self-reliant studies of the textual materials. The BFB method was found beneficial due to the flow of the students’ comfort and progress test data – highly helpful for the learning process improvement, educational material typing and testing and student’s emotional condition rating purposes. Given in Table 1 herein are the averaged test rates versus standards for the both groups.

Table 1. EG versus RG test rates

Experiment	Nosological scales					Syndromological scales
	Af	E	S	Ad	N	IS	MN	PD	OF	Z
1.1	14,83	13,55	16,11	15,22	7,16	5,38	12,44	7,86	5,7	15,10
1.2	16,94	7,72	10,66	23,33	7,94	2,58	5,52	5,41	3,74	28,63
2.1	20,69	21,53	28,38	21	8,30	6,62	22,67	10,41	4,41	20,81
2.2	23,61	19,15	9,46	35,77	11,69	3,34	14,45	5,93	4,84	35,84
Standard	4,8	7,6	6,3	73,3	8,1	1	1,1	1,3	1,1	88,4

 

Overall group compensation rate was applied as indicative of the mental performance control capacity, adaptive process regulation and mental adaptation rates. The pre-experimental test data showed the nosological adaptability range in the EG being more limited than in the RG (Ad1-1=15.2 versus Ad2-1=21, respectively) versus the standard of Ad=73.3. In addition, the EG was tested with more limited syndromological adaptability range than the RG (Z1-1=15.10 versus Z2-1=20.81, respectively) versus the standard of Z=88.4.

The post-experimental tests showed a moderate growth in the EG nosological adaptability range that was lower, however, than in the RG (Ad1-2=23.3 versus Ad2-2=35.77, respectively); and the similar growth correlation in the syndromological adaptability range (Z1-2=28.63 versus Z2-2=35.84, respectively.

On the whole, the experiment showed the educational material presentation formats being critical for the learning ability and mental comfort rates. The mental control capacity, mental adaptability and syndromological adaptability rates in the self-reliant training format, for instance, showed a higher progress in the textual-plus-graphical material presentation format versus the graphical-only format.

It was also found that the mental and physical comfort rates are clearly dependent on the educational material presentation formats, with the group emotional backgrounds found to vary with the formats. Some formats were tested to intensify the emotions albeit somewhat suppress the alertness and increase responsibility and concentration in a generally positive situation, with the introversion notably decreased in favor of the balanced Self-Others relationship system. Some of the graphical material presentation formats were found to trigger fears and anxiety, unlike the textual ones.

The spontaneous response and mental productivity rates in the attempts to reflect the reality were found to increase in the textual material learning sessions; whilst the mental stressors related test rates, mental comfort and sensitivity rates were found to worsen. Furthermore, the textual presentation formats were tested to improve the thinking process concentration and practicality rates and the grounding and accuracy of the reasoning ability.

It should be also mentioned that the graphical presentations were found to give rise to repeated obsessive (imperative) sentiments and associations that may be detrimental for the individual ability to switchover to other material; whilst the mental productivity rates were found to grow in case of the textual presentations.

Conclusion. Further BFB technology application studies and experience will undoubtedly provide important data for the academic progress encouragement initiatives including student’s motivations, emotional comfort, work schedules, active/ passive learning models (i.e. physical education versus lectures) rating data; and sound data for the rehabilitation process timing after the challenging training sessions, tests and examinations.

We believe that the BFB method may be highly beneficial for the training/ competitive progress tests at different stages of sport careers, with the test rates applicable by the coaching teams for the mental conditioning purposes; and to rate practical benefits of the training systems for the competitive success.

 References

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8. Chaló P., Pereira A., Batista P., Sancho L. Brief Biofeedback Intervention on Anxious Freshman University Students. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2017 Sep;42 (3):163 168. doi: 10.1007/s10484–017–9361–5.

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13. Yucha C., Mongomery D. Evidence-Based Practice in Biofeedback And Neurofeedback. Available at: http://www.restoresportsmassage.co.uk/biofeedback-research.pdf. (Accessed 16 March 2018).

 

Corresponding author: piskun@imop.ru

 

Abstract

The study considers benefits of a biofeedback method to facilitate the academic progress. The study was designed to check the assumption that graphical presentations of educational materials improve the learning and understanding process and mental comfort of the students – in contrast to the traditional texts-dominated formats.

Objective of the study was to analyze correlations of the educational material presentation formats with students’ mental states – which were rated by the biofeedback method prior to and after the educational sessions in the Experimental Group (EG) versus the Reference Group (RG) of 12 people each. We applied a computerized Current Mental State (CMS) Test System to rate the mental and physiological aspects in both of the groups. The biofeedback method testing experiment showed that the educational material presentation formats may be critical for the students’ academic progress and mental comfort.