Gerling Gregory J, Thomas Geb W
University of Virginia, Charlottesville , USA.
Hum Factors. 2005 Fall;47(3):670-81. doi: 10.1518/001872005774860050.
Haptic training devices can facilitate tactile skill development by providing repeatable exposures to rare stimuli. Extant haptic training simulator research primarily emphasizes realistic stimuli representation; however, the experiments reported herein suggest that providing augmented feedback can improve training effectiveness, even when the feedback is not natural. A novel clinical breast examination training device uses inflated balloons embedded in silicone to simulate breast lumps. Oscillating the balloon water pressure makes the lumps pulsate. The pulsating lumps are easier to detect than the static lumps used in current simulators, and this manipulation seems to effectively introduce trainees to small, deep lumps that are initially difficult to perceive. A study of 48 medical students indicates that training with the dynamic breast model increased the number of lumps detected, F(1, 47) = 9.34, p = .004, decreased the number of false positives, F(1, 47) = 5.78, p = .020, and improved intersimulator skill transfer, F(1, 47) = 26.56, p < .001. The results suggest that at least in this case, augmented, tactile feedback increases training effectiveness, despite the fact that the feedback does not attempt to mimic any physical phenomenon present in the natural stimulus. Applications of this research include training techniques and tools for improved detection of palpable cancers.
触觉训练设备可以通过提供对罕见刺激的可重复接触来促进触觉技能的发展。现有的触觉训练模拟器研究主要强调逼真的刺激呈现；然而，本文报道的实验表明，即使反馈不自然，提供增强反馈也可以提高训练效果。一种新型的临床乳腺检查训练设备使用嵌入硅胶中的充气气球来模拟乳腺肿块。振荡气球水压会使肿块产生脉动。与当前模拟器中使用的静态肿块相比，脉动肿块更容易被检测到，并且这种操作似乎有效地让受训者接触到最初难以察觉的小而深的肿块。一项对48名医科学生的研究表明，使用动态乳腺模型进行训练增加了检测到的肿块数量，F(1, 47) = 9.34，p = .004，减少了假阳性数量，F(1, 47) = 5.78，p = .020，并改善了模拟器间技能转移，F(1, 47) = 26.56，p < .001。结果表明，至少在这种情况下，尽管反馈并未试图模仿自然刺激中存在的任何物理现象，但增强的触觉反馈仍能提高训练效果。这项研究的应用包括用于改进可触及癌症检测的训练技术和工具。
