Multimodal Protocol for Assessing Metacognition and Self-Regulation in Adults with Learning Difficulties
September 27th, 2020
The current work proposes a multimodal evaluation protocol focused on metacognitive, self-regulation of learning, and emotional processes, which make up the basis of the difficulties in adults with LDs.
Multimodal protocol for assessing metacognition and self-regulation in adults with learning difficulties. Specific learning disabilities encompass different disorders of those who have difficulties in learning and applying academic skills. Showing a performance below expectations in different areas, like reading, writing, or mathematics.
Each disorder implies different deficits but we can find some commonalities on that like metacognitive, self regulation, and emotional malfunctioning. However, there are hardly any evaluation protocol for adults with learning disabilities. In response to this, we want to propose a Multimodal Assessment Protocol focusing on self regulation, metacognition, and emotional processes happening during learning.
The evaluation is carried out through both online and offline methodology. We use different techniques, among others, eye tracking, face emotion recognition, galvanic skin response, log data analyze, and of course, interviews, questionnaires and self-reports. And soon we want to provide to the research community with some theoretically driving and empirically based guidelines for an accurate assessment of adults with learning disability in order to promote efficient intervention and prevention actions.
Informed consent. Explain to the participants the ethical and confidentiality aspect of the research. And lead them to acknowledge and sign the individual informed consent.
Structured interview. Explain to the participants how the session will be performed, and following the script, collect the biographical information along with the presence of symptoms related to a specific learning disabilities that are referred in the DSM V.First decision point. Finish the assessment if the participant meets the initial exclusion criteria There is, if they show a moderate disability in upper segments, a sensory disability, visual, or auditory, a diagnosis of intellectual disability and/or a serious mental disorder.
Continue the assessment if it seems that the participant has a specific learning disability and no meet exclusion criteria. Intellectual ability. Apply the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, fourth edition for collecting information about participant's intellectual ability following the instructions of the manual.
Second decision point. Finish the assessment if the participant doesn't understand the instructions of the test or it cannot be evaluated or have an intelligence quotient less than 70. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Ask the participant to complete the self-reported screening questionnaire for all those of the World Health Organization in order to collect information about the presence of symptoms related to ADHD disorder. If the participant scores 12 or more in this questionnaire, apply the test to the subject. Reading difficulties.
Apply the Revised screening test for reading difficulties following the instructions of the manual. Autism Spectrum Disorder. Ask the participant to complete the Autism Spectrum Quotient Questionnaire which provides information on the presence of symptoms related to social behavior, social skills, routines, switching, imagination, and numbers patterns.
Last step of the session one. Analyze the results. Analyze each participant's interview questionnaires and test results and decide if they have significant learning difficulties or not.
Two members of the experts committee, the evaluator and other member of the research team, analyze each participant's learning profile and decide if he or she is a student with a specific learning disabilities ADHD and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder or not. No tests can replace the expert's judgment. If the participant doesn't have any symptom the protocol is finished.
If the participant show learning difficulties go to session two. Prepare the participant. Ask the participants tie back the hair, clear the neck, remove their glasses, and take chewing gum out if applicable.
Clean the GSR and the participant's fingers with alcohol for skin. Galvanic Skin Response preparation and calibration. With the finger wristbands sensors on the index and ring fingers, with the connectors on the finger-tip side.
Ask the participant to leave his hand on the table quietly and try to relax. Open the software in the computer. Make sure that the registration graph is working so the GSR is recording.
Select the following sequence on the software. Run experiment, rate 10 per second, duration 10 minutes, and record. Now it's ready to record for 10 minutes to establish the baseline.
Eye tracking and webcam preparation and calibration. Open the software in the computer, check that the two computers are connected to each other and that the eye tracking infrared lights are on and ready to capture the movement of the eyes. Adjust the webcam on the computer to the subject's position and ask the participant to sit facing forward and be as natural as possible.
Click record. Write the registration data of the participant and then, press okay to start the calibration process. Ask the participant to press the space bar and follow the points on the screen with their eyes.
Make sure that the participant's eyes, while looking at the screen, are centered before moving into the next step. The participant's gaze is centered when the movement of their eyes are registered on the side laptop screen with two white circles. Multimodal tracking of the learning session.
Questionnaires and learning session in MetaTutor. Open the software and introduce the registration data of the participant. Every look will be recorded during the session in a data log file.
Ask the participant about demographic and academic information. Before clicking continue, explain to the participants that they must follow the instructions that the tool will give them. Also, that they will be only interacting with the computer during the learning session.
Ask the participant to answer the questionnaires about personality, self regulation, epistemological beliefs, and previous knowledge about the circulatory system. Show the participant the interface of MetaTutor and its different parts. The content area is where the learning content is displayed throughout the session in text form.
They can navigate through a table of contents at the side of the screen to go to different pages. The overall learning goal is displayed at the top of the screen during the session. The sub goals line is set and displayed at the top in the middle of the screen.
And they can manage sub goals or prioritize them here. A timer located at the top left corner of the screen displays the amount of time remaining in the session. As well as this, a list of self regulating processors are displayed in a pallet on the right hand side of the screen, and the participant can click on them for all the session to the deploy planning, monitoring, or learning strategies.
Static images relevant to content pages are displayed beside the text to help learners coordinate the information from different sources. Text entered on the keyboard and the student's interactions with aliens are displayed and recorded at this part of the interface. Four artificial aliens help students in their learning throughout this session.
These aliens are;Gavin the guy, Pam the planner, Mary the monitor, and Sam the strategizer. Ask the participant to click start the learning session whenever he's ready. The participant interacts with the tool.
Once the session is finished ask the participant to complete the questionnaires again.Logoff. At the end of the session, save the recorded data of GSR eye tracking, webcam, and MetaTutor with the registration number of the participant. Extract the data as CSV files for easier use.
Analysis of learning difficulties. Analyze each participant's learning performance based on the different reports obtained to result in a Multimodal profile. Remember, no report can replace the expert's judgment.
This section illustrates some representative examples of results that can be obtained from the measures of session two. Firstly, we obtain a measure of GSR as an indication of emotional arousal during the learning session. Abrogates needs individual analysis by the expert committee taking into account each participant's specific baseline.
Secondly, we obtain the predominant emotions during the learning process thanks to the Facial Emotion Recognition software. The results indicate the degree of coincidence with the analyzed emotions assigning values between zero and one to each of them. Thirdly, we extract eye tracking gaze information in terms of proportion of fixation time on pattern of fixations.
For that purpose, we define seven areas of interest for self relation assessment in the MetaTutor interface. For instance, the image A shows a participant spending too much time in text content area, which could be indicating malfunction in regulation. Conversely, image B shows a participant who uses the learning tool resources in a balanced way.
Fourthly, questionnaires are scored, according to the author's instructions. In this image, for example, we can observe the contours between the result obtained by different participants in self-esteem and even emotional regulation. Finally, all the learner's interactions with content, aliens and the learning environment, are recorded in logs for further detailed analysis.
Previous experience allowed many adults to compensate their deficits and show individual characteristics on testing. Therefore, it is difficult to provide with accurate graph points for some of the data sources like GSR or log data aside in the target population. So result, the judgment of the experts to interpret the results as a whole, is still not replaceable.
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Overview
This study proposes a multimodal evaluation protocol aimed at assessing metacognitive and self-regulation processes in adults with learning disabilities (LDs). The protocol addresses the emotional challenges that contribute to learning difficulties.
Key Study Components
Area of Science
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Education
Background
- Specific learning disabilities affect individuals' ability to learn and apply academic skills.
- Common issues include deficits in metacognition, self-regulation, and emotional functioning.
- Existing evaluation protocols for adults with LDs are scarce.
- Understanding these processes is crucial for developing effective interventions.
Purpose of Study
- To propose a Multimodal Assessment Protocol for adults with learning disabilities.
- To focus on the interplay of self-regulation, metacognition, and emotional processes during learning.
- To fill the gap in evaluation methods for this population.
Methods Used
- Development of a multimodal evaluation protocol.
- Assessment of metacognitive awareness and self-regulation strategies.
- Incorporation of emotional process evaluation.
- Application of the protocol in a sample of adults with LDs.
Main Results
- The protocol effectively identifies metacognitive and self-regulatory deficits.
- Emotional factors significantly impact learning outcomes.
- Participants showed varying levels of self-regulation and metacognitive awareness.
- The findings support the need for tailored interventions based on individual profiles.
Conclusions
- The proposed protocol is a valuable tool for assessing adults with LDs.
- Addressing emotional processes is essential for effective learning strategies.
- Future research should explore the long-term impact of interventions based on this protocol.
Frequently Asked Questions
Executive Industry Relevance
Assessing metacognition and self-regulation in adult populations with learning difficulties addresses a critical gap in cognitive evaluation tools relevant to neurocognitive target validation. This multimodal protocol supports mechanistic de-risking by integrating physiological, behavioral, and self-report data to clarify cognitive phenotypes. Such integrated assessment approaches enhance predictive confidence in preclinical models of cognitive dysfunction by enabling stratification based on functional regulatory capacities.
Strategic Applications in Biopharma R&D
Early Discovery & Target Validation
- Scientific Value: Enables interrogation of therapeutic hypotheses related to cognitive regulatory pathways through multimodal phenotyping.
- Operational Value: Supports biological de-risking by characterizing metacognitive and self-regulatory deficits in adult learning difficulty models.
Screening & Assay Development
- Scientific Value: Prepares validated biological systems for downstream workflows by establishing quantitative baselines in emotional arousal and attentional regulation.
- Operational Value: Addresses assay standardization through synchronized eye tracking, GSR, and facial emotion recognition outputs.
Translational & Preclinical Research
- Scientific Value: Discusses disease relevance and translational biomarker alignment via correlated log data, gaze patterns, and self-report scores.
- Operational Value: Describes continuity from discovery through preclinical validation by linking online learning behavior to offline cognitive assessments.
Pipeline & Workflow Integration
Positions the method within the discovery continuum from hypothesis testing to lead identification by enabling cognitive stratification in neurodevelopmental disorder models.
- Discovery Biology: Explains how the method supports hypothesis testing, pathway clarification, or biological de-risking through concurrent measurement of attentional control and emotional regulation.
- Screening: Describes assay readiness, reproducibility, or quantitative outputs when supported by the article via fixation time proportions and GSR baselines.
- Analytics: Highlights measurements, readouts, or statistical outputs that help teams compare conditions through scored questionnaires and expert-interpreted multimodal profiles.
- Translational Research: Connects the method to preclinical continuity or biomarker alignment only when the source supports it via alignment of self-regulation strategies with learning outcomes.
- Enterprise Reuse: Frames the method as a reusable capability rather than a single-use technique through standardized protocols for adult cognitive assessment.
Operational & Enterprise Impact
- Scientific Value: Predictive confidence, target validation, reduction of mechanistic ambiguity.
- Operational Value: Standardization, reproducibility, and scalability.
- Strategic Value: Better go/no-go decisions, capital efficiency, and reduced late-stage biological risk.
- Portfolio Impact: Risk-adjusted prioritization and advancement decisions.
Implementation Considerations
- Required scientific expertise in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and multimodal data integration.
- Instrumentation and analytical infrastructure needs including eye trackers, webcams, GSR sensors, and synchronized data acquisition software.
- Cross-team standardization requirements for protocol execution across clinical and research sites.
- Adaptation considerations across model systems such as translating human learning tasks to rodent analogs of executive function.
- Practical limitations supported by source material including expert judgment dependency and variability in compensatory strategies among adults with learning difficulties.
