Recognition training system

CA 02136990 1998-03-02 RECOGNITION TRAINING ~S1 BACKGROUND OF THE INV~N'~10N The invention relates to a teaching apparatus and, more particulary, to a system for training persons to recognize and differentiate between specific objects or entities.

The classical technique for recognition training involves the use of flash cards or other means for showing aspects (ie. views) of an entity which is to be identified by a trainee with a human trainer managing the presentation of the entity views. An extension of this technique is the use of multiple views to represent a single entity so as to achieve a more complete recognition of the entity by approaching it from several angles or aspects.

However such a technique has llmited effectiveness in teaching the recognition of an entity within a set of entities which share some common or very si~ilar characteristics. One disadvantage of this technique is that the trainee has no physical control over which views of an entity are presented and the rate at - which they are shown, relying totally on the skills and, to some extent, patience of the trainer. Secondly when the trainee attempts to identify the entity from the view presented, he typically ls advised of whether the guessed name was correct or not. For incorrect guesses, the trainee is not offered an opportunity to examine a view of the guessed entity, if such exists, and compare it to the entity that is to be identified. This approach is not generally employed with flash cards because finding the guessed entity is elther too slow or impractical. This is rather unfortunate since such an approach would be a very powerful teaching tool.

One development in the field of recognition training is disclosed in an article appearing in the October 1985, Vol 2:10 issue of the ~ournal of Medlcal CA 02136990 1998-03-02 Technology by Mitchell, McNeely and Chang entitled "A computer-controlled Video Disc System for Teaching White Cell Norphology and Differential Counting to Hedical Technology StudentsH. The system described displays text on a computer video terminal and full color images on a television screen. The functional operations offered include displaying cells and descriptive text, and testing the student's knowledge. However, this system does not present these cell characteristics in a dual fashion, thereby permitting the students to examine more closely incorrect identifications by comparison of the characteristics.

SUHHARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to facilitate the training of a person to recognize specific entities, while overcoming the disadvantages of conventional recognition training techniques.

It is another o~ject of the invention to provide an environment and a process in which ambiguities in the trainee's mental models are immediately brought to the front, and opportunities for making distinctions are ~ presented in being able to make comparisons.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a training-process which is almost completely self directed.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide the trainee with an opportunity to learn positively with every action.

Therefore, in accordance with one exemplary aspect of the invention there is provided a recognition training system for teaching a trainee to identifY an entity within a set of entities, comprising:

a first stage presentation means for presenting attributes associated with said entities to said trainee;

input means used by said trainee for interacting with said recognition training system; and CA 02136990 1998-03-02 processing means connected to said first staqe presentation means and to said input means, whereby an attribute associated with said entity to be identified is presented to said trainee by said processing means at said first stage presentation means, said trainee attempting to identify said entity inputs an identifier via said input means, and said processing means receiving said identifier determines if said identifier correctly identifies said entity presented at said first stage;

characterized in that said system further includes a second stage presentation means, whereby said processing means, operating in a first mode, determining said identifier is incorrect but doe~ identlfy another entity within said set of entities, presents an attribute associated with said another entity to said trainee at said second stage presentation means for comparison with the attribute associated with the entity to be identified.

Various types of attributes, such as text, sound, bitmap image, still video and motion video, are contemplated.

In the case of sound or motion video the - attribute would normally be presented sequentially but for other types of attributes, they would most conveniently be presented on left and right portions of a display screen.

According to another exemplary aspect of the invention, there is provided a recognition training system for teaching a trainee to identify an entity within a set of entities, comprising:

a first stage presentation means for presenting attributes associated with said entities to said trainee;

input means used by said trainee for interacting with said recognition training system; and processing means connected to said first stage presentation means and to said input means, where~y said trainee inputs an identifier identlfying an entity and CA 02136990 1998-03-02 sald processlng means presents an attribute associated wlth said entity at said first stage presentation means;

characterized in that said system further includes a second stage presentation means, whereby said processing means presents another attribute associated wlth said entity at said second stage presentation means.

According to a further exemplary aspect of the invention, there is provided a recognition training system for teaching a trainee to identify an entity within a set of entities, comprislng:

a first stage presentation means for presenting attributes associated with said entities to said trainee;

input means used by said trainee for interacting with said recognition training system; and processing means connected to said first stage presentation means and to said input means, whereby said trainee inputs an identifier identifying a first entity and said processing means presents an attribute associated with said first entity at said first stage presentation means;

characterized in that said system further - includes a second stage presentation means, whereby said trainee inputs another identifier identifying a second entity and said processing means presents an attribute associated wlth said second entity at said second stage presentation means.

According to a still further exemplary aspect of the invention, there is provided a recognition training system for teaching a trainee to identify an entity within a set of entities, comprising:

an audio/visual output devlce having a display unit and having a speaker;

input means used by the trainee for interacting with said recognition training system and forming part of the audio/vlsual output devlce; and CA 02136990 1998-03-02 4a processing means forming part of the audio/visual output device and connected to the display unit, speaker and input means;

characterized in that said entities have one or more attributes associated therewith and each attribute has one or more instances;

sald display unit of ~aid audio/visual output device having a display area divided into at least first and second display portions; and said processing means operating in a first mode, wherein an instance of an attribute associated with said entity to be identified is presented to said trainee by said processing means at said first display portion of said display unit or at sald speaker, said trainee attempting to identify said entity inputs an identifier via said input means, said processing means receiving said identifier determines if said identifier correctly identifies said entity, and when said identifier is incorrect but does identify another entity within said set of entities, an instance of an attribute associated with said another entity is presented to said trainee at said second dlsplay portion or at said speaker for comparison with the attribute associated with the entity to be identified.

The Recognition Training System ~RTS~ of the invention incorporates a new and innovative process which facilitates the training of a person to rapidly and accurately distinguish between members of a set of entities, through the trainee lnteracting with the RTS.

The process that is used in RTS involves the presentation of one or more attributes associated with an entity, with the trainee attempting to identify by name the entity, or requesting that specific entities and associated attri~utes be shown to the trainee for reference purposes.

RTS supports training processes which are almost completely self-directed, in which the concept of CA 02136990 1998-03-02 4b incorrect identification is replaced by that of an exploration in nearness in concept space to the target.

In other words, the meaning of the "mistake" in a wrong guess is that it is the closest in the trainee's mind to the target, and needs CA 02136990 1998-03-02 75255-1 5 most to be dlstlngulshed, through better knowledge of the named entlty and the dlstlnctlons between lt and the target entlty.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the lnventlon may be more clearly understood, an embodlment wlll be descrlbed wlth reference to the flgures ln the accompanylng drawlngs, ln whlch:

Flgure 1 ls a slmpllfled, functlonal, block dlagram of an embodlment of a recognltlon tralnlng system~ Flgures 2 to 16 deplct the recognltlon tralnlng system process archltecture ln terms of the detalls of lts functlonal capabllltles~ Flgures 17 to 28 deplct the overall process of the recognltlon tralnlng 9y9tem from the user's polnt of vlew ln terms of actlons that can be taken at any polnt ln tlme~ and Flgures 29 to 36 lllustrate an exemplary two stage presentatlon of an embodlment of the recognltlon tralnlng system.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The followlng general descrlption ls to provide ~ an overvlew of the Recognltlon Tralnlng System and the methodology lt employs.

The RTS system operates wlth a collectlon of ob~ects known a8 an ENTITY-SET whereln an ob~ect 1~ referred.to ~8 an entlty. Each entlty can have one or more unlque ENTITY-NAMEs, whlle all the entltle~ wlthln a set share a collectlon of ENTITY-ATTRIBUTEs.

An ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE ls a representatlon of an aspect of the entlty. The representatlon may be ln the form of, for example, a bltmap lmage, vldeo ~le. vldeostlll or vldeocllp), text or an audlo recordlng, whlch 18 the ATTRIBUTE-TYPE. Each ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE 19 glven an ATTRIBUTE-NAME and an assoclated plece of ATTRIBUTE-TEXT, and each ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE can have several examples, called ATTRIBUTE-INSTANCEs. It 19 these ENTITY-ATTRIBUTEs that CA 02136990 1998-03-02 75255-1 6 RTS presents to a tralnee for ldentlflcatlon of a glven entlty.

As an lllustratlon, ln an ENTITY-SET of woodpeckers, a woodpecker entlty may have several allases, such as red-headed woodpecker or red-headed. These allases would be used as ENTITY-NAMEs for thls partlcular woodpecker entlty. Several ENTITY-ATTRIBUTEs may be used to represent the ENTITY-SET of woodpeckers. These attrlbutes mlght have ATTRIBUTE-NAMES such as portralt, song, fllght and sllhouette, wlth correspondlng ATTRIBUTE-TYPEs of bltmap, audlo, vldeo and bltmap. Each ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE may have ATTRIBUTE-TEXT descrlblng lts speclflc characterlstlcs. Also for a glven woodpecker there can be from zero to many ATTRIBUTE-INSTANCEs of a partlcular ENTITY ATTRI~UTE. For example the portralt ENTITY-ATTRI~UTE of the red-headed woodpecker may have three ATTRIBUTEINSTANCEs, two of them belng of ATTRIBUTE-TYPE bltmap, and the other of ATTRIBUTE-TYPE vldeocllp.

~ RTS uses two separate areas to present ENTITYATTRIBUTEs to a tralnee, a LEFT STAGE and a RIGHT STAGE.The tralnee can request the RTS to use speclflc and posslbly dlfferent ENTITY-ATTRIBUTEs ln dlsplaylng entltles on the LEFT and RIGHT STAGEr. The correspondlng ATTRIBUTETEXT can be made vlslble or hldden, upon request, and lf v~sible when the tralnee changes the ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE belng chown, wlll be updated accordlngly. At any tlme, the tralnee can also ask to have a dlfferent ATTRIBUTE-INSTANCE shown. Some ENTITY-ATTRIBUTEs requlre further actlon on the part of the tralnee, such as startlng a vldeoclip, stopplng lt, playlng lt ln slow-motlon, and so on.

There are two ways that a tralnee can submlt an ENTITY-NAME for an entlty presentatlon at one of the stages, the flrst ls to volunteer the name ~by typlng or speaklng lt), and the second ls to select an ENTITY-NAME from an ENTITY-LIST SET, whlch can be dlsplayed upon the CA 02136990 1998-03-02 75255-1 7 request of the tralnee.

The name thus glven to RTS by the tralnee 19 called the USER-SUBMITTED-NAME.

RTS uses two modes, REFERENCE and CHALLENGE, ln whlch tralnees work wlth the entltles.

In REFERENCE mode, 5 tralnees can examlne entltles ln the LEFT or RIGHT STAGEs by glvlng an ENTITY-NAME to RTS.

The tralnee has the flexlblllty of comparlng dlfferent entltles, or dlfferent attrlbutes of the same entlty, uslng the two stages.

In CHALLENGE mode, the RTS system generates the dlsplay of an 10 attrlbute of the entlty to be ldentlfled on one stage, the LEFT STAGE for lnstance, uslng the ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE currently selected.

The entlty presented ls called the TARGET ENTITY.

The tralnee must now ldentlfy the entlty by name, and lf the USER-SUBMITTED-NAME 19 lncorrect but does cor15 respond to an entlty ln the ENTITY-SET, the entlty wlll be shown on the RIGHT STAGE.

Thls two stage presentatlon 19 of v~lue ln correctlng two errors. the lnsufflclent knowledge of the RIGHT STAGE entlty, whlch would not have been submltted lf 20 the tralnee knew the guessed entlty well enough, and the confuslon of lt for the TARGET ENTITY.

The comparlson thus relnforce~ the assoclatlon between the RIGHT STAGE entlty and lts name, while decreaslng any assoclatlon between the TARGET ENTITY and the guessed entlty name.

Furthermore, 25 th~comparlson serves to provlde knowledge of dlstlnctlons betwëen the TARGET ENTITY and RIGHT STAGE entlty.

The user c~n contlnue guesslng the name of the TARGET ENTITY, and be shown the entltles correspondlng to the lncorrect names submltted, or can ask the system to show the TARGET ENTRY 30 name.

Note that the tralnee 19 learnlng the ldentlflcatlon of entltles, and dlstlngulshlng between them, by ~peclflc ENTITY-ATTRIBUTES, such as portralt or blrd song or heart ~ound.

For more complex entltles, lt may be 35 necessary to vlew several attrlbutes before an entlty can be named correctly, such as ln some medlcal dlagnose~.

CA 02136990 1998-03-02 .

75255-1 8 Some ATTRIBUTE-TYPEs permlt a further level of knowledge to be glven to the tralnee. In lmages which are statlc, such as bltmap or vldeostlll, the RTS system can provlde LABELS and TAGS that polnt to certaln aspects of S the lmage. These features are not shown automatlcally whenever an ATTRIBUTE-INSTANCE of the rlght type ls shown, but need to be requested by the tralnee. Thus the tralnee can attempt to ldentlfy the entlty from the speclflc ~ ATTRI~UTE-INSTANCE belng shown wlthout resortlng to the prompts and hlnts that may be essentlal to the learnlng process but not at an expert level of ldentlflcatlon.

-Wlth RTS operatlng ln REFERENCE mode, the current or actlve ENTITY-SET from whlch entltles are examlned by the tralnee 19 called the REFERENCE SET. Operatlon ln CHALLENGE mode draws entltles to be ldentlfled from a LEARNING SET whlch ls always a subset of (or the same as) the current REFERENCE SET. The ~LEARNING SET~REFERENCE SET> palr make up a BOOK.

There are two cases ln whlch the LEARNING SET ls smaller than the REFERENCE SET. The flrst 19 called INCREMENTAL LEARNING, ln whlch the tralnee speclfles that ~ the ~et from whlch a TARGET ENTITY 19 chosen should be a small subset of the REFERENCE SET. For example, lf there are gO entltle~ ln a REFERENCE SET, one learnlng strategy may be to wor~ wlth 4 entltles at a tlme.

The second case permlts the tralnee to select ltem~ ln the REFERENCE SET and place them lnto a subset called the OWN ENTITY-SET, whlch becomes the new LEARNING SET. For example, a tralnee may be havlng problems dlstlngulshlng between the whlte round entltles ln the REFERENCE SET. If the REFERENCE SET 19 large, each such entlty does not appear frequently as a TARGET ENTITY ln CHALLENGE mode.

The tralnee can place them lnto the OWN ENTITY-SET as the new LEARNING SET, and TARGET ENTITIES wlll then be drawn only from them.

Furthermore, TARGET ENTITIES are drawn from LEARNING SETs uslng a strategy of no replacement untll the , . . . ..

CA 02136990 1998-03-02 LEARNING SET is empty so each entity is drawn randomly without duplication till all have been chosen.

INCREMENTAL LEARNING furthe~ modifies this strategy by increasing the probability of drawing entities for which incorrect identifications have been made, and by removing an entity that has been correctly identified several times from the LEARNING SET, replacing it with a new entity from the REFERENCE SET, till all entities have been correctly identified.

The training interacts with RTS by first selecting an active BOOK (i.e. set of entities from a group of such sets which may be available). The active BOOK's LEARNING SET and REFERENCE SET are used for the LEFT and RIGHT STAGEs respectively. The trainee can start in either R~FERENCE or CHALLENGE mode. CHALLENGE mode is specified at any time simply by asking RTS to generate a new TARGET ENTITY to be shown on the LEFT STAGE, using the currently selected ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE for the LEFT STAGE. Once the entity has been shown, the trainee is not restricted in terms of actions. Another TARGET ENTITY may be requested immediately; an ENTITYNAME may be selected for display on the RIGHT STAGE; a different attribute for the TARGET ENTITY may be selected; or the ATTRIBUTE-TEXT may be requested. It is - 25 only if the trainee submits an identification for the TARGET ENTITY that the system either acknowledges a correct identification, or shows the named entity on the RIGHT STAGE, using the attribute being shown in the LEFT STAGE for compatibility reasons.

A more specific description of the RTS system is to follow discussing an embodiment of the invention realized, with reference being made to the attached drawings.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a simplified, functional, block diagram of a recognition training system configuration. Conventional hardware elements are integrated with the heart of the system CA 02136990 1998-03-02 being a minicomputer 10. Coupled to the minicomputer 10 is a CRT monitor 11, a laser ~isc player 12, a video tape player 13, an audio speaker 14 and a key~oard 15. The new and innovative CA 02136990 1998-03-02 75255-1 lO process of RTS ls best reallzed as a computer program whlch has been wrltten ln the Smalltalk programming language, and can be used on all platforms that Smalltalk and lts varlants wlll execute, lncludlng IBM PCs and clones, Apple Maclntosh systems, workstatlons and other computer systems.

Turnlng to Flgures 2 to 16, the RTS process archltecture 19 presented ln terms of detalls of lts functlonal capabllltles. Flgure 2 deplcts the general organlzatlon of the RTS system process as comprlslng flve system agents or subprocesses and the message communlcatlons between them. The messages ln the system are called requests. Requests from a user are handled by the U~er Proxy 20 and orlglnate from the àctlons of the tralnee ln worklng wlth the recognltlon tralnlng system. The requests are lS then dlrected accordlngly to the Left Stage Manager 21, the Rlght Stage Manager 22, the Learnlng Set Manager 23 and the Reference Set Manager 24. The Left Stage Manager 21 ~nd the Rlght Stage Manager 22 are responslble for the LEFT and RIGHT STAG~s respectlvely, where lnformatlon about entltles ls shown. The Learnlng Set Manager 23 and Reference Set Manager 2g handle the entlty set contents that are to be shown on the stages, these belng the LEARNING SET and the REFERENCE SET for the LEFT and RIGHT STAGES respectlvely.

Exsmlnlng the Left Stage Manager 21 ln more de~sil, Flgure 3 shows the lnternal structure of thls sy~tem component. The Left Stage Manager 21 may recelve muitlple mes~age requests from two source~, the User Proxy 20 and the Learnlng Set Manager 23. -One request the User Proxy 20 submlts to the Left Stage Manager 21 ls to make changes to the dlsplay of the LEFT STAGE, a~ lndlcated ln sectlon A of Flgure 3. The extent of these changes wlll be explalned when reference ls m~de to Flgure 5. A second request by the User Proxy 20, noted ln sectlon ~ of Flgure 3, ls for the Left Stage Manager 21 to dlsplay the name of the LEFT STAGE entlty, the left ENTITY-NAME. Thls request orlglnates from the tralnee whlle RTS ls operatlng in CA 02l36990 l998-03-02 75255~ CHALLENGE mode (see Flgure 2~ sectlon B). Indlcated ln sectlon C of Flgure 3 ls one request the Learnlng Set Manager 23 can make of the Left Stage Manager 21. When a USER-SUBMITTED-NAME 18 entered by the tralnee whlle RTS ls ln REFERENCE mode (Flgure 6 sectlon B) or after a new TARGET ENTITY i8 ~elected from the actlve LEARNING SET (Flgure 9 sectlon C), the Learnlng Set Manager 23 requests the Left Stage Manager 21 to dlsplay the new entlty on the LEFT STAGE uslng the current LEFT STAGE settlngs for text and ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE. The flnal request posslble by the Learnlng Set Manager 23 for the Left Stage Manager 21 19 to reset the LEFT STAGE. Upon recelpt of such a request, the Left Stage Manager 21 wlll blank the LEFT STAGE and turn off text and 11st dlsplay~. Once the Left Stage Manager 21 has completed processlng of a reque~t, slmllarly for all system agents of the RTS process, lt returns to awaltlng recelpt of further commands.

Wlth regard to Flgure 4, a more detalled vlew of the Rlght Stage Manager 22 ls presented. Thls partlcular module of the RTS system proce~ ls coupled for communlcatlon wlth the User Proxy 20 and the Reference Set Manager 2g. As wlth the Left Stage Manager 21 (Flgure 3), the User .

Proxy 20 can request the Rlght Stage Manager 22 to make changes to the dlsplay of the RIGHT STAGE. These changes wlLl be descrlbed ln the paragraph to come wlth regard to Fl~ure 5. Looklng at message~ from the Reference Set Manager 24 under sectlon C of Flgure 4, whenever a tralnee enters the ENTITY-NAME of an entlty ln order to have a speclflc ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE dlsplayed durlng REFERENCE mode operatlon on the LEFT STAGE, lf the partlcular entlty should have more than one attrlbute assoclated wlth lt, then a second ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE of the entlty speclfled 18 dlsplayed on the RIGHT STAGE on request by the Reference Set ~anager 24 whlch actually originates from a request by the Learnlng Set Manager 23 shown ln Flgure 11 sectlon C.

The request descrlbed ln Flgure 4 sectlon C ls also CA 02136990 1998-03-02 75255-1 12 lnltlated by Reference Set Manager 24 when the tralnee submlts an ENTITY-NAME partlcularly for dlsplay on the RIGHT STAGE (Flgure 12 sectlon A). A further request by the Reference Set Manager 24 to the Rlght Stage Manager 22 ls to reset the RIGHT STAGE ldentlcal to the LEFT STAGE reset.

Flgure 5 lllustrates the posslble reque~ts that can be made by the U~er Proxy 20 to the Left Stage Manager ~ 21 and the Rlght Stage Manager 22 to change the dl~plays on the LEFT and RIGHT STAGEs respectlvely. On commands entered by the tralnee, the Left and Rlght Stage Managers 21 and 22 wllll select another ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE~ dlsplay a dlfferent ln~t~nce of the ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE, dlsplay or hlde text~ scroll text~ ~how feature~ or labels for bltmap or vldeostlll attrlbute~ lf presentJ anlmate vldeocllp or audlo play, stop, rewlnd, etc~ or ~elect ll~t/text mode for speclfylng ENTITY-NAMEs.

The lnternal structure of the Learnlng Set Manager 23 1~ shown ln Flgure 6 comprlslng four posslble processlng path~, two for requests recelved from the UserProxy 20 and two for mes~ages recelved from the Reference Set Manager 24. Sectlon A ls the loglcal path executed by the Learnlng Set Manager 23 as a result of the tralnee lnputtlng an ENTITY-NAMB for the LEFT STAGE entlty. If thls USER-8UBMITTED-NAME ls not found ln the REFERENCE SET, the trAln~ 1~ notlfled and upon recelvlng an acknowledgement by the tralnee, the Learnlng Set Manager 23 returns to awaltlng recelpt of another request. If the USER-SUBMITTED NAME 1~ found ln the REFERENCE SET, the next actlon executed ls dependent on the operatlon mode of RTS as deplctedln Flgure 7. Sectlon B of thls dlagram lndlcate~ that the actlon performed when a USER-SUBMITTED-NAME ls entered wlth RTS operatlng ln REFERENCE mode ls to flr~t send a request to the Left Stage Manager 21 to dlsplay the entlty speclfled by the USER-SUBMITTED-NAME and second, lf there 1~ more than one ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE assoclated wlth the entlty .

CA 02l36990 l998-03-02 7525S-1 13 ldentlfled by the USER-SUBMITTED-NAME, an ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE dlfferent than the LEFT STAGE's ls selected and a request ls sent to the Reference Manager 24 to show the dlfferent ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE. The Reference Set Manager 24 then requests the Rlght Stage Manager 22 to dlsplay the ENTITYATTRIBUTE on the RIGHT STAGE.

In CHALLENGE mode operatlon, Flgure 6 sectlon A, the Learnlng Set Manager determlnes lf the USER-SU~MITTED ~ NAME matches the left ENTITY-NAME. The loglc flow for a correct entry 19 shown ln Flgure 8, ln whlch the next step executed 19 related to INCREMENTAL LEARNING.

If the INCREMENTAL LEARNING functlon has been actlvated by the tralnee, then the count of correct ldentlflcatlons 19 checked.

If thls value does not exceed the threshold speclfled upon INCREMENTAL LEARNING lnltlatlon, then one 18 added to the count ~or correct ldentlflcatlons and the tralnee ls notlfled of hls correct namlng of the left entlty.

Otherwlse, when the count exceeds the threshold value the left entlty ln the LEARNING SET ls replaced wlth a new one from the REFERENCE SET and then the tralnee 18 notlfled of the correct ldentlflcatlon.

Flgure 11 lllustrates the steps executed when replaclng the left entlty ln the LEARNING SET.

Flrst the left entlty 18 removed from the LEARNING SET and the LEARNING SET 11st 19 updated.

Next a request 19 sent to the-Reference Set Manager 24 to retrleve a new entlty for the L~ARNING SET (Flgure 12 sectlon D).

When a new entlty has been recelved from the Reference Set Manager 24, a new challenge entlty must be drawn.

The selectlon of a new challenge entlty wlll now be explalned wlth reference to Flgure 10.

Agaln lt must flrst be determlned lf the INCREMENTAL LEARNING functlon has been lnvoked.

If 90, an entlty 19 drawn from the LEARNING SET wlthout replacement and wlthout dupllcatlng the current left entlty but glvlng entltles wlth lower correct recognltlons a greater probablllty of belng drawn.

CA 02l36990 l998-03-02 75255-1 ~14 Else lf INCREMENTAL LEARNING has not been actlvated, an entlty ls drawn from the LEARNING SET wlthout replacement and wlthout dupllcatlng the current left entlty but glvln~ each entlty ln the LEARNING SET an equ~l chance otherwlse.

Once an entlty has been drawn, a request ls sent to the Left Stage Manager 21 to dlsplay the new left entlty on the LEFT STAGE.

Returnlng to Flgure 7 sectlon A, when a USERSUBMITTED-NAME does not match the Ieft ENTITY-NAME, the process loglc deplcted ln Flgure 9 ls executed to deal wlth the lncorrect guess. In thls case, lf INCREMENTAL LEARNING ls actlve, the count of correct recognltlons of the left entlty ls decreased by one but cannot be less than zero.

Then a request ls sent to the Reference Set Manager 24 to dlsplay the entlty ldentlfled by the USER-SUBMITTED-NAME, using the left ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE.

Wlth regard to Flgure 12, the Reference Set Manager 24 process loglc wlll now be explalned ln some detall. Thls ~TS process component recelves request messages from the User Proxy 20 and the Learnlng Set Manager 23. When the tralnee enters a new USERSUBMITTED-NAME of an entlty to be dlsplayed on the RIGHT STAGE, the User Pro~y 20 passes thls ENTITY-NAME to the Reference Set Manager 24 to be dealt wlth. Flgure 13 shows tn~t the Reference Set Manager 24 verlfles that the USERSUBt~ -NAME 18 part of the REFERENCE SET. If the entlty named 18 not found, then the tralnee 19 notlfled, else a request ls sent to the Rlght Stage Manager 22 to dlsplay the entlty on the RIGHT STAGE uslng the curtent rlght ENTITY-ATTRI~UTE. Other User Proxy 20 requests that can be made of the Reference Set Manager 24 are as lndlcated ln Flgure 14. They lnclude requests tot A) change the actlve ENTITY-SET, B) lnvoke INCREMENTAL LEARNING (Flgure 15), and C) place the rlght entlty lnto the tralnee's OWN ENTITY-SET (Flgure 16). As for the Learnlng Set Manager 23, the system agent may request the Reference Set Manager 24 to CA 02136990 1998-03-02 75255-1 15 dlsplay the attrlbute assoclated wlth the ENTITY-NAME glven on the RIGHT STAGE whlch results ln a correspondlng request being sent to the Rlght Stage Manager 22. Also the Learnlng Set Manager 23 can ask the Reference Set Manager 24 to retrleve a new entlty for the LEARNING SET only when INCRE~ENTAL LEARNING has been actlvated. The Reference Set Manager 2~ responds by drawlng an entlty from the REFERENCE SET wlthout replacement and then sends a request message to the Learnlng Set Manager 23 to add the entlty to the current LEARNING SET.

.Turnlng to Flgures 17 to 28 deplcted ls theoverall process of the recognltlon tralnlng system from the user s polnt of vlew ln terms of actlons that can be taken at any polnt ln tlme. These flgures represent the cholces or optlons that are avallable to the tralnee u~lng the RTS system. Flgure 17 identlfles the top-level lnter~ctlons avallable to the tralnee whlch are as follows: qult the RTS process~ choose a new entlty set~ select operatlonal mode (REFERENCE or CHALLENGE)) lnltlate INCREMENT~L LEARNINGt create OWN-ENTITY-SET1 and work wlth current ENTITY-SET (~OOK).

If the tralnee chooses to lnltlate INCREMENTAL LEARNING Flgure 18 shows the loglc steps executed are to set the slze of the LEARNING SET and send a request to the Reference Set Manager 24 to lnvoke INCREMENTAL LEARNING.

Flgure 19 show~ a further level of selectlons that are avallable to the tralnee once he has chosen to create an OWN-ENTITY-SET. The selectlons are as followsenter name of OWN-ENTITY-SET~ show OWN-ENTITY-SET 11st on the LEFT STAGE~ show REFERENCE SET 11st on RIGHT STAGEt and select a new entlty for the OWN-ENTITY-SET from the REFERENCE SET (see Flgure 20).

Flgure 20 expands the loglc executed once the tralnee beglns worklng wlth the current ENTITY-SET. The flrst step 19 to determlne whlch operatlonal mode has been set by the tralnee. Flgures 21 through 27 explaln actlon9 CA 02136990 1998-03-02 75255-1 16 that may be lnltlated by the tralnee when RTS ls operatlng ln REFERENCE mode whlle Flgure 28 descrlbes CHALLENGE mode lnteractlons.

An exemplary reallzatlon of the recognltlon tralnlng system wlll now be descrlbed wlth reference to flgures 29 to 36. The two stage presentatlon capabllltles of RTS are deplcted as a multlple wlndow layout on a general purpose computer vldeo termlnal. Flgures 29 to 36 lllustrate the functlonallty of RTS ln terms of what may be presented to a tralnee ln a partlcular lnnovatlon of the system.

Flgure 29 ~ets the scene for the recognltlon tralnlng of WHMIS symbols, deallng wlth the labelllng of hazardous materlals. WHMIS stands for Workplace Hazardous Materlals Informatlon System, a regulator requlrement of the Labour Code ln Canada.

The LEFT STAGE ls labelled LEARNING SET and the RIGHT STAGE 19 labelled REFERENCE SET. One BOOK 19 open, labelled Whlms. Each entlty has slx ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE~, shown between the two stages and named Symbol, Products, Handllng, Dl~posal, Treatment and PP~ (Personal Protectl~e Envlronments). Each ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE has a symbol to lts left and rlght, whlch can be elther a dlamond or dark clrcle. The dark clrcle indlcates the attrlbute currently selected for the ad~acent stage. In flgure 29, Symbol has been selected for both the LEARNING SET and REFERENCE SET.

The area lmmedlately below the stages contaln some controls. In each, there ls a TEXT button for dlsplaylng (or hldlng) text on the currently selected ENTITYATTRIBUTE ln the respectlve stage. In addltlon, there aretwo other lcons ln each area.

One 19 a TYPEWRITER symbol, and the other represents a LIST optlon. These speclfy the mode for the entry by the tralnee of an ENTITY-NAME elther by typlng lt ln, or by selectlng lt from a ll~t. In flgure 29, the LIST optlon has been chosen for the LEARNING SET, and the LIST of Whmls Symbol names ls shown. Note CA 02136990 1998-03-02 752S5-1 17 that there ls a vertlcal sllder bar on the rlght slde of the 11st dlsplay, whlch lndlcates that there are more names than the wlndow can show, and the user can use the UP and DOWN arrows to get to those names not currently on screen.

These arrows may correspond to key strokes on the computer keyboard or for appllcatlons lncludlng a mouse connected to the computer, the approprlate arrow can be selected by posltlonlng the mouse polnter on lt and cllcklng the mouse button.

Flnally, the two clrcles ln the central area of the screen, to the rlght of the LEAKNING SET, are labelled Reference and Challenge. The dar~ bullet lnslde the Reference clrcle shows that the system ls ln ~ NCE mode.

Flgure 30 shows the use of RTS ln REFERENCE mode.

The darker shadlng on the LIST ltem "polsonous wlth lmmedlate toxlc effects" shows that thls named entlty has been selected (through movlng the mouse polnter over lt and cllcklng the mouse button) and lts assoclated Symbol ~ttrlbute ls presented ln LEFT STAGE. A dlfferent attrlbute of that entlty 19 automatlcally selected for the RIGHT STAGE .

Note that the ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE Handllng ls shown as the havlng been selected attrlbute, and therefore what ls dlsplayed on the RIGHT STAGB ls the text that deals wlth handllng that ltem.

Flgure 31 shows the system belng used ln CHALL~NGB mode.

An entlty 19 dlsplayed on the LEFT STAGE uslng lts 8ymbol ENTITY-ATTRIBUTE.

The tralnee has selected from the LIST of ltems on the LEFT STAGE the entlty name "oxldlzlng".

Flgure 32 shows the response of the system ln CHALLENGE mode.

In the area below the LEFT STAGE appear the words "No ! " to lndlcate that the guess "oxldlzlng~' does not correctly ldentlfy the entlty belng shown on the LEFT STAGE.

In the area below the RIGHT STAGE are the words "You answered:" and below lt ln bold, "oxldlzlng", whlle ln the RIGHT STAGE ltself ls shown the Symbol ~or thls entlty CA 02l36990 l998-03-02 75255-1 18 "oxldlzlng". The learner can now see what the Symbol for "oxldlzlng" ls, and compare lt wlth the target Symbol belng shown ln the LEFT STAGE.

Flgure 33 shows the use of the system to create an OWN-ENTITY-SET. Note that under the ma~or headlng ~OOK ls another lcon (symbol) contalnlng the word BAG and under lt the name Thlngs. Thls ls the name of the OWN-ENTITYSET that ls currently actlve, lndlcated by the horlzontal dark strlp on the left of this lcon.

On the RIGHT STAGE, the Symbol for the entlty "flammable" ls shown, and the user has selected, by placing the mouse polnter over the words Reference Set and cllcklng lt, the pull-down menu whlch lncludes the ltem Lag Thls Ob~ect. It has been selected as shown by lts darker shadlng.

Flgure 34 shows the use of the system for INCREMENTAL LEARNING. Under the headlng Learnlng Set ls a pull-down menu whlch has been lnvoked (by movlng the mouse polnter to the headlng and cllcklng the mouse button).

Thls menu contalns the ltem Incremental Learnlng whlch has been selected ln the same way. Thls ltem 19 deplcted as belng selected slnce lt ls shaded darker than the other menu ltems.

Flgure 35 shows an lntermedlate step after lnvoklnq INCREMENTAL LEARNING. The system asks the user tospeclfy the slze of the LEARNING SET to be used.

Flgure 36 shows the system whlle operatlng ln INCREMENTAL LEARNING. Note that the BOOK that ls called "Inc-Whmls" 19 the one that ls open as shown by the vertlcal bar to the left of the lcon. The LIST for the LEARNINGSET shows flve ltems chosen at random. The LIST of entlty names for the ~ NCE SET 19 dlsplayed and shows that the entlre ENTITY-SET ls avallable. The smaller LEARNING SET ls now avallable for both the CHALLENGE and REFERENCE mode ln the LEFT STAGE, whlle the entlre REFERENCE SET can be used on the RIGHT ST~GE (always ln ~ NCE MODE).

CA 02136990 1998-03-02 75255-1 19 The foregolng descrlptlon has been llmlted to a speclflc embodlment of the lnventlon. It wlll be apparent, however, that varlatlons and modlflcatlons may be made to the lnventlon, wlth the attalnment of some or all of the advantages of the lnventlon. Therefore, lt ls the ob~ect of the appended clalms to cover all such varlatlons and modlflcatlons as come wlthln the true splrlt and scope of the lnventlon.