Development of the PEBL Traveling Salesman Problem Computerized Testbed

Abstract

The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a combinatorial optimization problem that requires finding the shortest path through a set of points ("cities") that returns to the starting point. Because humans provide heuristic near-optimal solutions to Euclidean versions of the problem, it has sometimes been used to investigate human visual problem solving ability. The TSP is also similar to a number of tasks commonly used for neuropsychological assessment (such as the trail-making test), and so its utility in assessing reliable individual differences in problem solving has sometimes been examined. Nevertheless, the task has seen little widespread use in clinical and assessment domains, in part because no standard software implementation or item set is widely available with known psychometric properties. In this paper, we describe a computerized version of TSP running in the free and open source Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL). The PEBL TSP task is designed to be suitable for use within a larger battery of tests, and to examine both standard and custom TSP node configurations (i.e., problems). We report the results of a series of experiments that help establish the test's reliability and validity. The first experiment examines test-retest reliability, establishes that the quality of solutions in the TSP are not impacted by mild physiological strain, and demonstrates how solution quality obtained by individuals in a physical version is highly correlated with solution quality obtained in the PEBL version. The second experiment evaluates a larger set of problems, and uses the data to identify a small subset of tests that have maximal coherence. A third experiment examines test-retest reliability of this smaller set that can be administered in about five minutes, and establishes that these problems produce composite scores with moderately high (R = .75) test-retest reliability, making it suitable for use in many assessment situations, including evaluations of individual differences, personality, and intelligence testing.

Digital behavioural tests as diagnostic aid for psychosis

“…We used a digital version of the task implemented in PEBL: The Psychology Experiment Building Language. 41 In the original study protocol the TMT was used as a non-diagnostic attention measuring task. It was retrospectively included in the analysis after literature review 37,42–44 and data analysis indicated that including participants’ performance in this task could be beneficial for differentiating between the SU and CC.…”

Mental Model Consensus and Shifts During Navigation System-Assisted Route Planning

“…One focus area for this work is collaborative spatial route planning. Although humans are incredibly efficient at solving lowdimensional spatial problems, such as the Traveling Salesman Problem (typically producing near-optimal solutions in linear time; Dry, Lee, Vickers, & Hughes, 2006;MacGregor & Ormerod, 1996;Mueller, Perelman, Tan, & Thanasuan, 2015), route planning tasks in real-world environments can be incredibly complex. To address the issue of increasing complexity, mixed-initiative systems assist human team members by suggesting routes, generated using highdimensional mission-specific information, which the human can accept or re-plan (Clare, 2013;Cummings, Clare, & Hart, 2010, Shaikh, Goodrich, Yi, & Hoehne, 2016Roth, Hanson, Hopkins, Mancuso, & Zacharias, 2004).…”