Using Brain-Computer Interface for Measuring Indicators of Cognitive Processes (A Case of Doing Educational Reading)

Students' cognitive processes while their learning activities strongly influence the effectiveness of education. The indicators of such processes can be determined using an electroencephalogram analysis and, as a consequence, the success of educational process as a whole can be predicted. For this analysis, alpha and beta rhythms are traditionally used. It may be of interest to use complex indicators, characterizing several rhythms, and alternative types of rhythm, for example, theta rhythm, to improve measurement accuracy. To make it possible to use theta rhythm and to assess the level of understanding and interest of the text viewed, the preliminary experiment was carried out. The results of the experiment demonstrate that the maximum value of the dominant frequency of theta rhythm was observed in case of uninteresting or unfamiliar reading. The effect of font size on the performance of cognitive processes was also studied.