Effect of motorcycle lighting configurations on drivers’ perceptions of closing during nighttime driving

ObjectiveThe aims were to better understand how drivers perceive an approaching set of motorcycle headlights during nighttime driving and to determine whether alternative motorcycle headlight configurations improve drivers’ perceptual judgments of closing for an oncoming motorcycle.BackgroundMotorcyclists account for a disproportionate number of roadway fatalities, especially at night. One potential cause of this is drivers’ misjudgments of a motorcycle’s approach.MethodThe first experiment examined whether drivers were more sensitive to horizontal or vertical optical expansion and whether drivers could integrate these two dimensions to achieve a lower looming threshold. A second experiment built on these results to test whether alternative headlight configurations that maximized size were better than other motorcycle headlight configurations and a car’s headlights. In both experiments, participants were instructed to press a button to indicate when they first perceived an oncoming vehicle to be closing under nighttime driving conditions.ResultsHeadlight orientation did not affect when drivers perceived closing, and drivers were not able to integrate optical expansion from multiple dimensions in a way that achieves a lower looming threshold. However, the alternative motorcycle headlight configurations that accentuated the full extent of a motorcycle’s size resulted in drivers perceiving closing sooner than other motorcycle headlight configurations but not sooner than a car.ConclusionDrivers perceive closing sooner for larger headlight configurations except when the headlight configurations are relatively small, in which case the effect of headlight size is attenuated.ApplicationDrivers’ perceptual judgments of motorcycles may improve when motorcycles have headlights that span its full height.     

Analyzing drivers’ crossing decisions at unsignalized intersections in China

In China, when two vehicle drivers encounter at an unsignalized intersection, almost neither of them completely stops the vehicle. Instead, one gradually approaches and dynamically makes a decision to either yield or preempt by gaming with the other vehicle. This process generates traffic conflicts and increases the probability of accidents. In this study, we aimed to study how straight-moving drivers made preemptive/yielding decisions when they encountered other drivers straight-moving across at unsignalized intersections. A total of 150 crossing cases were collected at an unsignalized intersection in Kunming City, China. By using detection program we made, motion parameters of the vehicles were extracted. Classification tree analysis was used to identify the decision moment of drivers and the major motion parameters that affected their decisions. Results showed that for crossing processes at unsignalized intersections in China, straight-moving drivers from the right side made preemptive/yielding decisions from 0.9 s to 1.3 s before reaching the crossing point. However, straight-moving drivers from the left side made decisions from 0.9 s to 1.2 s before reaching the crossing point. The speed difference between the two vehicles was the most important factor that affected a driver’s decision-making. If the vehicle driver from the right side drove significantly slower than that from the left, then most drivers from the right side would yield to those from the left. On the contrary, if the vehicle driver from the right side drove significantly faster than that from the left, then most drivers from the right side would preempt those from the left. The findings of this study will help understand the decision-making patterns of drivers under crossing conditions, and thus provide suggestions to improve drivers’ behavior at unsignalized intersections in China.     

The nudging effect of social norms on drivers’ yielding behaviour when turning corners

Drivers who do not give way to pedestrians are among the main causes of traffic crashes of motor vehicles and pedestrians in China. There is an urgent need to explore effective methods for improving drivers' yielding behaviour. This study used eight kinds of social norm slogans to nudge drivers’ yielding behaviour and explored the influence of pedestrian characteristics and situational factors on drivers’ decision-making regarding giving way when turning right. By analysing 254 valid questionnaires, it was found that compared with static norms, injunctive norms and dynamic + static norms, positively worded dynamic norms have a better nudging effect on drivers' yielding behaviour. The results of the conjoint analysis showed that social norms have the greatest impact on drivers' decisions to yield (32.28%), followed by whether pedestrians comply with traffic rules (23.33%) and the age of pedestrians (18.40%). This study expands the application of social norms and provides a new perspective to promote positive behaviour among drivers.     

Preschoolers’ oculomotor behaviour during their observation of an action task

Adult and child oculomotor behaviour was measured during the observation of a naturalistic action task. Adult and 4-year-old participants viewed a video presentation of an actor making a root-beer float. Eye movements were monitored to examine fixation patterns during a series of means–end action sequences. Look-ahead fixations (i.e., gaze anticipation) were measured to determine if children would saccade to the goal site prior to the completion of each action sequence as adults do. Look-ahead fixations were observed in both the adult and child groups, with no significant age differences found in levels of gaze anticipation.     

Effects of different non-driving-related-task display modes on drivers’ eye-movement patterns during take-over in an automated vehicle

Highly automated vehicles relieve drivers from driving tasks, allowing them to engage in non-driving-related-tasks (NDRTs). However, drivers are required to take over control in certain circumstances due to the limitations of highly automated vehicles. This study focused on drivers’ eye-movement patterns during take-overs when an NDRT (watching videos) was presented via a head-up-display (HUD) and a mobile device display (MDD), compared to no NDRT as the baseline. The experiment was conducted in a high-fidelity driving simulator with real-world driving videos scenarios. Forty-six participants took part in the experiment by completing three drives in three counterbalanced conditions (HUD, MDD and baseline). A take-over-request was issued towards the end of automated driving requesting drivers to stop the NDRT and take over control. Eye-movement data including pupil diameter, blinks, glance duration and number of AOI (Area of Interest) were collected and analysed. The results show that during automated driving, drivers were more engaged in the MDD NDRT with smaller pupil diameter and shorter glance duration on the front scenario compared to the HUD and baseline modes. The number of AOI was reduced during automated driving in both MDD and HUD modes. The take-over-request redirected drivers’ visual attention back to the driving task from NDRT by increasing drivers’ pupil diameter, glance duration and number of AOI. However, the effect of MDD NDRT on pupil diameter and glance duration continued even after the take-over-request when the NDRT was terminated. The study demonstrated HUD is a better display to help maintain drivers’ attention on the road.     

A longitudinal investigation of older adults’ physical activity: Testing an integrated dual-process model

Objective: To assess the effects of conscious and non-conscious processes for prediction of older adults’ physical activity (PA), we tested a dual-process model that integrated motivational (behavioural intention) and volitional (action planning and coping planning) processes with non-conscious, automatic processes (habit).

Method: Participants (N = 215) comprised community-dwelling older adults (M = 73.8 years). A longitudinal design was adopted to investigate direct and indirect effects of intentions, habit strength (Time 1), and action planning and coping planning (Time 2) on PA behaviour (Time 3). Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the model.

Results: The model provided a good fit to the data, accounting for 44% of the variance in PA behaviour at Time 3. PA was predicted by intentions, action planning, and habit strength, with action planning mediating the intention-behaviour relationship. An effect of sex was also found where males used fewer planning strategies and engaged in more PA than females.

Conclusions: By investigating an integration of conscious and non-conscious processes, this study provides a novel understanding of older adults’ PA. Interventions aiming to promote PA behaviour of older adults should target the combination of psychological processes.     

Effects of an Islamic-based gratitude strategy on Muslim students’ level of happiness

This study examined the effects of an Islamic-based expressive gratitude strategy in comparison to a secular-based expressive gratitude strategy and a control group in enhancing Muslims’ level of happiness. It was hypothesised that practising the Islamic-based gratitude exercise (by associating blessings with Allah) would result in higher happiness level over time, compared to the happiness level of Muslim participants practising the secular-based gratitude exercise (without specific association) or the control group (attending to details of daily life). Sixty students were randomly assigned into one of three groups and over a period of 16 days were asked to practise the respective exercises daily. They were assessed for pre- and post-happiness measures. Results generally supported the hypothesis, and suggested that the Islamic-based gratitude is beneficial in raising participants’ happiness level, as it fits with their beliefs and values. Implications of the results for including Islamic-oriented intervention to promote Muslim happiness are discussed.     

The influence of an external symbol system on number parity representation, or What’s odd about 6?

The aim of this study was to investigate whether language-specific properties influence mental number processing. German Sign Language (DGS) numbers differ from those in spoken German not only in terms of modality but also in their basic language structure. A group of 20 congenitally deaf German signers participated in a number parity (odd/even) judgment task with DGS and printed German number words. The results indicated that two-handed DGS number signs are processed in a decomposed way. This language-specific effect also generalized to another linguistic number notation, German number words, but not to Arabic digit notation. These differences are discussed with respect to two possible routes to number parity.     

Evaluating the influence of approaching vehicles on pedestrian’s visual patterns and crossing behaviors at an uncontrolled crosswalk

The visual behaviors and movement characteristics of pedestrians are related to their surrounding potential safety hazards, such as approaching vehicles. This study primarily aimed to investigate the visual patterns and walking behaviors of pedestrians interacting with approaching vehicles. Field experiments were conducted at two uncontrolled crosswalks located at the Cuihua and Yanta roads in Xi’an, China. The visual performance of pedestrians was assessed using the eye tracking system from SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI). Moreover, motion trajectories of the pedestrians and approaching vehicles were obtained using an unmanned aerial vehicle. Subsequently, the visual attributes and movement trajectories of pedestrians and motion trajectories of approaching vehicles were statistically analyzed. The results showed that approaching vehicles distracted the fixation of crossing pedestrians significantly, and occupied 29.5% of the total duration of fixation; that is, pedestrians always directed more fixation points to the approaching vehicles compared to other stimuli. As a vehicle approached, pedestrians’ fixation shifted from other areas of interest to the vehicle. Moreover, an increase in the velocity of the vehicle and a closer distance between pedestrian and the vehicle resulted in an increase in the pedestrians’ duration of fixation on the approaching vehicle, and they implemented more saccades. Furthermore, approaching vehicle’s velocity and distance between pedestrian and approaching vehicle are not significantly associated with pedestrian’s movement attributes. These findings provide insights into the crossing behavior of pedestrians during pedestrian-vehicle interactions, which could assist future researchers and policy makers.     

Auditory attentional capture during serial recall: violations at encoding of an algorithm-based neural model?

A novel attentional capture effect is reported in which visual-verbal serial recall was disrupted if a single deviation in the interstimulus interval occurred within otherwise regularly presented task-irrelevant spoken items. The degree of disruption was the same whether the temporal deviant was embedded in a sequence made up of a repeating item or a sequence of changing items. Moreover, the effect was evident during the presentation of the to-be-remembered sequence but not during rehearsal just prior to recall, suggesting that the encoding of sequences is particularly susceptible. The results suggest that attentional capture is due to a violation of an algorithm rather than an aggregate-based neural model and further undermine an attentional capture-based account of the classical changing-state irrelevant sound effect.     

Role of Hindsight Bias,Ethics, and Self-Other Judgments in Students’ Evaluation of an Animal Experiment

Does hindsight knowledge make research seem more ethical and predictable? In line with the notion of hindsight bias, students in 3 experiments knowing the outcome of an animal experiment judged the results as more foreseeable and ethical relative to students who did not know the outcome. Via self to other comparisons, students evaluate themselves more favorably compared to a peer but exhibited hindsight bias in doing so. Uniquely, the findings reveal the possibility that students deem themselves to be more skeptical and objective than their peers. Implications for teaching animal ethics and for Institutional Review Boards are discussed.     

Mathematical modeling of the effects of ‘capability’ and ‘intent’ on the stability of a competitive international system

In international relations theory, there is a long history of Richardson-like modeling of the evolution of military capability. Usually, such models are deterministic and predictive and do not allow for the representation of the transition from competitive peace to shooting war. More recently, models have been developed which attempt to represent the evolution of relationship between nations. The relationship between nations, varying from friendship to hostility, is taken to be synonymous with the intent of nations towards each other, varying from good will to malice. Generally, these relationship models do not include capability though common sense would indicate that capability and mutual intent should profoundly influence each other. A model is presented here which combines these two fundamental attributes of international relations and attempts to represent the outbreak of war in the world system by the onset of deterministic chaos in the extended model.On leave 1994–95 at U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Washington, D.C. 20451, U.S.A.     

The influence of practicum supervisors’ facilitation styles on student teachers’ reflective thinking during collective reflection

Student teachers’ reflective thinking is closely associated with learning and improving practice. Novice student teachers require adequate support to reflect more deeply. The role of ‘others’ in collective reflection and knowledge generation as an outcome creates a platform for deep reflection, addressing both the processes and premises of reflective thinking. Facilitation styles of practicum supervisors could influence the level of student teachers’ reflective thinking during collective reflection. This is a case study using purposeful sampling involving a Malaysian teacher training institution that conducted an undergraduate early childhood programme in collaboration with a UK university. Sources of evidence were interviews, direct observations and documents. Data collected were analysed using both inductive and deductive methods. It was found that facilitation styles influence the depth of student teachers’ reflective thinking during group dialogic reflection. A continuum of facilitation styles from collaborative to instructive typologies was constructed. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

The influence of a reading task on children’s eye movements during reading

In the present study, second graders (n= 23), fourth graders (n= 16), sixth graders (n= 24) and adults (n= 21) read texts adopted from children’s science textbooks either with the task to answer a “why” question presented as the title of the text or for comprehension when their eye movements were recorded. Immediately after reading, readers answered a text memory and an integration question. Second graders showed an effect of questions as increased processing during first-pass reading, whereas older readers showed the effect in later look-backs. For adult readers, questions also facilitated first-pass reading. Text memory or integration question-answering was not influenced by the reading task. The results indicate that questions increase the standards of coherence for text information and that already young readers do modify their reading behaviour according to task demands.     

‘NEET’ believers? An analysis of ‘belief’ on an urban housing estate

This article explores the impact that the experience of deep-seated social exclusion amongst unemployed white young men on a large urban housing estate in Birmingham, UK has on the ways in which they talk about identity, meaning and ‘belief’. Arising from detailed ethnographic fieldwork, the article forwards an analysis of current debates about youth social exclusion and the deployment of the acronym ‘NEET’ with reference to these young men and others like them across the UK. Drawing upon conversations between the author and young men during fieldwork, the article seeks to bridge the gap between social-science-based examinations of youth social exclusion and theological analyses of youth spiritualities to critically interrogate current debates about the nature of ‘belief’ and ‘belonging’. In particular, the article raises a key critical question: is the word ‘belief’ ‘fit for purpose’ when considering the experience of socially excluded young men on urban housing estates?     

Pilot Evaluation of the ACT Raising Safe Kids Program on Children’s Bullying Behavior

Research documents that parents play a critical role in the development and maintenance of behavior problems in children. Few bullying prevention programs, however, target children in early childhood or include a parenting component in spite of experts recommending that parent training in behavior management be addressed. Based upon these recommendations, the present study examines the relationship among parent characteristics (hostility, depression, and overall parenting skills) and child bullying and the effects of the American Psychological Association’s ACT Raising Safe Kids program on reducing early childhood bullying. The ACT-RSK program is a primary family violence and child physical abuse prevention program for parents of young children. Fifty-two parents/caregivers, representing children ages 4–10, completed the Brief Symptom Inventory, the ACT Parents Raising Safe Kids Scale, and Early Childhood Bullying Questionnaire (derived from the Child Behavior Checklist and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Twenty-five of these parents/caregivers were trained in effective parenting including nonviolent discipline, child development, anger management, social problem-solving skills, effects of violent media on children, and methods to protect children from exposure to violence through the ACT-RSK program. The remaining 27 parents/caregivers received treatment as usual. Results indicate decreased bullying in children whose parents completed the ACT-RSK program. Furthermore, of the parent characteristics assessed, parental hostility is the only significant parent predictor for child bullying. These findings suggest the efficacy of this brief intervention for preventing bullying.     

‘It seems at the moment my career is dependent on factors outside of my control’: reflections on graduates’ experiences of employment and career enactment in an era of economic uncertainty and austerity

ABSTRACT

This paper explores contested notions of the purpose of education and careers work. The research for the paper examines public sector employee reactions to notion of a psychological contract breach, when cuts in funding put their jobs and careers at risk. It argues that, in this environment, the search for career fulfilment can be marked by feelings of cruel optimism, wicked problems and broken expectations. The findings are then used to present the case for further research, firstly, to address the notion of possible selves, as individuals explore alternative identity affirming career opportunities; and secondly, the impact of changes in public policy on the processes of psychological contracting between students and staff in further and higher education.     

Examining the effect of visual treatments on truck drivers’ time-to-arrival judgments of motorcycles at T-intersections

An automobile–motorcycle crash most commonly results when an automobile pulls out of a side road into the path of an oncoming motorcycle and violates the motorcyclist’s right-of-way. One of the reasons for this could be that motorists misjudged the motorcycle arrival time. Motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable to injury in crashes with truck due to substantial differences in vehicle mass, protection degree and speed. We investigated truck drivers’ judgments of motorcycle time-to-arrival (TTA) across a number of visual treatments. Participants watched a series of video clips captured at a T-intersection, and they were instructed to respond by clicking the computer mouse at the time they estimated the front wheels of an oncoming vehicle (motorcycle or car) to reach the T-intersection. The results showed that, at long distance between the target motorcycle and the viewer, the motorcycle with daytime running headlights (DRH) was estimated to arrive sooner than the motorcycle whose motorcyclist wore a black helmet with a reflective sticker. However, the opposite is true at a short distance. We also found that a motorcyclist wearing a white helmet and riding a motorcycle with DRH, as well as a motorcyclist wearing a white helmet and white outfit, would improve truck drivers’ judgment with respect to motorcycle TTA. Consequently, truck drivers would be less likely to pull out into a small gap in front of a motorcycle, resulting in a higher safety margin for the motorcycle.