An eye-tracking study of the effects of dimensions of speed limit traffic signs on a mountain highway on driverś perception

Signs control and regulate traffic, anticipating potential dangers, prescribing correct behaviors, and disambiguating likely conflicts in priority. In Brazil, traffic accidents on highways located in mountain rural areas are mainly related to the design of roads and speeding, rather than to the impact of traffic flow. Since drivers highly depend on their visual perceptions for adopting driving behaviors, this study analyzes driver perception during a trip and the response of this parameter to changes in the diameter of vertical speed limit signs in a driver simulator equipped with an eye-tracking system. The objective was to investigate whether an increase in the plate size would enhance driver perception and influence drivers’ compliance with speed limits. Fifty-five volunteers were asked to drive twice on a 10-km mountain route, after which one of the diameters, namely 75, 100, 120, and 150 cm, used according to several Brazilian and American standards, was randomly chosen. The results showed the size of the traffic signs did not affect dependent variables number of fixations, percentage of perceived signals, time of observation, perception distance, and non-compliance with the speed limit. The most significant result was the relationship between speed variability and guided round, since the driver’s performance was improved with the distance along the studied stretch. The outcomes can be useful for the development of strategies that manage speeding on roads by improving and implementing low-cost interventions in low-income countries.     

On-road study investigating the mode of feedback delivery on young drivers’ speed management

Feedback has been shown to be instrumental in learning. Refining how it is delivered in driver training has the potential to reduce crash risk. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effect of the medium in which feedback is delivered (verbal, written, graphical) on young drivers’ speed management behaviour. Sixty young drivers, randomly allocated to one of four feedback groups (i.e., Control, Verbal feedback, Written feedback, and Graphical feedback) completed one training and two test drives using an instrumented vehicle on-road. After the first (baseline) drive, participants were provided feedback about the number of times they exceeded the speed limit, their maximum speed, as well as the financial penalties associated with such driving behaviour, and safety implications. The content of feedback remained the same for all training groups, except for the manner in which the feedback was presented. Verbal feedback was provided verbally by the researcher; written feedback on paper; and graphical feedback using a series of graphs on a computer screen. Control received no such intervention. Two test drives followed, one immediate post-training, and the second one week post-training. Feedback, irrespective of medium improved young drivers’ speed management. Verbal and graphical feedback yielded the greatest reduction in speeding behaviour, with graphical feedback having the most impact in the two speed zones under examination (50 km/h & 80 km/h). Control showed the poorest speed management behaviour in all drives. These findings have important implications for the development of a new approach to improve young drivers’ speed management behaviour.     

The effect of context and drivers’ age on highway traffic signs comprehension

Background: Comprehension of traffic signs is crucial to safety. Objectives: To test the effects of the presentation condition (with or without driving context) on symbolic based road signs comprehension and comprehension time for young and older drivers. Method: 50 young drivers and 50 older drivers were presented with images of 28 Israeli road signs, both without context (with a white background) and in context (with the driving surrounding). Data were collected on the accuracy of signs meaning and on the time it took the participants to provide the meaning. Results: Younger drivers performed significantly better than older drivers on both accuracy and response time (RT). Older drivers’ average RT was approximately twice as long as younger drivers’ RT. However, the presentation mode (with or without context) did not affect sign comprehension of either group, but the presence of the context did increase the time it took the drivers to comprehend the sign’s meaning. In addition, correct response time was similar to opposite to sign’s meaning response time. Implications: Older drivers, can benefit from retraining in sign comprehension of current signage. The training should involve signs in their natural road environment to reduce comprehension time while actually driving. Moreover, signs that were understood as having an opposite meaning should be redesigned or be accompanied by text.     

Analysing the influence of visible roadwork activity on drivers’ speed choice at work zones using a video-based experiment

The present study used a video-based experimental design to investigate the influence of visible roadwork activity on speed preferences at work zones. Four videos from real work zones in Norway were used. Two roadwork areas were filmed at two moments – with and without visible roadwork activity. A total of 815 drivers watched two videos and answered a questionnaire online. Participants stated speed preferences for both videos and then evaluated the influence of 17 common work zone elements on their speed choice. The results showed lower preferred speeds for the videos with visible roadwork activity. The elements considered by drivers to influence their speed included speed regulation (e.g. speed limit signs), transient motives (e.g. time pressure), flow pressure (e.g. speed of the rear driver) and situational conditions (e.g. road situation). Results from the regression analysis showed that visible roadwork activity was the strongest predictor of lower preferred speeds. Speed regulation and transient motives were also significant predictors of preferred speeds. Those who considered speed regulation more important to influence their speed choice at work zones were likely to state lower preferred speeds, while those who considered transient motives as more important were likely to state higher preferred speeds. These findings support the hypothesis that visible roadwork activity is an important factor for lower speed preferences at work zones. The main practical implication is that road authorities should consider various countermeasures to achieve safe driving speeds at work zones, not only roadworks warning signs.     

Impact of interface design on drivers’ behavior in partially automated cars: An on-road study

In partially automated vehicles, the driver and the automated system share control of the vehicle. Consequently, the driver may have to switch between driving and monitoring activities. This can critically impact the driver’s situational awareness. The human–machine interface (HMI) is responsible for efficient collaboration between driver and system. It must keep the driver informed about the status and capabilities of the automated system, so that he or she knows who or what is in charge of the driving. The present study was designed to compare the ability of two HMIs with different information displays to inform the driver about the system’s status and capabilities: a driving-centered HMI that displayed information in a multimodal way, with an exocentric representation of the road scene, and a vehicle-centered HMI that displayed information in a more traditional visual way. The impact of these HMIs on drivers was compared in an on-road study. Drivers’ eye movements and response times for questions asked while driving were measured. Their verbalizations during the test were also transcribed and coded. Results revealed shorter response times for questions on speed with the exocentric and multimodal HMI. The duration and number of fixations on the speedometer were also greater with the driving-centered HMI. The exocentric and multimodal HMI helped drivers understand the functioning of the system, but was more visually distracting than the traditional HMI. Both HMIs caused mode confusions. The use of a multimodal HMI can be beneficial and should be prioritized by designers. The use of auditory feedback to provide information about the level of automation needs to be explored in longitudinal studies.     

Effects of route familiarity on drivers’ psychological conditions: Based on driving behaviour and driving environment

Route familiarity affects a driver’s mental state and indirectly affects traffic safety; however, this important factor is easily overlooked. Previous research on route familiarity has only analysed psychological states in terms of unfamiliarity and familiarity, the influence of driving behaviour and driving environment on psychological states has been ignored. As a result, the mechanisms through which the route familiarity influence driver psychological states, and vice versa, are unclear. This study proposes a quantitative framework for studying driver psychological condition and route familiarity using experimental data from a real driving task and driving environment data. The experimental data included 1022 observations obtained by 23 participants over 7 consecutive trials on 6 unfamiliar experimental routes with large differences in scenarios; environmental data were automatically extracted after segmenting a driving video through the Dilated Residual NetWorks model. The results reveal that (1) the relationship between the driver’s psychological condition and route familiarity is not monotonic and is different for straight and turning sections; (2) the driver’s psychological condition is influenced by the visual scene elements and the type of road section, and the results of the multivariate regression analysis quantified the variability of the influence; and (3) unlike a majority of findings on distracted driving, our study suggest that the driver’s attention to the external environment in the urban distracted driving state will gradually approach a ‘distraction threshold’, and the time and size of the ‘distraction threshold’ are influenced by the driver. This study can further the development of urban traffic safety research and help urban designers plan and improve urban landscapes to ensure drivers maintain stable mental states when they drive.     

Do drivers differ in their attitudes on speed limit compliance between work and private settings? Results from a group of Nigerian drivers

Existing evidence suggests that drivers, particularly those who work in companies with strong road safety cultures exhibit different sets of speeding attitudes and behaviours in work and private driving. Using Ajzen and Fishbein’s (1980) Theory of Planned behaviour (TPB) and on-road driving experiments, this study examined the self-reported and objective behaviour of driving within posted speed limits for a sample of fleet drivers. The findings show that the TPB explained up to 24% of the variance in intention to comply with speed limits. Drivers’ attitude emerged as the most significant predictor and strongest correlate with intentions to comply with the speed limit in both work and private vehicle.Further analysis revealed participants had a higher intention to comply with speed limits in their work than private vehicle. Also, investigation of the relationship between TPB variables and observed speeding behaviour suggests that participants with higher intention to comply with the speed limit or high perceived behavioural control (PBC), exceeded the speed limit less often than those with lower intention to comply with the speed limit or low PBC. The findings have important theoretical and applied implications for development of better speed limit compliance interventions to improve driving behaviour, and road safety in general.     

Examining the self-enhancement bias: professional truck drivers’ perceptions of speed,safety, skill and consideration

A sample of 1006 professional truck drivers were surveyed on their perceptions of self and average other speeds, consideration, relative safety, and relative skill. A disproportionate frequency of responses is found in the measures of speed, safety, and consideration, but not skill. In the measures of speed and consideration this bias is found to operate in a negative direction. Truck drivers are found to evaluate other road users negatively, they do not demonstrate ‘self-enhancement’ indicative of driver overconfidence. Drivers responsible for the biases are isolated from the sample using a method of triangulation. Background factors relating to driver characteristics and employment conditions are examined. Characteristics of the drivers’ employment indicate the perceptions are related to factors external to the drivers’ self-conceptions. These contrasts provide further support for the contention that the ‘self-enhancement bias’, as it appears in this sample, operates as a negative-other rationalisation.     

Reading and reflecting sacred texts in the presence of the other. An empirical study on the use of ‘scriptural reasoning’ in teacher education

In this article the method of Scriptural Reasoning (SR), a text-based approach to interreligious dialogue between participants of the three Abrahamic religions, was implemented for a teacher education setting at a German university. Not only students with an outspoken religious conviction but also agnostic and atheist students, preparing themselves to become teachers in public schools, were invited into the conversation. The article documents and discusses the qualitative-empirical research in which the SR meetings were embedded. The aim of the article is not to create a hermeneutical theory for SR but rather to explore how SR as a method, with its specific learning tool of text-work, can be turned into a broader didactical model which can be transferred to other learning environments and which can in the long run provide empirical evidence on successful teacher education in multi-religious and multi-worldview societies and schools.     

Effect of design factors on drivers’ understanding of variable message signs locating traffic events

BackgroundThis article addresses how to combine three elements (a pictogram, an arrow, a city) in a variable message sign (VMS) to locate temporary events (e.g., “congestion before Milan”). We adopted the G1c stack model as a design template, an Advanced Directional Sign (ADS) recommended by the 1968 Convention to locate cities, which can be easily adapted to modern VMS. However, as most of the VMS in operation are not full-matrix, we have also adapted this design to more restrictive display conditions. This adaptation critically concerned the arrow function on the message that either points up broadly (generically, as in G1c) or connects with the city more specifically (explicit). Although G1c reads top-down like a verbal text, previous studies indicated drivers’ preference for bottom-up landmark order in VMS, so both ordering criteria were compared in the present study.MethodsThe experiment involved 99 people (70 drivers and 29 drivers in training). Participants were informed that they would see various VMS reporting certain events (e.g., congestion) related to one of four cities along the road. Their task was to identify the event location (before, after the city) after seeing blocks of two consecutive messages (first a complementary message, then the target message), limiting their response to the content of the second message. Three design-focused factors were tested: typographical alignment (left or centre), landmark order (bottom-up or top-down), and arrow function (explicit or generic). The rate of correct location answers was the dependent variable.ResultsResults revealed that comprehension varied greatly depending on the arrow’s function and the placing of elements. In the explicit-arrow messages, comprehension was good both in the Top-down and Bottom-up conditions, but in the generic-arrow messages, only in the Bottom-up condition was comprehension good. Likewise, understanding was better in the Before condition than in the After condition in all combinations of Landmark order and Arrow function conditions. In general, left alignment of the central column elements of the VMS improved comprehension respective to centred alignment. Finally, the complementary message factor had an effect under certain circumstances.Practical implicationsThe messages displaying a generic arrow (following the G1c model) were better understood when the landmarks were ordered bottom-up, not top-down. In addition, explicit-arrow messages were better understood per se (in the absence of a complementary message) than generic-arrow messages. Overall, this work suggests that improving our understanding of how thought processes and design features relate to each other can contribute to safer driving nationally and internationally.     

Postnatal mental health and mothers’ processing of infant emotion: an eye-tracking study

ABSTRACT

Background

Postnatal mental illnesses are associated with less maternal sensitivity. Differences in how mothers with and without mental illness process infant emotions could explain this. People with mental illness in non-perinatal populations show certain processing patterns when viewing emotional faces, but it is not clear whether these patterns are present in mothers.     

Implementation of automatic speed enforcement: Covariation with young drivers’ reported speeding behaviour and motivations

IntroductionSpeeding represents one of the main causes of road crashes worldwide, particularly among young drivers who are over-represented in road-crash statistics. For promoting road safety in France, an automatic speed enforcement (ASE) system was introduced late 2002.ObjectiveIn order to examine its efficiency on speeding and its motivations, we compared young drivers’ intentions and beliefs about speeding between the introduction of ASE (T1) and its completion in 2005 (T2) via a large survey based on the extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). We assumed the introduction of the ASE would covariate with a reduction in intention to speeding between T1 and T2 and a change in the extended TPB factors according to gender and driving experience.MethodOne thousand one hundred and ninety-two young participants (49.7% men) divided into novice, beginner, and more-experienced drivers filled in a questionnaire based on the extended TPB about their driving behaviour and history at T1 and 24 months later (T2).ResultsMen, beginner and more-experienced drivers expressed more intention to speeding within the next 12 months at T1 and showed a higher decrease in intention between T1 and T2 as compared to women and novice drivers. The extended TPB accounted for 59% of the variance in the decrease of the intention to speeding. Its main predictors were: lower perceived behavioural control over speeding, less social pressure, lower perceived similarity with the prototypical deviant driver, and higher comparative optimism. Secondly, slightly more positive behavioural beliefs and more negative outcome evaluations predicted this decrease.ConclusionPractical implications of the findings for road safety are discussed.     

Roadside digital billboard advertisements: Effects of static,transitioning, and animated designs on drivers’ performance and attention

The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the effects of different types of digital billboard advertisements (DBAs) on drivers’ performance and attention allocation. Driver distraction is a major threat to driver safety. DBAs are one form of distraction in drivers’ outside environment. There are many different types of DBAs, such as static images, changing images, or videos. However, it is not clear to what extent each of these contributes to driver distraction. A total of 100 students participated in a controlled driving simulator experiment in an urban environment. Measures of driving performance were collected, as well as eye tracking and EEG as windows into attention allocation. The different types of DBAs investigated were static (a single image), transitioning (one static DBA replaces another), and animated (short videos). The statistical analysis demonstrated that there were significant differences in the effect of each type of DBA on drivers' performance (deviation from the center of the lane and reaction time), visual attention to the road (percent of fixations on the road, percent of fixations on DBAs, fixation duration on DBAs, and number of gazes on DBAs), and the EEG theta band and beta band. These results show that driving performance and attention to the road were both more negatively affected when drivers were exposed to transitioning and animated DBAs as compared to static DBAs. The results of this study provide guidance for the better design and regulation of DBAs in order to minimize driver distraction.     

Pavlov’s position on the effects of decortication on conditional reflexes

This paper examined D. Joravsky’s (1989) hypothesis that I.P. Pavlov dogmatically refused to acknowledge that classical conditioning can be mediated by subcortical regions of the large cerebral hemispheres. Decortication literature from 1901 to 1936 was reviewed. The early studies available to Pavlov, who died in 1936, showed that decortication does not allow the establishment of new or retaining of old conditional reflexes (CRs). G.P. Zelenyi’s later experiments(1930) suggested that the establishment of primitive CRs in decorticated dogs was possible. Pavlov never denied this possibility but cautioned that Zelenyi’s experiments could have been methodologically flawed. Although Joravsky’s original hypothesis on Pavlov’s position on the relation between decortication and the establishment of CRs is by and large accepted, it must be stressed that Pavlov’s theory of higher nervous activity was primarily concerned with the function of the brain in the higher organism’s struggle for existence. Within this context the cortical, rather than subcortical, processes play the decisive role in the organism’s adaptation to the changing external environment.     

Models as signs: extending Kralemann and Lattman’s proposal on modeling models within Peirce’s theory of signs

Synthese - In recent decades, philosophers of science have devoted considerable efforts to understand what models represent. One popular position is that models represent fictional situations....     

Ethics and Technology ‘in the Making’: An Essay on the Challenge of Nanoethics

After reviewing portions of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act that call for examination of societal and ethical issues, this essay seeks to understand how nanoethics can play a role in nanotechnology development. What can and should nanoethics aim to achieve? The focus of the essay is on the challenges of examining ethical issues with regard to a technology that is still emerging, still ‘in the making.’ The literature of science and technology studies (STS) is used to understand the nanotechnology endeavor in a way that makes room for influence by nanoethics. The analysis emphasizes: the contingency of technology and the many actors involved in its development; a conception of technology as sociotechnical systems; and, the values infused (in a variety of ways) in technology. Nanoethicists can be among the many actors who shape the meaning and materiality of an emerging technology. Nevertheless, there are dangers that nanoethicists should try to avoid. The possibility of being co-opted from working along side nanotechnology engineers and scientists is one danger that is inseparable from trying to influence. Related but somewhat different is the danger of not asking about the worthiness of the nanotechnology enterprise as a social investment in the future.     

The application of the random regret minimization model to drivers’ choice of crash avoidance maneuvers

This study explores the plausibility of regret minimization as behavioral paradigm underlying the choice of crash avoidance maneuvers. Alternatively to previous studies that considered utility maximization, this study applies the random regret minimization (RRM) model while assuming that drivers seek to minimize their anticipated regret from their corrective actions. The model accounts for driver attributes and behavior, critical events that made the crash imminent, vehicle and road characteristics, and environmental conditions. Analyzed data are retrieved from the General Estimates System (GES) crash database for the period between 2005 and 2009. The predictive ability of the RRM-based model is slightly superior to its RUM-based counterpart, namely the multinomial logit model (MNL) model. The marginal effects predicted by the RRM-based model are greater than those predicted by the RUM-based model, suggesting that both models should serve as a basis for evaluating crash scenarios and driver warning systems.     

Effects of gait speed on the body’s center of mass motion relative to the center of pressure during over-ground walking

Preferred walking speed (PWS) reflects the integrated performance of the relevant physiological sub-systems, including energy expenditure. It remains unclear whether the PWS during over-ground walking is chosen to optimize one’s balance control because studies on the effects of speed on the body’s balance control have been limited. The current study aimed to bridge the gap by quantifying the effects of the walking speed on the body’s center of mass (COM) motion relative to the center of pressure (COP) in terms of the changes and directness of the COM-COP inclination angle (IA) and its rate of change (RCIA). Data of the COM and COP were measured from fifteen young healthy males at three walking speeds including PWS using a motion capture system. The values of IAs and RCIAs at key gait events and their average values over gait phases were compared between speeds using one-way repeated measures ANOVA. With increasing walking speed, most of the IA and RCIA related variables were significantly increased (p < 0.05) but not for those of the frontal IA. Significant quadratic trends (p < 0.05) with highest directness at PWS were found in IA during single-limb support, and in RCIA during single-limb and double-limb support. The results suggest that walking at PWS corresponded to the COM-COP control maximizing the directness of the RCIAs over the gait cycle, a compromise between the effects of walking speed and the speed of weight transfer. The data of IA and RCIA at PWS may be used in future assessment of balance control ability in people with different levels of balance impairments.     

Women’s preference of therapist based on sex of therapist and presenting problem: An analog study

An analog study was conducted to examine differences in women’s preference for and anticipated comfort self-disclosing to hypothetical therapists of different sexes based on the type of hypothetical presenting problem. The impact of general level of self-disclosure was also examined. Participants included female college students (n?=?187). Anticipated comfort self-disclosing to male or female therapist was rated by subjects when presented with therapists of each sex with the same qualifications. Women preferred and reported higher levels of anticipated comfort self-disclosing to a female therapist. The type of hypothetical presenting problem and general level of self-disclosure also impacted anticipated comfort self-disclosing. There was an interaction between general level self-disclosure and the sex of therapist on anticipated comfort self-disclosing. General level of self-disclosure only impacted anticipated comfort self-disclosing when the therapist was male. This information is relevant for therapists or organizations that provide psychosocial services to women. Organizations may want to inquire about a client’s preferences about sex of therapist beforehand and, if possible, cater to the client’s preference.