Increasing safety-belt use in Spanish drivers: a field test of personal prompts

A variation of the ABAB experimental design was used to assess the impact of a verbal prompt on safety-belt use for those traveling by urban roads and highways in Spain. The personal prompt resulted in an increase (29.6%) in safety-belt use among drivers traveling on urban roads. This research shows that the impact of personal prompts can be generalized to cultures outside the United States.     

Long-term benefits of prompts to use safety belts among drivers exiting senior communities

Senior drivers are vulnerable to automobile crashes and subsequent injury and death. Safety belts reduce health risks associated with auto crashes. Therefore, it is important to encourage senior drivers to wear safety belts while driving. Using a repeated baseline design (AAB), we previously reported that motivating signs boosted safety belt usage by drivers exiting senior communities from baseline (72% and 68% usage), to postinstallation of signs (94%), to 6 months follow-up (80%). The current study was a 4-year follow-up in which six senior communities, with seat belt signs, were compared to six matched control senior communities with no signs. Safety belt usage was stable, across 4 years, at approximately 80% for both male and female drivers and front seat passengers for the six communities with signs, and was approximately 55% for control sites. These finding suggest that the simple and low-cost intervention of erecting signs to prompt safety belt use has persistent benefits that affect driver and passenger behavior alike.     

Motivating signage prompts safety belt use among drivers exiting senior communities

Senior drivers are vulnerable to automobile crashes and subsequent injury and death. Safety belts reduce health risks associated with auto crashes. Therefore, it is important to encourage senior drivers to wear safety belts while driving. Using an AB design, replicated five times, we evaluated the short- and long-term effects of a sign with the message "BUCKLE UP, STAY SAFE" attached to a stop sign at the exits of five different senior communities. Safety belt use was stable during two pretreatment assessments averaged across the five sites and 250 drivers (72% and 68% usage), but significantly increased following installation of these signs (94% usage). Six months after installation of the signs, the effect persisted (88% usage). Use of such signs may be a cost-effective way of promoting safety belt use.     

The effects of advance stop lines and sign prompts on pedestrian safety in a crosswalk on a multilane highway

The effects of specific signs and stop line bars designed to influence motorists to stop further back from the crosswalk when yielding right of way to pedestrians were evaluated using a reversal design. The introduction of the prompt and stop line reduced motor vehicle—pedestrian conflicts (near collisions) by almost 80%. This finding was replicated in a second experiment the following year on two streets using a multiple baseline design. The use of the advance stop line is now being incorporated by the Provincial Department of Transportation for marking crosswalks on multilane streets.     

The behavioral impact of an advertising campaign to promote safety belt use.

Safety belt use was observed at one restaurant during McDonald''s "Make It Click" promotional campaign. Following baseline, the program was monitored without intervention. During the final 2 weeks of the campaign an incentive strategy was added providing a large soft drink contingent on safety belt use. Safety belt use did not change from baseline levels before the incentive phase. The rate of belt use increased under contingent reward and declined during follow-up. The effects of a verbal prompt could not be assessed because of the almost nonexistent use of the "Make It Click" stickers throughout the study.     

Comparing the effects of echoic prompts and echoic prompts plus modeled prompts on intraverbal behavior

We compared strategies to teach vocal intraverbal responses to an adolescent diagnosed with autism and Down syndrome. One strategy involved echoic prompts only. The second strategy involved an echoic prompt paired with a modeled prompt in the form of sign language. Presenting the modeled prompt with the echoic prompt resulted in faster acquisition of correct responding. Results are discussed in terms of using functional stimulus classes to facilitate vocal intraverbal acquisition with learners who have a history of sign language training.     

The effects of directive and nondirective prompts on noncompliant vocal behavior exhibited by a child with autism

Results of an analogue functional analysis indicated that noncompliant vocal behavior exhibited by a young girl with autism was maintained by negative reinforcement. Follow-up analyses suggested that the immediate escape contingency assessed in the demand condition did not appear to maintain the behavior. Instead, noncompliant vocal behavior occurred in response to directive prompts. Nondirective prompts reduced noncompliant vocal behavior to near zero.     

Prompting safety belt use: comparative impact on the target behavior and relevant body language

ResearcherS used two behavioral prompts to compare increases in safety belt use: a Click It or Ticket prompt or a Flash-for-Life prompt. Participants were 1,822 unbuckled drivers exiting two student parking lots of a large university. Research assistants identified unbuckled drivers, flashed one of the two prompts, and recorded whether drivers buckled after the prompt and the drivers' facial expressions and hand gestures. Findings and implications are discussed.     

Brief training to promote the use of less intrusive prompts by nursing assistants in a dementia care unit

We evaluated the efficacy of a brief staff-training procedure to increase the use of graduated prompting by 2 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) while they helped to dress 3 persons with dementia in a seven-bed dementia care unit. The multiple baseline design across participants showed that CNAs dressed residents with minimal resident involvement during baseline observations. Following brief in-service training, CNAs provided graduated prompts and praise appropriately, suggesting that CNAs can promote active involvement in personal care routines by older adults with dementia.     

The effectiveness of contingency-specific and contingency-nonspecific prompts in controlling bathroom graffiti

This study replicates and extends the work of Watson (1996) in which a sign eliminated graffiti when posted on bathroom walls. The present study investigated the effects of three different signs on walls in six men's bathrooms located on a university campus. Posting the signs was followed by the elimination or sharp reduction of graffiti. Removal of the signs was followed by a resurgence of graffiti.     

A behavioral analysis of incentive prompts for motivating seat belt use

The seat belt usage of drivers was observed at the entrance to two campus parking lots during morning arrival times. After 11 days of baseline, fliers which prompted seat belt wearing were handed to drivers of incoming vehicles. At one parking lot all fliers offered a chance to win a prize (noncontingent rewards); while at the second lot only those fliers given to seat belt wearers included a chance to win a prize (contingent rewards). After 24 consecutive observation days, these interventions were removed for 14 days of withdrawal. The recording of vehicle license plates enabled an analysis of belt usage per individual over repeated exposures to the experimental conditions. At the lot with the contingent reward intervention, mean belt usage was 26.3% during baseline, 45.7% during treatment, and 37.9% during withdrawal. At the noncontingent reward lot, the mean percentage of belt wearing was 22.2% during baseline, 24.1% during treatment, and 21.8% during withdrawal. The analysis of repeated exposures per individual verified that only contingent rewards influenced substantial increases in belt wearing, and showed that most of the influence occurred after the initial incentive prompt.     

Cues-pause-point language training: teaching echolalics functional use of their verbal labeling repertoires.

We evaluated the direct and generalized effects of cues-pause-point language training procedures on immediate echolalia and correct responding in two severely retarded females. Two experiments were conducted with each subject in which the overall goal was to encourage them to remain quiet before, during, and briefly after the presentation of questions and then to verbalize on the basis of environmental cues whose labels represented the correct responses. Multiple baseline designs across question/response pairs (Experiment I) or question/response pairs and settings (Experiment II) demonstrated that echolalia was rapidly replaced by correct responding on the trained stimuli. More importantly, there were clear improvements in subjects'' responding to untrained stimuli. Results demonstrated that the cues-pause-point procedures can be effective in teaching severely retarded or echolalic individuals functional use of their verbal labeling repertoires.     

A comparison of prompts and feedback for promoting handwashing in university restrooms

We compared the effects of prompts versus feedback on handwashing behavior across six restrooms at a large university. We evaluated the effects using two separate multiple baseline designs across three men's and three women's restrooms. Results indicate that feedback was more effective for increasing handwashing.     

The effects of nighttime seat belt enforcement on seat belt use by tavern patrons: a preliminary analysis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of police enforcement and the use of signs and posters in promoting seat belt use by nighttime tavern patrons. Ten taverns in two cities served as sites. Data were collected on the nighttime seat belt use of tavern patrons and daytime citywide seat belt use. Results indicated that the intervention increased nighttime seat belt use by tavern patrons. Daytime seat belt use increased in one city and remained at a high level in the other following the intervention. Because previous research has shown that tavern patrons are overrepresented in the impaired driving population, and that seat belt use decreases the likelihood of serious injury or death, results of this study suggest that enforcement of seat belt use could reduce casualties resulting from impaired driving.     

The impact of verbal instructions on goal-directed behaviour

It is common to use verbal instructions when performing complex tasks. To evaluate how such instructions contribute to cognitive control, mixing costs (as a measure of sustained concentration on task) were evaluated in two task-switching experiments combining the list and alternating runs paradigms. Participants responded to bivalent stimuli according to a characteristic explicitly defined by a visually presented instructional cue. The processing of the cue was conducted under four conditions across the two experiments: Silent Reading, Reading Aloud, Articulatory Suppression, and dual mode (visual and audio) presentation. The type of cue processing produced a substantial impact on the mixing costs, where its magnitude was greatest with articulatory suppression and minimal with reading aloud and dual mode presentations. Interestingly, silently reading the cue only provided medium levels of mixing cost. The experiments demonstrate that relevant verbal instructions boost sustained concentration on task goals when maintaining multiple tasks.     

结伴购物情境下消费者冲动购买行为发生机理

冲动性购买是生活中的常见现象, 也是消费者行为研究的重要子领域。围绕单人购物情境下的冲动购买研究成果较多, 而对结伴购物情境下的冲动购买行为研究明显不足。聚焦结伴购物情境下消费者的冲动购买现象, 基于“欲望-意志力”模型, 在情绪感染理论、归因理论等理论基础之上, 采用焦点访谈法、实验法、问卷调查法等研究方法, 从欲望和意志力两个方面, 深入探讨结伴购物消费者冲动购买行为发生的内部决策机理。研究结论将丰富现有结伴购物情境下的冲动购买行为研究内容, 也为企业营销实践、个人冲动购买行为管理以及政府部门开展消费者教育提供理论指导。     

Evaluation of two methods of prompting drivers to use specific exits on conflicts between vehicles at the critical exit

The Florida Department of Transportation used a series of changeable-message signs that functioned as freeway guide signs to divert traffic to Universal Theme Park via one of two eastbound exits based on traffic congestion at the first of the two exits. An examination of crashes along the entire route indicated a statistically significant increase in crashes at the first eastbound exit following the actuation of the system. Furthermore, all of the crashes occurred in close proximity to the exit gore (the crosshatched area at exits that drivers are not supposed to enter or traverse) at the first exit. In Experiment 1, behavioral data were collected using an alternating treatments design. These data revealed that reassigning the exit signs was effective in producing a change in the percentage of drivers using each of the two exits. These data also showed that the reassignment of the theme park exit was associated with an increase in the percentage of motor vehicle conflicts that consisted of vehicles cutting across the exit gore. An analysis revealed that the method used for switching the designated or active theme park exit on the series of changeable-message signs led to the presentation of conflicting messages to some motorists, thus resulting in erratic driving behavior (cutting across the exit gore). In Experiment 2, the treatment evaluated the use of a phased method of switching the designated theme park exit to eliminate the delivery of conflicting messages. The new method for switching the designated theme park exit was not associated with an increase in motorists cutting across the exit gore.     

The impact of early maternal verbal scaffolding and child language abilities on later decoding and reading comprehension skills

This study examined, via structural equation modeling, early predictors of children's 8 year reading decoding and 10 year comprehension at later school age. Maternal verbal scaffolding indirectly influenced both decoding and comprehension, through its support of children's language abilities at 3 and 4 years of age. Additionally, there was a trend for a direct effect of 4 year child language on reading comprehension at 10 years. As maternal verbal scaffolding was assessed during every day routines, this suggests that rich language input in the broad social context of the home promotes language and, in turn, later reading skills. Given that maternal verbal scaffolding can be enhanced through interventions, these results have important educational implications.