Travel time and concurrent-schedule choice: retrospective versus prospective control

Six pigeons were trained on concurrent variable-interval schedules in which two different travel times between alternatives, 4.5 and 0.5 s, were randomly arranged. In Part 1, the next travel time was signaled while the subjects were responding on each alternative. Generalized matching analyses of performance in the presence of the two travel-time signals showed significantly higher response and time sensitivity when the longer travel time was signaled compared to when the shorter time was signaled. When the data were analyzed as a function of the previous travel time, there were no differences in sensitivity. Dwell times on the alternatives were consistently longer in the presence of the stimulus that signaled the longer travel time than they were in the presence of the stimulus that signaled the shorter travel time. These results are in accord with a recent quantitative account of the effects of travel time. In Part 2, no signals indicating the next travel time were given. When these data were analyzed as a function of the previous travel time, time-allocation sensitivity after the 4.5-s travel time was significantly greater than that after the 0.5-s travel time, but no such difference was found for response allocation. Dwell times were also longer when the previous travel time had been longer.     

The return trip effect: Why the return trip often seems to take less time

Three studies confirm the existence of the return trip effect: The return trip often seems shorter than the initial trip, even though the distance traveled and the actual time spent traveling are identical. A pretest shows that people indeed experience a return trip effect regularly, and the effect was found on a bus trip (Study 1), a bicycle trip (Study 2), and when participants watched a video of someone else traveling (Study 3). The return trip effect also existed when another, equidistant route was taken on the return trip, showing that it is not familiarity with the route that causes this effect. Rather, it seems that a violation of expectations causes this effect.     

Effects of experience on the coordination of internally and externally timed soccer kicks

The authors investigated differences in the soccer kick between 8 experienced and 10 less experienced participants in 2 different task conditions (kicking a stationary ball or a moving ball at a target). The experienced participants were more accurate than their less experienced counterparts, whereas there were no differences in maximum foot velocity between groups or between conditions. When compared with their performance in the stationary condition, participants kicked the moving ball with a smaller range of movement at the knee of the kicking leg, maintaining a proximodistal coordination pattern. Because of their significantly shorter knee-flexion phase, the participants in the experienced group displayed a significantly shorter time between initiation of the forward swing of the kick and ball contact than that of those in the less experienced group. The rapid knee flexion may have been a strategy of exploiting passive dynamics to increase accuracy rather than velocity. Members of both groups showed a proximodistal initiation sequence in the kicking leg, which suggests that players can acquire that coordination pattern with relatively little structured practice and that further practice leads to improvement possibly through the increased exploitation of passive dynamics.     

Prospective and retrospective time perception are related to mental time travel: Evidence from Alzheimer’s disease

Unlike prospective time perception paradigms, in which participants are aware that they have to estimate forthcoming time, little is known about retrospective time perception in normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Our paper addresses this shortcoming by comparing prospective and retrospective time estimation in younger adults, older adults, and AD patients. In four prospective tasks (lasting 30 s, 60 s, 90 s, or 120 s) participants were asked to read a series of numbers and to provide a verbal estimation of the reading time. In four other retrospective tasks, they were not informed about time judgment until they were asked to provide a verbal estimation of four elapsed time intervals (lasting 30 s, 60 s, 90 s, or 120 s). AD participants gave shorter verbal time estimations than older adults and younger participants did, suggesting that time is perceived to pass quickly in these patients. For all participants, the duration of the retrospective tasks was underestimated as compared to the prospective tasks and both estimations were shorter than the real time interval. Prospective time estimation was further correlated with mental time travel, as measured with the Remember/Know paradigm. Mental time travel was even higher correlated with retrospective time estimation. Our findings shed light on the relationship between time perception and the ability to mentally project oneself into time, two skills contributing to human memory functioning. Finally, time perception deficits, as observed in AD patients, can be interpreted in terms of dramatic changes occurring in frontal lobes and hippocampus.     

Making decisions with the future in mind: Developmental and comparative identification of mental time travel

Mechanisms that produce behavior which increase future survival chances provide an adaptive advantage. The flexibility of human behavior is at least partly the result of one such mechanism, our ability to travel mentally in time and entertain potential future scenarios. We can study mental time travel in children using language. Current results suggest that key developments occur between the ages of three to five. However, linguistic performance can be misleading as language itself is developing. We therefore advocate the use of methodologies that focus on future-oriented action. Mental time travel required profound changes in humans’ motivational system, so that current behavior could be directed to secure not just present, but individually anticipated future needs. Such behavior should be distinguishable from behavior based on current drives, or on other mechanisms. We propose an experimental paradigm that provides subjects with an opportunity to act now to satisfy a need not currently experienced. This approach may be used to assess mental time travel in nonhuman animals. We conclude by describing a preliminary study employing an adaptation of this paradigm for children.     

Commuting by car or public transportation? A social dilemma analysis of travel mode judgements

The current paper analyses judgements regarding the decision to commute by car versus public transportation in terms of a conflict between immediate self-interest and long-term collective interest (i.e. social dilemma). Extending traditional formulations of rational choice theory, the present study revealed that preferences for public transportation (i.e. the presumed cooperative option) in a standard commuting situation were enhanced not only by the belief that public transportation provided a shorter average travel time than car (i.e. the presumed noncooperative option), but also by the belief that public transportation was at least as reliable (i.e. an equal or lower variability in travel time compared to car). Moreover, paralleling prior research on experimental social dilemmas, preferences were found to be affected by a pro-social concern—the belief regarding the impact of cars on the level of environmental pollution. Our findings indicated that any combination of two such considerations (i.e. travel time, variability, and impact of cars on pollution) was m ore effective in promoting public transportation preferences than the sum of their separate effects. Finally, we obtained evidence that commuter preferences were also shaped by individual differences in social value orientations (i.e. preferences for patterns of outcomes for self and others) in that, relative to pro-self commuters, pro-social commuters exhibited greater preference for public transportation.     

Women’s everyday mobility: Frightening situations and their impacts on travel behaviour

This paper investigates frightening situations women face in their everyday mobility. The focus is not on serious criminal offences but rather on all situations causing fear such as harassment and the influence on the travel behaviour of women. Two surveys were conducted in Austria in 2012 and 2013 to assess whether and how many women are affected and to get insights in locations of the incidents and the circumstances. The personal security aspects of different modes of transport are investigated. The results show that women who experienced frightening situations tend to avoid certain destinations or routes and travel modes more than other women. The results also confirm that women in general have constrained travel behaviour because of fear about their personal security. When it is impossible to change route or travel time e.g. due to personal restraints, or when simply no other transport mode is available, women are captives to use unwanted transport options, even when they have to reckon with frightening situations. The conclusions summarize that women’s personal security plays an important role in terms of travel behaviour and increased attention should be paid by authorities as well as city- and transport planners striving for sustainable built environments. As the share of affected women is high and it can be assumed that women are more often imperilled than men the questions arises, if this can be assimilated to unequal mobility opportunities, finally resulting in a social deficiency for women.     

Internal causes of return trip effect based on eye movement and EEG indices

When traveling by car, the driver normally feels that the return trip is shorter than the outbound trip. The reason for this feeling, called return trip effect, is not clear. To explore the internal causes of this return trip effect, an indoor driving simulation experiment and a real car driving experiment were performed in this study. Questionnaires were used to obtain the estimated time of the outbound and return trips of the drivers. An eye tracker and an electroencephalograph equipment were used to record driver's eye movement and EEG data in the real-car driving experiment. The physiological indices and questionnaire results showed that the difference in the driver's cognitive loads of the outbound and return trips was the internal cause of the return trip effect. Drivers who were unfamiliar with the road had a different cognitive load between the two trips, which resulted in the return trip effect. However, drivers who were familiar with the road did not experience a return trip effect due to the close cognitive loads of the two trips.     

The Influence of Time Estimation and Time‐Saving Preferences on Learning to Make Temporally Dependent Decisions from Experience

In this paper, we merge research related to experiential learning, temporal perception, and the value of time and money by examining decisions where the timing of action (response) determines the outcome received. We predicted that time‐saving preferences and impatience would decrease maximization (i.e., taking action when it returned the largest reward), and that the constraints of temporal perception would compound their effects. Across three studies, participants undershot on average (i.e., responded earlier than the period of time during which a response would return the maximal reward) showed a preference for shorter‐delay options and often did not find the maximal reward. In addition, participants' reliance on temporal perception increased undershooting, increased preferences for shorter‐delay options, and reduced maximization. Nevertheless, participants who found the maximal reward continued to maximize at a high rate rather than opting for shorter delays and smaller rewards. Thus, while most participants appeared to have a preference for saving time, most behaved as reward maximizers rather than temporal discounters. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Routine and the perception of time

The authors investigated the influence of routine on people's estimation of time, testing the hypothesis that duration is remembered as being shorter when time is spent in a routine activity. In 4 experiments and 2 field studies, the authors compared time estimations in routine and nonroutine conditions. Routine was established by a sequence of markers (Study 1), variation of the task (Studies 2 and 3), or the number of repetitive blocks (Study 4). As hypothesized, the duration of the task was remembered as being shorter in routine conditions than in nonroutine ones. This trend was reversed in experienced (prospective) judgments when participants were informed beforehand of the duration-judgment task (Study 3). In Studies 5 and 6, the authors examined remembered duration judgments of vacationers and kibbutz members, which provided further support for the main hypothesis.     

Unemployment alters the set point for life satisfaction

Abstract— According to set-point theories of subjective well-being, people react to events but then return to baseline levels of happiness and satisfaction over time. We tested this idea by examining reaction and adaptation to unemployment in a 15-year longitudinal study of more than 24,000 individuals living in Germany. In accordance with set-point theories, individuals reacted strongly to unemployment and then shifted back toward their baseline levels of life satisfaction. However, on average, individuals did not completely return to their former levels of satisfaction, even after they became reemployed. Furthermore, contrary to expectations from adaptation theories, people who had experienced unemployment in the past did not react any less negatively to a new bout of unemployment than did people who had not been previously unemployed. These results suggest that although life satisfaction is moderately stable over time, life events can have a strong influence on long-term levels of subjective well-being.     

Travel and residual emotional well-being

This study addresses the question of how work commutes change positive versus negative and active versus passive mood experienced after the commutes. Analyses are presented for 230 time-sampled morning commutes to work, made by 146 randomly sampled people in three different Swedish cities, asking them to use smartphones to report mood before, directly after, and later in the work place after the commute. The results show that self-reported positive emotional responses evoked by critical incidents are related to mood changes directly after the commute but not later in the day. It is also shown that satisfaction with the commute, measured retrospectively, is related to travel mode, travel time, as well as both positive and negative emotional responses to critical incidents.     

The influence of social interaction on the dynamics of employees’ psychological contracting in digitally transforming organizations

ABSTRACT

This paper takes a process perspective in exploring the influence of social interaction on the dynamics of psychological contracting throughout organizational change. Although social interaction is a key focus in social exchange theory, this aspect is largely overlooked in the current psychological contract literature. In this qualitative study, we adopt a retrospective design, asking change recipients to recollect events over time in the context of digital transformation in Dutch travel organizations. Our data reveal a sequence of different kinds of social interactions over the course of a change process, from collective-focused interactions (i.e., kindness and sharing) in stable contracts to transactional interactions (i.e., “what is in it for me”) following psychological contract disruption, to relational interactions (i.e., vigilance about equity in social exchange) in psychological contract repair, and to a final return to resonance and alignment with others and a return to psychological contract maintenance. Our results suggest that social interactions play a more potent role in the dynamics of psychological contracting than is currently recognized in the literature. Finally, we discuss a number of implications for dynamic models of psychological contracting.     

Comparing the glance patterns of older versus younger experienced drivers: Scanning for hazards while approaching and entering the intersection

Older drivers are known to look less often for hazards when turning at T-intersections or at four way intersections. The present study is an extension of Romoser and Fisher (2009) and attempts to further analyze the differences in scanning behavior between older and experienced younger drivers in intersections. We evaluated four hypotheses that attempt to explain the older drivers’ failure to properly scan in intersections: difficulty with head movements, decreases in working memory capacity, increased distractibility, and failure to recall specific scanning patterns. To test these hypotheses, older and younger experienced drivers’ point-of-gaze was monitored while they drove a series of simulated intersections with hidden hazards outside of the turning path. Our results suggest that none of these hypotheses can fully explain our finding that older adults are more likely to remain fixated on their intended path of travel and look less than younger drivers towards other areas where likely hazards might materialize. Instead, the results support a complementary hypothesis that at least some of the difficulties older adults have scanning intersections are due to a specific attentional deficit in the older drivers’ ability to inhibit what has become their prepotent goal of monitoring the vehicle’s intended path of travel, thereby causing older drivers to fail to scan hazardous areas outside this intended path of travel.     

车辆追随条件下驾驶员知觉行人危险的经验优势

危险知觉是指驾驶员在交通情境中对明显危险和潜在危险的识别、预测和反应的认知加工过程,是驾驶员对当前交通情境形成的连续而富于变化的复合认知表征。以往研究表明,对于行人过马路这类明显危险,新手和经验驾驶员危险知觉表现都非常出色。但是当明显危险（行人）和潜在危险（前车制动）并存时,经验驾驶员对明显危险的知觉反应是否会突显出优势呢？本研究通过设置两种交通场景：行人单一危险条件和行人-前车双重危险条件,考察不同经验人群对行人危险的反应及眼动特点。在第一个研究中,使用Tobii T120型眼动仪,通过反应时和眼动结合的方法,考察不同危险场景中,不同驾驶经验对驾驶员知觉行人危险的行为反应数据（反应时和正确率）及眼动指标（平均注视时间和水平搜索广度）的影响。采用2（交通场景：行人场景、行人-前车场景）×3（组别：无驾照组、新手组、经验组）两因素混合实验设计,其中交通场景是组内变量,组别为组间变量。因变量为驾驶员对行人危险进行反应的行为数据（反应时和正确率）及眼动数据（平均注视时间和水平搜索广度）。实验要求被试观看交通场景视频,当发现危险时,立刻按键反应。实验结果表明：在有前车条件下,经验组被试的反应时快于新手组（p=.039）和无驾照组（p=.013）,F(2,30)=3.98,p=.029。无驾照组被试对行人的平均注视时间长于经验组（p=.043）和新手组（p=.024）,F(2,30)=3.39,p=.047,ηp2= .18。无驾照组被试对场景的水平搜索广度均小于经验组（p=.006）和新手组（p=.016）,F(2,30)=5.17,p=.012,ηp2= .26。在第二个研究中,对研究一的数据进行了深入分析,考察双重危险场景中驾驶经验对驾驶员知觉行人危险及信息加工效率的影响。采用2（兴趣区类型：行人、前车）×3（组别：无驾照组、新手组、经验组）两因素混合实验设计,其中兴趣区类型是组内变量,组别为组间变量。因变量为搜索行人和前车时的眼动数据（总注视时间、搜索次数和平均搜索时间）。研究结果表明：经验组驾驶员对前车的总注视时间显著短于新手组（p=.014）和无驾照组（p=.003）,F(2,30)=5.99,p=.006。经验组驾驶员对前车的平均搜索视时间显著短于新手组（p=.014）和无驾照组（p=.004）,F(2,30)=5.50,p=.009。在有前车条件下,控制了性别、年龄后,驾驶员对前车的平均搜索时间越长,对行人的危险反应时越长（β=.393,p＜0.05,R2=.308）。这些结果说明：无经验和新手驾驶员糟糕的搜索行为不仅仅是由于操作抢夺认知资源或者情绪紧张导致的。危险的信息加工效率更低,搜索模式不够灵活,也是导致新手驾驶员行人碰撞事故率更高的原因之一。驾驶员培训有助于提高驾驶员对明显危险的信息加工效率和搜索模式灵活性。积累更多的驾驶经验可以提升驾驶员对潜在危险的的视觉搜索和注意资源分配效率,从而加快危险反应时间。未来的驾驶员培训应加强对新手驾驶员搜索技能的培训,并持续提供更多的驾驶员继续教育机会。     

Travel choice and the goal/process utility distinction

The concept of utility emanating from decision theory is employed in applied research aiming to understand and forecast the travel choices the general public make. Related to a distinction between telic and autotelic motivational theories, it is argued that in this area the prevalent definition of utility as goal-related evaluations of outcomes of activities (goal utility) needs to be complemented by the notion that utility is also experienced from performing the activities themselves (process utility). The validity of the distinction thus introduced between goal and process utility was demonstrated empirically in two studies of choices of travel destinations. In Experiment 1, one group of students rated the likelihood of patronizing fictitious grocery stores and another group rated the likelihood of impulse purchases in these stores. In addition to travel time, the rated likelihood of patronizing the stores was independently affected by the number of desirable goods available to purchase (goal utility) and the quality of personal services provided by staff (process utility). In contrast, the rated likelihood of impulse purchases was only affected by the latter. In Experiment 2, similar results were obtained for choices of fictitious grocery stores by a representative sample of car-owning households participating in a travel survey.     

Remember judgments and the constraint of direct experience

The most direct assessment of episodic memory is provided by Remember versus Know judgments of recalled or recognised items. We investigate whether Remember judgments reflect episodic memories as a re-experience of formerly experienced events (mental time travel). If they do, they must obey the direct experience constraint: only directly experienced events can be re-experienced but not when the event is known through indirectly conveyed information. In two Experiments participants saw simple events in Power Point, e.g. a car exploding. In the direct experience condition these events were directly perceived. In three further conditions information about the object (particular car), the kind of event (explosion), or both were verbally conveyed. After controlling for a potential encoding specificity effect in Experiment 1, the frequency of Remember judgments was twice as high in the direct experience condition than in the other three conditions. This suggests that Remember judgments are—at least to some degree—subject to the direct experience constraint.     

Predictors of Length of Stay Among Youths Hospitalized in State Hospitals in Illinois

Using data from the Integrated Database on Children and Family Services in Illinois, we examined factors associated with the length of psychiatric hospitalization of youths in state hospitals between July 1, 1987 and June 30, 1992. Univariate analysis indicated that those diagnosed with attention deficit, psychotic, and conduct disorder experienced longer hospitalizations. In contrast, youths diagnosed with depressive disorders, drug and alcohol disorders, and adjustment disorders had shorter hospitalizations. Youths receiving services from multiple sectors of the human service delivery system experienced longer hospitalizations. Youths living in communities with state hospital linked community-based mental health services had shorter hospitalizations. Males experienced longer hospitalizations than females and African American youths experienced longer hospitalizations than White youths. Hispanic youths experienced shorter stays than either White or African American youths. The proportional hazards model indicated that being female, a history of previous admissions, multiservice use, and dangerousness were all associated with the decreased likelihood of discharge. Psychotic, attention deficit, and bipolar disorders were also associated with a decreased likelihood of hospital discharge. Youths with depressive disorders and African Americans with psychotic disorders had an increased likelihood of discharge. Increased age was also associated with the increased likelihood of discharge.     

Would you rather teleport or spend some time commuting? Investigating individuals’ teleportation preferences

The “teleportation test” is a unique question—used in some travel behavior research since the 2000s—to examine individuals’ perceptions towards travel time and affinities for travel. It gives people a hypothetical choice between teleporting or spending some time traveling. All studies (using different methods, including focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires) have consistently reported high teleportation preferences (about 70%). Yet, few correlates of teleportation preferences (especially sociodemographic and perceptual characteristics) have been investigated. Using data from an online questionnaire of 648 commuters in Portland, Oregon, this study investigated factors affecting individuals’ teleportation preferences. While generally representative of the area’s commuters, the sample did have higher shares of high-income workers and people using active modes or transit. Overall, 62% of respondents preferred to teleport than to spend some time commuting. Results from binary logit models identified actual commute duration, typical mode of travel, and “ideal” travel time (but no demographic attributes) as major predictors of preferences to teleport. As expected, people with longer commute durations had a greater desire to teleport, whereas bicyclists and pedestrians more often preferred to commute. People with longer ideal travel times had a greater affinity to commute and were less keen to teleport. Analysis of follow-up questions exploring reasons for respondents’ answers suggested that most “teleporters” were motivated by saving time to do other things, while most “commuters” found parts of their commutes to be enjoyable or productive. Findings from this study are consistent with related studies in implying that a teleportation preference does not necessarily represent zero ideal travel time or viewing travel time as wasted. Finally, this study discusses several travel behavior policy implications of the teleportation test, along with limitations and areas for future research.