A study of the compliance level of connected vehicle warning information in a fog warning system based on a driving simulation

The accidents in the freeway are frequent and more serious on foggy days. Connected vehicle (CV) technology as a new technology can inform drivers of fog conditions in advance so the drivers can adjust their driving behaviors through Human Machine Interface (HMI) and Dynamic Message Sign (DMS) in the fog warning system. The level of driver's compliance with a fog warning system is the key to assessing the effectiveness of the fog warning system. To evaluate the compliance level of fog warning system, the study established a CV system testing platform based on driving simulator, and analyzed the changes in driving behavior and influencing factors for drivers under three different visibility conditions (No fog, light fog and heavy fog) based on the platform, finally, comprehensive evaluation of the optimal fog warning system under different foggy conditions based on the compliance level were made. Research indicators are divided into three aspects: 1) the response degree, including the mean speed, the minimum speed in the fog zone, the difference of the speeds when entering and leaving the fog zone, the proportion of speed following, and the speed reduction proportion prompt; 2) the response start time, which is the time to start slowing down to the speed limit; and 3) the response time duration, namely, the time in which the speed limit is followed. The results show that the response degree of the driver to the fog warning system is high, the fog warning system can effectively reduce the driving speed of the drivers and improve the speed following proportion of the drivers, the deceleration ratio of the driver at each warning point is relatively high, and the influencing factors of various indicators are complex but are mostly related to visibility and technical level. Comprehensive evaluation results show that the warning mode of the combined HMI and DMS has the highest level of compliance under light fog conditions, and when fog concentration increases, compliance level of fog warning system with HMI only is higher than others. The study establishes a reference platform for CV system and provides methods and index system for the compliance level of CV research.     

The time-saving bias, speed choices and driving behavior

When drivers are asked to estimate how much time can be saved by increasing speed, they generally underestimate the time saved when increasing from a relatively low speed and overestimate the time saved when increasing from a relatively high speed. This time-saving bias has been demonstrated to affect drivers’ estimations of driving speed as well as drivers’ personal choice of speed. Specifically, drivers with a high time-saving bias chose unduly high speeds, which sometimes results in speeding, more frequently than drivers with a lower degree of the bias. This study sought to determine whether this relationship would be mediated by individual differences in driving behavior – including drivers’ attitudes, norms and habits regarding speeding behavior as well as their level of aberrant driving behavior (committing aggressive or ordinary violations, errors or lapses in driving, measured by the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire). The results showed that the time-saving bias predicted estimations of required speed better than any of these factors, and also better than drivers’ age, gender, education and income, as well as the number of years they have had a license and their monthly driving kilometrage, their prior speeding violations and crash involvement. In predicting drivers’ personal speed choices, the time-saving bias was second only to the frequency of committing ordinary violations.     

Nonadversarial Methods for Sensitizing Jurors to Eyewitness Evidence

Tested the effects, on juror decision making, of court-appointed expert testimony and judge's instructions designed to sensitize jurors to eyewitness evidence. Subjects ( N = 144) viewed a videotaped trial in which the primary evidence was the testimony of and identification by an eyewitness. Three levels of expert advice (court-appointed expert, judge's instructions, no expert advice) were crossed with two levels of witnessing and identification conditions and two levels of witness confidence The court-appointed expert produced skepticism toward the identification but did not improve juror sensitivity to the eyewitness evidence. The judge's instructions produced neither skepticism or sensitization effects.     

Behavioral changes to repeated takeovers in automated driving: The drivers’ ability to transfer knowledge and the effects of takeover request process

Only a couple of studies evaluated whether drivers of automated vehicles change their takeover behavior when they experience takeover requests repeatedly. Even less evidence was accumulated regarding the question whether drivers are able to transfer learned behavior to takeover situations with varying visibility characteristics and whether drivers’ takeover behavior depends on the takeover process in these situations. This paper therefore examines three research questions. First, it assesses how drivers change their behavior with the repeated experience of a takeover situation with the same visibility (fog or no fog). Second, it tests whether drivers can transfer their learned takeover behavior from a takeover situation with high or low visibility to the same takeover situation with different visibility conditions. Third, it assesses whether drivers’ takeover behavior and their experience of the situation differ between a one-step and a two-step takeover request process. Forty participants experienced a takeover situation three times. Experimental trials varied between-subjects concerning the permanent presence or absence of fog in the adaptation condition, the change of visibility conditions from fog to no fog or vice versa in the transfer condition, and the design of the takeover process with one-step or two-steps. Dependent variables included participants’ takeover time, minimum time-to-collision (TTC_min) with the construction site, deceleration and maximum steering behavior, and their ratings of criticality of the driving situation and perceived effort. Results show that participants adapted their deceleration behavior when repeatedly experiencing a takeover situation with the same visibility characteristics (adaptation condition). Changing these characteristics (transfer condition) lead to increased minimum TTCs, criticality and perceived effort ratings. In general, participants were able to maintain their takeover behavior in takeover situations with varying visibility characteristics indicating that they can transfer their takeover behavior across situations. Finally, the two-step takeover request process was associated with longer takeover times. However, minimum TTCs were larger and maximum steering movements and criticality ratings were lower compared to the one-step process. We conclude that drivers transfer their behavior across takeover situations. However, this performance comes at higher costs in terms of perceived effort and criticality. In addition, two-step takeover request processes should be favored over one-step processes when designing takeover requests. Future studies should examine the validity of the results in various takeover situations and on-the-road studies.     

Effects of response independent delivery of preferred items and the high‐probability instructional sequence on compliance

The use of the high‐probability (high‐p) instructional sequence to increase compliance, which includes issuing a series of instructions with which a participant is likely to comply immediately before issuing a low‐probability instruction, has received mixed support in the literature. Previous research has suggested that the delivery of response independent reinforcement may be as effective to increase compliance, at least for some types of instructions. In this study, we examined the effects of response independent reinforcement and the high‐p sequence on compliance with two types of instructions with two young children. Results show that neither procedure was effective for increasing compliance for either type of instruction; however, contingent access to a high preference item increased compliance. Results are discussed in terms of the conditions under which response independent delivery of high‐preference items and the high‐p instructional sequence might be effective to increase compliance.     

Effects of differential reinforcement and task difficulty on preschoolers' compliance with teacher instructions

Preschool children in day schools were given instructions to complete certain tasks. Four tasks were given of two types and two levels of difficulty. In each condition compliance with at most one instruction (one task) was reinforced. In two similar experiments, with six children, general results were: compliance with easy tasks was maintained without reinforcement when any task compliance was reinforced; compliance for hard tasks remained high only when that specific task was reinforced. Thus, generalization of compliance with instructions varied with task difficulty. The setting and procedure for both studies were designed to reduce possible coercive features of laboratory studies of generalized performance. Results show generalized performance can occur under naturalistic conditions. The effect of effort, as a response characteristic affecting generalized performance, is discussed.     

Naturalistic observation of drivers’ hands, speed and headway

Drivers’ hands position have been shown to vary with traffic speed and complexity of the driving environment, such that drivers are more likely to place two hands on the top half of the steering wheel as the supposed driving difficulty increases (Walton, D. & Thomas, J. A. [2005]. Naturalistic observations of driver hand positions. Transportation Research Part F, 8, 229–238). This research evaluates drivers’ hands positions, examining the reliability of the measure and the relationship between the positions of the driver’s hands, vehicle speed, vehicle headway and driver sex. The findings show that the observed positions of drivers’ hands have good inter-rater reliability and demonstrate both temporal and contextual reliability. The positions of drivers’ hands are related to other measures, such that drivers with lower-ranked positions of hands are more likely to travel at higher speeds and accept shorter headways. Female drivers are found to be 2.87 times more likely than males to place two hands rather than one hand on the top half of the steering wheel.     

Some variables affecting children's compliance with instructions

Children were given instructions to perform different tasks. Compliance was studied as a function of several variables: the prevailing pattern of reinforcement for different instructions, the availability of a competing reinforced activity, and the similarity among tasks. Rate of compliance tended to decrease when the probability of reinforcement for compliance decreased, or when a competing reinforced activity was available. Differential reinforcement over the tasks did not always produce discriminative responding even under favorable conditions. Novel instructions obtained compliance at the same rate as that for frequently repeated instructions, independent of the novel instruction's past or present reinforcement history. Greater discrimination in responding was found when tasks were less similar. Results imply that sets of instructions may form a response class, with characteristics similar to those found in studies of generalized imitation.     

Do we listen to advice just because we paid for it? The impact of advice cost on its use

When facing a decision, people often rely on advice received from others. Previous studies have shown that people tend to discount others’ opinions. Yet, such discounting varies according to several factors. This paper isolates one of these factors: the cost of advice. Specifically, three experiments investigate whether the cost of advice, independent of its quality, affects how people use advice. The studies use the Judge–Advisor System (JAS) to investigate whether people value advice from others more when it costs money than when it is free, and examine the psychological processes that could account for this effect. The results show that people use paid advice significantly more than free advice and suggest that this effect is due to the same forces that have been documented in the literature to explain the sunk costs fallacy. Implications for circumstances under which people value others’ opinions are discussed.     

The influence of fear of happiness beliefs on responses to the satisfaction with life scale

General life satisfaction scales are widely used to examine the degree to which people are satisfied with their lives. Previous research indicates that part of the variability in life satisfaction scores does not genuinely reflect individuals’ life conditions, and that there are factors biasing people’s responses to these scales. The present study provided initial evidence showing that the fear of happiness (a belief that happiness may have negative consequences) influenced people’s responses to the items of a life satisfaction scale in an Iranian university student sample. Implications of the results are discussed.     

A method to establish stimulus control and compliance with instructions

We evaluated a unique procedure to establish compliance with instructions in four young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who had low levels of compliance. Our procedure included methods to establish a novel therapist as a source of positive reinforcement, reliably evoke orienting responses to the therapist, increase the number of exposures to instruction–compliance–reinforcer contingencies, and minimize the number of exposures to instruction–noncompliance–no reinforcer contingencies. We further alternated between instructions with a high probability of compliance (high‐p instructions) with instructions that had a prior low probability of compliance (low‐p instructions) as soon as low‐p instructions lost stimulus control. The intervention is discussed in relation to the conditions necessary for the development of stimulus control and as an example of a variation of translational research.     

An evaluation of the high-probability instruction sequence with and without programmed reinforcement for compliance with high-probability instructions

We assessed the effects of reinforcement and no reinforcement for compliance to high-probability (high-p) instructions on compliance to low-probability (low-p) instructions using a reversal design. For both participants, compliance with the low-p instruction increased only when compliance with high-p instructions was followed by reinforcement. These results suggest that providing reinforcement for high-p instructions may result in increased compliance to low-p instructions.     

Assessing relations between imagery and perception

Direct comparisons between perceptual performance and reports made under imagery instructions are uninterpretable except in cases where (a) the perceptual phenomenon is well understood and (b) experimental constraints are sufficient to establish imagery causally in the effect. Neither condition seems to be satisfied in Finke and Kurtzman's article. Furthermore, if imagery is an internal medium conceived in introspective terms, the second condition can never be met because the medium is not accessible to operational definition. Perhaps the basic problem with this research is that the instructions used to create conditions in imagery experiments do not qualify as operational definitions. Reports of successful compliance with imagery instructions are logically equivalent to introspective reports.     

Dynamic traffic management on a familiar road: Failing to detect changes in variable speed limits

Variable speed limits (VSL) are used more commonly around the globe lately. Although on a macroscopic level positive effects of VSLs have been reported, the caveat is that the impact of VSLs is very sensitive to the level of driver compliance. Thus far it is unknown whether all individual drivers are actually able to notice when a speed limit changes into another speed limit; a prerequisite for purposeful speed limit compliance in the first place. To simulate regular driving conditions, twenty-four participants were familiarised with a particular route by driving the same route in a driving simulator nineteen times on five separate days. Part of the route consisted of a motorway where VSL signs were regularly displayed above every driving lane. At drive nineteen, speed limits changed from 80 km/h to 100 km/h on four out of eight consecutive signs. After passing all signs, one expects 6.25% of the participants still to be unaware that the speed limit had increased (based on chance), while the results showed most participants had failed to notice the speed limit change (58.3%). Instead, they saw what they expected to see: a speed limit of 80 km/h. If the speed change had been vice versa, in other words from 100 km/h to 80 km/h, this would immediately result in speed offences, though not deliberately at all.     

Systematic desensitization in an experimental setting: A follow-up study

A follow-up study was done of female college student volunteers who had been treated for marked fear of snakes using systematic desensitization under four experimental conditions. In the original study four groups were differentiated on the basis of: (1) therapeutic instructions and praise; (2) therapeutic instructions alone; (3) praise alone; and (4) neither therapeutic instructions nor praise. At follow-up Ss were reassessed on a behavioral test of their ability to approach and handle a snake, and were interviewed to determine whether they had discerned the conditions of the original experiment.

Twenty-five of the original thirty-two Ss (78 per cent) were assessed a mean of 9.5 months after their experimental post-test. All four groups maintained their original gains and the inter-relationships of the groups remained stable: only instructions had a statistically significant added effect over systematic desensitization; the reinforcement and interaction factors did not attain statistical significance. From the interview data it could not be demonstrated that Ss were aware of either the instructional or reinforcement conditions of their respective groups.     

The role of parent-adolescent concordance in compliance with cancer chemotherapy

In an attempt to examine factors affecting compliance with orally administered chemotherapy agents, we have examined the relation of agreement of parents and their adolescent children on various treatment-related issues and compliance with cancer chemotherapy. In a longitudinal study, 16 parent/cancer patient pairs were interviewed regarding their knowledge and understanding of illness, medications, and treatment, and their medication compliance. Adolescent responses matched closely those of parents on topics pertaining to medication dose, frequency, number, and purpose. Age was positively correlated with agreement for medication instructions. Disagreements were more commonly found in patients under 17 years of age. Compliance was greater when parents and patients agreed on who was responsible for medication administration, and on their understanding of medication instructions, number, and effectiveness. Treatment of the adolescent oncology patient should include consideration of psychosocial developmental factors, encourage parent-child communication, and place less reliance on self-administered therapy.     

Effects of reduced contrast on the perception and control of speed when driving

Misperception of speed under low-contrast conditions has been identified as a possible contributor to motor vehicle crashes in fog. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of reduced contrast on drivers' perception and control of speed while driving under real-world conditions. Fourteen participants drove around a 2.85 km closed road course under three visual conditions: clear view and with two levels of reduced contrast created by diffusing filters on the windscreen and side windows. Three dependent measures were obtained, without view of the speedometer, on separate laps around the road course: verbal estimates of speed; adjustment of speed to instructed levels (25 to 70 km h(-1)); and estimation of minimum stopping distance. The results showed that drivers traveled more slowly under low-contrast conditions. Reduced contrast had little or no effect on either verbal judgments of speed or estimates of minimum stopping distance. Speed adjustments were significantly slower under low-contrast than clear conditions, indicating that, contrary to studies of object motion, drivers perceived themselves to be traveling faster under conditions of reduced contrast. Under real-world driving conditions, drivers' ability to perceive and control their speed was not adversely affected by large variations in the contrast of their surroundings. These findings suggest that perceptions of self-motion and object motion involve neural processes that are differentially affected by variations in stimulus contrast as encountered in fog.     

Recall as communication: Effects of frame anticipation

Summary Frame theories propose that memorization and retrieval reports are guided by frames, that is, abstract representations of a scene or an episode. They also propose that in unexpected recall, the subjects assume that the person who interprets the recall message uses a similar frame. Consequently, the recalling subject deletes from the recall report information from the frame that is highly predictable. This prediction was tested in an incidental memory task. After waiting 30 s in an office, the subjects were unexpectedly asked to recall everything in the office. They were either given standard instructions or instructions to recall so much that it would be comprehensible to a Martian. Thereafter, a recognition test was administered. In neither recall nor recognition were overall differences between the two recall conditions observed. The recognition data of both recall groups and a recognition-only group replicated previous findings, and were in agreement with the frame theories. The recall data revealed a significant interaction of recall instruction, object presence, and frame expectation. This is consistent with the proposition about frame anticipation. Recall of objects expected within the frame was higher under the Martian condition than under standard conditions, whereas recall of unexpected objects was higher under normal recall conditions. Both the recognition and the recall data are considered as evidence in favor of frame theory.     

Context-dependent activation of reduced autobiographical memory specificity as an avoidant coping style

According to the affect-regulation hypothesis (Williams et al., 2007), reduced autobiographical memory specificity (rAMS) or overgeneral memory (OGM) might be considered a cognitive avoidance strategy; that is, people learn to avoid the emotionally painful consequences associated with the retrieval of specific negative memories. Based on this hypothesis, one would predict significant negative associations between AMS and avoidant coping. However, studies investigating this prediction have led to equivocal results. In the present study we tested a possible explanation for these contradictory findings. It was hypothesized that rAMS (in part) reflects an avoidant coping strategy, which might only become apparent under certain conditions, that is, conditions that signal the possibility of 'danger.' To test this hypothesis, we assessed AMS and behavioral avoidance but experimentally manipulated the instructions. In the neutral condition, two parallel versions of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) were presented under neutral instructions. In the threat condition, the first AMT was presented under neutral instructions, while the second AMT was presented under 'threat instructions.' Results showed no significant correlations between avoidance and OGM under neutral conditions but significant and markedly stronger correlations under threat conditions, with more avoidance being associated with fewer specific and more categoric memories. In addition, high avoiders showed a stronger reduction in AMS in the threat condition as compared with the neutral condition, while low avoiders showed no such difference between conditions. The data confirm that OGM can be considered as part of a broader avoidant coping style. However, more importantly, they show that, at least in nonclinical individuals, the activation of this coping style may depend on the context.