A systematic investigation of the differential predictors for speeding,drink-driving,driving while fatigued,and not wearing a seat belt,among young drivers

Risky driving has been identified as a key contributor to road crashes. Past research suggests that different risky driving behaviours are influenced by different factors, but has not been systematic in its investigation of the factors associated with different behaviours. The present research systematically examined a range of relevant demographic, personality and attitudinal factors (age, gender, sensation seeking, driver anger, time urgency, authority rebellion, perceived relative risk, perceived personal risk, perceived costs, perceived benefits, and peer influence) in the prediction of speeding, drink-driving, driving while fatigued, and not wearing seat belts, for a student sample of young drivers. In addition, relevant mediators of the relationship between gender and risky driving, as well as moderators of the relationship between perceived risk and risky driving, were examined for each of the four behaviours. Results demonstrate that the lists of significant predictors differed between risky driving behaviours. In addition, perceived personal risk was observed to mediate the relationship between gender and driving while fatigued only, and gender was observed to moderate the relationship between perceived risk and risky driving, for drink-driving and not wearing seat belts. Results highlight the importance of designing individual road safety interventions for individual driving behaviours, and suggest factors which might be targeted in younger driver populations.     

Statistical information and coarticulation as cues to word boundaries: a matter of signal quality

We investigated how statistical information in the form of transitional probabilities (TPs) interacts with coarticulation, another sublexical cue to word boundaries, and examined the impact of signal quality on the weighting of these cues. In an artificial-language-learning setting, with phonetically intact speech, coarticulation overruled TPs, suggesting the predominance of subsegmental, low-level information. However, whereas the role of coarticulation in segmentation was highly modulated by signal quality, TPs were very resilient to noise. When coarticulation was rendered unreliable by strongly degrading the input with a 10-dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), only statistical information drove segmentation. In a more mildly degraded 22-dB SNR condition, in which some acoustic properties were still available, coarticulation was exploited, although with less reliability than in optimal conditions. These results can be interpreted according to a hierarchical approach (Mattys, White, & Melhorn, 2005) in which both the available segmentation cues and the listening conditions have an important role in speech segmentation.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 409 adult nonpatients from Brazil

This is a normative study with 409 adult nonpatients living in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Rorschach was administered by a team of nine psychologists; eight had had further training in the Rorschach method by the Brazilian Rorschach Society and one intensively was prepared by the project coordinator. Of the study participants, 200 lived in the state capital (Sao Paulo) and the other 209 were in other large and small cities in the state, including a coastal city and one in the mountains. Previous psychological or psychiatric treatments were criteria for exclusion. Each protocol was coded independently by two examiners, and then agreement of the two codings was checked. Differences between the two codings were discussed in a meeting of the whole team, which was supervised by the project coordinator to guarantee codification quality control. Upon completion of the codings, an analysis of examiner differences was undertaken, the results of which are in the text. Interrater reliability statistics among examiners were calculated, including percentage of agreement and kappa. Reliability statistics among examiners at the response level are presented as are Comprehensive System (CS; 1999, 2003) findings.     

Some influences of accent structure on melody recognition

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the roles of joint accent structure and familiarity in delayed recognition of relatively long tonal melodies. Melodic themes of target melodies were defined by correlating contour-related pitch accents with temporal accents (accent coupling) during an initial familiarization phase. Later, subjects gave recognition responses to key-transposed versions of the target melodies as well as to decoys with same and different contour accent patterns. In Experiment 1, all to-be-recognized melodies occurred both in an original rhythm, which preserved accent coupling, and in a new rhythm, which did not. Listeners were best at distinguishing targets from different decoys, especially in the original rhythm. In Experiment 2, the familiarity of target tunes and the rhythmic similarity in recognition were varied. Similar rhythms preserved accent coupling, whereas dissimilar rhythms did not. Listeners were most adept in distinguishing familiar targets from different decoys (Experiment 2A), particularly when they appeared in novel but similar rhythms. However, in similar rhythm conditions, listeners also frequently mistook same decoys for targets. With less familiar targets (Experiment 2B), these effects were attenuated, and performance showed general effects of pitch contour.     

Infant rule learning facilitated by speech

Sequences of speech sounds play a central role in human cognitive life, and the principles that govern such sequences are crucial in determining the syntax and semantics of natural languages. Infants are capable of extracting both simple transitional probabilities and simple algebraic rules from sequences of speech, as demonstrated by studies using ABB grammars (la ta ta, gai mu mu, etc.). Here, we report a striking finding: Infants are better able to extract rules from sequences of nonspeech--such as sequences of musical tones, animal sounds, or varying timbres--if they first hear those rules instantiated in sequences of speech.     

The role of semantically related distractors during encoding and retrieval of words in long-term memory

We examined the influence of divided attention (DA) on recognition of words when the concurrent task was semantically related or unrelated to the to-be-recognised target words. Participants were asked to either study or retrieve a target list of semantically related words while simultaneously making semantic decisions (i.e., size judgements) to another set of related or unrelated words heard concurrently. We manipulated semantic relatedness of distractor to target words, and whether DA occurred during the encoding or retrieval phase of memory. Recognition accuracy was significantly diminished relative to full attention, following DA conditions at encoding, regardless of relatedness of distractors to study words. However, response times (RTs) were slower with related compared to unrelated distractors. Similarly, under DA at retrieval, recognition RTs were slower when distractors were semantically related than unrelated to target words. Unlike the effect from DA at encoding, recognition accuracy was worse under DA at retrieval when the distractors were related compared to unrelated to the target words. Results suggest that availability of general attentional resources is critical for successful encoding, whereas successful retrieval is particularly reliant on access to a semantic code, making it sensitive to related distractors under DA conditions.     

How I Attend—Not How Well Do I Attend: Rethinking Developmental Frameworks of Attention and Cognition in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development

Evidence from the study of attention among persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children suggests a rethinking of the notion that performance inherently reflects disability, ability, or capacity in favor of a more nuanced story that involves an emphasis on styles and biases that reflect real-world attending. We provide examples from behavioral and physiological research in which performance on attention tasks is not solely a function of abilities, or disabilities, per se but rather is also a function of the ways in which they are implemented. Thus, the study of attention both among persons with ASD and in typical development might best be recast in terms of the question of “how” rather than “how well.”     

Varieties of Epistemic Freedom

When we deliberate about what to do, we appear to be free to decide on different options. Three accounts use ordinary beliefs to explain this apparent freedom—appealing to different types of ‘epistemic freedom’. When an agent has epistemic freedom, her evidence while deliberating does not determine what decision she makes. This ‘epistemic gap’ between her evidence and decision explains why her decision appears free. The varieties of epistemic freedom appealed to might look similar. But there is an important difference. Two rely on an agent's ability to justifiably form beliefs unconstrained by evidence, and identify decisions as beliefs—either beliefs about acts (Velleman) or about decisions (Joyce and Ismael). But, when used to explain apparent freedom, these accounts face serious problems: they imply that agents have epistemic freedom over evidence-based beliefs, and rely on a faulty notion of justification. Underlying these troubles, it turns out that these accounts presuppose an unexplained apparent ability to form different beliefs. A third variety of epistemic freedom uses ignorance conditions instead (Levi and Kapitan). We appear free partly because we're ignorant of what we'll decide. Ignorance-based accounts avoid the above problems, and remain a promising alternative.     

High level swimming performance and its relation to non-specific parameters: a cross-sectional study on maximum handgrip isometric strength

The relationship between handgrip isometric strength and swimming performance was assessed in the four competitive swimming strokes in swimmers of different age groups and of both sexes. 78 national-level Portuguese swimmers (39 males, 39 females) were selected for this study. Grip strength, previously used as a marker of overall strength to predict future swimming performance, was measured using a hand dynamometer. The best competitive time at 100 and 200 m in all four swimming strokes were converted into 2010 FINA points. Non-parametric tests were used to evaluate differences between groups. Pearson product-moment correlations were computed to verify the association between variables. Handgrip maximum isometric strength was significantly correlated with swimming performance, particularly among female swimmers. Among female age group swimmers, the relationship between handgrip and 100-m freestyle was significant. Handgrip isometric strength seems to be related to swimming performance, especially to 100-m freestyle and in female swimmers. For all other distances and strokes, technique and training probably are more influential than semi-hereditary strength markers such as grip strength.