External HMI for self-driving vehicles: Which information shall be displayed?

The objective of this study was to investigate pedestrians’ informational needs towards self-driving vehicles (SDVs). Previous research has shown that external human-machine interfaces (eHMIs) compensate for pedestrian-driver communication when SDVs are integrated into traffic. However, detailed insights on which information the eHMI shall provide lack so far. In a mixed design study, N = 59 participants encountered a simulated driverless vehicle in different traffic scenarios (a. unsignalized intersection vs. b. parking lot; between-subject factor). We investigated the effect of no eHMI (baseline) vs. eHMIs displaying the automated driving system (ADS) status, and informing subsequently about its perception of the pedestrian and/or its intent for the next maneuver ((1) no eHMI, (2) status eHMI, (3) status + perception eHMI, (4) status + intent eHMI, (5) status + perception + intent eHMI; within-subject factor). A mixed-methods design was used to explore participants’ subjective feelings, traffic behavior, and underlying attitudes. The findings reveal that any eHMI contributes to a more positive feeling towards SDVs compared to the baseline condition without eHMI, consistent among traffic scenarios: participants felt significantly safer, reflected greater trust and user experience ratings, and perceived the SDV as more intelligent and transparent. The status indicator mainly drives these beneficial effects on subjective measures. Participants reported that the status information explains the absence of a driver steering the vehicle. Compared to the status eHMI, the status + perception eHMI reflects no further benefit regarding subjective feelings and even has a negative impact on traffic flow. Moreover, participants regarded the additional information on the vehicle’s perception as an obvious gimmick. On the contrary, the status + intent eHMI increases user experience, perceived intelligence, and transparency for pedestrians more than the mere status eHMI. Participants reported that additionally informing about the vehicle’s intent adds a further sense of safety. The present study failed to show any improvements in traffic flow but found evidence for individual crossing and clearing strategies among pedestrians. This work can inform the future design of eHMIs.     

Specific internal and external attentional focus instructions have differential effects on rowing performance

Directing an individual to focus their attention on internal or external cues can influence performance of skill-based and endurance sports. The present study examined the effects of switching attention across different types of internal and external attentional foci in a rowing task. Novice rowers (19 male, 47 female) focussed attention on one of four different internal cues (or one of four different external cues) at discrete time points while completing a row on an ergometer. Overall, a focus on internal cues resulted in longer distance, higher power output, and higher heart rate than a focus on external cues. However, for the internal condition a focus on arm and leg muscles was associated with higher performance than a focus on breathing. For the external condition, a focus on exerting force on the handle produced higher performance than a focus on the movements of the handle or seat or on the sounds of the ergometer. Global instructions to focus internally or externally influenced performance, but the specific effects within these broad categories were also variable. The advice given to athletes and recreational exercises should consider both the broad attentional focus direction and the specific cues of the task to which attention is directed.     

Reading the Public: Political Action and Its Relationship to Constructions of Political Disagreement and Opinion Climate in the Context of Brexit

This study applied a social representations approach to investigate the ways in which constructions of perceived political disagreement and the prevailing opinion climate were implicated in people's construals of political participation in the context of the United Kingdom European Union referendum of 2016. Interviews were conducted with 19 residents of the United Kingdom who voted to remain in the referendum, located in constituencies which represented diverse opinion climates in relation to the referendum. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that public opinion was a dilemmatic social representation; it was inscrutable and often ill-informed but also volatile and disruptive, which left open the possibility of it moving towards a more pro-EU position. Importantly, constructions of a polarized and dysfunctional political system worked to sustain a mode of political engagement which prioritized and positioned as efficacious individual rather than collective anti-Brexit political behavior. This implies that people may prefer different types of political participation depending on the opinion climate which they occupy and the way in which they construe it. Findings are discussed in relation to previous work linking meta-representations to political behavior and expression, and the implications of the findings for emergent forms such as Brexit are elaborated.     

儿童对图画兴趣和表征发展差异的跨文化研究

本实验是一项跨文化的比较研究 ,旨在探索儿童对图画兴趣的动态变化及表征的发展。被试年龄跨度为 4岁至成人 ,均未受过美术训练。通过他们各自根据线条画中所含的颜色或主题或情绪的特性匹配的特点 ,来发现内在的规律。实验发现年幼儿童以颜色为匹配标准 ,年长儿童和成人则以主题或情绪为主。中国儿童比英国儿童对图画中的语义联系 (表达的情绪 )更敏感。在主题 /情绪匹配中 ,中国 1 0岁儿童和成人都侧重情绪特征 ,而英国儿童随年龄发展由主题特性转向情绪特性这一兴趣的发展趋势并不明显。本文从美学的角度应用当代有关图画表征发展的理论对实验进行了分析 ,探讨了在中英不同文化背景下影响儿童兴趣变化及表征能力发展的因素。     

Multi-Encoding for Pitch Information of Tone Sequences

This study was designed to investigate the possibilities that subjects would visualize an auditory contour as a visual contour (visual imagery) to encode pitch information of tone sequences (Experiment 1), and that subjects would be motivated to attempt to engage in covert rehearsal with multi-code (Experiment 2). The findings from these experiments suggest that: (a) Whereas the highly musically trained subjects were able to encode pitches as accurate notes on a staff, the less well musically trained subjects encoded the pitch sequence as a contour. It is quite evident that there is an intermodal analogy between the perception of pitch relationships and that of relationships in visual space. (b) Pitch rehearsal of auditory information along with note names (dual-code) and staff notation accompanied by pitch rehearsal with note names (triple-code) were the most effective strategies for highly trained subjects with pitches of tonal sequences; melodic contour accompanied by pitch rehearsal (dual-code) was used by highly trained subjects with atonal sequences and by less well trained subjects with both types of sequences.     

Soul in the world: symbolic culture as the medium for psyche

Whilst the loss of a sense of living connection with the material world is mainly associated with the scientific revolution in seventeenth century Europe, it can be traced back to Plato's introduction of a hierarchy between soul and body. Jung's attempted solution to this – esse in anima – is ingenious but maintains the Cartesian split by which the aliveness of the world is reduced to a projection of psychic forces (the archetypes). An alternative approach is proposed, rooted in the Aristotelean emphasis on practical activity that sees the soul as a function of our way of being in the world. Human cognition is extended and distributed by our social and material engagement with the world, especially via collective representations whose symbolic character is constitutive of the reality of the world in which we live. Despite the dominance of ‘scientific Cartesian’ representations in the modern Western world, there remain numerous instances of participation mystique that cannot be captured by the Cartesian notion of projection. These indicate an opening to ways of being in the world that may lead us out of the impasse of the Cartesian matrix.     

Explaining the Inexplicable: Differences in Attributions for the Holocaust in Germany,Israel, and Poland

Seventy years have passed since the Holocaust, but this cataclysmic event continues to reverberate in the present. In this research, we examine attributions about the causes of the Holocaust and the influence of such attributions on intergroup relations. Three representative surveys were conducted among Germans, Poles, and Israeli Jews to examine inter‐ and intragroup variations in attributions for the Holocaust and how these attributions influence intergroup attitudes. Results indicated that Germans made more external than internal attributions and were especially low in attributing an evil essence to their ancestors. Israelis and Poles mainly endorsed the obedient essence attribution and were lowest on attribution to coercion. These attributions, however, were related to attitudes towards contemporary Germany primarily among Israeli Jews. The more they endorsed situationist explanations, and the less they endorsed the evil essence explanation, the more positive their attitude to Germany. Among Germans, attributions were related to a higher motivation for historical closure, except for the obedience attribution that was related to low desire for closure. Israelis exhibited a low desire for historical closure especially when attribution for evil essence was high. These findings suggest that lay perceptions of history are essential to understanding contemporary intergroup processes.     

Does Talker‐Specific Information Influence Lexical Competition? Evidence From Phonological Priming

In this study, we examined whether the lexical competition process embraced by most models of spoken word recognition is sensitive to talker‐specific information. We used a lexical decision task and a long lag priming experiment in which primes and targets sharing all phonemes except the last one (e.g., /bagaR/“fight” vs. /baga?/“luggage”) were presented in two separate blocks of stimuli. In Experiment 1, the competitor prime block was presented only once to listeners, and no modulation of the competitor priming effect as a function of a talker change between the primes and targets was observed. However, attenuation in the competitor priming effect in the case of a talker change between the primes and targets was observed in Experiment 2 in which the competitor prime block was presented five times to listeners. We discuss our findings in reference to hybrid models of spoken word recognition in which repetition of words with the same talker could be a key factor in the formation and access to talker‐dependent representations.     

Accuracy of Basic Knowledge of Traumatic Historical Events: The Armenian Genocide

This research assumes that accuracy of shared historical knowledge of genocide might help new generations cope with the trauma lived by previous generations, while the longer the denial of a genocide the more fragmented the macronarrative and the longer the collective trauma. The Armenian genocide (1915) is generally represented in opposite ways by the Turks and Armenians. The study explores the knowledge accuracy of the 1915 events before and after the centennial commemoration of the genocide and uses convenience samples from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, United States, Venezuela, and a representative sample (Romania, N = 1231). The major findings suggest a very low basic knowledge of genocide, with a few exceptions, despite a significant increase of this knowledge after the 100-year commemoration.     

集体问题解决中的认知表征、行为惯例和动态能力

以王建安和张钢(2008)开发的三人TTT纸牌游戏(原游戏)及其变式(变式游戏)为实验任务, 研究了集体问解决中认知表征和行为惯例对提高动态能力的作用。共有240名被试, 分成80个三人小组, 参加了前后两场各20盘游戏。80个小组按照是否被告知游戏的问题表征(即有无认知表征), 以及是玩原游戏还是玩变式游戏, 均分成4个区组来玩第一场游戏。在第二场游戏中, 4个区组都玩变式游戏。以玩每盘游戏的平均步时和在问题表征中走过的路径为指标测量惯例, 以玩第一场原游戏习得的能力向玩第二场变式游戏的迁移率来衡量动态能力。结果发现：一方面, 适当的认知表征有助于提高集体问题解决的动态能力; 另一方面, 没有适当认知表征支持的行为惯例反而会阻碍动态能力的发展。概括地说, 动态能力的决定因素是认知表征而不是行为惯例。