Study of unique merging behavior under mixed traffic conditions

Roads in developing countries carry mixed traffic with wide variations in static and dynamic characteristics of vehicles. The traffic flow is also generally devoid of lane discipline, with vehicles occupying any available road space ahead. In such a regime of traffic flow, the phenomena of merging of vehicles at intersections of two roads is complex, warranting further study. The merging maneuvers at T-intersections under congested traffic conditions were studied microscopically through video-recording. In congested situations, the merging vehicle attempts a complex merging maneuver to enter the main traffic stream. Two unique merging processes are commonly observed in mixed traffic: group and vehicle cover merging (these are generally not observed in countries such as US). The author is using these words first time in this study. These reflect the different types of driver behavior – merging in groups, and by taking cover of another vehicle. Probabilistic models for group and vehicle cover merging are developed that capture this unique merging behavior. Comprehensive microscopic data collection and extraction were carried out to study the merging process at T-intersection under congested conditions. Merging models were then estimated using maximum likelihood method with disaggregate data that was collected for a case study T-intersection in Chennai city, India. Such models can find applications in simulation of highly congested traffic flow in a realistic manner under mixed traffic conditions. They can also give insights on devising better traffic control measures at such intersections.     

The Influence of Unrestricted Information Exchange on Willingness to Share Information With Outsiders

This study addressed how engaging in different forms of information exchange within a group is related to group members' willingness to share risk information with outsiders. Drawing from social exchange theories, we focused on 3 unrestricted forms of information exchange: pure‐generalized, group‐generalized, and productive. We hypothesized that individuals' intentions to share information with outsiders would be associated positively with engagement in pure or group‐generalized exchanges and negatively with productive exchange. The hypotheses were supported with data from a national survey of U.S. growers (N = 452) that examined their information‐sharing behaviors with other parties inside and outside their local region. The findings have broad implications for understanding information sharing within and across groups.     

Aggregating preference rankings: An AHP-based approach

The problem considered here involves the selection of an alternative by a group of decision makers in a context that involves the aggregating of votes from a preferential ballot. A popular approach for solving such problems is the well-known weighting problem formulation. However, with such a formulation two issues become of critical importance: (a) the weights should reflect the decision-making group's belief on the importance of each rank position and (b) the weights should accord each alternative a fair (if not its best) assessment. Many researchers have studied this problem and proposed various solution strategies. None of these strategies, however, appears to have adequately addressed both issues. The objective of this research is to develop a group decision-making model that solves the problem in a manner that adequately addresses the two critical issues identified, as well as allows for sensitivity analysis and is fairly robust with respect to the various paradoxes identified in voting systems.     

Alliance and Group Cohesion in Relationship Education

Relationship education programs have been shown as an effective way to increase relationship functioning. There is less known about how process factors, such as alliance with the leader or group dynamics, affect outcomes in these interventions. We examined group cohesion and alliance with the leader in a relationship education program tailored for individuals. Specifically, we examined whether participants' ratings (n = 126) of the group cohesion and alliance with the leader were associated with changes in relationship adjustment, relationship confidence, and communication quality from pre‐ to postintervention. The results demonstrated that participants' perceptions of the cohesion among the members in their relationship education group, but not the leader–participant alliance, made a significant contribution to the changes in participants' relationship functioning. These results suggest that the group dynamics among the members in the group are important ingredients in relationship education. Implications for relationship programs are provided.