心理科学研究要为建设信息高速公路贡献力量

1信息高速公路的由来及现状1993年9月,克林顿总统代表美国政府提出“全国信息基础设施（NationalInformationInfrastructure,NII,亦称信息高速公路）”计划,即用高速信息传输通道（如光缆）和多媒体系统交流和利用信息。它有两个特点：一是可以不受时间、空间限制,同时进行声音、图象和数据交流,其传输速率可达1Gb／s以上;二是将现有信息传播工具如电话、电视、计算机等融为一体成为多媒体机而形成新的传播工具。此计划的现实意义和历史意义是难以估量的。世界各国许多大公司争相提出高达上千亿美元的投资计划,以免在这一高科技…     

Can infrastructure improvements mitigate unsafe traffic safety culture: A driving simulator study exploring cross cultural differences

This paper presents the results of a cross-cultural study to investigate the influence of traffic safety culture and infrastructure improvements on driver behaviour. To achieve this, the driving style of UK drivers was compared with that of Nigerians with and without experience of driving in the UK. A driving simulator experiment compared the actual driving style of these three groups of drivers in different safety critical scenarios. The simulated road environment varied depending on how much infrastructure was provided (low or high infrastructure). In addition, the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire was used to collect self-reported data on violations, errors and lapses. It was hypothesised that Nigerian drivers with no experience of driving in a UK road system would report and engage in more unsafe driving behaviour compared to the other two groups, and that increasing infrastructure would have little positive benefit. Overall, the results supported these hypotheses, indicating that the behaviours of drivers are interpretable in relation to their traffic safety culture, compared to changes in their driving environment.     

Estimating the safety benefit of separated cycling infrastructure adjusted for behavioral adaptation among drivers; an application of agent-based modelling

Separated cycling infrastructure is a key strategy employed by urban and transport planners to reduce car vs cyclist crashes.We constructed an agent-based model (ABM) to explore the potential effects of introducing progressively greater levels of saturation (e.g., more kms) of separated cycling infrastructure into a transport network in which drivers also demonstrated behavioral adaptation in response to increased exposure to cyclists as suggested by the safety in numbers (SiN) theory.The findings highlight that if behavioral adaptation among drivers is assumed to be a strong mechanism underpinning cyclist safety, the introduction of low levels of separated cycling infrastructure across a network (e.g., few kms) may provide little or no reduction in car vs cyclist crashes. This is due to the countervailing effects that separated infrastructure may have on drivers’ exposure to cyclists; a fundamental contributor to the concept of behavioral adaptation.This study demonstrates the utility of ABMs to explicitly define and model candidate behavioral mechanisms associated with cyclist and vehicle interaction when estimating the interaction of infrastructure and behavioral mechanisms proposed to underlie cyclist safety. Practically, it suggests that greater saturation of separated cycling infrastructure across transport networks may be required to reduce overall car vs cyclist crashes in circumstances where behavioral adaptation is also a strong mechanism contributing to cyclist safety.     

The Safe-Range-Inventory (SRI): An assistance tool for optimizing the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are propagated as an essential solution for reducing the carbon footprint of traffic activities. One essential barrier to the adoption of electromobility strategies in everyday life is the very limited driving range of typical EVs. A dense and reliable network of electric charging stations would enable safer and longer ranges. Modern fast-charging technologies provide additional possibilities to tactically and quickly re-charge EVs, but high implementation costs make it necessary to establish a mixed infrastructure consisting of cheap-but-slow and expensive-but-fast charging stations. We utilized the so-called Safe-Range-Inventory (SRI), a multidimensional assessment tool for capturing multi-facets of subjective range safety assessments. Using scenarios with different infrastructure settings, we revealed that the addition of just one fast-charging option drastically lowers range anxiety even under relatively short emergency range conditions. Additional fast-charging options did not have strong positive effects on the assessments but would amass very high costs. The SRI can assist in the planning of electric charging infrastructures in order to find the right balance between range safety and installation and maintenance costs.     

‘An elephant cannot fail to carry its own ivory’: Transgenerational ambivalence,infrastructure and sibling support practices in urban Uganda

This article examines how urban Ugandans navigate family support systems through a focus on the under-researched area of sibling care practices. We conceptualise such systems as transgenerational infrastructure to capture the complex flows, negotiations and dilemmas of both inter- and intra-generational relationships, orderings and power, situating family support practices within their spatial, structural and social contexts. Drawing on grounded narratives of lived experience collected in Jinja, Uganda, the article offers an alternative interpretation to what is commonly portrayed as a weakening of family support systems in sub-Saharan Africa. We develop a transgenerational ambivalence perspective which allows for a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity and fluidity of family support as an ethical practice replete with complex emotions and dilemmas shaped in the junctures between social norms, agency, resources and material conditions. Through focusing on working-age Ugandans, we demonstrate the potential for a transgenerational ambivalence approach to make visible contradictions at structural and subjective levels and focus greater attention on the importance of sibling relationships and birth order than is evident in the existing intergenerational literature. This can help researchers in the task of linking family dynamics to the growing precarity and uncertainties of life in the marginal socio-economic contexts of urban sub-Saharan Africa.