Effect of driving inactivity on driver’s lateral positioning control: A driving simulator study

Overall on-road driving skill is a cumulated acquisition of driving skills learned during training period and furthered tempered with post-licensing driving exposure on the roads. Training serves to develop a person’s basic driving skills to operate safely on the roads at first, while subsequent on-road driving hones the driving skills further. Inactivity from on-road driving can result in deterioration of driving skills. Particularly for the case of inactivity immediately following licensure, which is not uncommon in Singapore, the learned skills can degrade rapidly. This research aims to examine the effect of driving inactivity on the learned driving skill, i.e. lateral positioning control, specifically for young-inexperienced drivers. A series of experiments were conducted on a driving simulator for different subject groups involving active driver, novice driver (freshly-licensed driver), inactive driver (never ever drive upon licensure), and no licence subjects. The participants drove through a stretch of expressway under free-flow conditions, and lane positioning control was monitored. It is found that without on-road driving exposure, driving skills like maintenance of lane positioning control in terms of lane wandering and lane encroachment may deteriorate after some periods of inactivity, i.e. 3 months. The deterioration varies at different rate, with faster deterioration for more complex tasks. The skills level can regress close to un-trained level for complex driving tasks. The findings also suggest that on-road driving exposure is needed to not only retain but also to improve the lane positioning control skills.     

Individual differences in risk perception versus risk taking: handedness and interhemispheric interaction

Research indicates that right-hemisphere mechanisms are specifically sensitive to and averse to risk. Research also indicates that mixed degree of handedness is associated with increased access to right hemisphere processing. Accordingly, it was predicted that mixed-handers would exhibit greater risk aversion. Participants were presented with various risky activities and were asked to rate (i) the perceived risk, (ii) the perceived benefit, and (iii) their likelihood to engage in each activity. No handedness differences were found for any of these ratings. Regression analyses, however, indicated that the likelihood to engage in risky activities was predicted primarily by the perceived risks in mixed-handers and by the perceived benefits in strong-handers.     

Force Control of Ankle Dorsiflexors in Young Adults: Effects of Bilateral Control and Leg Dominance

Abstract

We investigated whether bilateral lower-limb control and leg dominance affect force control ability in 15 healthy young adults (9 males and 6 females, age =26.8?±?4.1 years). Participants performed isometric ankle dorsiflexion force control tasks, matching a visual target (10% of maximal effort) as quickly and precisely as possible in ballistic and tonic tasks. Performance was evaluated using force error, force steadiness, amount of muscle activity of the tibialis anterior, and response time characteristics. Results showed no significant effects of leg dominance during both ballistic and tonic tasks, while bilateral condition resulted in significantly larger error, less force steadiness, compared to unilateral condition, and only during the tonic task. Consequently, bilateral control, specifically in tasks utilizing feedback control (i.e., tonic task) might affect force control ability, possibly because of the interhemispheric inhibition to meet bilateral task complexity and integrate afferent bilateral sensory information from both right and left legs.     

The inheritance of social dominance rank in red grouse (Lagopus Lagopus scoticus)

Social dominance rank in red grouse has a large inherited component. The relative contributions of mothers and fathers to the dominance ranks of their sons and daughters were studied by breeding a dominant and a subordinate strain and crossing them. Both parents contributed equally to the dominance ranks of both sons and daughters. Cocks from the dominant strain were more aggressive and had bigger combs than cocks from the subordinate strain. Dominant cocks and hens, however, did not weigh more than subordinates.     

A multivariate analysis of social dominance in children

The social dominance behavior of dyads of unacquainted, same-sex 31/2 year-olds was observed in a familiar laboratory playroom under two conditions: A free play situation and a situation where candy was introduced. In each of the two conditions, a principal components analysis was used to explore two issues: the usefulness of the multivariate approach in devising a definition of dominance, and the cross-situational stability of the construct. In the free play session, the first principal component that emerged was consistent with a theoretical definition of dominance. This picture was disrupted by the introduction of candy in the second condition. However, a high correlation was found between the dominance hierarchies established in each situation. It was concluded that the multivariate analysis is a useful method for the study of dominance. The generalizability of social dominance across settings was discussed as a possible explanation for the high cross-situational stability.     

A non-linear utility theory with multiple objectives

The aim of this paper is to make optimum several objectives at the same time which would enable a measurement of utility for several possible alternatives. The problem is solved if a strong or weak dominance exists between the alternatives, otherwise a set of incomparable alternatives would be present. Therefore, indifference curve analysis offers the outcome but as these indifference loci are difficult to determine only the characteristics of this analysis are maintained viz. decreasing marginal utility, non-linearity and even non-convexity. Indifference and reference point theory with the Minkowski min–max-metric only respond to these characteristics. Also the problem of generating alternatives during the process is taken into consideration. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Common Beliefs Survey-III, The Situational Self-Statement, and Affective State Inventory and Their Relationship to Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation

The concept of irrational beliefs is central to rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). These beliefs are defined by their absolutist and dogmatic qualities. The terms absolutist and dogmatic are also characteristic of some personality constructs, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) being foremost among these. A relatively new personality construct, social dominance orientation (SDO) is similar to RWA in that both are excellent predictors of prejudice. As these two constructs are independent of each other, it has been suggested that they have different etiological underpinnings. The present study examined the relationship between the presence of irrational beliefs in people scoring high in RWA and SDO. Results suggest that high RWAs are more likely than high SDOs to endorse irrational beliefs. These findings add to the growing literature examining the relationship between these two personality constructs as well as suggesting possible implications for the use of REBT with clients scoring high on these personality dimensions.