From anticipation to behavioral intention: Insights into human processing of multiple retrieval cues in road traffic

Anticipation in road traffic enables safer and more comfortable driving. Anticipatory driving is achieved through effective retrieval of prior driving-relevant knowledge using mental models and appropriate cues. Knowing when and which retrieval cues have a critical impact on the anticipation process and how information compatibility affects anticipation can be the basis for supporting people in anticipating and appropriate behavior in road traffic.For generating in-depth insights into the processing of retrieval cues, a video-based experimental study was conducted combining specific compatible and incompatible retrieval cues in urban driving scenarios. From a driver's perspective, participants were asked to anticipate in a two-step approach (measuring low and high certainty anticipation) whether a vehicle ahead would enter their lane or turn onto another street due to a lane blockage ahead. Further, they choose their preferred behavioral intention (accelerate, decelerate or maintain speed). In general, drivers strived for coherent situation representation, and in this process, multiple retrieval cues influenced anticipation in different ways. Participants were more likely to be consistent in their anticipation response. That is, they tend to follow their first intention (equivalent low and high certainty anticipation for either lane change or turn) even in the presence of incompatible stimuli. Inconsistent compared to consistent anticipation responses, however, led to reduced subjective confidence, and in part to increased criticality. Not only anticipation but also intended behavior was influenced by retrieval cues. In accordance, the anticipation of others' behaviors can be considered a predictor of specific intended behavior in road traffic.     

Mapping drivers’ mental models of adaptive cruise control to performance

Driver support features (DSF) have the potential to improve safety, but they also change the driver-vehicle relationship —as well as their respective roles and responsibilities. To maximize safety, it is important to understand how drivers’ knowledge and understanding of these technologies—referred to as drivers’ mental models—impact performance and safety. This simulator study examined how drivers with different mental models of adaptive cruise control performed in edge cases. The study compared the responses of groups of drivers, with strong and weak mental models of ACC, established through a combination of screening, training, and exposure, in edge case situations in a high-fidelity driving simulator. In general, participants with strong mental models were faster than those with weak mental models to respond in edge-case situations—defined as cases where the ACC did not detect an approaching object, such as a slow-moving motorcycle. The performance deficits observed for drivers with weak mental models appear to reflect uncertainty surrounding how ACC will behave in edge cases.     

Toward integrating cognitive components with computational models of emotion using software design patterns

Computational models of emotion (CMEs) are software systems designed to imitate particular aspects of human emotions. The main purpose of this type of computational model is to capture the complexity of the human emotion process in a software system that is incorporated into a cognitive agent architecture. However, creating a CME that closely imitates the actual functioning of emotions demands to address some challenges such as (i) sharing information among independently developed cognitive and affective components, and (ii) interconnecting complex cognitive and affective components that must interact with one another in order to generate realistic emotions, which may even affect agents’ decision making. This paper proposes an architectural pattern aimed at cataloging and describing fundamental components of CMEs and their interrelationships with cognitive components. In this architectural pattern, external cognitive components and internal affective components of CMEs do not interact directly but are extended by including message exchange methods in order to use a publish-subscribe channel, which enables their intercommunication, thus attenuating issues such as software heterogeneity. This structural approach centralizes communication management and separates the inherent complexity of the cognitive and affective processes from the complexity of their interaction mechanisms. In so doing, it enables the design of CMEs’ architectures composed of independently developed affective and cognitive components. The proposed architectural pattern attempts to make progress in capturing the complex process of human emotions in a software system that adheres to software engineering best practices and that incorporates quality attributes such as flexibility and interoperability.     

Causal cognitive architecture 1: Integration of connectionist elements into a navigation-based framework

The brain-inspired Causal Cognitive Architecture 1 (CCA1) tightly integrates the sensory processing capabilities found in neural networks with many of the causal abilities found in human cognition. Causality emerges not from a central controlling stored program but directly from the architecture. Sensory input vectors are processed by robust association circuitry and then propagated to a navigational temporary map. Instinctive and learned objects and procedures are applied to the same temporary map, with a resultant navigation signal obtained. Navigation can similarly be for the physical world as well as for a landscape of higher cognitive concepts. There is good explainability for causal decisions. A simulation of the CCA1 controlling a search and rescue robot is presented with the goal of finding and rescuing a lost hiker within a grid world. A simulation of the CCA1 controlling a repair robot is presented that can predict the movement of a series of gears.     

Bio-inspired cognitive model of motor learning by imitation

Learning, and even more so by imitation, is an essential Cognitive Functions because it is carried out throughout life and allows us to adapt our behaviors from other beings through observation. In this work, we propose a model, and implementation of the cognitive function of imitation motor learning (IML), based on psychological and neuroscientific evidence. According to the evidence, learning by imitation includes imitation of action and imitation of action over an object sub-processes. The imitation of action consists of the movement of the limbs. The imitation of action over an object consists of the interaction with an object within the environment. We achieve an implementation of the proposed model for IML and endow a virtual entity with it. In order to validate the proposal, we use a case study to analyze the sub-processes performance. From results, we conclude that both imitation of action and imitation of action over an object sub-processes play an essential role in getting the agent to interact with stimuli within the environment.     

When the final whistle blows: Social identity pathways support mental health and life satisfaction after retirement from competitive sport

For many athletes, retirement from higher levels of competitive sport poses significant challenges. Research has shown that athletic identity is a key predictor of adjustment trajectories, but the mechanisms through which this affects outcomes are less clear. Added to this, there has been limited research on the role that wider social identities, and the resources they enable, play in adjustment. Addressing both these issues, we examined theoretically derived social identity pathways to retirement adjustment in athletes who had played sport at higher competitive levels and two potential mechanisms, or psychological resources, through which adjustment might be enabled. This was examined in two samples: retired athletes from countries in Western (n = 215) and Eastern (n = 183) regions. Loss of athletic identity, social group memberships (multiple, maintained and new), psychological resources (perceived meaning in life and control), and adjustment (life satisfaction, depression, and perceived physical health) were assessed. In both samples, the loss of athletic identity undermined adjustment by reducing meaning in life and perceived control. Path analysis showed that both maintained and gained social group memberships counteracted the negative effects of athletic identity loss on adjustment. Evidence that these pathways enabled access to psychological resources was found primarily in Chinese athletes, with maintained groups influencing personal control and new groups influencing meaning in life. These findings highlight the importance of social identity processes to retirement from higher levels of competitive sport and the mechanisms through which they can either support or undermine adjustment.     

Children’s scale errors and object processing: Early evidence for cross-cultural differences

Scale errors are observed when young children make mistakes by attempting to put their bodies into miniature versions of everyday objects. Such errors have been argued to arise from children’s insufficient integration of size into their object representations. The current study investigated whether Japanese and UK children’s (18–24 months old, N = 80) visual exploration in a categorization task related to their scale error production. UK children who showed greater local processing made more scale errors, whereas Japanese children, who overall showed greater global processing, showed no such relationship. These results raise the possibility that children’s suppression of scale errors emerges not from attention to size per se, but from a critical integration of global (i.e., size) and local (i.e., object features) information during object processing, and provide evidence that this mechanism differs cross-culturally.     

Sensory Processing Sensitivity Moderates the Relationships Between Life Skills and Depressive Tendencies in University Students1

University students often experience depressive symptoms, and strengthening of life skills may be beneficial for improving their mental health. Several studies have suggested that life skills effective in reducing depressive tendencies vary by individuals depending on differences in sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). SPS is a genetically determined trait characterized by sensitivity and reactivity to environmental stimuli. This study investigated the relationship between life skills and depressive tendencies based on individual differences in SPS. A total of 868 Japanese university students (mean age = 19.8 years, SD = 1.3 years) completed a questionnaire measuring levels of SPS—decision-making, interpersonal relationships, effective communication, and emotional coping skills—and depressive tendencies. Hierarchical multiple regression and simple slopes analyses indicated that interpersonal relationship skills were negatively correlated with depression regardless of SPS levels. Furthermore, decision-making skills were negatively correlated with depressive tendencies only in low-SPS students. Emotional coping skills were negatively correlated with depressive tendencies in high-SPS students. These results may help universities incorporate SPS levels when creating life-skills-based interventions for students.