Distressed in the queue? Psychophysiological and behavioral evidence for two alternative car-following techniques

BackgroundNature offers numerous examples of animal species exhibiting harmonious collective movement. Unfortunately, the motorized Homo sapiens sapiens is not included and pays a price for it. Too often, drivers who simply follow other drivers are caught in the worst road threat after a crash: congestions. In the past, the solution to this problem has gone hand in hand with infrastructure investment. However, approaches such as the Nagoya Paradigm propose now to see congestion as the consequence of multiple interacting particles whose disturbances are transmitted in a waveform. This view clashes with a longlasting assumption ordering traffic flows, the rational driver postulate (i.e., drivers’ alleged propensity to maintain a safe distance). Rather than a mere coincidence, the worldwide adoption of the safety-distance tenet and the worldwide presence of congestion emerge now as cause and effect. Nevertheless, nothing in the drivers’ endowment impedes the adoption of other car-following (CF) strategies. The present study questions the a priori of safety-distance, comparing two elementary CF strategies, Driving to keep Distance (DD), that still prevails worldwide, and Driving to keep Inertia (DI), a complementary CF technique that offsets traffic waves disturbances, ensuring uninterrupted traffic flows. By asking drivers to drive DD and DI, we aim to characterize both CF strategies, comparing their effects on the individual driver (how he drives, how he feels, what he pays attention to) and also on the road space occupied by a platoon of DD robot-followers.MethodsThirty drivers (50% women) were invited to adopt DD/DI in a driving simulator following a swinging leader. The design was a repeated measures model controlling for order. The CF technique, DD or DI, was the within-subject factor. Order (DD-DI / DI-DD) was the between-subjects factor. There were four blocks of dependent measures: individual driving performance (accelerations, decelerations, crashes, distance to lead vehicle, speed and fuel consumption), emotional dimensions (measures of skin conductance and self-reports of affective states concerning valence, arousal, and dominance), and visual behavior (fixations count and average duration, dwell times, and revisits) concerning three regions of the driving scene (the Top Rear Car –TRC- or the Bottom Rear Car –BRC- of the leading vehicle and the surrounding White Space Area -WSA). The final block concerned the road space occupied by a platoon of 8 virtual DD followers.ResultsDrivers easily understood and applied DD/DI as required, switching back and forth between the two. Average speeds for DD/DI were similar, but DD drivers exhibited a greater number of accelerations, decelerations, speed variability, and crashes. Conversely, DI required greater CF distance, that was dynamically adjusted, and spent less fuel. Valence was similar, but DI drivers felt less aroused and more dominant. When driving DD visual scan was centered on the leader’s BRC, whereas DI elicited more attention to WSA (i.e., adopting wider vision angles). In spite of DI requiring more CF distance, the resulting road space occupied between the leader and the 8th DD robot was greater when driving DD.     

工作反刍及其“双刃剑”效应

工作反刍指在没有要求其出现的情境下, 有意识的、重复发生的工作方面的相关想法, 分为工作相关情感反刍与工作相关问题解决沉思两个维度。工作反刍对个体健康、工作及幸福感的影响有“双刃剑”效应。持续性认知理论、压力认知激活模型与认知资源视角理论, 可以解释该效应的内在机制。未来研究应分析影响双刃剑效应的边界条件, 寻求减少消极效应、增加积极效应的途径, 拓展其双刃剑效应心理机制的分析视角和该效应的作用层面。     

视觉空间工作记忆组间差异的神经机制

为考察视觉空间工作记忆（working memory, WM）维持和操作的组间差异及其神经机制,本研究记录了高、低WM组完成延迟再认（维持）任务和心理旋转（操作）任务时的行为和事件相关电位数据。结果发现,在操作任务中,高WM组比低WM组的反应时显著更短;高WM组的中前额叶慢波显著更正、双侧后顶区慢波显著更负,并且两者的波幅显著负相关。在维持任务中,两组被试的反应时无显著差异;高WM组的中前额叶慢波显著更正。结果表明,高WM组的执行注意能力可能更强,能通过有效调节和分配加工资源来表征视觉信息。     

Evolution and the nonlegal equivalent of aggressive criminal behavior

Within the framework of modern evolutionary theory, arguments are reviewed that the nonlegal equivalent of aggressive criminal behavior may have evolved by natural selection among mammals, particularly primates, as part of their overall approach to reproduction. If so, the commission of aggressive crimes (or their nonlegal equivalent) by humans, and even efforts to prevent fellow social group members from being victimized by aggressive crimes, may also be partially explainable in natural selection terms. The plausibility of this deduction was explored, first, by specifying the three elements that a human act must have to be regarded as an aggressive crime. Summarily, these were that (1) injury to a victim must be a likely result of the act, (2) the act must be intended, and (3) the act must elicit negative responses from those witnessing it. The primate behavior literature was examined for evidence that some behavior of nonhumans met all three conditions. Affirmative results were obtained. Therefore, while further research is in order, human aggressive criminal behavior, as well as human efforts to control it, seem to have close parallels in other primates. This would be consistent with the notion that aggressive criminal behavior (along with its condemnation by fellow group members) is part of a social system produced and sustained by natural selection.     

Treating a Chronically Depressed Adolescent Female Using the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy: A Case Study

A case is presented of an adolescent female with double depression who was treated using the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP). CBASP is designed to teach a social problem-solving procedure called Situational Analysis (SA). Generalized treatment effects were measured through monitoring of diagnostic status, two administrations of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent, weekly administrations of the Child Depression Inventory, and acquisition performance ratings on the SA task. The results showed that CBASP appeared to be an effective treatment. The double depressive disorder remitted, and the patient learned to identify behavioral consequences as well as target and attain her interpersonal goals. CBASP can be effective for adolescents, although modifications of the adult form of the therapy may be necessary.     

Family Unification with Reactive Attachment Disorder Children: A Brief Treatment

This is a case study of a family with a child (age eight) with reactive attachment disorder and the subsequent individual and family therapy. Treatment of choice for the child was Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and supportive educational counseling for the parents and family. Qualitative evaluation of the process demonstrated that the parents observed an instant change in the child's attitude. The child reported that she felt better about family, school, and truthfulness, and stated about the therapy: It opened a window for me. A 12-month evaluation demonstrated continued positive effects.     

Beyond conflict of interest: the responsible conduct of research

This paper reports data and scholarly opinion that support the perception of systemic flaws in the management of scientific professions and the research enterprise; explores the responsibility that professional status places on the scientific professions, and elaborates the concept of the responsible conduct of research (RCR). Data are presented on research misconduct, availability of research guidelines, and perceived research quality. An earlier version of this paper was presented at an International Conference on “Conflict of Interest and its Significance in Science and Medicine” held in Warsaw, Poland, 5–6 April, 2002. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Office of Research Integrity, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or any other federal agency.     

Tyrannical omnipotence in the archetypal father

This paper sets the archetypal relationship between the tyrannical, devouring father and his sons in the context of a disjunction in the parental couple (syzygy) whereby the role of the maternal feminine is eclipsed and excluded. This is shown to originate in an omnipotent defence against infantile dependence on the mother. Successful liberation from the father's tyranny requires the restoration of mutuality between the internal couple. Although the main focus is on the internal world (and a detailed clinical illustration is given, showing the working out of this process in the analytical relationship), reference is also made to political tyranny, attitudes to the control of Nature by technological means and patriarchal forms of masculinity. The Chronos myth is amplified through the use of two modern variants in the films The Terminator and Star Wars.     

Family Processes and Treatment Outcome in the MTA: Negative/Ineffective Parenting Practices in Relation to Multimodal Treatment

To elucidate processes underlying therapeutic change in a large-scale randomized clinical trial, we examined whether alterations in self-reported parenting practices were associated with the effects of behavioral, medication, or combination treatments on teacher-reported outcomes (disruptive behavior, social skills, internalizing symptoms) in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 579 children with Combined-type ADHD, aged 7–9.9 years, in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA). We uncovered 2 second-order factors of parenting practices, entitled Positive Involvement and Negative/Ineffective Discipline. Although Positive Involvement was not associated with amelioration of the school-based outcome measures, reductions in Negative/Ineffective Discipline mediated improvement in children's social skills at school. For families showing the greatest reductions in Negative/Ineffective Discipline, effects of combined medication plus behavioral treatment were pronounced in relation to regular community care. Furthermore, only in combination treatment (and not in behavioral treatment alone) was decreased Negative/Ineffective Discipline associated with reduction in children's disruptive behavior at school. Here, children in families receiving combination treatment who showed the greatest reductions in Negative/Ineffective Discipline had teacher-reported disruptive behavior that was essentially normalized. Overall, the success of combination treatment for important school-related outcomes appears related to reductions in negative and ineffective parenting practices at home; we discuss problems in interpreting the temporal sequencing of such process-outcome linkages and the means by which multimodal treatment may be mediated by psychosocial processes related to parenting.