Predicting pedestrians’ intention to cross the road in front of automated vehicles in risky situations

Due to the absence of a human driver, the introduction of fully automated vehicles (FAVs) may bring new safety challenges to the traffic system, especially when FAVs interact with vulnerable road users such as pedestrians. To ensure safer interactions between pedestrians and FAVs, this questionnaire-based study aims to understand Australian pedestrians’ intention to engage in risky road-crossing behaviors when they interact with FAVs vs. human-driven vehicles (HDVs). A 2 × 2 between-subject design was utilized, in which two risky road-crossing scenarios were designed and took into account the vehicle type (FAV vs. HDV) and vehicle speed (30 km/h vs. 50 km/h). A total of 493 participants (aged 18–77) were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions and completed an online questionnaire based on the extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). This questionnaire measured pedestrians’ intentions to cross the road in the assigned scenarios as well as the motivational factors behind these intentions in terms of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, perceived risk and trust in the vehicle. The results show that pedestrians had significantly higher intentions to cross the road in front of approaching FAVs than HDVs. Participants also reported a lower risk perception of crossing in front of FAVs and greater trust in this type of vehicle. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of intentions to engage in risky road-crossing behavior. Findings of this study provide important implications for the development and implementation of FAVs in the future road transport system.     

“Nothing was lost sailing-wise and lots is gained on a personal level”: Practitioners’ behaviors and athletes’ perceptions of working in online environments

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of expert practitioners and their British sailing team athletes concerning effective, athlete-centered online delivery during a period of COVID-19 restrictions between March and June 2020. In particular, we explored how psychosocial behaviors of practitioners and inherent attributes of online environments influenced the overall wellbeing of the athletes.MethodsUsing appreciative inquiry (AI), which adopts a social constructionist viewpoint, we interviewed nine expert practitioners, which included technical and strength and conditioning coaches, physiologists, and physiotherapists, and 18 elite athletes.ResultsOur results highlight that when delivering sessions online, practitioners expressed psychosocial behaviors that helped build effective relationships, with expression of care and empathy developing closeness, active participation exhibiting commitment, and psychosocial behaviors such as promoting a holistic mindset supporting an athlete-centered approach. Key to these positive outcomes was the connection that practitioners developed with their athletes in these online sessions. Our results suggest that the online environment provide opportunities for practitioners and athletes to reveal part of their personalities and identities that go beyond focusing on performance due to the change in the contextual setting (i.e., restrictions called for a ‘people first’ approach).ConclusionThe findings offer a novel contribution to the literature in highlighting how online environments provide the opportunity to deliver athlete-centered sessions.     

Safety behaviors and judgmental biases in social anxiety disorder

Two experiments were conducted to examine the link between safety behaviors and social judgments in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Safety behaviors were manipulated in the context of a controlled laboratory-based social interaction, and subsequent effects of the manipulation on the social judgments of socially anxious participants (N = 50, Study 1) and individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for generalized SAD (N = 80, Study 2) were examined. Participants were randomly assigned to either a safety behavior reduction plus exposure condition (SB + EXP) or a graduated exposure (EXP) control condition, and then took part in a conversation with a trained experimental confederate. Results revealed across both studies that participants in the SB + EXP group were less negative and more accurate in judgments of their performance following safety behavior reduction relative to EXP participants. Study 2 also demonstrated that participants in the SB + EXP group displayed lower judgments about the likelihood of negative outcomes in a subsequent social event compared to controls. Moreover, reduction in safety behaviors mediated change in participant self-judgments and future social predictions. The current findings are consistent with cognitive theories of anxiety, and support the causal role of safety behaviors in the persistence of negative social judgments in SAD.     

Having versus doing: The roles of moral identity internalization and symbolization for prosocial behaviors

Moral identity has been identified as a consistent predictor of prosocial behavior, but the specific relationship and predictive strength of its two dimensions, internalization (“having”) and symbolization (“doing”), are less clear. The current article explores this through two self-report studies. In study 1 (N = 228) a series of hierarchical regression analyses showed that, for three out of four domains of prosocial behavior, symbolization was the only significant predictor, and that its strength differed across outcomes. Building on these results, Study 2 (N = 299) proposed that the observed vs. anonymous nature of prosocial behavior could account for these differences. Unexpectedly, symbolization predicted both public and private behaviors, whereas internalization generally did not. Significant interactions between internalization and symbolization were also observed. These findings are discussed in relation to their theoretical implications and future moral identity research.     

Precursor behavior and functional analysis: A brief review

Researchers have developed precursor functional analyses to provide an alternative, and presumably safer, format for functional analysis of severe problem behavior. When researchers use functional analysis contingencies for precursor behaviors, it is possible to infer functional characteristics about severe problem behaviors based on patterns of less severe precursor behaviors, permitting practitioners to complete the assessment with less risk to clients, practitioners, or others. The current paper discusses recent advances in the development and validation of precursor identification, and offers suggestions and future directions for investigating and implementing precursor functional analyses. We propose a decision‐making model, in which practitioners integrate procedures to identify precursors into the functional‐analysis process, to expedite the analysis of severe problem behaviors.     

Am I guilty or not? Deontological guilt,uncertainty, and checking behavior

Literature suggests that checking behaviors are aimed at reducing feelings of uncertainty both in clinical samples with obsessive‐compulsive disorder and in general population. Previous studies also showed that deontological guilt is an emotion often associated with obsessive‐compulsive disorder. Thus, the aim of the current study was to investigate the differences in checking behaviors in the condition of high versus low uncertainty, by exploring the moderating role of deontological versus altruistic guilt. Participants were 108 undergraduate Italian university students who took part in a visual search task designed to elicit checking behavior. Ahead of the visual task, participants were administered one scenario in order to manipulate either deontological or altruistic guilt. The results showed that in the condition of uncertainty, compared with the condition of certainty, participants spent more time in checking behaviors and that such a difference was more consistent when participants experienced deontological rather than altruistic guilt. Limitations and further directions are discussed.     

Social Problem-Solving Abilities and Health Behaviors Among Persons with Recent-Onset Spinal Cord Injury

Although many persons with spinal cord injuries (SCI) are at risk for preventable complications, very little research has examined the health behaviors of these individuals. In this study, we examined self-reported health behaviors of persons with recent-onset SCI. We also studied the association between health behaviors and social problem-solving abilities. The results indicated that positive problem-solving characteristics were associated with more adaptive wellness and accident prevention behaviors. A negative orientation toward problem solving and avoidant and impulsive/careless styles was associated with increased traffic and substance risk taking. Implications are discussed in terms of health education, research, and prevention programs.     

Constant vigilance: Heritage values and defensive pessimism in coping with severe acute respiratory syndrome in Singapore

The present study investigates the congruency of defensive pessimism in the Asian context and its role in coping with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in Singapore. Data collected from 174 Singaporeans supported the hypothesized relationships among Chinese values, defensive pessimism, SARS-related fears, compliance to preventive health-related behaviors and negative outcomes. Path analysis revealed that individuals' endorsement of Chinese value clusters − prudence, industry, and civic harmony − positively predicted their levels of defensive pessimism. The results also indicated that defensive pessimism had a direct positive effect on SARS-related fears and, SARS-related fears, in turn, were directly related to direct preventive health-related behaviors but not related to indirect preventive behaviors. In addition to the indirect effect of Chinese values on direct preventive health-related behaviors, Chinese values had a direct positive effect on both direct and indirect preventive health-related behaviors. Consistent with our contention that defensive pessimism has the potential for leading to particular negative outcomes, defensive pessimism was found to influence negative outcomes but this relationship was partially mediated by SARS-related fears.     

母亲社会情绪行为的相关因素研究

本研究考察了婴儿情绪特征、母亲受教育程度和母亲社会情绪行为的关系。结果表明：（1）情绪特征不同婴儿的在积极社会情绪行为上无显著差异,而在消极情绪行为上,负性情绪组婴儿的显著地少于负性情绪组婴儿的母亲;（2）受教育程度不同的在积极情绪行为上无显著差异,而在消极情绪行为上,受教育程度高的母亲显著地少于受教育程度低的母亲;（3）综合考察婴儿情绪特征和母亲受教育程度两方面因素,受教育程度在大专以下、负性情绪较多婴儿的母亲在积极情绪行为上与其他组的母亲无任何差异,而其消极情绪行为显著地多于其他组的母亲。     

小学儿童问题行为、同伴关系与孤独感的特点及其关系

本研究以246名小学三至五年级儿童为被试,考察了儿童问题行为、同伴关系与孤独感的特点及其关系。结果发现：(1)儿童的外部问题行为、社会喜好、社会影响及孤独感均存在性别差异,内、外部问题行为和孤独感均存在年级差异;(2)儿童内、外部问题行为对其孤独感的影响方式不同：外部问题行为通过社会喜好和社会影响两个中介变量实现对孤独感的间接影响,其直接作用不显著,内部问题行为则直接影响儿童孤独感;(3)不同社会地位儿童的问题行为和孤独感也存在差异。