Inspection time and everyday functioning: A longitudinal study

We tested whether level and/or changes in inspection time (IT) in an elderly sample (70–85 years at baseline) predicted future independence in everyday functioning, independent from chronological age. Sixty-eight participants were initially assessed on IT and cognitive abilities in 2003, reassessed on IT in 2005, and then completed the Everyday Problems Test, a test of independence in everyday living, in 2008. Controlling for age, lower fluid reasoning at baseline (Raven’s-subset) and slowing IT over 18 months independently predicted poorer everyday functioning in 2008, together accounting for one-third variance. This supports the proposition that IT has utility as a biomarker for less favourable ageing.     

Pedestrians at the kerb – Recognising the action intentions of humans

Aim of the presented research is the development of a cognitive driver assistance system, which can capture the traffic situation, analyse it, and warn the driver in case a pedestrian is a potential hazard. Hence parameters have to be identified by which the intention of the pedestrian can be unambiguously predicted. Two approaches to the topic are addressed. First, the pedestrian’s perspective was taken. The question was how crossing decisions were influenced by the parameters distance and velocity of the car. Following a signal, participants had to choose to cross the road in front of or behind the car. The data analysis showed that pedestrians relied on the distance of the car rather than the time to collision for their decision. In the second experiment the observer’s perspective raised the question what parameters humans use to predict pedestrians’ intentions. Videos of natural traffic scenes were presented. Participants had to make statements about whether the shown pedestrian would cross the street during the next moment. In a baseline and four experimental conditions, certain information was masked in the videos. Just the condition in which only the trajectory information of the pedestrian was available produced a higher error rate.     

学校氛围与青少年学校适应：一项追踪研究

通过对709名青少年进行追踪研究,分别以青少年自我报告与教师评价的方式测查了学校氛围与学校适应,主要探讨学校氛围与青少年学校适应的长期预测关系,以及性别在二者间的调节效应.结果表明:(1)青少年第一年感知到的学校氛围能预测其第二年、第三年的适应问题和适应能力,第二年感知到的学校氛围能预测其第三年的适应能力和学业成绩;(2)青少年感知到的自主机会对其学校适应有负面作用;(3)教师支持和同学支持对青少年学校适应具有积极作用,但同学支持的作用会随着在校时间的增加而发生逆转,即第一年的同学支持负向预测第二年的学习问题和第三年的学业成绩,正向预测第三年的适应能力,而第二年的同学支持则对第三年的适应能力和学业成绩均有负向预测作用;(4)女生的学校适应普遍好于男生,性别对学校氛围与青少年学校适应之间的关系具有部分调节作用.     

Analysing the influence of visible roadwork activity on drivers’ speed choice at work zones using a video-based experiment

The present study used a video-based experimental design to investigate the influence of visible roadwork activity on speed preferences at work zones. Four videos from real work zones in Norway were used. Two roadwork areas were filmed at two moments – with and without visible roadwork activity. A total of 815 drivers watched two videos and answered a questionnaire online. Participants stated speed preferences for both videos and then evaluated the influence of 17 common work zone elements on their speed choice. The results showed lower preferred speeds for the videos with visible roadwork activity. The elements considered by drivers to influence their speed included speed regulation (e.g. speed limit signs), transient motives (e.g. time pressure), flow pressure (e.g. speed of the rear driver) and situational conditions (e.g. road situation). Results from the regression analysis showed that visible roadwork activity was the strongest predictor of lower preferred speeds. Speed regulation and transient motives were also significant predictors of preferred speeds. Those who considered speed regulation more important to influence their speed choice at work zones were likely to state lower preferred speeds, while those who considered transient motives as more important were likely to state higher preferred speeds. These findings support the hypothesis that visible roadwork activity is an important factor for lower speed preferences at work zones. The main practical implication is that road authorities should consider various countermeasures to achieve safe driving speeds at work zones, not only roadworks warning signs.     

Parents as Partners: A U.K. Trial of a U.S. Couples‐Based Parenting Intervention For At‐Risk Low‐Income Families

Despite the well‐established links between couple relationship quality and healthy family functioning, and burgeoning evidence from the international intervention field, there is little or no evidence of the efficacy of couples‐based interventions from the United Kingdom (U.K.). This study explored whether the Parents as Partners (PasP) program, a group‐based intervention developed in the United States, brought about the same benefits in the U.K. The evaluation is based on 97 couples with children from communities with high levels of need, recruited to PasP because they are at high risk for parent and child psychopathology. Both mothers and fathers completed self‐report questionnaires assessing parents’ psychological distress, parenting stress, couple relationship quality and conflict, fathers’ involvement in child care and, importantly, children's adjustment. Multilevel modeling analysis comparing parents’ responses pre‐ and postintervention not only showed substantial improvements for both parents on multiple measures of couple relationship quality, but also improvements in parent and child psychopathology. Analyses also indicated most substantial benefits for couples displaying poorest functioning at baseline. The findings provide initial evidence for the successful implementation of PasP, an American‐origin program, in the U.K., and add support for the concept of the couple relationship as a resource by which to strengthen families.     

An experimental comparison between rival theories of rapid automatized naming performance and its relationship to reading

Two studies investigated the degree to which the relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) performance and reading development is driven by shared phonological processes. Study 1 assessed RAN, phonological awareness, and reading performance in 1010 7- to 10-year-olds. Results showed that RAN deficits occurred in the absence of phonological awareness deficits. These were accompanied by modest reading delays. In structural equation modeling, solutions where RAN was subsumed within a phonological processing factor did not provide a good fit to the data, suggesting that processes outside phonology may drive RAN performance and its association with reading. Study 2 investigated Kail's proposal that speed of processing underlies this relationship. Children with single RAN deficits showed slower speed of processing than did closely matched controls performing normally on RAN. However, regression analysis revealed that RAN made a unique contribution to reading even after accounting for processing speed. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Adolescents in Transition to Adulthood: Parental Support, Relationship Satisfaction, and Post-transition Adjustment

The transition from high school is a pivotal period for intergenerational relations, as the asymmetry characterizing pre-transition relations with parents is reconfigured. Changes in adolescent–parent relations across this transition have potentially important implications for post-transition adjustment. A prospective study was conducted with an ethnically diverse sample that included adolescents who were not college-bound. Maternal, but not paternal, relations improved across the transition from high school to adult life. Changes in support from both mothers and fathers were associated with changes in relationship satisfaction and changes in satisfaction predicted post-transition adjustment. The results verify the importance of parental support to the quality of relational bonds between young adults and their parents. They also affirm the significance of these bonds for post-transition adjustment.     

Driving mental workload and performance of ageing drivers

The World Health Organization stated that the global ageing population is increasing rapidly as well as the case of road accidents involving ageing drivers. This study presents the driving mental workload and performance model of ageing drivers in the context of real-time road driving. Twenty paid participants (ten males) with a mean age of 57.8 years old (SD = 2.7) and mean driving experience of 29.6 years (SD = 8.5) took part in driving experiments with three complexity levels of situation: simple situation (SS), moderately complex situation (MCS), and very complex situation (VCS). The subjective ratings using NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), physiological measure using electroencephalogram, number of traffic violations (NTVs), speed variability, and reaction time of peripheral detection task were measured. The driving experiments reveal the following: (1) The subjective workload ratings on mean physical demand score were the highest. (2) The electroencephalogram results show that situation complexity had significant effects on theta relative power and alpha relative power of two channel locations (3) The highest mean NTVs was in VCS. (4) The mean speed variability in the MCS was significantly lower than that of in the SS and VCS. (5) The maximum reaction time was recorded in VCS while the minimum reaction time was recorded in the MCS. The overall driving performance score regression models were developed based on the strong correlation and linear relationship between mental workload and driving performance elements. The models may benefit as a reference for designers, manufacturers, developers, and policymakers in designing better driving environment for ageing drivers by integrating safety and transportation, thus, optimizing and sustaining the driving performance of ageing drivers.     

Effects of position of speed limit signs and the presence of speed camera on Malaysian drivers’ speed choice: An eye-tracking study

Speeding is one of the most common driving violations in the world including in Malaysia. Reducing speed-related fatalities is one of Malaysia’s strategies to improve road safety. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of speed limit sign positioning and the presence of speed camera on drivers’ judgments about the appropriate speed to drive and their associated eye movements. Twenty participants took part in the study, and thirty two images of roads with a range of actual speed limits were presented. In each picture the displayed speed limit was edited to 30% lower than what participants think is appropriate on average. Speed limit signs were either presented on the road or on the speed limit sign boards at the road sides, and a speed camera sign was either present or not. Drivers judged a lower appropriate speed to drive when the camera sign was present than absent, while there was a wider spread of differences between judged and displayed speed when the speed limit sign was presented on the board than on the road. Drivers were quicker in fixating and looked more at the general area in which the speed limit sign appeared. Therefore drivers’ visual attention across scenes may be manipulated by the sign positions. These low-cost interventions could be useful in managing speed choice in Malaysia.     

Parent–Child Conflict Profiles in Chinese American Immigrant Families: Links to Sociocultural Factors and School‐Age Children's Psychological Adjustment

Research suggests that parent–child conflict is a salient family process in Asian immigrant families and often a stressful experience for Asian American youth due to value discrepancies between Asian and Western cultures. The present study examined ratings of parent–child conflict across conflict topics from parents' and children's perspectives in a sample of Chinese American immigrant families with school‐age children (N = 239; age = 7.5–11 years). Latent profile analyses identified three parent‐rated conflict profiles and four child‐rated conflict profiles. Parent and child conflict profiles were unrelated to each other and differentially related to family sociocultural factors and children's psychological adjustment. Parents' moderate conflict profile scored highest on parent‐rated child behavior problems and had the highest household density and lower parent Chinese orientation. Children's moderate‐specific and high conflict profiles scored higher on child‐reported behavior problems than the low conflict profile. These results highlight the need to assess family conflict from both parents' and children's perspectives and target parent–child conflict communication as a pathway to prevent or reduce behavioral problems in Chinese American children of immigrant families.