The impact of daytime running (LED) lights on motorcycles speed estimation: A driving simulator study

Motorcycles are the most common type of vehicle involved in traffic deaths, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. In order to prevent traffic accidents involving motorcyclists, one of the measures is to respect the “see and be seen” rule. If a motorcycle is perceived in time or another motorcyclist is spotted in time, there is enough time to react, in order to avoid a traffic accident or reduce the consequences. In many countries, it is for this reason that the use of daytime running lights on motor vehicles and/or motorcycles is legally prescribed. In the Republic of Serbia, a country that belongs among the least developed countries, about a third of those killed in traffic accidents are motorcycle drivers. For these reasons, an experimental study was conducted on a driving simulator to examine the importance of (non) use of daytime running lights on the estimation of motorcycle speed. Three different situations were examined: without daytime running lights, with daytime running lights, and with LED daytime running lights; for test speeds of 30 km/h, 50 km/h, 70 km/h, and 90 km/h. In the experiment, 128 young drivers participated. The results showed that the speed of a motorcycle with LED daytime running lights on is perceived most accurately.     

Naturalistic observation of drivers’ hands, speed and headway

Drivers’ hands position have been shown to vary with traffic speed and complexity of the driving environment, such that drivers are more likely to place two hands on the top half of the steering wheel as the supposed driving difficulty increases (Walton, D. & Thomas, J. A. [2005]. Naturalistic observations of driver hand positions. Transportation Research Part F, 8, 229–238). This research evaluates drivers’ hands positions, examining the reliability of the measure and the relationship between the positions of the driver’s hands, vehicle speed, vehicle headway and driver sex. The findings show that the observed positions of drivers’ hands have good inter-rater reliability and demonstrate both temporal and contextual reliability. The positions of drivers’ hands are related to other measures, such that drivers with lower-ranked positions of hands are more likely to travel at higher speeds and accept shorter headways. Female drivers are found to be 2.87 times more likely than males to place two hands rather than one hand on the top half of the steering wheel.     

Influence of speed-related auditory feedback on braking in a 3D-driving simulator

Although discrete auditory stimuli have been found useful for emergency braking, the role of continuous speed-related auditory feedback has not been investigated yet. This point may though be of importance in electric vehicles in which acoustic cues are drastically changed. The present study addressed this question through two experiments. In experiment 1, 12 usual drivers were exposed to naturalistic auditory feedback mimicking those issued from electric cars, while facing dynamic visual scenes in a 3D driving simulator. After being passively travelled up to a sustained constant speed, subjects had to stop their car in front of a traffic light that unexpectedly turned to red. Modifications of the speed-related auditory feedback did not impact braking initiation and regulation. In experiment 2, synthesized auditory feedback based on the Shepard-Risset glissando was provided to a new sample of 15 usual drivers in the same task. Pitch variations of this acoustic stimulus, although not scaled to an absolute speed, were manipulated as a function of visual speed changes. Changing the mapping between pitch variations of the synthesized auditory feedback and visual speed changes induced adjustments on braking which depended on acceleration/deceleration feedback. These findings stressed the importance of the acoustic content and its dynamics for car speed control.     

What you see is what you want to get: Perceived abilities outperform objective test performance in predicting mate appeal in speed dating

Are intelligent, creative, and emotionally competent people more desirable? Evolution-based theories and studies on the ideal partner suggest that they are. We aimed to assess whether verbal, numerical, and spatial intelligence, creativity, and intra- and interpersonal emotional competence are associated with higher real-life mate appeal. In speed dates, 87 women and 88 men met up to 14 members of the opposite sex (2188 observations). While only one measured ability—women’s creativity—was significantly associated with mate appeal, ability perceptions by speed-dating partners could broadly predict mate appeal. Effects of perceived and measured abilities were substantially reduced after controlling for physical attractiveness. These results suggest that the investigated abilities play a lesser role in initial attraction than proposed in the past.     

Are some first dates easier to read than others? The role of target well-being in distinctively accurate first impressions

Some people are open books, with their distinctive personalities being accurately perceived after a brief interaction, whereas others are harder to read. Such open books have in turn been found to have greater well-being, at least within lower-stakes, platonic getting-acquainted interactions. Do individual differences in expressive accuracy emerge in higher-stakes settings, such as first dates, and are people higher in well-being still easier to read? Using a speed-dating paradigm (N = 372; N_dyads = 4723), accuracy on average was significant but relatively low. Nevertheless, strong individual differences in expressive accuracy emerged and were associated with well-being. In sum, although it may be more difficult to form accurate impressions on first dates, targets higher in well-being may make the task easier.     

Verbal and practical intelligence in general anxiety,obsessive compulsive and major depression disorders

IntroductionPrevious researches have shown that anxiety symptoms are negatively associated with measures of intelligence. However, recent findings indicate possible positive relationships between Generalized Anxiety Disorders (GAD) and intelligence. Also, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is associated with a moderate degree of underperformance on cognitive tests, including deficient processing. There are inconsistent results to present the relationship between Major Depression Disorder (MDD) and IQ. The present study has three main aims. The first aim of this study is to investigate the difference between IQ in individuals with GAD, OCD and major depressive disorder, and normal group. The second purpose is to perform a comparative study between the GAD, OCD and MDD groups on verbal and non-verbal intelligence. The third aim of this study is to examine the relationships between GAD, OCD and MDD as well as their underlying cognitive processes, including worry, rumination, and post-event processing, with verbal and non-verbal intelligence.ObjectiveThe present study is performed on four groups of participants including those with GAD, OCD, MDD and Healthy Volunteer (HV) group consisting of individuals without psychiatric disorders.MethodThe number of 50 healthy volunteers as the control group, 45 patients with GAD, 20 patients with OCD and 25 patients with MDD (n = 140) were selected as the case-referent groups. The present study was a cross-sectional type and the research was performed based on the causal-comparative method. Verbal and non-verbal intelligence was measured with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-3rd edition (WAIS-III). Rumination and post-event processing were measured by PSWQ, RRS-BR, and PEPQ, respectively.ResultsThe results indicate that Verbal Intelligence and Verbal Comprehension Index in GAD patients have significant differences in comparison to the OCD, MDD and control groups. While, the value of the Working Memory Index (WMI) in the normal group is higher than the value of the same index in the GAD, OCD and MDD groups. Also, the values of the Processing Speed Index (PSI) in normal and GAD groups are higher than the OCD and MDD groups. The worry, rumination, and post-event processing in patients with GAD are positively correlated with general and verbal intelligence. But, verbal and non-verbal intelligence had a negative correlation with worry, rumination and post-event processing in healthy volunteers.ConclusionInvestigation of the possible connections between intelligence and the cognitive processes underlying emotional disorders can provide therapeutic strategies for smart individuals who are at risk for GAD.