Psychometric costs of retaking driving-related cognitive ability tests

The present study tested predictions deduced from competing models advanced in the literature to explain practice effects in driving-related cognitive ability tests due to retesting. The models differ in terms of the processes assumed to be responsible for practice effects and make competing predictions with regard to the level measurement invariance across test administration sessions. A total of N = 239 test-takers solved four driving-related cognitive ability tests at three time-points of measurement. Item response theory analyses indicated that practice effects can be explained in terms of an increase in test-specific abilities. The size of the practice effect varied across driving-related cognitive ability tests and across test-takers’ level of general mental ability. Latent mean and covariance structure analyses indicated that the observed improvements in test performance are purely test-specific and do not generalize to broad cognitive speededness.     

航线驾驶安全行为多维评价量表的构建

结合现代航线驾驶工作特性及CRM和TEM模型基础上, 通过文献分析、专家访谈和开放式问卷调查, 筛选出现代航线飞行员驾驶安全所必备的27种关键行为特征, 构成中国文化背景下航线驾驶安全行为评价量表的检测项目。对118名中国航线飞行员测评数据的验证性因素分析表明, 由自动化系统认识、领导和管理、情境意识与决策、人际交流与合作技能组成的四维模型优于其他假设模型, 且在四个飞行阶段中均具有良好的信度和结构效度。以其中86名飞行员的安全绩效考核(安全规章、飞行作风、飞行技能和机组管理)数据和飞行员在每个飞行阶段的驾驶安全行为总体表现为效标变量, 以航线驾驶安全行为评价量表四个维度上的驾驶行为特征为预测变量分别进行层次回归分析, 结果表明: 航线驾驶安全行为多维评价量表具有良好的预测效度; 四个维度变量对维护不同飞行阶段的驾驶安全行为分别具有显著的贡献性, 且这种贡献性因飞行阶段的任务不同而有所差异。航线安全驾驶行为多维评价量表的构建, 不仅为航线飞行员安全驾驶行为规范性评估、机组驾驶行为问题诊断以及安全绩效考核提供了一套客观有效的评价工具, 而且也为有针对性的设计航线飞行员选拔模式和有效实施机组人员非技术性技能/CRM训练提供了一个良好的理论基础。     

Training to increase safe tray carrying among cocktail servers

We evaluated the effects of training on proper carrying techniques among 3 cocktail servers to increase safe tray carrying on the job and reduce participants' risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders. As participants delivered drinks to their tables, their finger, arm, and neck positions were observed and recorded. Each participant received individual safety training that focused on proper carrying positions and techniques after baseline data were collected. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of the safety training. Results showed that the training increased safe carrying for all 3 participants.     

Can organisational safety climate and occupational stress predict work-related driver fatigue?

Road crashes are a significant cause of work-related injury and death. Driver fatigue is thought to cause 20–30% of fatal crashes. The current study utilised a survey to examine the relationship between safety climate, occupational stress and work-related driver fatigue. Drivers (n = 219) from two government organisations responded to items from the job-related tension scale [Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., & Snoek, J. D. (1964). Organisational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing], safety climate questionnaire [Glendon, A., & Litherland, D. (2001). Safety climate factors, group differences and safety behaviour in road construction. Safety Science, 39, 157–188] and purpose-designed items on fatigue-related behaviour. Outcome measures were current self-reported, fatigue-related behaviour and self-reported ‘near (crash) misses’ during the previous 6 months. Together, occupational stress and safety climate predicted fatigue-related behaviour, accounting for 29% of the variance over and above that explained by control variables. Further, logistic regression revealed occupational stress and safety climate to be significant predictors of fatigue-related near misses. Safety climate emerged as a stronger predictor of both fatigue-related behaviour and near misses than occupational stress. Results suggest that organisations can play a part in improving the safety-related behaviours of their workforce through attention to safety climate and occupational stress.     

Monitoring traffic in future cities with aerial swarms: Developing and optimizing a behavior-based surveillance algorithm

Traffic monitoring is a key issue to develop smarter and more sustainable cities in the future, allowing to make a better use of the public space and reducing pollution. This work presents an aerial swarm that continuously monitors the traffic in SwarmCity, a simulated city developed in Unity game engine where drones and cars are modeled in a realistic way. The control algorithm of the aerial swarm is based on six behaviors with twenty-three parameters that must be tuned. The optimization of parameters is carried out with a genetic algorithm in a simplified and faster simulator. The best resulting configurations are tested in SwarmCity showing good efficiencies in terms of observed cars over total cars during time windows. The algorithm reaches a good performance making use of an acceptable computational time for the optimization.     

SHORES: A Practical Mnemonic for Suicide Protective Factors

Guidelines for addressing and managing client suicide risk include discussing and conceptualizing protective factors. Counselors should be able to recall and discuss suicide protective factors that are applicable across client populations. SHORES, a suicide protective factors mnemonic that is supported by the literature, has applications for risk assessment and crisis intervention across settings, preventative care, strengths‐based management, and counselor training. A case example and discussion serve to illustrate the wide‐ranging application of SHORES in counseling practice.     

Explorations of participants’ experiences of a Personal Development Group held as part of a counselling psychology training group: Is it safe in here?

This paper aims to extend understanding of student counsellors’ perceptions of participation in personal development (PD) groups during training. PD participants were invited to record their experiences in relation to these groups over a three month period. The accounts were then subjected to thematic analysis. Safety was found to be a dominant theme–both in the sense of how the group felt safe for them and also how the safety was threatened. These concepts are discussed and lessons the data has offered in terms of good practice in facilitating PD groups during counsellor training programmes are elucidated.     

Impact of a comprehensive safety program on bicycle helmet use among middle-school children

A bicycle helmet program was evaluated in three middle schools using a multiple baseline across schools design. Two of the three schools had histories of enforcement of helmet use. During baseline many students riding their bikes to and from school did not wear their helmets or wore them incorrectly. A program that consisted of peer data collection of correct helmet use, education on how to wear a bicycle helmet correctly, peer goal setting, public posting of the percentage of correct helmet use, and shared reinforcers, all of which were implemented by the school resource officer, increased afternoon helmet use and afternoon correct helmet use in all three schools. Probe data collected a distance from all three schools indicated that students did not remove their helmets once they were no longer in close proximity to the school, and probe data collected in the morning at two of the schools showed that the behavior change transferred to the morning.     

Finding a safe place to cross the road: the effect of distractors and the role of attention in children's identification of safe and dangerous road‐crossing sites

Negotiating traffic requires the ability to focus attention on the traffic environment and ignore distracting stimuli. The aims of this study were (1) to examine the effect of distractors on children's ability to identify safe and dangerous road‐crossing sites and (2) to examine the relationship between identification of safe/dangerous sites and attention (selective attention, attention switching, sustained attention and divided attention). Participants were 88 children (aged between 6 and 11 years) and 29 adults. Ability to identify safe and dangerous road‐crossing sites was assessed using computer presentations of sites with and without visual and auditory distractions. Measures of attention were examined using the Test of Everyday Attention (child and adult versions). The ability to identify safe and dangerous road‐crossing sites and performance on the attention tests were found to improve with increasing age. Correct identification of safe/dangerous road‐crossing sites was related to selective attention and divided attention for children but not for adults. Road safety training should take into account the development of these skills. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.