App-based feedback on safety to novice drivers: Learning and monetary incentives

An over-proportionally large number of car crashes is caused by novice drivers. In a field experiment, we investigated whether and how car drivers who had recently obtained their driving license reacted to app-based feedback on their safety-relevant driving behavior (speeding, phone usage, cornering, acceleration and braking). Participants went through a pre-measurement phase during which they did not receive app-based feedback but driving behavior was recorded, a treatment phase during which they received app-based feedback, and a post-measurement phase during which they did not receive app-based feedback but driving behavior was recorded. Before the start of the treatment phase, we randomly assigned participants to two possible treatment groups. In addition to receiving app-based feedback, the participants of one group received monetary incentives to improve their safety-relevant driving behavior, while the participants of the other group did not. At the beginning and at the end of experiment, each participant had to fill out a questionnaire to elicit socio-economic and attitudinal information.We conducted regression analyses to identify socio-economic, attitudinal, and driving-behavior-related variables that explain safety-relevant driving behavior during the pre-measurement phase and the self-chosen intensity of app usage during the treatment phase. For the main objective of our study, we applied regression analyses to identify those variables that explain the potential effect of providing app-based feedback during the treatment phase on safety-relevant driving behavior. Last, we applied statistical tests of differences to identify self-selection and attrition biases in our field experiment.For a sample of 130 novice Austrian drivers, we found moderate improvements in safety-relevant driving skills due to app-based feedback. The improvements were more pronounced under the treatment with monetary incentives, and for participants choosing higher feedback intensities. Moreover, drivers who drove relatively safer before receiving app-based feedback used the app more intensely and, ceteris paribus, higher app use intensity led to improvements in safety-related driving skills. Last, we provide empirical evidence for both self-selection and attrition biases.     

On-to-off-path gaze shift cancellations lead to gaze concentration in cognitively loaded car drivers: A simulator study exploring gaze patterns in relation to a cognitive task and the traffic environment

Appropriate visual behaviour is necessary for safe driving. Many previous studies have found that when performing non-visual cognitive tasks, drivers typically display an increased amount of on-path glances, along with a deteriorated visual scanning pattern towards potential hazards at locations outside their future travel path (off-path locations). This is often referred to as a gaze concentration effect. However, what has not been explored is more precisely how and when gaze concentration arises in relation to the cognitive task, and to what extent the timing of glances towards traffic-situation relevant off-path locations is affected. To investigate these specific topics, a driving simulator study was carried out. Car drivers’ visual behaviour during execution of a cognitive task (n-back) was studied during two traffic scenarios; one when driving through an intersection and one when passing a hidden exit. Aside from the expected gaze concentration effect, several novel findings that may explain this effect were observed. It was found that gaze shifts from an on-path to an off-path location were inhibited during increased cognitive load. However, gaze shifts in the other direction, that is, from an off-path to an on-path location, remained unaffected. This resulted in on-path glances increasing in duration, while off-path glances decreased in number. Furthermore, the inhibited off-path glances were typically not compensated for later. That is, off-path glances were cancelled, not delayed. This was the case both in relation to the cognitive task (near-term) and the traffic environment (far-term). There was thus a general reduction in the number of glances towards situationally relevant off-path locations, but the timing of the remaining glances was unaffected. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism behind gaze concentration and can contribute to both understanding and prediction of safety relevant effects of cognitive load in car drivers.     

反馈间隔影响反馈加工：整合行为和电生理研究的视角

反馈在现实生活中扮演着重要角色, 通过反馈信息进行学习是人类获取知识和技能的有效手段。反馈间隔是指个体行为发生到反馈刺激呈现之间的时间间隔。在反馈加工过程中, 反馈间隔是一个重要影响因素, 但反馈间隔影响反馈加工的研究结果不一。对反馈间隔影响反馈加工的行为和电生理研究分别做了介绍, 对结果出现差异的原因进行了分析。未来的研究应考虑结合行为研究与电生理研究, 并统一反馈间隔的操作定义。     

The effects of a public address system on the off-task behavior of elementary physical education students

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of teacher feedback delivered via a public address system on the off-task behavior of elementary-school physical education students. A multiple baseline design across three classes was used in this investigation. Results indicated a consistent decline in off-task behavior when the public address feedback system was used.     

Parts and wholes in person recognition: developmental trends

This study's aim is the investigation of short-term visual person recognition in 8- and 10-year-olds and adults, within the part-whole paradigm introduced by. Natural unfamiliar whole persons were contrasted with natural unfamiliar faces to test for differences between person processing and face processing. Two experiments showed advantages of whole face recognition over isolated face feature recognition. Also, these was a complete over part probe advantage (CPA, ) for person recognition in all age groups. Thus, recognition became more accurate between 8 years and adulthood, but no developmental shift in visual information processing was observable with face and whole person recognition. I conclude that person recognition does not rely on processes completely different from those of face recognition and that this holds for 8- and 10-year-olds as well as for adults.     

Anisotropic tracking: evidence for automatic synergy formation in a bimanual task

Investigation of interlimb synergy has become synonymous with the study of coordination dynamics and is largely confined to periodic movement. Based on a computational approach this paper demonstrates a method of investigating the formation of a novel synergy in the context of stochastic, spatially asymmetric movements. Nine right-handed participants performed a two degrees of freedom (2D) "etch-a-sketch" tracking task where the right hand controlled the horizontal position of the response cursor on the display while the left hand controlled the vertical position. In a pre-practice 2D tracking task, measures of phase lag between the irregularly moving target and the response showed that participants controlled left and right hands independently, performance of the right hand being slightly superior to the left. Participants then undertook 4 h 16 min distributed practice of a one degree of freedom etch-a-sketch task where the target was constrained to move irregularly in only the 45 degrees direction on the display. To track such a target accurately participants had to make in-phase coupled stochastic movements of the hands. In a post-practice 2D task, measures of phase lag showed anisotropic improvement in performance, the amount of improvement depending on the direction of motion on the display. Improvement was greatest in the practised 45 degrees and least in the orthogonal 135 degrees direction. Best and worst performances were no longer in the directions associated with right and left hands independently, but in directions requiring coupled movements of the two hands. These data support the proposal that the nervous system can establish a model of novel coupling between the hands and thereby form a task-dependent bimanual synergy for controlling the stochastic coupled movements as an entity.     

Behavior analysis and revaluation

Revaluation refers to phenomena in which the strength of an operant is altered by reinforcer-related manipulations that take place outside the conditioning situation in which the operant was selected. As an example, if lever pressing is acquired using food as a reinforcer and food is later paired with an aversive stimulus, the frequency of lever pressing decreases when subsequently tested. Associationist psychology infers from such findings that conditioning produces a response-outcome (i.e., reinforcer) association and that the operant decreased in strength because pairing the reinforcer with the aversive stimulus changed the value of the outcome. Here, we present an approach to the interpretation of these and related findings that employs neural network simulations grounded in the experimental analysis of behavior and neuroscience. In so doing, we address some general issues regarding the relations among behavior analysis, neuroscience, and associationism.     

Attention capacity and task difficulty in visual search

When a visual search task is very difficult (as when a small feature difference defines the target), even detection of a unique element may be substantially slowed by increases in display set size. This has been attributed to the influence of attentional capacity limits. We examined the influence of attentional capacity limits on three kinds of search task: difficult feature search (with a subtle featural difference), difficult conjunction search, and spatial-configuration search. In all 3 tasks, each trial contained sixteen items, divided into two eight-item sets. The two sets were presented either successively or simultaneously. Comparison of accuracy in successive versus simultaneous presentations revealed that attentional capacity limitations are present only in the case of spatial-configuration search. While the other two types of task were inefficient (as reflected in steep search slopes), no capacity limitations were evident. We conclude that the difficulty of a visual search task affects search efficiency but does not necessarily introduce attentional capacity limits.     

Simulationist models of face-based emotion recognition

Recent studies of emotion mindreading reveal that for three emotions, fear, disgust, and anger, deficits in face-based recognition are paired with deficits in the production of the same emotion. What type of mindreading process would explain this pattern of paired deficits? The simulation approach and the theorizing approach are examined to determine their compatibility with the existing evidence. We conclude that the simulation approach offers the best explanation of the data. What computational steps might be used, however, in simulation-style emotion detection? Four alternative models are explored: a generate-and-test model, a reverse simulation model, a variant of the reverse simulation model that employs an "as if" loop, and an unmediated resonance model.     

Facilitative orthographic neighborhood effects: the SERIOL model account

A large orthographic neighborhood (N) facilitates lexical decision for central and left visual field/right hemisphere (LVF/RH) presentation, but not for right visual field/left hemisphere (RVF/LH) presentation. Based on the SERIOL model of letter-position encoding, this asymmetric N effect is explained by differential activation patterns at the orthographic level. This analysis implies that it should be possible to negate the LVF/RH N effect and create an RVF/LH N effect by manipulating contrast levels in specific ways. In Experiment 1, these predictions were confirmed. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the N effect for both LVF/RH and central presentation. These results indicate that the letter level is the primary locus of the N effect under lexical decision, and that the hemispheric specificity of the N effect does not reflect differential processing at the lexical level.