How to bring the news … peak-end effects in children’s affective responses to peer assessments of their social behavior

The retrospective evaluation of an event tends to be based on how the experience felt during the most intense moment and the last moment. Two experiments tested whether this so-called peak-end effect influences how primary school students are affected by peer assessments. In both experiments, children (ages 7–12) assessed two classmates on their behaviour in school and then received two manipulated assessments. In Experiment 1 (N ?=?30), one assessment consisted of four negative ratings and the other of four negative ratings with an extra moderately negative rating added to the end. In Experiment 2 (N ?=?44), one assessment consisted of four positive ratings, and the other added an extra moderately positive rating to the end. Consistent with the peak-end effect, the extended assessment in Experiment 1 and the short assessment in Experiment 2 were remembered as more pleasant and less difficult to deal with, which shaped children’s peer assessment preferences and prospective choices of which assessment to repeat. These findings indicate that the process of peer assessment can be improved by ending the feedback with the most positive part of the assessment.     

“Please watch right” – Evaluation of a speech-based on-demand assistance system for urban intersections

In a driving simulator study we evaluated a speech-based driver assistance system for urban intersections (called Assistance on Demand AoD system) which supports the driver in monitoring and decision making. The system provides recommendations for suitable time gaps to enter the intersection based on the observation of crossing traffic. Following an “on-demand”-concept, the driver activates the assistance only if support is desired.In one drive, drivers used the AoD system in every situation they experienced to guarantee that every driver had the same exposure to the system when evaluating it. During another drive, drivers were free to decide if they want to use the system or not. The experimental study compared the AoD system with driving manually and with driving supported by a more conventional visual-based system which was always active at intersections (system showing colored arrows in a simulated head-up display (HUD) to visualize the crossing traffic). This resulted in four drives the drivers had to perform. Every drive consisted of several intersections with varying traffic conditions. The drivers had to turn left at every intersection.A total of 24 drivers took part in the study; one group with 14 middle-aged drivers and another group with ten high-aged drivers. Several questionnaires and online ratings were used to assess drivers’ acceptance, perceived usefulness, benefits and specific characteristics of both system variants. In addition, driving behaviour with regard to gap choice and drivers’ monitoring behaviour (using head tracking data) were analyzed.The results show that the AoD system reaches high acceptance ratings and is preferred compared to the visual, always active system. Using the speech modality for communication and the on-demand concept were both highly appreciated by the drivers. With regard to driving behaviour, the AoD system is comparably safe as manual driving while at the same time making driving easier by facilitating the monitoring of vehicles while waiting at an intersection.     

论信用建设的社会保障机制

良好社会信用形成的非自发性和我国目前失信对市场经济健康发展的阻抑性 ,凸显了信用建设的必要性和迫切性。立足于信用环境的创设 ,我们认为 ,必须提出了信用建设的四大保障机制 :法治机制、监管机制、信息公开机制、教育机制 ,以促人们循善而为。