A meta-analysis of the n-back task while driving and its effects on cognitive workload

This study investigates the effect of the n-back task on cognitive workload while driving. Results of 20 studies with over 800 participants in total show a moderate to high mean effect size. That means the n-back task varies cognitive load while driving in a substantial matter. Further analysis reveals several moderator variables: experiments conducted in a driving simulator showed larger effect sizes than on-road studies. This effect decreases with increasing driving simulator fidelity. Furthermore, the specific driving task assignment moderates the effect: lane change task scenarios result in higher effects than other situations. Regarding the different measurement methods of cognitive workload, subjective questionnaires seem to have very high sensitivity. In contrast, n-back performance measures, detection response task measures, and physiological measurements result in moderate effect sizes, and driving performance measures show reduced sensitivity. Regarding different implementations of the n-back task itself, surprisingly, no moderators are found. Overall, the findings highlight the suitability of the n-back task as a method of inducing cognitive load in transportation research. The moderator analysis gives an overview of different methodological designs and how these designs will affect effect sizes.     

Do drivers accept cooperative behavior of their automated vehicle on highways?

Automated cooperatively interacting vehicles will change the future of traffic completely. Such vehicles will be capable of planning and carrying out maneuvers based on vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, enabling a safer driving experience. However, this gain of safety will only be effective if drivers use and accept the decisions made by advanced automated technology. Especially when drivers are cognitively distracted, new strategies might be necessary, e.g., by further explaining the reason for a cooperative decision.In a driving simulator study, we investigated the acceptance of lane change maneuvers in cooperative situations carried out by an automated vehicle on a two-lane German highway. When the automated system detected a potential lane change ahead, it carried out one of three possible maneuvers: accelerate, decelerate, or maintain speed. Participants (N = 20) were asked whether they accepted the system’s behavior either while being cognitively distracted or in an attentive state. Thus, we investigated the influence of a cognitively demanding secondary task and, in addition, further situational characteristics (Scope of action, Criticality for the lane-changing vehicle, Display of intention) on the acceptance towards the system’s behavior. Moreover, participants had to rate the perceived situation’s criticality.Results underlined the importance of explicit indication of the intention to change lanes. Furthermore, increased cognitive load led to a higher acceptance of the defensive system behavior. This study contributes to the development of a user-centered interface and interaction strategy for cooperative interacting vehicles.     

驾驶员选择性注意过程中的规则图式启动效应

本研究将驾驶无意视盲范式与交通违规事件识别任务相结合, 通过两个实验分别探究任务性质(有提示、无提示)和规则图式训练(训练、未训练)对驾驶员识别交通信号和违规事件的影响。结果发现, 交通规则提示能够提高有经验的驾驶员识别交通信号的正确率(实验1); 对于新手驾驶员, 则需要结合规则图式训练才能起到相同效果(实验2)。研究表明驾驶员选择性注意过程中存在规则图式启动效应, 图式训练能够弥补新手驾驶员经验的不足。     

Children's Moral Emotion Attribution in the Happy Victimizer Task: The Role of Response Format

Previous research in the happy victimizer tradition indicated that preschool and early elementary school children attribute positive emotions to the violator of a moral norm, whereas older children attribute negative (moral) emotions. Cognitive and motivational processes have been suggested to underlie this developmental shift. The current research investigated whether making the happy victimizer task less cognitively demanding by providing children with alternative response formats would increase their attribution of moral emotions and moral motivation. In Study 1, 93 British children aged 4–7 years old responded to the happy victimizer questions either in a normal condition (where they spontaneously pointed with a finger), a wait condition (where they had to wait before giving their answers), or an arrow condition (where they had to point with a paper arrow). In Study 2, 40 Spanish children aged 4 years old responded to the happy victimizer task either in a normal or a wait condition. In both studies, participants' attribution of moral emotions and moral motivation was significantly higher in the conditions with alternative response formats (wait, arrow) than in the normal condition. The role of cognitive abilities for emotion attribution in the happy victimizer task is discussed.     

Test–retest reliability and task order effects of emotional cognitive tests in healthy subjects

Little is known of the retest reliability of emotional cognitive tasks or the impact of using different tasks employing similar emotional stimuli within a battery. We investigated this in healthy subjects. We found improved overall performance in an emotional attentional blink task (EABT) with repeat testing at one hour and one week compared to baseline, but the impact of an emotional stimulus on performance was unchanged. Similarly, performance on a facial expression recognition task (FERT) was better one week after a baseline test, though the relative effect of specific emotions was unaltered. There was no effect of repeat testing on an emotional word categorising, recall and recognition task. We found no difference in performance in the FERT and EABT irrespective of task order. We concluded that it is possible to use emotional cognitive tasks in longitudinal studies and combine tasks using emotional facial stimuli in a single battery.     

听觉任务下汉语母语者对不同类型时间句的加工

采用听觉刺激-口头问答任务考察汉语母语者对指示性时间句和顺序性时间句的加工。结果表明:(1)对指示性时间句,被试的加工不受听觉刺激的呈现位置影响,时间概念与空间知觉之间无法形成对应的自动化联结;(2)对顺序性时间句,汉语母语者对出现在前方的"较早"事件和出现在后方的"较晚"事件反应快,出现了隐喻一致性效应,即汉语母语者更倾向于用"前"表示过去,用"后"表示未来。整个研究表明,对于汉语母语者而言,"自我参照点"和"时间参照点"两大时间隐喻系统都具有心理现实性,二者之间的区别在于是否有运动经验参与,并由此造成汉语母语者在听觉任务中对指示性时间句和顺序性时间句加工的差异。     

The effect of state core self-evaluations on task performance,organizational citizenship behaviour,and counterproductive work behaviour

Although the personality–performance relationship has been studied extensively, most studies focused on the relationship between between-person differences in the Big Five personality dimensions and between-person differences in job performance. The current paper extends this research in two ways. First, we build on core self-evaluations (CSEs): an alternative, broad personality dimension that has proven to be a good predictor of job performance. Second, we tested concurrent and lagged within-person relationships between CSEs and task performance, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and counterproductive work behaviour (CWB). To this end, we conducted two experience sampling studies; the first one assessing the relationship between state CSEs and levels of momentary task performance and OCB, and a second study in which employees reported on their level of state CSEs and momentary CWB. Results showed that there is substantial within-person variability in CSEs and that these within-person fluctuations relate to within-person variation in task performance, OCB, and CWB towards the organization, and CWB towards the individual. Moreover, CSEs prospectively predicted within-person differences in task performance and CWB towards the organization, whereas the reversed effect did not hold. These findings tentatively suggest that state CSEs predict performance, rather than the other way around.     

Intolerance of uncertainty,causal uncertainty,causal importance,self-concept clarity and their relations to generalized anxiety disorder

Although numerous studies have provided support for the notion that intolerance of uncertainty plays a key role in pathological worry (the hallmark feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)), other uncertainty-related constructs may also have relevance for the understanding of individuals who engage in pathological worry. Three constructs from the social cognition literature, causal uncertainty, causal importance, and self-concept clarity, were examined in the present study to assess the degree to which these explain unique variance in GAD, over and above intolerance of uncertainty. N = 235 participants completed self-report measures of trait worry, GAD symptoms, and uncertainty-relevant constructs. A subgroup was subsequently classified as low in GAD symptoms (n = 69) or high in GAD symptoms (n = 54) based on validated cut scores on measures of trait worry and GAD symptoms. In logistic regressions, only elevated intolerance of uncertainty and lower self-concept clarity emerged as unique correlates of high (vs. low) GAD symptoms. The possible role of self-concept uncertainty in GAD and the utility of integrating social cognition theories and constructs into clinical research on intolerance of uncertainty are discussed.     

Influence of warmth and competence on the promotion of safe in-group selection: Stereotype content model and social categorization of faces

Categorizing an individual as a friend or foe plays a pivotal role in navigating the social world. According to the stereotype content model (SCM), social perception relies on two fundamental dimensions, warmth and competence, which allow us to process the intentions of others and their ability to enact those intentions, respectively. Social cognition research indicates that, in categorization tasks, people tend to classify other individuals as more likely to belong to the out-group than the in-group (in-group overexclusion effect, IOE) when lacking diagnostic information, probably with the aim of protecting in-group integrity. Here, we explored the role of warmth and competence in group-membership decisions by testing 62 participants in a social-categorization task consisting of 150 neutral faces. We assessed whether (a) warmth and competence ratings could predict the in-group/out-group categorization, and (b) the reliance on these two dimensions differed in low-IOE versus high-IOE participants. Data showed that high ratings of warmth and competence were necessary to categorize a face as in-group. Moreover, while low-IOE participants relied on warmth, high-IOE participants relied on competence. This finding suggests that the proneness to include/exclude unknown identities in/from one's own in-group is related to individual differences in the reliance on SCM social dimensions. Furthermore, the primacy of the warmth effect seems not to represent a universal phenomenon adopted in the context of social evaluation.     

Flexible adjustments of visual selectivity in a Flanker task

Congruency effects observed in stimulus-response compatibility paradigms are affected by proportion congruency (PC), that is, the ratio of congruent trials in a block-wise context. The PC effect may reflect the operation of visual selectivity. We used a flanker task to investigate the nature of the relationship between the congruency effect and PC in a given block, as well as the preservation of visual selectivity. In Experiment 1, we observed a linear relationship between the congruency effect and PC across five PC groups in a training session; in post training (with PC constant), the congruency effect was equivalent across the five groups. In Experiment 2, congruency effects varied with PC in phases within a block. These suggest that visual selectivity, acquired in a training session, is not sustained in post training where it rapidly adjusts to a new PC context. Characteristics of visual selectivity derived from these findings are discussed.