The effect of the emotional state on driving performance in a simulated car-following task

Emotion is an important factor that influences driving behavior, but the mechanism is unclear. This research explored the effect of the emotional state on simulated driving behavior. Thirty-five licensed drivers participated in this study and completed a car-following task. The angry, happy and neutral states were manipulated during the task. The participants’ driving performance and risk perception were recorded under each emotional state. Trait anger and driving experience were also measured to explore the possible mediating effect. The results showed that the drivers in an angry or happy emotional state tended to maintain less time to collision and take a longer time to brake while following a lead vehicle than the drivers under the neutral condition, suggesting that drivers in emotional states are more dangerous those in neutral states. Moreover, the happy state rendered the drivers more dangerous, which manifested as a lower perceived accident risk than that among the drivers in the angry and neutral states. More specifically, experienced drivers in happy states performed worse with respect to vehicle lateral position control. Recommendations and implications for safety education and further research are discussed.     

Mild functional decline and driving performance of older drivers without a diagnosed dementia: Study of leukoaraiosis and cognitive function

Motor vehicle collisions involving older drivers have increased and become an important social issue. It is known that the decline of cognitive function, including dementia, affects driving performance. A series of studies using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and other tests of dementia have attempted to prevent motor vehicle collisions by identifying as early as possible older drivers who may be unable to maintain their driving performance. Further, the performance of older drivers may deteriorate even if they do not have a diagnosis of dementia. Therefore we focused on the relationship between cognitive functioning assessed by the MMSE and diagnosis of leukoaraiosis (LA), or changes in the cerebral white matter, with different aspects of driving behavior resulting from aging. Qualified driving instructors evaluated participants’ driving behaviors on an outdoor driving course at a driving school. Visual search duration and angle at intersections were obtained by wearable wireless sensors. Vehicle speed and minimum vehicle speed were recorded from vehicle speed pulse signals. Duration of signaling and visual searches at unsignalized intersections were recorded using an in-vehicle camera. We assessed instructors’ evaluations and the scores on two instruments to evaluate the effects of MMSE scores and the grade of LA on driving performance were verified. The results suggest that lower MMSE scores and higher LA grade can predict some aspects of poor driving performance in older drivers before they experience dementia or an evident decline in cognitive functioning. Based on these results, we discuss countermeasures that may prevent motor vehicle collisions involving older drivers.     

Aging drivers and post delineated express lanes: Threading the needle at 70 miles per hour

Post-delineated express lanes represent a combination of driving complexities that are particularly difficult for older drivers to navigate. The narrow geometry and high speeds that are common to this treatment reflect a critical test for drivers whose depth perception, contrast sensitivity, and visual processing speed are reduced. The present study was designed to empirically examine the effects of age and color of express lane delineators on driver behavior. Three groups of participants (aged 18–39, 40–64, and 65 + years old) were required to complete a series of simulated driving scenarios consisting of combinations of single and dual lane configurations, with speed and lane position measured at the beginning and midpoint of each express lane. All drivers were pre-screened on various visual functioning abilities. Drivers in the 65 and older group show significant age-related declines in depth perception, contrast sensitivity, and phoria which were subsequently correlated with a wide range of driving measures including deceleration rate, brake time, jerk, speed, and lane position. Age related perceptual declines were statistically correlated with slower driving speed and wider lane deviations, including a statistically significant increase in the number of excursions beyond the typical 12-foot lane width. Based on these findings, the behavior of senior drivers was identified as a distinct design condition that should govern the design of high-speed, narrow geometric conditions. This age group requires wider lane widths, particularly at the beginning of single-lane post delimited sections, wider buffer areas around the post markers, and dual lane configurations wherever possible.     

The impact of cognitive functioning on driving performance of older persons in comparison to younger age groups: A systematic review

Older drivers are at a severely higher risk for motor vehicle crash involvement. Due to the global aging of the population, this increased crash risk has a significant impact on society, as well as on an older individual’s quality of life. For this reason, there is a need for understanding how normal age-related changes in cognition and underlying brain dynamics impact driving performance to identify the functional and neurophysiological biomarkers that could be used to design strategies to preserve or improve safe driving behavior in older persons. This review provides an overview of the literature on age-related changes in cognitive functioning and brain dynamics that impact driving simulator performance of healthy persons. A systematic literature search spanning the last ten years was conducted, resulting in 22 eligible studies. Results indicated that various aspects of cognition, most importantly executive function, complex attention, and dual tasking, were associated with driving performance, irrespective of age. However, there was a distinct age-related decline in cognitive and driving performance. Older persons had a more variable, less consistent driving simulator performance, such as more variable speed adaptation or less consistent lane keeping behavior. Only a limited number of studies evaluated the underlying brain dynamics in driving performance. Therefore, future studies should focus on implementing neuroimaging techniques to further unravel the neural correlates of driving performance.     

Relations entre réflexivité d’équipe,mémoire transactive et efficacité interventionnelle perçue chez les policiers-opérateurs du RAID

The objective of this study is to examine the influence of explicit (team reflexivity) and implicit (transactive memory) coordination processes on the perceived interventional effectiveness of specialized elite units (RAID) of the French national police. We test the hypothesis that transactive memory is a mediating process in the relationship between team reflexivity and perceived effectiveness. One hundred and three police-officers representing the seven French police special units replied to a questionnaire. The results show that perceived effectiveness is positively related to task reflexivity and transactive memory. The relationship between task reflexivity and perceived effectiveness is mediated by the integrated component of transactive memory (bootSE = 0.05, 95% BCa CI [0.004, 0.19]). The theoretical and practical implications are discussed with regard to the development of debriefing methods and teamwork training for the development of shared mental models.     

Investigating the effect of blood alcohol concentration on motorcyclist’s riding performance using an advanced motorcycle simulator

It is largely accepted that drink-driving significantly increases the likelihood that a driver may engage in risk-taking behavior and thus road crash. Although there have been a few studies examining the effect of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) on rider performance in developed countries, there has not been any research on the effect of BAC levels on motorcycle rider’s performance in developing countries. This study is attempted to evaluate the effect of low BAC levels (i.e., ≤0.05 g/dL or 0.05) on riding performance of motorcycle riders in Vietnam using an advanced motorcycle riding simulator. Thirty-four motorcycle riders aged 18–40 complete simulated rides on three BAC levels, namely 0.00, 0.02, and 0.05. Riding performance indicators are measured and compared at different BAC levels. These indicators include average speed, average lateral overtaking distance, brake reaction time, acceleration, deceleration, and frequency of lane change. At the level BAC = 0.02 or lower, the negative effects on the rider’s ability to control a motorcycle safely are statically insignificant. At the level BAC = 0.05, all the performances are impaired and the negative effects become statistically significant. In comparison of between novice participants and experienced participants at the same level of BAC, mean speed and acceleration rates of novice participants are significantly higher than the experienced participant. Based on the findings, the paper further discusses empirical relationships between reduced riding performances and road crash risk, and insights into drink-riding deterrence policy-making with regard to motorcycle riders.     

The power of nonverbal behavior: Penalty-takers’ body language influences impression formation and anticipation performance in goalkeepers in a simulated soccer penalty task

Previous research showed that penalty-takers’ body language affects the impressions goalkeepers form about them. Furthermore, it is often assumed that body language influences goalkeepers’ performance. However, as yet, there is no empirical evidence that indicates whether this latter effect exists. The present research was aimed at (1) replicating and offering more insight in the initial impression formation effects (Experiment 1-3) and (2) providing evidence that signals of dominance and submissiveness affect participants’ anticipation performance within a simulated soccer penalty task (Experiment 3). We report three experiments demonstrating that participants form more positive impressions and have less confidence in saving penalty kicks from dominant penalty-takers (or scoring against dominant goalkeepers, Experiment 1) than submissive penalty-takers (goalkeepers). However, we did not find evidence that participants’ automatic associations with dominant and submissive players underlie these findings (Experiment 2). Finally, we demonstrate that anticipation of kick direction is influenced by penalty-takers’ body language (Experiment 3). Participants performed worse in the simulated soccer penalty task against dominant than submissive penalty-takers. No mediation of impression formation was found.     

工作反刍及其“双刃剑”效应

工作反刍指在没有要求其出现的情境下, 有意识的、重复发生的工作方面的相关想法, 分为工作相关情感反刍与工作相关问题解决沉思两个维度。工作反刍对个体健康、工作及幸福感的影响有“双刃剑”效应。持续性认知理论、压力认知激活模型与认知资源视角理论, 可以解释该效应的内在机制。未来研究应分析影响双刃剑效应的边界条件, 寻求减少消极效应、增加积极效应的途径, 拓展其双刃剑效应心理机制的分析视角和该效应的作用层面。     

互联网企业玩兴氛围对创新行为的跨层次作用机制

互联网企业通过营造快乐愉悦的玩兴氛围, 推动员工持续创新, 以期组织目标的实现。然而, 现有玩兴氛围与员工创新行为关系的研究以理论分析为主, 缺乏实证研究, 进展相对缓慢。在回顾组织管理领域玩兴研究成果的基础上, 开展三个方面的研究：研究一基于组织氛围理论和玩兴活动特征, 开发中国情境下互联网企业的团队玩兴氛围量表。研究二立足于团队层次, 依据资源保存理论重点探讨了玩兴氛围对员工创新行为的跨层次作用机制。研究三从创造力成分模型出发, 引入个体思维方式和多重认同, 探讨激发员工创新行为的边界条件。研究结果发展了中国互联网企业团队玩兴氛围的概念, 促进了玩兴氛围理论的发展, 为互联网类企业营造玩兴氛围以激发创新行为提供理论支持和实践启示。     

团队工作重塑的形成与影响机制

团队工作重塑是影响团队有效性的关键性因素。基于工作设计理论和团队运作模型, 提出了一个关于团队工作重塑的前因后果的理论模型, 旨在建立团队工作重塑的逻辑关系网络。首先, 对团队工作重塑的概念和内涵进行分析, 并探讨测量工具的维度。接着从多层分析视角, 考察领导行为、工作特征、团队人格构成、人力资源管理系统对团队工作重塑的影响, 以及团队主动性动机状态中介作用。最后分析团队工作重塑对团队有效性的作用机制。