Le médecin expert confronté aux confidences de la personne expertisée

During an expertise, if the expert “discovers” or is entrusted with information concerning an offence, should he report it to the authorities? Could the expert be sanctioned in the absence of denunciation of a tort or criminal act? The answer will be nuanced on a case-by-case basis. The expert confronted with the revelation of a crime or misdemeanor must decide in good conscience what he reveals in his report, or even report it to the prosecution.     

Occupational conditions and workers' sense of community: Variations by gender and race

The literature is reviewed to define a sense of community in the workplace and to identify factors that may foster it. A model is developed and estimated with survey data from a culturally diverse sample of men and women performing lower-level jobs at a medium-sized manufacturing firm. Results of regression analyses are reported that correct for sample selection bias resulting from the lower response rates of minority workers. Findings suggest that well-designed jobs and supportive workplace relationships and policies are important in explaining workers' sense of community, defined as workers' perceptions of mutual commitment between employee and employer. Informal sources of support play a larger role in explaining men's sense of community, while formal sources of support are more important in explaining women's sense of community. Findings further suggest that African American workers, especially women, have a difficult time experiencing a sense of community at work. The authors thank the employees of Fel-Pro for their participation in this study and Melissa Roderick, Michael Sosin, and anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. This research was funded by the Fel-Pro/Mecklenberger Foundation and the Lois and Samuel Silberman Fund.     

Intraindividual variability in driving simulator parameters of healthy drivers of different ages

Intraindividual variability is a fundamental behavioural characteristic of aging but has been examined to a very limited extent in driving. This study investigated intraindividual variability in driving simulator measures in healthy drivers of different ages using the coefficient of variation (COV) as a variability measure. Participants were healthy volunteers who were regular drivers, who were divided into a “young” group, a “middle-aged” group, and an “old” group. They drove in two environments (rural, 72 drivers; urban, 60 drivers), under conditions of moderate and high traffic load, without and with distraction (conversation). Significant differences in COV were observed in the rural condition for headway distance and lateral position as a function of traffic load, with high traffic (without and with distraction) resulting in increased COV of headway and decreased COV of lateral position. Significant differences in COV were observed in the urban condition for headway distance only, with high traffic (without and with distraction) resulting in increased COV of headway. No age effects were found for any of the driving conditions. The results indicate that traffic load affected headway distance and lateral position in opposite directions in all three age groups: high traffic resulted in increased variability of headway in both rural and urban conditions but in decreased variability of lateral position in the rural conditions compared to moderate traffic irrespective of distraction. The study indicates that driving conditions affect the intraindividual variability of driving measures in selective ways, which may be linked to the extent of automatization of the driving variables and to adaptive changes to traffic condition challenges.     

Analysing the influence of attitude and habit on bicycle commuting

New transport trends have emerged in developing countries to promote bicycling due to its individual and societal benefits. Although bicycle infrastructure provision has been one of the most utilised strategies to encourage bicycling, it has had a limited immediate impact on the bicycling modal share. Published research indicates the need to incorporate the psychosocial dimension to understand commuters' transport behaviour and explain why bicycling infrastructure usage is lower than expected. This study highlights the processes behind bicycle mode choice decisions, explicitly incorporating pro-bicycle attitudes and habits, while also considering the influence of socioeconomic, bicycle facilities and bicycling experience variables on shaping that attitude. For this purpose, an online survey was designed and sent to students, faculty members and staff of two Chilean universities to collect ad-hoc data. The modelling used an approach based on an integrated choice and latent variable model. The main findings are: attitude in itself is a relevant construct to explain behaviour; bicycling infrastructure contribute to explain bicycle choice but only indirectly through attitude; socioeconomic characteristics, bicycling familiarity and practical issues have both a direct effect on bicycle choice decision and an indirect one by fostering pro-bicycling attitudes. Additionally, results show that the explicit inclusion of habit reduces the contribution of pro-bicycle attitude in explaining bicycle choice. This might be due to interaction and reinforcement between habit and attitude.     

An information - expectation framework for decisions under uncertainty

Despite being in existence for many decades, normative decision theory has not become a commonly used tool for real-world decisions. This paper considers the reasons for this situation and suggestions for circumventing them. The main suggestion involves a two-stage framework in terms of the information available to the decision maker and his/her expectations under the available acts. This framework is well suited for decisions with incomplete structure, which is typical of real decision situations. Within this framework a specific multiplicative model is also discussed.     

A multi-objective mathematical programming problem with fuzzy relation constraints

In this study we discuss the problem of multi-objective mathematical programming with constraints defined by ‘max-min’ composite fuzzy relation equations. Since the feasible region is normally non-convex, the properties of the efficient points of a non-convex feasible region under multi-objectives are investigated and illustrated by examples. The necessary and sufficient conditions are proposed and proved. To facilitate decisions, a procedure that transforms these efficient points of an interval-valued decision space into a constant-valued decision space is proposed when the level of confidence is given by a decision maker. Then the transformed problem becomes a multi-attribute decision problem that can be evaluated by Yager's method to find the optimal alternative.     

Fidgeting as self-evidencing: A predictive processing account of non-goal-directed action

Non-goal-directed actions have been relatively neglected in cognitive science, but are ubiquitous and related to important cognitive functions. Fidgeting is seemingly one subtype of non-goal-directed action which is ripe for a functional account. What's the point of fidgeting? The predictive processing framework is a parsimonious account of brain function which says the brain aims to minimise the difference between expected and actual states of the world and itself, that is, minimise prediction error. This framework situates action selection in terms of active inference for expected states. However, seemingly aimless, idle actions, such as fidgeting, are a challenge to such theories. When our actions are not obviously goal-achieving, how can a predictive processing framework explain why we regularly do them anyway? Here, we argue that in a predictive processing framework, evidence for the agent's own existence is consolidated by self-stimulation or fidgeting. Endogenous, repetitive actions reduce uncertainty about the system's own states, and thus help continuously maintain expected rates of prediction error minimisation. We extend this explanation to clinically distinctive self-stimulation, such as in Autism Spectrum Conditions, in which effective strategies for self-evidencing may be different to the neurotypical case.     

Human factors evaluation of an in-vehicle active traffic and demand management (ATDM) system

This research study focused on the evaluation of an emulated in-vehicle Active Traffic and Demand Management (ATDM) system on Interstate 66 in Northern Virginia. Traditional ATDM systems rely on infrastructure-mounted variable message signs (VMS) to provide information (speed limits, lane availability, etc.) to the traveling public. By providing information about dynamic roadway conditions on an in-vehicle device, the ATDM may improve driving safety and performance by allowing drivers to remain consistently aware of forthcoming traffic conditions and roadway requirements; even when external signage is inaccessible. This study represents an initial investigation of an emulated in-vehicle ATDM to provide developers with design guidance and ensure that unintended consequences, such as distraction, do not undermine the potential benefits.Twenty younger and 20 older participants, accompanied by a member of the research team, experienced the following ATDM features on an in-vehicle device (IVD) mounted to the dashboard: (1) dynamic speed limits, (2) dynamic lane use/shoulder control, (3) High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) restrictions, and (4) roadway information from variable message signs. The IVD was equipped with auditory and visual alerts notifying the driver when relevant visual information was updated. Research questions addressed distraction and driver behavior associated with use of the system. Qualitative and quantitative participant data was acquired from the instrumented vehicle, various questionnaires, and researcher observation.Several key findings were uncovered: (1) The IVD, as tested, did not warrant classification as a source of distraction according to the NHTSA guidelines; v2) There was a significant difference in eye-glance durations to the IVD when comparing the VMS alerts to both the speed limit and lane management alerts; and (3) The speed limit alert motivated participants to alter their speed (per survey results and participant speed data).     

Preventing road crashes: Do infringements for traffic offences have a deterrent effect amongst drivers aged 40+? An examination of administrative data from Victoria,Australia

This study aimed to determine whether receiving a traffic infringement has a deterring influence on subsequent risky driving, measured through risk of crash involvement.Licensing, infringements and crash data for drivers aged 40+ from the Australian state of Victoria were analysed. A case-case-time-control study design was used. Overall, the odds of receiving an infringement in the month prior to a crash were 35 per cent higher than receiving an infringement in the same month the year prior, for the case group, adjusted for the change over time in the control group (Odds Ratio = 1.35, 95% CI 1.17–1.57, p < 0.001). Rather than infringements preceding a period of reduced crash involvement, and thus potentially indicating a deterrent effect, the odds of receiving an infringement in the one-month period just prior to a crash occurring was greater. Infringements for traffic offences may not be deterring further risky driving behaviours.