bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Examining Methods for Combining Speed and Accuracy in a Go/No-Go Vigilance Task
Authors: Mueller Shane T. , Alam Lamia , Funke Gregory J. , Linja Anne , Ibne Mamun Tauseef , Smith Samantha L.
Published: February 2021

In many human performance tasks, researchers assess performance by measuring both accuracy and response time. A number of theoretical and practical approaches have been proposed to obtain a single performance value that combines these measures, with varying degrees of success. In this report, we examine data from a common paradigm used in applied human factors assessment: a go/no-go vigilance task (Smith et al., 2019). We examined whether 12 different measures of performance were sensitive to the vigilance decrement induced by the design, and also examined how the different measures were correlated. Results suggest that most combined measures were slight improvements over accuracy or response time alone, with the most sensitive and representative result coming from the Linear Ballistic Accumulator model. Practical lessons for applying these measures are discussed.
Emotion Task Analysis: Proposing a Tool for the Assessment of Emotional Components in a Task
Authors: Crowson Aaron , Wilkinson Michael , Wagner Richard B. , Wilson Ragan , Gillan Doug
Published: February 2021

Emotion is critical to human experience and is an integral part of perception, cognition, and behavior. While the mechanisms and precise measurement of emotion has been debated in the literature, researchers have theorized that emotion is related to activation across physiological, experiential, and behavioral response systems. This has important implications in human factors research and practice. Just as the cognitive task analysis was proposed to be used in tandem with hierarchical task analyses to account for cognitive components of a task, the current paper proposes a method to account for emotional components of a task. The emotion task analysis is proposed for the purpose of explicating emotion from an individual. Specifically, in order to account for emotional load and/or processes elicited during a task and to be used in tandem with previously established task analyses by usability/user experience researchers and human factors practitioners.
How Do Drivers Hold Their Phone? Age, Prevalence, & Handedness
Authors: Roady Trey , Wilson Kyle , Kuo Jonny , Lenné Michael G.
Published: February 2021

Objective

Research shows frequent mobile phone use in vehicles but says little regarding how drivers hold their phone. This knowledge would inform countermeasures and benefit law enforcement in detecting phone use.

Methods

934 participants were surveyed over phone-use prevalence, handedness, traffic-direction, and where they held their device.

Results

The majority (66%) reported using their phone while driving. Younger drivers were more likely to use their device. Of device-users, 67% preferred their passenger-side hand, 25% driver-side, and 8% both. Height- wise: 22% held in-lap, 52% even with the wheel, and 22% at wheel-top. Older drivers were more likely to hold the phone in the highest position The three most popular combinations were passenger-middle (35%), passenger-low (19%), and passenger-high (13.9%). There was insufficient evidence of differences based on handedness, prevalence, or traffic-direction.

Conclusion

Driver-preferred attention regions often require substantial neck flexion and eye-movement, which facilitates distraction detection. However, behavior may change in response to future interventions.
Investigating the Effects of Interruptions and Reliable Cueing on Change Detection within Dynamic Scenes
Authors: Perry Kimberly N. , Scerbo Mark W. , Powers Sarah A.
Published: February 2021

The goal of the present study was to examine the effects of cuing and task interruptions on change detection within dynamic scenes. Undergraduate students watched 24 brief videos (12 containing interruptions) for anomalous feature changes appearing in 8 videos. Half of the object changes occurred during a visual occlusion, while the others contained no interruption. All videos were unique and depicted various dynamic scenes. Participants were assigned at random to one of three conditions containing cues to the changes (reliable, unreliable, or no cue). The results showed that more object changes were detected during uninterrupted vs. interrupted trials. More object changes were detected with reliable vs. unreliable cues for uninterrupted trials. Providing reliable cues had no benefit over the other conditions when interruptions were present. Overall, these results suggest that visual interruptions may degrade information stored in memory, which could compromise visual monitoring tasks.
Digital Home Assistants and Aging: Initial Perspectives from Novice Older Adult Users
Authors: Blocker Kenneth A. , Kadylak Travis , Koon Lyndsie M. , Kovac Christopher E. , Rogers Wendy A.
Published: February 2021

Digital home assistants like the Amazon Echo are increasing in popularity each year among the general population and provide assistance across a wide array of daily activities. Despite their general utility, they may be most useful for supporting older adults with the various challenges of aging. However, little is known about older adults’ opinions regarding these devices, which is necessary to encourage their adoption of these devices. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 older adult novice users to learn about their initial opinions regarding two digital home assistants, the Amazon Echo smart speaker and Echo Show smart display. Results revealed an overall trend of positive attitudes toward them and their capabilities, with a preference toward the Echo Show. These findings provided insights into older adults’ first impressions of digital home assistants, plus the foundation for investigating their potential in supporting older adults in maintaining functional independence.
Gender Differences in Perceptions of Technology, Technology Readiness, and Spatial Cognition
Authors: Blasko Dawn G. , Lum Heather C. , Campbell John
Published: February 2021

With developments in new technologies such as mobile mapping and mixed reality (virtual and augmented reality), there is demand for insight into how individual differences influence technology readiness. We examined the influence of gender, perceived sense of direction, mental rotation, and navigation on the different aspects of technology readiness: discomfort, optimism, innovativeness, and insecurity. The results of an online questionnaire showed that women were equally optimistic about embracing technology. However, they rated themselves higher on discomfort and insecurity and lower on innovativeness. We also examined the perceived usefulness of navigation aids. For example, both men and women found mobile maps useful, but men found paper maps more useful than women. Women were more likely than men to feel that using Google Maps increased safety. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that women are less ready to embrace technology, rather it depends on its usefulness for the task at hand.
Proposing A Novel Method for Prevention and Intervention of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs) with Assistance of Wearable Sensor Technology
Authors: Gao Smith Tianqi , Sacchetti Enzo , Mahyoub Mohammed A.
Published: February 2021

URTIs are a group of seasonal bacterial and viral infections. Symptoms related to URTIs are the number one cause of missed school and work (Keech et al., 1998). This proposed study would examine how wearable sensor technology and telehealth notifications may assist in preventing and expediting the recovery of URTIs. Participants of this study were divided into three groups of varying levels of wearable sensor technology and URTI telehealth notifications to measure health statistics and URTI prevention and treatment: No Device No Text – control with no Fitbit, Device No Text – Fitbit, and Device With Text – Fitbit with telehealth text notifications. The difference in frequency and longevity of URTIs as a result of group classification from this study may be observed. The results of this experiment could have implications on the future of telehealth as a relatively affordable and accessible aid in treating and monitoring patients facing common infections. This paper will serve as a framework for using wearable sensor technology and telehealth notifications in preventing and mitigating the effects of URTIs.
Surface Inclination Influences Fall Risk and Lower Extremity Joint Moments During Walking
Authors: Kling Rachel , Chung Alex , Cox Courtney , Kimbro Emily , Grodzielanek Jim , Ayres Stephen , Hosseini Shireen , Shiraishi Michael , Soangra Rahul
Published: February 2021

Falls present a large danger to the geriatric population, with one in three individuals over the age of 65 experiencing at least one fall annually. With most falls occurring while walking, the relationship between inclined walking and fall risk has not been fully explored. In this study, 16 healthy young participants (age: 26.8 ±5.4 years, height: 175.0±11.0 cm, weight: 68.2 ±19.9 kg) walked on a treadmill with level surface and 10 degrees incline/decline in a virtual environment laboratory. We found that gait parameters and lower extremity joint moments were affected by surface inclination. These observed changes in joint moments and gait parameters may present challenges to the older population especially with musculoskeletal disorders and thereby increase the risk of falls. This study offers new information on the effects of incline and decline surface walking compared to normal flat ground surface walking.
Designing Human-Autonomy Teaming Experiments Through Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Schelble Beau , Canonico Lorenzo-Barberis , McNeese Nathan , Carroll Jack , Hird Casey
Published: February 2021

This paper creates and defines a framework for building and implementing human-autonomy teaming experiments that enable the utilization of modern reinforcement learning models. These models are used to train artificial agents to then interact alongside humans in a human-autonomy team. The framework was synthesized from experience gained redesigning a previously known and validated team task simulation environment known as NeoCITIES. Through this redesign, several important high-level distinctions were made that regarded both the artificial agent and the task simulation itself. The distinctions within the framework include gamification, access to high-performance computing, a proper reward function, an appropriate team task simulation, and customizability. This framework enables researchers to create experiments that are more usable for the human and more closely resemble real-world human-autonomy interactions. The framework also allows researchers to create veritable and robust experimental platforms meant to study human-autonomy teaming for years to come.
Reported Order of Importance Does not Predict Fixation Order when Viewing Driving Scenes
Authors: Diamond Anastasia , Chaparro Alex
Published: February 2021

Distracted driving and its negative effects on driving performance are well documented. Eye movement patterns of distracted drivers have also been studied, though insight into what the driver specifically looks at is not as well understood. Researchers have studied eye movement metrics like, eyes-off-road glance times, time-to-first-fixation, among others, over an entire drive, but not what the driver is looking at in a specific moment in time. The current study used eye tracking to investigate what objects and areas people looked at in driving scenes and what they reported they would look at later in the same scenes. The results suggest that people look where they say they would look, but not in the order they reported they would look. This finding demonstrates that participants may scrutinize scenes differently at various times, but attend to the same objects or areas, indicating an associated importance, semantic constraints, and relevance for driving.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Aptitude Alignment Job Role Study (JRS) for Travel Document Checker (TDC) Position
Authors: Korbelak Kristopher , Dressel Jeffrey , Sanders Emily , LaFreniere Jenny , Carter Anson
Published: February 2021

The current study investigated individual differences and their relationship to performance while fulfilling the Travel Document Checker job role at security screening checkpoints. It is part of a larger effort to understand variability in performance across different job roles that Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) routinely fulfill. Vigilance, task-focused coping and avoidance-focused coping explained the most variance in counterfeit detection. Future efforts should validate these findings and determine individual difference characteristics that are meaningful predictors of performance across other checkpoint job roles.
Joy in the Workplace: A Scoping Review of Positive Emotion and Electroencephalogram
Authors: Yusuf Yaqoub , Boutte’ Jodi , Lloyd Asante’ , Fortune Emma , Blocker Renaldo C.
Published: February 2021

A workplace that is a conduit for positive emotions can be important to employees retention and can contribute optimal levels of productivity. Validated tools for examining emotions are primarily subjective and retrospective in nature. Recent advances in technology have led to more novel and passive ways of measuring emotions. Wearable sensors, such as electroencephalogram (EEG), are being explored to assess cognitive and physical burdens objectively and in real-time. Therefore, there exists a need to investigate and validate the use of EEG to examine emotions objectively and in real-time. In this paper, we conducted a scoping review of EEG to measure positive emotions and/or indicators of joy in the workplace. Our review results in 22 articles that employ EEG to study joy in occupational settings. Three major themes identified in the analysis include (1) EEG for symptoms detection and outcomes, (2) Populations studied using EEG, and (3) EEG electrode systems.
Beauty and the Beastly Search: Finding Luxury in a Product Hierarchy
Authors: Branje Carmen , Yang Alisha , Chignell Mark
Published: February 2021

There has been considerable research on design of menu hierarchies in general spanning several decades. However there is much less research on menus relating to specific types of product in online retail settings. Thus there is little guidance in the research literature on specific issues such as how to place luxury items within a beauty product hierarchy, which is the focus of this paper. We report on a study that addressed this problem for an ecommerce site associated with a large Canadian retailer. In a within subjects design, participants searched for four beauty-related products (two of which were classed as “luxury” items) either in a hierarchy where luxury items were intermingled with other products addressing the same need (the “Combined” condition), or in a hierarchy where there was a split between luxury and non-luxury products at the top level (the “Split” condition). Segregating luxury products in the product hierarchy was found to lead to significantly slower, and more lengthy (in terms of links traversed), searches. Searches were found to be more efficient in the “Combined” condition than the “Split” Condition both when searching for luxury items, and when searching for non-luxury items. This work has implications for existing brick-and-mortar retailers moving into or expanding e-commerce portals. Our results suggest that the separation of luxury from non-luxury items in bricks-and-mortar stores does not transfer well to online product hierarchies, where similar segregation leads to poorer digital navigation performance.
Enacting into Reality: Using User Enactment to Explore the Future of Autonomous Vehicle Design
Authors: Huff Earl W. , Zhang Mengyuan , Brinkley Julian
Published: February 2021

Self-driving vehicles have been heralded as a dramatic new advancement in personal mobility. This emerging technology, beyond potentially improving driving safety, also represents a redefined relationship between the human driver and the vehicle. As this artificial intelligence-based vehicular technology becomes more intelligent, conventional interaction design methodologies may be challenged in their ability to fully encompass this redefined relationship. This problem may be even more pronounced for specific populations like older adults (60+) whose perspectives, we argue, have been underexplored in the self-driving vehicle context. Within this report we describe an emerging methodology, user enactment, and explore its use as a generative design process in two studies focused on older adults. This work adds additional support to the contention that user enactment may be an effective methodological tool for researchers in exploring the relationship between humans and intelligent technologies.
Exploring the Effect of Virtual Robot Acceleration on Perceived Competitiveness/ Cooperativeness, Animacy, and Intelligence
Authors: Sasser Jordan , Montalvo Fernando , Bendell Rhyse , Hancock P. A. , McConnell Daniel S.
Published: February 2021

Prior research has indicated that perception of acceleration may be a direct process. This direct process may be conceptually linked to the ecological approach to visual perception and a further extension of direct social perception. The present study examines the effects of perception of acceleration in virtual reality on participants’ perceived attributes (perceived intelligence and animacy) of a virtual human-like robot agent and perceived agent competitive/cooperativeness. Perceptual judgments were collected after experiencing one of the five different conditions dependent on the participant’s acceleration: mirrored acceleration, faster acceleration, slowed acceleration, varied acceleration resulting in a win, and varied acceleration resulting in a loss. Participants experienced each condition twice in a counterbalanced fashion. The focus of the experiment was to determine whether different accelerations influenced perceptual judgments of the observers. Results suggest that faster acceleration was perceived as more competitive and slower acceleration was reported as low in animacy and perceived intelligence.
Battery-Related Injuries in Children and Adults
Authors: Zimmermann Jacqueline , King Danielle , Crump Caroline
Published: February 2021

The aim of the current study was to analyze the circumstances behind battery injuries, including the mode of injuries experienced (e.g., a shock or consumption), as well as the battery types and products most frequently involved in battery injuries. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), a probability sample of US hospitals that collects information from emergency room (ER) visits related to a consumer product, was utilized. Injury data from the NEISS database was coded to identify a) the accident mode that led to the injury, b) the battery type involved, and c) the product that was powered by the battery or charger, if available. The data revealed that battery-related injuries were most often associated with (1) children consuming button cell batteries associated with toys and other household objects, and (2) adults becoming burned when handling vehicle batteries. Surprisingly, injuries associated with rechargeable batteries were the least frequent; however, when burns occurred, they were predominantly related to e- cigarettes, as well as vehicles. Results are discussed in terms of general exposure to specific battery types and products analyzing these battery types within each age group.
The Accident Network (AcciNet): A new accident analysis method for describing the interaction between normal performance and failure
Authors: Salmon Paul , Hulme Adam , Walker Guy H. , Waterson Patrick , Stanton Neville A.
Published: February 2021

Accidents continue to create an unacceptable personal, social, and economic burden in many domains. Various accident analysis methods exist; however, key limitations have been identified. This paper describes a new accident analysis method, the Accident Network (AcciNet), that was recently developed as part of an ongoing collaboration between Human Factors and Ergonomics research groups from Australia and the United Kingdom. The method is demonstrated via an analysis of the Uber-Volvo fatal pedestrian collision. The analysis demonstrates how AcciNet goes beyond current state-of-the-art accident analysis methods to consider the role of normal performance in accident causation and identify the interrelations between failures, normal performance, and both human and non-human actors in the system. We describe the implications for accident analysis in practice and outline the next steps of the research program, including formal reliability and validity testing of AcciNet and the development of practical training materials.
Effects of Autonomous Mobile Robots on Human Mental Workload and System Productivity in Smart Warehouses: A Preliminary Study
Authors: Chen Yuhao , Yang Chizhao , Song Bowen , Gonzalez Nicholas , Gu Yu , Hu Boyi
Published: February 2021

Safety is of critical concern in human-robot collaboration. A human-in-the-loop experiment was conducted to assess the performance of the customized robot control scheme in a smart warehouse setting, where the human participants performed order picking and assembly tasks, and the mobile robot performed simulated pallet moving tasks. Three modes of human-robot interaction were tested (no robot involved, mobile robot with the empty payload and mobile robot with the full payload). Participants’ pupillary response, subjective workload as well as task performance (completion time and errors) were recorded and compared between different modes. Preliminary results indicated a slight decrease in human productivity (completion time increased from 191.4 to 204.1 seconds, p = 0.041) was well compensated by the relatively large gain from the robotics outputs. Additionally, human mental workload was negatively impacted (pupil diameter increased from 4.0 to 4.2 mm, p = 0.012) by introducing the robot into the shared workplace.
Integrating Operator Function in Work Domain Analysis of Electric Grid Operations
Authors: Li Ruixuan , McJunkin Timothy R. , Blanc Katya Le
Published: February 2021

The electric grid system is complex, and whether the failure of a subsystem can cascade through the whole system depends on the severity and the type of failures. Cascading failure analysis often uses Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the impacts to the system. Functional taxonomy can help researchers define the unexpected failures and events in the simulations systematically. Work domain analysis, a method in ecological interface design, describes a system at a functional level. Operators play an important role in electric grid operations, and understanding operators’ goals is crucial for modeling a cascading failure analysis. This paper describes an approach to integrate users’ goals (operator function) in the work domain analysis of electric grid operations. It can support not only the task analysis but also design affordances related to the goals, experience, and capabilities of users.
Publicly Accessible Wearable Motion Databases for Human Gait Studies
Authors: Luo Yue , Ouyang Sai , Lockwood Caroline , Ferraz Maria D. , Hu Boyi
Published: February 2021

As emerging areas of interest in gait analysis research, gait authentication and activity recognition have drawn significant attention recently, facilitated by microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and smart devices. Machine learning models have been developed to reduce human effort and improve model accuracy in these areas. Sufficient amounts of data become critical for these applications. Unlike other fields such as image processing, in which massive data are easy to collect, human gait data is difficult to collect in large amounts, which makes publicly accessible databases in this area even more valuable. This paper aimed to summarize publicly accessible IMU-based gait databases by surveying the recent literature in human gait analysis. 199 papers were manually evaluated with sixteen data sets included (seven for gait authentication and nine for activity recognition). The detailed technical contents were described and compared in the survey to assist the audience on how to better utilize the data sets.
Proactively identifying the risks to performance in elite sport systems: A novel application of the Networked Hazard Analysis and Risk Management System (Net-HARMS) in women’s cycling
Authors: Hulme* Adam , McLean Scott , Dallat Clare , Walker Guy H. , Waterson Patrick , Stanton Neville A. , Salmon Paul M.
Published: February 2021

There is increasing interest in applying systems Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) methods in sport. The Networked Hazard Analysis and Risk Management System (Net-HARMS) is a recently developed risk assessment (RA) approach that draws on systems HFE methods to identify risks across overall work systems. What makes Net-HARMS unique is its capacity to identify ‘emergent risks’ – those unexpected risks that arise when risks from across the system combine and interact. Whilst the method was developed to support the identification of risks in safety-critical systems, its capacity to identify risks in other domains has been noted. This study sets out to use Net-HARMS in the context of elite women’s road cycling to predict all the credible risks that could degrade optimal sports performance. The findings demonstrate that Net-HARMS can be effectively applied in a context other than safety, and that multiple risks threatening the performance of the cycling team were identified.
Development of Human-Out-of-the-Loop Participant Recruitment, Data Collection, Data Handling, and Participant Management System
Authors: Bracken Bethany K. , Potoczny-Jones Isaac , Wolcott John , Raffaele Eddie , Woodward Lucas , Gogoel Chris , Kiourtis Nikos , Schulte Brian , Arean Patricia A. , Farry Mike
Published: February 2021

Most human subjects, research requires data collection by contacting local participants who visit a research site. This is costly, time-consuming, and decreases subject retention with each required visit. Additionally, studies require increasingly large troves of data collected continuously during their typical daily lives using sensors (e.g., fitness trackers). Long-term, continuous collection is becoming more feasible as smartphones become ubiquitous. However, data is highly detailed, and identifiable even when de-identified according to typical practice (e.g., keeping names separate from study data). To enable remote collection of these rich data sets while ensuring privacy, we built a system to allow secure and fully human-out-of-the-loop participant recruitment, screening, onboarding, data collection on smartphones, data transmission to the cloud, data security in the cloud, and data access by analysis and modeling teams. We believe this approach is applicable to a large number of researchers, both within universities and in industry.
Comparison of SAGAT and SPAM for Seeking Effective Way to Evaluate Situation Awareness and Workload During Air Traffic Control Task
Authors: Fujino Mitsuki , Lee Jieun , Hirano Toshiaki , Saito Yuichi , Itoh Makoto
Published: February 2021

Evaluation of air traffic controller’s situation awareness (SA) is becoming important for air traffic management with the growth of air traffic. This study compared two SA evaluation methods: Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) and Situation Present Assessment Method (SPAM) to understand how these techniques affect controllers’ predictability in different traffic density settings. Twenty students undertook simple air traffic control simulations by using both techniques. We investigated how these techniques affect their workload with Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) and NASA-TLX. SWAT scores showed that high traffic density increased participants’ workload, and extra workload was posed right after answering SA queries. NASA-TLX scores were larger when SAGAT was used than when SPAM was used throughout the simulation. We found that the workload with SAGAT interferes with main tasks more than that of SPAM. The results of query scores suggested that SPAM is more predictive to the assessment of the controller’s SA.
An Investigation of the Usability of a Teleconsent System
Authors: Ponathil Amal , Bhanu Aasish , Rogers Hunter , Wilson Mackenzie , Chalil Madathil Kapil
Published: February 2021

Telemedicine allows providers to facilitate online medical consultation to patients when there is a geo-graphical distance between them. Similar to other medical consultations, consent is required to receive medical care. Teleconsent, developed to accommodate this requirement, allows providers to collect patient consent via screen-sharing and videoconferencing. However, its usability needs to be evaluated to improve user acceptance. This study uses a heuristic evaluation to identify the usability issues associated with a tele-consent interface. Based on Nielsen’s 10 heuristics, four experts independently evaluated the consent form on two devices (desktop and smartphone), identified violations and assigned severity. Of the 70 violations identified 33.43% violated consistency and standards and 20% violated user control and freedom. Issues requiring immediate attention included the patient’s inability to scroll and zoom (specific to smartphone) while navigating the consent form and the unintuitive signing process. Remediations were suggested to improve the teleconsent system usability.
Designing an Emergency Management Simulation Testbed to Investigate Incident Management Team Performance
Authors: Son Changwon , Sasangohar Farzan , Camille Peres S. , Moon Jukrin
Published: February 2021

Investigating real-life disasters and crises has been challenging due to accompanying difficulties and risks posed by these complex phenomena. Previous research in the emergency management domain has largely relied on qualitative approaches to describe the event after it occurred. To facilitate investigations for more generalizable findings, this paper documents ongoing efforts to design an emergency management simulation testbed called Team Emergency Operations Simulation (TEOS) in which an incident management team (IMT) is situated. First, we describe the design process based on our previous work. Next, we present the overall description of TEOS including representative roles, tasks, and team environments. We also propose measures of team performance of the IMT and propose future research that can be realized through TEOS.
Secondary Task Engagement During Automated Drives: Friend and Foe?
Authors: Shupsky Taylor , Morales Kevin , Baldwin Carryl , Hancock Peter , Greenlee Eric T. , Horrey William J. , Klauer Charlie
Published: February 2021

Engaging in non-driving related tasks while driving (secondary tasks) can impair driving. Conversely, on monotonous or long drives secondary tasks may help fatigued drivers maintain alertness and vigilance. This potential benefit of secondary task engagement has received considerably less attention relative to the potential negative safety consequences. Vehicles are increasingly equipped with advanced infotainment centers and in-vehicle displays – increasing opportunities for secondary task engagement. Concurrently, vehicle automation can take over many of the driver’s tasks potentially resulting in underload and passive fatigue, while also potentially allowing for engagement in secondary tasks. Clarifying the distinctions between situations of unsafe versus acceptable or even potentially beneficial secondary task engagement is critical for automated vehicle safety. This panel will bring together experts in the diverse fields of driving, attention, and vehicle automation to discuss this important issue.
Visibility of an in-ground signal when texting while walking
Authors: Kim Eunjee , Kim Hyorim , Kwon Yujin , Shin Gwanseob
Published: February 2021

An increase in pedestrian accidents associated with smartphone use has been one of the main issues in road traffic safety research and administration. Recently, traffic lights and safety signs embedded in the ground have been introduced, but without sufficient scientific consideration. A laboratory experiment evaluated the visibility of an in-ground signal while varying its contrast and position. Twenty-three participants performed a signal detection task when conducting texting while walking on a treadmill. The signals were displayed randomly onto the ground one at a time at three different positions with three different contrasts levels and moved towards a participant. In results, the approaching signals were detected 1.7 m ~ 2.9 m in front of participants, and there were significant differences in the visibility between contrast levels and positions (p<.01). The findings suggest the importance of proper contrast level and placement when installing in- ground signals for improving their visibility by smartphone users.
How Signs, Markings, and Hazards Impact Motorist Assessment of Cyclist Lane Placement
Authors: Still Mary L. , Still Jeremiah D.
Published: February 2021

Human factors research has led to safer interactions between motorists through redesigned signage, roadway designs, and training. Similar efforts are needed to understand and improve interactions between cyclists and motorists. One challenge to safe motorist-cyclist interactions are expectations about where cyclists should be on the road. In this study, we utilize more directive signage and additional lane markings to clarify where cyclists should ride in the travel lane. The impact of these signifiers was examined by having motorists indicate where cyclists should ride in the lane, how difficult it was to determine the correct lane position, and how safe they would feel if they were in that lane position. Results indicate that more directive signage – “bicycles take the lane”-and painted hazard signifiers can change motorists’ expectations, so they are more aligned with safer cyclist positioning in the lane.
Driver Arousal and Workload Under Partial Vehicle Automation: A Pilot Study
Authors: Lohani Monika , Cooper Joel M. , Erickson Gus G. , Simmons Trent G. , McDonnell Amy S. , Carriero Amanda E. , Crabtree Kaedyn W. , Strayer David L.
Published: February 2021

Semi-automated vehicles (Level-2) provide driving assistance, but they still require driver supervision to maintain safe driving. However, little is known about potential differences in drivers’ cognitive states during manual vs. Level-2 automated driving. The current study systematically examined the effects of manual and Level-2 driving on drivers’ arousal and workload during on-road driving. No differences between the two driving modes were found for the five outcomes that assessed cognitive arousal and workload (i.e., heart rate, root mean square of successive heart period differences, EEG alpha power, and hit rate and reaction time on a secondary task). A Bayes Factor analysis suggested that there is strong evidence that cognitive arousal and workload during Level-2 driving did not differ from manual driving. These novel and theoretically meaningful findings provide strong evidence of similar cognitive arousal and workload states in Level-2 automation and manual driving.
Driving with Robots: Mind perception and propensity for aggressive driving
Authors: Nachmann Karl , Pillot Benjamin , Moore Petrina , Wiese Eva
Published: February 2021

Mind perception, or the tendency to ascribe agency (i.e., the ability to plan and act) and experience (i.e., the ability to sense and feel) to others, is an important design consideration for human-robot inter-action since an agent’s mind status affects how we interact with it and how we interpret its behavior. The current study examines whether observable behaviors of robot-piloted autonomous vehicles are interpreted differently, lead to different emotional reactions and trigger different behaviors of the ob-server as a function of the robot driver’s perceived mind status. We expect that aggressive behavior of robot drivers perceived to be high in agency would be interpreted as more intentional, and as such would lead to stronger negative reactions and retaliatory behaviors. Consistent with our expectations, the robot driver high in agency was perceived as more intentional and elicited more irritation in partici-pants.
Lights, Camera, Autonomy! Exploring the Opinions of Older Adults Regarding Autonomous Vehicles Through Enactment
Authors: Gluck Aaron , Huff Earl W. , Zhang Mengyuan , Brinkley Julian
Published: February 2021

Autonomous vehicles (AV), one of the transportation industry’s biggest innovations of the past few decades, bring the promise of safer roads and significantly lower vehicle-related fatalities. While many studies have found largely positive consumer opinions regarding operating and owning such a vehicle, older adults (55+) tend to express concerns about the safety and operational risks of a vehicle with unknown capabilities. To investigate how older adults and AVs may interact, we conducted an improv-style enactment-based partic-ipatory design pilot study. We found that initial concerns about trust and safety can be diminished through training and repetitive successful vehicle operation. Additionally, our participants provided insights into the AV design considerations, needs, and interactions for older adults. These findings add to the collective body of autonomous vehicle research by demonstrating that the needs of this growing population, who may benefit significantly from access to AVs, should be considered by manufacturers.
Driver Visual Processing of Relevant and Irrelevant Information During Mind Wandering
Authors: Wagner Richard B. , Geden Michael , Forster Sophie , Feng Jing
Published: February 2021

Mind wandering is a common phenomenon in our daily lives, especially in routine tasks such as driving familiar routes. Some evidence suggests that there are detrimental effects of mind wandering on driving performance, but limited research has been conducted to examine the influence of mind wandering on a driver’s attentional processing of relevant or irrelevant information. More specifically, it is unclear as to whether the effects of mind wandering depend on the task relevancy of information presented in the visual field. The current study expands literature on mind wandering during driving using eye tracking to measure driver visual processing of relevant/irrelevant signage information in a simulated driving task while drivers reported their mental states. Preliminary results showed no significant differences in frequency and duration of glances to roadway information based on the mental state of the individual as well as the task relevancy of the information. Implications and future directions are discussed.
The Evaluation of User Experience and Functional Workload of a Physically Inter- active Virtual Reality System
Authors: Mubarrat Syed T. , Opafunso Oluwatosin , Chowdhury Suman K.
Published: February 2021

In this study, we evaluated the user experience of a physically interactive virtual reality (VR) system, which was developed to provide passive kinesthetic haptics in order to enhance motor learning functions during an occupational virtual training. We compared the user experience (e.g., perceived ease-of-use, ease-of-learning, and usefulness) and the functional workload between real and virtual environments by simulating a pick-and-place lifting task in both environments. Results showed an increase in user experience— such as ease of use and learning and usefulness—and a decrease in the overall functional workload with the progression of successive VR tasks.
Safety Perception and Behaviors during Human-Robot Interaction in Virtual Environments
Authors: Mitchell Daxton , Choi HeeSun , Haney Justin M.
Published: February 2021

Virtual Reality (VR) technology is increasingly used to simulate and study human-robot interaction (HRI) because of its low cost and minimal risk to participants. The current study investigated whether perceived safety and safety-related behaviors during human-robot interaction can be adequately examined in virtual environments. Two prior studies that examined perceived safety and proxemics behavior during human-robot interaction in real environments were replicated in virtual environments using Head-Mounted Display (HMD) VR. Our results indicated that although perceived safety during virtual human-robot interaction is higher than during physical interaction in some situations, the virtual simulation of robots induced safety perception and behaviors comparable to those found in real environments and some of the findings of the previous human-robot interaction studies were replicable in a virtual environment. These findings suggest that VR simulation is a valid and useful method for research and worker training; however, it may be less sensitive than real environments.
How and Why the Cerebellum Recodes Input Signals: An Alternative to Machine Learning
Authors: Gilbert Mike , Chris Miall R.
Published: February 2021

Mossy fiber input to the cerebellum is received by granule cells where it is thought to be recoded into internal signals received by Purkinje cells, which alone carry the output of the cerebellar cortex. In any neural network, variables are contained in groups of signals as well as signals themselves—which cells are active and how many, for example, and statistical variables coded in rates, such as the mean and range, and which rates are strongly represented, in a defined population. We argue that the primary function of recoding is to confine translation to an effect of some variables and not others—both where input is recoded into internal signals and the translation downstream of internal signals into an effect on Purkinje cells. The cull of variables is harsh. Internal signaling is group coded. This allows coding to exploit statistics for a reliable and precise effect despite needing to work with high-dimensional input which is a highly unpredictably variable. An important effect is to normalize eclectic input signals, so that the basic, repeating cerebellar circuit, preserved across taxa, does not need to specialize (within regional variations). With this model, there is no need to slavishly conserve or compute data coded in single signals. If we are correct, a learning algorithm—for years, a mainstay of cerebellar modeling—would be redundant.
Resilience to Stress: Lessons from Rodents about Nature versus Nurture
Authors: Clinton Sarah M. , Unroe Keaton A. , Shupe Elizabeth A. , McCoy Chelsea R. , Glover Matthew E.
Published: February 2021

Individual differences in human temperament influence how we respond to stress and can confer vulnerability (or resilience) to emotional disorders. For example, high levels of behavioral inhibition in children predict increased risk of mood and anxiety disorders in later life. The biological underpinnings of temperament are unknown, although improved understanding can offer insight into the pathogenesis of emotional disorders. Our laboratory has used a rat model of temperamental differences to study neurodevelopmental factors that lead to a highly inhibited, stress vulnerable phenotype. Selective breeding for high versus low behavioral response to novelty created two rat strains that exhibit dramatic behavior differences over multiple domains relevant to emotional disorders. Low novelty responder (bLR) rats exhibit high levels of behavioral inhibition, passive stress coping, anhedonia, decreased sociability and vulnerability to chronic stress compared to high novelty responders (bHRs). On the other hand, bHRs exhibit high levels of behavioral dis-inhibition, active coping, and aggression. This review article summarizes our work with the bHR/bLR model showing the developmental emergence of the bHR/bLR phenotypes, the role the environment plays in shaping it, and the involvement of epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation that mediate differences in emotionality and stress reactivity.
A Systematic Review of Social Maintenance Behavior Outcomes of Interactive Social Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Short Cassie Ann , Vital Pedro
Published: February 2021

A large and varied evidence base supporting the efficacy of social therapies to improve the social behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) does not permit a clear understanding of which specific types of social behavior are improved by specific social therapies. Social maintenance behaviors function to form and sustain relationships, which has been associated with a reduction in negative social experiences in children with ASD. The present systematic review investigates the effectiveness of interactive social therapy in increasing these specific behaviors in this population. A systematic search of PsycArticles, Medline, Education Resources Information Centre, Child Development and Adolescent Studies, and Scopus databases identified 18 articles as relevant for inclusion. The extant evidence suggests that interactive social therapies are effective in increasing social maintenance behaviors in children with ASD. Explicit targeting of these behaviors and inclusion of reinforcement are highlighted as potentially active components in this regard.
Teaching Analytics and Digital Media to Advertising Students
Authors: Brown-Devlin Natalie
Published: February 2021

As the advertising industry continues to list analytical reasoning as a necessary skill for employment, more universities are including analytics into their advertising curriculum. This article outlines how I teach an analytics-focused course in a top-ranked advertising program. In this article, I briefly summarize each course module and describe a variety of assignments that are used to meet each learning objective. I also provide citations and links to resources, datasets, and software that I currently use in hopes of helping other professors locate resources that have proven quite helpful for teaching analytics content to advertising students.
Pulseless and blindness – An ophthalmologist’s role in diagnosing Takayasu arteritis: Case series and brief review of literature
Authors: Mahajan Snigdha , Behera Umesh Chandra , Pravabati Savla Laxmi , Shah Miloni , Padhy Srikanta Kumar , Kelgaonkar Anup
Published: February 2021

Purpose:

To study the initial presenting symptoms of Takayasu arteritis in unsuspecting patients.

Methods:

The underlying systemic condition was suspected in five subjects at a tertiary eye care center based on their ocular features. Similar reports in the literature were collated and analyzed for the common presenting features of undiagnosed Takayasu arteritis.

Results:

The most common presenting ophthalmic symptoms were vision loss (86.8%), ocular pain (21.1%), eye redness (18.4%), and photophobia (5.3%). There were no reports of glaucoma at presentation. Pupillary abnormalities (42.1%), microaneurysms in retinal mid-periphery (42.1%) and venous engorgement (28.9%) were the most common presenting signs. Despite systemic symptoms such as headache, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, arm claudication, fever, anorexia, weight loss, and syncope in 76.3% of cases, the patients in this series had never sought medical care before developing ocular symptoms.

Conclusion:

Takayasu arteritis may remain latent until the ophthalmic complications compel the patient to seek medical attention. Hence, ophthalmologists need to be aware of the seemingly innocuous presentations of the disease.