title: The role of the passenger in everyday driving: Understanding how passengers assist adult drivers

authors: Reader, Shawn Jason

abstract: Previous research has indicated that adult drivers are at a lower risk of crashes when accompanied by at least one passenger. One potential reason for this is that passengers can assist drivers on the road via expanding situation awareness, reducing cognitive load and encouraging responsible driving behaviour. Both passengers and drivers report that passengers can be helpful on the road. However, no study has investigated if and how passengers assist adult drivers during everyday driving. The objective of this study was to use passenger and driver conversation to examine ways passengers assist drivers, how what drivers ask for compares to what passengers provide unprompted and how driver and passenger perceptions compare to what actually happens on the road. Twenty drivers aged between 25 and 65 were recruited for this study, along with passengers that they regularly drove with. Participants were recorded completing an on-road navigational task, and subsequently interviewed about their views and experiences with passenger interaction. On the road, passengers did assist drivers by navigating, pointing out hazards, watching for traffic at intersections, expanding the driver’s situation awareness, performing secondary tasks on behalf of drivers and giving feedback or criticism of driver behaviour. While patterns of assistance varied over different driver-passenger pairs, passengers initiated a higher proportion of assistance on average than drivers. During the interview, participants identified that passenger assistance is highly dependent on contextual factors. Participants discussed several ways that passengers assist drivers during everyday driving including increasing driver situation awareness, keeping the driver awake and alert, encouraging responsible behaviour and performing secondary tasks on the driver’s behalf. This is the first study to demonstrate the various ways that passengers assist adult drivers on the road. Passenger assistance does occur during everyday driving and can help to explain the reduction in crash risk associated with driving with a passenger. Further exploration of these findings could further increase our understanding of how passengers assist drivers, what forms of assistance are beneficial and how passengers can be encouraged to be better co-drivers and increase road safety.

text: The role of the passenger in everyday driving: Understanding how passengers assist adult drivers Previous research has indicated that adult drivers are at a lower risk of crashes when accompanied by at least one passenger. One potential reason for this is that passengers can assist drivers on the road via expanding situation awareness, reducing cognitive load and encouraging responsible driving behaviour. Both passengers and drivers report that passengers can be helpful on the road. However, no study has investigated if and how passengers assist adult drivers during everyday driving. The objective of this study was to use passenger and driver conversation to examine ways passengers assist drivers, how what drivers ask for compares to what passengers provide unprompted and how driver and passenger perceptions compare to what actually happens on the road. Twenty drivers aged between 25 and 65 were recruited for this study, along with passengers that they regularly drove with. Participants were recorded completing an on-road navigational task, and subsequently interviewed about their views and experiences with passenger interaction. On the road, passengers did assist drivers by navigating, pointing out hazards, watching for traffic at intersections, expanding the driver’s situation awareness, performing secondary tasks on behalf of drivers and giving feedback or criticism of driver behaviour. While patterns of assistance varied over different driver-passenger pairs, passengers initiated a higher proportion of assistance on average than drivers. During the interview, participants identified that passenger assistance is highly dependent on contextual factors. Participants discussed several ways that passengers assist drivers during everyday driving including increasing driver situation awareness, keeping the driver awake and alert, encouraging responsible behaviour and performing secondary tasks on the driver’s behalf. This is the first study to demonstrate the various ways that passengers assist adult drivers on the road. Passenger assistance does occur during everyday driving and can help to explain the reduction in crash risk associated with driving with a passenger. Further exploration of these findings could further increase our understanding of how passengers assist drivers, what forms of assistance are beneficial and how passengers can be encouraged to be better co-drivers and increase road safety.

year: 2019

title: The effects of climate change on the benthic community in a temperate fjord

authors: Shellem, Claire T.

abstract: Climate change exerts a profound impact on marine ecosystems, with coastal environments uniquely affected by both oceanic and terrestrial influences. In coastal areas, oceanic drivers, such as rising temperatures and altered circulation patterns, combine with terrestrial inputs like changes in freshwater inflow to create unique environmental conditions. Beyond the gradual warming of ocean temperatures, the increasing occurrence of extreme temperature anomalies poses considerable threats to ecosystem stability, necessitating detailed investigations into their underlying mechanisms and ecological consequences. This thesis focuses on how climate change manifests in Doubtful Sound, a temperate fjord characterized by rocky subtidal benthic communities.
First, using an 18-year high resolution dataset, I investigate the spatiotemporal trends in temperature and salinity throughout Doubtful Sound. I analyse the fjord’s temperature dynamics spatially, spanning from 0.5 m to 19 m and from the inner fjord to outer fjord. Linked with climate change, I identify increasing mean temperatures and increases in temperature anomalies. Furthermore, I report the occurrence of two marine heatwaves in Doubtful Sound. Lastly, I note a deepening of the low salinity layer, a key physical feature that drives the structure and stability of benthic communities in this fjord.
Coupled with these oceanographic analyses, I explore spatial and temporal drivers of the benthic communities in Doubtful Sound. I document higher diversity and variability in the outer sites as compared to the inner sites. Additionally outer fjord communities show significant shifts in benthic community composition through time, while the inner fjord communities remain largely constant. Though a range of factors influence the abundance of benthic organisms including biotic interactions, salinity levels and physical disturbance, thermal profiles provide insights into the potential sensitivity of taxa to warming oceans. By linking benthic abundance with temperature trends, I identify potential thermal thresholds for several key taxa. In the shallow waters for example, barnacles and mussels peak in abundance at 15.5-16 °C and sharply decline in higher temperatures. Conversely, encrusting sponges increase dramatically in response to warming temperatures. Lastly, I investigate the role of the 2018 Tasman Sea marine heatwave in structuring the benthic community in Doubtful Sound. Minimal impacts on the benthic community after the heatwave were recorded, although notable increases in green algae and encrusting sponge were observed at two sites.
The final chapter of this thesis investigates how environmental changes associated with climate change, specifically increased temperature and decreased salinity, influence the fitness of Coscinasterias muricata, a keystone predator in Fiordland’s subtidal ecosystems. I designed a laboratory experiment to identify the effects of temperature, salinity, and the interaction between the two on the fitness of C. muricata. Righting trials, a well-established proxy for fitness, were carried out to investigate the effects of altered physical conditions. Interestingly, only salinity had a significant effect on C. muricata fitness, highlighting the potential of low salinity events to affect benthic communities in estuarine environments.
Overall, this thesis underscores the multifaceted impacts of climate change on fjord ecosystems, emphasizing the importance of physical anomalies beyond increases in mean temperature. These findings highlight how increasing anomalies and shifts in temperature and salinity regimes can profoundly influence the structure and dynamics of benthic communities. By integrating long term environmental data with experimental insights, this work advances our understanding of the complex interactions between climatic drivers and ecological responses, providing critical perspectives on the vulnerability and resilience of temperate fjord ecosystems under changing physical conditions.

text: The effects of climate change on the benthic community in a temperate fjord Climate change exerts a profound impact on marine ecosystems, with coastal environments uniquely affected by both oceanic and terrestrial influences. In coastal areas, oceanic drivers, such as rising temperatures and altered circulation patterns, combine with terrestrial inputs like changes in freshwater inflow to create unique environmental conditions. Beyond the gradual warming of ocean temperatures, the increasing occurrence of extreme temperature anomalies poses considerable threats to ecosystem stability, necessitating detailed investigations into their underlying mechanisms and ecological consequences. This thesis focuses on how climate change manifests in Doubtful Sound, a temperate fjord characterized by rocky subtidal benthic communities.
First, using an 18-year high resolution dataset, I investigate the spatiotemporal trends in temperature and salinity throughout Doubtful Sound. I analyse the fjord’s temperature dynamics spatially, spanning from 0.5 m to 19 m and from the inner fjord to outer fjord. Linked with climate change, I identify increasing mean temperatures and increases in temperature anomalies. Furthermore, I report the occurrence of two marine heatwaves in Doubtful Sound. Lastly, I note a deepening of the low salinity layer, a key physical feature that drives the structure and stability of benthic communities in this fjord.
Coupled with these oceanographic analyses, I explore spatial and temporal drivers of the benthic communities in Doubtful Sound. I document higher diversity and variability in the outer sites as compared to the inner sites. Additionally outer fjord communities show significant shifts in benthic community composition through time, while the inner fjord communities remain largely constant. Though a range of factors influence the abundance of benthic organisms including biotic interactions, salinity levels and physical disturbance, thermal profiles provide insights into the potential sensitivity of taxa to warming oceans. By linking benthic abundance with temperature trends, I identify potential thermal thresholds for several key taxa. In the shallow waters for example, barnacles and mussels peak in abundance at 15.5-16 °C and sharply decline in higher temperatures. Conversely, encrusting sponges increase dramatically in response to warming temperatures. Lastly, I investigate the role of the 2018 Tasman Sea marine heatwave in structuring the benthic community in Doubtful Sound. Minimal impacts on the benthic community after the heatwave were recorded, although notable increases in green algae and encrusting sponge were observed at two sites.
The final chapter of this thesis investigates how environmental changes associated with climate change, specifically increased temperature and decreased salinity, influence the fitness of Coscinasterias muricata, a keystone predator in Fiordland’s subtidal ecosystems. I designed a laboratory experiment to identify the effects of temperature, salinity, and the interaction between the two on the fitness of C. muricata. Righting trials, a well-established proxy for fitness, were carried out to investigate the effects of altered physical conditions. Interestingly, only salinity had a significant effect on C. muricata fitness, highlighting the potential of low salinity events to affect benthic communities in estuarine environments.
Overall, this thesis underscores the multifaceted impacts of climate change on fjord ecosystems, emphasizing the importance of physical anomalies beyond increases in mean temperature. These findings highlight how increasing anomalies and shifts in temperature and salinity regimes can profoundly influence the structure and dynamics of benthic communities. By integrating long term environmental data with experimental insights, this work advances our understanding of the complex interactions between climatic drivers and ecological responses, providing critical perspectives on the vulnerability and resilience of temperate fjord ecosystems under changing physical conditions.

year: 2025

title: Mā hea (which way)? Mō te aha (what for)? Too many questions, not enough answers, for Māori on the march

authors: Te Awekotuku, Ngahuia

subjects: Aotearoa/New Zealand

abstract: This presentation will be in four sections. The first section introduces two major issues: mana motuhake, and mana tāngata, then we will consider some proposed legislation: the Foreshore and Seabed Bill and the Civil Union Bill. Then I will look at strategic Māori responses to political pressure over the last three decades and note two recent and dramatic examples – the Hīkoi Takutai Moana, April 2004, and the Enough is Enough Rally, August 2004. The final section considers the implications for psychologies and psychologists working today in Aotearoa.

text: Mā hea (which way)? Mō te aha (what for)? Too many questions, not enough answers, for Māori on the march This presentation will be in four sections. The first section introduces two major issues: mana motuhake, and mana tāngata, then we will consider some proposed legislation: the Foreshore and Seabed Bill and the Civil Union Bill. Then I will look at strategic Māori responses to political pressure over the last three decades and note two recent and dramatic examples – the Hīkoi Takutai Moana, April 2004, and the Enough is Enough Rally, August 2004. The final section considers the implications for psychologies and psychologists working today in Aotearoa.

year: 2012