title: Speed Choice, Speed Preference and Risk Perception: Relevance for the Problem of Speed Variability in Traffic

authors: Ahie, Liv Marit

subjects: Speed Variability

abstract: Fifty percent of drives have been found to frequently violate speed limits (OECD/ECMT, 2006), and speed limit compliance appears to depend on the perceived credibility of a road’s speed limit (Goldenbeld & van Schagen, 2007). Credibility of speed limits, in turn, appears to be determined by the match between drivers’ speed preferences and the design of the road (Goldenbeld & van Schagen, 2007). Yet, a challenge has been that not all drivers’ prefer the same speeds, and individual differences with regards to speed preference lead to speed variability and speed conflicts in traffic (Elvik, 2010). The aim of this thesis was to explore whether the speed drivers like to drive when motivated by different driving goals (speed preference) correspond to the speeds that they actually drive on those same roads (speed choice). Additionally, this thesis sought to explore the relationship between speed preference and risk perception. Data was collected in two ways, from a speed gun and from a questionnaire. The speed gun collected on-road measures of driving speeds on seven different roads, while the questionnaire collected measures of drivers’ self-reported speed, speed preference and risk perception. For the speed preference measures, participants were asked what speed they would choose on a given road when: 1) motivated by safety, 2) considering fuel savings, or 3) motivated by fun, and additionally 4) what speed they usually drove on the road. In total 200 drivers were interviewed at five different parking lots, and they referred to the seven roads that were sampled with the speed gun. The results indicated that speed preference helped to explain actual driving speeds. More specifically, drivers’ different driving goals and their large individual differences with regards to speed preference corresponded to different speed choices. No relationship was found, however, between drivers’ speed preferences and their risk perceptions. The results are discussed with regards to implications for the problem of speed variability in traffic.

text: Speed Choice, Speed Preference and Risk Perception: Relevance for the Problem of Speed Variability in Traffic Fifty percent of drives have been found to frequently violate speed limits (OECD/ECMT, 2006), and speed limit compliance appears to depend on the perceived credibility of a road’s speed limit (Goldenbeld & van Schagen, 2007). Credibility of speed limits, in turn, appears to be determined by the match between drivers’ speed preferences and the design of the road (Goldenbeld & van Schagen, 2007). Yet, a challenge has been that not all drivers’ prefer the same speeds, and individual differences with regards to speed preference lead to speed variability and speed conflicts in traffic (Elvik, 2010). The aim of this thesis was to explore whether the speed drivers like to drive when motivated by different driving goals (speed preference) correspond to the speeds that they actually drive on those same roads (speed choice). Additionally, this thesis sought to explore the relationship between speed preference and risk perception. Data was collected in two ways, from a speed gun and from a questionnaire. The speed gun collected on-road measures of driving speeds on seven different roads, while the questionnaire collected measures of drivers’ self-reported speed, speed preference and risk perception. For the speed preference measures, participants were asked what speed they would choose on a given road when: 1) motivated by safety, 2) considering fuel savings, or 3) motivated by fun, and additionally 4) what speed they usually drove on the road. In total 200 drivers were interviewed at five different parking lots, and they referred to the seven roads that were sampled with the speed gun. The results indicated that speed preference helped to explain actual driving speeds. More specifically, drivers’ different driving goals and their large individual differences with regards to speed preference corresponded to different speed choices. No relationship was found, however, between drivers’ speed preferences and their risk perceptions. The results are discussed with regards to implications for the problem of speed variability in traffic.

year: 2014

title: PolyLM: Learning about polysemy through language modeling

authors: Ansell, Alan

abstract: To avoid the “meaning conflation deficiency” of word embeddings, a number of models have aimed to embed individual word senses. These methods at one time performed well on tasks such as word sense induction (WSI), but they have since been overtaken by task-specific techniques which exploit contextualized embeddings. However, sense embeddings and contextualization need not be mutually exclusive. We introduce PolyLM, a method which formulates the task of learning sense embeddings as a language modeling problem, allowing contextualization techniques to be applied. PolyLM is based on two underlying assumptions about word senses: firstly, that the probability of a word occurring in a given context is equal to the sum of the probabilities of its individual senses occurring; and secondly, that for a given occurrence of a word, one of its senses tends to be much more plausible in the context than the others. We evaluate PolyLM on WSI, showing that it performs considerably better than previous sense embedding techniques, and matches the current state-of-the-art specialized WSI method despite having six times fewer parameters. Code and pre-trained models are available at https://github.com/AlanAnsell/PolyLM.

text: PolyLM: Learning about polysemy through language modeling To avoid the “meaning conflation deficiency” of word embeddings, a number of models have aimed to embed individual word senses. These methods at one time performed well on tasks such as word sense induction (WSI), but they have since been overtaken by task-specific techniques which exploit contextualized embeddings. However, sense embeddings and contextualization need not be mutually exclusive. We introduce PolyLM, a method which formulates the task of learning sense embeddings as a language modeling problem, allowing contextualization techniques to be applied. PolyLM is based on two underlying assumptions about word senses: firstly, that the probability of a word occurring in a given context is equal to the sum of the probabilities of its individual senses occurring; and secondly, that for a given occurrence of a word, one of its senses tends to be much more plausible in the context than the others. We evaluate PolyLM on WSI, showing that it performs considerably better than previous sense embedding techniques, and matches the current state-of-the-art specialized WSI method despite having six times fewer parameters. Code and pre-trained models are available at https://github.com/AlanAnsell/PolyLM.

year: 2021

title: The thing’s revelation: Some thoughts on Māori philosophical research

authors: Mika, Carl Te Hira

abstract: In indigenous research projects, there is a strong emphasis on interviews and the analysis of the data that results. There is, however, another form of research that still calls to be fully acknowledged. Philosophical research shares some ground with empirical because it responds to a Maori history and experience of oppression. One clear area in which it may differ, though, is in how it attempts to acknowledge the presence of ‘things’, which we might call our ‘whanaunga’ (relations), even where these have been deemed by Western science to be inanimate. More importantly, philosophical research is risky because the thing continues to influence the researching self, despite the self’s eventual disengagement from the research. Philosophical research – the kind that seeks an unobtainable ground of thought – is at once aware of and tentative towards the thing. It also acts within the influence of the thing: this phenomenon for the author can be best felt when the bizarre is encountered in everyday observations.

text: The thing’s revelation: Some thoughts on Māori philosophical research In indigenous research projects, there is a strong emphasis on interviews and the analysis of the data that results. There is, however, another form of research that still calls to be fully acknowledged. Philosophical research shares some ground with empirical because it responds to a Maori history and experience of oppression. One clear area in which it may differ, though, is in how it attempts to acknowledge the presence of ‘things’, which we might call our ‘whanaunga’ (relations), even where these have been deemed by Western science to be inanimate. More importantly, philosophical research is risky because the thing continues to influence the researching self, despite the self’s eventual disengagement from the research. Philosophical research – the kind that seeks an unobtainable ground of thought – is at once aware of and tentative towards the thing. It also acts within the influence of the thing: this phenomenon for the author can be best felt when the bizarre is encountered in everyday observations.

year: 2015