Fitts' law on the flight deck: evaluating touchscreens for aircraft tasks in actual flight scenarios.

This research investigated the effects of an abnormal flight environment using touch-based navigation displays (TNDs). Fitts' law was used to compare the performance of TNDs with control display units (CDUs) and mode control panel (MCPs) under three different flight scenarios (normal, turbulence and startled). A within-subjects design involving 15 male participants was used. Data were collected in respect to accuracy, movement time, subjective feelings, choices and comments. The results showed that under abnormal conditions, TNDs showed worse operation performance and stability than CDUs and MCPs; however, it was easy to learn from TNDs, and they provided a good user experience. Moreover, this research demonstrated the application of Fitts' law to describe pilot behaviours in interactive flight devices, particularly for tasks involving real flight operations. TND designs for aviation could be developed based on these findings to improve flight crew performance when using new technology.Practitioner summary: This research built a Fitts' law model to evaluate the performance of aircraft cockpit touchscreens under normal, turbulence and startled scenarios. We compared the different touchscreens (TNDs) with other traditional interactive devices, such as CDUs and MCPs. The results have implications for the design of aircraft cockpit touchscreens and define the task scenario. Furthermore, the results contribute to the development of scenes utilising Fitts' law.

Understanding trust calibration in automated driving: the effect of time, personality, and system warning design.

Under the human-automation codriving future, dynamic trust should be considered. This paper explored how trust changes over time and how multiple factors (time, trust propensity, neuroticism, and takeover warning design) calibrate trust together. We launched two driving simulator experiments to measure drivers' trust before, during, and after the experiment under takeover scenarios. The results showed that trust in automation increased during short-term interactions and dropped after four months, which is still higher than pre-experiment trust. Initial trust and trust propensity had a stable impact on trust. Drivers trusted the system more with the two-stage (MR + TOR) warning design than the one-stage (TOR). Neuroticism had a significant effect on the countdown compared with the content warning.Practitioner summary: The results provide new data and knowledge for trust calibration in the takeover scenario. The findings can help design a more reasonable automated driving system in long-term human-automation interactions.

The risk-taking behavioural intentions of pilots in adverse weather conditions: an application of the theory of planned behaviour.

This paper examined pilots' risk-taking behavioural intentions based on the theory of planned behaviour, as well as the impact of experience on behavioural intentions in adverse weather conditions. Two hundred and seventy-three airline pilots and flying cadets were divided into two groups and asked to complete a questionnaire based on two decision-making scenarios. This questionnaire measured pilots' intentions to take risks, along with the attitude towards the behaviour, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control (PBC), risk perception, and self-identity. The results showed that attitude, subjective norm, PBC, and risk perception explained 52% of the variance in behavioural intentions. Additionally, pilots' risk-taking decisions can be influenced by experience. Inexperienced pilots had a relatively stronger intention to take risks and a more favourable attitude towards risky behaviour. Moreover, pilots were more likely to rely on their own direct experience in the decision-making process. Practitioner summary: This study examined the pilots' risk-taking intentions under adverse weather conditions using a questionnaire based on the TPB theory. Results demonstrated that the TPB model can be applied to the risk-taking scenario and that experience can influence pilots' decisions. These findings have implications for improving flight safety and lowering accident rates.

Effects of driving style on takeover performance during automated driving: Under the influence of warning system factors.

Driving style has been proposed to be a critical factor in automated driving. However, the role of driving style in the process of taking over during automated driving needs further investigation. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of driving style on takeover performance under the influence of warning system factors. In addition, this study also explored whether the impact of driving style on reaction time varies over time and the role of driving style on a comprehensive takeover quality indicator. Two driving simulation experiments with different takeover request (TOR) designs were conducted. In experiment 1, content warning information was provided in the TOR with different warning stage designs; in experiment 2, countdown warning information was provided in the TOR with different warning stage designs. Sixty-four participants (32 for experiment 1 and 32 for experiment 2) were classified into two groups based on their driving style (i.e., aggressive, or defensive) using the Chinese version of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (the brief MDSI-C). The results suggested that drivers' driving style had significant effects on takeover performance, but the effects were influenced by warning system designs. Specifically, defensive participants performed better takeover performance, i.e., shorter reaction time and cautious vehicle control behaviors, than aggressive participants in most warning conditions. The content and countdown warning information and warning stage design affected the roles of driving style on takeover performance: 1) compared to the one-stage warning design, the two-stage warning design significantly shortened the reaction time of the participants with different driving styles, 2) compared to the countdown warning information design, the design of content warning information can shorten the reaction time of aggressive participants and lengthen the reaction time of defensive participants in the two-stage warning conditions, and 3) compared to the content warning information design, countdown warning information can improve the safe takeover performance of defensive participants. This study provides a better understanding of the role of driving style on takeover performance, and driving style should be considered when designing warning systems for autonomous vehicles.

Promoting social distancing and preventing panic buying during the epidemic of COVID-19: the contributions of people's psychological and behavioural factors.

Objectives: COVID-19 disease has progressed to the level of a global pandemic. This study aimed to investigate people's psychological and behavioural responses to the COVID-19 epidemic and explore the predictors for social distancing and panic buying. Methods: A 17-item questionnaire was developed and distributed randomly to people using social media. Descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA were used to assess people's psychological and behavioural responses. Hierarchical regression was conducted to investigate the predictive effects of psychological and behavioural variables on reports of social distancing and panic buying respectively. Results: Respondents reported a low degree of risk perception and risk beliefs with regard to being outside, and had moderate psychological stress and positive safeguarding behaviours for being outside. Respondents reported high concern regarding COVID-19 and tended to keep social distancing during the epidemic. They would panic-purchase food and supplies. In addition, psychological stress emerged as a very strong predictor for reporting COVID-19 concerns and panic buying. Furthermore, reported concerns about COVID-19 information sharing had a significant predictive influence on panic buying of food. Safeguarding behaviours for being outside had a significant predictive effect on respondents reported social distancing of cancelling outings. Reported concerns about COVID-19 were stronger predictors for reported social distancing. Conclusion: It is important to relieve people's psychological stress and manage information sharing to control panic buying. In addition, we should promote adoption of safeguarding behaviours for being outside and emphasise the concerns with regard to COVID-19 to encourage people keep social distancing. Measures should be implemented according to the characteristics of the population.

Drivers' self-regulatory behaviors in active and responsive scenarios.

OBJECTIVE: Drivers usually appear to self-regulate their driving behaviors in situations considered to be challenging, such as mobile phone-distracted driving. It is important to clarify how drivers self-regulate their actual behaviors. In addition, few studies investigated driver distraction in active and responsive scenarios. Therefore, the present study aimed to gain a better understanding of drivers' actual self-regulation of driving behaviors and phone use behaviors while mobile phone-distracted driving in active and responsive scenarios. The contribution of compensatory beliefs to self-regulation was also explored. METHODS: This study was conducted using a 2 (mobile phone use behaviors: phone calling vs. WeChat messaging) × 2 (scenarios: active vs. responsive) within-group design. A total of 34 participants completed a driving simulation experiment. The dependent variables of drivers' driving behaviors, phone use behaviors, and physiological data were collected. Participants' compensatory belief was also measured. RESULTS: The results showed that the speed reduction in the stages with WeChat messaging was significantly greater than that in the stages with phone calls, and the speed reduction in the responsive scenario was significantly greater than that in the active scenario. Participants would adopt relatively equal phone-use-related self-regulatory behaviors in active and responsive scenarios. Participants with higher compensatory beliefs had relatively greater speed reduction in most scenarios, but fewer phone-use-related self-regulatory behaviors. In addition, the respiratory rate could contribute to evaluating the changes in drivers' physiological status during phone calling-distracted driving. CONCLUSIONS: Participants would self-regulate driving behaviors and phone use behaviors according to different distracted driving tasks and scenarios. The driving-related self-regulation in WeChat messaging scenarios and responsive scenarios was greater. There was a trend in the effect of compensatory beliefs on actual self-regulatory behaviors, which needs to be further verified in the future. This study contributes to the verification of the different actual driving-related and phone-use-related self-regulatory behavior of drivers in active and responsive mobile phone distracted driving scenarios.

Motivation to interaction media: The impact of automation trust and self-determination theory on intention to use the new interaction technology in autonomous vehicles.

Introduction: This research investigated the effects of three psychological needs (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) of self-determination theory (SDT) and automation trust on the intention of users to employ new interaction technology brought by autonomous vehicles (AVs), especially interaction mode and virtual image. Method: This study focuses on the discussion from the perspective of psychological motivation theory applied to AV interaction technology. With the use of a structured questionnaire, participants completed self-report measures related to these two interaction technologies; a total of 155 drivers' responses were analyzed. Result: The results indicated that users' intentions were directly predicted by their perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness of SDT and automation trust, which jointly explained at least 66% of the variance in behavioral intention. In addition to these results, the contribution of predictive components to behavioral intention is influenced by the type of interaction technology. Relatedness and competence significantly impacted the behavioral intention to use the interaction mode but not the virtual image. Discussion: These findings are essential in that they support the necessity of distinguishing between types of AV interaction technology when predicting users' intentions to use.

Speech-based takeover requests in conditionally automated driving: Effects of different voices on the driver takeover performance.

This study explored the possibility of applying personalized takeover requests (TORs) in an automated driving system (ADS), which required drivers to regain control when the system reached its limits. A driving simulator experiment was conducted to investigate how speech-based TOR voices impacted driver performance in takeover scenarios with two lead time conditions in conditionally automated driving (level 3). Eighteen participants drove in three sessions, with each session having a different TOR voice (a synthesized male voice, a synthesized female voice, and a significant other voice). Two scenarios with a lead time of 5 s and two scenarios with a lead time of 12 s were provided per session. The driver takeover time and quality data were collected. A follow-up interview was conducted to gain a clearer understanding of the drivers' psychological feelings about each TOR voice during takeovers. Changes in takeover time and takeover quality caused by TOR voices were similar in both lead time conditions, except for the lateral acceleration. The synthesized male voice led to a larger maximum lateral acceleration than the other two voices in the 5 s condition. Interestingly, most drivers preferred choosing the synthesized female voice for future takeovers and showed negative attitudes toward the significant other voice. Our results implied that choosing TOR voices should consider the drivers' daily voice-usage habits as well as specific context of use, and personalized TOR voices should be incorporated into the ADS prudently.

An evaluation for VR glasses system user experience: The influence factors of interactive operation and motion sickness.

As a new type of Virtual Reality (VR) headset, VR glasses rise rapidly in a number of areas. It's essential to understand the importance of user experience (UX) on VR glasses design. This study aimed to develop questionnaires for evaluating VR glasses' UX, as well as to investigate the relationship between various UX variables. With using lab-based usability tests, this study analyzed participants' self-reports and performance based on testing eight VR glasses and seven mobile applications. A nine-item questionnaire and a ten-item questionnaire were successfully developed to measure VR glasses systems' UX quality in terms of hardware and application, respectively. Within a proposed UX evaluation framework, the perceived UX quality relative to VR glasses hardware emerged as a core predictor in predicting interactive operation performance, whereas the application UX perception was a significant predictor of motion sickness.

Difference between Leisure and Work Contexts: The Roles of Perceived Enjoyment and Perceived Usefulness in Predicting Mobile Video Calling Use Acceptance.

There is a rapidly growing body of literature on mobile video calling, which is a promising communication technology; however, little research has focused on user acceptance of mobile video calling, especially in different use contexts. This study explored factors (especially perceived enjoyment) influencing the intention of users to employ video calling in different contexts (a work and a leisure context) by applying the technology acceptance model (TAM) combined with the theory of planned behavior. The revised research model differentiated external factors (subjective norms and personal innovativeness) from internal factors (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived enjoyment, and intention to use mobile video calling). In addition, the current study investigated predictors of perceived enjoyment across these two contexts. With the use of a structured questionnaire, participants were divided in two groups and completed self-report measures related to one context; a total of 386 student respondents' responses were analyzed. The results indicated that users' intentions were directly predicted by their perceived enjoyment of video calling (ß ≥ 0.35) and the call's perceived usefulness (ß ≥ 0.27) and PEU (ß = 0.13, only for the leisure context), which jointly explained at least 55.6% of the variance in use intention. In addition to the effects of these predictors on mobile video calling use acceptance, an assessment of the moderating effects of different contexts indicated that perceived enjoyment played a more important role in influencing intention for the leisure context, while perceived usefulness appeared to be more important for the work context. This study's findings are important in that they provide strong support for the necessity of distinguishing among different types of contexts when predicting users' intentions to use video calling. Furthermore, the results showed that perceived enjoyment was most significantly influenced by perceived usefulness (ß ≥ 0.61), followed by PEU (ß ≥ 0.13). In summary, the roles of core TAM variables (especially perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness) and of external factors (subjective norms and personal innovativeness) differed between the leisure and work contexts. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Using a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to determine product usability: A test case.

BACKGROUND: In order to take into account the inherent uncertainties during product usability evaluation, Zhou and Chan [1] proposed a comprehensive method of usability evaluation for products by combining the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy evaluation methods for synthesizing performance data and subjective response data. This method was designed to provide an integrated framework combining the inevitable vague judgments from the multiple stages of the product evaluation process. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the model, this study used a summative usability test case to assess the application and strength of the general fuzzy usability framework. To test the proposed fuzzy usability evaluation framework [1], a standard summative usability test was conducted to benchmark the overall usability of a specific network management software. Based on the test data, the fuzzy method was applied to incorporate both the usability scores and uncertainties involved in the multiple components of the evaluation. Then, with Monte Carlo simulation procedures, confidence intervals were used to compare the reliabilities among the fuzzy approach and two typical conventional methods combining metrics based on percentages. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: This case study showed that the fuzzy evaluation technique can be applied successfully for combining summative usability testing data to achieve an overall usability quality for the network software evaluated. Greater differences of confidence interval widths between the method of averaging equally percentage and weighted evaluation method, including the method of weighted percentage averages, verified the strength of the fuzzy method.

Using a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to determine product usability: A proposed theoretical framework.

BACKGROUND: In order to compare existing usability data to ideal goals or to that for other products, usability practitioners have tried to develop a framework for deriving an integrated metric. However, most current usability methods with this aim rely heavily on human judgment about the various attributes of a product, but often fail to take into account of the inherent uncertainties in these judgments in the evaluation process. OBJECTIVE: This paper presents a universal method of usability evaluation by combining the analytic hierarchical process (AHP) and the fuzzy evaluation method. By integrating multiple sources of uncertain information during product usability evaluation, the method proposed here aims to derive an index that is structured hierarchically in terms of the three usability components of effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction of a product. METHODS: With consideration of the theoretical basis of fuzzy evaluation, a two-layer comprehensive evaluation index was first constructed. After the membership functions were determined by an expert panel, the evaluation appraisals were computed by using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation technique model to characterize fuzzy human judgments. Then with the use of AHP, the weights of usability components were elicited from these experts. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Compared to traditional usability evaluation methods, the major strength of the fuzzy method is that it captures the fuzziness and uncertainties in human judgments and provides an integrated framework that combines the vague judgments from multiple stages of a product evaluation process.

Job demands and driving anger: The roles of emotional exhaustion and work engagement.

This study aimed to examine the effects of both hindrance and challenge demands on driving anger within the framework of the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. We collected self-reported data from 411 office workers driving to and from work each day in five cities in China. The results from a structural equation modeling analysis indicated that both hindrance and challenge demands were positively related to emotional exhaustion, which was in turn positively correlated with driving anger. Moreover, work engagement was positively correlated with driving anger. Implications of the present findings regarding both the JD-R model and driving safety research are discussed.

Why Do Drivers Use Mobile Phones While Driving? The Contribution of Compensatory Beliefs.

The current study is the first to investigate the contribution of compensatory beliefs (i.e., the belief that the negative effects of an unsafe behavior can be "neutralized" by engaging in another safe behavior; e.g., "I can use a mobile phone now because I will slow down ") on drivers' mobile phone use while driving. The effects of drivers' personal characteristics on compensatory beliefs, mobile phone use and self-regulatory behaviors were also examined. A series of questions were administered to drivers, which included (1) personal measures, (2) scales that measured compensatory beliefs generally in substance use and with regard to driving safety, and (3) questions to measure drivers' previous primary mobile phone usage and corresponding self-regulatory actions. Overall, drivers reported a low likelihood of compensatory beliefs, prior mobile phone use, and a strong frequency of self-regulatory behaviors. Respondents who had a higher tendency toward compensatory beliefs reported more incidents or crash involvement caused by making or answering calls and sending or reading messages. The findings provide strong support for the contribution of compensatory beliefs in predicting mobile phone usage in the context of driving. Compensatory beliefs can explain 41% and 43% of the variance in the active activities of making calls and texting/sending messages compared with 18% and 31% of the variance in the passive activities of answering calls and reading messages. Among the regression models for predicting self-regulatory behaviors at the tactical or operational level, compensatory beliefs emerge as significant predictors only in predicting shorter conversations while on a call. The findings and limitations of the current study are discussed.

Internet use and its impact on engagement in leisure activities in China.

INTRODUCTION: Internet use has become an increasingly common leisure time activity among Chinese citizens. The association between Internet use and engagement in leisure activities is especially unclear among China population. This study aims to investigate Internet usage and to determine whether active Internet use is a marker for low or high levels of leisure time activities. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: With the use of a face-to-face structured questionnaire interview, a total of 2,400 respondents who met all screening requirements were surveyed to answer the questions in eight major cities in China. 66.2% (n = 1,589) of all respondents were identified as Internet users. Of these Internet users, 30.0%, 24.1%, 26.4%, and 19.6% were clustered as "informative or instrumental users," "entertainment users," "communication users," and "advanced users," respectively. Regarding time spent on Internet use in leisure time, more than 96% reported going online in non-work situations, and 26.2% (n = 416) were classified as "heavy Internet users." A logistic regression analysis revealed that there were significant differences in some leisure activities between non-Internet users and Internet users, with an observed one-unit increase in the leisure time dependence category increasing the probability of engaging in mental or social activities. In contrast, Internet users were less engaged in physical exercise-related activities. In addition, advanced Internet users were generally more active in leisure time activities than non-Internet users and other types of users. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Internet use is one of very common leisure activities in Chinese citizens, and age, gender, income, and education are the key factors affecting Internet access. According to different types of leisure activities, Internet usage has different impacts on leisure activity engagement. High Internet dependence has no significant negative influence on engagement in mental or social leisure activities, but this group respondent tended to be less engaged in physical activities.

The effect of conformity tendency on pedestrians' road-crossing intentions in China: an application of the theory of planned behavior.

This paper presents a survey investigating the effects of age, gender and conformity tendency on Chinese pedestrians' intention to cross the road in potentially dangerous situations. A sample of 426 respondents completed a demographic questionnaire, a scale measuring their tendency towards social conformity, and a questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). This questionnaire measured people's intentions to cross the road in two different road crossing situations, their attitude towards the behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, anticipated affect, moral norms, and perceived risk. The two scenarios depicted (i) a situation where the crossing was consistent with other pedestrians' behavior (Conformity scenario) and (ii) a situation where the road crossing was inconsistent with other pedestrians (Non-Conformity scenario). Pedestrians reported greater likelihood in crossing the road when other pedestrians were crossing the road. People who showed greater tendencies towards social conformity also had stronger road crossing intentions than low conformity people for both scenarios. The predictive model explained 36% and 48% of the variance in the Non-Conformity and Conformity scenarios, respectively. Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and perceived risk emerged as the common predictors for both situations. The results have a number of theoretical and practical implications. In particular, interventions should focus on perceptions of risk that inform road users that crossing with other pedestrians against the signal is also unsafe and prohibited, and may lead to negative outcomes.