Conspiracy Beliefs Are Related to the Use of Smartphones behind the Wheel.

The belief in conspiracy theories predicts behaviors related to public health such as the willingness to receive vaccines. This study applies a similar approach to an aspect of road safety: the use of smartphones while driving. A representative sample of 1706 subjects answered a series of questions related to what can be regarded as erroneous or conspiracy beliefs against restricting or banning the use of smartphones while driving. The results show that those having such conspiracy beliefs reported a greater use of smartphones behind the wheel.

The Relationship between Fatigue in Mothers and the Age of Their Less-Than-24-Month-Old Newborns.

The birth of a child marks the beginning of a new developmental period for the parents. These changes have positive but also negative aspects, such as the increase in fatigue experienced by mothers during this period of time, which can be very limiting and lead them to postpone other life or work goals. However, despite the widespread nature of this problem, there is a lack of information about the duration of this fatigue, with estimates ranging from three months to six years; this prevents mothers from planning this period of their lives adequately. The current study evaluated fatigue in a Spanish sample of 67 women with infants less than two years old and drew a comparison with another sample of 46 women with similar characteristics who were not caring for an infant at that time in order to determine the differences between them and how fatigue in the former group evolves depending on the age of the infant. The results show that fatigue is effectively maintained until at least two years after the birth of the infant.

Chronic, but not acute, fatigue predicts self-reported attentional driving errors in mothers attending infant children.

Mothers attending infant children usually experience high levels of fatigue, and fatigue has been shown to be related to car crashes through attentional errors, among other causes. The current study investigates the effects of fatigue on the attentional errors while driving of women attending infant children. A sample of 112 women-67 attending infant children and 45 not attending-filled out self-report questionnaires assessing acute fatigue, chronic fatigue, and attention-related driving errors. A mediational analysis showed that women attending infant children had higher levels of fatigue, and that chronic fatigue, but not acute fatigue, was related to attentional errors while driving.

The Scree Test and the Number of Factors: a Dynamic Graphics Approach.

Exploratory Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis are two data analysis methods that are commonly used in psychological research. When applying these techniques, it is important to determine how many factors to retain. This decision is sometimes based on a visual inspection of the Scree plot. However, the Scree plot may at times be ambiguous and open to interpretation. This paper aims to explore a number of graphical and computational improvements to the Scree plot in order to make it more valid and informative. These enhancements are based on dynamic and interactive data visualization tools, and range from adding Parallel Analysis results to "linking" the Scree plot with other graphics, such as factor-loadings plots. To illustrate our proposed improvements, we introduce and describe an example based on real data on which a principal component analysis is appropriate. We hope to provide better graphical tools to help researchers determine the number of factors to retain.

The scree test and the number of factors: a dynamic graphics approach

Exploratory Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis are two data analysis methods that are commonly used in psychological research. When applying these techniques, it is important to determine how many factors to retain. This decision is sometimes based on a visual inspection of the Scree plot. However, the Scree plot may at times be ambiguous and open to interpretation. This paper aims to explore a number of graphical and computational improvements to the Scree plot in order to make it more valid and informative. These enhancements are based on dynamic and interactive data visualization tools, and range from adding Parallel Analysis results to «linking» the Scree plot with other graphics, such as factor-loadings plots. To illustrate our proposed improvements, we introduce and describe an example based on real data on which a principal component analysis is appropriate. We hope to provide better graphical tools to help researchers determine the number of factors to retain (AU)

No disponible

Is naturalistic driving research possible with highly instrumented cars? Lessons learnt in three research centres.

This paper provides an overview of the experiences using Highly Instrumented Cars (HICs) in three research Centres across Europe; Spain, the UK and Greece. The data collection capability of each car is described and an overview presented relating to the relationship between the level of instrumentation and the research possible. A discussion then follows which considers the advantages and disadvantages of using HICs for ND research. This includes the obtrusive nature of the data collection equipment, the cost of equipping the vehicles with sophisticated Data Acquisition Systems (DAS) and the challenges for data storage and analysis particularly with respect to video data. It is concluded that the use of HICs substantially increases the depth of knowledge relating to the driver's behaviour and their interaction with the vehicle and surroundings. With careful study design and integration into larger studies with Low(ly) instrumented Cars (LICs), HICs can contribute significantly and in a relatively naturalistic manner to the driver behaviour research.

[Multiple visualisation in data analysis: a ViSta application for principal component analysis]. / Desarrollo de técnicas de visualización múltiple en el programa ViSta: ejemplo de aplicación al análisis de componentes principales.

Multiple visualisation (MV) is a statistic graphical method barely applied in data analysis practice, even though it provides interesting features for this purpose. This paper: (1) describes the application of the MV graphical method; (2) presents a number of rules related to the design of an MV; (3) introduces a general outline for developing MVs and shows how MV may be implemented in the ViSta statistical system; (4) illustrates this strategy by means of an example of MV oriented to principal component analysis; and, finally, (5) discusses some limitations of using and developing MVs.

Desarrollo de técnicas de visualización múltiple en el programa ViSta: ejemplo de aplicación al análisis de componentes principales / Multiple visualisation in data analysis: a ViSta application for principal component analysis

La visualización múltiple (VM) es una técnica gráfica de análisis de datos que cuenta con escasa difusión en la práctica a pesar de su potencial aplicado aparente. En este trabajo: (1) se describe la VM como técnica gráfica aplicada al contexto del análisis estadístico de datos; (2) se plantean una serie de principios relativos al diseño de una VM; (3) se muestra el esquema general de desarrollo de una VM en un entorno informático concreto, el sistema estadístico ViSta; (4) se ilustra este desarrollo a través de un ejemplo de VM aplicada al análisis de componentes principales; y, por último, (5) se discuten algunas cuestiones asociadas al desarrollo y aplicación de la VM como técnica gráfica

Multiple visualisation (MV) is a statistic graphical method barely applied in data analysis practice, even though it provides interesting features for this purpose. This paper: (1) describes the application of the MV graphical method; (2) presents a number of rules related to the design of an MV; (3) introduces a general outline for developing MVs and shows how MV may be implemented in the ViSta statistical system; (4) illustrates this strategy by means of an example of MV oriented to principal component analysis; and, finally, (5) discusses some limitations of using and developing MVs

Tecnología del simulador para evaluación de conductores / Simulator technology for assessing drivers

EVICA es un proyecto conjunto entre el Instituto de Tráfico y Seguridad Vial de la Universidad de Valencia (INTRAS) y el Instituto Mapfre de Seguridad Vial. En dicho proyecto se plantea la utilización de la tecnología del simulador para evaluar y asesorar conductores. Esta evaluación se centra fundamentalmente en dos niveles, a nivel de control o manejo del vehículo y a nvel táctico o de toma de decisiones. De la ejecución del conductor en el simulador se obtienen una serie de medidas a partir de las cuales se puede ofrecer información personalizada sobre su modo de conducir que ayude a mejorar su seguridad y la de los demás usuarios de la vía (AU)

Integración de un sistema simulador en el entrenamiento de habilidades perceptivo-motrices propias de la estiba y desestiba portuaria / Integration of a system simulator in the training of perceptive-motor abilities needed for container-handling crane manipulation

El empleo de simuladores ofrece ventajas cada vez más evidentes, especialmente en la formación y el entrenamiento de operarios de maquinaria cara y peligrosa, como es el caso de la estiba y desestiba portuaria con grúas pórtico. Sin embargo, son pocos los programas de instrucción con simuladores que sacan partido de las ventajas de esta tecnología debido a la complejidad de la síntesis y la organización de los contenidos de estos programas. Un extenso análisis de tareas y del conocimiento experto constituye el paso inicial en el proceso de desarrollo de tales programas y también permite la evaluación de la fidelidad del sistema simulador, complemento indispensable del desarrollo del diseño instruccional. De esa manera y, aplicando el modelo 4CID (Van Merriënboer, 1997), se ha definido la macroestructura del diseño de instrucción que considera, en principio, ocho módulos de enseñanza diferenciados, cada uno de llos dirigido a entrenar habilidades complementarias (AU)