Johannes Beller

Towards a dynamic balance between humans and automation: authority, ability, responsibility and control in shared and cooperative control situations

Progress enables the creation of more automated and intelligent machines with increasing abilities that open up new roles between humans and machines. Only with a proper design for the resulting cooperative human–machine systems, these advances will make our lives easier, safer and enjoyable rather than harder and miserable. Starting from examples of natural cooperative systems, the paper investigates four cornerstone concepts for the design of such systems: ability, authority, control and responsibility, as well as their relationship to each other and to concepts like levels of automation and autonomy. Consistency in the relations between these concepts is identified as an important quality for the system design. A simple graphical tool is introduced that can help to visualize the cornerstone concepts and their relations in a single diagram. Examples from the automotive domain, where a cooperative guidance and control of highly automated vehicles is under investigation, demonstrate the application of the concepts and the tool. Transitions in authority and control, e.g. initiated by changes in the ability of human or machine, are identified as key challenges. A sufficient consistency of the mental models of human and machines, not only in the system use but also in the design and evaluation, can be a key enabler for a successful dynamic balance between humans and machines.

Improving the driver-automation interaction: an approach using automation uncertainty

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether communicating automation uncertainty improves the driver–automation interaction. Background: A false system understanding of infallibility may provoke automation misuse and can lead to severe consequences in case of automation failure. The presentation of automation uncertainty may prevent this false system understanding and, as was shown by previous studies, may have numerous benefits. Few studies, however, have clearly shown the potential of communicating uncertainty information in driving. The current study fills this gap. Method: We conducted a driving simulator experiment, varying the presented uncertainty information between participants (no uncertainty information vs. uncertainty information) and the automation reliability (high vs. low) within participants. Participants interacted with a highly automated driving system while engaging in secondary tasks and were required to cooperate with the automation to drive safely. Results: Quantile regressions and multilevel modeling showed that the presentation of uncertainty information increases the time to collision in the case of automation failure. Furthermore, the data indicated improved situation awareness and better knowledge of fallibility for the experimental group. Consequently, the automation with the uncertainty symbol received higher trust ratings and increased acceptance. Conclusion: The presentation of automation uncertainty through a symbol improves overall driver–automation cooperation. Application: Most automated systems in driving could benefit from displaying reliability information. This display might improve the acceptance of fallible systems and further enhances driver–automation cooperation.

Dimensional latent structure of somatic symptom reporting in two representative population studies: Results from taxometric analyses.

Somatoform disorders are characterized by somatic symptoms that suggest a medical condition when such a condition is not present. Recently, Thomas and Locke (2010) and Jasper, Hiller, Rist, Bailer, and Witthöft (2012) found that the latent status of somatic symptom reporting may be best viewed from a dimensional perspective in a student, primary care, and an epilepsy-monitoring-unit setting using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form Somatic Complaints (RC1) Scale and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15). To determine whether the latent status of somatic symptom reporting is dimensional in general population samples and across other measures, we analyzed the latent status of somatic symptom reporting in 2 large general German population samples using the PHQ-15 and Screening for Somatoform Symptoms (SOMS-7; N1 = 2,469; N2 = 2,434). We applied 3 popular taxometric methods: MAXEIG, MAMBAC, and L-Mode. In both samples, the analyses indicated a dimensional solution. Hence, the latent structure of somatic symptom reporting encompasses differences in degree rather than kind. Implications of the dimensional latent status of somatoform disorders regarding assessment and causality are discussed.

Methodological discrepancies in the update of a meta-analysis

Leichsenring & Rabung[1][1] reported that long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) is superior to less intensive forms of psychotherapy in complex mental disorders. Based on 10 trials, they found an overall effect size (ES) of 0.55. We found several methodological discrepancies in their study.

Disentangling Loneliness: Differential Effects of Subjective Loneliness, Network Quality, Network Size, and Living Alone on Physical, Mental, and Cognitive Health:

Objective: To examine whether different measures of social disconnectedness—subjective loneliness, network quality, network size, living alone—have differential effects on the health of older adults. Methods: We used a longitudinal sample of the German Aging Survey (N = 4,184) and analyzed seven measures of health (life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, depression, cognitive performance, physical functioning, and pulmonary function) via regression analyses. Results: We found that subjective loneliness and network quality best predicted mental health; contrarily, network size and living alone best predicted physical and cognitive health. Discussion: Different measures of social disconnectedness have differential effects on health. Therefore, using only global measures or one aspect of social disconnectedness might obfuscate potential health hazards. Researchers and practitioners should be mindful of differences between these measures and should include multiple aspects of social disconnectedness in their research and practice. Future studies should explore the causes why these measures and their effects differ.

Is religious fundamentalism a dimensional or a categorical phenomenon? A taxometric analysis in two samples of youth from Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

To examine the latent status of religious fundamentalism, we analyzed 2 large samples of Muslim youth from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as gathered in the Youth, Emotional Energy, and Political Violence Survey. We sought to answer the following question: Is fundamentalism a dimensional or a categorical phenomenon? Equivalently, do fundamentalists represent an extreme of religious belief, or do they constitute their own category, differing from nonfundamentalists? Using taxometric methods, we found that religious fundamentalism seems to encompass differences in kind rather than degree. Hence, the results suggest that religious fundamentalists constitute their own qualitatively different category. These findings have important practical and theoretical implications regarding causality, labeling, and assessment.

Religion and militarism: The effects of religiosity, religious fundamentalism, religious conspiracy belief, and demographics on support for military action.

Religion has been seen as one of the major causes for war, yet only few empirical studies have analyzed which aspects of religion, if any, contribute to militarism. Thus, I investigated how different aspects of religion—personal importance of God (Allah), prayer frequency, mosque attendance frequency, religious fundamentalism, and belief in religious conspiracy—contribute to militarism. I analyzed cross-sectional data of Egyptian youth with a sample size of N = 928. Using linear regression, I found that increased support for militarism was predicted by religious conspiracy belief and religious fundamentalism. Contrarily, personal importance of God and being female predicted reduced militarism. Prayer frequency, mosque attendance frequency, age, and education showed no significant effects. Thus, religion has differential effects on militarism. Efforts to prevent military conflict should be complemented by reducing religious conspiracy beliefs, questioning fundamentalist attitudes, and emphasizing peaceful religious teachings.

Loneliness, social isolation, their synergistic interaction, and mortality.

Objective: Although loneliness and social isolation are distinct constructs, only few studies have examined the putative synergistic effects of loneliness and social isolation on health. The current study strives to fill this gap. We ask, “Do loneliness, social isolation, and their interaction predict mortality?” Methods: We used a large nationally representative sample of middle-aged and older adults in Germany (N = 4,838) with a follow-up period of up to 20 years. Results: We found that the effects of loneliness and social isolation synergistically interact with each other: The higher the social isolation, the larger the effect of loneliness on mortality, and the higher the loneliness, the larger the effect of social isolation. Conclusions: Both constructs are important in predicting health. Researchers and practitioners should consider loneliness, social isolation, and their interaction whenever possible.

Religiosity, Religious Fundamentalism, and Perceived Threat as Predictors of Muslim Support for Extremist Violence.

Religion is often seen as one of the main causes of extremist violence, such as suicide attacks. Because empirical studies analyzing this purported relationship are scarce, we investigated how religious practices and attitudes, perceived threat, and demographic variables contribute to support for extremist violence. We analyzed multinational face-to-face interview data for native Muslims with a final sample size of N = 6,576. Using multilevel ordinal regression, we found that increased support for extremist violence was strongly predicted by social religious activities and perceived threat. Conversely, aspects of individual religiosity and even religious fundamentalism were associated with a decrease in support for extremist violence. Demographic variables showed small or no significant effects. Important practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

A Rasch Re-Analysis of the Partnership Questionnaire

The Partnership Questionnaire (PFB) is used favorably in the German language area to measure partnership quality. The goal of the present study is to re-analyze the subscales of the PFB (Conflict Behavior, Tenderness, Communication) via the Rasch model. Polytomous and dichotomous Rasch models were calculated in a population sample (N = 1,123) and a student-based cross-validation sample (N = 250) for the three subscales of the PFB. Final models were chosen based on several fit criteria. Good to very good model fit was obtained with symmetrical (Conflict Behavior) or nonsymmetrical (Tenderness, Communication) dichotomously collapsed categories. After adapting the instruction and dichotomizing the categories, the PFB can be used as a checklist (PFB-checklist). An additional cross-validation is needed to substantiate the obtained results.