Michele Mariani

Facilitation and interference components in the joint Simon task

Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the joint Simon effect is composed of facilitation and interference and whether facilitation is increased by a joint spatially compatible practice performed before performing the joint Simon task. In both experiments, participants were required to perform a Simon task along another person. Trials could be corresponding, non-corresponding, and neutral. In Experiment 1, participants performed only the Simon task. In Experiment 2, participants first practiced on a joint spatial compatibility task with a compatible mapping and, after a 5-min delay, transferred to a joint Simon task. Results indicated that the joint Simon effect consisted primarily of interference, which was significantly increased by a spatially compatible practice performed jointly. These results allow us to better define in what ways the presence of the other influences performance, in showing that when participants perform a task along with another individual, they display a disadvantage (i.e., slower RTs) when they have to respond to stimuli appearing on the other agent’s side.

Look What I Am Doing: Does Observational Learning Take Place in Evocative Task-Sharing Situations?

Two experiments were conducted to investigate whether physical and observational practice in task-sharing entail comparable implicit motor learning. To this end, the social-transfer-of-learning (SToL) effect was assessed when both participants performed the joint practice task (Experiment 1 – complete task-sharing), or when one participant observed the other performing half of the practice task (Experiment 2 – evocative task-sharing). Since the inversion of the spatial relations between responding agent and stimulus position has been shown to prevent SToL, in the present study we assessed it in both complete and evocative task-sharing conditions either when spatial relations were kept constant or changed from the practice to the transfer session. The same pattern of results was found for both complete and evocative task-sharing, thus suggesting that implicit motor learning in evocative task-sharing is equivalent to that obtained in complete task-sharing. We conclude that this motor learning originates from the simulation of the complementary (rather than the imitative) action.

Developing a near infrared based night vision system

Accidents occurring at night represent a significant part of the total number of road fatalities. Thus, intelligent systems for supporting the driver during night promise to have a significant impact on traffic safety. In particular, the second generation of such systems provide semantic, symbolic information in order to effectively draw the drivers attention towards the actual danger source. This paper describes the design choices and the system architecture of the EDEL project. Moreover, we present the algorithms we use for detection of pedestrians, which are frequently involved in accidents at night, and discuss early results. In particular, the implemented system provides recognition rates similar to the state of the art in daylight conditions, even if this requires a more in-depth analysis of the captured scene, with a consequent performance penalty in terms of response time.

The Quality of Working Life Concept

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the quality of working life concept and application. Interest in the nature of work organization and its possible effects on employee motivation has caused many organizations to take steps to ensure that job design incorporates the intrinsic needs of employees. This can be seen manifested in the emergence of the quality of working life movement, which is aimed at eliminating many of the problems associated with traditional work systems, making work more meaningful for employees and ensuring positive benefits for employers. The current European Union QUALIT project aims to improve the quality of working life by providing work environments in which employees can satisfy individual needs. The QUALIT project is based on two interrelated sets of concepts: the Sociotechnical systems approach and the quality of working life dimensions. The Sociotechnical systems approach to organization design integrates the technical and social subsystems into a single management system.

Simple vs. Complex Carbohydrate Dietary Patterns and the Global Overweight and Obesity Pandemic

Nowadays, obesity and being overweight are among the major global health concerns. Many, diet-related diseases impose high tangible and intangible costs, and threaten the sustainability of health-care systems worldwide. In this study, we model, at the macroeconomic level, the impact of energy intake from different types of carbohydrates on the population’s BMI (body mass index). We proceed in three steps. First, we develop a framework to analyse both the consumption choices between simple and complex carbohydrates and the effects of these choices on people health conditions. Second, we collect figures for 185 countries (over the period 2012–2014) regarding the shares of simple (sugar and sweetener) and complex (cereal) carbohydrates in each country’s total dietary energy supply. Third, we use regression techniques to: (1) estimate the impact of these shares on the country’s prevalence of obesity and being overweight; (2) compute for each country an indicator of dietary pattern based on the ratio between simple and complex carbohydrates, weighted by their estimated effects on the prevalence of obesity and being overweight; and (3) measure the elasticity of the prevalence of obesity and being overweight with respect to changes in both carbohydrate dietary pattern and income per capita. We find that unhealthy eating habits and the associated prevalence of excessive body fat accumulation tend to behave as a ‘normal good’ in low, medium- and high-HDI (Human Development Index) countries, but as an ‘inferior good’ in very high-HDI countries.

Gender Discrimination, Gender Disparities in Obesity and Human Development

Measuring gender inequality and women’s empowerment is essential to understand the determinants of gender gaps, evaluate policies and monitor countries’ progress. With this aim, over the past two decades, research has mainly been directed towards the development of composite indices. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new and interdisciplinary perspective to the current debate on measuring gender inequality in human development. As a starting point, we develop a simple macroeconomic model of the interdependence between human development and gender inequality. We then introduce a biometric indicator, based on the ratio of female to male body mass index, to measure women’s empowerment at the country level. Finally, by using the latest available data, we examine the ability of this biometric indicator to capture countries’ performance in achieving gender equality. We obtain five main results: 1) we provide a theoretical framework to explain the joint determination of human development and gender inequality; 2) we show how to use this framework to simulate the impact of exogenous shocks or policy changes; 3) we demonstrate that exogenous changes have a direct and a multiplier effect on human development and gender inequality; 4) we find that the distribution of obesity between the female and male populations represents a useful proxy variable for measuring gender equality at the country level; 5) finally, we use these results to integrate and develop existing knowledge on the ‘ecological’ approach to the overweight and obesity pandemic.

Design of an adaptive feedback based steering wheel

This paper aims at describing the architectural model of an adaptive force-feedback for a By Wire steering wheel system. This solution uses a steering wheel to replicate the reactive torque law which allows the driver to complete a precise driving scenario or a task with the higher performances. Then, the steering wheel adapts the reactive torque to the driving scenario. Since the design of this system considers the driver performances, it is called Ergonomic Steer-By-Wire. Now a prototype version of the ESBW is connected on a professional driving simulator and several tests are going to be conducted in order to tune the system components. Adapting the force feedback to the driving scenario could be a solution for improving drivers safety and vehicle control.

Usability Issues when Applying Virtual Reality in Education and Training: A Case Study

Virtual Reality (VR) is an innovative technology that has found valuable application in the field of education. However, evaluation of the effectiveness of virtual environments, especially for training and education, is still an open issue. The study described here was performed within the European SAFE Vecwit project (Virtual Environment for Construction Workers Instruction and Training), aimed at the development of a virtual environment for the enhancement of risk perception and the consequent reduction of occupational injuries in construction workplaces. An experiment was carried out to assess systems usability and educational effectiveness of the environment. The evaluation highlights some relevant issues for VR environment design.

Understanding the User in Electronic Commerce

Electronic commerce has rapidly become a reality giving rise to significant changes in the relationship between vendor/client and thus deserving a deep analysis. In the present scenario, businesses are called upon to provide products that are becoming more and more like services, and the client is invited to enter into a form of relationship marketing. In reference to this aspect of the development of electronic commerce, the present paper proposes a taxonomy of user/client behavior with reference to three factors a) the behavior of users in regard to the supplier of products b) the behavior of users within the Net c) the way in which users process the information content of messages elaborated by product supplier.

Cognitive Ergonomics and Empowering Organisations

Abstract empowerment is the new keywords in human resources management. Despite its fast growing popularity empowerments issues are often disseminated more as a philosophy than as a sound set of knowledge, methods and practical guidelines. The adoption of the point of view of cognitive ergonomics within the QUALIT project appears suitable to give more solid ground to the concept and to get guidelines for the design of an empowering interaction between the organisational artifact and human actors.