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Useful Field (useful + field)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Can High-Risk Older Drivers Be Identified Through Performance-Based Measures in a Department of Motor Vehicles Setting?

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 1 2006
Karlene K. Ball PhD
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between performance-based risk factors and subsequent at-fault motor vehicle collision (MVC) involvement in a cohort of older drivers. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) field sites in Maryland. PARTICIPANTS: Of the 4,173 older drivers invited to participate in the study, 2,114 individuals aged 55 to 96 agreed to do so. These analyses focus on 1,910 individuals recruited through MVA field sites. MEASUREMENTS: Gross Impairment Screening Battery, which included Rapid Pace Walk, Head/Neck Rotation, Foot Tap, Arm Reach, Cued Recall, Symbol Scan, Visual Closure subtest of the Motor Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT), Delayed Recall, and Trail Making Test with an Abbreviated Part A and standard Part B; Useful Field of View (UFOV®) subtest 2; a Mobility Questionnaire; and MVC occurrence. RESULTS: In drivers aged 55 and older with intact vision (20/70 far visual acuity and 140° visual field), age, sex, history of falls, and poorer cognitive performance, as measured using Trails B, MVPT, and UFOV subtest 2, were predictive of future at-fault MVC involvement. After adjusting for annual mileage, participants aged 78 and older were 2.11 as more likely to be involved in an at-fault MVC, those who made four or more errors on the MVPT were 2.10 times as likely to crash, those who took 147 seconds or longer to complete Trails B were 2.01 times as likely to crash, and those who took 353 ms or longer on subtest 2 of the UFOV were 2.02 times as likely to incur an at-fault MVC. Older adults, men, and individuals with a history of falls were more likely to be involved in subsequent at-fault MVCs. CONCLUSION: Performance-based cognitive measures are predictive of future at-fault MVCs in older adults. Cognitive performance, in particular, is a salient predictor of subsequent crash involvement in older adults. High-risk older drivers can be identified through brief, performance-based measures administered in a MVA setting. [source]

Impaired visual search in drivers with Parkinson's disease

ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 4 2006
Ergun Y. Uc MD
Objective To assess the ability for visual search and recognition of roadside targets and safety errors during a landmark and traffic sign identification task in drivers with Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods Seventy-nine drivers with PD and 151neurologically normal older adults underwent a battery of visual, cognitive, and motor tests. The drivers were asked to report sightings of specific landmarks and traffic signs along a four-lane commercial strip during an experimental drive in an instrumented vehicle. Results The drivers with PD identified significantly fewer landmarks and traffic signs, and they committed more at-fault safety errors during the task than control subjects, even after adjusting for baseline errors. Within the PD group, the most important predictors of landmark and traffic sign identification rate were performances on Useful Field of View (visual speed of processing and attention) and Complex Figure Test-Copy (visuospatial abilities). Trail Making Test (B-A), a measure of cognitive flexibility independent of motor function, was the only independent predictor of at-fault safety errors in drivers with PD. Interpretation The cognitive and visual deficits associated with PD resulted in impaired visual search while driving, and the increased cognitive load during this task worsened their driving safety. Ann Neurol 2006 [source]

Shift of attention in depth in a semi-realistic setting

JAPANESE PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2002
Toshiaki Miura
Abstract: This research was based on previous research on the useful field of view in real driving, however shift of attention was examined in depth by the use of an improved tunnel simulator. Despite of the importance of this area of research, nothing like this has been performed previously. The subjects' task was judgment of the relative distance of targets (farther, nearer, or the same), in comparison with a fixation point. Reaction times were measured. There were two variables. One was three observing conditions. Subjects moved at apparent speeds of 40 km/h or 80 km/h or were stationary. The second variable was the validity of the precue concerning the location of the appearance of the target relative to the fixation point. There were three conditions, valid, invalid and or neutral. The results clearly showed that reaction times for nearer targets were shorter than those for farther targets in all conditions. This supports a viewer-centered representation of three-dimensional space. Concerning the direction of shift of attention, reaction time for shift of attention from far locations to near locations was shorter than for the opposite. This difference was more remarkable in the moving condition than in the stationary condition. This was called the rubber band metaphor of attention in locomotion (asymmetrical viewer-centered mode of shift of attention in depth). These results are ecologically valid. Possible underlying mechanisms are discussed from the viewpoint of distribution of attention resource. [source]

Violence and Temporal Subjectivity

ANTHROPOLOGY & HUMANISM, Issue 1 2009
Eric J. Haanstad
SUMMARY Perceptions of temporal malleability and subjectivity are experienced by many perpetrators, victims, and witnesses of violence. Are perceptions of the slowing down, speeding up, or heightened awareness of time, which accompany violent moments, indicative of broader cultural and humanistic phenomena? In this article, I explore accounts of temporal perceptions surrounding violent encounters as a methodologically useful field of intersection between theories concerning the cultural construction of reality, the anthropology of time, simulation, and an emergent holographic physics. If, as a growing number of physicists assert, the universe can be described as a hologram where "time" is illusory and simultaneous, violent events that are perceived as temporally ambiguous offer sites of particular interest for the humanistic examination of these physical models. In other words, the temporal subjectivity often experienced by those who encounter violence can be interpreted as directly perceivable holographic encounters. The perpetrators, victims, and witnesses of such encounters can be viewed not only as interpreters of particular cultural temporal systems but also actively manipulating space,time and socially constructed reality. Interpreting violence through the experience of human agents could lead to greater insight into not only the symbolic meaning generated by acts of violence but also its hyperreal, desensitizing, and dissociative effects. Furthermore, the amplification of these effects by mass media and modern state ideologues becomes more penetrable under such an interpretive model. I draw from ethnographic research with police and "security" personnel in Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States, as well as from media and performance analysis. [source]