Research
Publication
Warren, W. H., Falandays, J. B., Yoshida, K., Wirth, T. D., & Free, B. A. (2024). Human Crowds as Social Networks: Collective Dynamics of Consensus and Polarization. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 19(2), 522–537. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231186406
Current research
Visual Influence Networks in Walking Crowds
coming soon!! <!–
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Drone project
coming soon!!
Previous research
Perceptual-Motor Recalibration in Naturalistic and Virtual Environments
Abstract: The way people learn to interact with the physical world can be conceptualized as a perception-action loop. For new situations, existing schemes are used to make predictions, take actions, and adjust actions based on the feedback. Through this system, people can adapt their motions, such as walking and turning, as environmental conditions change. This locomotive recalibration has been investigated in several experiments in the naturalistic environment. However, there has been less research examining recalibration effects in immersive virtual environments which allow for studies with lower costs and smaller facilities. Further experiments in virtual environments are necessary in order to gain a better understanding of the processes underlying recalibration effects. The present research investigated 1) how perceptions and actions work together and 2) how people respond differently to virtual and naturalistic environments. Specifically, it examined whether a recalibration effect created in a virtual environment had the same characteristics as rotational locomotion in the naturalistic environment. It followed the designs of previous experiments in naturalistic environments and consisted of a pre-test, recalibration phase, and a post-test. The results indicated that there is the same recalibration effect in naturalistic and virtual environments, and rotational recalibration effects transfer between naturalistic and virtual contexts.
Simple Models of Movement Coordination Account for Limited Portions of Pedestrian Road-Crossing Behavior in Virtual Environments
Abstract: The ability to coordinate self-movement with the movements of other objects is an important survival skill. Movement coordination tasks such as navigating across a busy intersection have high consequences for failure. Critical to reducing the injury rates of roadway users is understanding what perceptual information and movement control strategies individuals use to cross heavily trafficked streets. A number of models of movement control have proposed simple perceptual mechanisms to explain how humans coordinate self- and object-movement. However previous research in virtual environments has shown that no movement strategy based on a single perceptual variable adequately describes how drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians cross through gaps in traffic. Instead, findings suggest that people crossing busy intersections are employing complex road-crossing strategies that are likely the product of a number of perceptual processes. In the current study, participants were asked to walk through target gaps in a single lane of bicycle traffic presented in a virtual environment. Preliminary results suggest that pedestrian road-crossing behavior may consist of a predictable combination of simple movement control strategies.
How Roadway Design Affects Cyclist-Motorist Interactions
Abstract: As the global population continues to concentrate into urban environments, the number of conflicts and collisions between different types of roadway users are increasing. In order to share the limited roadway space as efficiently and safely as possible, it is imperative that researchers investigate how pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists interact with each other. Behavioral work in other labs investigating the overtaking of bicyclists by motorists has begun to explore how cyclists and motorists share the road. In this study, we built and programmed a multi-sensored, GPS-aware distance measurement system based on the Arduino microprocessor. The position-recording capability allows us to identify the specific mechanisms through which roadway features such as bike lanes and sharrows affect the cyclist-motorist interaction. Over a period of five weeks the experimenters rode the instrumented bicycle on city streets and recorded the lateral safety margin motorists afforded the bicyclists while overtaking. As the last phase of the project, all the data collected are currently being processed and analyzed. The development of this novel data collection methodology will strengthen the overall research field by providing a real-world validation of work conducted in laboratory contexts. The end goal of enhanced understanding of how cyclists and motorists interact on the roadway is likely to yield tangible real-world safety benefits for all roadway users.
Relationship Between Psychological Capital, Grit, and Academic Outcomes
Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between (1) psychological capital (PsyCap) and (2) grit and the following academic outcomes: academic motivation, academic engagement, agentic engagement, and academic delay of gratification. Using a Midwestern U.S. undergraduate student sample, we found that PsyCap and grit were both correlated with all of the academic outcome variables in the expected direction. Results also showed that autonomous motivation partially explains both the relationship between PsyCap and academic engagement and the relationship between grit and academic engagement, but that academic delay of gratification does not mediate these relationships. Our results are consistent with those of a previous study conducted by Datu, King, and Valdez (2016); However, we did not replicate their finding that PsyCap is positively associated with controlled motivation. One possible reason for this discrepancy could be a difference in academic motives for students in collectivist versus individualistic cultures. I will submit the abstract to the conference now, with all of your names on it.