A technology to measure multiple driving behaviors without self-report or participant reactivity.

An in-vehicle information system (IVIS) was used to videotape drivers (N = 61) without their knowledge while driving 22 miles in normal traffic. The drivers were told that they were participating in a study of direction following and map reading. Two data-coding procedures were used to analyze videotapes. Safety-related behaviors were counted during consecutive 15-s intervals of a driving trial, and the occurrence of certain safety-related behaviors was assessed under critical conditions. These two methods of data coding were assessed for practicality, reliability, and sensitivity. Interobserver agreement for the five different driving behaviors ranged from 85% to 95%. Within-subject variability in safe driving was more pronounced among younger drivers and decreased as a function of age. Contrary to previous research that has relied on self-reports, driver risk taking did not vary significantly as a function of gender. These results are used to illustrate the capabilities of the technology introduced here to design and evaluate behavior-analytic interventions to increase safe driving.

Assigned versus participative goal setting and response generalization: managing injury control among professional pizza deliverers.

Safety belt use, turn signal use, and intersection stopping were observed at 3 pizza delivery locations per driver's license plate numbers. After baseline observations, employees at 1 store participated in goal setting targeting complete stops. Employees at the other store were assigned a goal. Over 4 weeks, the group's percentages of complete intersection stopping were posted. Both intervention groups significantly increased their complete intersection stops during the intervention phase. The participative goal-setting group also showed significant increases in turn signal and safety belt use (nontargeted behaviors) concurrent with their increases in intersection stopping (targeted behaviors). Drivers decreased their turn signal and safety belt use concurrent with the assigned goal condition targeting complete stops.

Beer versus mixed-drink consumption at fraternity parties: a time and place for low-alcohol alternatives.

Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) measurements were taken of university students entering and exiting three fraternity parties: during each party, the rates of drinking beer and mixed drinks were monitored. The parties choose beer or mixed drinks to consume exclusively throughout the evening at no cost. Unbeknownst to the subjects, the following conditions were manipulated across successive parties: (1) at the first party (64 males and 43 females) the beer alternative had standard alcohol content (i.e., 7% alcohol by volume), (2) at the second party (70 males and 48 females) the beer was a low-alcohol beer (3% alcohol) and (3) at the third party (53 males and 41 females) the partiers were randomly assigned to a regular alcohol content conditions of beer or mixed drinks or to a low-alcohol content condition (i.e., 3% beer or mixed drinks made with 7/8-oz of distilled spirits). Since those assigned to the low-alcohol conditions did not consume more beverages than those in the regular alcohol conditions, a titration hypothesis was not supported and the exit BACs were significantly lower for partiers in the low-alcohol conditions. When females drank at the same rate as males, their exit BACs were significantly higher than those of males. Implications for DWI prevention are discussed.

A single-subject approach to evaluating vehicle safety belt reminders: Back to basics.

A single-subject ABA reversal design was applied to evaluate the effectiveness of a limited 8-s safety belt reminder system and two modified reminder systems (a delayed and second reminder) to increase the safety belt use of 13 drivers. The research was conducted with a specially equipped research vehicle that permitted the manipulation of different safety belt reminder stimuli and the unobtrusive recording of a driver's belt use. For 2 subjects, the limited 8-s reminder increased safety belt use. For another 2 subjects, the second reminder markedly increased belt use. Some subjects were uninfluenced by the reminder systems presented; others always buckled up during both baseline and intervention conditions. The approach and results are discussed with regard to the application of behavior analysis methodologies (e.g., cumulative records) and principles (e.g., schedules of reinforcement) to advance the utility and investigation of safety belt reminder systems.

Improving the driving practices of pizza deliverers: Response generalization and moderating effects of driving history.

A practical intervention program, targeting the safety belt use of pizza deliverers at two stores, increased significantly the use of both safety belts (143% above baseline) and turn signals (25% above baseline). Control subjects (i.e., pizza deliverers at a third no-intervention store and patrons driving to the pizza stores) showed no changes in belt or turn signal use over the course of 7-month study. The intervention program was staggered across two pizza stores and consisted of a group meeting wherein employees discussed the value of safety belts, received feedback regarding their low safety belt use, offered suggestions for increasing their belt use, and made a personal commitment to buckle up by signing buckle-up promise cards. Subsequently, employee-designed buckle-up reminder signs were placed in the pizza stores. By linking license plate numbers to individual driving records, we examined certain aspects of driving history as moderators of pre- and postintervention belt use. Although baseline belt use was significantly lower for drivers with one or more driving demerits or accidents in the previous 5 years, after the intervention these risk groups increased their belt use significantly and at the same rate as drivers with no demerits or accidents. Whereas baseline belt use was similar for younger (under 25) and older (25 or older) drivers, younger drivers were markedly more influenced by the intervention than were older drivers. Individual variation in belt use during baseline, intervention, and follow-up phases indicated that some drivers require more effective and costly intervention programs to motivate their safe driving practices.

Altering shoppers' supermarket purchases to fit nutritional guidelines: an interactive information system.

This study reports the results of one effort to help supermarket shoppers alter food purchases to make purchases (and meals) that are lower in fat and higher in fiber. A prototype interactive information system using instructional video programs, feedback on purchases with specific goals for change, weekly programs, and the ability to track user interactions and intended purchases was evaluated. The major dependent measure was users' actual food purchases as derived from participants' highly detailed supermarket receipts. After a 5- to 7-week baseline phase, participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition for the 7- to 8-week intervention phase. A follow-up phase began 5 to 8 weeks after participants completed the intervention and discontinued use of the system. The results indicated that experimental participants, when compared to control participants, decreased high fat purchases and increased high fiber purchases during intervention, with evidence for some maintenance of effect in follow-up. Plans for increasing the use and impact of the system are discussed.

Knowing when to say when: a simple assessment of alcohol impairment.

The use of writing samples as indices of alcohol impairment was explored. Students at a campus fraternity party wrote a sentence and their signatures before and after consuming alcohol (in beer and mixed drinks). Later, undergraduate and graduate students attempted to discriminate between pre- and postparty handwriting samples. The average percentage of correct discriminations of entrance and exit writing samples was 83.7% for sentences and 67.5% for signatures, and the percentage of correct discriminations increased directly with the blood alcohol concentration of the partier who gave the writing sample. When a partier's blood alcohol concentration reached 0.15, all of the judges accurately discriminated 90% or more of the sentences, and 25 of the 28 judges correctly discriminated at least 80% of the signatures. All of the judges correctly discriminated at least 90% of the 18 sentences written by partiers with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.12 or more. Implications of these findings for reducing the risk of driving while intoxicated are discussed, as well as directions for follow-up research.

An experimental evaluation of a prototype public access nutrition information system for supermarkets.

Located the Nutrition for a Lifetime System (NLS-1), a prototype interactive information system, in a large supermarket to help users decrease high-fat food purchases and increase high-fiber food purchases. Study participants were randomly assigned to control (n = 23; used the NLS-1 to enter food purchases only) or experimental (n = 26; viewed videodisc instructional programs, received prompts, made commitments, received feedback from the NLS-1) conditions. According to data entered in the NLS-1 and actual food shopping receipts, experimental participants significantly reduced higher fat purchases. Increases in higher fiber purchases favored the experimental group but were not significant.

Participative education for children: an effective approach to increase safety belt use.

Vehicle license plate numbers and the shoulder belt use of front-seat occupants were recorded unobtrusively when parents delivered and picked up their children at a Montessori school during 5-day baseline, intervention, and follow-up phases. Practicing and presenting a 15-min safety belt skit increased the safety belt use of those 6 kindergarten children who were not consistent belt users 82% above their preintervention baseline belt use mean of 47%. The belt use of these children's parents (who watched the skit) increased to 56% above their baseline mean of 36%. Also, mean safety belt use of 11 primary school children who watched the skit increased to 70% above their baseline of 28%. Mean safety belt use of the older children's parents (who didn't watch the skit) remained at approximately 31% for each phase, regardless of whether children were vehicle occupants. The follow-up observations, taken 3 months after the intervention, revealed 60% belt use for the kindergartners, 48% for the primary school children, and 71% for the kindergartners' parents when the children were vehicle occupants but only 30% when the parents were driving alone.

An experimental test of risk compensation: between-subject versus within-subject analyses.

This study examined parameters under which risk compensation in driving can occur following the use of safety belts. Risk compensation theories hypothesize that if individuals use safety belts, they will drive in a more risky manner than if they do not use safety belts due to an increased perception of safety. Although the existence of risk compensation in driving has been debated in the literature for many years, the current study was the first experimental analysis of this theory that permitted a controlled examination of both between-subject and within-subject effects. This study required subjects to drive a 5-hp. go-kart around an oval track either buckled or unbuckled in the first of two phases of 15 driving trials. After the first phase the safety condition was switched for half the subjects (i.e., the safety belt was removed from subjects using it or was used by subjects who previously did not use it). Dependent measures included latency for each lap, deviations from the prescribed lane, and perceived safety while driving. The amount of time it took for subjects to travel to the go-kart track and their safety belt use during that trip was also measured. Risk compensation theory was not supported in the between-subject analyses of the research data; however, some within-subject comparisons did demonstrate risk compensation. Subjects who switched from not using the safety belt to using it increased driving speed during the second phase significantly more than subjects who used the safety belt during both driving phases. The study suggested that the occurrence of risk compensation is dependent upon individuals being able to compare the sensations using a safety belt with those of not using a safety belt. Risk compensation did not manifest itself in between-subject studies because this comparison could not take place. The implications of this study to driving automobiles on multi-user roadways is discussed. Suggestions for research to further expand the knowledge about how and when risk compensation occurs are also provided.

Motivating safety belt use at a community hospital: an effective integration of incentive and commitment strategies.

An effective hospital-based safety-belt program incorporated several advantages over prior attempts to increase safety belt use, including (a) the use of indigenous staff as program sponsors, coordinators, and delivery agents; (b) a yearlong program evaluation; and (c) a combination of extrinsic incentives and intrinsic commitment. To be eligible for a weekly $5, employees met the following contingencies: (a) signed a pledge card; (b) displayed the signed pledge card in their vehicle; and (c) wore a safety belt. Overall, belt use increased from a 2-week baseline mean of 15.6% to 34.7% during the 6-month intervention, and decreased to 25.6% at withdrawal. For the pledge card signers (n = 188) and the nonsigners (n = 533), belt use increased from baseline means of 29.4% and 11.8% to intervention use rates of 75.1 and 17.7%, respectively. Withdrawal and 4-month follow-up use rates were 56.0% and 44.9% for the Pledge group, and 17.2% and 22.1% for the Nonpledge group.