The role of attitudes in determining individual behavior in transportation: From psychology to discrete choice modeling

This dissertation focuses on the role of psychological factors, particularly attitudes, in determining individual behavior in transportation and proposes procedures and methods to improve the measurement of psychological variables to be used in choice modeling. The thesis is divided into three chapters containing a methodological section, showing the innovation of the econometrics steps, and an empirical work, based on datasets collected in the context of transportation. The first chapter describes the drawbacks of using common instruments for attitude measurement, such as Likert scale or semantic differentia scale, and proposes to analyze attitudinal data using the Evaluative Space Grid in order to distinguish individuals having indifferent and ambivalent attitudes, as well as positive and negative inclinations. The second chapter endeavors to integrate the Evaluative Space Grid in the framework of discrete choice modelling in order to avoid the aggregation of the individuals lying on the neutral part of the latent continuum of the attitude object of the study. In addition, it empirically tests the hypothesis that individuals revealing indifferent and ambivalent attitudes behave differently in the context of transport mode choice for commuting purposes. Finally, the last chapter proves that both long-term stable constructs which are “memory-based”, namely generalized attitudes, and short-term situational specific constructs which are built at the time a specific situation occurs, namely localized attitudes, contribute in shaping individual preferences

Marking Drosophila suzukii (Diptera : Drosophilidae) with fluorescent dusts

The marking of Drosophila suzukii can be an important instrument for studying the ecology and behaviour of this economically important fruit pest, aiding the development of new Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tools or strategies. There is, however, a need for a cost-effective methodology that provides an easily detectable and stable mark. Whereas fluorescent pigment powders are often used in entomological research, the pigments (series, dyes), application techniques, or doses need to be evaluated for each studied species in terms of their efficacy and possible adverse effects on the performance of the insect. The effectiveness of different application techniques and dyes (RadGlo® TP-series) and their effect on the survival of adult D. suzukii were investigated in the laboratory. Furthermore, the influence of the marking on the behaviour of the flies was examined in laboratory trap assays (olfaction) and a field recapture study (general orientation). The persistence and detectability of the marks was evaluated both on living flies (for different application techniques) and dead flies under trapping/storage conditions. The use of fluorescent powders to mark D. suzukii flies yielded a clearly detectable and highly persistent mark, without any adverse effects on the survival and behaviour of the flies