Transport Psychology in Spain today

Paper for the newsletter of the European Association of Psychology Applied to Transport (EUROPSYT) with a review of fundamental and applied research on Traffic and transport Psychology in Spain in areas such as cognitive processes and traffic safety, psychosocial aspects concerning attitudes, risk factors and special groups as professional drivers and young drivers, development of assessment instruments, transport alternatives such as trains and planes, as well as urban alternatives like buses, bicycles and pedestrians, accident research, driver selection, preventive Interventions, education, training and instruction, including such activities as advising, planning and research, especially regarding the behaviour of children as pedestrians, or law enforcement and surveillance and their acceptance by the various users

German-speaking psychologists in English-speaking sources. Reflections on national trends in the history of psychology

The ideal of an universal science without national boundaries, has occasionally obscured the reality of the consistent national trends which have doubtless occurred in research and theorising of different specialities. In our field, according to Ribot, there were a century ago two existing branches of Psychology, in Germany and England respectively, which could be characterized by differentiating traits. This work aims to raise some reflections on the existence of these national trends in the History of Psychology, as regards to most prominent authors in the field. Our aim is to assess the presence and influence of German eminent scientists bom in the past century, in the current Psychology, as well as their possible clustering face to authors of different nationality. Both, a quantitative study of their influence on various selected English-speaking sources, and a qualitative analysis in terms of generation, nationality and scientific activity are included

Entrevista con Talib Rothegatter

Entrevista con el Dr. D. Talib Rothegatter, Presidente de la División de Psicología del Tráfico y del Transporte (Traffic and Transport Psychology) dentro de la Asociación Internacional de Psicología Aplicada (International Association of Applied Psychology, IAAP). Tras la celebración del último Congreso Internacional de Psicología Aplicada, en que se produjo su nombramiento (23rd Internacional Congress of Applied Psychology) el preseidente de la Dividión analiza la situación presente y las perspectivas de futuro de la Psicología del Tráfico y Seguridad Vial como área de investigación y ámbito aplicado y profesional

La prevención de la delicuencia en la España de la postguerra

El presente artículo intenta ofrecer la visión que sobre la prevención de la conducta delictiva o antisocial mantenían los estudiosos de este campo entre las décadas de 1940 y 1960. Más que de conducta delictiva se habla de conducta antisocial, inadaptada o irregular. Se insta a que la sociedad plantee soluciones a corto y largo plazo que atajen la evolución de incipientes manifestaciones antinormativas hacia conductas más problemáticas en la vida adulta y de mayor repercusión social. Se trata por lo tanto de un período que, contextualizado en el marco socioeconómico de la posguerra, muestra gran interés por la necesidad de cuidar y proteger al niño difícil o problemático como medida preventiva de la antisocialidad

El XV Congreso Internacional de Psicologia (Bruselas, 1957)

En una época especialmente relevante para el surgimiento de la moderna Psicología, se celebró en Bruselas el XV Congreso Internacional de Psicología. El presidente de esta reunión fue Albert Michotte y a ella asistieron un total de 1256 investigadores. En la reunión se presentaron un total de 329 trabajos, siendo la sensación y percepción, la Psicometría, la Psicología social y la Psicología fisiológica, los ámbitos que despertaron mayor interés entre los Investigadores. En este congreso destaca el gran número de trabajos presentados por investigadores de Estados Unidos, lo que muestra de manera clara el gran despliegue de la psicología Americana frente a la Europea

Diferencias individuales y riesgo en la conducción. Historia de un reto todavía no resuelto

Se puede hablar con total propiedad de una tradición española en el estudio y la aplicación de los conocimientos psicológicos al fenómeno del tráfico, que se inicia en los años 20, si bien los primeros trabajos sistemáticos se realizaron fuera de nuestras fronteras. Se trata probablemente de la única competencia profesional de intervención psicológica regulada legalmente y mantenida a lo largo de toda la historia contemporánea española. El hilo conductor lo ha constituido el examen psicotécnico de selección de conductores -a profesionales primero, y a todos los conductores después- que en su estructura revela la evolución de la psicología. Con todo, paulatinamente se ha ido produciendo una ampliación, diversificación y complicación del interés científico y tecnológico por este ámbito clave del comportamiento humano, pasándose de una psicotecnia subjetiva hacia otra objetiva, y finalmente con un modelo evalutativo-interventivo hacia una psicología general aplicada a la problemática de la seguridad vial

La presencia del evolucionismo en las Ciencias Sociales y en particular en la Psicología

En el presente trabajo se examina el impacto actual de Charles Darwin en el complejo campo de las ciencias sociales, prestando atención particular a la psicología actual. El método utilizado ha sido el análisis de las citas dirigidas a Darwin en las publicaciones vaciadas por el Social Sciences Citation Index. El objetivo planteado ha sido determinar el número de citas recibidas, precisar su distribución temporal, y consignar las obras más relevantes según el criterio. Además, se analiza el ámbito científico en el que muestran mayor impacto y las revistas máximas citadoras

Persistent traffic offenders. Alcohol consumption and personality as predictors of driving disqualification

This paper explores the relevance of alcohol consumption and personality factors as predictors of driving disqualification. The aim of the study is to determine whether the behaviors of persistent offenders and their propensity for law-breaking are related to their characteristics and patterns of drinking. A sample of 358 drivers participated in the study: 126 non-offender habitual drivers, and 232 persistent traffic offenders disqualified from driving for serious or repeated traffic offenses, 127 of them after conviction, 105 without conviction (by accumulation of penalties). Participants were given a battery of tests measuring a set of explanatory personality and alcohol consumption factors. We used a cross-sectional study design and performed statistical analysis of variance and regression searching for differences among the groups. The results reveal group effects, with significant differences between traffic offenders and non-offenders, and between both categories of offenders, in a number of variables, including traffic violations that lead to demerit points and/or loss of a driver's license and crash involvement. Certain variables, including problem drinking, high levels of activity or excitement, penchant for thrill or sensation seeking, and propensity to hostility while driving, can accurately predict group membership. Alcohol disorders are the best predictors of disqualification from driving

Melatonin affects red deer spermatozoa motility and physiology in capacitating and non-capacitating conditions

Melatonin affects sperm physiology, possibly through membrane receptors. Effects were tested at low concentrations (1 pM, 100 pM, 10 nM and 1 mu M) in red deer epididymal spermatozoa as a model for high-seasonality species. Samples were incubated with melatonin as uncapacitated or capacitating conditions (heparin) and evaluated for motility and physiology (flow cytometry). Most effects occurred at low concentrations (nM-pM), mainly protecting from apoptosis and maintaining acrosomal integrity, suggesting a role for membrane receptors rather than a direct antioxidant effect. Intracellular calcium was not affected, differing from other studies and perhaps because of the epididymal origin. This study supports the relevance of melatonin on sperm physiology and could contribute to the application of reproductive technologies in wild ruminants

Trait driving anger and driving styles among Colombian professional drivers

This study analyzes the association between trait driving anger and driving styles in a sample of Colombian professional drivers. Additionally, the internal and external validity of the Deffenbacher's Driving Anger Scale (DAS-14) was examined in the study population. The DAS-14 and the Spanish Version of the Multidimensional Driving Style Inventory (S-MDSI) were administered to 492 urban bus and taxi operators. Average trait driving anger scores in the study population were similar to those reported in previous validation studies from Spain, Argentina, China, and Malaysia. After deleting three cross-loaded items, confirmatory factor analyses revealed a three-dimensional latent structure for the DAS-14, similar but not equal to the previous Spanish speaking validations. This factorial structure fits the data reasonably well. Finally, linear regression analyses revealed that the three factors of the DAS-14 (impeded progress by others, illegal driving, and direct hostility) significantly predict adaptive and maladaptive driving styles. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the DAS-14 is a reasonably reliable measure of driving anger traits among professional drivers, and it also provides relevant insights for the prevention of risky driving styles in this occupational group