The goal of the present study was to examine the utility of a behavioral economic analysis to investigate the role of delay discounting in texting while driving. A sample of 147 college students completed a survey to assess how frequently they send and read text messages while driving. Based on this information, students were assigned to one of two groups: 19 students who frequently text while driving and 19 matched-control students who infrequently text while driving but were similar in gender, age, years of education, and years driving. The groups were compared on the extent to which they discounted, or devalued, delayed hypothetical monetary rewards using a delay-discounting task. In this task, students made repeated choices between $1000 available after a delay (ranging from 1 week to 10 years) and an equal or lesser amount of money available immediately. The results show that the students who frequently text while driving discounted delayed rewards at a greater rate than the matched control students. The study supports the conclusions that texting while driving is fundamentally an impulsive choice made by drivers, and that a behavioral economic approach may be a useful research tool for investigating the decision-making processes underlying risky behaviors.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the cognitive processes underlying texting while driving. A sample of 120 college students completed a survey to assess how frequently they send and read a text message while driving. Based on this information, students were assigned to one of two groups: 20 students who frequently text while driving and 20 matched-control students who infrequently text while driving but were similar in gender, age, years of education, and years driving. The groups were compared on the extent to which they differed in self-reported measures of executive function and impulsivity. The groups were also compared on a behavioral measure of impulsivity: the extent to which they discounted hypothetical monetary rewards as a function of the delay. For this measure, the students made repeated choices between smaller monetary rewards available immediately and larger rewards available after delays ranging from 1 week to 6 months. The results show that the group of students who frequently text while driving showed (a) significantly lower levels of executive function and (b) higher levels of self-reported impulsivity, although the groups did not differ significantly on the behavioral measure of impulsivity. These results support a general conclusion that drivers with lower levels of executive function and higher levels of impulsivity are more likely to text while driving.

The purpose of the present study was to examine an impulsive decision-making process underlying texting while driving from a behavioral economic perspective. A sample of 108 college students completed a novel discounting task that presented participants with a hypothetical scenario in which, after receiving a text message while driving, they rated the likelihood of replying to a text message immediately versus waiting to reply for a specific period of time. Participants also completed a delay discounting task in which they made repeated hypothetical choices between obtaining a larger amount of money available after a delay and an equal or lesser amount of money available immediately. The results show that the duration of the delay is a critical variable that strongly determines whether participants choose to wait to reply to a text message, and that the decrease in the likelihood of waiting as a function of delay is best described by a hyperbolic delay discounting function. The results also show that participants who self-reported higher frequency of texting while driving discounted the opportunity to reply to a text message at greater rates, whereas there was no relation between the rates of discounting of hypothetical monetary rewards and the frequency of texting while driving. The results support the conclusion that texting while driving is fundamentally an impulsive choice.

To examine whether the kinetics of local muscle oxygenation reflect systemic oxygen intake, we measured the kinetics of local muscle oxygenation and systemic oxygen consumption (VO2). This study included 16 healthy males who performed an exercise tolerance test on a bicycle ergometer. During the exercise test, expiratory gas analysis was performed with an expiratory gas analyzer, and the kinetics of vastus lateralis muscle oxygenation were determined by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Oxygenated hemoglobin (OxyHb) and tissue blood oxygen saturation (StO2) gradually decreased during the exercise test, while deoxygenated hemoglobin (DeoxyHb) gradually increased. We examined correlations between the mean values of these parameters, which were calculated by time-integrating the values obtained using NIRS and dividing them by the integral time, and VO2. There was a marked positive correlation between DeoxyHb and VO2 (r = 0.893-0.986), and a marked negative correlation between StO2 and VO2 (r = 0.859-0.995). There was a negative correlation between VO2 and OxyHb (r = 0.726-0.978), and no correlation between TotalHb and VO2. These results suggest that the kinetics of peripheral muscle oxygenation reflect systemic VO2.

A sample of 109 college students completed a survey to assess how frequently they send or read text messages while driving. In a novel discounting task with a hypothetical scenario in which participants receive a text message while driving, they rated the likelihood of replying to a text message immediately versus waiting to reply until arriving at a destination. The scenario presented several delays to a destination and probabilities of a motor vehicle crash. The likelihood of waiting to reply decreased as a function of both the delay until the destination and the probability of a motor vehicle crash. Self-reported higher frequencies of texting while driving were associated with greater rates of both delay and probability discounting. The degree of delay discounting was altered as a function of the probability of a motor vehicle crash and vice versa. These results suggest that both delay and probability discounting are important underlying mechanisms of drivers' decision to text while driving.

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as an explanation for bystanders’ intention to help cyberbullying victims among college students. Participants completed an online survey in which their intention, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control toward helping cyberbullying victims were assessed. In addition to these traditional TPB variables, empathy toward cyberbullying victims and anticipated regret from not helping victims were included in the model. Results showed that empathy and anticipated regret significantly predicted intention to help cyberbullying victims over and above the traditional TPB variables. Results also showed that gender altered how traditional TPB variables, empathy, and anticipated regret predict bystander’s intention to help cyberbullying victims: Empathy and anticipated regret were most robust predictors for males and females, respectively. These results suggest that the TPB is a useful theoretical framework for understanding bystanders’ intention to help cyberbullying victims. Implications for developing effective prevention and intervention strategies are discussed.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the behavioral and cognitive processes underlying dangerous driving behaviors. We used a survey to assess levels of executive function in college students. The sample consisted of 59 males and 77 females and their age ranged from 18 to 24. We stratified the students into two groups based on executive function scores and compared the extent to which each group engaged in four dangerous driving behaviors (texting while driving, driving without a seat belt, driving while intoxicated, and speeding) as well as how often they experienced three negative driving outcomes (crashes, pulled over, and ticketed). We also investigated how these driving behaviors and outcomes are correlated with subcategories of executive function. The results show that students with a low level of executive function were more likely to engage in dangerous driving behaviors and more likely to experience negative driving outcomes. The results also show that texting while driving, driving while intoxicated, and speeding were most strongly correlated with the executive function subcategory of Impulse Control, whereas driving without a seat belt was most strongly correlated with the executive function subcategory of Strategic Planning. These results suggest that different behavioral or cognitive processes are involved in different dangerous driving behaviors and different interventions may be needed to target each underlying process.

Purpose This study aims to apply and extend the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict intention to take a COVID-19 vaccine. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Online. Sample Adult US residents recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk ( n = 172). Measures Intention to take a COVID-19 vaccine (outcome variable), demographic variables (predictors), standard TPB variables (perceived behavioral control, attitude, and subjective norm; predictors), and non-TPB variables (anticipated regret, health locus of control, and perceived community benefit; predictors). Analysis Hierarchical linear regression predicting intention to take a COVID-19 vaccine, with demographic, standard TPB, and non-TPB variables entered in regression models 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Results The extended TPB model accounted for 72.5% of the variance in vaccination intention ( p < .001), with perceived behavioral control ( β = .29, p < .001), attitude ( β = .23, p = .043), and perceived community benefit ( β = .23, p = .020) being significant unique predictors. Conclusion Despite the relatively small and non-representative sample, this study, conducted after COVID-19 vaccines were widely available in the USA, demonstrated that perceived behavioral control was the most robust predictor of intention to take a COVID-19 vaccine, suggesting that the TPB is a useful theoretical framework that can inform effective strategies to promote vaccine acceptance.