A large part of the research on risk in driving has been related to the consumption of alcohol and other substances. However, few studies have analysed risk behaviour in relation to road infrastructure. It took the dramatic accident in the Mont Blanc tunnel to highlight the lack of knowledge about the human factor involved in tunnel accidents and about the factors affecting emergency situations in such settings. This study compares drivers' perceptions and emotions in relation to driving in tunnels with those provoked by driving on normal roads in the open-air. Furthermore, we explore the factors relevant to risk perception and risk behaviour in tunnels. A total of 458 drivers from Madrid (Spain) responded to a questionnaire on these aspects. The results indicate that tunnels provoke unpleasant feelings and greater perception of risk than roads open to the sky. In spite of these feelings and perceptions, participants drive riskily in tunnels. In this study, we analyse the factors related to perception of risk and driving in tunnels. A.V. Arias et al.

This paper aims to investigate the causes that explain the discrepancies between the effects of social relationships on health and wellness of the elderly people. Several disciplines of health sciences have developed different theories to explain the evidence that confirm the positive effects of social relations. Furthermore, there is acumuative evidence confirming most of the predictions derived from its principles. However, the empirical evidence has not always confirmed these beneficial relationships and sometimes these evidences contradict some of the theoretical predictions. Even, it is not difficult to find reversed effects. In this paper we follow some of the approaches developed from Social Psychology which analyze the different effects of social relationships on the health of older people. Two types of aspects of social relations have served to this purpose. First, the structural aspects (i.e., frequency of intercourse). Second, qualitative-functional aspects of great tradition in estudies of quality of life and wellbeing of older people (i.e. social support). Following the Convoy Model, we measured perceived social support and frecuency of relationships in 168 spaniards, men and women (aged 62 years old and more). We analyze these discrepancies in the light of the underlying mechanisms.

This study examines the role of inhibitory processes in memory-based choices. In two experiments, the effects of the competitive nature of memory retrieval as well as the valence of the to-be-retrieved items on a recall and a choice task are examined by using the retrieval practice paradigm. The results show a parallel pattern for both tasks. Specifically, neither forgetting nor choice bias were found in the non-competitive retrieval condition, for both positive and negative information. Nevertheless, a retrieval-induced forgetting and a choice bias effect were found in the competitive retrieval condition, although only for positive information. Interestingly, this negativity effect disappeared when positive information was excluded from to-be-learned material. These findings suggest the way in which the lasting consequences of inhibition affect choice processes.

This paper aims to investigate the causes that explain the discrepancies between the effects of social relationships on health and wellness of the elderly people. Several disciplines of health sciences have developed different theories to explain the evidence that confirm the positive effects of social relations. Furthermore, there is acumuative evidence confirming most of the predictions derived from its principles. However, the empirical evidence has not always confirmed these beneficial relationships and sometimes these evidences contradict some of the theoretical predictions. Even, it is not difficult to find reversed effects. In this paper we follow some of the approaches developed from Social Psychology which analyze the different effects of social relationships on the health of older people. Two types of aspects of social relations have served to this purpose. First, the structural aspects (i.e., frequency of intercourse). Second, qualitative-functional aspects of great tradition in estudies of quality of life and wellbeing of older people (i.e. social support). Following the Convoy Model, we measured perceived social support and frecuency of relationships in 168 spaniards, men and women (aged 62 years old and more). We analyze these discrepancies in the light of the underlying mechanisms.

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