The authors examined the impact of regulatory focus on the persuasive effects of two-sided advertisements. Since individuals in a prevention focus are more sensitive to negative information than individuals in a promotion focus, the authors predicted that two-sided ads would have less positive effects than one-sided ads in prevention-focused as compared to promotion-focused recipients. In Experiment 1, the chronic regulatory focus of participants was measured. In Experiment 2, a promotion or prevention focus was experimentally induced. In Experiment 3, participants with an experimentally induced prevention focus were compared to a control group. Supporting the predictions, two-sided ads led to less positive product evaluations in prevention-focused participants than in promotion-focused participants or participants of a control group. Analysis of cognitive responses show that the moderating effect of regulatory focus on the impact of two-sided ads on product evaluations is mediated by the positivity of thoughts elicited by the ad. Regulatory Focus and Two-Sided Advertising 3 The Impact of Regulatory Focus on the Effects of Two-sided Advertising Most advertisements praise the advantages of the advertised products and keep quiet about the disadvantages. Sometimes, however, it might be beneficial to rely on two-sided ads and to mention shortcomings of the products. Indeed, a few studies found that two-sided communication can be superior to one-sided

Background:The assessment of driving-relevant cognitive functions in older drivers is a difficult challenge as there is no clear-cut dividing line between normal cognition and impaired cognition and not all cognitive functions are equally important for driving.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of aging and target eccentricity on a visual search task comprising 30 images of everyday life projected into a hemisphere, realizing a ±90° visual field. The task performed binocularly allowed participants to freely move their eyes to scan images for an appearing target or distractor stimulus (presented at 10°; 30°, and 50° eccentricity). The distractor stimulus required no response, while the target stimulus required acknowledgment by pressing the response button. One hundred and seventeen healthy subjects (mean age = 49.63 years, SD = 17.40 years, age range 20–78 years) were studied. The results show that target detection performance decreases with age as well as with increasing eccentricity, especially for older subjects. Reaction time also increases with age and eccentricity, but in contrast to target detection, there is no interaction between age and eccentricity. Eye movement analysis showed that younger subjects exhibited a passive search strategy while older subjects exhibited an active search strategy probably as a compensation for their reduced peripheral detection performance.

Most factors discussed are adaptable or accessible to training and collectively may have the potential to increase traffic safety for older drivers and other road users.

BackgroundCentral and peripheral vision is needed for object detection. Previous research has shown that visual target detection is affected by age. In addition, light conditions also influence visual exploration. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of age and different light conditions on visual exploration behavior and on driving performance during simulated driving.MethodsA fixed-base simulator with 180 degree field of view was used to simulate a motorway route under daylight and night conditions to test 29 young subjects (25–40 years) and 27 older subjects (65–78 years). Drivers’ eye fixations were analyzed and assigned to regions of interests (ROI) such as street, road signs, car ahead, environment, rear view mirror, side mirror left, side mirror right, incoming car, parked car, road repair. In addition, lane-keeping and driving speed were analyzed as a measure of driving performance.ResultsOlder drivers had longer fixations on the task relevant ROI, but had a lower frequency of checking mirrors when compared to younger drivers. In both age groups, night driving led to a less fixations on the mirror. At the performance level, older drivers showed more variation in driving speed and lane-keeping behavior, which was especially prominent at night. In younger drivers, night driving had no impact on driving speed or lane-keeping behavior.ConclusionsOlder drivers’ visual exploration behavior are more fixed on the task relevant ROI, especially at night, when driving performance becomes more heterogeneous than in younger drivers.