bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Psychometric Integrity of the Self-Esteem Index: A Comparison of Normative and Field Study Results
Authors: King Debra A. , Daniel Larry G.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of the present study was to offer field estimates of the factor validity and internal consistency reliability of the Self-Esteem Index (SEI) using SEI data from 208 regular and special education students. Exploratory factor analytic results supported the existence of four factors, as anticipated; however, various inconsistencies were noted between the anticipated and actual factors with which particular items were associated. Likewise, confirmatory LISREL results indicated a somewhat poor fit of the expected factor model to the data. Alpha reliability results were somewhat more promising, with coefficients for scores on the entire scale and the four anticipated subscales exceeding.80. Based on the findings, the authors offer cautions regarding use of the instrument in educational settings.
Investigating the Construct Validity of Scores from a Measure of Student Perceptions about Mathematics Classroom Activities Using Multidimensional Scaling
Authors: Tittle Carol Kehr , Weinberg Sharon L. , Hecht Deborah
Published: March 2007

Interest in student affective and motivational perceptions about learning mathematics is growing. An instrument, the Mathematics Assessment Questionnaire, has been developed for use by classroom teachers to assess these perceptions. Research suggests that teachers and students characterize classrooms by activity settings, and items in the Mathematics Assessment Questionnaire use one of three activities: teacher whole-class instruction, student problem-solving groups, and homework. The present study explores the construct validity of scores of 1,505 junior high school students using three-way multidimensional scaling analyses. Findings are generally supportive of validity. Implications of findings are discussed.
Computing Many-One Comparisons among Sample Variances with the SAS System
Authors: LeBlanc William G. , Williams Richard H.
Published: March 2007

The SAS System was used to program a statistical procedure developed by Levy (1975a). The focus was on Dunnett-like pairwise multiple comparisons among sample variances. An example using data from Glass and Hopkins (1996) was used to illustrate the final analysis of a computer run conducted with this program.
A Generation X Scale: Creation and Validation
Authors: Manolis Chris , Levin Aron , Dahlstrom Robert
Published: March 2007

Douglas Coupland's book, Generation X, was used as the basis for developing a scale measuring attitudes associated with a generation of people currently in their mid-20s (i.e., Generation X). Although much anecdotal evidence has been presented about this group, published research has not addressed measures of their attitudes. The scale reported here measures both young and old people's attitudes toward older members of society, parents, jobs, and shopping. Instrument development involved three phases, and confirmatory factor analysis was employed to evaluate model fit.
A Microsoft FORTRAN 77 Program for Pooling Subgroup Correlation Coefficients
Authors: Silver N. Clayton , Hiitner James B.
Published: March 2007

An interactive FORTRAN 77 program is presented that computes the pooled correlation from independent subgroups via the formulae provided by Charter and Alexander. In addition, the means and standard deviations for each variable are also provided for the composite group.
WISC-III Factor Invariance Across Deaf and Standardization Samples
Authors: Maller Susan J. , Ferron John
Published: March 2007

The aim of this study was to investigate the factorial invariance of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) when administered to deaf children who use sign language. A multisample confirmatory factor analysis, using LISREL7, was used to test the four-factor model on the covariance matrices of subtest scale scores for deaf and standardization samples. The general form of the four-factor model fit for both samples. Path coefficients, error variances, and factor covariances were not invariant, indicating that test constructs may be differentially indicated across groups.
Moderator Search in Meta-Analysis: A Review and Cautionary Note on Existing Approaches
Authors: Viswesvaran Chockalingam , Sanchez Juan I.
Published: March 2007

Meta-analytic searches for moderators or boundary conditions of relationships between variables have increased over the years. Multiple regression and subgroup analysis are the two most common strategies used to search for moderators in a meta-analysis. This short note develops the argument that estimates of the moderator effect may vary depending on the approach (regression or subgroup) chosen by the meta-analyst. The difference results from the ambiguity in assigning the variance shared by correlated moderators when that shared variance is also shared with the effect size. Formulae are presented to estimate the magnitude of the difference, and illustrative examples of tables for different levels of moderator effects and moderator intercorrelations are provided.
Aptitude Test Score Validity: No Moderating Effect Due to Job Ability Requirement Differences
Authors: Jones Gwen E. , Ree Malcolm James
Published: March 2007

This study empirically tested the specificity-generality hypothesis regarding moderation of aptitude test validity by job ability requirement differences using a large sample (24,482) of Air Force enlistees in 37 different technical jobs. This was accomplished both across and within job families. In addition, the correlation of the proportion of psychometric g, measured by a test, and average test validity was estimated both within and across job families. The results failed to find moderating effects due to job differences. Furthermore, an analysis of the predictiveness of psychometric g showed that job ability differences did not moderate the relationship between the amount of g measured by a test and its score validity.
Evaluating the Validity of Educational Rating Data
Authors: Harwell Michael
Published: March 2007

The use of trained raters has a long tradition in educational research. A standard feature of studies employing raters is the use of indicators of agreement among raters such as interrater reliability coefficients. Surprisingly, the validity of rating data has received relatively little attention, raising the undesirable prospect of ratings with satisfactory reliability but little validity. This article suggests two complementary frameworks for providing validity evidence for rating data. One conceptualizes raters as data collection instruments that should be subject to traditional procedures for establishing validity evidence; another evaluates studies employing raters from an experimental design perspective, permitting the internal validity of the study to be assessed and used as an indicator of the extent to which ratings are attributable to the training of the raters. Two studies employing raters are used to illustrate these ideas.
Perception, Evaluation, and Performance in a Neat and Messy Room by High and Low Sensation Seekers
Authors: Samuelson David J. , Lindauer Martin S.
Published: March 2007

Two studies investigated the effects of room environment. In Study 1, 42 men and women undergraduates, divided into high and low scorers on the Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale, described and evaluated a neat or messy room on the basis of, in part, the Kasmar Environmental Description Scales. In Study 11, 56 high and low scoring sensation seekers performed three tasks in a neat or messy room. Low scorers evaluated the neat room more positively than high scorers, while high scorers rated the messy room more positively than low scorers. The rooms were described differently, in part, as a function of personality. Except for the rating of a representational painting, the evaluation of an abstract painting, the solution rate for anagrams, and elapsed time estimation did not vary as a function of room condition and personality. Sex differences vere also not found to be critical.
The Roles of Attitudinal and Personality Variables in the Prediction of Environmental Behavior and Knowledge
Authors: Arbuthnot Jack
Published: March 2007

The success of environmental policies and action programs may well depend upon an understanding of the impact of intraindividual variables on responses to environmental problems. A survey designed to assess environmental behavior, attitudes, and knowledge, as well as several personality dimensions, was administered to two diverse samples: 85 users of a recycling center and 60 conservative church members. The two samples differed systematically as predicted on behavior, attitude, knowledge, and personality characteristics. Stepwise multiple regression analyses (with a third sample of 69 students added) revealed that education, knowledge, and environmentally related attitudes best predicted recycling behavior, while exposure to information through books, personality, and attitudes best predicted environmental knowledge. Implications are drawn for environmental action programs.
Cost and Effectiveness of Litter Removal Procedures in an Amusement Park
Authors: Casey LaDeane , Lloyd Margaret
Published: March 2007

A reinforcement procedure designed to facilitate litter removal in an amusement park was evaluated in this study. A constantly changing population of vacationing children of varying ages was offered complimentary tickets for amusement park rides contingent upon collection of bags of litter in the park. A cost and effect analysis showed that this particular reinforcement program for litter removal was approximately two-and-one-half times as effective at about the same cost as traditional salaried maintenance.
Semantic Dimensional Structures
Authors: Horayangkura Vimolsiddhi
Published: March 2007

This study represents a methodological attempt to discover the fundamental semantic dimensions underlying people's perceptions of the physical environment, applying both nonverbal and verbal techniques. Dimensional structures were assessed across people with urban, nonurban, and mixed backgrounds. The subjects sorted a set of envirionmental displays into as many groups as they wanted, and rated each of these displays on a set of selected bipolar scales. The sorting data (nonverbal) were analyzed by Kruskal's multidimensional scaling method and the rating data (verbal) by a factor-analytic technique. Both analyses revealed three significant dimensions upon which people based their judgments of th physical environment: evaluation, urbanization, and organization.
Privacy and Communication in an Open-Plan Office
Authors: Sundstrom Eric , Herbert R. Kring , Brown David W.
Published: March 2007

Seventy employees at four job levels in a large corporation completed a questionnaire on their office environments six months before and six weeks after moving from a conventional office to an "open-plan" office. Secretarial employees and their supervisors (job level 1) moved from freestanding desks to partly enclosed workspaces. Staff specialists (job level 11) left double offices for individual, doorless enclosures. Managerial employees (job levels Ill and IV) left walled offices for large, doorless enclosures. Neither satisfaction with commu nications nor perceptions of noise changed after relocation, but satisfaction with privacy declined among former occupants of walled offices. The decrease in privacy reflected a decrease in confidentiality of conversation, as shown by the questionnaire and acoustical measurements. Implications for office design are discussed.
Cognitive Dimensions of Wilderness Solitude
Authors: Hammitt William E.
Published: March 2007

Information-processing theory is offered as a basis for understanding the issue of solitude and the many realms of privacy humans seek during wilderness experiences. It is suggested that wilderness users do not mean complete isolation when they speak of wilderness solitude, but rather, an environmental situation in which they have some control over the information they must process and the attention required of them to process it. An empirical test involving 109 wilderness campers lends support to the theory. Factor analysis of twenty items characterizing various aspects of wilderness solitude resulted in four factors, in which the "natural environment" that provides an element of "cognitive freedom" was found most important.
Personal Projects
Authors: Little Brian R.
Published: March 2007

The personal project is proposed as a new unit of analysis for the study of personality in its social, physical and temporal context. A sequential model of personal projects is proposed in which the major stages of project inception, planning, action, and termination are described in detail and related to dimensions of individual differences. A new methodology for assessing personal project content and structure is introduced, including techniques for assessing interproject impact and linkages with values and actions. The relevance of a projectanalytic approach to recent issues in environmental psychology is discussed. It is proposed that personal projects methodology might serve as a coupling device between the fields of personality and environmental psychology.
Ambient Stressors
Authors: Campbell Joan M.
Published: March 2007

The concept of "ambient stressor" is developed to address certain shortcomings in current formulations of environmental stress. Characteristics of ambient stressors are that they are chronic, negatively valued, nonurgent, physically perceptible, and intractable to the efforts of individuals to change them. Distinctions are drawn between the concepts of ambient stressors, acute stressors, and daily hassles. Particular attention is given to differences in psychological appraisals of ambient stressors and daily hassles. Factors are identified that influence appraisal processes (namely, characteristics of the contexts on which ambient stressors impinge) and personal, experiential influences. Additionally, the possible mediating effects of such factors on coping and ad-otation outcomes in response to ambient stressors are explored.
Residents' Perceptions of Territorial Features and Perceived Local Threat
Authors: Brower Sidney , Dockett Kathleen , Taylor Ralph B.
Published: March 2007

A pivotal assumption of work on defensible space theory and territorial signs is that people interpret the presence of defensible space features and territorial signs to mean that occupants have stronger territorial attitudes and behaviors. One purpose of this study was to test this assumption. A second purpose of the study was to examine the impact of perceived local threat on the efficacy of territorial displays. A sample of forty residents, split between those who perceived that they lived in high and low problem neighborhoods, were shown drawings of residential backyards. Results supported the following hypotheses: (1) that the presence of real barriers and plantings are interpreted as a deterrent to intrusion and an indication of stronger occupant territorial attitudes, and (2) that as local perceived threat increases, territorial displays are viewed as less effective deterrents to intrusion. The study also contributes to the fine-grain assessment of the links between physical elements in the environment and expected territorial functioning by showing that the effectiveness of territorial features depends not only on their inherent physical qualities and general symbolic meanings, but also on the social context in which they are perceived to exist.
The Perception of Room Size
Authors: Sadalla Edward K. , Oxley Diana
Published: March 2007

Three studies were conducted that explore the relationship between the shape and the perceived size of rectangular and square rooms. In each study, subjects were asked to estimate the size of rooms that varied in their ratio of length to width. The results of all three studies indicated a substantial illusion produced by rectangularity; more rectangular rooms consistently were estimated as larger than less rectangular rooms of equal size. This effect was independent of the viewing position of the observer. The implications of this illusion for room design are discussed.
Building Evaluation in the Main Stream
Authors: Shibley Robert G.
Published: March 2007

The process of building evaluation in large institutional settings is presented in the context of a fundamental intervention assumption and its attendant implications. "Feedback from evaluation research is most useful if it is asked for by those who are intended to use it," is the assumption used as a backdrop to help describe evaluation programs in the New Zealand Ministry of Works and Development and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The assumption and implications are presented first as generic concerns, then as illustrated through the specific case studies, and finally in terms of future directions in building evaluation research. The entire article is an elaboration on the idea that building evaluation has a central role to play in institutional development and maintenance.
Three Generations of Evaluation and Design of Correctional Facilities
Authors: Wener Richard , Frazier William , Farbstein Jay
Published: March 2007

This article explores the use of information from behaviorally based evaluations in aiding the evolution of a design prototype over several generations. The input from successive evaluations of facilities continually improved the fit between the physical setting and the organizational and behavioral needs of various user groups. The focus of this report is to trace in detail the way in which the experiences in an innovatively designed correctional facility, as documented in a postoccupancy evaluation, influenced the design of another facility. The second facility was itself evaluated, and the results led to further changes in the generic prototype. In general, the second evaluation tended to validate many of the recommendations of first evaluation, extending understanding of design- behavior relationships in that setting. Implications for the process of data-based design, and for the potential uses of evaluation research across setting types are discussed.
Environmental Perception and Affect
Authors: Purcell Allan T.
Published: March 2007

A model is described that links ongoing environmental experience to affective responses to the environment. In brief, ongoing experience is the result of a matching process between the characteristics of currently available particular instances and a representation stored in memory of the gist of previous similar experiences. The stored representation is conceptualized as a schema with the default values of the attributes of the schema being based on prototypical examples. The attributes of the particular instance are therefore matched against the default values in the relevant schema. Affective response occurs when there is a mismatch or discrepancy between the attributes of the current instance and the attributes of the prototype. The characteristics of the affective response will depend on the type and extent of the discrepancy. An experiment is reported that uses a set of churches as stimuli in order to investigate this model. The results of the experiment are consistent with the model, and the implications of the model for design are examined.
Adaptations to Windowlessness
Authors: Heerwagen Judith H. , Orians Gordon H.
Published: March 2007

This research examines the use of visual material to decorate windowed and windowless offices. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) Occupants of windowless offices should put up more visual materials than do occupants of windowed offices to compensate for the stimulus deprivation; (2) visual materials in windowless offices should consist of more "surrogate views" (e.g., landscapes and cityscapes) than the visual materials in windowed offices where real views are present; and (3) visual decor in windowless offices should be dominated by materials with a nature content. A detailed content analysis of wall decor used in 75 offices on the University of Washington campus was conducted. Results show that occupants of windowless space used twice as many (195 versus 82) visual materials to decorate their offices. Further, materials in windowless offices were dominated by nature themes as predicted in hypothesis 3. Although windowless occupants did not use significantly more "surrogate views" overall than did occupants of windowed spaces, content of the surrogate views was significantly different for the two windowed conditions. People in windowless offices used more landscapes and fewer cityscapes than did occupants of windowed spaces.
Violent Crimes in a City
Authors: Perry Josephus Daniel , Simpson Miles E.
Published: March 2007

This longitudinal study examined the relationships between monthly violent crimes against persons offense rates of murder, rape, and aggravated assault and the following environmental factors: (1) monthly and seasonal cycles, (2) weather, (3) population, and (4) unemployment for the city of Raleigh, NC, from 1972 through 1981. Using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses, the environmental variables that were examined were found to have significant influences on rape and aggravated assault, but they were shown to have less effect on murder. Unemployment rates were found to have negative effects on monthly rates of rape and aggravated assault. Murder and aggravated assault rates were found to be negatively associated with population expansion. If these findings hold for other urban cities, then urban theories concerning violent crime may have to be reformulated.
Life Change in the Disaster Recovery Period
Authors: Hutchins Gerald L. , Norris Fran H.
Published: March 2007

To supplement a substantial literature on the symptomatic consequences of disaster, this article focuses on the adaptational requirements experienced by disaster victims, operationalized as the stressful life events following a severe flood that occurred in 1984 in southeastern Kentucky. In this study of older adults, life events were analyzed at three levels of specificity: as an aggregate measure reflecting the total amount of changes without regard to content, as seven content-oriented categories (Household Disruption, Financial Disruption, Family Conflict, Social Disruption, Health Disruption, Bereavement, and Good Things For Self), and as 40 specific events. In analyses that controlled for subjects' preflood resources, mental health, and sociodemographic characteristics, differences between victims and nonvictims in the number and types of life events experienced were tested. Overall, the findings suggest that older flood victims are more likely than other older adults to experience social disruption, but not necessarily the other six categories of life events. Most specifically, victims were found to be more likely than nonvictims to have friends/neighbors move away and to have new family conflicts; victims were less likely than others to have children leave home.
The Pace of Pedestrian Flows in Cities
Authors: Walmsley D. Jim , Lewis Gareth J.
Published: March 2007

The article discusses the proposition that the pace of life in big cities is faster than in other sizes of settlement, thus creating conditions conducive to the high levels of social pathology found in those cities. Observation of over 1,300 pedestrians at 10 places in Australia and England revealed that walking speed is a function of city size in that pedestrians move more quickly in big cities than in small towns. The influence of city size was, however, found to be more gradual than had been suggested in some earlier studies. In addition, the age and sex of the pedestrian, the degree of congestion in the areas under study, the time of day, and possibly even the weather had an influence on walking speed.
Beliefs, Attitudes, and Intentions toward Nuclear Energy before and after Chernobyl in a Longitudinal within-subjects Design
Authors: Verplanken Bas
Published: March 2007

Beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward nuclear energy in the Netherlands were investigated within a sample of Dutch citizens two months before the Chernobyl accident, one month after the accident, six months after the accident, and one year and seven months after the accident. One month after the accident, analyses revealed more unfavorable attitudes which became less antinuclear five months later. At the end of 1987, attitudes were more antinuclear than ever before. Only a weak relationship was found between self-reported and observed attitude change. After the Chernobyl accident, subjective probabilities of the occurrence of catastrophic accidents in Dutch nuclear power plants were judged far higher than before the accident. From the Chernobyl accident up to the end of 1987, a linear trend upward in these subjective probabilities was observed. Perceived benefits did not change immediately after the accident, but were judged as less probable over time. Subjective probabilities of catastrophic nuclear accidents appeared to correlate more strongly with the attitude toward nuclear energy over time. The results underline the predominance of the perceived catastrophality of consequences attributed to nuclear energy in the public's perception and evaluation of this technology.
Places Rated Revisited
Authors: Levine Robert V. , Miyake Kunitate , Lee Marta
Published: March 2007

First, 286 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) were ranked on four indicators of psycho-social pathology: rates of alcoholism, suicide, divorce, and crime. An overall index of psycho-social pathology was also computed from these four scores. Second, the relationship of the pathology indices to social/environmental conditions, such as those used in computing "places rated"-type scores, was investigated. Results indicated high intercorrelations among all pathology indices, providing support for an overall psycho-social pathology construct for geographically-defined metropolitan areas. The relationships between social/environmental conditions and social pathology were inconsistent and, in some cases, contrary to the expectation that better conditions would be associated with less pathology. These latter findings indicate a need for caution when generalizing from objective social/environmental conditions to the psychological quality of life. Finally, there was a positive relationship between the percent of migrants and the rate of psycho-social pathology across SMSAs.
Environmental Worldview in Response to Environmental Problems
Authors: Arcury Thomas A. , Christianson Eric H.
Published: March 2007

This study examines the influence of a major environmental problem, the 1988 drought, on environmental worldview. Its aims are to both examine the stability of environmental worldview and to further the development of theoretically based environmental social research. Guided by the New Environmental Paradigm, data are analyzed from statewide telephone surveys of Kentucky conducted in 1984 and 1988. In addition to the effects of other sociodemographic factors in both years, the analysis examines the influence of residing in a county which experienced water restrictions in 1988 on environmental worldview. There was an increase in the level of environmentalist worldview for the entire state population between 1984 and 1988. The only group for which the increase in environmentalist worldview was statistically significant for this interval was that which lived in a county which had water restrictions in 1988.
Group Development in the Natural Environment
Authors: Ewert Alan , Heywood John
Published: March 2007

Implicit in many programs featuring a human-natural environment interaction has been the belief that group development is a desirable outcome. This study investigated the effectiveness of one natural environment-based program in facilitating the development of groups. In addition, the variables of gender, age, identification with the group, course type, and course length were also studied for their influence on group development. The results suggest that this particular type of program could be effective in enhancing group development. In addition, the variables of sex, type of course, and group identification had varying levels of impact on the development of individual groups.
Environmental Emotions and Decisions
Authors: Vining Joanne
Published: March 2007

Independent samples of forest managers, members of an environmental group, and a regional public constituency were asked either to respond to a hypothetical forest management problem or to predict how a member of one of the other groups would respond. Decisions and emotions of the environmental group and public sample were similar to each other but both differed from those of the managers. Decisions were predicted accurately by all three groups, but managers and environmental group members perceived the public sample to be less emotional than it actually was. These results are interpreted in terms of a functional model of emotion and environmental decision making, and implications for public involvement programs are discussed.
Intercultural Encounters of Puerto Rican Migrants
Authors: Lucca-Irizarry Nydia , Pacheco Angel M.
Published: March 2007

Puerto Rican migration to and from the United States is one of the world's most sustained population displacements that entails both positive and negative psychosocial experiences for both societies. The focus of this study is on the nature of the college student migrant's encounter with the Puerto Rican culture within a higher education context. Results show that reentry is not equivalent to homecoming and that in many instances first time entry into the new environment is less troublesome than returning to the environment of origin. The following variables emerged as playing an important role in the process of reentry: language, length of exposure to culture, length of college experience, gender, and age of migrant. Participants reported on negative and positive qualities of their environment, resulting that the physical environment is a meaningful component of the overall reentry experience. The library, bookstore, and campus grounds all appear as important parts of their experience. The most favorable perception of the physical features of the environment was held by the youngest, females, those who have lived longer in Puerto Rico, and those with less years of education.
An Individual-Subject Approach To The Study Of Community-Based Interventions
Authors: BERRY Thomas D. , GILMORE MICHAEL R. , GELLER E. SCOTT
Published: March 2007

Community intervention research has employed group designs and repeated measures in an attempt to demonstrate intervention effectiveness. Indeed, targeting a group of individuals has been a defining methodological tactic for examining problem behaviors thought to have a widespread detrimental impact across society. Unfortunately, this common methodological approach may actually retard a comprehensive and ongoing process of understanding environment and behavior relationships. This article offers a complementary individual-subject approach to evaluating community-based interventions in orderto construct a specificknowledge of community behavior and intervention effectiveness. Specifically, three research benefits of an individual-subject approach are illustrated by documenting the study of a single individual's safety belt use. They are research economy, intensity, and flexibility.
Psychological Factors Affecting Paper Recycling by Businesses
Authors: Oskamp Stuart , Williams Rachel , Unipan John , Steers Neil , Mainieri Tina , Kurland Greg
Published: March 2007

Though businesses produce nearly half of American solid waste, especially paper waste, little attention and no systematic research has focused on recycling by businesses. This study conducted phone interviews with key informants in a systematic sample of 105 large businesses with headquarters in Los Angeles County, obtaining an 85% response rate. Of the responding companies, 85% reported having paper recycling programs, but the programs' histories and characteristics were highly diverse. Nearly half of the programs began in 1990 or later, many collected only computer and white paper, and most had less than optimal features. Financial motives seemed at least as important as general concern for the environment, and three-fourths of the companies received earnings from their programs. Only about half kept records on their paper recycling-generally the larger companies, which had more formal recycling programs and a variety of other kinds of environmental programs. Implications of the findings for policy and for further research are discussed.
Orchestrating an Indoor City
Authors: Hopkins Jeffrey
Published: March 2007

The acoustic space of shopping malls is orchestrated by mall management to promote a stimulating, enjoyable sense of place conducive to their economic, political, and social purposes: to get people inside their corridors to spend time and money. The perceived qualities of the sounds and the physical intensity of the sound pressure levels have auditory, extra-auditory, and social effects that may be detrimental to the well-being of mall patrons and the nature of their social relations. Using the West Edmonton mega-mall (WEM) as a case study, it is shown through several patron questionnaires and on-site sound pressure-level measurements that there is a noise pollution problem inside the corridors of the mega-mall. A literature review of the potential effects of moderate sound-level intensities supports the contention that mall management should rethink their sonic strategy. Long-term solutions to the problem of indoor ambient noise pollution lie not simply in architectural and legislative measures, but in convincing the operators of WEM and other indoor public places of the potential economic benefits to be realized through noise abatement.
Diversity within Spatial Cognition
Authors: Anooshian Linda J.
Published: March 2007

This experiment was designed to explore different strategies for learning large-scale spatial environments. A total of 96 college students walked a route that connected 18 simulated landmarks, with instructions to anticipate place names (place group) or to turn correctly (turn group). Two days later, measures were obtained for place, sequence, and turn knowledge reflecting the number of places at which participants made correct responses to queries or requests. Configurational knowledge reflected participants' average error (in degrees) when pointing to places from outside the test environment. Results indicated that place learning was more likely to promote the acquisition of other types of spatial information (sequences, configurations) than turn learning. However, regardless of exposure group (place or turn), different types of spatial knowledge appeared to be relatively independent. Overall, the results reinforced that future researchers should recognize and explore diverse strategies and types of knowledge within the domain of spatial cognition.
A Note on Environmental Concern in a Developing Country
Authors: Furman Andrzej
Published: March 2007

A survey conducted in Istanbul (1995) provided data on residents' opinions about ideas contained in the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale. The NEP scale was commonly accepted by Istanbul respondents, with the result adding to the evidence that considerable environmental concern exists in developing countries. Although some of the demographic parameters were related to the NEP scale, the patterns in the data did not point to any particular demographic group exhibiting higher environmental concern than others. Spatial perception of the environment and environmental problems, however, was linked to environmental concern. The respondents who identified the environment and related problems with a more spacious geographical frame were more concerned about the environment. Also, environmental knowledge of the respondents correlated positively with their environmental concern; the relation was the most conspicuous for ecological knowledge and nearly negligible for knowledge about local environmental problems.
The Influence of Museum Exhibit Design on Immersion and Psychological Flow
Authors: Harvey Mark L. , Loomis Ross J. , Bell Paul A. , Marino Margaret
Published: March 2007

Two studies were designed to investigate the role of immersing design techniques in determining museum visitors' experience. Study 1 observed visitor behavior in a museum hall at the Denver Museum of Natural History (DMNH) in Denver, Colorado, before and after renovation. The study found that after the design changes, visitors attended more to the exhibits. Study 2, a post hoc survey analysis complementing Study 1, discriminated which particular design features were responsible for eliciting a high degree of sensory contact from visitors. The survey was administered to visitors at the DMNH after they had been exposed to a specific exhibit space. The survey measured visitors' sense of immersion, psychological flow, and the perceived presence and strength of different design features. Analyses revealed that interactive components, multisensory stimulation, and dynamic displays influenced flow and immersion. Results are discussed in terms of exhibit attributes that optimize the visitor experience.
Cultural Fields, Communication and Ethnicity
Authors: Tufte Thomas , Riis Maja
Published: March 2007

This article is a cultural analysis conducted in a neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Indre Nørrebro, where approximately 20 percent of the population is of other than Danish ethnic origin. It sheds light on the structural characteristics of two strategic sites, or cultural fields, within which everyday life and identity formation of ethnic minorities take place. We deliberately explore how ethnicity works or does not work as a marker in the configuration of the two chosen cultural fields: public libraries and ethnic media. We analyse the role of these two cultural fields in the social formation of Indre Nørrebro as a neighbourhood and in the local citizens' process of producing locality and a sense of belonging. How are these cultural fields structurally configured and organized, and what role do they historically and contemporarily have in the neighbourhood? The implicit assumption is that both these cultural fields play significant roles as social and cultural mediators in the production of locality.
Managing Impressions with Information
Authors: Cady Steven H. , Fandt Patricia M.
Published: March 2007

This field study examines how changes in span of managerial control (SOC), the leadership substitute referred to as procedure availability, and self-monitoring (SM) influence impression management tactics used by subordinates in their customer service reports. The findings revealed that a wide SOC and available procedures influenced subordinates to use disassociative and positive tactics. When SOC was wide, subordinates high in SM exhibited positive tactics only. The study also found that those high in SM used associative and disassociative tactics when procedures were available. These results provide implications for the impact that structural changes within the organization can have on subordinates’ use and reporting of information.
When Organizational Voice Systems Fail
Authors: Harlos Karen P.
Published: March 2007

Recently, organizations have been introducing greater types and numbers of systems for employees to voice their complaints. Yet academic and popular accounts indicate that some voice systems are causing what they are intended to prevent, exacerbating employees’ perceptions of unfairness and discontent. Analysis of interview data from an inductive study of employees’ experiences of workplace injustice provides strong evidence of the deaf-ear syndrome (organizational failures to respond to employees’ complaints) and frustration effects (the pattern of increased dissatisfaction when people voice). Informal systems, namely, open-door policies, were particularly susceptible to failure. Drawing on organizational justice theory and industrial relations research, these results are explained, and additional avenues for research and theory development are acknowledged. Implications for individuals and organizations also are discussed.
Toward an Understanding of Cognitive Consensus in a Group Decision-Making Context
Authors: Mohammed Susan
Published: March 2007

This article consolidates and integrates what has been learned about group-level interpretation into a common theoretical language and conceptual foundation on which future research can be based. The term cognitive consensus refers to similarity among group members regarding how key issues are defined and conceptualized. In addition to addressing neglected definitional issues, this article embeds cognitive consensus in an input-process-outcome framework, and propositions are offered concerning the variables that both impact and result from its development. It is argued that the notion of cognitive consensus provides a valuable means for understanding how decision makers collectively make sense of ill-structured issues in a group setting and is conceptually appealing because it integrates group, cognitive, negotiation, and decision-making research.
The Social Costs of Seeking Help
Authors: Lee Fiona
Published: March 2007

Proactivelyseeking help from others involves “social costs” because the help seeker appears incompetent, dependent, and inferior to others. This article hypothesizes that these costs are especially threatening when the help seeker is male and in a male-oriented occupational role, when the helper is in a higher or lower status role than the help seeker, and when the task is novel and central to the organization’s core competence. A field study examined physician and nurse help seeking regarding a new computer system within a large hospital. The results showed that individuals reported less help seeking when theywere male, in male-oriented occupations, and when the task was central to the organization’s core competence. Perceived social costs mediated these effects.
Action Learning, Fragmentation, and the Interaction of Single-, Double-, and Triple-Loop Change
Authors: Foldy Erica Gabrielle , Creed W. E. Douglas
Published: March 2007

The action-learning framework is traditionally used to summarize complex change efforts as one of three methods: single-, double-, or triple-loop. Although this summary is quite useful for some kinds of organizational analysis, it can oversimplify and thus ignore the fragmented, contradictory nature of change. This summary also implies that actionlearning methods are autonomous or even mutually exclusive: The characterization of a change effort as double-loop suggests that single- and triple-loop change did not happen. We propose an elaborated action-learning framework that decomposes action-learning method into three components: argument, practice, and outcome. This approach enables action-learning theory to illuminate the multiple facets of change and to analyze the interaction of the three methods in significant change processes. We apply this new framework to a case of gay and lesbian workplace advocacy and illustrate how different action-learning methods are woven together to create change.
The Open and the Closed Corporation as Conflicting forms of Organization
Authors: Gebert Diether , Boerner Sabine
Published: March 2007

Organizational change is discussed in the context of a conceptual model resting on philosophical, sociological, and anthropological foundations. Distinguishing between an open and a closed form of organization, the authors focus on two theses. The first is that organizations as societal systems are marked by the simultaneous existence of two forms of organization that are mutually exclusive in part, with the resulting combinations or mixes of the two forms having the character of a compromise. The second thesis is that these combinations or mixes of open and closed organizational elements tend to be in flux, giving organizational change a partly cyclical structure. The authors’goal is to draw on these two theses to develop the theory of organizational change and elaborate the implications that this interpretation has for organizational change in daily practice.
BOSOM BISCUITS A Study of African American Intergenerational Communication
Authors: Daniel Jack L. , Effinger Marta J.
Published: March 2007

Grandma Mattie Flippin did domestic work for a White Virginia family. Her primary duties were cooking, cleaning, and whatever else she was told to do. Her husband died, leaving her alone to raise her extended family. Mattie Flippin spent more time at the White family's home than she spent at her own, but what time that she did spend at home was "quality time." Not having sufficient food for her family, Grandma Mattie Flippin used well the resources available to her. Before leaving the White family's home, she often stuffed her extraordinarily endowed bosom with fresh biscuits which she had made that morning. These biscuits remained body temperature warm, and, as reported to the authors by her grandchild, Ms. Martha Carter (May 14, 1991), the butter had melted and turned the biscuits' white insides a beautiful golden color. Sometimes, these warm, buttered, bosom biscuits were all the family had to eat.
Effect of Highly Polarizable Ions on the Strength Retention of Glass Fibers
Authors: Mitchell Jerry C.
Published: March 2007

An investigation has been made of the possibility that polarizable ions in the surface of glass might retard the hydrolytic stress corrosion considered responsible for the gradual loss of strength of glass fibers under stress (static fatigue). Techniques were developed for simul taneous testing of large groups of glass fibers in bending. Fatigue tests covering the loss of strength over seven decades of log time were carried out. Fibers drawn from a specially prepared glass in which the highly polarizable Pb ++ ion was substituted for Ca++ and Mg++ in "E" glass were compared with "E" glass control fibers. The Pb-containing glass showed no significant improvement in fatigue properties.
On the Nonlinear Oscillations of Plates Composed of Composite Materials
Authors: Wu Cheng-Ih , Vinson Jack R.
Published: March 2007

In this work, the Berger's approach for large deflections and a modified Reissner's variational principle are exploited to treat the nonlinear dynamic problem of plates. A system of approximate equa tions which governs the large amplitude free vibrations of orthotropic, rectangular plates is presented, including the effects of rotatory inertia and transverse shear deformation. In the example, a simplified solution is presented for the primary lateral vibration of a simply supported plate. Numerical results are based upon the elastic constants of a composite material, having boron filaments 56% by volume, imbedded in an epoxy matrix.
Analysis of the Rail Shear Test-Applications and Limitations
Authors: Whitney J.M. , Stansbarger D.L. , Howell H.B.
Published: March 2007

A detailed theoretical and experimental analysis of the rail shear test is presented. A Fourier series solution is obtained for the stresses in an idealized rail shear specimen. The theoretical results are quali tatively verified on fiber reinforced rubber composites. Rail shear data on the modulus and strength of current high-modulus rein forced composites is compared to predicted values obtained from lamination theory. Results show that, despite definite limitations, the rail shear test can be useful in the determination of the in-plane shear properties of a laminated composite.
Propagation of Shock Waves in Anisotropic Composite Plates
Authors: Sun Chin-Teh
Published: March 2007

Shock fronts in laminated plates subjected to impact loadings are in vestigated by the ray theory. The kinematic conditions of compatibility and the dynamical conditions on the wave fronts are derived. The propaga tion velocity, the expression for the position of the wave front, and the ray geometry are presented. From the ray geometry, the directions of propa gation along which the wave front decays or grows more rapidly are found. Numerical solutions for cross-ply laminates are discussed.