bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Explicit and Implicit Horizons for Simulated Landing Approaches
Authors: Lintern Gavan , Liu Yeou-Teh
Published: July 2017

In a flight simulator experienced pilots flew landing approaches to a representation of an airport scene in which various sources of information had been distorted or removed. Reasonably accurate approaches could be made to a scene that contained only an aimpoint and a horizon. The addition of a runway outline did not enhance accuracy or stability, which lent credence to the hypothesis that the invariant angle between horizon and aimpoint can support glide slope control. Explicit distortion of this angle by simulation of up-sloping or down-sloping terrain beyond the runway had predictable effects on glide slope control. Implicit specification of a veridical horizon with texture lines parallel to the runway centerline weakened the effect of distortions in the explicit horizon. Thus both explicit and implicit specifications of the horizon contribute to perception of the glide slope angle. Implications of these results for the design of visual scenes for flight simulation are discussed.
Image Quality Determines Differences in Reading Performance and Perceived Image Quality with CRT and Hard-Copy Displays
Authors: Jorna Gerard C. , Snyder Harry L.
Published: July 2017

The effects of physical image quality on reading and on perceived image quality from CRT and hard copy displays (photographs) were studied. The results showed that as the image quality of a display increased, indicated by an increase in the value of the modulation transfer function area (MTFA), the reading speed and subjective image quality ratings increased. This change in reading speed and perceived image quality occurred similarly for both hard-copy and soft-copy conditions. If the image qualities of the displayed text are similar, hard-copy and softcopy displays will yield equivalent reading speeds.
Comprehension of Synthetic Speech Produced by Rule: Word Monitoring and Sentence-by-Sentence Listening Times
Authors: Ralston James V. , Pisoni David B. , Lively Scott E. , Greene Beth G. , Mullennix John W.
Published: July 2017

Previous comprehension studies using postperceptual memory tests have often reported negligible differences in performance between natural speech and several kinds of synthetic speech produced by rule, despite large differences in segmental intelligibility. The present experiments investigated the comprehension of natural and synthetic speech using two different on-line tasks: word monitoring and sentence-by-sentence listening. On-line task performance was slower and less accurate for passages of synthetic speech than for passages of natural speech. Recognition memory performance in both experiments was less accurate following passages of synthetic speech than of natural speech. Monitoring performance, sentence listening times, and recognition memory accuracy all showed moderate correlations with intelligibility scores obtained using the Modified Rhyme Test. The results suggest that poorer comprehension of passages of synthetic speech is attributable in part to the greater encoding demands of synthetic speech. In contrast to earlier studies, the present results demonstrate that on-line tasks can be used to measure differences in comprehension performance between natural and synthetic speech.
Attention and Driving Skills in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Parasuraman Raja , Nestor Paul G.
Published: July 2017

The number of older drivers with dementia is rising with the aging of the adult population. A public health issue is growing because of concerns about the motor vehicle accident risk posed by drivers with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) and other progressive, degenerative dementias. However, little is known about the specific perceptual/cognitive deficits contributing to impaired driving in DAT. The present paper proposes, on both theoretical and empirical grounds, that attentional skills in relation to driving should be examined in older adults with and without DAT. Such investigations should focus on normal older adults and those in the mild, early stages of dementia because the latter are the most likely among the dementia population to be still driving. Evidence is presented indicating (1) that motor vehicle accident rates are related to performance on information-processing measures of different components of attention; (2) that this relationship is greatest for measures of the switching of selective attention and less for that of divided and sustained attention (vigilance); and (3) that many of these same attentional functions, and particularly the switching of visual selective attention, are impaired in the early stages of DAT and thus may contribute to increased accident risk. Further studies of cognitive and driving performance in older drivers are necessary to establish that the attentional impairments found in mild DAT contribute to increased accident risk. Implications of these findings for driver assessment, education, and training are discussed.
A Cognitive Engineering Approach to Improving Signalized Left Turn Intersections
Authors: Staplin Loren , Fisk Arthur D.
Published: July 2017

This research evaluated the effect of providing advanced left turn information to individuals faced with deciding whether or not it is safe to turn at a signalized intersection. Younger (mean age 37 years) and older (mean age 71 years) drivers were tested in simulations of approaching an intersection with and without advanced cueing. Experiment 1 used a featureless background; Experiment 2 used an animated presentation of traffic control displays. In both experiments the subjects had to determine whether or not they had right-of-way to make a left turn. Exaggerated error rates and increased decision latencies for displays conveying unprotected turn status occurred in both studies. Cueing drivers with advanced notice of the decision rule through a redundant upstream posting of sign elements improved both accuracy and latency of younger and older drivers′ decisions.
Emergent Features in Visual Display Design for Two Types of Failure Detection Tasks
Authors: Buttigieg Mary Anne , Sanderson Penelope M.
Published: July 2017

Visual display design for dynamic systems may be helped by exploiting emergent features that allow subjects to easily distinguish different states of the system. Three different types of displays were compared—two object displays and one separated display—each in a version that had a salient emergent feature that distinguished normal and failed states and in a version that did not have such an emergent feature. Subjects monitored for global and local failures simultaneously, which presented demands similar to integrated and separated tasks, respectively. Displays with salient emergent features supported superior global failure detection and may also have helped local failure detection. An object display with a salient emergent feature supported both types of failures better than or at least as well as the other displays. This advantage was attributed to the fact that the display had a salient emergent feature rather than to the fact that it was an object display. This research shows that emergent features can be effectively exploited to support tasks involving both integration of information and attention to individual data sources.
Use of Computer Graphics and Cluster Analysis in Aiding Relational Judgment
Authors: Liu Yili , Wickens Christopher D.
Published: July 2017

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the use of computer graphics and cluster analysis in aiding human relational judgment. The experimental stimuli were similarity matrices from real-world data sources. The experimental tasks required subjects to detect the number of clusters or to judge the similarity between a designated pair of objects in the displayed matrix. Each matrix was either ordered randomly or arranged according to the results of cluster analysis. In the first experiment each matrix was displayed in one of four schemes: number scheme, color scheme, size scheme, or three-dimensional (3D) vertical line scheme. In the second experiment the matrices were displayed as 3D vertical lines with or without surface contour. The results indicated that the cluster-ordered displays greatly facilitated cluster detection performance in all but the 3D line scheme. Matrix ordering had no effect on the value judgment task. The perceptual compatibility principle and theories of perceptual grouping provided predictions and were tested in this experiment.
Robust Testing and Evaluation of Systems: Framework, Approaches, and Illustrative Tools
Authors: Bittner Alvah C.
Published: July 2017

Testing and evaluation (T&E) will be successful if its plans, methods, and analysis components perform adequately despite departures from ideal conditions. A framework of robust T&E approaches is presented that is aimed at avoiding or gracefully accommodating such departures (e.g., resource losses and schedule changes). Broadening this framework, illustrative tools and other guidance are described for building robust T&E plans, methods, and analysis components. The T&E practitioner can use this broadened framework of robust approaches, tools, and guidance to ensure acceptable results despite departures from the ideal.
An Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process: A Rank-Ordering of Computer Interfaces
Authors: Mitta Deborah A.
Published: July 2017

This paper presents the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a methodology for developing ratio scales from paired comparison data. The AHP offers several advantages over traditional psychophysical approaches for generating measurement scales. One advantage is its ability to readily quantify consistency in human judgments. Another is the ability of the AHP to provide useful empirical results in the event of a small sample of subjects and when the likelihood of obtaining meaningful statistical results may be restricted. Finally, the methodology requires no statistical assumptions regarding the distribution of human judgments. This paper demonstrates that the AHP can be applied to types of subjective data frequently acquired during human factors experimentation. In an empirical scenario, subjects performed paired comparison judgments on a set of five computer interfaces designed for an automated part recognition system. The objective was to rank these interfaces on the basis of users' perceptions regarding two interface characteristics: usability and learnability. Results of the analysis provide ratio scales for evaluating both interface usability and learnability.
Wayfinding by Newcomers in a Complex Building
Authors: Butler Darrell L. , Acquino April L. , Hissong Alicia A. , Scott Pamala A.
Published: July 2017

We conducted several experiments to determine the characteristics of an optimal wayfinding aid for new users of a complex building. In Experiment 1 wayfinders who used signs found their destinations fastest. Those using you-are-here maps were much slower than even those wayfinders given no aids. The main advantage of signs over you-are-here maps results from information-processing differences: Signs provide clear cues about turns and decisions without requiring study time or imposing a high memory load. In Experiment 2 we found that people prefer routes that require the least amount of energy expenditure. Contrary to findings of previous research, we did not find complexity to be an important variable. A third experiment, using artificial floor plans of buildings, confirmed that minimizing energy is much more important than complexity in determining preferred routes. Finally, in Experiment 4, we investigated wayfinders' heuristics and the information necessary to provide unambiguous signs.
Further Studies of Psychophysically Determined Maximum Acceptable Weights and Forces
Authors: Ciriello Vincent M. , Snook Stover H. , Hughes Gareth J.
Published: July 2017

The effects of lifting boxes without handles, pulling long distances, carrying different size boxes, combining three handling tasks, and lifting with extended horizontal reach were studied using a psychophysical methodology. Six male industrial workers performed 42 variations of lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, and carrying tasks. Lifting boxes without handles produced consistent decreases (median, 16%) in maximum acceptable weights when compared with lifting boxes with handles. Lifting with extended horizontal reach (approximately 48 cm) produced consistent decreases (median, 48%) in maximum acceptable weights when compared with lifting close to the body (approximately 17 cm). No significant heart rate or oxygen consumption differences occurred in either of these variables. No significant differences in maximum acceptable weight of carry were observed among box sizes; however, the maximum acceptable force of pulling was lower for longer (15.2 m) pulling tasks. The maximum acceptable weight for combination tasks was similar to that of the limiting component.
Effect of Electronic Performance Monitoring on Job Design and Worker Stress: Review of the Literature and Conceptual Model
Authors: Carayon Pascale
Published: July 2017

An approach to electronic performance monitoring is developed that examines job design and worker stress theories and consequently defines the critical job elements of stress response in an electronic monitoring context. A framework for the evaluation of electronic performance monitoring systems is presented. A conceptual model is proposed that states that electronic performance monitoring has direct and indirect effects on worker stress. The indirect effects result from job design. The potential effects of electronic performance monitoring on three job design characteristics (job demands, job control, and social support) are examined in more detail.
Experimental Evaluation of a Model of Mental Workload
Authors: Hancock P. A. , Caird J. K.
Published: July 2017

This study was designed to test predictions from a model of mental workload. The model predicts that mental workload grows as perceived distance from a task goal increases and the effective time for action decreases. Decreases in workload can be achieved by actions that bring the task goal into the region of acceptable time/distance constraints for successful resolution. We reported an experiment that tested these assertions using the Timepools performance task. Timepools generates a spatial representation of a shrinking temporal target to assess the effects of path length (i.e., the number of sequential targets to be acquired) and shrink rate (i.e., elapsed time during which the circle is halved in area) on reaction time (RT), movement time (MT), error rate, and the subjective perception of workload. Data from the experiment indicated systematic effects for task-related factors across performance and workload measures. Path length and shrink rate had differential effects on both RT and MT, which were also reflected in the components of the individual workload scales. The results support a general form of the workload model which may help researchers and practitioners in the difficult task of work load prediction
Conceptual Graph Analysis: Knowledge Acquisition for Instructional System Design
Authors: Gordon Sallie E. , Schmierer Kimberly A. , Gill Richard T.
Published: July 2017

This paper describes the empirical validation of a knowledge acquisition methodology using conceptual graph analysis. Conceptual graphs are a representational medium used to integrate and organize knowledge obtained from documents, verbal protocols, question probes, and observation of task performance. The method was validated by presenting two groups of subjects with text and graphics on a topic in engineering dynamics. One set of materials was written by a recognized subject matter expert. The other set was developed by subjecting the expert generated text to conceptual graph analysis. The text was first translated into a conceptual graph structure, then the graph was revised via question probes and observation/induction methods. The final graph was returned to a standard text format. Students receiving the knowledge-engineered text solved significantly more problems than students receiving the original text. Conceptual graph analysis is a generalized method that can be used for a broad range of training domains, providing a highly structured means for making explicit the knowledge base to be incorporated into instructional design.
Effects of Task Probability on Integral and Separable Task Performance
Authors: Elvers Greg C. , Adapathya Ravi S. , Klauer Ken M. , Kancler David E. , Dolan Nancy J.
Published: July 2017

Relative to bar displays, object displays have repeatedly elicited superior performance for tasks involving information integration. This has been attributed to the emergent feature that is present in such displays; however, the attentional strategy used by the subjects may also playa role. Most previous research has had subjects perform the information integration task much more frequently than the separable tasks. Therefore, subjects may have learned to attend to the information integration task more, and thus they performed it better than they did the separable tasks. The present experiment manipulates the probability of the occurrence of the information integration and separable tasks. As the probability of the integral task increased, absolute error increased for the separable task but remained constant for the integral task. Also, reaction time dropped sharply for the integral task as the probability of the integral task increased, but it rose slowly for the separable task. Before using object displays, designers of visual displays should consider the attentional strategy of the operator.
A Task-Analytic Approach to the Temporal and Spatial Placement of Product Warnings
Authors: Frantz J. Paul , Rhoades Timothy P.
Published: July 2017

The effect of warning placement was investigated using a task-analytic approach to generate alternative warning locations. Within the context of a realistic task, 60 subjects used a consumer product that displayed a warning in one of four conditions. In two of the conditions the warnings were positioned so as to temporarily interfere with task performance. Dependent measures included attention to and behavioral compliance with the warning. The effect of warning placement was significant; the percentage of subjects who noticed the warning ranged from 0% to 93%, and the percentage who complied ranged from 0% to 53% across the four warning conditions. It was also found that warnings that temporarily interfered with task performance were significantly more effective than those that did not. The results are supportive of a task-analytic approach to warning design that pays particular attention to the cognitive aspects of task performance. The results also illustrate that, although alternative warning locations for a given product may satisfy commonly accepted placement criteria, they can differ dramatically in their effectiveness.
The Efficiency of Instructional Conditions: An Approach to Combine Mental Effort and Performance Measures
Authors: Paas Fred G. W. C. , Van Merriënboer Jeroen J. G.
Published: July 2017

This article reports on a calculational approach for combining measures of mental workload and task performance that allows one to obtain information on the relative efficiency of instructional conditions. The method is based on the standardization of raw scores for mental effort and task performance to z scores, which are displayed in a cross of axes. Relative condition efficiency is calculated as the perpendicular distance to the line that is assumed to represent an efficiency of zero. We conclude that the method for calculating and representing relative condition efficiency discussed here can be a valuable addition to research on the training and performance of complex cognitive tasks.
Simulation Fidelity of a Virtual Environment Display
Authors: Nemire Kenneth , Jacoby Richard H. , Ellis Stephen R.
Published: July 2017

We assessed the degree to which a virtual environment system produced a faithful simulation of three-dimensional space by investigating the influence of a pitched optic array on the perception of gravity-referenced eye level (GREL). We compared the results with those obtained in a physical environment. In a within-subjects factorial design, 12 subjects indicated GREL while viewing virtual threedimensional arrays at different static orientations. A physical array biased GREL more than did a geometrically identical virtual pitched array. However, addition of two sets of orthogonal parallel lines (a grid) to the virtual pitched array resulted in as large a bias as that obtained with the physical pitched array. The increased bias was caused by the longitudinal, but not the transverse, components of the grid. We discuss implications of our results for spatial orientation models and for designs of virtual displays.
Design of a Cooperative Problem-Solving System for En-Route Flight Planning: An Empirical Evaluation
Authors: Layton Charles , Smith Philip J. , McCoy C. Elaine
Published: July 2017

Both optimization techniques and expert systems technologies are popular approaches for developing tools to assist in complex problem-solving tasks. Because of the underlying complexity of many such tasks, however, the models of the world implicitly or explicitly embedded in such tools are often incomplete and the problem-solving methods fallible. The result can be "brittleness" in situations that were not anticipated by the system designers. To deal with this weakness, it has been suggested that "cooperative" rather than "automated" problem-solving systems be designed. Such cooperative systems are proposed to explicitly enhance the collaboration of the person (or a group of people) and the computer system. This study evaluates the impact of alternative design concepts on the performance of 30 airline pilots interacting with such a cooperative system designed to support en-route flight planning. The results clearly demonstrate that different system design concepts can strongly influence the cognitive processes and resultant performances of users. Based on think-aloud protocols, cognitive models are proposed to account for how features of the computer system interacted with specific types of scenarios to influence exploration and decision making by the pilots. The results are then used to develop recommendations for guiding the design of cooperative systems.
Visual Acuity, Color Vision, and Visual Search Performance at Sea
Authors: Donderi D. C.
Published: July 2017

Visual acuity and color vision were tested during a search and rescue exercise at sea. Fifty-seven watchkeepers searched for orange and yellow life rafts during daylight and for lighted and unlighted life rafts at night with night vision goggles. There were 588 individual watches of one hour each. Measures of wind, waves, and weather were used as covariates. Daytime percentage detection was positively correlated with low-contrast visual acuity and negatively correlated with error scores on Dvorine pseudoisochromatic plates and the Farnsworth color test. Performance was better during the first half-hour of the watch. Efficiency calculations show that color vision selective screening at one standard deviation above the mean would increase daylight search performance by 10% and that one standard deviation visual acuity selection screening would increase performance by 12%. There was no relationship between either acuity or color vision and life raft detection using night vision goggles.
Teleoperator Performance with Varying Force and Visual Feedback
Authors: Massimino Michael J. , Sheridan Thomas B.
Published: July 2017

An experimental study was conducted to determine the effects of various forms of visual and force feedback on human performance for several "peg-in-hole" -type telemanipulation tasks. Each of six human test subjects used a master/slave manipulator during two experimental sessions. In one session the subjects performed the tasks with direct vision, where sub tended visual angle, force feedback, task difficulty, and the interaction of subtended visual angle and force feedback made significant differences in task completion times. During the other session the tasks were performed using a video monitor for visual feedback, and video frame rate, force feedback, task difficulty, and the interaction of frame rate and force feedback were found to make significant differences in task times. An analysis between the direct and video viewing environments showed that apart from subtended visual angle and reduced frame rate, the video medium itself did not significantly affect task times relative to direct viewing.
A Large Database Study of the Factors Associated with Work-Induced Fatigue
Authors: Finkelman Jay M.
Published: July 2017

A computer survey was conducted using the records of 3705 temporary employees who reported job fatigue during their assignments; 10000 additional employees, who did not report fatigue, were also surveyed in order to establish base rates. Low job challenge, poor-quality supervision, low job control, poor job performance, and low pay rates were associated with employees' experiencing job fatigue. Low physical demand and low information-processing demand positions were also associated with the experience of fatigue, possibly because these variables fell below minimal thresholds necessary to maintain arousal and avoid boredom. The upper portion of the arousal-performance curve was not properly evaluated in this survey. Fatigue may result from processing too much or too little information. Motivational factors probably serve to moderate this relationship.
Effects of Graphic and Verbal Probability Information on Command Decision Making
Authors: Kirschenbaum Susan S. , Arruda James E.
Published: July 2017

The performance effects of graphic and verbal representations of uncertainty were investigated within the context of a spatial problem., Sixteen experienced naval submarine officers acted as decision makers (i.e., submarine commanders) in eight simulated scenarios. Four scenario problems were presented with either a verbal or a graphic representation of uncertainty. The degree of uncertainty was controlled by manipulating oceanic conditions and information modeling. The graphic representation of uncertainty resulted in superior range estimates only when the oceanic noise was high and the environmental information was properly modeled. No reliable differences in confidence were observed. These results suggest that for spatial problems, a graphic/spatial representation of uncertainty may considerably improve the judgments of decision makers.
Effect of Location and Procedural Explicitness on User Processing of and Compliance with Product Warnings
Authors: Frantz J. Paul
Published: July 2017

Eighty subjects used a water-repellent sealer with one of four labels in an experiment to determine the effect of precaution location relative to usage instructions and the effect of procedural explicitness of precautions on the attention to and compliance with on-product warnings and instructions. Contrary to current/recommended practice, the inclusion of precautions in the directions for use substantially increased label effectiveness, as did increasing precaution explicitness. Compared with the exemplar current label, procedurally explicit precautions included in the directions substantially increased reading rates from 4% to 78% and compliance rates from 10% to 65%. This experiment also produced a number of findings regarding user processing of product information. This research is not supportive of labeling guidelines and regulations calling for precautions to be separated from usage information.
Understanding the Determinants of Problem-Solving Behavior in a Complex Environment
Authors: Casner Stephen M.
Published: July 2017

It is often argued that problem-solving behavior in a complex environment is determined as much by the features of the environment as by the goals of the problem solver. This article explores a technique to determine the extent to which measured features of a complex environment influence problem-solving behavior observed within that environment. In this study, the technique is used to determine how a complex flight deck and air traffic control environment influences the strategies used by airline pilots when controlling the flight path of a modern jetliner. Data collected aboard 16 commercial flights are used to measure selected features of the task environment. A record of pilots' problem-solving behavior is analyzed to determine to what extent behavior is adapted to the environmental features that were measured. The results suggest that the measured features of the environment account for as much as half of the variability in pilots' problemsolving behavior and provide estimates on the probable effects of each environmental feature.
Holistic Peripheral Processing of a Polygon Display
Authors: Hughes T. , MacRae A. W.
Published: July 2017

Polygon displays compress information that would otherwise be conveyed by separate indicators into a single display in which each reading is represented by the distance of a polygon vertex from its center. The effect on detection of fault states of varying the number of polygon vertices from 4 to 20 in a display presented peripherally around a dynamic, simulated flight display was studied. Presence of the dynamic task reduced both speed and accuracy of response to the polygon display but did not significantly affect the pattern of response to differing numbers of vertices. All measures of performance were better with larger numbers of vertices. If the vertices are processed serially, more vertices require more processing time. Therefore, the result argues for holistic processing and implies that such information integration is beneficial to human performance in fault detection.
Ravine Erosion and Livelihoods in Semi-arid India: Implications for Socioeconomic Development
Authors: Pani Padmini
Published: July 2017

The ravines found along the Chambal River are among the most severe types of gully erosion found in semi-arid India. This paper estimates the extent and areal expansion of ravines over 40 years in the Lower Chambal Valley and provides a classification scheme to understand ravine characteristics in the region. To examine the implications of ravines on socioeconomic development and livelihoods of the people in the area, a mixed method approach has been followed. A combination of spatial and statistical tests has been run to examine the overall status of land degradation and its impact in the area concerned. Village-level socioeconomic data have been integrated with physical and environmental parameters in a GIS environment, which has been supplemented with findings from a qualitative survey in a few villages of the study region. The results show that there is a positive and significant relationship between indices of natural resources availability and socioeconomic development. A majority of villages within ravines were found to be very poor in development. In this fragile environment, people’s livelihoods are being adversely affected because of land degradation.
Home Truths about Home Detention
Authors: Bagaric Mirko
Published: July 2017

The Victorian Parliament has recently introduced a Bill which implements home detention as a sentencing option. Home detention is an intuitively appealing reform. The logic behind the proposal seems obvious. Prisons are expensive to run. There are too many offenders in prison. So let's take the cost out of prison by turning the homes of offenders into prisons: classic, user-pays, cost-shifting economics. The level of superficial appeal of the argument in favour of home detention is matched only by the depth of the fallacies underpinning some of the fundamental premises. The most basic of which is the assumption that offenders who are candidates for the new sanction should be in detention (of any kind) in the first place. Further, the narrow objective of reducing imprisonment is misguided. It should not be elevated to a cardinal sentencing objective—otherwise total success could be achieved by simply opening the prison gates. There are also other concerns about the appropriateness of home detention. The degree of pain it inflicts in many cases is questionable and it may also violate the principle that punishment should not be inflicted on the innocent. After examining the arguments for and against home detention, this article suggests the approach that should be adopted to achieve enlightened and meaningful sentencing reform.
Police Cells and Unwanted Bugs
Authors: Ormerod David
Published: July 2017

An examination of the difficulties and shortcomings in applying the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to covert cell surveillance, and of the admissibility of evidence obtained, as highlighted by the case of R v Mason.
Adolescent Illicit Drug Use and Policy Options in Australia: A Multicriteria Decision Analysis
Authors: Wong Gabriel T. W. , Manning Matthew
Published: July 2017

The etiology of illicit substance involvement is a multidimensional problem shaped by factors across individual, social, and environmental domains. In this study, a multicriteria framework is employed to incorporate the input of specialists regarding risk and protective factors and the effectiveness of alternative interventions to mitigate the adverse harms and consequences associated with adolescent drug initiation and subsequent use. Using a seven-stage drug use continuum (nonuse, priming, initial use, experimental use, occasional use, regular use, and dysfunctional use), experts rate social and environmental factors as the most important from nonuse to occasional use. Experts often support preventive and harm-minimizing strategies to interrupt the progression of drug involvement and accumulation of drug-related harms among adolescents. Compared with preferable interventions, less preferable options (e.g., drug testing/monitoring) are considered to have a negative policy impact on key social, environmental, and drug dimension domains, which tend to override their positive impacts on other areas.
How did Chinese migrant workers fare in labour dispute mediation? Differentiated legal protection and the moderating role of the nature of dispute
Authors: Xie Pengxin , Wang Fuxi , Cheng Yanyuan
Published: July 2017

This study examines the differences between migrant and urban workers in labour dispute mediation and the moderating role of the nature of the dispute (direct work-related vs indirect work-related disputes). Combining power-dependence theory and social stratification theory, our analysis reveals how migrant workers’ lack of citizen rights harms their mediation capabilities. Drawing on archival data on individual labour dispute cases from 2011 to 2015 in the Beijing Labour Mediation Centre (10,515 cases in total), we find that migrant workers with low power are more likely to make great concessions in mediation, and their mediation agreements are less likely to be executed immediately by employers than are those of urban workers. However, when the dispute is directly work related, the difference between migrant and urban workers in concession making is less prominent than when the dispute is indirectly work related. These findings enrich our understanding of both migrants and labour dispute resolution.
Behavioral Executive Functions Among Adolescents With Mathematics Difficulties
Authors: Holm Marja E. , Aunio Pirjo , Björn Piia M. , Klenberg Liisa , Korhonen Johan , Hannula Markku S.
Published: July 2017

This study investigates behavioral executive functions (EFs) in the mathematics classroom context among adolescents with different mathematics performance levels. The EF problems were assessed by teachers using a behavioral rating inventory. Using cutoff scores on a standardized mathematics assessment, groups with mathematics difficulties (MD; n = 124), low mathematics performance (LA; n = 140), and average or higher scores (AC; n = 355) were identified. Results showed that the MD group had more problems with distractibility, directing attention, shifting attention, initiative, execution of action, planning, and evaluation than the LA group, whereas the differences in hyperactivity, impulsivity, and sustaining attention were not significant. Compared to the AC group, the MD group showed more problems with all behavioral EFs except hyperactivity and impulsivity, while the LA group showed more problems only with shifting attention. Male adolescents showed more behavioral EF problems than female adolescents, but this gender difference was negligible within the MD group. The practical implications of the results are discussed.
Words and deeds
Authors: Cunningham David E , Gleditsch Kristian Skrede , González Belén , Vidović Dragana , White Peter B
Published: July 2017

Dissidents can choose among different tactics to redress political grievances, yet violent and nonviolent mobilization tend to be studied in isolation. We examine why some countries see the emergence of organized dissident activity over governmental claims, and why in some cases these organizational claims result in civil wars or nonviolent campaigns, while others see no large-scale collective action. We develop a two-stage theoretical framework examining the organized articulation of political grievance and then large-scale violent and nonviolent collective action. We test implications of this framework using new data on governmental incompatibilities in a random sample of 101 states from 1960 to 2012. We show that factors such as demography, economic development, and civil society have differential effects on these different stages and outcomes of mobilization. We demonstrate that the common finding that anocracies are more prone to civil war primarily stems from such regimes being more prone to see maximalist political demands that could lead to violent mobilization, depending on other factors conducive to creating focused military capacity. We find that non-democracy generally promotes nonviolent campaigns as anocracies and autocracies are both more likely to experience claims and more prone to nonviolent campaigns, conditional on claims.
Early Number Skills Gains and Mathematics Achievement: Intervening to Establish Successful Early Mathematics Trajectories
Authors: Shanley Lina , Clarke Ben , Doabler Christian T. , Kurtz-Nelson Evangeline , Fien Hank
Published: July 2017

Early number skills, comprised of both informal and formal skills, are associated with later mathematics achievement. Thus, the development of foundational early number skills is an important aspect of early mathematics instruction. This study explored relations between early number skills gains and mathematics achievement for students at risk for mathematics difficulties in a kindergarten intervention study. Results indicated strong relationships between formal number skills gains and mathematics achievement across kindergarten and Grade 1. Intervention participants demonstrated larger informal and formal early number skills gains compared with their control peers, and relations between early number skills gains and first-grade mathematics achievement were moderated by intervention participation. Importantly, these findings suggest that formal and informal number skills gains may be critical components of later mathematics achievement for at-risk students. Implications for special education and intervention in tiered instructional systems are discussed.
Experiences in Doing Ethnography: Studies on Anglo-Indian Women in Kolkata
Authors: Sen Sudarshana
Published: July 2017

This article attempts to explore the relationship between gender role, stereotyped gender expressions and demands on a field researcher in a cross-cultural setting. This idea of the conflicting demands in a cross-cultural field setting came as an outcome of a research on Anglo-Indian women living in Kolkata. This is a reflection of the first-hand experiences of the author while doing her research for her doctoral thesis. Here, the author is the representative of the ‘other’ to the researched. The author seeks to find how her experiences of ethnographic research are of importance to the study of subjects situated differently from her own. It attempts to locate her experiences within the larger field of ethnographic experiences of cross-cultural researchers and show how it penetrates deeper into her awareness of herself and her selfhood.
Book Review: Nandini Ghosh (ed.), Impaired Bodies Gendered Lives: Everyday Realities of Disabled Women
Authors: Singh Pooja
Published: July 2017

Nandini Ghosh (ed.), Impaired Bodies Gendered Lives: Everyday Realities of Disabled Women. New Delhi: Primus Books, 2016, viii + 163 pp., ₹1350 (hardback), ISBN: 978-93-84082-50-5.
‘Angry Angels’ as Guides to Ethics and Faith
Authors: Rowlands Anna
Published: July 2017

In a time of political and economic hyperreality, where there seems to be less and less interval between impulse and act, Simone Weil and Gillian Rose stand together, half a century apart, as politico-religious philosophers who fought for and staked themselves within this reflective interval. This article explores the creative parallels between their writings, drawing on Rose's critical and constructive engagement with Weil's essay on ‘Human Personality’. While Rose draws us towards a theology of dialogue rooted in the creative necessity of negotiation and law-making, Weil draws us towards a negative theology ofcounterbalance, carved not from divine speech but from divine silence.
Divine Person or Personal Ground of Being?
Authors: Le Poidevin Robin
Published: July 2017

In Honest to God, John Robinson distinguished between the idea of the divine as a person and the idea of ultimate reality, or the ground of being, as personal. C. S. Lewis, commenting on this distinction, remarked that, since God is ultimate reality, a personal ultimate reality entails a personal God. This article attempts to defend Robinson's distinction against Lewis's criticism, making use of an influential, though controversial, philosophical theory ofthe self.
Ordinary Theology
Authors: Pratt Richard
Published: July 2017

This paper looks at the new kinds of theology (e.g. practical, pastoral) which claim to be rooted in the experience of believers, and attempt to adopt a listening stance towards them. Specifically, it charts the relationship between my own version of ‘ordinary theology’, which takes as its starting point reflections on a liberation theology for ordinary people, and Professor J. Astley's version, which examines the theology of those without theological training. It suggests two sets of topics, the exploration of which would develop ‘ordinary theology’, helping it to fulfil theology's liberative and apologetic vocations.
Resisting the Silence
Authors: Gibson Kerry , Wilson Jan , Grice Jade Le , Seymour Fred
Published: July 2017

Suicide prevention strategies include attempts to control information young people receive about suicide, but digital communication provides young people with alternative forums to engage with this issue. This article explores the constraints and opportunities for youth to talk about suicide in New Zealand. A thematic analysis of data from focus groups with young people suggests they resist what they see as a taboo on talking about suicide, see adults as unwilling to engage in conversations with them about suicide, and are reluctant to seek help for suicide from mental health professionals. They prefer to talk about suicide with peers, although there are challenges with doing this in person. Access to digital communication may provide young people with alternative forums to communicate about suicide which further undermines their willingness to engage with adults on the subject. This has led to a gap in communication between youth and adults on suicide.
Felt Age, Desired, and Expected Lifetime in the Context of Health, Well-Being, and Successful Aging
Authors: Ambrosi-Randić Neala , Nekić Marina , Tucak Junaković Ivana
Published: July 2017

This study examines the interrelations of three different aspects of the subjective age: felt, desired and expected, as well as their relations with the chronological age (CA), health, and psychological well-being variables. Four hundred and twenty-three community-dwelling Croatian adults, aged 60–95 years, participated in the study. All three subjective age measures significantly correlated with the CA. Self-rated health were better predictors of the subjective age compared to the psychological variables. Among psychological variables, successful aging was the only significant predictor of the felt and expected age, while optimism showed to be the only significant predictor of the desired age. Results indicate the importance of some sociodemographic, psychological, and health variables for understanding older persons' subjective age identity and their desires and expectations regarding length of life. Besides the CA, it is very useful to include subjective age measures in research with elderly people.
Who Guards the Guardians? National Implications of Accreditation at City College of San Francisco
Authors: Barber Bob , McNair Delores E.
Published: July 2017

Purpose: This article addresses the broad context of community college accreditation which surrounds a controversy involving one of the largest community colleges in the United States, City College of San Francisco (CCSF), and its regional accrediting agency, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). Its purposes are to illuminate the issue of how accrediting agencies are held accountable and to highlight the importance of addressing student equity issues as part of accreditation. Argument/Proposed Model: Rather than focusing on the details of the specific case, we reflect on the situation as a microcosm of the issues facing community college students and accreditors. Themes that emerge include the rise of compliance-oriented accreditation practices, the degree to which accreditation is increasingly subject to political and economic forces, and the dilemmas involved in assuring that educational quality is available to all students. Conclusions/Contributions: Accrediting agencies must address the barriers that interfere with the success of first generation students, low-income students, and students of color, who are rapidly coming to represent the predominant student demographic in the United States and who constitute the majority of students at CCSF. We conclude that the basis exists in higher education research and practice for the development of accreditation standards that address the student equity agenda.
A Multitheoretical Approach to Big Text Data: Comparing Expressive and Rhetorical Logics in Yelp Reviews
Authors: Margolin Drew , Markowitz David M.
Published: July 2017

This article uses a multitheoretical approach to investigate the relationship between language use and opinion expression on Yelp. Using review metadata (e.g., star rating) to observe variation in reviewer feelings and motivations, we test for the strength of different message design logics: expressive logics, where language reflects a reviewer’s underlying opinion, and rhetorical logics, where language reflects a reviewer’s desire to make his or her opinion credible and acceptable to their audience. Results suggest that emotional language is motivated by expression as higher rated businesses are reviewed with more positive and fewer negative emotion terms. Rhetorical logics are associated with the use of abstract and self-focused language, with analysis suggesting this may result from the reviewer’s decision to write either narratively or formally.
Sex and the nose: human pheromonal responses
Authors: Bhutta Mahmood F
Published: July 2017

The chemosensory functions of the human nose are underappreciated. Traditional teaching is that the sense of smell detects volatile compounds, which may then allow the identification of substances that may be beneficial or harmful—such as good versus putrefied food. However, increasing evidence from research in other animals suggests that olfaction may serve another and more important purpose, that of mate selection in sexual reproduction; indeed, olfaction may be an essential impetus for evolution.