bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prospective memory and ageing: Is task importance relevant?
Authors: Kliegel Matthias , Martin Mike , Moor Caroline
Published: February 2004

Memory for activities to be performed in the future, i.e., prospective memory, such as remembering to take medication or remembering to give a colleague a message, is a pervasive real‐world memory task that has recently begun to attract the attention of numerous researchers. Age effects in prospective memory have been found particularly in complex paradigms requiring participants to remember to switch between several subtasks in a limited time period (e.g., Kliegel, McDaniel, & Einstein, 2000). Here, most of the older adults try to complete one or two subtasks and to forget the prospective instruction to work on all subtasks. Since recent findings in this context show that one profits from tips regarding the relevant task in complex double tasks, it seems likely that age effects in prospective memory tasks might also be due to the lack of information about the importance of the prospective task. To test this hypothesis, the importance of the prospective task was varied in the present study with 104 young and old participants by providing motivational incentives to interrupt and switch during the introduction phase (plan formation) as well as during the execution phase. Also, interindividual differences regarding nonexecutive as well as executive cognitive resources were analysed, thus allowing estimation of the relationship between these factors and (age‐related) performance in complex prospective remembering. The results show age effects in favour of the younger group in all task components of the complex prospective multitask. In contrast, there was no effect of the present experimental manipulation of motivational incentives. Finally, in regression analyses, intention formation, in particular, was found to be a significant predictor of intention execution, explaining most of the age‐related variance. In sum, our results specifically highlight the fundamental importance of adequately planning the complex intention and do not support the hypothesis that age‐related decrements in performance are reflecting a lack of motivation in the present complex prospective memory paradigm.
The intention‐superiority effect for naturally occurring activities: The role of intention accessibility in everyday prospective remembering in young and older adults
Authors: Freeman Jayne E. , Ellis Judi A.
Published: February 2004

This study examined age differences in the accessibility of a single pool of naturally occurring intentions both before and after completion. Following Maylor, Darby, and Della Sala (2000), accessibility was measured in terms of the number of activities generated in a 4‐minute activity fluency task. Each participant undertook two such tasks. A prospective task in which they generated activities intended for completion during the following week and a retrospective task, 1 week later, in which they generated activities carried out over the previous week. In a partial replication of Maylor et al.'s findings, young, but not healthy older, adults generated more to‐be‐completed intentions than completed ones, demonstrating an intention‐superiority effect (ISE) for everyday activities. The absence of an ISE for older adults appeared to reflect the reduced accessibility of intentions prior to completion, rather than the impaired inhibition of fulfilled intentions. Moreover, both groups showed greater inaccessibility of completed than intended activities, thus demonstrating an intention‐completion effect for naturally occurring intentions that is preserved in healthy ageing (cf. Marsh, Hicks, & Bink, 1998). Despite showing a reduced accessibility of intended activities, older adults reported having completed a greater proportion of their intentions during the week than young adults. Moreover, there was a correlation between the ability to access intentions and the proportion of intentions completed only for young adults. These observations suggest that older adults' everyday prospective memory performance may be relatively less dependent on intention accessibility and more dependent on other factors. While there was no age difference in the reported use and effectiveness of external retrieval aids, older adults demonstrated a greater level of temporal organization in the production of their intentions in the fluency task. This is consistent with the possibility that older adults may have more structured daily lives and may be able to use information about the sequence of ongoing events to support superior everyday prospective remembering.
Disentangling executive functions and memory processes in event‐based prospective remembering after brain damage: A neuropsychological study
Authors: Kopp Ute A. , Thöne‐Otto Angelika I.T.
Published: February 2004

Successful prospective remembering (PR) comprises at least two components: one retrospective component that refers to the encoding and retrieval of the content of the intention and a second prospective component that involves the retrieval of the intended action at the appropriate moment. Whereas the retrospective component is very similar to memory skills like learning and retention of new information, the prospective component is thought to rely mainly on executive function. Head injuries can disturb PR during both of these stages. To disentangle the relative impact of executive functions and retrospective memory processes on PR we embedded a PR task in a 2‐back verbal working memory paradigm. Fifty‐six neurological patients with brain damage of various aetiologies were divided pre‐experimentally into four groups on the basis of their delayed recall Index in the Wechsler Memory Scale‐Revised (WMS‐R, indicating absence or presence of deficits in retrospective memory functions) and their age‐corrected score in the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS, indicating absence or presence of deficits in executive functions). Additionally, 19 controls matched for age and education were examined. We found that patients with deficits in executive functions detected fewer cues than any other group irrespective of their retrospective memory performance. However, eight patients with severe anterograde memory deficits could retain neither the intention nor its content. Thus, intactness of the retrospective component seems to be a necessary but not sufficient prerequisite for successful prospective remembering. For the execution of the intended action itself executive functions play a critical role.
How to design an electronic memory aid for brain‐injured patients: Considerations on the basis of a model of prospective memory
Authors: Thöne‐Otto Angelika I. T. , Walther Katrin
Published: February 2004

There has been an enormous development in the field of electronic memory aids, such as mobile phones, organizers, or combinations of both. Nevertheless, these devices have hardly been useful in the neuropsychological therapy of memory‐impaired patients so far. The model of prospective remembering by Ellis (1996) is used as theoretical background in order to (1) analyse patients' needs concerning electronic memory aids, (2) evaluate the usefulness of electronic memory aids for patients described in the literature, as well as of two commercially available electronic memory aids, and (3) derive conclusions concerning demands on how to design a memory aid suitable for patients. While most of the devices designed for patients improve their reliability by compensating for lack of self‐initiated retrieval, most of them are not able to compensate for problems during execution or evaluation. Commercially available memory devices have the advantage of being available to everybody, but they can only support mildly impaired patients. Patients with more severe deficits, however, need a more suitable interface in order to facilitate data entry. In addition, interactive chains of actions should be implemented in order to support execution and evaluation of future intentions. MEMOS, a system in development that tries to realize these demands, is presented.
A two‐process model of strategic monitoring in event‐based prospective memory: Activation/retrieval mode and checking
Authors: Guynn Melissa J.
Published: February 2004

Theorists have suggested that individuals may remember to execute event‐based intended actions by deploying executive or attentional resources to monitor for the markers or target events that indicate that it is appropriate to execute the intended actions (e.g., McDaniel & Einstein, 2000; Shallice & Burgess, 1991), but these strategic monitoring views are not specific about the processes that strategic monitoring entails. A more specific idea is outlined here (see also Guynn, 2001) and an experiment with results consistent with this view is reported. According to this two‐process view, strategic monitoring entails maintaining the cognitive system in a prospective memory retrieval mode, which may be mediated by increased activation of the prospective memory representation, plus checking whether the circumstances to execute the intended action are present. In the current experiment, concurrent task impairment on nontarget trials, on which participants were instructed to press a key if they saw a target event (i.e., experimental trials), relative to trials on which participants were not instructed to press a key if they saw a target event (i.e., control trials), provided a footprint of strategic monitoring. An interaction of trial type and whether the experimental and control trials alternated or were blocked revealed greater impairment on experimental trials relative to control trials when the trials were blocked than when the trials alternated. Performance on experimental trials did not vary whether the trials alternated or were blocked, while performance on control trials was significantly worse when the trials alternated than when the trials were blocked. The results are consistent with the two‐process view and the idea that participants maintained a retrieval mode/activation and checked on experimental trials, neither maintained a retrieval mode/activation nor checked on blocked control trials, and maintained a retrieval mode/activation but did not check on alternating control trials.
Targeting regions of interest for the study of the illiterate brain
Authors: Castro‐Caldas Alexandre
Published: February 2004

This paper reviews a work project that uses illiteracy as a tool to understand the way the brain adapts to information. The project follows the exploration of certain targets that can be identified with the functions of reading and writing, both from the functional and from the anatomical points of view. Results concerning visual processing, cross‐modal operations (audiovisual and visuotactile), and interhemispheric crossing of information are reported. Studies with magnetoencephalography, with positron emission tomography, and with functional magnetic resonance provided evidence that the absence of school attendance at the usual age constitutes a handicap for the development of certain biological processes that serve behavioural functioning. Differences between groups of literate and illiterate subjects were found in several areas: while dealing with phonology a complex pattern of brain activation was only present in literate subjects; the corpus callosum in the segment where the parietal lobe fibres cross was thinner in the illiterate group; the parietal lobe processing of both hemispheres was different between groups; and the occipital lobe processed information more slowly in cases that learned to read as adults compared to those that learned at the usual age. Some behavioural studies suggest that there are other operations that can be explored from the image point of view.
Imaging cognitive reserve
Authors: Stern Yaakov , Scarmeas Nikolaos , Habeck Christian
Published: February 2004

We review three studies that attempt to explore the neural substrates of cognitive reserve (CR). All studies utilize two conditions of a visual recognition task: a low demand condition, and another where difficulty was titrated such that all subjects performed at 75% recognition accuracy. We hypothesized that there would be different patterns of task‐related activation as a function of a proxy measure of CR. The first two studies focused on young subjects, and found either brain areas or brain networks where the amount of increased activation from low to titrated demand correlated with CR. The third study compared activation patterns of young and elderly individuals. As in the previous studies, brain areas were found in both groups where there was differential activation as a function of CR. Most notable were locations where the relation between activation and CR differed across the two groups. These findings provide a basis for a preliminary neural implementation of cognitive reserve. They also suggest that there may be a reorganization of the neural implementation of reserve in normal ageing, which may constitute compensation for the neural effects of ageing.
Can learning to read and write change the brain organization? An electrophysiological study
Authors: Ostrosky‐Solís F. , García Miguel Arellano , Pérez Martha
Published: February 2004

It has been suggested that learning how to read and write during childhood influences the functional organization of the adult human brain. In the present study, cortical evoked potentials (ERPs) to a probe click stimulus were used to assess the extent of activation of the two cerebral hemispheres during a verbal memory task in literate and illiterate subjects. Left‐hemisphere attenuation during the experimental condition was found in both groups. These findings suggest that for the illiterate subjects, left hemisphere predominantly mediates language processing. However, during the verbal memory task, significant intrahemispheric differences between groups were found at parieto‐temporal areas. Results seem to indicate that learning how to read and write demands an intrahemispheric specialization with an important activation of parieto‐temporal areas. These data support the view that the brains of illiterate subjects show patterns of activation that are different from those of literate subjects, thus reflecting that environmental conditions can influence brain organization.
Culture or education? Neuropsychological test performance of a Maya indigenous population
Authors: Ostrosky‐Solís F. , Ramírez M. , Lozano A. , Picasso H. , Vélez A.
Published: February 2004

Although culture and education are factors that significantly affect cognitive performance, it is often difficult to distinguish between the effects of education and the effects of culture, since the educational level influences the sociocultural status of an individual. Therefore, although it is common to attribute the differences between the performance in neuropsychological tests to both the level of education and the culture, frequently the effects of the two variables are confounded. In the present study we analysed the influence of education and of culture on the neuropsychological profile of indigenous and a nonindigenous population. We studied a total sample of 44 individuals divided into 4 groups: (1) 7 illiterate indigenous subjects; (2) 7 control subjects with no education; (3) 15 indigenous subjects with 1–4 years of education; and (4) 15 control individuals with 1–4 years of education. Subjects were paired by age and educational level. The indigenous population was Maya, who live in the state of Yucatan in the Mexican Republic. The NEUROPSI, a brief neuropsychological test battery developed and standardized in Mexico (Ostrosky‐Solís, Ardila, & Rosselli, 1997, 1999), was individually administered. Results showed differential effects for both variables. Indigenous subjects showed higher scores in visuospatial tasks, and their level of education had significant effects on working and verbal memory. No significant differences were found in other cognitive processes (orientation, comprehension, and some executive functions). Our data showed that culture dictates what it is important for survival and that education could be considered as a type of subculture that facilitates the development of certain skills instead of others. However, the influences of both variables on cognitive skills are different, which should be considered when assessing subjects of different cultures. The interpretation of neuropsychological tests, leading to accurate assessment of cognitive dysfunction, is dependent on both education and cultural skills.
Literacy and cognitive change among ethnically diverse elders
Authors: Manly Jennifer J. , Byrd Desiree , Touradji Pegah , Sanchez Danurys , Stern Yaakov
Published: February 2004

Research concerned with relations between literacy level and assessment of cognition among ethnically diverse elders is presented. The evidence suggests that literacy has a profound effect on neuropsychological measures across verbal and nonverbal domains, and that this effect is independent of other demographic and experiential factors such as age, years of education, sex, ethnicity, and language use. It appears that reading level is a more sensitive predictor of baseline test performance, and also that literacy skills are protective against memory decline. Adjustment for reading level, which in part reflects quality of education, overcomes the limitations of years of education as an index of educational experience among multicultural elders and thus can improve the specificity of certain neuropsychological measures. Differences in organization of visuospatial information, lack of previous exposure to stimuli, and difficulties with interpretation of the logical functions of language are possible factors that affect test performance of elders with low levels of literacy.
There is not any specific brain area for writing: From cave‐paintings to computers
Authors: Ardila Alfredo
Published: February 2004

In this paper it is pointed out that human brain adaptation was accomplished to survive in certain living conditions that existed long before classical civilizations did. It is argued that there is no brain area specialized for writing, but rather that writing relies on some basic abilities that existed long before writing was invented. Pre‐writing was initially a visuoconstructive and ideomotor ability, and only later did it become the language‐related ability of writing. It is also emphasized that most of the neuropsychological syndromes, including agraphia, were described during the late 19th and early 20th century, but living conditions have changed dramatically during the last 100 years. Writing no longer means only using pencil and paper, but using computer word processing programs. Writing using paper and pencil does not require the same cognitive, motor, and spatial tasks as those required when using a computer keyboard. Although the conceptual knowledge of written language can be the same, the motor activity and the spatial abilities that are used are rather different. It can be anticipated that new neuropsychological syndromes resulting from these new living conditions will be described in the future.
Effects of alcohol controls: Nordic research traditions
Authors: ROOM ROBIN
Published: February 2004

Drawing on a recent review of studies of the impact of alcohol control changes in the Nordic countries (particularly Finland, Norway and Sweden), this paper reviews the development of research traditions of such studies in the Nordic countries. From the Nordic experience, there is evidence of variation in the effects of policy changes by demographic segment, by type of problem and by drinking pattern and amount. Policy changes have often had their greatest effect on heavier drinkers. Big reductions in alcohol taxes in Denmark in 2003 and Finland in 2004 offer a new chance to study whose drinking changes how much, and in what contexts, in a collaborative study comparing northern Sweden with Finland, Denmark and southern Sweden.
An evidence‐based approach to planning tobacco interventions for Aboriginal people
Authors: IVERS ROWENA G.
Published: February 2004

Systematic reviews have shown that interventions such as the delivery of cessation advice by heath professionals and the use of nicotine replacement therapy are effective at increasing cessation rates, however little is known about whether such interventions are appropriate and effective for and thus transferable to Aboriginal Australians. The aim of this paper was to assess whether evidence of effectiveness for brief interventions for cessation and nicotine patches from studies conducted in other populations was likely to be transferable to Aboriginal people in the NT. This paper involved assessment of systematic reviews of evidence for the use of brief interventions for smoking cessation and the use of nicotine replacement therapy, when planning two such interventions for delivery to Aboriginal people. Emerging themes are discussed. There were many factors which were likely to mean that these brief advice on cessation and the use of nicotine patches were likely to be less effective when implemented in Aboriginal communities. The planned interventions were delivered in primary care, and were of low intensity. Few studies included in systematic reviews were set in the developing world or in minority populations. Many features of the context for delivery, such as the normality of the use of tobacco among Aboriginal people, the low socio‐economic status of this population and cultural issues, may have meant that these interventions were likely to be less effective when delivered in this setting. Further research is required to assess effectiveness of tobacco interventions in this population, as evidence from systematic reviews in other populations may not be directly transferable to Aboriginal people.
Brief interventions: good in theory but weak in practice
Authors: ROCHE ANN M. , FREEMAN TOBY
Published: February 2004

A substantial body of research evidence has accumulated in support of the efficacy of brief interventions for a number of alcohol and drug‐related problem areas, most notably alcohol and tobacco. This evidence has been used to exhort a range of professional groups such as general practitioners (GPs), and more recently emergency department hospital staff to engage in brief interventions. Internationally, however, these secondary prevention efforts have largely failed. Why have these proven interventions not been embraced by frontline workers? This is a little‐asked question as efforts to press‐gang unwilling professionals to take up the cudgel continue. This paper examines the characteristics of brief interventions and their principal delivery agents and explores reasons for the failure to move from efficacy to effectiveness. Given the prevention potential that rests with brief intervention, these are crucial questions to address. A key feature of brief intervention delivery also examined is the role of GPs versus the less well‐explored option of the practice nurse. It will be proposed that perhaps we have the right vehicle but the wrong driver and that until closer scrutiny is made of this issue efforts in this key prevention area will continue to fail to achieve optimum results.
Making licensed venues safer for patrons: what environmental factors should be the focus of interventions?
Authors: HOMEL ROSS , CARVOLTH RUSSELL , HAURITZ MARGE , MCILWAIN GILLIAN , TEAGUE ROSIE
Published: February 2004

The Queensland Safety Action Projects operationalized a problem‐focused responsive regulatory model in order to make nightclubs and other venues safer. A problem‐focused approach requires a careful analysis of the total environment of licensed venues, including drinking and its controls but also the social and physical environments, patron mix and management practices. We present new analyses of observational data collected in 1994 and 1996 in the north Queensland cities of Cairns, Townsville and Mackay. Major reductions in aggression and violence were observed, as well as improvements in many aspects of the venue environment and management practices. We do not argue in this paper that the interventions caused the environmental and management changes, although we believe this to be true. Rather, our assumption is that whatever caused them, some of the environmental and management changes were critical to the reductions in aggression. Regression techniques were used to identify those factors that best explained the declines in aggression. For reduced physical violence four key predictors were identified: improved comfort, availability of public transport, less overt sexual activity and fewer highly drunk men. For reduced non‐physical aggression, four key predictors were: fewer Pacific Islander patrons, less male swearing, fewer intoxicated patrons requiring that management be called and more chairs with armrests. The analyses are consistent with the argument that the control of drinking is necessary but not sufficient to reduce aggression and violence.
The effect of the Safer Bars programme on physical aggression in bars: results of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: GRAHAM KATHRYN , OSGOOD D. WAYNE , ZIBROWSKI ELAINE , PURCELL JOHN , GLIKSMAN LOUIS , LEONARD KENNETH , PERNANEN KAI , SALTZ ROBERT F. , TOOMEY TRACI L.
Published: February 2004

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Safer Bars, an intervention to reduce aggression in bars. A total of 734 pre ‐ post‐intervention observations were conducted by trained observers on Friday and Saturday nights between midnight and 2 a.m. in 18 large capacity (> 300) Toronto bars and clubs assigned randomly to receive the intervention (69% participation rate of the 26 assigned) and 12 control bars. As part of the intervention, owners/managers completed the risk assessment workbook to identify ways of reducing environmental risks, and 373 staff and owners/managers (84% participation rate) attended a 3‐hour training session focused on preventing escalation of aggression, working as a team and resolving problem situations safely. The main outcome measures were rates of severe aggression (e.g. punching, kicking) and moderate physical aggression (e.g. shoving, grappling). Hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) comparing pre ‐post aggression for intervention versus control bars indicated a significant effect of the intervention in reducing severe and moderate aggression. This effect was moderated by turnover of managers and door/security staff with higher post‐intervention aggression associated with higher turnover in the intervention bars. The findings indicate the potential for a stand‐alone relatively brief intervention to reduce severe and moderate physical aggression in bars.
Alignment of the policy planets: behind the implementation of the Northern Territory (Australia) Living With Alcohol programme*
Authors: D'ABBS PETER
Published: February 2004

The Northern Territory Living With Alcohol Programme (LWAP), implemented in Australia from 1991 to 2000, has been hailed as a successful example of a comprehensive public health alcohol policy, especially in its first 4 years—1991/92 to 1995/96. This paper draws upon a policy analysis of the LWAP currently in progress to identify and describe the factors that made implementation possible at this time. I argue that programme implementation was shaped by a remarkable alignment of agencies and actors in the political, fiscal, administrative and industrial domains. This alignment of forces, however, owed as much to contingency as to planning and did not endure. Although the policy itself remained unchanged and continued to generate significant achievements, the alignment of forces sustaining it began to fragment from late 1995 onwards. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the analysis for alcohol policy in other domains, and for the relationship between evidence regarding effectiveness and other components of the policy process.
Risk and protection factors for different intensities of adolescent substance use: when does the Prevention Paradox apply?
Authors: STOCKWELL TIM , TOUMBOUROU JOHN W. , LETCHER PRIMROSE , SMART DIANA , SANSON ANN , BOND LYNDAL
Published: February 2004

The ‘Prevention Paradox’ applies when low‐risk individuals in a population contribute the most cases of a condition or problem behaviour by virtue of their being in the majority, thereby recommending a universal or whole of population approach to prevention. The applicability of a universal as opposed to a targeted high‐risk approach to the prevention of youth substance use was examined in two studies of children and adolescents conducted in Victoria, Australia. These studies were reanalysed by recombining developmental, social and individual measures to form cumulative risk indices for substance use. In Study 1, a cross‐sectional survey of students, most regular tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use by 15/16‐year‐olds occurred in the moderate and low‐risk groups, recommending a universal prevention strategy. However, the majority of illicit drug use occurred in the highest‐risk group (top 15%). Furthermore, in younger age groups both legal and illegal drug use was concentrated mainly in the highest risk group. Study 2 used data from a major longitudinal study where risk factors at around age 11/12 years were used to predict substance use at age 17/18 years. Most students who admitted involvement in frequent smoking, heavy drinking and, although to a lesser degree, cannabis were classified as low or average risk. It is concluded that universal prevention strategies are needed for late adolescent alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use and more targeted strategies for addressing harm related to early age drug use, frequent cannabis use and illegal drug use.
What we can—and cannot—expect from school‐based drug prevention
Authors: CAULKINS JONATHAN P. , PACULA ROSALIE LICCARDO , PADDOCK SUSAN , CHIESA JAMES
Published: February 2004

School‐based drug prevention is a central component of drug control strategies. This paper assesses quantitatively its contributions in the United States from a social policy perspective. The social benefits per participant stemming from reduced drug use (∼ $840 from tobacco, alcohol, cocaine and marijuana) appear to exceed the economic costs of running the programs (∼ $150 per participant); while the benefits associated with reduced cocaine use alone (∼ $300) exceed the costs, the corresponding figure for marijuana (∼ $20) is small. Even if prevention reduced the use of other illicit drugs (e.g. heroin) by as much as it reduced use of cocaine, the majority of benefits would still stem from reductions in use of tobacco and alcohol, which has implications for how school‐based drug prevention is funded and whether it is perceived more as a weapon in the war on illicit drugs or as a public health measure. Specific numeric results are subject to considerable uncertainty, but the basic character of the conclusions appears to be robust with respect to parameter uncertainty. The greatest uncertainties concern the permanence of prevention's effects and how to value instances of initiation being deferred but not completely prevented.
Encouraging practitioners to use resources: evaluation of the national implementation of a resource to improve the clinical management of alcohol‐related problems in Indigenous primary care settings
Authors: HUNTER ERNEST , BROWN JOANNE , MCCULLOCH BRAD
Published: February 2004

This paper reports on the evaluation of the implementation of the National Recommendations for the Clinical Management of Alcohol‐Related Problems in Indigenous Primary Care Settings undertaken in 2001 through 74 standardized workshops, which sought to determine: (1) whether this approach to implementation influenced the likelihood that the National Recommendations would be used; (2) whether it influenced participants' willingness to engage with Indigenous patients regarding alcohol‐related issues; and (3) whether the implementation as a whole influenced both practice and clinicians' willingness to engage. Evaluation included pre‐/post‐workshop and follow‐up questionnaires and a focus group. The findings presented indicate that distribution of clinical resources alone is not sufficient to ensure use and that, particularly for medical practitioners, appropriate introduction not only increases use but also positively influences willingness to engage with alcohol‐related problems as part of primary clinical care. Further, the enthusiasm for guideline production should be tempered by the need to develop effective implementation strategies.
Smoking behaviour among Indigenous secondary school students in North Queensland
Authors: LOWE JOHN B. , SAECK LYNETTE , BROUGH MARK , CARMONT SUE‐ANNE , CLAVARINO ALEXANDRA , STANTON WARREN , BALANDA KEVIN , SHANNON CINDY
Published: February 2004

This study investigated smoking behaviour among Indigenous youth. A sample of schools (n = 12) in north Queensland with large proportions of Indigenous students was selected. Details about the prevalence of smoking behaviour in both Indigenous and non‐Indigenous students (n = 883) were gathered. Data were also collected on the cultural, social, and psychological factors associated with cigarette smoking for Indigenous and non‐Indigenous students. This survey indicated smoking rates for Indigenous and non‐Indigenous students were 24% and 30%, respectively. The study found similarities between both groups regarding where they obtained their cigarettes (friends) and their reasons for not smoking (their parents and health). Results of this survey challenge the belief that Indigenous youth are significantly different in their smoking patterns and behaviours compared to non‐Indigenous secondary school students in rural regions. It indicated the potential importance of school communities in promoting non‐smoking behaviours among Indigenous students even in the face of strong normative pressures from elsewhere in the community. This survey can be used to monitor smoking prevalence among Indigenous secondary students in north Queensland, help guide the development of culturally appropriate school curriculum resources and contribute to the overall evaluation of smoking prevention and smoking cessation programs which are developed for Indigenous secondary school students.
England's “Black Tribunal“: an Analysis of the Regicide Court
Authors: Sachse William L.
Published: February 2004

On January 6, 1649 the House of Commons set its seal of approval on the agency by which Charles I would be tried and sentenced to death. By an Act “for erecting of a High Court of Justice for the Trying and Judging of Charles Stuart, King of England,” he was charged with “a wicked design totally to subvert the ancient and fundamental laws and liberties of this nation, and, in their place, to introduce an arbitrary and tyrannical government.” The Commons maintained that they had shown tolerance toward such “high and treasonable offenses.” But the King's persistence in perverse activities — his raising of “new commotions, rebellions and invasions” — had forced them to take the present course. They were determined that no future ruler should “presume traitorously or maliciously to imagine or contrive the enslaving or destroying of the English nation, and to expect impunity for so doing.” The measure designated one hundred and thirty-five persons to try and adjudge the royal defendant.

Thus came into being the most extraordinary judicial body to be met with in English history. Certainly, no court has ever been so vigorously disclaimed as to jurisdiction, or so bitterly vilified as to personnel. To the Cavaliers, who had fought for Charles at Marston Moor and Naseby, as well as to the Presbyterians, who had trooped under the banners of Parliament to reshape, but not destroy, the monarchy, the court and its works were anathema.
Politics and Feminism in “Outcast London”: George Lansbury and Jane Cobden's Campaign for the First London County Council
Authors: Schneer Jonathan
Published: February 2004

This article examines Jane Cobden's campaign for the London County Council (L.C.C.) in 1888–89 and its controversial aftermath. Cobden's effort, a pioneering political venture of British feminism, illuminates late-Victorian concepts of gender. It provides at once an anticipation of, and a distinct contrast to, the militant suffragism of the Edwardian era. In addition, it suggests new ways of thinking about the connection between women's-suffragist and labor politics. Perhaps because the campaign was a comparatively obscure incident when measured against the broad sweep of British political history, however, no scholar has done much more than sketch its bare outline. Hopefully, the fuller depiction provided below will accord it the treatment it really deserves.

This article approaches the subject from a tangent, however. Cobden's campaign was a significant if little-known episode not only in the history of British suffragism but also in the life of a man who went on to play a major role in British politics long after the first county council elections had been forgotten. This was George Lansbury, Cobden's political agent during 1888–89 and secretary of the Bow and Bromley Radical and Liberal Federation. Lansbury eventually became one of the main architects of the socialist movement in East London and a chief male supporter of the militant suffragettes during the Edwardian era (in 1912 he temporarily lost his seat in the House of Commons and went to prison on their behalf). He also became a founder and editor of the quintessential “rebel” newspaper, theDaily Herald(which was designated Labour's official organ after Lansbury left it in 1922), a pacifist opponent of World War I, and, from 1931 to 1935, leader of the Labour party itself.
Monetary Fundamentals and Exchange Rate Dynamics under Different Nominal Regimes
Authors: Sarno Lucio , Valente Giorgio , Wohar Mark E.
Published: February 2004

We investigate the dynamic relationship between the U.S. dollar exchange rate and its fundamentals across different exchange rate regimes using data from the late 1800s or early 1900s for six countries. For these countries there is evidence of a long‐run relation between the exchange rate and monetary fundamentals consistent with conventional exchange rate theories. Employing a multivariate regime‐switching framework, we find that the relative importance of exchange rates and fundamentals in restoring the long‐run equilibrium implied by the exchange rate–monetary fundamentals model varies significantly over time and is affected by the exchange rate regime in operation. (JELF31)
Growth Effects of Shifting from a Graduated‐rate Tax System to a Flat Tax
Authors: Cassou Steven P. , Lansing Kevin J.
Published: February 2004

We compute the growth effects of adopting a revenue‐neutral flat tax for both a human capital–based endogenous growth model and a standard neoclassical growth model. Long‐run growth effects are decomposed into the parts attributable to the flattening of the marginal tax schedule, the full expensing of physical‐capital investment, and the elimination of double taxation of business income. The most important element of the reform is the flattening of the marginal tax schedule. Without this element, the combined effects of the other parts of the reform can actually reduce long‐run growth. In the years immediately following the reform, the transition dynamics implied by the neoclassical growth model are quite similar to that of the endogenous growth model. (JEL E62, H21)
Threshold Effects in the U.S. Budget Deficit
Authors: Arestis Philip , Cipollini Andrea , Fattouh Bassam
Published: February 2004

We contribute to the debate on whether the U.S. large federal budget deficits are sustainable in the long run. We model the U.S. government deficit per capita as a threshold autoregressive process. We find evidence that the U.S. budget deficit is sustainable in the long run and that economic policy makers will only intervene to reduce per capita deficit when it reaches a certain threshold. (JELC32,E62)
Bidder Preferences among Auction Institutions
Authors: Ivanova‐Stenzel Radosveta , Salmon Timothy C.
Published: February 2004

This study examines bidder preferences between alternative auction institutions. We seek to characterize experimentally the degree to which bidders prefer an ascending auction to a sealed bid auction. We find very strong ceteris paribus preferences for the ascending institution with bidders choosing it overwhelmingly often when entry prices for the two auctions are the same. When the entry prices of the two auctions differ, many subjects can be shown to be willing to pay more to enter the ascending auction than is explainable by their risk attitudes when accounting for their expectations about the risk preferences of their opponents. (JEL C91, D44)
The Self‐serving Bias and Beliefs about Rationality
Authors: Kaplan Todd R. , Ruffle Bradley J.
Published: February 2004

Most previous experiments attempting to establish the existence of the self‐serving bias have confounded it with strategic behavior. We design an experiment that controls for strategic behavior (Haman effects) and isolates the bias itself. The self‐serving bias that we measure concerns beliefs about the rationality of others. We find very limited support for the existence of the bias. To help understand why the bias seems to hold in some settings but not in others, we discuss a distinction between biases that are self‐serving and those that are actually self‐defeating. (JEL C92)
Price Competition in Pharmaceuticals: The Case of Anti‐infectives
Authors: Wiggins Steven N. , Maness Robert
Published: February 2004

A fundamental question in industrial organization regards the relationship between price and the number of sellers. This relationship has been particularly important in the pharmaceutical industry where legislative changes were specifically designed to foster competition. Previous research on the pharmaceutical industry has shown generic entry has a mixed impact; generic prices fall rapidly with generic entry, whereas branded prices tend to increase or decrease only slightly. Using more complete data, focused on one segment of the pharmaceutical industry—anti‐infectives—we find that the relationship between pharmaceutical prices and the number of sellers is more like that found in other industries. (JEL L11, L65, D4)
Recreation Demand Choices and Revealed Values of Leisure Time
Authors: Larson Douglas M. , Shaikh Sabina L.
Published: February 2004

An approach to jointly estimating an endogenous marginal value of time function and a recreation budget share equation is developed. The specification requirements for the marginal value of time function, to ensure consistency with the maintained hypothesis of two binding constraints on choice, are articulated. The estimating model consistent with these requirements that nests several conventional treatments of the marginal value of time is highly significant. The general endogenous marginal value of time model outperforms other approaches and shows a more complex relationship between the marginal value of time and the individual's wage than has been used in previous work. (JEL J22, Q26)
Impacts of Long‐Range Increases in the Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standard
Authors: Kleit Andrew N.
Published: February 2004

This work models the impact of higher CAFE standards on producer and consumer welfare, gasoline consumption, externalities from increased driving, and the emissions of traditional pollutants. In particular, a long‐run 3.0 MPG increase in the CAFE standard is estimated to impose welfare losses of about $4 billion per year and save about 5.2 billion gallons of gasoline per year, for a hidden tax of $0.78 per gallon conserved. An 11‐cent‐per‐gallon increase in the gasoline tax would save the same amount of fuel at a welfare cost of about $290 million per year, or about one‐fourteenth the cost. (JEL L51, Q30)
Trade and Wage Inequality in Developing Countries
Authors: Marjit Sugata , Beladi Hamid , Chakrabarti Avik
Published: February 2004

In this article we provide a theoretical analysis of the possible impact of trade and fragmentation on the skilled–unskilled wage gap in a small developing economy. In particular, we illustrate the possibility of a decline in the relative wage of the unskilled labor following an improvement in the terms of trade. (JEL F1, F11, F12)
The Demand for Credit Cards: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances
Authors: Castronova Edward , Hagstrom Paul
Published: February 2004

We analyze data from the Survey of Consumer Finances estimate the response of credit card demand to standard price and income effects. We model credit card demand as a two‐stage process, with consumers obtaining limits in the first stage and then borrowing some fraction of those limits in the second. We estimate this model with a nested tobit procedure. We also treat the demand for limits as one equation in a two‐equation supply‐demand model. We estimate this model with simple 2SLS, instrumenting for the price variable, the interest rate. The results of the first model suggest that most of the action in the market is in the demand for limits, not the demand for balances. (JEL D1, G0)
Sample Selection in Models of Academic Performance
Authors: Cushing Matthew J. , McGarvey Mary G.
Published: February 2004

This article shows how admission and enrollment processes affect the interpretation of simple validation studies of academic performance. In a competitive market for students, optimal behavior of admissions committees and applicants drives the simple correlation between test scores and performance toward zero, regardless of the relationship in the population of prospective students. Data from our university's MBA program support the prediction that applicants exhibit a higher correlation between test scores and undergraduate GPAs than do current students. This suggests that standard validation studies will understate the importance of GMAT scores in predicting performance of potential MBA students. (JEL C24, I121, C52)
Are Political Freedoms Converging?
Authors: Nieswiadomy Michael L. , Strazicich Mark C.
Published: February 2004

This article tests for convergence of freedom using Freedom House's (2002) indices of political rights and civil liberties in 136 countries from 1972 to 2001. Time‐series tests, using structural breaks, are employed to test for stochastic and β‐convergence. Cross‐section tests are performed to examine the impact of legal systems, education, natural resources, economic freedom, and other variables. We find that political freedoms are converging for one‐half of the countries. Additionally, we find that the level of freedom is significantly related to the legal system, education, economic freedom, and natural resources. (JEL O57, O40, C3)
Exit Discrimination in the NBA: A Duration Analysis of Career Length
Authors: Groothuis Peter A. , Hill J. Richard
Published: February 2004

Using a panel study of annual NBA data (1989–99) we do not find evidence of exit discrimination on career length in the NBA. This result is inconsistent with results from data in the 1980s but is consistent with more recent findings that have measured wage discrimination in sports in the 1990s. In our semiparametric duration analysis, we find that performance variables are important in determining career length. These results suggest that team owners in the pursuit of championships keep talented players regardless of race. This is an affirmation of Becker's theoretical implications of market competition on discrimination. (JELJ71,J23)
C4d DNA sequence of complement C4B93 and recombination mechanisms for its generation
Authors: López‐Goyanes A. , Moreno M.A. , Ferre S. , Paz‐Artal E.
Published: February 2004

Abstract:  The present work reports the DNA sequence of the polymorphic region from the uncommon complement allele C4B93. It shows a new combination of Chido and Rodgers antigenicities and expresses reverse antigenicity because it carries Rodgers 1, 2, and 3. C4B93 could have arisen from an ancient, non‐homologous recombination between C4A3 (or C4A6) and C4B1a or from a homologous recombination between C4B1a and C4B5. These events would be enhanced by the presence of recombination promoting Escherichia coliχ‐like signals in the fragment between positions 1157 and 1186. The generation of the C4 polymorphism by recombination would explain the concerted evolution of C4 genes in primates.