Testing the theory underlying the success of point-of-choice prompts: A multi-component stair climbing intervention

Objectives

Point-of-choice prompts consistently increase stair climbing in public access settings. This study investigated the single and combined effects of a volitional and motivational component of a stair climbing intervention to test the theory underlying the success of point-of-choice prompts.

Design

Quasi-experimental, interrupted time series cross-over design.

Methods

Ascending stair/escalator choices were observed in a UK tram station (n = 38,187). Baseline observations (2 weeks; stage 1) preceded a 2-week point-of-choice prompt positioned alone (stage 2) followed by an additional message positioned at the top of each climb (6 weeks; stage 3). Four weeks after message removal, another baseline (2 weeks; stage 4) preceded installation of the intervention components in reverse order. Thus, the message positioned alone at the top of each climb (4 weeks, stage 5) was supplemented with the point-of-choice prompt (2 weeks, stage 6). Logistic regression analyses of stair/escalator choice included the independent variables of intervention components, gender, time of morning and pedestrian traffic volume.

Results

There was no change in stair climbing percentages when only one intervention component was used, i.e. only the point-of-choice or the message at the top of each climb. In contrast, stair climbing increased when both components of the intervention were installed. Additionally, men took the stairs more than women and stair climbing was more common earlier in the morning and at higher pedestrian traffic volumes.

Conclusions

A motivational component targeting intentions increased the effectiveness of a volitional point-of-choice prompt for stair climbing in a setting where choice of the stairs incurred a time penalty for pedestrians due to the site layout.     

The Slip Induction Task: Creating a window into cognitive control failures

Regardless of age, education, or social status, we all experience moments where we ask ourselves, "what was I thinking?!?" Typically, we experience errors of this sort, or slips of action, during routine tasks that require a whole sequence of movements. However, most action slip research has focused on creating response conflict within single movements. The Slip Induction Task (SIT) is a step toward creating response conflict within truer to life action routines. As such, the SIT attempts to induce action slips in a well-learned movement routine through the occasional presentation of unexpected cues. We find that the SIT is able to reliably induce action slips, especially when the unexpected cue necessitates a movement to an unexpected target location. Furthermore, when participants are able to avoid an action slip, these changes in movement routine are accompanied by a cost in speed.     

Discrete emotions elucidate the effects of crossed-categorization on prejudice

Three studies integrated crossed-categorization and discrete emotion approaches to prejudice and prejudice reduction. Study 1 made salient crossed-categorization using naturally occurring groups and examined the ability of emotions to account for prejudiced evaluations. Study 2 constructed novel crossed-categorizations in the laboratory to examine the role of appraisal-based emotions in evaluations of crossed-categories. Study 3 crossed gender and sexual orientation, for which elicited discrete emotions predict different evaluative responses than do shared and unshared group memberships alone. In all three studies, discrete emotions were able to account for the effects of crossed-categorization on evaluative measures of prejudice and revealed emotional paths to prejudice reduction which would be obscured by the evaluative measures alone. In Study 3, a discrete emotions approach better predicted evaluations than did shared and unshared group membership alone. These results converge to highlight the importance of discrete emotions in understanding the evaluative implications of crossed-categorization, especially for prejudice reduction.     

Hierarchical integration of agency and communion: a study of influential moral figures

The purpose of this research is to (a) identify which of recent history's influential figures did and which did not personify moral excellence, and (b) to examine the motives that drove these individuals along such divergent paths. In Study 1, 102 social scientists evaluated the moral qualities of influential figures from Time Magazine's lists. In Study 2, we selected the 15 top ranking of these figures to comprise a moral exemplar group and the bottom 15 to comprise a comparison group of similarly influential people. We measured the motivational aspects of their personality (agency and communion) by content-analyzing extant speeches and interviews. Moral exemplars exhibited the hierarchical integration of agency and communion by treating agentic motives as a means to an end of communal motives. Comparison subjects, by contrast, personified unmitigated agency by treating motives of agency as both a means to an end and an end unto itself. These results imply that both the strength and structure of a person's motives account for moral behavior.     

Health Programming for Clergy: An Overview of Protestant Programs in the United States

The health of clergy is important, and clergy may find health programming tailored to them more effective. Little is known about existing clergy health programs. We contacted Protestant denominational headquarters and searched academic databases and the Internet. We identified 56 clergy health programs and categorized them into prevention and personal enrichment; counseling; marriage and family enrichment; peer support; congregational health; congregational effectiveness; denominational enrichment; insurance/strategic pension plans; and referral-based programs. Only 13 of the programs engaged in outcomes evaluation. Using the Socioecological Framework, we found that many programs support individual-level and institutional-level changes, but few programs support congregational-level changes. Outcome evaluation strategies and a central repository for information on clergy health programs are needed.     

Using the Interactive Systems Framework in Understanding the Relation Between General Program Capacity and Implementation in Afterschool Settings

The present study uses the Interactive Systems Framework (ISF) to understand how general capacity influences the implementation of prevention programs in afterschool settings. Eight afterschool sites received the Good Behavior Game (GBG) intervention, a program designed to foster supportive behavioral management and positive youth behavior. In line with the Prevention Support System component of ISF, the intervention afterschool staff were trained and received weekly on-site support from coaches in implementing the GBG. It was found that GBG implementation scores were greatest in afterschool programs that rated high on both organizational- and community-levels of general capacity; high scores on only one level of general capacity resulted in lower implementation scores. Thus, afterschool sites that were more organized, maintained adequate facilities, and developed strong linkages to individuals or organizations in the community scored highest in implementation fidelity and quality. This study highlights the importance of considering interactions among multiple levels of general capacity in efforts to promote evidence-based practices in afterschool settings. Caution should be taken in generalizing findings due to the small sample in this study.     

Testosterone, cortisol, and serotonin as key regulators of social aggression: A review and theoretical perspective

In human and non-human animals the steroid hormones cortisol and testosterone are involved in social aggression and recent studies suggest that these steroids might jointly regulate this behavior. It has been hypothesized that the imbalance between cortisol and testosterone levels is predictive for aggressive psychopathology, with high testosterone to cortisol ratio predisposing to a socially aggressive behavioral style. In this review, we focus on the effects of cortisol and testosterone on human social aggression, as well as on how they might modulate the aggression circuitry of the human brain. Recently, serotonin is hypothesized to differentiate between impulsive and instrumental aggression, and we will briefly review evidence on this hypothesis. The aim of this article is to provide a theoretical framework for the role of steroids and serotonin in impulsive social aggression in humans.     

Day-to-day variability in nap duration predicts medical morbidity in older adults

Objective: The objectives for the present study were to (a) examine within-person variability of nap duration and (b) assess how variability in nap duration is related to the number of health conditions in a sample of older adults. For highly variable behaviors such as sleep, it is important to consider fluctuations within the person instead of solely comparing averages of behaviors across persons. Method: Data were drawn from a previous study examining sleep in 103 community-dwelling older adults. Subjective estimates of napping behavior were obtained from sleep diaries and objective estimates of napping behavior were obtained using actigraphy. Both measures were collected for 14 consecutive days. The sampled data were aggregated in terms of (a) average daily time spent napping and (b) average within-person fluctuations in daily nap duration. The health measure consisted of the number of self-reported health conditions. Results: Both the objective and subjective measures revealed that there was considerable day-to-day fluctuation in nap duration and that variability in nap duration, not mean duration, uniquely predicted the number of health conditions, b = .03, b* = .26, t(100) = 2.71, p = .01. Conclusions: Duration of napping in older adults is a highly variable behavior, fluctuating as much within- as between-persons. Furthermore, variability in nap duration from day to day is predictive of greater medical morbidity, suggesting that clinicians should assess for inconsistencies in nap behavior in addition to duration, frequency, and timing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Body image, shape, and volumetric assessments using 3D whole body laser scanning and 2D digital photography in females with a diagnosed eating disorder: preliminary novel findings

We piloted three-dimensional (3D) body scanning in eating disorder (ED) patients. Assessments of 22 ED patients (including nine anorexia nervosa (AN) patients, 12 bulimia nervosa (BN) patients, and one patient with eating disorder not otherwise specified) and 22 matched controls are presented. Volunteers underwent visual screening, two-dimensional (2D) digital photography to assess perception and dissatisfaction (via computerized image distortion), and adjunctive 3D full-body scanning. Patients and controls perceived themselves as bigger than their true shape (except in the chest region for controls and anorexia patients). All participants wished to be smaller across all body regions. Patients had poorer veridical perception and greater dissatisfaction than controls. Perception was generally poorer and dissatisfaction greater in bulimia compared with anorexia patients. 3D-volume:2D-area relationships showed that anorexia cases had least tissue on the torso and most on the arms and legs relative to frontal area. The engagement of patients with the scanning process suggests a validation study is viable. This would enable mental constructs of body image to be aligned with segmental volume of body areas, overcoming limitations, and errors associated with 2D instruments restricted to frontal (coronal) shapes. These novel data could inform the design of clinical trials in adjunctive treatments for eating disorders.     

Color categories and color appearance

We examined categorical effects in color appearance in two tasks, which in part differed in the extent to which color naming was explicitly required for the response. In one, we measured the effects of color differences on perceptual grouping for hues that spanned the blue-green boundary, to test whether chromatic differences across the boundary were perceptually exaggerated. This task did not require overt judgments of the perceived colors, and the tendency to group showed only a weak and inconsistent categorical bias. In a second case, we analyzed results from two prior studies of hue scaling of chromatic stimuli (De Valois, De Valois, Switkes, & Mahon, 1997; Malkoc, Kay, & Webster, 2005), to test whether color appearance changed more rapidly around the blue-green boundary. In this task observers directly judge the perceived color of the stimuli and these judgments tended to show much stronger categorical effects. The differences between these tasks could arise either because different signals mediate color grouping and color appearance, or because linguistic categories might differentially intrude on the response to color and/or on the perception of color. Our results suggest that the interaction between language and color processing may be highly dependent on the specific task and cognitive demands and strategies of the observer, and also highlight pronounced individual differences in the tendency to exhibit categorical responses.