When is individual mobility costly? The role of economic and social identity factors

Two studies considered when the individual mobility strategy of attending university has psychological costs in terms of poor adjustment to university life. Study 1, (N = 74) examined both economic considerations affecting university choice and identity‐related factors among open day attendees. Expected identification as a university student and preparedness for university life was affected by economic factors (economic benefit of university attendance and status of the considered universities) but also negatively related to perceived incompatibility with one's social background. These findings were replicated in a longitudinal study in which students' perceptions were assessed before entering university (T1), after being at university for two months (T2) and again after being at university for 8 months (T3; N = 109). Social class (T1) predicted perceived incompatibility but not economic factors. In addition, economic factors and incompatibility predicted group identification (T2) but only perceived incompatibility predicted longer‐term identification (T3). Belief that university education serves as a successful individual mobility strategy (T3) was indirectly negatively affected by initial incompatibility (T1), but positively with perceiving economic benefits of a university degree (T1). Implications for the (economic) benefits versus (identity) costs of individual mobility strategies are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A computerized test for the assessment of mild cognitive impairment subtypes in sentence processing

This study examines thesentence processing ability of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subtypes. In addition to standard MCI neuropsychological tests, an experimental approach was applied to assess language. 133 people (93 MCI/40 controls) participated in novel computerized sentence processing tasks. Results presented statistically significant differences between MCI/controls andMCI subtypes (ANOVA):(a) duration F(2,92) = 19.259,p < .001) in sentence construction; (b) correct answers (F(2, 89) = 8.560,p < .001) and duration (F2,89) = 15.525,p < .001)in text comprehension; (c) correct answers (F(2, 92) = 8.975,p < .001) andduration (F(2, 92) = 4.360,p = .016) in metaphoric sentences comprehension; (d) correct answers (F(2, 92) = 12.836,p < .001) andduration (F(2, 92) = 10.974,p < .001) in verb form generation. Subtle changes in MCIsubtypes could affect sentence processing and provide useful information for cognitive decline risk estimation and screening purposes.     

Concurrent Cortical Representations of Function- and Size-Related Object Affordances: An fMRI Study

Previous work has shown that the perception of a graspable object may automatically potentiate actions that are tailored to specific action-related features of the object (e.g., its size) and may be related to its immediate grasping as well as to its long-term, functional use. We investigated the neural correlates of function- and size-related object affordances that may be concurrently potentiated by a graspable object. Participants were lying in a MR scanner holding a large switch in one hand and a small switch in the other hand. They passively attended a large or a small object with clearly separated functional and graspable end that was displayed centrally at an average angle of 45 degrees. Participants responded to the direction of an arrow that was overlaid on the object after a mean period of 1,000 ms after object onset and was pointing to the left or to the right with equal probability. Response times were shorter when the arrow pointed to the functional end of the object and when the responses were made with the switch that was congruent to the size of the perceived object. A clear distinction was found in the representation of function- and size-related affordances; the former was represented in the posterior parietal cortex and the latter in prefrontal, premotor, and primary sensorimotor cortices. We conclude that different aspects of object-directed actions may be automatically potentiated by individual object features and are represented in distinct brain areas.     

Multi-criteria evaluation of climate policy interactions

The effectiveness of a national climate policy instrument is affected by the presence of policy interactions with other instruments that were not forecasted before its implementation. The problem can be confronted during the design of the instrument by determining forms, types and size of emerging interactions. This paper presents a systematic approach for evaluating the aggregate effect of interactions using a combination of three multi-criteria methods, the analytical hierarchy process, the multi-attribute utility theory and the Simple Multi-Attribute Ranking Technique. The first is used for determining the weight coefficients for interaction forms and sub-criteria. The other two are used for grading policy interactions under a set of three criteria and their sub-criteria. The method is tested for two pairs of interactive instruments, IPPC and EU-ETS, EU-ETS and policies for the promotion of RES, within the Hellenic climate policy framework. Consistency and robustness tests are performed. Results are commented. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimum route of the south transcontinental gas pipeline in SE Europe using AHP

The development of a south energy corridor connecting Europe with the natural gas reserves of the broader Caspian Region and Middle East aims at increasing the EU security and diversification of energy supply. In this paper, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method with geopolitical, economic and technical criteria is applied to define the most preferred route of the transcontinental gas pipeline that branches in SE Europe to transport Caspian gas further into the targeted markets of Europe. The paper is divided into five sections. The first introduces the purpose of the paper. The second describes the used AHP method in detail (criteria, sub-criteria, weights, consistency indexes). The third briefly addresses the need of EU to diversify its supply sources and the planned gas projects in SE Europe. In the fourth section, the method is applied to the four alternative pipeline routes and the robustness of the results is examined with sensitivity analysis. The fifth section comments on the results of the method. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theology and Politics in Contemporary Greece

This article examines the interaction between theology and politics in the case of the “theology of the 1960s,” a theological renewal movement that emerged in Greece in the 1960s, accompanied by the call for a “return to the Fathers.” The first part of the paper seeks to describe the position of the theology of the 1960s toward politics, while the second considered the position of politics after 1974 toward the theology of the 1960s. It concludes that there was a partial instrumentalization of the theology of the 1960s for tactical political ends. This was a missed opportunity leading to politics becoming devoid of all spiritual content, while theology lost its feedback from social experience and its penetration into society. The article concludes by making several suggestions for the tasks that lie ahead, including the need to cultivate a critical history of the political intervention and the social role of Orthodox theology, and to expand the issues that concern Orthodox theology, such as anthropology or cosmology, to embrace questions of the role of the meaning of history and progressive change in human society.     

Intergroup anxiety from the self and other: Evidence from self‐report,physiological effects,and real interactions

Intergroup anxiety has become important in understanding the success or failure of intergroup contact. In this paper, we suggest that intergroup anxiety is made up from two constructs: self‐anxiety (anxiety over thinking or doing something that is prejudiced) and other‐anxiety (anxiety that the other might do something to you). Over four studies, we show how these two dimensions have different correlates and independently predict psychophysiological reactivity to an intergroup interaction. Other‐anxiety was associated with negative intergroup attitudes and negative affect. In contrast, self‐anxiety had no simple relationship with conventional measures of intergroup attitudes but was associated with a flattening of responses that were indicative of freezing (Study 3) and simultaneous approach and avoidance (Study 4). We suggest that whereas other‐anxiety is associated with negative affect and avoidance, self‐anxiety is associated with ‘freezing’ responses to intergroup interaction. Thus, the distinction between these two constructs has important repercussions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of visual perception of self-motion on locomotor adaptation to unilateral limb loading

Self-perception of motion through visual stimulation may be important for adapting to locomotor conditions. Unilateral limb loading is a locomotor condition that can improve stability and reduce abnormal limb movement. In the present study, the authors investigated the effect of self-perception of motion through virtual reality (VR) on adaptation to unilateral limb loading. Healthy young adults, assigned to either a VR or a non-VR group, walked on a treadmill in the following 3 locomotor task periods--no load, loaded, and load removed. Subjects in the VR group viewed a virtual corridor during treadmill walking. Exposure to VR reduced cadence and muscle activity. During the loaded period, the swing time of the unloaded limb showed a larger increase in the VR group. When the load was removed, the swing time of the previously loaded limb and the stance time of the previously unloaded limb showed larger decrease and the swing time of the previously unloaded limb showed a smaller increase in the VR group. Lack of visual cues may cause the adoption of cautious strategies (higher muscle activity, shorter and more frequent steps, changes in the swing and stance times) when faced with situations that require adaptations. VR technology, providing such perceptual cues, has an important role in enhancing locomotor adaptation.     

Goal orientations at the global level of generality and in physical education: Their association with self-regulation,affect, beliefs and behaviours

ObjectiveLife skills programs should ensure that their effects generalize across contexts and activities. Three studies are presented examining the construct validity of an instrument assessing global goal orientations in life in conjunction with a measure of goal orientations in physical education. It was also investigated whether the effects of global goal orientations generalize across contexts.MethodParticipants were middle school students (N = 351, N = 580 and N = 658) who completed the two goal orientations instruments, measures of self-regulation, affect and beliefs at the global level of generality and specific to the physical education domain and measures of exercise and academic behaviours.ResultsMulti-sample factor analysis established the factorial validity of the global goal orientations' instrument and the distinctiveness of global goals from achievement goals in physical education. Controlling for social desirability effects, the partial correlations of goal orientations in life with global intrinsic–extrinsic motivation, life satisfaction, pleasant and unpleasant affect in life, purposes of life and perceived purposes of physical education, locomotion and assessment, metacognition in physical education, exercise and academic behaviours, were in the expected direction. In general, global goals made a significant contribution to the explanation of variance of global constructs, while achievement goals in physical education made a unique contribution to the explanation of variance of physical education specific constructs.DiscussionThe results support the construct validity of the instrument assessing global goal orientations in life. They also indicate that global goal orientations are distinct constructs from goal orientations in physical education. The global goal orientations' measure can be particularly useful for practitioners teaching interdisciplinary and life skills.     

Verbal aggressiveness of physical education teachers and students' self-reports of behavior

The purpose of this study was to develop a test for describing verbally aggressive behaviors of physical education teachers as perceived by secondary school students. The sample of 130 students (70 boys and 60 girls) were students in the second year of secondary school in Greece. 12 items designed for students were structured to describe possible verbal aggressive behaviors of physical education teachers as perceived by students and students' intention to respond. Exploratory factor analysis using the principal components method and varimax rotation yielded three factors, namely, (i) personal insults, threats, irony and their effect, (ii) intention to respond, and (iii) insults and threats toward others. Eigenvalues were greater than 1.00 for each of three factors which accounted for 69% of the total variance. Values of Cronbach alpha were .86, .88, and .78 for the three factors, respectively.