Determining Factors in Choice of Arcade Games and their Consequences upon Young Male Players

Two experiments, one conducted with male university students and the other with male high school and junior high school students, investigated (a) determinants of preferences for driving-type games widely available in public game arcades, and (b) the effects of extended play upon mood and motivation to continue playing. Four games were investigated: these were Death Race and Demolition Derby , which simulate violent, antisocial driving behavior; and Night Driver and Le Mans , which simulate skilled prosocial driving behavior. Preference for arcade games simulating aggressive behavior was found to be independent of personality and mood. However, preferences were closely related to the performers' c]apabilities. Players who exhibited higher levels of skill preferred the more skilldemanding games and those who showed less skill preferred aggression games, suggesting the operation of competency motivation in that the players preferred games appropriate to their level of skill. Subjects reported that the games were exciting, but extended play produced discomfort or an increase in negatively toned moods (fatigue, anxiety, and depression) and a decrease in positively toned moods (social affection, surgency, skepticism, concentration and vigor). However, these effects were not found to be a function of the anti- or prosocial content in the specific games studied and may well be effects accompanying activities that are subjectively fatiguing.     

Changing industry to continuous operations: Different strokes for different plants

A survey method was designed to evaluate the effect of shift work on industrial workers and to develop recommendations for 7-day around-the-clock production work systems. A Work-Sleep Survey was then offered to 2,340 hourly and salaried workers at four plants. Each plant was in the rubber and plastic products industry and on 5-day around-the-clock operations using permanent shifts. Of the total workers, 90.38% responded to the survey. The results agree with the findings of a previous survey, offered to workers through their unions, using many of the same survey items. The plants were found to differ in worker demographics, habits, and preferences. This survey method is helpful as an aid for the design and evaluation of shift-work systems tailored to specific worker and plant requirements.     

An Absolutist Theory of Faultless Disagreement in Aesthetics

Some philosophers writing on the possibility of faultless disagreement have argued that the only way to account for the intuition that there could be disagreements which are faultless in every sense is to accept a relativistic semantics. In this article we demonstrate that this view is mistaken by constructing an absolutist semantics for a particular domain – aesthetic discourse – which allows for the possibility of genuinely faultless disagreements. We argue that this position (Humean absolutism) is an improvement over previous absolutist responses to the relativist's challenge and that it presents an independently plausible account of the semantics of aesthetic discourse.     

A comparison of analysis methods to estimate contingency strength

To date, several data analysis methods have been used to estimate contingency strength, yet few studies have compared these methods directly. To compare the relative precision and sensitivity of four analysis methods (i.e., exhaustive event‐based, nonexhaustive event‐based, concurrent interval, concurrent+lag interval), we applied all methods to a simulated data set in which several response‐dependent and response‐independent schedules of reinforcement were programmed. We evaluated the degree to which contingency strength estimates produced from each method (a) corresponded with expected values for response‐dependent schedules and (b) showed sensitivity to parametric manipulations of response‐independent reinforcement. Results indicated both event‐based methods produced contingency strength estimates that aligned with expected values for response‐dependent schedules, but differed in sensitivity to response‐independent reinforcement. The precision of interval‐based methods varied by analysis method (concurrent vs. concurrent+lag) and schedule type (continuous vs. partial), and showed similar sensitivities to response‐independent reinforcement. Recommendations and considerations for measuring contingencies are identified.     

Development and validation of a brief self-report measure of trauma exposure: the Trauma History Screen

Although information about individuals' exposure to highly stressful events such as traumatic stressors is often very useful for clinicians and researchers, available measures are too long and complex for use in many settings. The Trauma History Screen (THS) was developed to provide a very brief and easy-to-complete self-report measure of exposure to high magnitude stressor (HMS) events and of events associated with significant and persisting posttraumatic distress (PPD). The measure assesses the frequency of HMS and PPD events, and it provides detailed information about PPD events. Test-retest reliability was studied in four samples, and temporal stability was good to excellent for items and trauma types and excellent for overall HMS and PPD scores. Comprehensibility of items was supported by expert ratings of how well items appeared to be understood by participants with relatively low reading levels. In five samples, construct validity was supported by findings of strong convergent validity with a longer measure of trauma exposure and by correlations of HMS and PPD scores with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The psychometric properties of the THS appear to be comparable or better than longer and more complex measures of trauma exposure.     

American Indian methamphetamine and other drug use in the Southwestern United States

To investigate the extent of methamphetamine and other drug use among American Indians (AIs) in the Four Corners region, we developed collaborations with Southwestern tribal entities and treatment programs in and around New Mexico. We held nine focus groups, mostly with Southwestern AI participants (N = 81) from three diverse New Mexico communities to understand community members, treatment providers, and clients/relatives views on methamphetamine. We conducted a telephone survey of staff (N = 100) from agencies across New Mexico to assess perceptions of methamphetamine use among people working with AI populations. We collected and analyzed self-reported drug use data from 300 AI clients/relatives who completed the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) in the context of treatment at three diverse addiction treatment programs. Each focus group offered a unique perspective about the effect of drugs and alcohol on each respective community. Though data from the phone surveys and ASIs suggested concerning rates of methamphetamine use, with women more adversely affected by substance use in general, alcohol was identified as the biggest substance use problem for AI populations in the Southwest. There appears to be agreement that methamphetamine use is a significant problem in these communities, but that alcohol is much more prevalent and problematic. There was less agreement about what should be done to prevent and treat methamphetamine use. Future research should attend to regional and tribal differences due to variability in drug use patterns, and should focus on identifying and improving dissemination of effective substance use interventions.