Development of a Research Instrument for Evaluating the Visitor Outcomes of Face-to-Face Interpretation

ABSTRACT

This article details the development, testing, and refinement of a set of indicators and a data collection instrument designed to be used to evaluate the outcomes of face-to-face interpretation across a range of heritage-based visitor settings and experiences. One of a suite of data collection instruments, the self-completing visitor questionnaire incorporates a set of indicators that (a) reflects the types of visitor outcomes that managers actually want from their interpretive programs; (b) is theoretically valid based on what is known about the potential cognitive, affective, and behavioural outcomes of interpretation, and (c) requires minimal effort, expense, and little or no social research expertise to collect and analyse the data, yet produces results with acceptable validity and reliability. While management and industry-driven, the research is underpinned by some thirty years of evaluation theory and practice, and is thus grounded in theories of psychology and human behaviour and methods from the social sciences and from applied program evaluation. This makes the final set of indicators an important contribution to the literature, and the questionnaire itself a useful and practical tool for those whose expertise and responsibilities lie primarily with managing and delivering rather than researching and evaluating the outcomes of interpretation.     

Applicant Gender and Family Structure: Effects on Perceived Relocation Commitment and Spouse Resistance

Within the context of a controlled laboratory study, the effects of applicant gender, marital type (single earner, dual earner), and parental status (child, no child) on perceptions of job applicant commitment to a move involving geographic relocation and expected family resistance to the move were investigated. The results indicated that gender and family structure variables interacted in their influence on the dependent variables. Participants also provided reasons for their ratings of perceived commitment. Content analysis revealed 4 themes underlying participant responses: family concerns, goals and motivation of applicant, experience of applicant, and individual differences.     

Contour displacements and tracking errors: Probing ’twixt Poggendorff parallels

Explanations of the Poggendorff effect were tested by varying the separation between outer parallels and by adding interior parallels. Error decreased with the addition of interior parallels, which can be explained by repulsion of parallels. A strong linear trend existed for judgmental error in millimeters plotted against separation between outer parallels. The nonzero intercept of a best-fit line and the slight nonlinearity of the data suggest a hypothesis of contour repulsion between parallels at moderate separations coupled with mistracking of the transversal across the region between parallels. Since the Poggendorff effect was independent of viewing distance, perceptual errors cannot be explained by purely peripheral mechanisms. A true intersection between transversal and parallel was the most critical feature of a display. Inverting a display increased the mean error.     

Children’s Maternal Support-Seeking: Relations to Maternal Emotion Socialization Responses and Children’s Emotion Management

The present study examined children’s support-seeking of mothers (SSM) as a moderator of the association between maternal emotion socialization responses and children’s emotion management. Participants included 119 mother–child dyads (63 boys, M age = 9.61 years, 73.1 % Caucasian). Maternal emotion socialization was assessed via observed mother–child interactions and child report. Analyses indicated several main effects such that child-reported maternal reward responses were associated with stronger child emotion management, whereas perceived maternal punishment and neglect were associated with poorer child emotion management. Regarding the significant interactions, observed maternal general unsupportive socialization responses were negatively associated with emotion management. Additionally, for children low in SSM, child-reported maternal overriding of children’s emotions was positively associated with better emotion management. Support-seeking of mothers may mitigate the risk of some unsupportive maternal socialization responses and may be an adaptive strategy in middle childhood in particular contexts.     

The interplay of persuasion inference and flow experience in an entertaining food advergame

Increasingly, unhealthy food is being advertised through online games known as advergames. The advergame is designed for entertaining fun to promote the brand featured in the game. But what happens if the food advertised is healthy or the source of the game is non‐commercial? This study examines how people's entertainment (flow experience) interacts with their inference about the persuasion impact of food brands featured in an advergame, which vary according to their persuasion knowledge about the source (e.g., non‐commercial versus commercial) and the perceived persuasion effect on self (e.g., beneficial versus harmful). Results of an experiment show that flow is positively associated with persuasion effects of the advergame. Brand attitudes and purchase intentions were the most favorable for non‐commercial brands with perceived benefits (healthy food) followed by commercial brands (healthy food) and commercial brands with harmful effects (less healthy food). However, persuasion effects for purchase intention were mitigated when participants were immersed in a flow state. Ramifications for persuasion and health promotions are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of in utero exposure to maternal depression and natural disaster-related stress on infant temperament at 6 months: The children of Superstorm Sandy

This study examined the effects of in utero exposure to maternal depression and Superstorm Sandy, a hurricane that hit metropolitan New York in 2012, on infant temperament at 6 months. Temperament was assessed using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised. Maternal depression was measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The main effects and the interaction of maternal depression and Sandy exposure on infant temperament were examined using a multivariable generalized linear model. Results show that prenatal maternal depression was associated with lower emotion regulation and greater distress. Stratification and interaction analyses suggested that the adverse effects of prenatal maternal depression on problematic temperament were amplified by in utero Sandy exposure. This study underscores the importance of providing prenatal screening and treatment for maternal depression during pregnancy while also identifying high-risk families who may have suffered from disaster-related traumas to provide necessary services. As the frequency of natural disasters may increase due to climate change, it is important to understand the consequences of in utero stress on child development and to formulate plans for early identification.     

‘A necessary evil’: associations with taking medication and their relationship with medication adherence

Cognitive factors, like beliefs, have been studied extensively as determinants of medication adherence, while affect associated with taking medicines has been studied much less. In the present study (N = 525), we investigated affect by assessing patients’ first associations with taking their medicines. Results showed that these associations were related to self-reported medication adherence: Patients who associated taking medicines with negative affect were the least adherent, while those associating taking medicines with the need to take medicines were the most adherent. Our results support the idea that affect should be considered an important determinant of adherence.     

Missional Formation at the Evangelical Seminary of Theology in Matanzas,Cuba

The author points out that Cuba is going through a special kairos, a time of transition, where (a) civil society is becoming increasingly active in the Cuban economy; (b) Cuban society is still in the process of digesting the meaning of the normalization of relations with the United States; and finally (c) the churches and religion in general are playing a more dynamic role in Cuban society. The author, on behalf of the hosting institution, the Evangelical Seminary of Theology in Matanzas, Cuba, reflects on the theme of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism consultation, after making reference to the historical development of missiological training in its 70 years of existence.