Adaptation to difficult designs: Facilitating use of new technology

The interface between technology and people has long been the focus of human factors engineering. The past decade has been a growth period for cognitive psychologists and computer scientists to collaborate on research and design for human-computer interaction. Psychologists in general and organizational psychologists in particular can also contribute to this work with models that capture the dynamics of technology implementation and the impact of technology on people, their work and working relationships. Strategies to support and adapt technology can affect users' evaluation of new technology. Facilitation may take the form of job aids, training, access to technical support staff, or the design of a comprehensive service, of which new technology is only one component.The work described in this article was conducted while the author was employed at AT&T Bell Laboratories.Portions of this article were presented at the 1991 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco, and at a 1992 meeting of the New York Metropolitan Human Factors Society. The author wishes to acknowledge Pamela Kidder, Karen Patten and Larry Penwell for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.     

Age trends in early behavioral predictors of serious antisocial behaviors

A risk group of disruptive boys (N=65) identified in kindergarten was assessed using the same procedures at ages 6–7, 8–9, and 10–11. Criteria used to define the predictors and criterion variable were the same at all assessment times. Severity was addressed by comparing different forms of behaviors, considering the extent of harmful consequences to others (aggressiveness was considered as most harmful, whereas inattention was considered as least harmful), manifestation in multiple settings, and extreme scores (manipulation of cutoff scores). Different assessment strategies (direct observations, ratings) and different informants (trained observers, mothers and teachers) were used. Aggressiveness as rated by mothers was highly stable from age 6 to age 11. Inattention as rated by teachers was stable only from age 6 to age 9, whereas no stability was found for observations of task inappropriate behaviors. Taskinappropriate behaviors observed in mother-child interactions and in multiple settings at age 6–7 were significant predictors of self-reported antisocial behaviors at age 12, but this prediction was not repeated at ages 8–9 and 10–11. Teacher ratings of inattention at ages 6–7 and 8–9 were also significant predictors of self-reported antisocial behaviors at age 12. The predictive power was much lower when mothers' ratings of aggressiveness were used. Findings from the present study support the hypothesis that some antisocial behavior precursors are age dependent, in that they are more characteristic of certain age groups than of others. Implications for the selection of assessment screening procedures are discussed.     

Taking aim on empowerment research: On the distinction between individual and psychological conceptions

Empowerment theory need not remain a mystery. Efforts, such as those described in this special section, to outline more clearly the nomological network of empowerment at multiple levels of analysis will advance empowerment theory. Tough-minded rigorous research is needed to advance the concept of empowerment. Empowerment research requires us to shift our attention from a debate between the merits of research at one level of analysis versus another to building bridges between levels of analysis. We must integrate theories and methods from other disciplines and develop research strategies that incorporate qualitative procedures and the voices of the research participants. The papers in this special section take aim on these tasks and add to our understanding of empowerment.     

Significance,structure, and gender differences in life domains of college students

The purpose of this study was to assess the significance and structure of life domains of college students and to explore the patterns of gender differences on different indices of significance. Four hundred fifty-seven college students rated 21 life domains in terms of degree of importance, frequency of involvement, and level of impact. They also responded to a measure of global life satisfaction. Gender differences on significance indices were investigated by means of three types of analyses. First, gender mean ratings on 21 life domains were compared via one-way multivariate analyses of variance. Second, the underlying dimensions of the 21 domains for each gender were compared via exploratory factor analyses. Third, the correlation patterns between perceived positive impact of each life domain and life satisfaction were calculated separately for men and women. Within-group comparisons revealed that men and women shared the same nine most significant domains: education, friends, biological needs, leisure, family, health, couple, esthetics, and physical activities. However, several gender differences were consistently found in the three types of analyses. The results indicated that although traditionally feminine domains are rated as more significant to women than men, traditional masculine domains were rated as equally significant by men and women. Domains considered sex role neutral (e.g., personal planning) were rated as more significant by women than men. In general, women appear to experience greater cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of significance in a wider spectrum of activities and as well perceive their general life satisfaction as deriving from a broader range of sources. Results also highlight the importance of assessing the degree of significance of life domains as an initial step in the development of multidimensional self-related constructs.Preparation of this paper was made possible through grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Fonds pour la Formation des Chercheurs et l'Aide à la Recherche (FCAR-Québec) and the Université du Québec à Montréal. We would like to thank Richard Koestner and Richard Bourhis for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

IBM PC/XT/AT and PS/2 Turbo Pascal timing with extended resolution

A Turbo Pascal timer with accuracy beyond 1 msec is described. Unlike some previous timers, this one does not interfere with the time-of-day clock, and works well on an unmodified IBM PC/XT.     

On the proof of Solovay's theorem

Solovay's 1976 completeness result for modal provability logic employs the recursion theorem in its proof. It is shown that the uses of the recursion theorem can in this proof be replaced by the diagonalization lemma for arithmetic and that, in effect, the proof neatly fits the framework of another, enriched, system of modal logic (the so-called Rosser logic of Gauspari-Solovay, 1979) so that any arithmetical system for which this logic is sound is strong enough to carry out the proof, in particular I₀+EXP. The method is adapted to obtain a similar completeness result for the Rosser logic.     

Expansion strategies of a mutual help organization

Described a study of the expansion strategies of a successful self- and mutual help organization for persons with mental illness. Resource mobilization and behavior-setting theories were used as conceptual frameworks to guide the investigation. Collaborative methods and a grounded theory approach were used. Archives, reports of contacts outside of the organization, and naturalistic observations were data sources. Of particular interest are the processes used by the organization to mobilize internal and external resources and to start new mutual help groups. Results suggest that the organization mobilizes resources from a variety of sources, displays flexibility in securing resources and defining organizational roles, and creates underpopulated settings to encourage individual involvement. The strategies appear to avoid overtaxing resource pools, reduce role ambiguity, and encourage pluralistic participation. Discussion includes several potential explanations for the successful growth of the organization.     

Algorithms for randomness in the behavioral sciences: A tutorial

Simulations and experiments frequently demand the generation of random numbers that have specific distributions. This article describes which distributions should be used for. the most common problems and gives algorithms to generate the numbers. It is also shown that a commonly used permutation algorithm (Nilsson, 1978) is deficient.     

Development of the Basel Version of the Awareness of Social Inference Test – Theory of Mind (BASIT-ToM) in healthy adults

Impairments of Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities occur in a wide range of brain disorders. Therefore, reliable and ecologically valid examination of these abilities is a crucial part of any comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. An established and ecologically valid, English-language test identifying deficits in ToM abilities is “The Awareness of Social Inference Test – Social Inference Minimal (TASIT-SIM)”. However, no comparable German-language ToM test currently exists. In this study, we aimed to develop the first German-language adaption of TASIT-SIM in healthy adults. We selected 13 scenes [four scenes per message type (i.e., honesty, simple sarcasm, paradoxical sarcasm) and one practice scene] out of the 30 TASIT-SIM scenes. In collaboration with a film institute, we filmed each scene at three different intensities. These intensity version scenes were then administered to 240 healthy adults, equally distributed in sex and age, ranging from 35 to 92 years. By applying Rasch analysis, we selected intensity versions that showed neither floor nor ceiling effects in the majority of ToM questions in participants whose ToM abilities were in the medium range. In conclusion, we have developed the first German-language adaption of TASIT-SIM, i.e., the “Basel Version of the Awareness of Social Inference Test – Theory of Mind (BASIT-ToM)”. The BASIT-ToM incorporates the strengths of TASIT-SIM, while overcoming its limitations such as inconsistencies in cinematic realization and ceiling effects in healthy participants. Next, the BASIT-ToM needs to be validated in healthy people and clinical populations.     

Community engagement,greening, and violent crime: A test of the greening hypothesis and Busy Streets

Researchers have documented that vacant lot greening can reduce community-level crime and violence. Busy Streets Theory (BST) suggests that residents who are involved in the greening process can help to improve physical environments and build social connections that deter crime and violence. Yet few researchers have explored how community engagement in the greening process may affect crime and violence outcomes. We applied BST to test the effects of community-engaged vacant lot greening compared to vacant lots that received either professional mowing or no treatment, on the density of violent crime around study lots. Using mixed effects regression models, we analyzed trends in violent crime density over the summer months from 2016 to 2018 at 2102 street segments in Youngstown, OH. These street segments fell within 150 meters of an intervention parcel that was classified as one of three conditions: community-engaged maintenance, professional mowing, or no treatment (control). We found that street segments in areas receiving community-engaged maintenance or professional mowing experienced greater declines in violent crime density than street segments in areas receiving no treatment, and more decline occurred in the community-engaged condition compared to the professional mow condition. Our findings support BST and suggest that community-engaged greening of vacant lots in postindustrial cities with a concentrated vacancy can reduce crime and violence.