Primary prevention of catastrophic injury.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of injury and death until age 45. Efforts to prevent these injuries have largely followed the dictates of the public health movement focusing on interventions for entire communities or regulatory statutes. Individual interventions, more congruent with traditional psychological approaches, have been rare. This article argues that a blending of these two approaches is warranted. Evaluation of prevention programs should focus on multiple levels including the individual, the community, and regulatory processes. Identification of subgroups of adolescents and young adults with unique psychological and behavioral dispositions regarding injury must be paired with realistic interventions of adequate duration.     

The death and transfiguration of career-and of career guidance?

The predominant understanding of career in the industrial era has focused on progression within hierarchical work organisations. With the move into a post-industrial era, the possibility of such careers is rapidly receding. The concept of career, however, has always been broader than this, and other aspects of it are now claiming increased attention. They focus more upon individual experiences in terms of development in learning and work throughout life. The role of career guidance in relation to such experiences is potentially of much greater social significance. A number of implications for career guidance provision and practice are discussed.     

Handedness and cognitive bias

2165 Subjects, ranging from nine-year-old schoolchildren to adult students, took Test AH 2/3 which yields subscores on Verbal, Numerical and Perceptual reasoning. The left-handers are compared with the right-handers, differences being found with respect to cognitive bias, sex, age and nationality.     

Adaptive programming of arm movements

Adaptations of goal-directed elbow movements of moderate speed, called "continuous" movements and recognized by their single-peaked velocity profiles, were studied for two monkeys that were learning to perform a motor task. The animals were rewarded for what they did, namely, to carry out a step-tracking and holding task by means of discrete elbow movements, but not for how they did it, that is, for any particular mode of movement execution. Yet, both animals increased the use of the programmed, continuous movements when they began to carry out the behavioral task requirements appropriately. Furthermore, continuous movements adapted with increases of peak and of average velocity such that the ratio of these parameters tended to be maintained or decreased. These velocity changes were incorporated into remembered movement programs late in motor learning when the animals approached their best performance proficiencies.     

Individual differences in circadian activity rhythms and their effects on roommate relationships

Individual differences in circadian activity rhythms were assessed and correlated with a number of measures of task orientation and time concern. Those who tend to be morning active completed the questionnaires more quickly than did others, expressed negative attitudes about wasting time, and scored higher on measures of achievement tendency and task leadership. Differences between college roommates in the tendency to be morning active were found to be related to negative evaluations of the roommate relationship. The results of this study suggest that the causes and effects of synchronized personal and social circadian rhythms warrant continued exploration.     

Critical consciousness: current status and future directions

In this chapter, the authors consider Paulo Freire's construct of critical consciousness (CC) and why it deserves more attention in research and discourse on youth political and civic development. His approach to education and similar ideas by other scholars of liberation aims to foster a critical analysis of society--and one's status within it--using egalitarian, empowering, and interactive methods. The aim is social change as well as learning, which makes these ideas especially relevant to the structural injustice faced by marginalized youth. From their review of these ideas, the authors derive three core CC components: critical reflection, political efficacy, and critical action. They highlight promising research related to these constructs and innovative applied work including youth action-research methodology. Their conclusion offers ideas for closing some of the critical gaps in CC theory and research.