Public attitudes to,and perceived impacts of 20mph (32 km/h) speed limits in Edinburgh: An exploratory study using the Speed Limits Perceptions Survey (SLiPS)

Between 2016 and 2018 a policy was implemented to increase the proportion of 20mph (32km/h) streets in Edinburgh, UK from approximately 50% to 80%, providing the opportunity to evaluate how behaviour and public perceptions change over time. This is important as negative public responses have been reported to limit the implementation of transport policies and may reduce the effectiveness of the policy. The Speed Limits Perception Survey (SLiPS) was developed to assess changes in public perceptions from baseline to 6 and 12 months post-implementation. We collected 3,485 individual responses to the survey, 64.6% (n = 2,253) of which included complete perceptions data. Using exploratory factor analysis, the following perception factors were identified: i) Detraction and resistance, ii) Support, iii) Rule following, iv) Child safety, and v) Walking safety. Following the 20mph implementation at 6–12 months: Support (ii) and Rule following (iii) had increased; Detraction and resistance (i) had decreased; and Child safety (iv) and Walking safety (v) had not changed significantly. These findings indicate that the public in Edinburgh became more positive towards the policy once it was implemented. However, more extensive policy or ongoing communication of the safety benefits of 20mph limits are needed to increase perceptions of safety that might lead to increased walking and cycling. Future research should aim to understand how those implementing speed limit interventions can positively influence public perceptions and how public perceptions about speed limits influence behaviour.     

Psychometric properties of the Bermond‐Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire in Japanese

The aim of this research is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Bermond‐Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ‐J), by testing a sample of 514 undergraduates. Explanatory factor analysis of 40 items of the BVAQ‐J had a similar result to the original BVAQ ( Vorst & Bermond, 2001 ), but 10 items displayed low factor loadings (items 14, 15, 19, 25, 29, 34, 35, 36, 37, and 39); these results were slightly different from the original BVAQ. The validity and reliability of the BVAQ‐30J was suggested by a significant correlation with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale‐20 and estimates of test‐retest and internal consistency. These results suggest that this 30‐item version may be reasonably suitable for Japanese populations.     

为往圣继绝学——民国年间传统治《易》路径之研究

放眼民国年间之易学发展,其革新是建立在继承的基础之上的。传统易学研究,进入20世纪之后,研究流派虽然更为丰富,但却始终没有离开最为基础的"象数"与"义理"两派,尤其是对于传统继承者,象数派学者一般都承袭汉代今文易学者的做法,或致力于搜寻遗象,或用功于整理象数体例,而其核心观念在于坚持以象解释《易》,即所谓"观象系辞"、"由象明辞"。义理派学者则主要运用文字训诂、文献考证、文本整理的方法来注释、研究《易经》,其目的是恢复原典本义。从其根源而言,义理学主要受汉代古文易学者影响,继承了清代中期以来乾嘉学派治《易》的传统。在此将20世纪早期的几位继承者,就象数学而言,以徐昂与尚秉和为代表,义理派则以杨树达与高亨为例,通过对他们易学思想的梳理,来明示继承与发展之间相辅相成、不可轻离的关系。     

清晰度对自信预测效应的影响

清晰度是自我概念的一个重要特点。本研究采用自信心清晰度问卷、总体自信问卷、GHQ-20为工具,对自信水平、自信清晰度在自信对心理健康的预测效应中所起的作用进行了探讨。研究发现,自信水平、自信清晰度对心理健康均具有显著的预测作用;考虑清晰度后,自信水平对GHQ-焦虑、抑郁、自我肯定的回归效应被清晰度部分解;表明清晰度是自信预测效应的调节因素。     

20世纪的《周易》法律文化研究--以中国法学文献为中心的实证考察

在《周易》经传的文本里,记载着大量的法律现象和法律思想,并对古代法制有着极为深刻的影响。在已经成为历史的20世纪,经几代法学研究者不懈努力,《周易》的法律文化研究经历了一个从怀疑到肯定、从注脚到正文、从零碎到系统的发展过程。本文回顾了20世纪有关《周易》的主要法律文献,认为我们对《周易》的法律文化的研究已渐入佳境,给法学研究和《周易》研究都带来了清新气息和勃勃生机。     

When culture fails: coping with cultural trauma

The research into the phenomenon of cultural trauma is growing as the effects of historical transformations are recognized and analysed. The concept of cultural trauma and the analytic concept of the cultural complex is a suitable theoretical approach for this research. The Lithuanian experience of cultural trauma after the historical shifts indicates the importance of the interplay between societal and individual factors in coping with trauma. Academic psychotraumatological studies carried out at Vilnius University indicate a stronger traumatic experience by people who are survivors of direct political repression and even intergenerational transmission of trauma, but this group also seems to demonstrate an intergenerational transmission of resilience. Paradoxically, from a long‐term perspective, the victims of direct repression seem to have suffered less than the people who accommodated to the regime, and this applies also to their offspring. Analysis in terms of overcoming cultural trauma indicates that society is gradually integrating historic traumatic experiences, although a healthy cultural identity has not yet been restored.     

Cortical localization of finger spelling and oral language: A case study

Finger spelling of letters and words was mapped by means of the cortical stimulation procedure in a hearing patient undergoing a left dominant anterior temporal lobe resection for relief of a seizure disorder. Finger spelling was disrupted at five sites: three overlapping with one or more oral language functions at sites in the classical posterior language area, two relating only to finger spelling in the anterior temporal region. Following the resection which included these latter sites, both short- and long-term postoperative deficits in finger spelling are described. Implications for the organization of manually based communication behavior in the left hemisphere are discussed.     

Neurolinguistic analysis of verbal utterances in patients with focal lesions of frontal lobes

Verbal utterances of 105 patients have been analyzed. Six groups of subjects were examined including patients with left dorsolateral frontal lesions, left orbitofrontal lesions, right frontal lobe lesions, posterior aphasics, posterior brain-damaged patients without aphasia, and a matched control group. Results indicate that the left frontal lobe is involved in organization of linguistic information. Its dorsolateral part seems to be concerned with forming the sequential pattern of an utterance, and the orbital part with the directed development of a narrative. It is conceivable that the right frontal lobe is important for the global, nonlinguistic organization of information to be uttered.     

The informativeness and frequency of presentation of a social stimulus as determinants of its efficacy as a reinforcer

It was demonstrated that variations in the informativeness of a social stimulus place important limitations on the generality of the proposition that deprivation heightens, while satiation lowers, responsiveness to a social stimulus. Using 60 children 5 to 6 years of age as subjects, a social stimulus (“good”) was presented at either a high or a low frequency in one of three information-value contexts (high, medium, or low). Immediately following the exposure treatment the same social stimulus was employed as a reinforcer of nonpreferred responses in a two-choice discrimination learning task. The findings indicated that the heightened efficacy of deprivation relative to satiation only held for low information value; when initial information value was high the subsequent efficacy of a social stimulus was enhanced by its initial recurrent usage. Trend analyses revealed that the effects of variations in information value were strongest within the high-frequency-of-praise treatment. Possible mechanisms underlying the significant Information Value × Frequency interaction were discussed.