Building capability throughout a change effort: leading the transformation of a police agency to community policing

This case describes a change effort to move a police agency to become a community policing organization. The community policing effort was seen as a means to make a transformational change to become a learning organization with the goal of improving the delivery of police services. The case describes the steps taken to meet the new vision of community policing as well as the steps taken to deal with the challenges or realities of trying to make change happen. The lens for this case is the leadership role across the stages of change (exploration, planning, implementation, monitoring and institutionalization) in building capacity within the organization to sustain the change effort. The capacity building focused on incorporating systems thinking into the mindset of the members of the organization, breaking down the command and control mindset by building a new norm around high involvement of committed teams, and developing skill sets to support continuous learning and improvement in order to align organizational systems. A key lesson learned is that effective leaders do not just prepare an organization prior to a change effort. They must have the patience to constantly build the capacity for change among organizational members throughout the various stages of the change effort.     

学习不良儿童元记忆监测与控制的发展

采用2×3×2的混合设计,在自定步调和对项目逐项评定的学习条件下,对小学四~六年级学习不良儿童的元记忆监测与时间分配策略进行了实验研究。结果表明：在对学习材料难度的有效区分上,学习不良儿童与对照组儿童间无差异,不论学习不良组还是对照组,四年级儿童均不能对实验中配对学习材料难度性质做出明确区分,五、六年级儿童能够很好的区分学习材料难度;在学习判断水平上,五、六年级学习不良儿童均低于对照组儿童,四年级两组之间无差异;从对不同难度学习材料的时间分配来看,四年级学习不良儿童与对照组儿童分配在不同难度材料上的学习时间均无显著差别。五、六年级对照组儿童能够根据学习材料的不同难度分配不同学习时间,而且学习时间分配与难度判断之间存在显著相关。五、六年级学习不良儿童能在一定程度上根据学习材料的不同难度分配不同的学习时间,但这种时间分配与难度判断之间相关未达到显著水平,提示他们尚不能在有效元记忆监测基础上对不同难度学习材料进行合理的时间分配     

小学儿童英语语音意识的发展

运用短期纵向与横向研究探讨了汉语儿童英语语音意识的发展过程与特点。研究结果表明,刚入学儿童在英语语音意识各项任务上的正确率间有显著差异,表现为押韵意识与末位音位任务上的正确率高于首音意识任务,后者又高于音位计数任务;尽管从一年级到五年级,儿童在语音意识任务上的正确率在不断提高,但这种趋势一直保持着。     

不同人际关系群体情绪调节方式的比较

研究比较了人际关系良好和人际关系不良高中生在8种情绪调节方式（情绪表露、情感求助、放松、认知应对、压抑、哭泣、情绪替代、回避）使用上的差异,以求了解高中生的情绪调节现状,并为高中生良好人际关系的建立提供有效借鉴。结果表明：高中生在情绪表露、情感求助、放松和哭泣4种情绪调节方式上存在显著的性别差异,女性多于男性。受欢迎的学生较多的使用情感求助、认知应对和情绪表露三种情绪调节方式,被拒绝和被忽视学生常压抑自身情绪。     

How bilingual experience and executive control influence development in language control among bilingual children

This longitudinal study investigates whether the development in executive control and bilingual experience predicts change in language control in bilingual children. Children were tested twice over the course of 1 year, using the language‐switching paradigm and the Simon task. The participants were Japanese‐English bilingual “returnee” children (ages 7–13), who returned to their first language (L1) environment after spending some years in a second language (L2) dominant environment. Testing these children upon their return to the L1 environment allowed us to disentangle the effect of age from bilingual experience, as they experienced an increase in age but a decrease in L2 exposure over time. Children who had less L2 exposure showed smaller improvement in baseline performance when naming pictures in English (i.e., when English was relevant across all trials). Moreover, development in trials where children had to switch between languages were modulated by development in executive control. That is, children who increased their performance in the English mixed repetition trials also performed better on the executive control task over time. Thus, development in executive control modulated change in language control among bilingual children, suggesting a positive relationship between language control and executive control in children's development.     

Driving environments that influence on-road outcomes in persons with Multiple Sclerosis

IntroductionDrivers with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who demonstrate adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors may be prone to fail a standardized on-road assessment. However, the complexity (e.g., traffic speed, volume of road users, flow of traffic, spaced interchanges) of driving environments, and their relationship to driving errors critical for failing, is not fully understood. This prospective research study determines the predictive validity of the total number of adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors (modelled as one variable) in residential, suburban, city, or highway environments on drivers with MS failing (vs. passing) a standardized on-road assessment.MethodsCommunity-dwelling participants with MS (N = 35) completed a comprehensive driving evaluation consisting of clinical and on-road assessments, adhering to the regulations for assessing fitness to drive in Ontario, Canada.ResultsLogistic regression models indicated that, as sole predictors, the total number of adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in suburban (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = [0.23, 0.83], p = .012) and city environments (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.89], p = .028) significantly increased the odds of participants failing the on-road assessment. Also, the total number of adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in suburban (AUC = 0.84, SE = 0.11, p = .006, 95% CI = [0.63, 1.00]) and city environments (AUC = 0.74, SE = 0.12, p = .05, 95% CI = [0.51, 0.98]) predicted on-road outcomes. A cut-point of 4 or more adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in suburban environments optimally predicted on-road outcomes with 71.4% sensitivity, 92.9% specificity, and 4 misclassifications; while a cut-point of 2 or more adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in city environments optimally predicted on-road outcomes with 57.1% sensitivity, 92.9% specificity, and 5 misclassifications.ConclusionThe total number of adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in suburban and city environments predict drivers with MS failing a standardized on-road assessment. Assessing adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors in these environments are critical for informing fitness to drive decisions.     

概化理论方差分量及其变异量估计:跨分布的模拟研究

为考察概化理论中方差分量及其变异量估计的准确性,采用模拟研究的方法,探究Traditional法、Jackknife法、Bootstrap法和MCMC法在p×i×h和p×(i:h)2种双侧面设计和正态、二项、多项、偏态分布4种数据类型下的表现。结果显示:(1)4种方法均能准确估计方差分量;(2)估计方差分量的标准误时,若数据正态分布,Traditional法最优,非正态分布时Bootstrap法最优;(3)估计方差分量的90%置信区间时,Bootstrap法在不同分布的数据下表现稳定,但容易受到侧面水平数的影响。综合来说,若数据呈正态分布,建议选用Traditional法; 若数据呈非正态分布,建议选用Bootstrap法。     

Mobility as a service and sustainable travel behaviour: A thematic analysis study

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a novel brand of transport that promises to replace private cars with multimodal personalised mobility packages enabled by a digital platform capable of integrating travel planning, booking and ticketing, and real-time information services. It is an intervention that through its digitisation, connectivity, information and sharing merits intends to inspire and support the transition to a more sustainable mobility paradigm. Recent research suggests, however, that the potential uptake of MaaS might not be overwhelming; current car drivers could face considerable difficulties in bypassing their personal car for it and, more worryingly, future MaaS users may substitute not only personal car trips but also public transport journeys with car-sharing and ride-sharing services. This means that MaaS might not be able to create travel behaviour change, and even if it does, the changes may not be always towards the right direction. Through conducting 40 semi-structured interviews in three different UK cities, namely London, Birmingham and Huddersfield, and employing a robust Thematic Analysis approach, this study explores the factors underpinning the uptake and potential success of MaaS as a sustainable travel mechanism. The challenges and opportunities reflecting and affecting potential for responsible MaaS usage refer to five core themes Car Dependence; Trust; Human Element Externalities; Value; and Cost, each of them with distinctive and diverse dimensions. Policy-makers and mobility providers should realise that MaaS success relies on changing people’s attitudes to private cars (something very challenging) and thus they should incentivise responsible MaaS use, promote public transport as its backbone, use public engagement exercises and trials to expose people to the concept and somewhat demonise private car ownership and car use.     

Measuring stress in clinical and nonclinical subjects using a German adaptation of the Perceived Stress Scale

Background/Objective: Stress is perceived differently across individuals, which might be particularly true for nonclinical and clinical subjects. For this reason, we tested a German adaption of the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) for model fit and measurement invariance in a big nonclinical and clinical sample. Method: We (1) conducted multiple confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in 1,248 nonclinical subjects and 575 outpatients, (2) measurement invariance with multigroup CFA, (3) assessed correlations with relevant constructs and (4) calculated internal consistencies for overall stress and the subscales Helplessness and Self-efficacy. Results: In both samples, CFA revealed a robust two-factorial structure with an excellent model fit. Group comparisons revealed strict measurement invariance. Correlations with associated measures support validity. Internal consistencies were good to very good. Conclusions: We show highly satisfactory psychometric properties of the German PSS-10 for nonclinical and clinical individuals. Measurement invariance analyses demonstrated that varying stress levels of people with a different mental health status are due to true interindividual differences.     

A comparison between American and Chinese college students on suicide-related behavior parameters

Background/ObjectiveThe United States (US) and China are the two largest economies, but recent and directly comparable studies on suicide-related behaviors in the two countries are lacking. By using the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), item-level comparison was performed in assessing self-reported suicide-related behaviors between the US and Chinese undergraduates.MethodThis study involved a total of 3,185 college students aged between 18 to 24 years (1,185 US college students, and 2,000 Chinese students who were randomly selected from a large sample of 11,806 Chinese college students). Participants filled out the 4-item SBQ-R.ResultsParticipants’ responses were compared by country and sex. There was a higher overall risk of suicide-related behaviors among US students (24.3%) compared to Chinese students (17.0%). US students also reported higher lifetime attempt, past-year ideation, and lifetime threat. US female college students reported the highest suicide-related behaviors compared to other sub-groups.ConclusionsThere is a need to tailor specific interventions to alleviate college students’ suicide-related behaviors in the US and China, with a particular focus on US females.