Shoppers in the Spiritual Supermarket: A Quantitative Study of Visitors to Scandinavia’s Largest Alternative Fair

Presenting data from a quantitative survey (N=362) at ‘The Great Alternative Fair’ in Lillestrøm, Norway, this article explores the demographic and religious profiles of the ‘customers’ in the ‘spiritual marketplace’. Many adhere to ideas that are historically associated with different religious traditions. At the same time, there are strong positive statistical correlations between belief in alternative ideas, such as healing, reincarnation, channelling, and clairvoyance. This indicates that such ideas constitute a clustered and shared set of beliefs. Against this background, the article questions the widely held assumption that people who are oriented towards alternative spiritualities are independent of institutions and authorities and it argues that they are informed to a large extent by a set of collective resources. It is suggested that the marketplace, which constitutes a common framework of interaction, plays a key role in connecting various ideas and actors and in creating a common ideological profile.     

Too individualistic for safety culture? Non-traffic related work safety among heavy goods vehicle drivers

IntroductionThis article reports on a study of non-traffic related work safety among drivers of heavy goods vehicles in Denmark. In the heavy goods vehicle transport (HGV) sector only 6.4% of workplace accidents involving drivers are traffic related. HGV work is characterised by solitary work, as drivers tend to work at a physical distance from their own company and their working environment is also influenced by the working environment of other companies e.g. the places where they deliver goods. This study focuses on an analysis of HGV drivers’ and managers’ differentiated understandings of risk and safety and its management within an organisational context. The situational focus involves viewing HGV drivers’ working environment as a part of the organisational structure as well as of other social relationships. An understanding of safety culture as practice is applied with the view of identifying values and attitudes as well as organisational and technical aspects in relation to how individualist or collectivist understandings of risk and safety influence the working environment in HGVs.MethodThe study applied a mixed methods approach and in this article the qualitative interviews conducted with drivers and managers is the primary data source.ResultsThis study suggests a widespread understanding of drivers as being individually oriented in their work, from drivers and management alike. However, the study also demonstrates that, in conducting their work, the drivers are actually interdependent, and share knowledge frequently, albeit informally. The organisational structure of the company shapes their individual attitudes towards safety but they also report being dependent on relationships with, and information from, their fellow colleagues, former colleagues and friends who shape their understandings and attitudes towards hazards and safety practices. The analysis points to risk-taking and unsafe practices as prevalent among HGV drivers, who often refer to risk as trivial and the management of such risks as one’s own responsibility. Knowledge of how to manage risks in everyday practice is shown to be principally related to personal experiences but also to the good advice and examples of fellow drivers.ConclusionsThe analysis points to interdependent and collectivist practices among HGV drivers even though they are perceived as being individualistically oriented when it comes to safety. Therefore, non-traffic related safety practices, in this case the loading and unloading of vehicles, occur in the grey zone of organisational safety management. Despite the fact that organisational safety initiatives are initiated, the management sees limited possibilities for enforcing them and hence safety practice is often left to the individual driver.Practical applicationsA safety culture perspective might enhance work safety among HGV drivers if we are able to understand workplace culture in a pluralistic way. Collectivist practice among the drivers can be utilised in order to improve knowledge sharing and situational safety practices. The informal communication identified among the drivers might offer a new model for safety initiatives based on more collectivist, albeit informal, safety culture practices on behalf of HGV companies.     

Health behaviour change theory meets falls prevention: Feasibility of a habit-based balance and strength exercise intervention for older adults

ObjectivesHabit formation is a proposed mechanism for behaviour maintenance. Very few falls prevention studies have adopted this as an intervention framework and outcome. Therefore, we tested feasibility of a theory-based behaviour change intervention that encouraged women to embed balance and strength exercises into daily life routines (e.g., eating, self-care routines).DesignThe EASY LiFE study was a mixed-methods, 4-month feasibility intervention that included seven group-based sessions and two telephone calls.Main outcome measuresWe obtained performance-based (i.e., Short-Physical-Performance-Battery) and psychological self-report measures (i.e., intention, self-efficacy, planning, action control, habit strength, quality of life) from 13 women at baseline (T1) and 4-month follow-up (T2). We applied the Framework-Method to post-intervention, semi-structured interviews to evaluate program content and delivery.ResultsIn total, 10 of 13 women completed the program (M_age = 66.23, SD = 3.98) and showed changes in their level of action control [mean difference_T1−T2 = 1.7, 95% CI (−2.2 to −0.8)], action planning [mean difference_T1−T2 = 0.8, 95% CI (−1.1 to −0.2)], automaticity [mean difference_T1−T2 = 2.5, 95% CI (−3.7 to −1.2)], and exercise identity [mean difference_T1−T2 = 2.0, 95% CI (−3.2 to −0.8)]. Based on the Theoretical Domains Framework we identified knowledge, behavioural regulation, and social factors as important themes. For program delivery, dominant themes were engagement, session facilitators and group format.ConclusionThe theory-based framework showed feasibility for promoting lifestyle integrated balance and strength exercise habits. Using activity and object-based cues may be particularly effective in generating action and automaticity.     

CD-MST初始阶段模块组建方法比较

具有认知诊断功能的计算机化多阶段测验(CD-MST)是CDA和MST相结合的一种测验方式。由于CD-MST自适应频次较少,初始阶段模块组建会影响整个测验的判准率。借鉴CD-CAT初始项目选取方法,根据CDA和MST自身特点,提出了7种CD-MST初始阶段模块组建方法,分别是随机法、选题策略法、R*矩阵法、CTTID法、CDI法、CTTIDR*法和CDIR*法。采用模拟研究对不同项目质量下7种方法的判准率进行了比较。研究结果表明,当初始阶段结束时,包含R*矩阵的方法判准率显著高于其他方法,尤其是CTTIDR*法;整个测验结束时,CTTIDR*法较其他方法仍然有优势,CDIR*法和R*矩阵法结果较为接近。选题策略法在初始阶段结束时判准率较低,甚至低于随机法,整个测验结束时,判准率同CDIR*法和R*矩阵法持平。4种项目质量对判准率影响较大,HD-HV题库下判准率最高,HD-LV次之,LD-HV较差,LD-LV最差。     

Cognitive events in a problem-solving task: a qualitative method for investigating interactivity in the 17 Animals problem

Outside the cognitive psychologist's laboratory, problem-solving is an activity that takes place in a rich web of interactions involving people and artefacts. This interactivity is constituted by fine-grained action–perception cycles, and it allows a reasoner's comprehension of the problem to emerge from a coalition of internal and external resources. Taking an ecological approach to problem-solving, this paper introduces a qualitative method, Cognitive Event Analysis, for studying the fine-grained interactivity between a problem-solving agent and his/her environment. To demonstrate the potential of this method, it is used to study a single subject solving the so-called 17 Animals problem using a material model. The fine-grained procedure allows tracking the solution to a serendipity that was brought about because of the participant's aesthetic considerations and a change in her perceptual figure-ground configuration. While a qualitative single-case method cannot prove specific models of problem-solving, it questions prevalent mentalist models, and it generates new hypotheses on insight problem-solving, because it allows the researcher to attend to outliers and to variability on a fast and fine-grained between-measurement timescale.     

Object elicitation: A compassionate and culturally informed method for psychotherapy research

This study provides an innovative, compassionate and culturally informed method for psychotherapy research, using object elicitation with 13 participants from vulnerable groups. It examines the positive impact it has on building the research alliance, enhanced depth of sharing within qualitative research interviews and emic ways of knowing through the engagement with a culturally relevant, tangible, internalised or transitional object brought by vulnerable participants from diverse cultural contexts of origin. Results showcase how a creative and compassionate research method can promote a culturally informed research alliance with vulnerable participants, helping to build trust, rapport and relational depth; encourage elicitation of experiences; and empower emic and subjugated voices. The implications of this study make the case for the inclusion of object elicitation as a creative and compassionate method in qualitative research with traumatised and vulnerable individuals, which should be used as part of a culturally informed approach to psychotherapy research.     

Capturing system level activities and impacts of mental health consumer-run organizations

Since the 1970s mental health consumer-run organizations have come to offer not only mutual support, but they have also adopted agendas for broader social change. Despite an awareness of the need for system level efforts that create supportive environments for their members, there has been limited research demonstrating how their system level activities can be documented or their impacts evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to feature a method of evaluating systems change activities and impacts. The paper is based on a longitudinal study evaluating four mental health consumer-run organizations in Ontario, Canada. The study tracked system level activities and impacts using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The article begins by describing the development and implementation of these methods. Next it offers a critical analysis of the methods used. It concludes by reflecting on three lessons learned about capturing system level activities and impacts of mental health consumer-run organizations.     

Explication Defended

How can formal methods be applied to philosophical problems that involve informal concepts of ordinary language? Carnap answered this question by describing a methodology that he called “explication." Strawson objected that explication changes the subject and does not address the original philosophical problem; this paper shows that Carnap’s response to that objection was inadequate and offers a better response. More recent criticisms of explication by Boniolo and Eagle are shown to rest on misunderstandings of the nature of explication. It is concluded that explication is an appropriate methodology for formal philosophy.     

Spectral information in nonspeech contexts influences children’s categorization of ambiguous speech sounds

For both adults and children, acoustic context plays an important role in speech perception. For adults, both speech and nonspeech acoustic contexts influence perception of subsequent speech items, consistent with the argument that effects of context are due to domain-general auditory processes. However, prior research examining the effects of context on children’s speech perception have focused on speech contexts; nonspeech contexts have not been explored previously. To better understand the developmental progression of children’s use of contexts in speech perception and the mechanisms underlying that development, we created a novel experimental paradigm testing 5-year-old children’s speech perception in several acoustic contexts. The results demonstrated that nonspeech context influences children’s speech perception, consistent with claims that context effects arise from general auditory system properties rather than speech-specific mechanisms. This supports theoretical accounts of language development suggesting that domain-general processes play a role across the lifespan.     

Capturing the Structure of Distinct Types of Individual Differences in the Situation‐specific Experience of Emotions: The Case of Anger

The aim of this paper was to understand why some people experience certain emotions in a specific situation, whereas others do not. We postulate that these individual differences arise from individual differences in two underlying processes of emotion elicitation: (i) individual differences in the emotion components (appraisals and action tendencies) that situations activate in a person and (ii) individual differences in how these emotion components are related to subjective emotional experience. In this paper, we re‐analysed data from two studies on anger to capture the structure of these two types of individual differences by using clustering modelling techniques. Consistent results across the two studies demonstrated that individuals differ in anger because they (i) differ in how easy they experience anger‐relevant appraisals (Studies 1 and 2) and action tendencies (Study 2) in increasingly negative situations and (ii) differ in which of these components are necessary to experience anger. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.