Age-related changes in task-switching components: the role of task uncertainty

The present study examined age differences in executive functioning, using an externally cued task-switching paradigm. Two components of task switching were assessed: the ability to maintain and select among task sets (general switch costs) and the ability to switch between task sets (specific switch costs). In contrast to previous findings, we found large age-related differences in specific switch costs, especially when the number of potentially relevant task sets is increased from two to four. Age-related differences in general switch costs were absent when external task cues subserved executive processing in task switching. Generally, the findings suggest that age-related impairments in task-switching components vary as a function of task uncertainty, such as the presence of environmental prompts to behavior.     

绿色生活方式的结构与测量

基于前人研究,结合对241份访谈问卷进行内容分析,构建绿色生活方式由知、情、意、行四维度组成的理论假设,并依照该理论初步编制绿色生活方式量表。采用调查法回收有效问卷1051份,结果显示:量表的 Cronbach α系数为0.919,分半信度系数为0.876,0.868; 量表与各维度均存在显著的中高等相关,各维度间存在显著的中低等相关; 探索性因素分析的结果与理论构想基本一致,验证性因素分析结果表明模型拟合度良好; 此外,量表能较好区分环境态度与环保行为有不一致倾向的个体。因此,本研究制定的绿色生活方式量表具有较好的信效度,并可为区分“言行一致”或“言行不一”的个体提供一定参考。     

Environmental Ethics as Applied to Outdoor Physical Practices: An Analysis Through the Lens of Hans Jonas

In times of social and moral crises, sport has often been called to boost individual moral development. By the same token, outdoor activities are viewed as good educational practices to enhance environmental responsibility. However, the present paper argues that these physical activities are currently following the same technological development trend as the mainstream society, and challenges this trend itself in terms of sustainability by critically asking this question: Do outdoor activities really enhance environmental responsibility? The research supporting this paper is based on a qualitative inquiry using interviews with outdoor activities practitioners: mountain guides and white water sports instructors. The findings of this research show that environmental responsibility development depends on the sport contexts. It is fostered in slow and none-technological activities (e.g. trekking) and lowered in fast and technological activities (e.g. canoeing, kayaking). The paper concludes with the following paradox reached by the preliminary research results: the birth of modern technology calls for greater need of environmental responsibility, but it may also prevent its development at the same time.     

Ethical Dilemmas in Protecting Susceptible Subpopulations From Environmental Health Risks: Liberty,Utility, Fairness,and Accountability for Reasonableness

Various U.S. laws, such as the Clean Air Act and the Food Quality Protection Act, require additional protections for susceptible subpopulations who face greater environmental health risks. The main ethical rationale for providing these protections is to ensure that environmental health risks are distributed fairly. In this article, we (1) consider how several influential theories of justice deal with issues related to the distribution of environmental health risks; (2) show that these theories often fail to provide specific guidance concerning policy choices; and (3) argue that an approach to public decision making known as accountability for reasonableness can complement theories of justice in establishing acceptable environmental health risks for the general population and susceptible subpopulations. Since accountability for reasonableness focuses on the fairness of the decision-making process, not the outcome, it does not guarantee that susceptible subpopulations will receive a maximum level of protection, regardless of costs or other morally relevant considerations.     

God's Work,Our Hands

This essay offers a systematization of the various contributions to this issue, highlighting commonalities and creative tensions. Using Martin Luther's two‐kingdom theory as a framework, the leading question is the role of humanity in restoring creation and the deliberation that this ethical imperative—to carry out works of love on behalf of the neighbor (which includes creation itself)—might entail.     

The Pastoral Challenge of the Environmental Crisis: Environmental Anxiety and Lutheran Eco‐Reformation

Plans for a Lutheran “eco‐reformation” are complicated by the polarization of views related to environmental issues. I argue that there is a special reason to take the agenda of eco‐reformation seriously: a widespread and often unconscious environmental anxiety, which posits a pastoral and existential challenge that must be addressed by the churches. I contextualize the challenge of eco‐reformation in the historical context of Lutheran eco‐theology. Finally, I briefly discuss two key themes for Lutheran eco‐theology: God's presence in nature and the theology of the cross.     

Flooded by a wall of water: parent–child reminiscing about local environment and unwanted changes

This article examines the long-lasting effects of an unwanted place change (i.e., the construction of a dam) on the social representations (SRs) of places and of place-community relationship. The study integrates an SRs approach, generative semiotics, and methods borrowed from research on the social making of autobiographical memory. The aim is to explore whether and how intergenerational family narratives contribute to the transmission of SRs. Parent-child pairs were asked to share episodes linked to the dam. Video-recordings were submitted to thematic content analysis and semiotic analysis. Results show that parents and children associate the dam with a radical transformation: it acts as a performer of separation between the community and its territory. The analysis of interactions gives further insights into the how family and community memories are connected. This first attempt confirms the potentialities of the integrated approach to understanding the processes of intergenerational transmission of social representations, and paves the way to further refinements.     

绿色还是享乐?参与环保活动对消费行为的影响

以往对于环保问题的研究主要关注如何促进人们更多从事环保行为,较少有研究涉及参与环保行为后会产生怎样的影响,而且这方面的研究也没有一个一致的结论。通过3个实验发现当绿色消费和享乐消费是竞争关系时,对于认为环境价值观重要的个体来说,无论参与环保活动是出于内在动机还是外在动机都会增强消费者的环保自我担当,促进绿色消费,而对于认为环境价值观不重要的个体来说,只有参与环保活动是出于内在动机的时候才会增加消费者环保目标进展的感知,促进享乐消费,出于外在动机参与环保活动并不会促进享乐消费。     

Valuing the future: a MADA example involving nuclear waste storage

Intertemporal decision making involves decisions that have consequences that span several periods of time and often extend far into the future. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and highlight the differences associated with different evaluation methods designed to cope with the long-term impacts of a decision including discounting. The concepts and ideas are illustrated in the context of a decision about a nuclear waste facility. We show how applying different discounting methodologies can greatly affect the decision made, especially over long time periods. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.