Illegal crossing behavior of pedestrians at signalized intersections: Factors affecting the gap acceptance

Purpose of designing crosswalks is to allow pedestrians to cross the roads safely avoiding conflicts between pedestrians and motorized vehicles. However, pedestrians do not always comply with the crossing rules, whether it is timing (signalization) and/or location (crossing facility). An observation survey of illegal crossings was conducted at six intersections in Izmir, Turkey to determine the distance and time gap perception of the pedestrians for safe road-crossing within the 25 m of the crosswalk. Each intersection was observed on weekdays during afternoon (12.30–13.30) and evening peak hours (17.00–18.00). Totally, 444 illegal crossings were observed at all intersections. Data were analyzed playing the video recordings in office. All roads were consisted of two lanes. In this study pedestrians’ illegal crossing behavior at signalized intersections depending on the position of the oncoming vehicle is of interest. Safety margins and crossing times of the pedestrians were also reported. Position of the vehicle was determined for the first lane at the instant the pedestrian stepped the lane. Pedestrians’ distance gap perception was categorized into five groups depending on the position of the oncoming vehicle which are; vehicle is within the 25 m of the crosswalk, vehicle is within the 25–50 m of the crosswalk, vehicle is within the 50–75 m of the crosswalk, vehicle is just beyond 75 m, and vehicle is out of field of view. Factors affecting the distance gaps, safety margins and crossing times were analyzed by ANOVA. The most significant effect was the vehicle speed in all analysis. Pedestrians based their decision of crossing on distance rather than time gap.     

Advocates Speak Out on Adult Sexual Assault: A Unique Crime Demands a Unique Response

Research documents the challenges presented to victims of sexual assault whose cases move through the criminal justice system. One key vantage point from which to understand how survivors experience the criminal justice system is from the perspective of the crisis center advocates who work with them. Graduate student research teams conducted semistructured interviews with rape crisis advocates across one Northeastern state. The voices of crisis center advocates raise key points that might help in the development of new procedures and processes for how adult sexual assault cases are handled in the justice system.     

Women and Men Go to University: Mathematical Background and Gender Differences in Choice of Field in Higher Education

Gender segregation in higher education is well documented. Female students major in mathematics, technology, and sciences less often than men, and they concentrate in humanities and social sciences. Using multinomial logit on the 6,139 applicants to Tel Aviv University in Israel in 1994, I examined the claim that one of the roots of gender segregation in higher education lies in course-taking patterns in high school. The main findings are as follows: Women are underrepresented among the applicants to the mathematics-related fields of study; mathematical background in high school is particularly effective in narrowing the gender gap in applying to selective and attractive, but not mathematically related, fields of study at the university; women rely on high qualifications more than men when applying to selective and male-dominated fields of study. Several explanations of the findings will be discussed.     

Rethinking barriers: a novel conceptualization of exercise barriers in cancer survivors

Previous research suggests different types of barriers may demonstrate different relationships with intention to engage in health behaviors. This study explored global, practical, and health-related barriers’ relationships with exercise intention and behavior among cancer survivors. The mediating role of intention in the barriers-behavior relationships was also evaluated. Cancer survivors (N = 152) completed self-report measures of exercise barriers, intention, and behavior at baseline and of exercise behavior two months later. Global barriers were negatively related (p < .01) and practical and health-related barriers were unrelated (ps ≥ .07) to exercise intention. Global and practical barriers were negatively related (ps < .01) and health-related barriers were unrelated (p = .48) to subsequent exercise behavior. Exercise intention did not mediate any barriers-behavior relationships. Results suggest that global and practical barriers should be targeted in barriers reduction interventions and highlight the intention-behavior gap problem. Future research should explore multidimensionality of barriers for other health behaviors.     

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。     

好奇心的机制及作用

作为一种常见的心理状态和人格特质, 好奇心是认知心理学研究领域中的重要主题。大脑多个脑区的分工和协同作用, 使个体形成了产生与评估预测误差、触发与缓解好奇心以及产生惊奇与新预测误差的认知过程。这些认知过程能够减少对事物和环境的预测误差与信息差距, 消除对事物的不确定性。好奇心在个体终生发展过程中, 对促进认知功能, 保持心理和身体健康有积极的作用。未来研究可以从跨物种、跨学科和多领域交叉的角度切入, 推动好奇心主题研究的深入、研究手段的发展以及研究成果的应用。     

Rethinking Compassion: Toward a Political Account of the Partisan Gender Gap in the United States

Scholarship on the political gender gap in the United States has attributed women's political views to their greater compassion, yet individual‐level measures of compassion have almost never been used to directly examine such claims. We address this issue using the only nationally representative survey to include psychometrically validated measures of compassion alongside appropriate political variables. We show that even though women are more compassionate in the aggregate than men in some respects, this added compassion does not explain the gender gap in partisanship. Female respondents report having more tender feelings towards the less fortunate, but these empathetic feelings are not associated with partisan identity. Women also show a slightly greater commitment to a principle of care, but this principle accounts for little of the partisan gap between men and women and has no significant relationship with partisanship after accounting for gender differences in egalitarian political values.     

Does Past Condom Use Moderate the Future Condom Use Intention-Behavior Relationship? Results from a Ghanaian Sample

Behavioral intention is an important predictor of actual behavior. Yet, people often fail to act on their intentions. This study used panel data to examine whether intention interacts with past behavior in determining future behavior. Young people in the Eastern Region of Ghana (N = 956, 495 = female, 461 = male) completed a structured self-administered questionnaire, assessing intentions to use condoms and past condom use behavior at Time 1, and future condom use behavior at Time 2. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that intentions to use condoms and past condom use behavior accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in future condom use behavior. In addition, past condom use moderated the future condom use intention–behavior relationship. These results demonstrate the usefulness of considering young people's past experiences with condoms in informing the design of condom use skills training. In other words, a condom use skills training intervention that uses the pedagogical approach of starting from the “known” to the “unknown” might benefit young Ghanaians.