Safety implications of infotainment system use in naturalistic driving

The use of a radio while driving has long been considered a "threshold" of distraction that is socially acceptable although it may be a factor in some crashes and near crashes. This "social acceptance" has prompted the use of radio tasks, specifically radio tuning, as "references" that should not be exceeded by other secondary and tertiary tasks that make their way into the vehicle. As new functions make their way into vehicle radios (or more advanced infotainment systems), however, it is possible that radio tasks may become distracting to a level that surpasses current driver expectations. This investigation examines the naturalistic usage of several advanced infotainment systems and examines whether usage is associated first with changes in near crash occurrence and second with changes in driving behavior. Little association was found with near crashes: 5 of 46 near crash events observed in the dataset exhibited infotainment system use. Drivers involved in infotainment system use during near crashes, however, did exhibit distinct glance behaviors, generally suggesting lower levels of awareness about their driving environment. Initial analyses of a larger dataset appear to confirm these findings.     

Poverty dynamics and disability: An empirical exercise using the European community household panel

In this article, we analyze the influence of being disabled on poverty dynamics. We present results adjusting the modified OECD equivalence scale by the number of adults with severe disabilities in the household and calculate poverty rates with this disability-adjusted scale. In addition we address the problem of incidental parameters in econometric models for the probability of being poor and separate the effects of being disabled on poverty that are short and long-term. The results show that the long-term (‘persistence’) effect is three times the short-term (‘true state dependence’) effect, which has significant social policy implications.     

How disability affects absenteeism: An empirical analysis for six European countries

Using data from the European Community Household Panel for six European countries (Austria, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) for the period 1995–2001, this article investigates how disability affects workers' absenteeism. The results show that workers with disabilities are absent more often than workers without disabilities. This finding is obtained after controlling for individuals' self‐reported health, visits to doctors and nights spent in hospital. The severity of disability is also a relevant factor in higher absenteeism. The total effect of disability on absenteeism amounts to a marginal increase of six to 26 days per year (depending on the country).     

Going for broke. From desire for illusion and the illusion of desire / De perdidos,al río. Del deseo a la ilusión y la ilusión del deseo

The illusion of control refers to an excessively high expectation of success considering the likelihood of it actually happening. This expectation seems to be modulated by idiosyncratic variables, such as the desire for control. This study aims first to provide evidence regarding the validity of the Spanish Desire for Control Scale and secondly to study the ‘going for broke’ phenomenon. Participants included 92 university students from different colleges, 59 females and 33 males. The results first show that there is enough evidence to validate the Spanish version of the scale and to support its application. Secondly they show that in cases where there is a perception of having nothing left to lose, people risk everything they have, causing a reversal in the outcome pattern in a normal situation.     

From social protection to vulnerability: Argentina's neo‐liberal reforms of the 1990s

This article examines the neo‐liberal reforms introduced in Argentina in the 1990s, focusing on labour policies and their consequences for labour market dynamics and the welfare of households. To put this period in historical context, the authors first provide a brief summary of the strategies applied both during the preceding import‐substitution phase and in the aftermath of the political, economic and social crisis of 2001–02. The latter, in effect, served as the tipping point for the emergence of a new set of social and economic policies aimed at promoting social cohesion and inclusion through employment.     

Challenging the neoliberal view of education: the Center for Ecoliteracy as a transformative educational practice

The neoliberal rationality of recent decades has, as one of its maxims, that of extending market logic to the rest of social dimensions on the basis of competition. However, the spreading of this neoliberal ‘drug’ requires profound political reforms. It calls for a cultural engineering of the public sector which has been fostered by the New Public Management (NPM). This form of governmentality controls current power relations and gives a new meaning to the management of public services, including the educational sector. In this paper, we maintain that there are ‘spaces of resistance’ against the neoliberal educational rationality. We analyse the Center for Ecoliteracy (CFE) as a transformative experience which integrates a holistic perspective into educational practice. We compare the principles of the NPM with those of the CFE, showing that there are more humanistic approaches to education which aim to teach students the need to live in sustainable communities.     

How leader humility helps teams to be humbler,psychologically stronger,and more effective: A moderated mediation model

We hypothesize that (a) the level of humility expressed by leaders predicts team performance through, serially, team humility and team PsyCap, and (b) the strength (i.e., consensus within the team) of the leader humility, team humility and team PsyCap moderates the paths of that hypothesized model. A sample comprising 82 teams (82 leaders; 332 team members) was collected. Team members reported leader humility, team humility and team PsyCap. Leaders reported team performance. To handle the risks of common method bias, each mediating path of the hypothesized model is based on data from two different subsamples within each team. Our model's most novel theoretical contribution is the (moderated mediated) connection between leader humility, collective humility, and team PsyCap, and this was consistently supported in our data. Our inconsistent findings dealing with the relationship between team PsyCap and performance is well established in the literature and our results in both sub-samples were in the theorized direction. The study contributes to understand why, how and when humble leaders are more effective.     

The Effects of a Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing Procedure on the Vocal Behavior of Children Diagnosed with Autism

The Analysis of Verbal Behavior - Recent research suggests that the sound produced by a child’s vocalization can become a conditioned reinforcer via the temporal pairing of an...