Comentarios a «accióninvestigación y problemas de las minorias»

Resumen

Hemos realizado un estudio diferencial sobre las interpretaciones causales y sus consecuencias cognitivo- afectivas en un contexto de robo, utilizando como marco teórico el último modelo atribucional de Weiner (1986). Para ello, hemos aplicado cuestionarios de autoinforme a 1.450 sujetos menores de edad. Los resultados, obtenidos mediante análisis de la varianza y técnicas de regresión, indican (1) que existe una taxonomía de las causas claramente diferenciada en función de las dimensiones—locus, estabilidad y controlabilidad—, y de la perspectiva—actor/observador—de los sujetos; (2) que la estabilidad de las causas determina la predicción de reincidencia, y que ésta es mayor en los sujetos que dicen haber cometido más robos, y (3) que el sentimiento de culpa está determinado por la controlabilidad de las causas y varía como función inversa de la experiencia delictiva. Finalmente, señalamos algunas implicaciones teóricas y aplicadas de este trabajo.     

Controlar o incontrolável: esquemas cognitivos de adaptação ao risco sismico

Resumo

Este artigo procura a analisar as estratégias cognitivas utilizadas pelos individuos para lidar com a incerteza associada ao risco sísmico. Postula-se a existência de esquemas de controlo cognitivo de incerteza que teriam como funçâo eliminar a insegurança e a ansiedade associadas à percepçâo do risco sísmico, e restaurar o sentimento de controlo sobre o ambiente. Estes esquemas seriam criados na interacção social e teriam relação com outras formas de pensamento social desenvolvida pelos individuos e pelos grupos.

Apresenta-se um estudo realizado com 300 sujeitos em que estas ideias foram testadas e em que se encontrou apoio para a existência de três esquemas de controlo: um esquema religioso, um esquema político-técnico e um esquema científico. Foram encontradas diferenças na utilizaçâo destes esquemas em funçâo das inserções sociais objectivas dos sujeitos, e associações entre a utilização destes esquemas e a preocupação com a ocorrência futura de um sismo, e com a atribuição de responsabilidade pelo colapso de edifícios no caso de ocorrência de um tremor de terra.     

Effects of a Differential Observing Response on Intraverbal Performance of Preschool Children: A Preliminary Investigation

Axe (2008) speculated that some instances of intraverbal responding might be associated with limited or delayed acquisition because they require discrimination of multiple components of verbal stimuli. Past studies suggest that acquisition of responses under control of complex, multicomponent antecedent stimuli (e.g., conditional or compound stimulus control) can be facilitated with the introduction of a differential observing response (DOR; Dube & McIlvane, 1999; Gutowski, Geren, Stromer, & Mackay, 1995). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of a DOR (i.e., repeating the question) on intraverbal responding with six neurotypical preschool children. Findings included that (a) accuracy of intraverbal performance increased when the experimenter prompted a DOR; (b) 1 of 6 participants overtly emitted the DOR for a second relation in the absence of prompts, which was correlated with increased accuracy; and (c) following mastery, response accuracy was variable for 3 participants. Based on these findings, prompted DORs may offer an effective, if temporary, aid to intraverbal instruction for neurotypical preschool children.     

The Importance of Form in Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behavior and a Further Step

A series of quotes from B. F. Skinner illustrates the importance of form in his analysis of verbal behavior. In that analysis, form plays an important part in contingency control. Form and function complement each other. Function, the array of variables that control a verbal utterance, dictates the meaning of a specified form; form, as stipulated by a verbal community, indicates that meaning. The mediational actions that shape verbal utterances do not necessarily encounter their controlling variables. These are inferred from the form of the verbal utterance. Form carries the burden of implied meaning and underscores the importance of the verbal community in the expression of all the forms of language. Skinner''s analysis of verbal behavior and the importance of form within that analysis provides the foundation by which to investigate language. But a further step needs to be undertaken to examine and to explain the abstractions of language as an outcome of action at an aggregate level.     

Perceived violence climate: A new construct and its relationship to workplace physical violence and verbal aggression,and their potential consequences

Abstract

Workplace accidents and violence are both potential sources of employee injuries that have been dealt with in entirely separate literatures. In this study we adapted the concept of safety climate from the accident/injury literature to violence in developing the concept of perceived violence climate. A scale was developed to assess perceived violence climate, including items about management attention, concern, and policies designed to keep employees safe from violence. Data were collected from a sample of 198 nurses from a US Hospital. Perceived violence climate was found to correlate significantly with both physical violence and verbal aggression experienced by the nurses, injury from violence, and perceptions of workplace danger. Furthermore, regression analyses showed that climate explained additional variance in psychological strain and perceptions of danger over experienced violence. These results have implications for interventions aimed at producing a good perceived violence climate in order to reduce the incidence of violence and aggression within an organization.     

Community older adults’ attitude towards the use of assistive devices

This study investigates how older adults’ attitude patterns affect assistive devices’ (AD) use in a small-household context of Singapore. Community older adults with physical limitations (n = 481) completed face-to-face interviews for 90 min. Latent Profile Analysis analysed multiple indicators of attitudes towards ADs. Three groups were classified: positive attitude group (PAG); negative attitude group (NAG); and unwillingness to pay for ADs (UPG). PAG was most likely to use ADs, while UPG was least likely to use ADs. The findings are expected to help older adults age in place by improving equal distribution of technology resources that assist with daily tasks and activities.     

The interaction of pillars in multi‐pillar pension systems: A comparison of Canada,Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden

Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden have advanced multi‐pillar pension systems. Using micro‐simulations, this article presents a close examination of the interaction of pillars in these countries. The relative importance and the role of the different pension pillars vary from country to country, and according to age, income, gender and socio‐economic dimensions as well as between generations. A further area of investigation is the mitigation capacity of the four pension systems. On the one hand, adverse labour careers lead to lower life‐time earnings and lower private pension accruals. On the other hand, these effects are mitigated through the design of pillars and their interaction. Mitigation is important to income security and stability in retirement and to post‐retirement income distribution. However, mitigation mechanisms come at the cost of incentives. Moreover, in many countries, the generosity of public benefits is set to decrease – increasing the importance of private pensions. This will shift risk and uncertainty from employers and pension institutions to individuals. Thus, risks and uncertainties related to private pensions will become more important, raising questions about the division of responsibilities between public and private pensions, and about the potential of mitigating such risk through pillar interaction. These concerns are further reinforced by labour market changes. Although a pension system free of distortions is inconceivable, this article seeks to contribute to addressing how mitigation should be designed, and how mitigation and risk sharing should be balanced against incentives, challenges which are as much political as technical.     

Nepal's Child Grant: A mixed‐methods assessment of implementation bottlenecks

This article evaluates the implementation of the Child Grant, one of the major social protection interventions in Nepal, and identifies bottlenecks that limit its ultimate effectiveness. On the whole, while delivery works for many beneficiaries, we found inconsistencies between the way the policy is laid out on paper, and the way it is actually implemented. Targeting efficiency is high, despite the wealth targeting criterion not being applied in practice. Owing to informal awareness‐raising campaigns, beneficiaries’ knowledge on registration, eligibility and entitlement is patchy. Payment levels vary and tend to be infrequent. These implementation bottlenecks limit the Grant's effectiveness and temper some of its impact potential.