The environmental attitudes inventory: A valid and reliable measure to assess the structure of environmental attitudes

Environmental attitudes (EA), a crucial construct in environmental psychology, are a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating the natural environment with some degree of favour or disfavour. There are hundreds of EA measures available based on different conceptual and theoretical frameworks, and most researchers prefer to generate new measures rather than organize those already available. The present research provides a cumulative and theoretical approach to the measurement of EA, in which the multidimensional and hierarchical nature of EA is considered. Reported are findings from three studies on the development of a psychometrically sound, multidimensional inventory to assess EA cross-culturally, the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI). The EAI has twelve specific scales that capture the main facets measured by previous research. The twelve factors were established through confirmatory factor analyses, and the EAI scales are shown to be unidimensional scales with high internal consistency, homogeneity and high test-retest reliability, and also to be largely free from social desirability.     

Predictability of clinical assessments for driving performance

PROBLEM: As the number of older drivers grows, it is increasingly important to accurately identify at-risk drivers. This study tested clinical assessments predictive of real-time driving performance. METHOD: Selected assessment tools considered important in the identification of at-risk older drivers represented the domains of vision, cognition, motor performance, and driving knowledge. Participants were administered the battery of assessments followed by an on-road test. A univariate analysis was conducted to identify significant factors (<.05) to be included in a multivariate regression model. RESULTS: Assessments identified as independently associated with driving performance in the regression model included: FACTTM Contrast sensitivity slide-B, Rapid Pace Walk, UFOV rating, and MMSE total score. DISCUSSION: The domains of vision, cognitive, and motor performance were represented in the predictive model. SUMMARY: Due to the dynamic nature of the driving task, it is not likely that a single assessment tool will identify at risk drivers. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: By standardizing the selection of clinical assessments used in driving evaluations, practitioners should be able to provide services more efficiently, more objectively, and more accurately to identify at-risk drivers.     

浅谈提高环境影响评价质量的途径

简要阐述了环评工作中存在的问题，提出提高环评质量的途径。     

污染源自动监测数据有效性影响因素分析

结合我国污染源自动监测现状,分别从技术、产品、建设、管理与环境等各不同角度,分析了各因素对监测数据有效性的影响,并提出了一些相应的建议与对策。     

Driving anger and its expressions: further evidence of validity and reliability for the Driving Anger Expression Inventory French adaptation

Introduction: The aims of this study were to provide further evidence of validity and reliability for the Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX) French adaptation (Villieux & Delhomme, 2008, Le Travail Humain, 71(4), 359-384) and to investigate the relationships between driving anger, how people express their anger while driving, and traffic violations among young drivers in France. Method: The French adaptations of the DAX, of the Driving Anger Scale (DAS), and of the Extended Violations Scale were administered to a sample of 314 drivers. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis of the French DAX items yielded a three factors solution with 11 items, which obtained better goodness-of-fit to the data. Cronbach α reliabilities for DAX factors ranged from .71 to .79. Aggressive forms of anger expression correlated positively with driving anger and traffic violations whereas the 'Adaptive/Constructive Expression' factor correlated negatively with these variables. Discussion: Globally, our results replicated earlier findings and showed that DAX factors are useful predictors of self reported violations and complement established measures like the DAS. Impact on Industry: Implications for driver education and interventions were examined.     

Re-education of young driving offenders; Effects on self-reports of driver behavior

Introduction

Offending drivers are often re-educated, but these courses have seldom been shown to have any safety effects.

Method

An on-line improvement course for offending drivers below the age of 25 was evaluated with several driver inventories.

Results

The drivers reported higher levels of aggression, stress, sensation seeking, drunk driving, and driving violations, six months after the course than before. However, these levels were lower than those of controls, indicating that the initially low levels for the education group were due to socially desirable responding, as measured by a lie scale, an effect that waned after the course.

Discussion

The results can be interpreted as a positive effect of the education, although this conclusion is tentative and not in agreement with all effects in the data.

Impact on industry

The results are in disagreement with previous evaluation studies using the same or similar instruments, and show the need to include controls for social desirability in self-report studies.     

National baseline survey of soil quality in the Netherlands

To determine background values of the 252 chemical compounds listed in Dutch legislation, a survey was designed with the aim of estimating percentiles of the cumulative frequency distributions and areal fractions exceeding the former, legislative reference values. Sampling locations were selected by probability sampling, so that in estimating the target quantities no model assumptions on the spatial variation were required, and valid estimates could be obtained by design-based inference. Strata in random sampling were formed by overlaying an aggregated soil map and land use map. For most of the heavy metals the areal fraction with concentrations in the topsoil (0-10 cm) exceeding the reference value was smaller than the allowable maximum of 5%. For these compounds a background value was determined smaller than the reference value. Exceptions were V, Co, Ba and Cu, for which a background value was defined (slightly) larger than the reference value.     

风险分析的质量评价研究

风险分析的质量直接影响风险分析技术的应用 ,随着风险分析技术及其应用范围的扩大 ,建立评价风险分析的内容、结果及其方法和标准是十分必要的。为此 ,讨论了风险分析的质量概念 ;提出了一种评价风险分析质量的方法 ,该方法基于对风险分析过程的评价 ,利用检查表来发现风险分析的缺陷 ,同时研究了该方法的有效性和可靠性 ;最后 ,对方法的局限性以及提高风险分析质量的途径等其他相关问题进行了讨论。研究结果表明 :评价风险分析质量的方法能揭示风险分析中大多数的重大缺陷     

Measurement and Meaning in Environmental Communication Studies: A Response to Kassing,Johnson, Kloeber,and Wentzel

This essay represents an invited editorial response to Kassing, Johnson, Kloeber, and Wentzel's “Development and Validation of the Environmental Communication Scale” in Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture. Kassing and his associates use an apt review of the status of the environmental communication field as the basis for developing a protocol and instrument to measure the actual practice of engaging environmental subject matter in daily life. Although their factor analytic work is laudable in its intent, their approach to empirically exploring environmental communication in action further institutionalizes a number of conceptual and methodological shortcomings in our discipline. In particular, what researchers and respondents think constitutes “environmental” content per se poses a significant barrier to using the proposed tool in applied settings. After critiquing the Kassing et al. work in terms of a number of issues related to the validity and reliability of their research, I conclude by suggesting that the research may provide a needed springboard for exploring the dynamics of interpersonal settings that mediate important dialog and action regarding the environment.     

The development of an instrument measuring unintentional injuries in young children in low-income settings to serve as an evaluation tool for a childhood home injury prevention program

PROBLEM: Responding to the lack of standardized instrumentation, especially as applied in low-income contexts, the researchers decided that an instrument should be developed to serve as an evaluation tool for a childhood (unintentional) injury prevention program as well as a tool from which injury risks (poisonings, burns and falls) could be identified within households. METHODS: Cross-sectional samples of 521 households in four low-income sites in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, participated in the three phases of the study. The generation of an item pool based on a table of specifications, subsequent scientific item reduction procedures, reviews from experts and pilot tests were used to develop the scales for measuring the injury risks. RESULTS: The developed instrument complies with all the requirements for a valid and reliable measurement instrument. CONCLUSION: The instrument allows valid comparison of risks between communities, as well as before and after comparisons for an intervention program. IMPACT: The provision of this instrument may bring enormous benefits to research studies. It can also provide proactive, rather than reactive, information about injury risks before they develop into injuries and thus allows focusing of safety efforts for improvement of problematic areas in the households.